“Christ, who is your life . . .” Colossians 3:4
Paul’s marvelously rich expression indicates, that Christ is the source of our life. “Even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.” That same voice which brought Lazarus out of the tomb raised us to newness of life. He is now the substance of our spiritual life. It is by his life that we live; he is in us, the hope of glory, the spring of our actions, the central thought which moves every other thought. Christ is the sustenance of our life. What can the Christian feed upon but Jesus’ flesh and blood? “This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.”
O wayworn pilgrims in this wilderness of sin, you never get a morsel to satisfy the hunger of your spirits, except you find it in him! Christ is the solace of our life. All our true joys come from him; and in times of trouble, his presence is our consolation. There is nothing worth living for but him, and his lovingkindness is better than life! Christ is the object of our life. As speeds the ship towards the port, so hastes the believer toward the haven of his Savior’s bosom. As flies the arrow to its goal, so flies the Christian toward the perfecting of his fellowship with Christ Jesus. As the soldier fights for his captain, and is crowned in his captain’s victory, so the believer contends for Christ, and gets his triumph out of the triumphs of his Master. “To live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
Christ is the exemplar of our life. Where there is the same life within, there will, there must be, to a great extent, the same developments without; and if we live in near fellowship with the Lord Jesus we shall grow like him. We shall set him before us as our Divine copy, and we shall seek to tread in his footsteps, until he shall become the crown of our life in glory. Oh! How safe, how honored, how happy is the Christian, since Christ is our life!
Adapted from Morning and Evening.
