Putting On New Life
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Been working on camp, the theme is identity and new life from 2 Corinthians 5:17. I’ve spent the last few months reading a lot of passages that deal with identity.
Colossians 3 is a powerful passage about identity.
Paul starts by laying out the NEGATIVE, or what we must PUT OFF and PUT TO DEATH, before laying out the POSITIVE, or what MUST REPLACE IT!
Last week, our passage was filled with many warnings. I found myself convicted of weakness in my own spiritual life as I prepped it and I found myself needing to grow!
The same is true this week. Colossians 3:12-17 shows us where we should find our IDENTITY and HOW WE SHOULD LIVE!
Mission: (Our Job)- Connecting People with Jesus
Mission: (Our Job)- Connecting People with Jesus
Vision: To See Lives transformed by the POWER OF THE GOSPEL
Vision: To See Lives transformed by the POWER OF THE GOSPEL
Main Point: We are called to live TRANSFORMED LIVES
Main Point: We are called to live TRANSFORMED LIVES
Body
Body
Colossians 3:1-11 lays out a set of sins and it issues a warning. Paul commands us to PUT THEM TO DEATH! We are to FIGHT SIN AND REMOVE IT FROM OUR LIVES!
On the other hand, in Colossians 3:12-17, Paul gives us a series of positive encouragements about how we SHOULD LIVE!
Paul’s first word of verse 12 is THEREFORE! He uses that word to bring us back to verse 11 specifically!
Remember, Colossians 3:11 says
11 In Christ there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all.
We are SET FREE BY JESUS AND WE CAN LIVE IN FREEDOM BECAUSE OF JESUS AND WHAT JESUS HAS DONE FOR US!
THEREFORE, we should live differently!
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.
Paul aims these instructions towards Christians. Christians here are referred to as GOD’S CHOSEN ONES.
This is not a conversation about predestination- instead, Paul is making a point that CHRISTIANS ARE CALLED TO LIVE DIFFERENTLY!
WE ARE CALLED OUT! Think about 1 Peter 2:9
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
That’s what Paul is echoing! We are called to be different! We are SET APART!
And then, Paul calls us HOLY AND DEARLY LOVED!
Listen, we are not holy because of our perfection, but rather, we are HOLY and we can be called HOLY BECAUSE OF JESUS!
We can be called holy because of what JESUS DID FOR US ON THE CROSS!
Last week in my community group we were talking about JESUS’S role as our ADVOCATE! There’s a powerful quote from this.
“Christ ‘turns the Father’s eyes to his own righteousness and away from our sins.”
We won’t spend a lot of time on this, but I want to be clear. We can be called holy BECAUSE OF WHAT JESUS DID!
If you know Christ personally, then you are HOLY! You will sin, you will stumble, you will fall short, but listen- CHRIST HAS PAID THE PRICE!
YOU ARE SEEN AS HOLY! YOU ARE HOLY IN CHRIST!
To look at this another way- this is why it is so important that we THROW OFF and put to death SIN!
We are seeking to LIVE MORE LIKE CHRIST AND CHRIST HAS MADE US HOLY!
But we aren’t just holy. We are DEARLY LOVED!
Paul uses a PERFECT, PASSIVE verb here. I bring that up because it’s really important. The perfect tense is a tense used to REFER TO A COMPLETED ACTION THAT produces ONGOING RESULTS!
So for instance, GOD’S LOVE FOR US!
GOD HAS LOVED US AND THAT LOVE HAS ETERNAL IMPACT ON US!
And it’s also passive. This means that GOD’S LOVE isn’t because of something we’ve done to earn it! It’s because of how GOD looks at us!
Listen; that’s wonderful news! GOD HAS LOVED YOU, GOD LOVES YOU AND GOD WILL LOVE YOU!
YOU ARE DEARLY LOVED BY GOD THE FATHER AND NOTHING CAN SEPARATE US FROM THAT!
If you are worried about that, let me challenge you- go and read Romans 8 today!
So we are God’s chosen people- made holy by Christ and PERSONALLY LOVED DEEPLY BY GOD!
And because of that, we are called to do something specific.
We are called to live new lives where we put on 6 new things!
We are called to PUT ON:
Compassion
Kindness
Humility
Gentleness
Patience
Forgiveness
And to look ahead at verse 14, we are to put on love!
Last week, Paul told us to take things off and now, Paul tells us what to PUT ON!
He’s directly contrasting this list in verses 12-13 with his list from verses 8-9. He does this by even using the same VERBAL FORM! This is an IMPERATIVE VERB. It’s IMPERATIVE THAT WE LIVE THIS OUT! It’s a COMMAND!
Rather than being known for our ANGER, WRATH, MALICE, SLANDER, FILTHY LANGUAGE AND LYING; WE ARE TO BE COMPASSIONATE, KIND, HUMBLE, GENTLE, PATIENT, FORGIVING AND LOVING.
Let me bring this all down to one point. There’s one thing that summarizes ALL OF THESE!
We are to PUT OTHERS FIRST!
That’s to be the marker of our lives! WE ARE TO PUT OTHERS FIRST!
Compassion isn’t about us. Kindness isn’t truly about us. Humility isn’t about us. Gentleness isn’t about us. Patience and forgiveness are DEFINITELY NOT ABOUT US! True, agape love is NOT ABOUT US!
On the other hand, anger, wrath, malice, slander, filthy language and lying are really all ABOUT US GETTING WHAT WE WANT!
But we are to PUT THOSE AWAY AND INSTEAD WE ARE TO PUT ON THE CHARACTERISTICS THAT PUT OTHERS FIRST!
That’s the contrast of the old life led by our flesh and our NEW LIFE IN CHRIST!
It’s a total change of how we even approach life!
We are NO LONGER THE MOST IMPORTANT THING!
CHRIST IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING and our lives should show that. Our lives should mirror how Christ lived.
And Christ lived in a way that did not put HIM at the center of his life!
45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
The very purpose of Christ coming to EARTH PUT OTHERS FIRST!
It wasn’t for Jesus that he came to earth- it was for us!
And we are to live in a way that puts others first just as Jesus did!
One of the most notable ways that we are to live as CHRIST DID and to put others first, is through FORGIVENESS! Forgiveness is all throughout scripture. Matthew 6:12 covers it.
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
Ephesians 4:32 covers it, James 1:19 covers it! Forgiveness is foundational!
As we seek to put on these 7 characteristics, we have to FORGIVE!
And I’m highlighting that because without forgiveness there will not be love, or gentleness, or kindness or compassion!
It’s a CORNERSTONE of our Christian life!
We have to learn to forgive- and we have to practice forgiveness- LIKE JESUS DID!
14 Above all, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. 15 And let the peace of Christ, to which you were also called in one body, rule your hearts. And be thankful.
In verses 14 and 15, Paul talks about four things. He talks about love, unity, peace and thanksgiving!
We are called to put on love ABOVE ALL. What does this mean?
Well, I’d challenge us that if you don’t LOVE SOMEONE, then you have two issues- first, you can’t live out verses 12-13 and secondly, you aren’t really LIVING HOW JESUS LIVED!
If you want to live how Jesus lived, then your life needs to be marked by REAL, AGAPE love!
And remember, Agape love isn’t easy or comfortable. It’s ALL CONSUMING! It’s total; it’s ALL-OUT SACRIFICIAL love!
It’s Jesus’s agape love for us that takes him to the cross! It’s Jesus’s agape love that leads him to bearing our punishment for sin!
Friends, that is the love we are called to have.
I used to make the argument with my roommates in college that our society is weird about love. Like for instance, you can look at a bro and be like “Love you bro” and that’s ok! But, when you are dating someone, you have to wait until a certain time to say the same thing.
But the more I’ve thought about it, the issue is less about how we use the word and the issue is more that we don’t UNDERSTAND love!
See, our society really understands two types of love. There’s the physical, romantic love- what the Greek’s called Eros. Then, there’s the friendship love- that’s phileo.
Those are comfortable to us! But that’s not what Paul says we need to have.
Paul calls us to have REAL, AGAPE LOVE!
And hear me on this, if we have AGAPE LOVE for the people around us, it will stand out as extremely different!
Application of Agape love- SELF-SACRIFICING LOVE FOR YOUR NEIGHBOR! SELFLESS LOVE, A LOVE THAT GIVES AND GIVES! Trust me, our world doesn’t understand AGAPE LOVE!
We are to be marked by that AGAPE LOVE AND it leads us to PERFECT UNITY!
Unity will only happen when we love genuinely and completely!
Let me ask you- do you want to see Christians united? Do you want to see Cornerstone even DEEPLY UNITED?
I think we can all say yes to both of those! And it’s really simple. We need to LOVE ONE ANOTHER!
And how CAN we love one another? It starts with us fixing our eyes on JESUS and LIVING AS JESUS DID! I’m not talking about wearing the same clothes, I’m saying that we need to PUT OTHERS FIRST! Unity as Christians comes when we put JESUS FIRST AND FOREMOST IN OUR RELATIONSHIPS, our decisions, our TIME TOGETHER!
We are then called to let the peace of Christ rule our hearts.
But notice the phrase that Paul puts in there.
The peace of Christ is what we have been called to as the CHURCH!
This is an important vision point. Hear me on this. We are not called to fear or to panic, we are called to BOLDNESS TOGETHER BECAUSE WE- THE BODY OF CHRIST COLLECTIVELY- HAVE PEACE THAT COMES FROM JESUS!
And for us to experience that, we need to let CHRIST’S PEACE RULE IN OUR HEARTS!
Once again, that is a reminder to us that we can’t do this on our own!
Listen! The life of a Christian is a constant reminder that we ARE NOT and NEVER WILL BE enough on our own!
ONLY THROUGH CHRIST are we enough! Only through Christ can we ever be enough! Whether we are talking about holiness, or unity, or peace in hard times, it all starts with CHIST!
And then Paul ends his verse by saying, “AND BE THANKFUL.”
I love this instruction but I will also admit that it is easy to remove thanksgiving and keep it reserved for a week in November.
Thanksgiving shouldn’t be about a holiday though, THANKSGIVING SHOULD BE A MARK OF OUR DAILY LIVES!
Thanksgiving should be ENGRAINED DEEPLY IN US!
Think about it! Every day we have something to be thankful for. I’m speaking specifically to you if you know CHRIST!
Let me tell you what it is. YOU HAVE BEEN SAVED AND UNITED TO CHRIST! Every day we can be thankful for what JESUS DID!
It isn’t always easy. I can promise that. When you are going through a hard time at work, when your heart hurts from sorrow and from loss, thanksgiving isn’t the first thing on our mind.
But notice, Paul doesn’t say, “And be thankful when things are good.”
Paul just says, “And be THANKFUL.”
It reminds me of 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray constantly, 18 give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
No matter what, REJOICE, PRAY AND GIVE THANKS!
Remember the audience of Colossians! They are suffering! The audience of 1 Thessalonians is similar! They are believers who are oppressed.
And what are both of these churches to do in their suffering?
GIVE THANKS!
They aren’t to grow angry or bitter, THEY ARE TO GIVE THANKS!
Last week at our members meeting we started off with a time of thanksgiving. This is why!
We have so many things to give thanks for and we want to give thanks ALWAYS!
Let me give you a challenge today- it’s really a two-fold challenge. First, go to lunch with some people you haven’t talked with recently, or gone to lunch with for a while. Then, at lunch, share some things you are thankful for!
Let’s be people of thanksgiving!
As Paul finishes this section, he moves our attention towards another CORNERSTONE of walking out our faith!
He says:
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.
We need to let the WORD OF CHRIST DWELL RICHLY AMONG US!
In other words, in all things, we should be led and shaped by the WORD OF GOD!
Scripture should lead us forward in everything!
And from God’s word we will grow in wisdom! This brings us back to Paul’s discussion of wisdom in Colossians 2:3
3 In him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
All wisdom and knowledge come from CHRIST and we are to TEACH AND ADMONISH IN ALL WISDOM!
So how do we do that? WE DO IT WITH GOD’S WORD!
We teach God’s word, we admonish or warn, or we could even say- DISCIPLE with GOD’S WORD!
GOD’S WORD IS TO BE CENTRAL IN OUR TEACHING and OUR DISCIPLESHIP!
But it doesn’t end there. Instead, we are to do this not just by our words, but also through our singing!
And what do we sing? We sing PSALMS, HYMNS AND SPIRITUAL SONGS!
Psalms are simple- SING SCRIPTURE! These are the psalms that we see in the book of PSALMS!
Hymns are songs that give praise to God! Being a hymn isn’t about how old a song is or the style, it’s about the content!
We are to sing scripture and we are to sing songs that bring glory to GOD!
Finally, we are to sing SPIRITUAL SONGS! These are songs that might be about a doctrine, or might be about a spiritual theme, like our salvation! These songs express how we respond to WHAT GOD HAS DONE!
Let me boil this down. We are to SPEAK ABOUT WHAT GOD HAS DONE NAD HOW THANKFUL WE ARE AND WE ARE TO SING ABOUT IT TOO!
Regardless of how well we sing, we should SING PRAISE TO GOD!
As all of this is sinking in, Paul gives us one last instruction. Colossians 3:17
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.
No matter what we do, we need to be giving thanks!
But listen to this! We don’t just give thanks on our own! We give thanks to GOD THE FATHER AS WE GIVE THANKS TO JESUS!
Our actions give thanks and so does our PRAISE OF WHAT JESUS HAS DONE!
As we sing and live and PRAISE JESUS FOR WHAT HE HAS DONE, WE ARE PRAISING GOD!
Verse 17 is really a simple verse. IN ALL THINGS, GIVE THANKS TO GOD!
In good times and hard, in your actions, in your words, in your thoughts, in your prayers, in your singing, GIVE THANKS TO GOD!
Even today, as you are at lunch sharing some things you are thankful for, you are not just talking to another person, you are doing it to GIVE THANKS TO GOD!
We have so much to be thankful for and our THANKSGIVING SHOULD FLOW POWERFULLY THROUGHOUT OUR LIVES in ALL AREAS!
And we should ultimately give thanks for JESUS AND THROUGH JESUS!
Application
Application
We need to be keep our focus off of us (SELFLESS LIFE!)
We need to give thanks (SO MUCH TO GIVE THANKS FOR! GOSPEL!)
- Vision Application from Colossians 3:12-17: We need to connect people with Jesus. (That’s how our world changes!)
We need to Keep our Focus off of US!
We need to Keep our Focus off of US!
This is really at the center of Colossians 3:12-17! We need to PUT ON THESE NEW CHARACTERISTICS. The common trait?
THEY REQUIRE THAT WE THINK OF OTHERS BEFORE WE THINK OF OURSELVES!
So let’s apply that. We need to live in a way that deflects the praise and honor from ourselves back to God!
How do we do that?
I would challenge that it comes back to our priorities.
What do we prioritize? Do we prioritize ourselves and what WE want, or do we prioritize GOD AND WHAT GOD CALLS US TO DO!
Because listen, this matters a ton!
When we prioritize ourselves, we are putting the focus back on us. When we do that and we are disappointed, things like ANGER AND GREED will come up rather than FORGIVENESS AND GENTLENESS!
So it’s simple really- we need to take our attention off of ourselves and purposefully live a life that is focused on GOD FIRST!
But if we are honest, it isn’t that simple. If it was, then we’d all do it already! If it was that simple, we wouldn’t be talking about it.
Practically, there’s a fine line to balance here. We don’t want to go to the other extreme and become legalistic people who live in constant fear of not MEASURING UP!
Yet, I think there are actions needed for us to keep our focus off of ourselves. Let me speak frankly. It starts with how we manage our time.
We can often say that we “don’t have time” for God. And in some cases, we truly are stretched EXTREMELY thin for a season and we need to explore some alternative ways to spend time with God.
But most of the time, we say that and then turn around and sink time into things WE WANT TO DO!
So let me challenge us- if we want to live how Paul challenges us to in Colossians 3, then it starts with us SPENDING TIME WITH GOD!
It starts with us ACTIVELY AND PASSIONATELY PURSUING OUR SANCTIFICATION!
So let me challenge each of us, this week let’s ACTIVELY PURSUE OUR SANCTIFICATION!
We Need to Give Thanks!
We Need to Give Thanks!
Listen, Paul gives us a clear instruction to GIVE THANKS!
We need to practically GIVE THANKS!
I can’t stress enough how much we have to GIVE THANKS FOR!
And what I love about this command is that Paul is writing this command from a PRISON CELL!
Think about it! Paul is in prison and he says, “GIVE THANKS!”
And he says that to a group of believers who are hurting and are struggling!
GIVE THANKS!
If they can give thanks as they suffer and struggle, how much more can WE GIVE THANKS?
Let me answer that- WE ALWAYS HAVE SOMETHING TO GIVE THANKS FOR!
And I’ll confess that I’m not perfect at this. I’m reminding myself of this today. We need to be quick to give thanks!
Practically, let me give a suggestion on HOW we can give thanks more!
Let me suggest something. How many of you have sticky notes? I mean the REAL STICKY NOTES, not a phone note. I know that I use phone notes all the time. I am terrible at remembering to look back at them.
So I’m talking about a REAL sticky note. In fact, in preparation for this, I bought some sticky notes that are in the lobby. Take some if you need them.
Now, wha are you going to do with this sticky note?
It’s simple. Let me encourage you every day, as you drink your coffee, or as you are getting ready, take a second and WRITE DOWN something that you are thankful for!
Then, let me encourage you to put it someplace that you’ll see it during the day. Put it in your car on the dashboard, put it on your bathroom mirror, put it on your fridge!
But let me encourage you to EVERYDAY start off by giving thanks!
Now let me paint a longer term picture. Instead of throwing those out every day, keep them together. That way, at the end of the week, you can look back and see 7 things that you are thankful for!
This practice is just that. it’s a practice to get us thinking more about what we can give thanks for. As we do it, we’ll find that we are QUICKER to GIVE THANKS more often! That’s when transformation happens. Over time, we’ll stop needing the sticky note because giving thanks will be a habit and it’ll be something we do not just by ourselves, but also with family, friends, etc.
As a second suggestion, if you are sitting down for dinner with your spouse or a family member, let me encourage you- before you eat, have everyone share 1 thing that they are thankful for!
We can, and I’m speaking to everyone here, we can make our MEALS INTENTIONAL and we can turn them into times of THANKSGIVING!
Today’s a family SUNDAY and I want to encourage us- thanksgiving starts at AN EARLY AGE! Let’s involve our children in this!
Let’s be people WHO ACTIVELY GIVE THANKS CONSISTENTLY!
We Need to Connect People with Jesus!
We Need to Connect People with Jesus!
Ultimately, we are called to be people who follow God and who serve God. That’s what all of these characteristics get at. And part of following God involves following HIS MISSION!
So, when we hear a call like this to change our actions and our lives, we are ultimately to HELP CONNECT PEOPLE WITH JESUS!
Our lives are the MOST POWERFUL EVANGELISTIC TOOL THAT WE HAVE! If we want to HELP CONNECT PEOPLE WITH JESUS, then we need to let GOD WORK IN OUR LIVES AND TRANSFORM US!
WE NEED TO PUT ON THESE DIFFERENT CHARACTERISTICS!
So why do we need to live a transformed life? Because we want to OBEY CHRIST AND THAT INCLUDES CONNECTING PEOPLE WITH JESUS!
I love this statement and I think that this statement really sums up what we need to do!
We need to help people meet Jesus for the first time, but then we need to go past that. See, we need to also WALK WITH PEOPLE as they grow in their faith! Because someone can learn and learn and learn, but if they don’t CONNECT WITH JESUS ON THE HEART LEVEL, then it’s just head knowledge and it isn’t worth it!
When you see a friend struggling in their faith, we need to come alongside them and HELP THEM CONNECT WITH JESUS! That’s how transformation happens! And remember, the main point from Colossians 3:12-17 is that we NEED TO LIVE TRANSFORMED LIVES!
Can we do something different for a minute?
I want you to look outside. I want you to turn your head and look outside. What you’re going to see is hundreds of houses, duplexes and apartments. These are full of people who NEED JESUS!
And we have the opportunity and the mission of trying to help connect these people!
This is our mission and THIS IS LIVING OUR LIVES ON MISSION AND IN CHRIST, RATHER THAN OUR FLESH MATTERS SO MUCH! WE WANT OUR LIVES THAT THESE PEOPLE SEE TO BACK UP WHAT WE PROCLAIM!
Listen, if you’re here today and you don’t know Jesus, let me take a minute to talk to you. (GOSPEL- this is why we are called to live differently. we are FAR FROM PERFECT, but this is what we strive for.)
Let me pray for us.
