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Day 13 | Colossians 3:1-11 | Remade in His Image

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Welcome back gentlemen to week 2, day 5. So we left off — made righteous by faith. We are right with God when we put our faith in Jesus. He died to pay the price for our sins, and He rose again to give us a new life. Jesus conquered death, to make us righteous.

Now — righteous is important. In the Bible, righteous is the one and only way to go to Heaven. But there’s a lot more to this story than an afterlife. Following Jesus just to go to Heaven is like getting married just to retire together. It’s good, but you’re skipping some really important stuff.

Now remember on day 2 when we talked about the purpose of the curse. It’s in Romans 8, and that’s where we’ll start today. Check this out:

For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.

Remember that part. It’s all about God’s children. And if we follow Jesus — that’s us — God’s adopted kids. But why is creation waiting for God’s children? Verse 20:

“For the creation was subjected to frustration [that’s the curse] not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it [that means God did it — with a purpose], in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God" (Romans 8:20-21).

So God put us through the curse with a plan to liberate us. There is freedom and glory for God’s children. Freedom: what we were made for. Glory: life with substance — meaning that lasts.

So what is so special about God’s kids? Well, it’s pretty awesome to be able to call the Creator your Dad. But there’s more to it — something about your inheritance and about family resemblance.

For this one, let’s turn to Colossians chapter 1, and one amazing description of who Jesus is:

“The Son is the image of the invisible God…” (Colossians 1:15).

Stop there. We humans are made in God’s image, but Jesus is God’s image. And don’t miss the wordplay: “the image of the invisible God.” You can’t see God — and yet, to see Jesus is to see God. Jesus said, “If you have seen me you have seen the Father.” And just like in Genesis it’s not about two eyes and ten toes — it’s about His nature. Jesus showed us God’s character — His love and compassion, grace and truth. The character that we are called to as men: courage, strength, and love are redefined in Christ.

And Colossians goes on:

“For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together" (Colossians 1:16-17).

The description of Jesus here is pretty awesome. He goes on to say that "God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in (Jesus) — and through him to reconcile to himself all things” (Colossians 1:19-20). That means that Jesus was fully God. And it means that Jesus made us right with God.

And now that our relationship is made right, God starts to get our walk right. That’s how we live out righteousness. But it’s not about following a bunch of rules and regulations, it’s about following Jesus. He sets the example. And in Colossians 3, it’s about dying to the old self and living for the new.

Check it out…

“Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry" (Colossians 3:5).

Notice that it’s not just doing bad things — it’s idolatry — trading God for idols. Paul says that we used to walk in all those things — in our old life. But now — get rid of it all: anger, rage, malice, slander. That means — no more evil thoughts, evil intentions, or evil words — all of it. And watch this:

“Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.”

That is the heart of it. Crucify your flesh. Your old self — take it off because your new self is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. God is renewing and remaking us. Back into His image — back to what we were made for. That’s why we follow Jesus — to become who we were meant to be and to truly reflect His image.

And something amazing happens when we really get that. Read verse 11 carefully:

“Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all” (Colossians 3:11).

Now stop clowning about the circumcised bit and understand what this means. This is amazing. When we are remade in God’s image, all the lines that divided us don’t matter anymore. Gentile and Jew are religious divisions. Barbarian and Scythian were racial and national divisions. Slave and free are class divisions. When we’re in Jesus the labels don’t matter anymore because we don’t define ourselves that way anymore. Our identity isn’t in our status or race or nation. Not that those things are gone — they just don’t define us — and we don’t let them divide us. We’ll come back to that next week.

For Thought & Discussion:

Question 1: What does it mean to be re-made in His image?

Question 2: If we’re all remade in Jesus’ image, does that mean that we’re all the same? Did God really make this much diversity — just to shove us all back into the same mold? Read the Word, write your journal, and we’ll find more answers — tomorrow.

Read Colossians 3:1-11

All verses are quoted from the NIV.