If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory (Col. 3:1-4).

To be “raised with Christ” (which is resurrection language) requires that we first die. But how could the Apostle Paul write these words to believers still alive?

Their death was signaled by their baptism, when they identified with Jesus for a new life. We rarely think of baptism as a death certificate, but it certifies that the values and priorities of a previous life are past.

Those coming into the Christian faith from other religions know this is so. Their own families may say to them, “If you claim Jesus instead of our God, or our way of life, then you are dead to us.”

But that is not end of their story. Their baptism (and ours) also signals a new life spiritually united to Christ. Since he is raised, we are. Since he is privileged to sit at God’s right hand, we are. Since the wrath of God for sin was exhausted in him, we are hidden from it. Because he will come in glory, we shall.

We do not yet fully experience all of these blessings, but by the grace of God we can already taste them. The Holy Spirit is the foretaste of these “things that are above” as he confirms them in our hearts. Trials and temptations are still here, but they no longer determine your future or create your identity. As Paul proclaims, “Christ … is your life!”

Prayer:
Father, thank you for raising me from a dead way of life, and for uniting me to my Savior. Now when trials or temptations come, when failures or doubt oppress me, help me remember they are not my ultimate identity. Christ is my life!