Colossians 3:1-10
Living Life the Way God Intended
When you become a believer, you adopt a whole new set of values. You realign your life to live God’s way instead of Satan’s way. You say, “God, you know better than I do how I should live my life.”
We’ve been in a short mini-series in the book of Colossians. The Apostle Paul spent the first half of his letter to the church in Colossae telling them who they were in Christ, and who Christ was in them. Now he shifts gears and basically says, “You need to put into practice what you already are in principle.” Be who God says you are. Live out your identity. Walk the talk.
An outline for today’s verses could follow the early outline of a water baptism: buried with Christ into death, raised with his resurrection power, up out of the water to live a brand new life. And that’s our three steps for today. First,
1. View your pre-Christian self as dead.
3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God... 5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.
Verses 3 and 5 sound like a contradiction: verse 3, you died--past tense; and then verse 5, “Put to death...” Why do you need to put to death all these parts of your earthly nature if you already died? It’s a good question, and we already know the answer. We first become saved as we allow all our sin and pride to be put to death. We humbly come to Jesus as our only hope. And in so doing, we identify with his death. As Jesus’ body enters the grave, we consider that all we are apart from God is now spiritually dead. It’s gone. Sin’s living days are over.
Does that mean we never sin once we become a Christian? Of course not! We do. And that’s why Paul says we need to put to death these things that are supposed to be dead within us anyway. Even though our pre-Christian-self died at salvation, it still tries to live on at times, and to pretend that nothing has really changed. Satan would have you believe that God didn’t really make you into a new creation. And so, sometimes we catch ourselves dabbling in things like sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed. Or, if you don’t find yourself in that list, consider the next: anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy language from your lips, and lying. Now I think we’ve included everyone!
Look at verse 7: “You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived.” That stuff is past tense. That’s who you used to be, not who you are now. So put it to death! View your pre-Christian self as dead!
One of our VA Bible study attendees last week talked about how he finds himself tempted by old temptations, to be where he shouldn’t be, doing what he shouldn’t be doing. And he says, “That’s not me anymore.” He says Satan tries to tempt him with those things, but he is starting to realize that he’s dead to them. They mean nothing to him. They don’t carry the same appeal they used to.
Let me ask you a deep question: How much does a dead person sin? They don’t! Next time you’re tempted to sin, remember that dead people don’t sin! Consider yourself dead to those old ways. And then,
2. Draw on God’s resurrection power
Verse 1 starts off: “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ...”
Something miraculous happened the moment you believed in Christ. In that moment, not only did he put to death your old self, he gave you resurrection power as you became a new creation. We’ve talked before about Jesus’ death bringing about your “justification.” Jesus paid for all your sin for all time. I memorized the meaning of the word “justification” by the phrase, “just as if you’ve never sinned.” That’s the state Jesus moved you to. But the other thing that happened is “identification.” You identified with Christ. You died to your old self, just as he died. And now you draw on God’s resurrection power that raised Jesus from the dead. That same power helps you live into your new identity: a new creation in Christ.
Have you ever wondered why it is so hard to overcome a recurring temptation? You fail and fail again. You pray hard. You try to do the right thing. And then you give in once again, no matter how hard you’ve tried.
We’ve said it before. It comes down to this slogan: “Don’t try harder; trust more!” It’s not up to you to white knuckle it harder. It IS up to you to trust God more. Trust that God can give you the willpower you lack. Trust that God can give you the internal drive to obey him. Trust that God can line up your desires with his desires.
And that brings us to our last step, which is to...
3. Aim for heavenly thoughts and affections
Verse 1 finishes: 1 ...Set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
We’re talking hearts and minds here. Your heart is where your affections lie. Your mind is where your thoughts are. Paul says keep them both set on God. The word “set” in the Greek implies an ongoing action: keep seeking after God’s righteousness. That idea reminds me of Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:33: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
We’ve talked in this mini-series on Colossians of the importance of staying in scripture regularly, of praying regularly, of spending time with other believers regularly. These are basics that will help us turn our hearts and minds toward heaven. Maybe some examples will help. One person kept a gratitude journal. And right before he went to bed, he would write down three unique things he was grateful to God for that day. His rule was that he would never use the same item twice. That made him hunt for unique gratitudes throughout the day.
Or some of you like to take early morning walks, before it gets too hot, or to sit out on the patio or deck. What if you were to use that time sometimes as a prayer time, whether walking or sitting. You can keep your eyes open to pray, you know. It’s allowed! And you could pray about things you see. “Father, thank you for the beautiful birds who are so busy this morning! Thank you for the aids who work here [when you see them go by]. Fill them with strength, with energy they need to serve us, with a heart that seeks after you and your ways. Thank you for this place to live. Help us all get along well together.”
Some of you love watching the news. Have you ever tried praying the news? As you hear about each new situation--most of it bad news, because that’s what sells!--what if you turned each story into a prayer for God’s help, God’s intercession in this world, God’s guidance, for people to live seeking “thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Pray the news!
These are just examples, ways to remind yourself you are dead to old, pre-Christian habits, you have resurrection power to help change, and you can reset your thoughts and desires to heavenly things, where Jesus is seated at the right of the Father.
As you die to self and live for Christ, something incredible happens: God transforms you more and more into the image of his Son. Look at 2 Corinthians 3:18, at the bottom of your outline. Let’s read this incredible truth together:
“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
That’s what God is doing with us, as we spend time with him. Let’s pray and ask his help:
Father, you know we all too often fall back into familiar patterns of sinful behavior. Like Paul, we don’t always do what we know we should do. And all too often, we do what we shouldn’t do. We hurt people, even people who love us. Help us to realize you have made us into a new creation. Help us reject the old self when it raises its ugly head. Remind us that old self is dead. Help us draw on your resurrection power. The angel said it well: “Nothing is impossible with God.” Help us place our affections and our thoughts on your heavenly throne, knowing that you reign over all of us. We belong to you. We ask this in the Triune name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
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For welcome time:
One day a little girl was sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink. She suddenly noticed that her mother had several strands of white hair sticking out in contrast to her brunette hair.
She looked at her mother and inquisitively asked, “Why are some of your hairs white, Mom?” Her mother replied, “Well, every time that you do something wrong and make me cry or unhappy, one of my hairs turns white.”
The little girl thought about this revelation for a while and then said, “Momma, how come ALL of grandma’s hairs are white?”
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Colossians 3:1-10
3 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
