Living Out God's Design

Col 3:12-17 - LIVING OUT GOD’S DESIGN

In today’s passage, Paul paints for us a blueprint for living as God’s chosen people.

• As Christians, being saved by Christ, we are changed by God’s grace and given a new life. And therefore a new way of living that reflects the character of Christ.

• When man first fell into sin, the image of God in us was destroyed. But the good news of the Gospel is that now, because of Christ, He has restored that lost image.

• We are able and called to live out God’s design for us as children of God and followers of Jesus Christ.

From the text this morning, we can see at least 3 aspects of this new life that Paul expects to see from the Colossians:

1. WE LIVE OUT THE VIRTUES OF CHRIST

Paul starts by telling the Colossians to PUT TO DEATH the vices and sinful habits of the past because those do not belong anymore.

• 3:5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

• 3:6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them.

• 3:8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.

• 3:9-10 9Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have PUT OFF THE OLD SELF with its practices 10and have PUT ON THE NEW SELF, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its Creator. [… after the image of Christ]

3:12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience…

• Can you think of someone with all of these qualities? Jesus.

• Together, these virtues display the character of Jesus; which is correct because we are made in the image of God and now restored to that image.

• We are saved by Christ to now live like Christ.

• In Gal 5, Paul expresses it in another way – we bear the FRUIT of the Holy Spirit, some qualities we see repeated here.

That’s WHO we are in Christ. This is GOD’S WILL and HIS WORK in us.

• God changed us and made us “new creation” in Christ,

• 2 Cor 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

This life change has been prophesied in OT through Prophet Ezekiel.

• Ezek 11:19-20 19And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, 20that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

• If you say, “I cannot change” - that can only be true if you do not know Jesus.

• When we trust Jesus as Saviour, God changes us and gives us a new HEART.

• The Holy Spirit dwells in us and enables us to obey God. We bear the FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT and become more and more LIKE CHRIST.

This is the work of God, not of man.

• 3:10 - Paul says we “have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”

• 3:12 - we are “God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved…” This is true of everyone who has trusted Jesus as Saviour and received Him into his life.

This NEW identity in Christ will bring about a new way of life, a different way of life.

• Therefore Paul says PUT ON compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience…

• They are not something we try to create or produce; God changed us so that we can live this way.

• In the past, we could not do so because we were sinners, following the desires of our flesh. But not so today, “THEREFORE put on these virtues and live out God’s design for us.”

In the past, we are sinners trying to do good. Today we are made good and do good; to live out who we have already become in Christ.

• Martyn Lloyd-Jones: “Our greatest need is to become who we already are in Christ.”

• KNOW WHO YOU ARE and live like Him. We are children of God, born again in His likeness.

Before we move to the second point, give a thought to these qualities.

• Which one of these virtues do we lack? In what ways can we be more like Christ?

2. WE SEEK TO BLESS OTHERS MORE THAN SELF