Today’s first reading from Colossians exhorts us to “seek what is above” in other words, to seek and do the will of God. We know the will of God because through our baptism we are already “living” in heaven. In baptism we die to our old self and rise to become new or “born again.” Paul tells the Colossians and us: “If you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.” Paul begins with our identity as Christians. Our identity is “with Christ” since we have both died and been raised “with Christ.” Although we must still live in this world our “life is hidden with Christ in God.”
Paul then draws out the practical or moral implications of our new identity with Christ. Since we are “raised with Christ” we must “seek what is above” that is we must seek to do God’s will as Jesus has shown us and taught us while he was on earth. Jesus shows us the way of mercy, compassion, and humility. We are called to serve and be ministers of reconciliation and instruments of God’s peace. Since we have died to our old or “earthly” self, Paul exhorts us to “put to death, then, the part of you that are earthly.” He then goes on to list vices for us to avoid. The impetus and power to avoid these vices comes from our new identity through baptism. The imperative, what we ought to do, comes from the indicative, our new identity in Christ Jesus. Paul tells us: “…since you have taken off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed, for knowledge, in the image of its creator.” God is creating us anew in his own image:
“Then God said: Let us make human beings in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the tame animals, all the wild animals, and all the creatures that crawl on the earth. God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:26-27)
Image: “The Saints go Marching in…” by Lawrence OP is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.