Jesus 2023 Hear

Paul in particular in this passage is addressing their belief that you had to adhere to the old testament laws as well as believe in God to go to heaven.

They emphasized things like you must be circumcised and you must follow the dietary laws to be saved.

They were a works + faith belief system

We as Christians believe you are saved by faith and your works are the evidence of your faith but not the thing that saves you

Paul summarizes his thoughts on their beliefs in Col. 2:20-23

Colossians 2:20–23 ESV

If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

So Paul tells them simply saying do not handle, do not taste, do not touch is not the way that you stop indulging the flesh, (in other words) its not the way that you resist the temptation to sin.

I said this last week

If you walk around life with your head down and your eyes and ears covered you will still be tempted to sin.

You can pluck out both eyes and cut off both ears but sin doesn’t exist in your eyes or in your ears it exists in your heart.

If you want to resist sin you must allow Jesus to change your heart through a relationship with Him

PRAY

Colossians 3:1–2 ESV

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

You have been raised with Christ

As believers we recognize we no longer are the same person after we recognize Jesus as our Lord.

Paul says once we confess Jesus as our Lord our old nature, the nature that desires to sin, the old nature that seeks evil, that has died and now we are raised with Christ.

Just as Christ died on the cross to forgive us of our sins, we too die to our old nature when we accept Christ.

And just as Christ was risen to life, you too are risen to life as a new creation.

Who you were and the things you used to do are dead, you are a new creation.

So Paul goes on to say we should act like a new creation, we should even think like a new creation.

Colossians 3:2 ESV

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

It’s not about just trying to ignore your sin or not trying to commit a sin its about focusing on Christ.

As you focus on Christ you lose focus of all the other things that are not glorifying to Him.

We are talking about how we worship God by what we hear tonight.

But not only what we hear but what we listen to.

Have you ever been zoning out when mom and dad or maybe a teacher are talking to you and then they ask you “are you listening to me?”

You can hear someone say something and it can be forgotten about in five seconds

But when you listen you turn your attention to them with the goal of doing what is asked of you.

Are you hearing Jesus, or are you listening to Him

When we set our minds on what is above we turn our attention to Him the desire to sin fades.

Not because it’s not there but compared to Jesus and the relationship and life that He offers sin cannot compare

This being said it does not mean that your wont still struggle with the temptation of sin.

In fact Paul even recognizes this i verse 5

Colossians 3:5–8 ESV

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.

So Paul says that not only are we to continue focusing on Christ or in other words building our relationship with Him.

But also we put to death our sin.

So as we focus on Christ we begin realizing there are some things in our life that we don’t desire to be there.

Paul even lists some out and makes a point here.

He says on account of these the wrath of God is coming.

Paul is not saying here that just these few sins are going to get the wrath of God

We know that all sin will be destroyed by God.

Paul is highlighting the seriousness of our sin in the face of God.

The wrath of God destroys sin.

We too, as we look at and focus on Jesus should have this same mentality.

We should hate sin, not love it

We should desire to destroy our sin not protect it by hiding it

But his overall point is that you won’t desire to put to death your sin without first putting to death yourself and following after Jesus

Notice that Paul says in verse 5 that we must put to death what is earthly IN YOU

This goes back to the point that the work of desiring your sin less starts with an inward change in your heart.

Colossians 3:9–10 ESV

Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

So Paul has told us to focus on Christ

Put to death what is earthly IN US

Now he uses an example of taking off a dirty shirt.

Have y'all ever gotten really sweaty or gross and your clothes are stinky and grimy.

I used to get home from working at this little grill in Hawaii and I would be sweaty and this like film of grease would be all over my clothes

When I woke up in the morning I wouldn’t put the same clothes on again to go back to work! NO!!! I put on different clothes.

Paul tells us here that we have put off the old self and we should put on the new self.

Kaitlyn had a really good analogy to this

When you become a Christian you are confronted with your sin and you begin to learn about God’s grace and how it covers that sin

Becoming a Christian is realizing that you are wearing dirty filthy rags.

And as you realize that you desire to take those off and you begin realizing that Jesus is offering fresh clean clothes for you to wear

The old self is your sin and the new self is who you are after coming to know Christ.

The new self is constantly being changed and transformed AFTER THE IMAGE OF ITS CREATOR

This means that as we deepen our relationship with Christ, as we focus more on Him the greater the desire will be to walk away from your sin, to put it to death.

After telling us to focus on Christ

After telling us to put to death our sins

After telling us to take off the old rags of sin and put on the new image of Christ

Paul tells us what that image looks like. Some practical application for your life.

What does living like a believer of Christ look like.

Colossians 3:12–16 ESV

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, 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. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 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.

Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.

All these attributes, they don’t start by denying sin

They don’t start by closing your eyes and ears to sin

They start by opening your heart to Him and by setting your eyes on things above.

As you allow your heart to be changed and transformed by Christ you in turn will be changed and transformed in what you see, hear, and speak.

You will begin to desire sin less and desire Christ more and more.

Gospel.

PRAY

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