Christ Our Life

INTRODUCTION

This morning I wanted to use my sermon time to share my heart on what I feel is going on at Broadview right now.

The fall of 2020 was one of the darker seasons I’ve ever been in as a local church pastor.

You had COVID-19 in the spring,

racial division and political polarization in the summer and fall.

Finally you had the election in November (plus our 3rd!) and I was about at my wits end.

We saw people leave our church in droves in 2020.

Some left loudly. They disagreed and made it known!

Some left quietly. They just disengaged from community and found themselves happy to not go back to church here or anywhere else.

Some left temporarily. They were gone for 2020 and even much of 2021 but gradually stepped back in in 2022 and 2023.

Some left tragically. Sinful choices were exposed and the consequences were devastating. To this day, some are still walking away from the Lord.

Darkest & Greatest

Needless to say, by the end of 2020 I wasn’t sure how to get back what we lost or how to navigate ministry in a post-covid world.

I was worn out, depressed and feeling really isolated.

We went from 30 baptisms a year down to 17. The year after that only 12.

That being said, sometimes its in the darkest of night that the Lord does his greatest work.

When we are forced into a position of dependance on the Lord the Holy Spirit is able to do important work on our hearts.

Over the next three years the Lord accomplished a great work of renewal in my own life and revival in the life of our church.

Through a series of intentional steps, our church as moved into increasing levels of prayerfulness, dependance and communion with the Lord.

We went from 50% of our pre-covid growth numbers to more baptisms in the last six months than the entirety of 2019.

First gradually, then more rapidly the LORD has been adding to and strengthening our church. This growth is replacing the people we lost because of physical death or spiritual separation.

44 people in 2021

58 people in 2022

76 people in 2023

52 people so far in 2024 (and I anticipate over 100 before the end of the year)

These growth numbers are NOT the result of trying harder, doing better or revamping some ministry programming.

The only thing that’s changed is a renewed commitment to prayer, fasting and seeking after the manifest presence of God.

Hope & Hurt in Drawing Near

To borrow from a friend of mine, it feels like we’re a kite caught up in a hurricane of God’s grace.

Most days I feel more like a passenger than a driver and I’m so encouraged with where God is taking our church.

The prayer services on Wednesday nights have been meaningful and special. God is literally beginning to answer our prayers specifically and gloriously.

Sunday morning worship, especially during February/March - you could just sense that there was something different in the air. There’s a spiritual life and energy that is exciting and contagious.

Both adult men and women are committing themselves to mentoring groups/d-groups that meet weekly to discuss the Bible and solidify their convictions.

Our fellowship events have had their highest attendance ever whether mens ministry, women's ministry, family ministry or Joy Ministry (senior adult ministry).

In going back to three services we’ve had our largest Sunday morning attendance (not holiday related) and our largest Easter attendance since 2020 as well.

In drawing near to Christ he has put new life in our church, new energy in our ministries and given us a new vision for our future.

It’s one of the great gifts of God in drawing near to the throne of grace.

Drawing near to Christ will ignite new hope in our hearts.

But that’s not the only thing it does.

At Broadview, even though all of these HAPPY things have been happening, there’s also simultaneously been the rise of many HARD things.

There’s been a great deal of spiritual heaviness and physical loss that is outsized in it’s influence and scope.

Since January we’ve had close to 20 people from our church or connected with our church pass away. Many of these deaths were tragic, premature and unexpected.

So many people in our church are hurting right now.

In addition to physical death we’ve also been battling serious spiritual warfare.

There are marriages, families and individuals who are deeply grieving over the destruction that sin has wrought in their life and on the ones they love.

We have seven individuals who actively engage in biblical counseling and all seven have been active with one or more cases in the past few months.

Drawing near ignites new hope in our hearts but it also exposes hidden sin in our life.

And the Lord is doing both of those things in our church family right now. So things are really really happy and really really hard at the same time.

A Pastoral Word

That brings me to our passage today out of the book of Colossians. The Lord has used this text over the past many weeks to encourage my heart to persevere and not quit.

Colossians is a letter written by the apostle Paul to a church in Colossae that was struggling because of some “new ideas” and “false teaching” that had infiltrated the local church.

It was a mix of what we might call new age mysticism and legalistic fundamentalism.

If it sounds crazy just wait that’s exactly where I think our culture is headed given the false Gospel it’s bought into.

Paul addresses this false teaching by exalting the supremacy of Christ over all and God’s grace in the Gospel as the only thing powerful enough to transform the human heart.

While I think our challenges look different than the church at Colossae there is a sense in which we share a common struggle and need a common cure.

Their struggle came from this subtle belief that if you just know the right stuff, do all the right things, try really really hard and have a little bit of luck then your problems could be solved and your life could find meaning and purpose.

Paul’s response to that false teaching was pretty simple. You don’t need special knowledge or legalistic performance to find meaning meaning and purpose.

Everything you need in life and in death comes from the grace of our union with Christ.

As clear as day the Lord told me on the backside of my sabbatical the priority of first importance is putting Christ back at the center explicitly and intentional and pursuing communion with Christ through congregational prayer.

If it was good for the Christians in Colossae it’s good for us today.

Read The Text

As with most of Paul’s letters, after he builds out his theological argument he moves on to practical life application.

That’s where our passage begins in Colossians 3:1-4.

Colossians 3:1–4 CSB

1 So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the 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 hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

This is clunky English but the original language packs a big punch in a short package.

I count seven key ideas in these four verses.

We’ve been raised with Christ.

Seek the things above.

Set your minds on things above.

In Christ we have died.

In Christ we are hidden/live.

Christ will return.

We will appear with him in glory.

For the sake of simplicity I want to reorder these truths and combine a few so that we can get the main thrust of Paul’s argument.

In verses 1-4 Paul gives three truths, two commands and one promise.

The two commands are obvious.

seek the things that are above

set your minds on the things above.

T‌he three truths, if we put them in order would be…

We died (with Christ)

We’ve be raised (with Christ)

We live / are hidden (in Christ)

The future promise is we will appear with Christ in glory.

Become Who You Already Are

It’s important that we get this foundation because everything else is built upon it.

Paul is not saying that we seek and set our minds on heavenly things so that we might die to sin and become raised with Christ. It’s the opposite.

He’s saying because the old you is dead and the new you is raised with Christ and hidden in Christ - start living like that’s true.

Become in practice who we already are in Jesus.

Seek the things that are above (where Christ is in all his glory)

Set your minds on the things above (not on these earthly things that have no glory.)

Christ Our Life

It’s really summed up in that phrase in verse 4 “Christ, who is your life.”

Paul uses similar language in Galatians 2:20 “I’ve been crucified with Christ it’s no longer I who live but Christ who lives IN ME.”

Earlier in Colossians 2:13–14 Paul explained we were DEAD in sin but Christ MADE US ALIVE. How? (1) Forgiving our sins, (2) erasing our debt and (3) nailing it to the cross.

So what does it mean that Christ is our life?

In the remaining verses Paul explains it in terms of old things dying and new things coming to life.

Christ is our life in that

the old man/woman is gone

he/she been replaced with a new man/woman

The new man/woman is

united to Christ,

finds their identity in Christ and

embodies the reality of Christ in the way they live and love.

In Jesus we are dead to sin and alive to righteousness.

It’s upon that foundation that Paul is makes two big points.

Put off what Christ put to death in you.

Put on what Christ brought to life in you.

Colossians 3:5-9 are about putting off what Christ put to death.

Colossians 3:12-17 are about putting on what Christ brought to life.

Everything in between and after are why and how those two things are done.

Put Off Death

First Paul says to put off what Christ put to death in us.

In one sense this feels a little frustrating because if Christ really put it to death then why do we have to intentionally “put it off?”

The answer is because the new stuff can’t grow if the old stuff is still in the ground.

Christ destroyed the PENALTY of your sin nature,

he destroyed the POWER of your sin nature

but it’s up to us to remove the PRESENCE of our sin nature.

We must work OUT our salvation with fear and trembling knowing it is GOD who WORKS IN us to will and to work according to his good pleasure. (Phil 2:12-13)

So what are these things? Paul could’ve listed anything but he narrows in a specific list.

Colossians 3:5–9 CSB

5 Therefore, put to death what belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, God’s wrath is coming upon the disobedient, 7 and you once walked in these things when you were living in them. 8 But now, put away all the following: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and filthy language from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old self with its practices

The Root Sin: Idolatry

Paul basically has two lists of five followed by an additional explanatory statement.

The first list of five deal with personal sins that stem from the heart.

The next list of five describe relational sins that stem from our mouths.

We know from Jesus that our hearts and mouths are closely linked because out of the mouth the heart SPEAKS.

The root cause of sin in our hearts AND our relationships lays at the end of verse 5: idolatry.

Another way to think of it is with the phrase “evil desire.” That’s the greek word epithumia.

It doesn’t mean a desire for bad things. It means a desire that’s gone bad. A desire that’s gone rouge. A desire that’s become disordered or beyond the proper limit.

You could think of it as an addiction of the soul. It’s not just that you want something in your life. It’s more like “not having that thing” makes you not want to live.

It’s something - maybe even a good thing - that used to make you feel good. Now, without it, you can’t even feel normal.

When good things become ultimate things the Bible calls it idolatry.

It’s idolatry because those things/people take the place of where God should be in the affections of our heart.

We would never say it out loud but we begin to live as though “I can live without God just don’t let me live without THAT.”

Idolatry in the heart leads to damage in our relationships.

When our idol gets threatened we become sinfully angry, wrathful, vengeful and slanderous.

We say terrible things in an effort to protect the ultimate thing that’s ruling our heart.

We will lie, cheat, steal and even harm anything that jeopardizes the “king of our heart.”

Practical Examples

Here’s what’s crazy. We rarely ever see our own idols. It’s not until we begin drawing near to God that the idolatry of our heart gets exposed.

The closer we get the clearer they become. Just like light exposes things hidden in the dark. So does the glory of Christ expose the idols of our heart.

The act of drawing near initiates a battle between two forces.

Jesus, full of grace and truth, is helping you repent of and overcome the sin in your life.

Satan, our accuser and deceiver, is doing everything in his power to resist that grace.

What this looks like practically will be different depending on your season/station of life.

For a married couple it might be an explosive argument after a season of drawing near.

For a person struggling with addiction it’s relapse into your bondage because of thing you couldn’t handle.

For a parent it might be the public failure or shaming of one of your kids.

For a single person it might be the marriage or anniversary of a close friend.

If your idol is your reputation it will be a smear campaign that impugns your character.

If your idol is being in control it’ll be circumstances that expose you can’t.

If you idolize being right it’ll be a circumstance that proves your NOT.

Test of the Flesh

Anytime you draw near to the Lord your flesh will get a test. It’s the way our world is wired.

And that test is a grace from God because it helps you become aware of the root problem in your heart.

It’s Jesus’s way of saying, “Hey, I dealt with this ugliness in you on the cross. You don’t have to live this way anymore. It’s gotta go!”

But it’s also an opportunity for the devil to remind you, “if you lose this you lose it all. You will never be okay again if you get rid of this thing in your life.”

What is that thing in your life? If you had to, what name would you give it?

It’s always making your anxious or keeping you up a night?

It’s the one button somebody can press that ignites sinful anger?

When you’re putting others down what are you defending in yourself?

It’s the thing you deceptively hide and conceal from other people?

You’re afraid if you’re honest you’ll lose that thing forever.

It’s the thing you irrationally defend, justify or excuse?

What’s motivating your sexual immorality, impurity or lust?

Why It Must Go

Whatever that is. Put it to death!

Paul goes on to give some motivations for WHY we ought to do this in verse 6-7.

These things need to go

because that’s not who you are anymore and

these behaviors invite God’s judgment on your life.

In Christ we are protected from God’s wrath. But if we continually persist in unrepentant sin we should have ZERO confidence we belong to the Lord.

Continual unrepentant sin in your heart (pertaining to idolatry) or with your mouth (pertaining to relationships) are an indication that Jesus’ resurrection power isn’t alive in you.

In other words, killing the sin in your life doesn’t CAUSE you to become a Christian it just exposes the reality you already are.

Killing sin won’t cause of salvation but it does confirm you possess it.

Putting On Life

So be killing sin lest sin be killing you. Put off what Christ has put to death in you.

But it’s not enough to just put off what Christ put to death in us. We must also put on what Christ brought to life in us.

Colossians 3:10–14 CSB

10 and have put on the new self. You are being renewed in knowledge according to the image of your Creator. 11 In Christ there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all. 12 Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a grievance against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you are also to forgive. 14 Above all, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.

One of my favorite books is written by a Scottish Minister named Thomas Chalmers. It’s entitled “the expulsive power of a new affection.”

One of the quotes I really appreciate from that book is what Paul describes in these five verses. Namely,

“We know of no other way by which to keep the love of the world out of our heart, than to keep in our hearts the love of God - and no other way by which to keep our hearts in the love of God, than building ourselves up on our most holy faith.”

The Love of God

To push worldly loves out pour the love of God in.

That’s why Paul prefaces his exhortations about putting on virtue with a description of God’s love towards us in Christ.

We are being “renewed by God” (v 10)

We have been chosen by God (v 12)

We’ve been set apart (made holy) by God. (v12)

We’ve been dearly loved by God (v12)

That word translated “dearly” is the Greek word “spagchnon” which means mercy or compassion.

It’s related to the word for intestines. It’s that sympathy you feel for somebody when their in a really bad way and you just kinda feel it in your guts. You’re moved to action as a result of your compassion for them.

That’s the way God has loved us in Christ.

In mercy when we were lost and rebellious and undeserving and unaware God came after us.

His agape was poured out on us with such generosity and power that we were overcome by his grace and surrendered to his embrace.

Pour In 2 Put On

That kind of love poured into your heart is the only force powerful enough to displace love for this world.

More than that, when you let that love IN - then and only then can you start putting that love ON.

The Love you put in determines the love you’ll put on.

What does that look like practically speaking?

compassion instead of anger. (different word. Mercy. Not giving people what they deserve)

kindness/goodness instead of wrath.

gentleness instead of malice.

patience instead of slander.

forbearance and forgiveness (turn the other cheek… let it go) instead of abusive language that you know will tear them down but make you feel strong.

Mercy & Grace

That last word for forgiveness isn’t the usual Greek word for forgiveness which we think of as letting go of an offense.

Sometimes this word can be used to convey the idea of forgiveness but it’s closer to the idea of giving somebody what they need even if it’s not really deserved or warranted in that moment.

When you put it alongside the word forbearance it’s really a dance between mercy and grace.

Mercy = not giving to somebody what they truly deserve.

Grace = giving to somebody what they truly need.

This is how God has loved us in Christ. We deserved his wrath and his judgment because of our sin and unbelief. But instead of that he gave us mercy.

He didn’t treat us based on what we deserved he went above and beyond and gave us what we needed. We needed love that would see past our brokenness and heal our wounds.

We needed someone who could see what we could become and not the ugliness of our greatest regret or biggest mistake.

That’s why he was patient, kind, gentle and compassionate.

Is that not how we’ve been loved in Jesus? Then why would we not love others in that way?

“Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you are also to forgive” (Col 3:13)

We love because he first loved us.

This is how the love of God transforms our heart and heals our relationships.

God’s love for us in Christ is the only thing strong enough to destroy our idols, create contentment instead of greed and enable us to supernaturally love people like Jesus loved us.

How It Works

So if we are to put off what Jesus put to death in us (through the cross) and we are to “put on” what Jesus brought to life in us (through God’s love) how are we to go about it?

Paul gives three imperatives that will form our application section of today’s message.

Colossians 3:15–17 CSB

15 And let the peace of Christ, to which you were also called in one body, rule your hearts. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Two of these imperatives deal with the heart and one deals with relationships inside the church.

We need to build lives/community…

guarded by the peace of Christ.

grounded in the word of Christ.

grateful for the work of Christ.

Creating a G3 Life/Church

I want you to notice right away that God’s blueprint for transforming you into the man or woman he wants you to be in inextricably linked to what happens in a local church.

The local church is not optional for the Christian life it’s foundational. It’s by God’s design!

So you’re attendance here. You’re becoming a MEMBER here isn’t something to treat trivially. It’s through life in the local church that these three G’s come to be.

Let’s just quickly visit these three ideas by way of application.

Peace of Christ

First the peace of Christ needs to “rule” in our hearts.

The best analogy I’ve heard for this Greek word is like a traffic light or a traffic cop who’s letting certain cars in and others out.

Jesus Christ needs the throne of your heart (chief affection) so that he can protect your peace!

He’s the traffic cop that’s filtering the stuff coming into your hearts and into your heart.

He’s saying “that kind of truth is good and life giving. Bring that and more.”

Or maybe “that’s a lie from the devil and it’s not going to give you peace. It’s going to take not give.”

If Jesus isn’t the king of our heart then our lives will never know the peace that surpasses human understanding. You’ve got to surrender completely and fully to him.

That means the idolatry of your heart must die. Whatever your defending or protecting or hiding needs to come out into the light. It’s got to go.

The Word of Christ

Secondly we need to let the Word of Christ dwell.

The analogy here is that of a house or a home. It’s the Greek word for home. The idea is that you become a person and we become a Church where we’re at HOME in the Word of God.

Abiding in the Word Christ becomes our place of safety.

Abiding in the Word of Christ is our source of greatest joy and pleasure.

We become loyal to God’s Word. We become vulnerable to God’s Word. We let God’s word see us in our best lights and our worst lights just like the people in your home.

Practically speaking this looks like teaching one another and singing to one another.

Instead of tearing one another down through filthy language, malice or slander we build one another up in our love for Jesus.

That’s why the singing time in our church is so important. It’s why we need to sing doctrinally rich songs that exalt the name of Jesus Christ and remind us of glorious truths!

The Work of Christ

Finally we need to be grateful for the work of Christ.

Whatever you do, do it in the NAME of Jesus giving THANKS to the Father.

When we take the Lord’s Supper today we’re a giving THANKS. It’s called the Eucharist which is the same greek word used for Thanksgiving here.

We thank the Lord for his body which was broken for us.

We thank the Lord for his blood which was shed for us.

We thank the Lord for the forgiveness of sins.

The thank the Lord for the gift of the Holy Spirit.

We thank the Lord he’s made a way for us to be reconciled, redeemed and strengthened by grace.

Do this in remembrance of ME, Jesus said. We never forget the cross.