Eikon

Introduction

When I was in elementary school, I loved to watch football with my dad. And most dads love to pass on their favorite teams to their kids. But our house was a little different. Whoever my dad liked, I chose the opposite.

My dad LOVES the New Orleans Saints. And I remember, I was in the fourth grade, and I wanted a team that would beat the NOS. So I pulled out the newspaper, looked at the standings, and chose the Minnesota Vikings. At that point, I had no clue what Vikings were, but I liked them.

This changed when I moved to New Orleans.

When I was in seminary in New Orleans, I had a dorm on campus. I lived four days a week in Nola and three days a week at home with my parents.

I caught a disease - the Who Dat Fever. I went to my first game, and the roar of the crowd was crazy. I was enthralled, and I had the time of my life. And that day, I became a New Orleans Saints fan.

The next step - I had to look the part! I bought a Saints T Shirt, and I put my Vikings T-shirt in the closet.

In the same way, once we experience Jesus, our old life leaves, and our new life begins! And we take off the old one that looks like the world, and we put on the new one.

Colossians 3 describes this phenomena. It describes a compelling Jesus then says, “If you have been raised with Christ, seek Him.”

And the imagery of Chapter Three is like the taking off of an old garment and the putting on of a new one.

Colossians 1:15–20 ESV

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 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. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 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. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Colossians 3:9–10 “9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”

Explanation

Colossians 1:15 “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.”

This does not mean that Jesus is like us. He is THE image, not an image.

Jesus is God.

John 14:8–9 “Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”

Jesus is God. And we are becoming like Him. Not gods ourselves, but we are becoming like our God.

G. K. Beale - You become like the things you worship, either to restoration or ruin. The same is true of Jesus or ANYTHING else.

Colossians 3:1–4 “1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have 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.”

God makes all things new - including you!

When we give our lives to Jesus, our aim changes. You have a new aim and point to your life.

We set our minds on things that are above INSTEAD of things on the earth. Your mind can now discern those things that are good for you (heavenward) vs. earthly.

We have literally died, and our lives are now hidden in God. You now have a new life and death!

We are bought by HIm. Our identity is with Him. He will one day return and make us new. You have a new eternity.

Without this change,

Colossians 3:5–10 “5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”

Being created in God’s image does NOT mean that everything you do is ok, but rather, as a flawed human, you now have the opportunity for freedom.

In these first sins, we see sexual immorality, passion, covetousness.

Sexual Immorality - There is not a person in this room who’s family isn’t effected by some sort of sexual immorality. This includes everything from pornography to an affair that ended a marriage to sexual orientation to cohabitation - and we can fill in all of the spaces in between. However, sex is designed to be between one man and one woman in the covenant of marriage. This does not mean that we fail to love those who fall outside of this reality in their actions. But it does mean that we point them to Christ who can restore.

Passion - Allowing what you want to overpower what you need. Last night, I made cookies before bed. I made 12 of them. I could have eaten all 12, but I will say that would not have been good for me. So I did the right thing. I ate four, gave four to Erin, and put four in a ziplock bag to eat for breakfast this morning.

Paul knows our tendency to make a list to check, so he weaves throughout his teaching theological truths - often around the grace of God - to make sure that we keep the proper perspective.

And before you get too bent out of shape about these sins, let’s not forget that Paul lists some communal sins. While the previous list of sins seem like the BIG one’s, these are the sins that will unravel a good, Christ-centered community.

Anger, wrath, and malice.

The natural inclination of your heart is to be outraged and angry all the time. To find hatred for other individuals.

You are bent towards the question, “But what about me?” If you could eliminate that question from your life, you could do away with 75% of your anger.

Slander - to speak ill of another person.

How often do we use our words for harm instead of good? How often do we offer critical and unhelpful words instead of words that bring life? How often do we value our opinion over the heart or edification of another individual?

Obscene Talk

Why do we take these things off? Why is it necessary to walk the way God calls us to?

We have put off the old practices.

We have put on a new self.

That new self is being renewed after the image of its creator.

Ephesians 4:22-24 are the mirror verses to these - “to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

This is echoed in v11 - All of the other identity markers do not matter the moment you give your life to Jesus. We place all of these qualifiers over our lives.

Colossians 3:12–17 “12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 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. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 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. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

APPLICATION

Redemption - God’s “buying back” your soul from the bondage of sin and of Satan through the payment of a ranson - the blood of Jesus.

Redemption is simply a reclaiming of something.

The story of Hosea is the story of a man, a prophet, who God tells to marry a prostitute. So Hosea marries Gomer. This is a story of God’s redemption. How God takes us from a place that is not good, and he brings us to a better place. But Gomer, being the prostitute that she is, runs back to her old life and is thus enslaved again into the lifestyle that she once lived in.

What does God tells Hosea to do. “Go to your wife and redeem her.”

And Hosea goes down to the place where Gomer lives - imagine that place. He pays her debt, and he takes her home.

But they are shadows of the true story of redemption. The biggest, best, and most wonderful story of redemption is Jesus. God bought you with the blood of Jesus.

Sanctification - God’s restoration of you into the person He created you to be.

God is making you like Jesus - with a compassionate heart, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, peace, and thankfulness.

You have duct taped some fruit to your branches, but it will not last, and before too long, it will begin to rot. Why, because only works created by the Holy Spirit become true fruit in us.

Let the Word of God dwell richly in you - Lebron James. “Can you come back to our house for dinner?”

Invitation

The story of Eustace the Dragon and Aslan. In C. S. Lewis’s The Voyage of the Dawn Treader from the Chronicles of Narnia, we are introduced to a new character, Eustace Scrubb. Eustace is a nasty character from the start - antagonistic, unkind, and whiney. He makes everyone’s lives harder for the first half of the book.

Eustace’s turnaround begins when the Dawn Treader happens upon an island where a dragon’s hoard of treasure lies. Eustace finds the dragon’s hoard, wants to steal from it, and “falls asleep with greedy dragonish thoughts.”

Eustace awakes, and he has become a dragon. He is dismayed. He tried to fly back to his ship, but his friends don’t recognize him they shoo him away with swords and arrows.

What has been on the inside of Eustace is now clearly discernible from the outside - to both his friends and himself. He is scaley, greedy, and unkind.

Eustace, dismayed with his condition, is led to a large pool by Asian. (Aslan represents Jesus in each of the Chronicles of Narnia books.)

At the pool, Eustace begins to try to peel the scales from his body. He has huge claws, yet the more scales he claws away, the more scales He finds.

Finally, Aslan speaks up, “You must let me clear these scales.” And he rips the scales from Eustace and throws him into the pool where he becomes a boy again. A new creation.

Until you know you are a dragon, you cannot know you need the claws of Aslan.