Bible Study Series: A Life Hidden in Christ (Colossians 3:1-17)

Part 1: A Life Hidden in Christ Knows Something and Does Something

(READ COLOSSIANS 3:1-17)

(ASK SOMEONE TO PRAY)

Explain (briefly the backdrop of Colossians and chapters 1 & 2)

There was a time b/t Genesis 1 and Genesis 3 when Adam and Eve had no idea what an identity crisis was; they never questioned their image, their worth, or their value. Then sin…

(ASK) Why do we struggle with holding on to our identity and our image in Christ?

Maybe we’ve allowed sin(s) to fester and remain, when they should be placed at the altar

Maybe we’ve allowed doubts and deceits to seep into our minds

Maybe like the church in Colossae, you need a reminder of the preeminence of Christ.

Paul is writing here Colossians 3 reminding the believers at the church in Colossae, of their true identity in Christ and how they ought to think and walk in this identity and image

Colossians 3:1-17 is a section of Scripture which has been so vital in my life. It is a section of verses that teaches me, reminds me, and challenges me to hold on to my identity in Christ. For a good portion of my life, I struggled and suffered with my identity; I didn’t realize it at that time, but looking back at my life, I had been sowing seeds in the world to find my worth, value, and image—where I only reaped brokenness, emptiness, and hopelessness.

A LIFE HIDDEN IN CHRIST KNOWS SOMETHING

I. The person who’s hidden in Christ knows they’ve been raised with Christ (3:1a)

“Raised with Christ”—(VERB); “I rise along with” or “co-resurrected” and means to those who have truly and genuinely surrendered their lives to Jesus

God has forgiven the believer of their sins and accepts them in Christ

God identifies the believer with Christ in His death and resurrection

God considers the believer has having died with Christ and has having risen with Christ

God does this for us—b/c He loves His Son—and when we love His Son and believe in Him—God does exactly what we believe

“Raised with Christ” comes with an understanding

In order to be raised with Christ and counted with Him in the His resurrection a person must first realize they are dead in sin

Ephesians 2:1–3 “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”

Colossians 2:13 “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,”

“Raised with Christ” means as Jesus left the tomb alive, so have we (those who believe are born again) and we ought to loose our grave clothes, as Lazarus did:

John 11:44 “The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.””

“Raised with Christ” should effect how we live:

Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Philippians 1:21 “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

Lastly (and note this amazing truth)—in being raised with Christ, we possess something else unique, that only God can provide—His power:

It is the same power that rose Christ from the grave

Romans 8:11 “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”

It is a power where we live out of the overflow of hope

Romans 15:13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”

It is a power that saves us

1 Corinthians 1:18 “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

It is a power that sustains us

2 Corinthians 12:9 “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

A LIFE HIDDEN IN CHRIST DOES SOMETHING

II. The person who’s life is hidden in Christ, seeks and settles their life and mind, “on things above, where Christ is,” not on the world (“Our feet may be on earth, but our minds must be in heaven”)

Seeking and Setting

Seeking refers the sincerity, diligence, and decisiveness of one’s pursuit

Setting refers to a mindset of, “I think,” “I judge,” “I set my mind to;” it is a deliberate choice of thought (attitude)

Seeking and setting our minds on Christ should consume us, we should be meditating on Christ and the things of heaven; the motivation of our seeking and setting is the “upward calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 3:13–14 “Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

(EXAMPLE—THE END OF A LONG ROAD TRIP)

Seeking and setting asks us two questions:

Where is your focus?

Where are you affections?

Paul tells us where our focus should be and shouldn’t be

Where it shouldn’t be is the world (v.2b): (ASK—Why not the world?)

What Scripture teaches

The world is full of persuasive words (SOMEONE TO READ COLOSSIANS 2:4)

“Persuasive” means enticing speech; speech crafted to be convincing, with the implication of being misleading and deceptive

The world undermines Christianity (SOMEONE TO READ COLOSSIANS 2:8)

Philosophy: The Greek word is often associated with human philosophy and wisdom or speculative reasoning; its usage here is a warning against being led astray by human wisdom

Empty deceit

Traditions of men

Basic principles of the world

The word and it’s systems is not of the Father (SOMEONE TO READ 1 JOHN 2:15-16)

Lust of the flesh

Lust of the eyes

Pride of life

In these three things, exist all sin (and these were the three things Satan tempted Jesus with in the wilderness)

Where our focus and affections SHOULD be: our understanding of this comes through the truths contained in the doctrine of the resurrection; remember—the believer has been raised with Christ—the believer has been positioned in Christ—Gods views and sees the believer as already seated in the heavenlies in His presence (SOMEONE TO READ ROMANS 8:30)—and if that is true (and it is), why would our minds desire to be anywhere else?

The resurrection of Christ:

Guarantees that Jesus Christ is God’s Son—therefore our affections should rest on the fact that God sent His only begotten Son to save us from our sins (SOMEONE TO READ ROMANS 1:3-4)

Saves and justifies us—therefore our affections should rest on the fact that Jesus Christ is our salvation and justification (SOMEONE TO READ ROMANS 4:25)

Raises us to new life—therefore our affections should rest on the new life that we’ve been given in and through Christ

John 3:3 “Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.””

Romans 6:4 “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

Gives us power to live victoriously the sins and trials of this world and bear spiritual fruit

Romans 8:12-13(SOMEONE TO READ)

Galatians 5:22-23 (SOMEONE TO READ)

Ephesians 1:19-20 (SOMEONE TO READ)

Gives us a living hope—therefore (ASK) where should our affections be?

1 Peter 1:3-4 (SOMEONE TO READ)

Titus 2:11-14 (SOMEONE TO READ)

We can sum it up what Paul is saying this way:

ARE YOU DILIGENTLY AND DECISIVELY SEEKING THE THINGS OF THIS WORLD OR THE THINGS OF CHRIST

ARE YOU MAKING THE DELIBERATE CHOICE TO SET YOUR MIND ON THE THINGS OF THIS WORLD OR THE THINGS OF CHRIST?

OUR IDENTITY IS ROOTED WHAT WE SEEK AND SETTLE OUR LIFE AND MINDS ON

THE REASON FOR ALL OF THIS

III. THE REASON WE SEEK AND SET OUR LIVES ON CHRIST AND THINGS ABOVE

(V.3) The believer has died:

The word Paul uses for “died” here is “apothnesko” and is comprised of two words “apo” (which means “away from”) and “thnesko” (which means I die, I am dying, I am dead)

Together the word means, “the significance of separation,” and stresses the ending of what is “former”

(ASK) What is Paul saying here?

(V.3) The believer’s life is hidden in Christ

The word Paul uses for “hid” here is “krupto” (verb) and means, “to hide, to conceal, to keep secret”

Hidden in Christ means security and satisfaction (EXAMPLE OF A BABY IN THEIR MOTHER’S WOMB)

Dr. A.T. Robertson says this:” “So here we are in Christ, who is in God, and no burglar, not even Satan himself, can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.”

(SOMONE TO READ ROMANS 8:31-39)

IV. THE PERSON WHO’S LIFE IS HIDDEN IN CHRIST, LIVES FOR A DIFFERENT EXPOSURE

(v.4) The believer will “appear” with Christ at His return (“appear” means—”to reveal,” “to make manifest,” “to make known,” and to “show openly”)

Think about your life before Christ; we didn’t desire any part of our lives to be exposed to the light, we preferred to stay in the dark

Think about your life since Christ— we live in the anticipation of being exposed with Christ

Where we once lived preferring the dark we now live anticipating our lives being exposed with Christ

Where we once lived, loving the dark and hating the light—we know live hating the dark and embracing the light

Where we once lived desiring to be exposed by the world for what we accomplish—we know live desiring to be exposed with Christ—for what He accomplished

(CLOSING)

(DESCRIBE THE GAME OF PASSWORD AS AN EXAMPLE OF BEING HIDDEN IN CHRIST)

ASK YOURSELF

What about you—looking back over your life, can you recall the identities you adopted to feel worth, to find value, and to bear a certain image?

What about you—looking at your life currently; are there things, even as a professed believer, where you are struggling not to adopt worldly and false identities?

What about you—looking at your life now; are you sitting here pretending to be good with God, but all along you have been sowing a worldly identity, only to reap for yourself a corruptible, defiled, and diminishing image, value system and worth, which will do nothing but fail you and leave you in a wilderness of brokenness if it hasn’t already?

Wherever you are this morning, may these verses compel you to conviction, draw you to remember your true identity, and cause you to desire to live more intentionally in your true identityWarren Wiersbe says this about living according to our position in Christ—”How I stand—and walk—depends on where I sit, and I am seated with Christ in the heavenlies.”

(ASK) When’s the last time you’ve allowed the Holy Spirit, through God’s Word and prayer, to teach you and remind of Christ’s sovereign preeminence over all things

Over struggles/hardships

Over lost and wayward children

Over your marriage and your family

Over your weaknesses and your shortcomings

Over your fears/failures/

Over your sins

Colossians 1:15–18 “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.”