Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:1-4, NIV)
What should our lives look like as Christians? Should there be any difference? As Paul writes to the Colossians, and us, he certainly thinks so. As we have died with Christ and live in Christ, so has our behaviour. Christians are to live as God’s chosen people, holy and loved by God. What might that look like for us?
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. (Colossians 2:6-7, NIV)
Continue to live your lives in Christ. If Jesus Christ is our Lord - our saviour and our king - why would we end up following anything or anyone else? Paul wants us to be entirely focussed on Jesus, because of what Jesus has done for us.
My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ (Colossians 2:2, NIV)
We often use the word ‘mystery’ to describe something that we don’t know, might never know, or might be restricted to certain people. When Paul uses the word, he is describing something we do know and can all know: Jesus Christ. At the centre of the Christian faith is one man, Jesus. This is the mystery that Paul wants us to understand, to know, and to grow in.
Jesus said This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. (Mark 4:26-27, NIV)
This Sunday is our harvest service. As part of the service, we will be remembering God’s provision for us in the crops and food that he provides for us. Jesus also uses parables about planting to help us understand what God’s kingdom is like.
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. (Colossians 1:15, NIV)
Who is Jesus? That’s the question at the centre of life. If we have the right answer to that question, everything else in life just drops into place. In his sermon at Her Late Majesty’s funeral, The Archbishop of Canterbury said that Jesus told us whom to follow. That person is Jesus: who is Jesus?