You have died with Christ; put to death, therefore, the parts of you that are earthly. The message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that of the death and resurrection, not only of Jesus, but of all of us who are called by his name (Christians). For in his death, Jesus assumed all the descendants of Adam and Eve in order that they may join him in his resurrection. Our joining in the death of Jesus is requisite for the new life of grace that has been afforded us in Jesus Christ. And whereas the death of Jesus was a physical one, the death that we undergo is a mystical one. Unlike Jesus who gave up his life on the wood of the cross, all that we have to do is to give up (put to death) those rebellious acts of ours that led Jesus to the cross. This is the plea that Paul is making to the Colossian Church in today’s First Reading.
When we continue living our lives of rebellion, not only do we put Jesus to death for the second time (cf. Hebrews 6:6), but according to Paul, we also end up inviting the wrath of God upon us. For God having given us new lives, we are expected to measure up to the standards of the new life. Consequently, one has to work hard in seeing that those behaviors and attitudes that can dent the image of God in us are left behind.