“When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”
What role does Jesus play in your life?
We tend to speak about Jesus as an important part of our lives.
We make time for church and try to spend time in God’s Word and prayer. We want our faith to influence our marriages, our parenting, our work, and the decisions we make. All of that is good.
But Paul’s words in Colossians 3 go much further than saying Jesus should have an important place in your life.
He calls Christ…
“your life.”
That is a much bigger claim.
It means Christianity isn’t primarily about fitting Jesus into an already existing life. Jesus isn’t one priority among several, even if we put Him at the top of the list. Our entire life is found in Him.
He IS your life.
That connects directly to what Paul has just said in verse 3.
“You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
Through Baptism, you have been joined to Christ’s death and resurrection. The old life under sin and condemnation has died with Him, and God has given you a new life in His Son.
So when Paul says that Christ is your life, he means it quite literally. This isn’t like someone saying, “Football is my life,” because they really like football. No, Your life before God exists because, and only because, you are united to the living Christ.
That changes our perspective on our lives.
They are gifts from God and places where He has called us to love and serve our neighbors.
But none of them are our life. They are important parts of our lives.
Eventually, everything else changes: children grow up, careers end, and relationships change. Abilities we once depended on diminish. Things we planned never happen, while things we never planned suddenly reshape our lives.
I always had great eyesight…until I turned 40. Now I need readers or, when she’s near, my seeing-eye daughter. And it’s not just things getting worse. It can be things getting better. The birth of the girl would become my seeing-eye daughter changed my life.
Yet, through all the changes in our lives, Christ remains.
And that is especially important because Paul is ultimately looking beyond this present life. He writes,
“When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”
That’s your future. The Jesus who died has risen. He who ascended will return, and because your life is joined to His, His future is your future.
That means even death cannot finally take your life from you because His eternal life is yours.
Death can take away your possessions, separate you for a time from people you love, and bring your earthly vocations to an end. But it cannot take Christ from you, and Christ is your life.
This is why Christians can hold the good things of this world with gratitude without asking them to give us what only Jesus can give. It’s also why, rather than Jesus being a part of our lives, we view all the parts of our lives through Jesus. So, we work our job as Christ would have us work our job. We love our spouse as Jesus would have us love our spouse. Everything we do or say we do our say in Christ.
Our life is Christ.
And when He appears, the life that is now hidden with Him will finally be seen in all its glory.
Let’s pray…
Lord Jesus,
You have joined me to Yourself and given me a life that sin and death cannot destroy. Forgive me when I look to the gifts of this world to give me the security and identity that can only be found in You.
Help me to receive my family, work, possessions, and other blessings with gratitude while remembering that none of them is my life. You are.
Keep me in faith until the day You appear, when I will share openly in the glory and life that are already mine in You.
Amen.
As part of your devotion time, I encourage you to also pray for at least some of the following:
After praying for these people, you may want to finish your devotion time with the Lord’s Prayer…
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. They will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever and every. Amen.
In Christ’s Service,
Pastor Kurt
