Pr Joshua Yong

Colossians 3:4 – “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.”

If someone were to ask you, “what is life?” or “what is your life?”, what answer will you give? I wonder if your response will be “Christ is my life.”

The phrase, “Christ, who is our life” (Col 3:4) is in fact very emphatic in Greek. The expression may be literally expressed, “Christ, our Life.” This shows us how closely our life is identified with Christ. It is as if Paul was declaring that if we do not have Christ then we do not have life. Conversely, if we live our life in Christ, then it will be a most complete and fulfilled life.

1)  What Does it Mean?

To say that Christ is our life, therefore, is to say that we cannot imagine a life that is lived apart from Christ, or without Christ. When Christians proclaim, “Christ, our Life,” they are in fact recognising that Christ is the source, the substance, the sustenance, the supply, the security, and the satisfaction of our life.

The Lord Jesus Christ declares in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” The Lord Jesus Christ is the one who has given to us spiritual life and this is a life which is everlasting. When we were dead in our trespasses and sin, the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world, was born of a virgin, died on the cross and rose again for us that we might have life and that we might have it more abundantly. This proclamation that Christ is our life, is first and foremost a declaration that we only truly begin to live when we place our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and when we are made alive in Him.

After being born again in Christ, He continues to be the bread of life that fills us and satisfies us. The Lord Jesus Christ must continue to be our Lord. He is the one whom we live for; He is the one whom we serve. To live with Christ as our life, therefore, describes a constant communion and fellowship which we share with Christ.

2)  You Must Know Christ

How can we as Christians live with Christ as the object and the desire of our lives? How can we live with Christ as the focus and the source of our life? How can we experience this truth that Christ is our Life in a fuller and surer way? The answer to these questions is, we must know Christ. When we have a clearer image of who Christ is, we will be able to live in the fulness of who Christ is. In Philippians 3:10, Apostle Paul expressed the desire to know Christ – “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;”

Do you love to hear the stories of the Lord Jesus Christ told to you? Fanny Crosby wonderfully expressed this desire to know the Lord Jesus Christ in the hymn, “Tell me the story of Jesus.”

Tell me the story of Jesus,
Write on my heart every word;
Tell me the story most precious,
Sweetest that ever was heard.
Tell how the angels in chorus,
Sang as they welcomed His birth,
“Glory to God in the highest!
Peace and good tidings to earth.”

Refrain: Tell me the story of Jesus,
Write on my heart every word;
Tell me the story most precious,
Sweetest that ever was heard.

Fasting alone in the desert,
Tell of the days that are past,
How for our sins He was tempted,
Yet was triumphant at last.
Tell of the years of His labor,
Tell of the sorrow He bore;
He was despised and afflicted,
Homeless, rejected and poor.

Tell of the cross where they nailed Him,
Writhing in anguish and pain;
Tell of the grave where they laid Him,
Tell how He liveth again.
Love in that story so tender,
Clearer than ever I see; Stay,
let me weep while you whisper,
“Love paid the ransom for me.”

Tell how He’s gone back to heaven,
Up to the right hand of God:
How He is there interceding
While on this earth we must trod.
Tell of the sweet Holy Spirit
He has poured out from above;
Tell how He’s coming in glory
For all the saints of His love.

Whenever we hear the stories of the Lord Jesus Christ, it ought to delight our hearts. If Christ is our life, then we must always have a longing to know Him more personally and intimately. We thank God He has given us His divine revelation, the Bible that has recorded for us all these wonderful words of life.

If we have a more intimate knowledge of who the Lord Jesus Christ is, then we will surely love Him, serve Him and adore Him more.

3)  You Must Live for Christ

As we experience the truth of what it means to have Christ as our life, we must now also resolve to offer our life for Christ. This is also what it means to have Christ as our life. If we Christians can see a clearer image of who Christ is, then we will surely love Him more; adore Him more; and serve Him with greater zeal and fervency.

This is why the Apostle Paul went on to say in Colossians 3:5, “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:” If Christ is our life, then we can no longer live for ourselves, and we most certainly cannot live for the flesh anymore. It tells us how there must be a very clear consciousness that we are living for Christ and for Christ alone.

This is one aspect which sadly, many Christians often struggle with – to live our lives fully consecrated to Christ.

Do you understand what it means to have Christ to be your life? This is a most wonderful proposition, and one that demands our full consecration, surrender and commitment.