Colossians
Wednesday, July 7, 2004
My Prayer Today
Heavenly Father, I am so thankful that You have taken away the sin of my life through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. I confess to You right now, that apart from His great act of love, which fulfilled Your justice, that I would forever be separated from Your presence! Thank You for being willing to come to the earth to do purchase our salvation! I pray that all that I am and do today will serve only to honor that sacrifice. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
God's Word For Me Today
Colossians 2:6-15
6And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to live in obedience to him. 7Let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him, so you will grow in faith, strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught. Let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for all he has done.
8Don’t let anyone lead you astray with empty philosophy and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the evil powers of this world, and not from Christ. 9For in Christ the fullness of God lives in a human body, 10and you are complete through your union with Christ. He is the Lord over every ruler and authority in the universe.
11When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. It was a spiritual procedure—the cutting away of your sinful nature. 12For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to a new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.
13You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ. He forgave all our sins. 14He canceled the record that contained the charges against us. He took it and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ’s cross. 15In this way, God disarmed the evil rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross of Christ.
Reflecting on God’s Word
What is the most evident change in your life, as a result of accepting Jesus as your Savior and Lord?
A Deeper Exploration of God’s Word
To what does the Apostle Paul compare the “cutting away” of our sinful nature? (2:11)
Understanding God’s Word
What does the Apostle Paul’s former experience as a Pharisee have to do with today’s statement in Colossians 2:11?
What analogy might you use to explain what Paul states in Colossians 2:11?
Applying God’s Word to Our Lives
What areas in your life right now still need to have sin “cut away”? What are you doing to see it happen?
Thoughts..."Spiritual Circumcision"...
As a former Jew, the rite of circumcision was an important part of Paul’s religious tradition. Every Jewish male was circumcised at the age of 8 days, to signify that he belonged to the Lord. Paul tells us that when we came to Christ we were also “circumcised,” but it wasn’t a physical procedure. Rather, Paul says it was a spiritual procedure through which our sinful nature was “cut away.” Paul’s statement may seem odd to our ears, but it is quite significant. After all, to the Jew, circumcision was the rite of belonging. As Christians, we demonstrate our belonging to the family of God as we live out the new life that Jesus gives us when we are born again. Having our sinful nature “cut away” is not a once and for event, however. We will be involved in the removal of sin from our lives as long as we live. The Good News of Jesus, though, is that as God sees it, we have become part of the family of God through receiving Jesus, and the spiritual procedure of cutting away our sinful nature is reckoned complete on His ledger. May we live in such a way as to demonstrate to all around us our citizenship in God’s kingdom!