LIVING THE GOOD LIFE
Colossians 3.12-17
S: The good life – as God intended
C: Resurrection Day
Th: A People with Purpose
Pr: LIVE THE GOOD LIFE.
?: What? What is good about the Christian life?
KW: Characteristics
TS: We will find in our study of Colossians 3.12-17 four characteristics we are able to develop that enables us to live the good life.
Type: Propositional
The ____ characteristic is…
I. AWARENESS (12)
II. GRACE (12-14)
III. CALM (15)
IV. PURPOSE (16-17)
PA: How is the change to be observed?
• Embrace the good life Jesus offers.
• Be aware of God’s love for you.
• Act in love.
• Rest in God’s person.
• Live with purpose.
Version: ESV
RMBC 16 April 2006 AM
INTRODUCTION:
So…how good have you been?
ILL Good
One day God was looking down at Earth and saw all of the rascally behavior that was going on. He decided to send an angel down to Earth to check it out.
When the Angel returned, he told God, "Yes, it is bad on Earth: 95% are misbehaving and 5% are not."
God thought for a moment and said, "Maybe I had better send down a second angel to get another opinion." So God called another angel and sent him to Earth to confirm the findings.
When the angel returned he went to God and said, "Yes, the Earth is in decline; 95% are misbehaving and 5% are being good."
God was not pleased. So God decided to e-mail the 5% that were good because He wanted to encourage them, give them a little something to help them keep going.
Do you know what that e-mail said?
No?
I didn’t get one either.
TRANSITION:
1. Jesus went to the cross because we are not good.
Two days ago, we celebrated Good Friday.
We call it good because it was good for us.
It was good for us, because Jesus took care of what is not good in us.
In Christian circles, we hear that Jesus died for the sins of the world.
In this context, that world is you and me.
It is a very personal thing.
Scripture tells us that not one of us is righteous.
We all fall short of God’s standards of what is right.
But when we get that understanding, that is, we understand our brokenness, we are finally in a position that God can work for our good.
When we fight it, though, we are in essence fighting God.
More profoundly, we are missing the blessing He wants to give us.
You see…
2. When Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead, He enabled each one of us to live a different kind of life than the world.
This is what the baptisms reflected this morning.
... are embarking on a different kind of life than they had before.
God loves to give second chances and see us make good on them.
And that is what is reflected this morning in baptism.
It is a new start.
It is the beginning of a better life.
It is a life that follows and reflects Jesus.
It is the good life.
And this is my encouragement to you today.
We can…
3. LIVE THE GOOD LIFE.
This is what God has for each one of us today.
For the Christian life is a good life.
This does not mean it is always easy, but it is good.
And when we truly get it, it is a life of joy.
So…
4. We will find in our study of Colossians 3.12-17 four characteristics we are able to develop that enables us to live the good life.
OUR STUDY:
I. The first characteristic is AWARENESS (12).
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved…
1. Understand the good work God desires to do in you (cf. Philippians 1.6).
We all like to be chosen.
We enjoy being the recipients of favor.
This is why the television shows like Survivor and The Bachelor have such an appeal.
It is all about being chosen.
Then, there were those dreaded kickball games, you know, the ones that sides were chosen, and arguments broke out because no one wanted the smallest kid on their team.
Not being chosen, well that can sure take a chunk out of one’s self-esteem.
But when God chooses us, it is not on the basis of what we have done, or what we can do, or what size we are.
God chooses us because He loves us.
Yes, it is that simple.
2. You are loved!
This is why the show “Touched by an Angel” was so popular for so long.
The familiar message on the show was, “I am an angel sent by God, and I have a message for you…God loves you.”
It is an absolutely true message.
Understand that today…
You can have the good life today, because you are dearly loved.
II. The second characteristic is GRACE (12-14).
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
Have you ever heard the phrase, “You’re ugly and your mother dresses you funny!”?
Well, I am sure that many of you have good fashion sense, especially on a day like today, and you have put on some nice things that match.
God does tell us what is the best way to dress in this text.
It is to dress with grace.
It is not the way the world dresses, but it is the way to dress for the good life.
It is the way life ought to be lived.
You see…
1. We are able to be on guard for others (cf. Philippians 2.3-4).
The good life looks out for the interests of others.
The Christian life is to be one of compassion.
If we are insensitive or callous, that’s not the good life He has for us.
Instead, we are able to possess hearts characterized by empathy, softness and vulnerability.
The good life is also to be one of kindness.
It is the opposite of harshness.
For kindness is compassion in action.
It is the smile, the good word, the pat on shoulder, and the offer to help.
And it is way beyond random acts of kindness.
The good life is one of intentionality.
Humility also describes the Christian life.
It is the exact opposite of pride and arrogance.
At first glance, it may not seem to be the way to the good life, but it is because it is counter cultural.
In this me-first culture, humility is refreshing and appreciated, and it puts us in right relationship with those around us.
Gentleness describes the good life as well.
It is the opposite of being rough and ungracious.
I like comparing gentleness to a horse that has been broken and tamed.
There is great strength, but it is under control.
It is strength that does not demand to be satisfied.
Rather, it looks to help and satisfy others.
Next comes the concept of patience.
It is the opposite of anger and revenge.
It is the discipline of holding oneself back, of self-restraint.
Along with this is the characteristic of bearing with one another.
It contributes to the good life by giving support and holding another up.
Also…
2. We can let go of hatred and bitterness.
We can do much better than tolerate each other.
We can be truly ones that forgive.
We can put it away and forget the wrongs we have felt.
It can be done.
Because we know we hate it when somebody reminds us of a past wrong, so there is no need to follow that pattern.
We can live the good life.
We can let go of the past, and truly love each other, because…
3. Love is the winning component.
The Christian puts on the overcoat of love, for it ties everything together.
Granted, this life of grace is not always lived out perfectly.
We struggle to get this right all the time, but when we do, it is the good life.
It is the life that is worth living.
III. The third characteristic is CALM (15).
And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
1. God is able to give rest to our souls.
The word for rule here in the text is the verb for officiate.
In other words, the good life is characterized by a peace from Jesus that sets the rules and tells us when we have gone over the line, so to speak.
This happened the other evening during the deacon meeting when, while we were speaking about some difficult matters about our future, there was a refreshing peace.
We were unperturbed.
There was poise.
There was excitement.
Even more, there was peace in the midst of hard things.
This happens, I believe when we are people that are contented.
You see…
2. We can find contentment in gratitude.
This comes to the good life when we recognize that we do not deserve such good treatment.
Instead, we are grateful.
We live lives of gratitude that realize the blessings we receive find their source in the generosity of God.
IV. The fourth characteristic is PURPOSE (16-17).
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Listen to this…
1. We can know the mind of God.
The good life is characterized by knowing God!
His word finds its home in us.
There is a living of and in reality that is shared together with others who are practicing the good life.
They find that God’s words to us are alive, vital, refreshing, and illuminating.
They find that God’s words dispel doubts, fears, and difficulties.
Not only that, the rich variety of music – psalms, hymns and spiritual songs are all available to brighten our souls, to draw us closer to Him.
In the good life, we find that…
2. Our lives can have meaning.
Everything becomes an act of worship.
We know what we are living for.
We know who we are living for – the Lord Jesus.
We find that there is a great design to life.
And it is in this design there is meaning and purpose.
It is in this design, there is joy.
APPLICATION:
Ill Salvation: Dostoevsky Finds Christ after Escaping Death
Fyodor Dostoevsky was one of the most famous and accomplished Russian writers of the 19th century, known for writing Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, and The Brothers Karamazov.
Early in his life, Dostoevsky underwent a virtual resurrection. He had been arrested for belonging to a group judged treasonous by Tsar Nicholas I, who, to impress upon the young parlor radicals the gravity of their errors, sentenced them to death and staged a mock execution. The conspirators were dressed in white death gowns and led to a public square, where a firing squad awaited them. Blindfolded, robed in white burial shrouds, hands bound tightly behind them, they were paraded before a gawking crowd and then tied to posts. At the very last instant, as the order, "Ready, aim!" was heard and rifles were cocked and lifted upward, a horseman galloped up with a pre-arranged message from the tsar: he would mercifully commute their sentences to hard labor.
Dostoevsky never recovered from this experience. He had peered into the jaws of death, and from that moment life became for him precious beyond all calculation. Now my life will change, he said; I shall be born again in a new form. As he boarded the convict train toward Siberia, a devout woman handed him a New Testament, the only book allowed in prison. Believing that God had given him a second chance to fulfill his calling, Dostoevsky pored over that New Testament during his confinement. After 10 years he emerged from exile with unshakable Christian convictions, as expressed in one famous passage: "If anyone proved to me that Christ was outside the truth, then I would prefer to remain with Christ than with the truth."
Citation: Philip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew (Zondervan, 1995), pp. 140-141
Because he was dearly loved, Dostoevsky found the truth and the good life.
May I encourage you to do the same…
Embrace the good life God has for you.
So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.
Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ — the Message — have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives — words, actions, whatever — be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.
THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson.
BENEDICTION: [Counselors are ]
Embrace the good life…for it is for those that are dearly loved, set apart to be the good work God is faithful to complete.
Embrace the good life…for it is a life that looks out for others, fully committed to wrapping each other in love.
Embrace the good life…for it is a life of peace, wisdom and meaning; regardless what others may say, it does not get any better than this!
Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
RESOURCES:
SermonCentral:
Apple, Paul The Perfect Bond of Unity
Stedman, Ray C. Put on the New
Talton, Chris Hand-me Downs
Williams, Jefferson. Dressing for Success
Vaughan, Curtis. “Colossians,” In The Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Vol. 11. 12 vols., ed. Frank E. Gaebelein. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1978.
