Putting The Word into Action

INTRODUCTION

Today is the last message in our Prioritizing God’s Word in Our Lives.

We have examined the issue of prioritizing God’s Word in our lives.

With all we have discusses, what does it look like to prioritize God’s Word in our lives?

How can you tell if you are prioritizing God’s Word?

How can you see it in other people?

Is prioritizing God’s Word in our lives simply a matter of spending a certain amount of time in the Word, or is there more to it?

Most believers are familiar with the biblical metaphor of the new birth (John 3:7), but birth or belief is just the beginning for the person of God.

Eugene Peterson writes, “Birth presupposes growth, but growth proceeds from birth. … Birth is quick and easy (at least it seems that way to fathers—mothers have a different slant on it); growth is endless and complex” (Eugene Peterson, “Introduction,” in Practice Resurrection [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2010], Kindle).

The point is that we, like babies, must grow up.

This Colossian passage is a practical reminder that once we are made new, the old self must be cast off as we mature.

That growth can only happen as we allow God’s Word to inform and transform our lives while we live in community with others.

The message is entitled PUTTING THE WORD INTO ACTION; however, the passage we will spend time in today could also be titled, Living According to the Cross.

Let’s turn to Colossians 3 so we can see how to and what accomplishing that feat looks like!

Colossians 3:1–4 (NET 2nd ed.)

1 Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

2 Keep thinking about things above, not things on the earth,

3 for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

4 When Christ (who is your life) appears, then you too will be revealed in glory with him.

SERMON

Putting the Word into action in one’s life requires:

I. Redirecting one’s focus.

Verse one offers a conditional statement- IF YOU HAVE BEEN RASIED WITH CHRIST.

What does that statement mean?

What does that statement refer to?

The statement refers to baptism in Christ.

Colossians 2:12 (NET 2nd ed.)

12 Having been buried with him in baptism, you also have been raised with him through your faith in the power of God who raised him from the dead.

Paul says that IF you have been baptized (RAISED WITH) into Christ, this passage is for you.

Being baptized into Christ is not simply an external act or something we do and walk away from the same person.

Paul is saying that since you have been baptized and the old self is dead, it is time to move toward conforming to the new life we have in Him.

For the immersed believer, this is not an option!

We become a new creation. 2 Corinthians 5:17

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NET 2nd ed.)

17 So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; what is old has passed away—look, what is new has come!

Paul explains in Romans 6 that when we are buried with Christ, something changes; everything changes!

Romans 6:1–6 (NET 2nd ed.)

1 What shall we say then? Are we to remain in sin so that grace may increase?

2 Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it?

3 Or do you not know that as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

4 Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may live a new life.

5 For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be united in the likeness of his resurrection.

6 We know that our old man was crucified with him so that the body of sin would no longer dominate us, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

When we are in Christ, our focus needs to shift from the old life to the new life we have in Christ!

We are called to quit pursuing the things of the world and start our pursuit of God!

Our minds should be set on the things of God (vv. 1–3).

This is not meant to be hyper-spiritualized and make us out of touch with the here and now-of reality.

Rather, it means that everything we do is viewed through the lens of Christ and his resurrection.

Practically speaking, that means we should attempt to live now as we will live in heaven.

When you are driving, and you start staring at the ditch along the interstate, and you do not take your eyes off the ditch, where will you eventually end up?

THE DITCH!

What are eyes and heart fixed upon now?

Where your eyes and heart are fixed, that is where you will end up.

If your eyes and heart are focused on another person, eventually, you will end up divorced!

If your life focus is this world and not God, do you think you will end up with God?

Where is Jesus?

He is seated at the right hand of God in HEAVEN!

So it stands to reason that if you are following Jesus, you must be focused on where He is if that is where you want to go.

To set your mind upon Him is to direct your thoughts, desires, and affections toward Him and Heaven.

It means we have a strong drive toward the things above because we understand that is where the Jesus who died for us resides!

Our lives are to be hidden in Christ!

Galatians 2:20 (NET 2nd ed.)

20 I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Where is your focus?

Redirect it to the things above!

Colossians 3:5–9 (NET 2nd ed.)

5 So put to death whatever in your nature belongs to the earth: sexual immorality, impurity, shameful passion, evil desire, and greed which is idolatry.

6 Because of these things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience.

7 You also lived your lives in this way at one time, when you used to live among them.

8 But now, put off all such things as anger, rage, malice, slander, abusive language from your mouth.

9 Do not lie to one another since you have put off the old man with its practices

Putting the Word into action in one’s life requires:

II. Putting away the old self.

Since we have died to self and are a new creation, we are called to clean house, to clean out our old closet!

If we focus on the things from above, there are some things we need to put to death, things that are incompatible with the new life we have in Christ.

I remember Robyn and I watched a show called What Not To Wear years ago.

In that show, folks would come in for a makeover, and part of that makeover included the person who was to be made over bringing things currently in their closet to have the hosts judge whether the old clothing would fit the new image of the person getting the makeover.

One of the most challenging things for the person on the show is to part with the old wardrobe.

Almost all the ladies thought they rocked the house with snakeskin tights and pink boots.

They need a wakeup call; the wakeup call on the show is the 360-degree mirror, and that mirror is the truth-teller.

It helped the fashion offender realize they needed to change what they wore.

After the mirror, the show hosts go through the fashion offender's closet and throw almost everything in the trash can.

Paul gives us a list of items we need to take out of our closet and throw in the trash.

We must discard the old clothing that no longer fits who we are in Christ!

We need to realize we are dead to our old life. We have outgrown many of the items in our closet.

In verse five, we are told we are to consider the members of our earthly body as dead to the things listed for us.

We are to literally “put to death” these things.

To consider dead means we are to hold these items in check, to restrain them.

Left unrestrained, they will lead us in the wrong direction.

I will not explain each item on this list because it is not all-inclusive.

We will struggle with these issues as long as we live in a fallen world.

In verse seven, Paul tells the readers that they ONCE lived their lives this way, implying they are no longer to in the manner verses 6-9 speak of.

The way to tell if you need to get rid of something is by asking, is this act befitting one who belongs to Jesus?

The last part of verse five tells us that these things amount to idolatry.

When we reject the true God of the Bible, we make up one of our own imagination; we make OUR desires, appetites, and lusts our god by the deification of them.

Let’s turn to verses 10-17

Colossians 3:10–17 (NET 2nd ed.)

10 and have been clothed with the new man that is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of the one who created it.

11 Here there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all and in all.

12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with a heart of mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,

13 bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if someone happens to have a complaint against anyone else. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also forgive others.

14 And to all these virtues add love, which is the perfect bond.

15 Let the peace of Christ be in control in your heart (for you were in fact called as one body to this peace), and be thankful.

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and exhorting one another with all wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, all with grace in your hearts to God.

17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Putting the Word into action in one’s life requires:

III. Putting on the new self.

When we are a new creation, we need a renewal of the mind, as verse 10 speaks of.

Romans 12:1–2 (NET 2nd ed.)

1 Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice—alive, holy, and pleasing to God—which is your reasonable service.

2 Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God—what is good and well-pleasing and perfect.

We are to be renewed in the image of God!

Verse 12-14 lists the virtues that come along with that renewal.

The thing that ties all the virtues together is love; love is the perfect bond.

Jesus talked about the importance of love constantly.

Love will allow us to bear with one another, forgive one another, and do all the other things we need to do.

Love is vital for us because God IS LOVE!

When we can place our focus on the things above, we will enjoy some blessings.

Verse 16 encapsulates the series we have spent our time on over the past few weeks.

Colossians 3:16 (NET 2nd ed.)

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and exhorting one another with all wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, all with grace in your hearts to God.

If we allow God's word to dwell within us, our lives will never be the same!

How do you think this happens? It only happens when we allow the Word to penetrate our lives.

Spending time in God’s word, listening to music that contains God’s Word, and studying together are but a few ways in which we can put ourselves in the position to be able to allow the Word to dwell in us.

When we know and understand God’s word, it fills our hearts, it shapes our thoughts and feelings, and it guides our lives.

Do you want to win the battle of temptation, let the Word richly dwell within you!

CONCLUSION

Just as we discussed in week 1, our time with God and in His Word should be transformative—so much so that it affects how we live and engage with the world.

What we hear from Scripture should help us become our “new self.”

We can’t just fill ourselves up with knowledge—we must live it out.

As we gather to learn from God’s Word, we don’t (or shouldn’t) become a clique with all the rightest answers.

We don’t strive to be pridefully intellectual about all things Bible-related, but we desire to become “doers of the word, and not hearers only” (James 1:22).

We seek to become people who worship the God the Bible points us to (John 5:39).

We persevere together to become people who “hear the word of God and keep it!” (Luke 11:28).