WHERE AM I?
Where am I? It’s a question with an obvious practical answer, but am I just sitting in the circumstances of life that my decisions and my environment have created for me? That scenario often feels empty, lonely, and directionless.
What does God see when He looks at where we are? Jesus ROSE FROM THE DEAD. Even death did not define Jesus' future. He was resurrected from death, and after three days He became alive! But where is He now? He now has ascended to heaven (Acts 1:9) and is constantly interceding for us(Romans 8:34). Not only does Jesus have authority over death, but He is in heaven working on our behalf as we sit here on this globe called earth! His perspective of where we are and our perspective are often very different.
In Colossians 3:1 Paul tells the followers of Jesus that they have been “RAISED WITH CHRIST!” What is Paul talking about? I know Jesus was raised from death, but how am I raised with Jesus too? The answer is found in Colossians 3:3, and Colossians 2:20. Paul explains that not only are we “RAISED WITH CHRIST,” but that we also “DIED WITH CHRIST” and that our life is now“HIDDEN WITH CHRIST IN GOD.”
Jesus died. Jesus was raised from death. Jesus ascended to heaven. Those of us who follow Jesus also died with Christ and our old lives are “hidden with Christ.” But my favorite part is that we are “raised with Christ” too! Such a mysterious and powerful truth! He built a bridge for us to be in relationship together with God and to live in the state of being RAISED WITH HIM! Do you understand what that means for me and you? In Christ, we are raised with Jesus! We are no longer dead or heading to death. We aren’t living in our circumstances, but we are living in Jesus’ eternal world with Him! We are alive and with Jesus and no one can take that gift away! You are already RAISED with Jesus!
So, where am I? I am “RAISED WITH JESUS!” I am not sitting in decay or death or empty circumstance, but I am eternally raised with Jesus!
Go and live today in the freedom Jesus has given you - high and lifted up with Him!
Pastor Don Erehart