Alive: Alive in Christ

Alive 1

Alive in Christ

Message by Daniel Carandang

Written by Ashley Petallano

It's April again.

In the Philippines, it's that time of the year the people talk more about Christ's death on the cross. We celebrate the tradition of taking the week off in remembrance of His death. Some people annually nail themselves on wooden crosses as a symbol of their dedication to the cause. 

For a number of us, Christ's death is the end of His story. He died- that's it. But the truth is, there's more to His death. In fact, HE LIVED AGAIN! He is alive more than ever after He was resurrected from the grave. 

Unfortunately, most of us take His Resurrection for granted. Many of us don't really hold His rising from the dead as something dear to our hearts because we may be thinking that this has little-no effect to us. But the truth is that His resurrection from the dead has life-changing implications to all those who understand its implications and by His power live them out.

Today, a number of people are physically ALIVE but in retrospect, live spiritually dead lives because they remain unsure of how Christ being alive has made them alive also. We've heard news of celebrities who look as if they have everything in the world. They live rich lives but they end their lives, dying poorly. Surely, we do not want to end up like that.  

We should stop living dead lives and instead, be raised and be ALIVE.

“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

Little background about this verse: Paul wrote this letter to the be believers in Colossae. This letter was also done when he was in prison, therefore, we call it a prison epistle. Another reason why Paul wrote this letter was to fortify it against false teachers who might try to impose strict rules about eating and drinking and religious festivals, worship of angelic beings. The first two chapters of the letter discuss Christ and His supremacy.

"...you have been raised with Christ..."

Death is an inevitable reality around us. It's an event that's bound to happen sooner or later. Some of us might have even have family members or friends die. No person's life is complete if he or she has never attended a funeral. When we do, what we commonly do is we pay our respects to the family of the deceased before we approach the casket and look at the dead.

When we're physically dead, our bodies just lie there. When we look inside the casket, we see a stiff body. Surely, if we took that body out (but hopefully, we never will) we can make the body do whatever we want. We can bend it, twist or just let it stand. 

Before any of us met Christ, we were dead. Not physically, of course, but spiritually. 

“ You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away.”

Colossians 2:13a

Our sins have killed us. Like a disease that weakens our bodies, sin fools us into believing that nothing is wrong with us when in fact, it's killing us inside. Many people are physically alive but because they don't have Christ in their lives, they are spiritually dead. 

When we say spiritually dead people, these are people who remain powerless to sin. They are enslaved by it. A mannequin, because of its lack of life, is powerless to the decisions of its store owner. If the owner decides to dress the mannequin in a revolting pair of sweats or the likes. 

Sin separates us from God. We are alienated because of our sinful natures. Because we are spiritually dead, we cannot relate to those who are connected to Him. We don't read our Bibles, fellowship with others or even pray to Him anymore. Basically, we can't do anything about our situation- helpless like a corpse. The dead can't bring themselves, they can't do anything. 

That's why Christianity is:

- NOT about mere external behavior modification.

- NOT about mere knowledge accumulation.

- NOT about religious rituals and obligations.

Christianity is about being raised from being spiritually spiritually dead and being made ALIVE. Louie Giglio once said: “God did not come to make bad people good people. He came to make dead people come alive!” 

"...you have been raised with Christ..."

We are identified with Jesus, from His death to His resurrection, to His ascension. It's like becoming part of a group work. If the other members get a low score, you can expect that your score will also be low. If they get high marks, so will you.

When Jesus died, He broke the power of sin and achieved victory over sin and death. Because we are "in Christ" through the work of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13), this means that we share Christ's victory over sin and death.

If we have Christ, we have already died to our sinful nature.

“For [as far as this world is concerned] you have died, and your [new, real] life is hidden with Christ in God."

Colossians 3:3

Dead people do not react to stimulus. No matter what we do, they would not and cannot respond. Same applies when we're spiritually dead. Instead of being dead towards God, you have been made alive and have a relationship with Him. Now, you are dead to the world. When you accept Christ, you die to the lusts of this world. It's still there but you are free from it. 

If you are in Christ, you're no longer dead. You are now alive.

Now, live according to who you are now in God- ALIVE.

Unfortunately, there is still a huge number of people living spiritually dead lives. Some of us live with sin still mastering our lives. It's either they don't know or they've forgotten that they’re alive! In their minds, they’re still dead, in their old dead lives. Their identity, how they see themselves, who they believe they are—is that they’re still DEAD when they have already become ALIVE!!!

How should we live then?

“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."

Colossians 3:1-4

When you like someone, you constantly think of that person, right? You act accordingly. Your focus is not directed on other people but on that mere person alone. Our constant pre-occupation should not be on the temporary things of this world; it should be set on heaven and on God. 

The spirit of God is not telling us to do something weird and strange, he is simply saying, "let your preoccupation with heaven govern your earthly responses.”

We must view life with a heavenly perspective. Our strength and motivation has to come from above. One day, there will be none of the pain or the suffering. We should persevere and endure! There will also come a day when our deeds will be judged. Therefore, no compromise! God will forever sit on His throne, we shan't worry.

The world will strive to keep us pre-occupied with this life—pre-occupied with, but the truth is our life has already in Christ! There once was a time when the people thought the planets revolved around the Earth. They believed it for 1300 years! Until Ptolemy proved them wrong and they realized that the Earth revolved around the sun. Sometimes, we have this mindset that believes everything revolves around us- that we are the center of the universe. The world should not be the center of our lives- Jesus is!

We should not busy ourselves with the temporary things of this world. This is not our permanent home. Let your future in heaven be your perspective in making decisions.

Instead of allowing our sinful natures to continuously kill us, we should remind ourselves that if we have Christ, we have the capability to be ALIVE in Him. With Him, we are alive, alive, ALIVE!