Christ is Our Life

Colossians 3:1–4 “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.” _________________________________

You may add to your faith, but you cannot add anything to Jesus!

_________________________________

In modern times, coming to Jesus involves the idea that we somehow make a profession of faith and follow Him at our leisure and convenience— but our model of discipleship bears no resemblance to the discipleship native to the gospel records.

JI Packer said, “Jesus, the rabbi who spoke with authority, the prophet who was more than a prophet, the master who evoked in them increasing awe and devotion till they could not but acknowledge him as their God, found them, called them to himself, took them into his confidence and enrolled them as his agents to declare to the world the kingdom of God.”

Before Paul gets the Colossian believers to the massive text before us, he introduced a pattern of belief about Jesus that shapes in our minds the grandeur and greatness of King Jesus.

In the regions of Colossae, a pernicious doctrine spread which taught that the spirit was good and that the material world was evil— that God couldn’t send a son into the world which is made up of sinfulness, but Paul points out that Jesus Christ is ALL and in ALL.

THE SUPERIORITY OF JESUS

Colossians 1:15- firstborn of all creatures

prototokos- not first created; first born

Colossians 1:18- firstborn from the dead

existing before; superior!

In a masterful poem from 1:16-20 the Apostle Paul makes an amazing parallel:

creation- the created world

source- Colossians 1:16: “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:”

sustainer- Colossians 1:17: “And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”

συνίστημι and means that he established and join together

superior - Colossians 1:16: “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:”

new creation- the church blood-bought and established on Jesus

source- Colossians 1:18: “And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.”

sustainer - Colossians 1:18: “And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.”

superior- Colossians 1:18: “And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.”

THUS, IN THE REALM OF SPIRITUAL THINGS AND EARTHLY THINGS, HE IS PREEMINENT.

This Jesus— eternal, pre-existent, autonomous, miraculous, sovereign Lord and King— is not someone that you add to your life. He is not an addendum— not a helpful additive to the fuel of our lives. It is not Jesus + good words….baptism…traditions…it is Jesus only! Paul notes here that our lives were founded on Jesus and should be focused on Jesus because we are furthered by Jesus! It was an early Christian who noted, “Our hearts are restless, until they can find rest in you.” And what Paul calls to the Colossians to is a heavy and irreplaceable reliance upon the person of Jesus Christ. CHRIST IS OUR LIFE!

But do YOU believe that?

You have all heard of Helen Keller, who at 18 months of ago became deaf and dumb. Her heart was filled with anger and rage, until one day her tutor, Annie Sullivan, wrote a word into her hand that Helen would never forget. She took Keller outside to well-pump. Keller later said,

“As the cool stream gushed over one hand, she spelled into the other the word water, first slowly and then rapidly. I stood still, my whole attention fixed upon the motions of her fingers.

“Suddenly I felt a misty consciousness as of something forgotten—a thrill of returning thought; and somehow the mystery of language was revealed to me. I knew then that “w-a-t-e-r” meant the wonderful cool something that was flowing over my hand. That living word awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy and set it free!” She learned 30 words that day— and Annie Sullivan had awakened in a dead soul a desire to know the true God. In her book The Story of My Life she said, “I knew Him, but I did not know His name.”

We are all dead— born that way! We cannot see the glories of Christ. We cannot speak of Him in any intelligent way— our consciences bore witness to His existence. But someone came along in our lives and told us: His name is Jesus! He is the source of our lives! He is the sustainer of our lives! He is superior to anything in our lives!

I want you to notice four truths from these verses, and through them we may take home three ways in which we may apply this idea: Christ is our Life

3a- Dead in Jesus aorist/ind/active- a completed event, not continuous or ongoing; you are dead We are so fully identified in Jesus’ death because He fully identified with us in His substitutionary death (Rom. 6:2) His death has removed the penalty of sin, as well as the power of sin in our lives.

1a- Raised with Jesus You were at the point of death. You were enslaved in chains of sin and made to serve the flesh and the will of Satan. You were the servants of sin and also a child of wrath. You were one heartbeat away from eternal flames— but God was rich in mercy! And you are so identified in Jesus that as He rose victoriously even we have been raised in Jesus as well.

3b- Hidden in Jesus

SECRECY- where the believer’s life is nurtured by secret springs

SAFETY- marking a double protection; sealed- contents labeled and kept free from contamination No hellish burglar can break that combination!

IDENTITY- with Jesus

As Christ’s glory was hidden from view

so, too, is the glory of the church and believer kept from view THE WORLD ISN’T SEEING IN US WHAT GOD SEES TO BE TRUE ABOUT US! 1 Corinthians 2:8: “Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” Romans 8:18: “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” 1 Peter 5:1: “The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:”

4a- We live in Jesus

Seek Jesus Passionately

Set our Minds Upon Jesus Purposefully

Surrender our Lives to Jesus Perpetually

ILL. Many tributes were spoken in honour of Hudson Taylor, and his friend Grifith John wrote words so true : 'Faith and prayer gave Hudson Taylor power with God....Firmness and love procured him a moral sway over the hearts of men?

A newspaper columnist wrote: 'He had but one aim-to preach

CHRIST to China by any means that came to hand...There was nothing so real to him as the individual soul, and GOD in CHRIST for its salvation.'

The words that John Bunyan put into the mouth of Mr Valiant for Truth are words that could well apply to Hudson Taylor at his death:

Then he said, I am going to my Father's and tho with great difficulties I am got hither, yet now I do not repent me of all the trouble I have been at to arrive where I am. My sword I give to him who shall succeed me in my pilgrimage, and my courage and skill to him that can get it. My marks and scars I carry with me, to be a witness for me that I have fought his battles, who now will be my rewarder...

As he went he said, 'Death, where is thy sting?'

...Grave, where is thy victory?

So he passed over, and all the trumpets sounded for him on the other side.'

"IT IS NOT DEATH TO DIE!"