THE LIFE OF A CHRISTIAN
Col. 2:6-7
INTRODUCTION:
1. The life of a Christian is the greatest in this world.
2. “Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it's been found difficult and not tried.” (G.K. Chesterton, quoted in Swindoll, Hand Me Another Brick, Thomas Nelson, 1978, p. 128.)
I. THE PRECIOUS GIFT (6)
A. Acceptance of Christ.
B. Possession of Christ.
1. Christ died.
a. We die with him (Gal. 2:20).
b. We are free from punishment.
c. Illustration:
“When Lincoln's body was brought from Washington to Illinois, it passed through Albany and it was carried through the street. They say a black woman stood upon the curb and lifted her little son as far as she could reach above the heads of the crowd and was heard to say to him, "Take a long look, honey. He died for you". So, if I could, I would lift up your spirit to see Calvary. Take a long look, He died for you.” (Craig Glickman, Knowing Christ, p. 89.)
2. Christ was buried (Col. 2:12).
a. We are buried with him in baptism (Rom. 6:4).
b. We die to our former selves (Rom. 6:4).
3. Christ rose.
a. We rise with Him into newness of live (Col. 2:13: Rom. 6:4).
b. Illustration:
Little Philip, born with Down's syndrome, attended a third-grade Sunday school class with several eight-year-old boys and girls. Typical of that age, the children did not readily accept Philip with his differences, according to an article in leadership magazine. But because of a creative teacher, they began to care about Philip and accept him as part of the group, though not fully.
The Sunday after Easter the teacher brought L'eggs pantyhose containers, the kind that looks like large eggs. Each receiving one, the children were told to go outside on that lovely spring day, find some symbol for new life, and put it in the egg-like container. Back in the classroom, they would share their new-life symbols, opening the containers one by one in surprise fashion. After running about the church property in wild confusion, the students returned to the classroom and placed the containers on the table. Surrounded by the children, the teacher began to open them one by one. After each one, whether a flower, butterfly, or leaf, the class would go ooh and ahh.
Then one was opened, revealing nothing inside. The children exclaimed; that’s stupid. That's not fair. Somebody didn't do their assignment."
Philip spoke up, "That's mine."
"Philip, you don't ever do things right!" the student retorted. "There's nothing there!"
"I did so do it," Philip insisted. "I did do it. It's empty. the tomb was empty!"
Silence followed. From then on Philip became a full member of the class. He died not long afterward from an infection most normal children would have shrugged off. At the funeral this class of eight-year-olds marched up to the altar not with flowers, but with their Sunday school teacher, each to lay on it an empty pantyhose egg. (Source Unknown)
4. Christ sets at the right hand of God (Col 3:1).
a. We ascend with Him (Col. 3:2-4).
b. We have safety with him in heaven (Col. 3:4).
II. THE PRESSING DUTY (6)
A. We walk in Him (6).
1. We must progress.
a. A pond that does not progress is really in a state of digression. The earth will drain it. The sky will cause it to evaporate. If it is never fed it will dry up.
b. We must not remain at the place we started.
c. We must not hesitate, but “Forgetting the things behind.”
d. We must not walk circumspectly, “laying again the foundation of repentance.”
2. There must be a change.
a. When we walk our eyes are always focusing on something new.
b. So we must always strive to find newness in Christ.
c. Illustration:
Our lives are fields that primarily contain weeds. We cannot produce strawberries. We can mow the weeds, but that effort alone will never produce acceptable fruit. If we really want that fruit we will have to go deeper. We must plow up the whole field and start again with new plants (Christian Theology in Plain Language, p. 59.).
3. Our walk is to be in Him.
a. He is to be seen in us by others.
b. Others ought to observe that He is our master.
B. We are rooted in Him (7).
1. The roots of a tree are what give it stability.
a. The most stable tree is one whose roots have reached the largest and deepest cavities of the earth.
2. The live of the tree is found in its roots.
a. If a tree is uprooted it is destroyed.
b. The sinner will die if not rooted in Christ.
C. We are built up in Him (7).
1. There are constant additions.
2. There is constant growth.
3. There is constancy in the quest unto perfection.
4. There is creativity in the Architect’s skill and power displayed in the life of the Christian.
5. Illustration:
A Builder or a Wrecker
As I watched them tear a building down
A gang of men in a busy town
With a ho-heave-ho, and a lusty yell
They swung a beam and the side wall fell
I asked the foreman, "Are these men skilled,
And the men you'd hire if you wanted to build?"
He gave a laugh and said, "No, indeed,
Just common labor is all I need."
"I can easily wreck in a day or two,
What builders have taken years to do."
And I thought to myself, as I went my way
Which of these roles have I tried to play?
Am I a builder who works with care,
Measuring life by rule and square?
Am I shaping my work to a well-made plan?
Patiently doing the best I can?
Or am I a wrecker who walks to town
Content with the labor of tearing down?
"O Lord let my life and my labors be
That which will build for eternity!"
(Author Unknown, The Increase, 35th Anniversary Issue, 1993, p. 9.)
D. We are stablished in Him (7).
1. Without Christ we will we lost.
a. We cannot be “tossed to and fro” with every wind.
b. We cannot be a root taking such a slight hold the some strong wind will blow us away.
2. Like an oak or a house on a rock, so established that no power is effective in swaying us.
a. This is necessary in view of the great obstacles the Christian faces today.
III. THE POWERFUL MOTIVE (7)
A. An obligation (7).
1. “AS.”
2. Receiving Christ obligates one to walk in Him.
B. An Appeal (7).
1. “YE.”
2. Consider your state before receiving Christ.
3. Consider the new person found only in Christ.
4. Show all gratitude by walking in Him.
CONCLUSION:
1. Let us cease the precious gift.
2. Let us accept the pressing duty.
3. Let us lay hold of the powerful motive.
4. Illustration:
He `walked with God!' Could grander words be written?
Not much of what he thought or said is told:
Not where or what he wrought is even mentioned;
He `walked with God'—brief words of fadeless gold!
How many souls were succoured on his journey—
Helped by his words, or prayers, we may not know;
Still, this we read—words of excelling grandeur,
He walked with God while yet he walked below.
And, after years, long years, of such blest walking,
One day he walked, then was not, God said `Come!
Come from the scene of weary sin-stained sadness!
Come to the fuller fellowship of Home!'
Such be the tribute of thy pilgrim journey
When life's last mile thy feet have bravely trod—
When thou hast gone to all that there awaits thee,
This simple epitaph—‘He walked with God'.—J. Danson Smith
