Buried with Jesus in Baptism

Day 279: Colossians 2:8-23

“Having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him..” - Colossians 2:12-14

If someone were to ask you what your life was like before Jesus saved you, what would you say? You might mention many of the stupid things you did, or you might mention how selfish you were. You may even use language like "lost" to describe yourself before Jesus made you new, as if all Jesus needed to do was to gently redirect you with the crook of his shepherd's staff.

Sure, sometimes Jesus uses this "lost" imagery in his parables. Yet Paul tells us what was really happening.

We were dead, shut off from eternal life. Jesus didn't just go on a rescue mission; He also went on a resurrection mission. Can you see why remembering your baptism is important? When our professed faith intersects with an all-powerful God, we experience salvation from all that is holding us back from becoming the people Jesus created us to be.

Let's let N.T. Wright, from his Colossians commentary, drive all of this home for us today:

"As a Jew, Paul had believed in the solidarity of the racial people of God. In becoming a Christian, he transferred to the church the idea that the people of God was indeed a people—not now, indeed, drawn from one race only, but made up from every family under heaven. This people is not merely an invisible family known to God alone, but is an actual company of people in space and time, the church in which Christ is confessed as Lord: outward and visible entry into this outward and visible family is accomplished through the rite of baptism."