A Putting Off (Colossians 3:1-11)

In preparation for this morning, I came across these devotional words from George Swinnock,

"Why would men choose the world for their petition instead of God? Because of their ignorance of the great worth of this object. The devil courts man for his soul with the brutish pleasures of sin. The world woos the heart with its profits, treasures and honours, which are vain and perishing. God comes, and he offers for the heart the precious blood of his Son, the curious embroidery of his Spirit, the noble employment of angels, the fullness of joy, and the infinite satisfaction of his blessed self to all eternity. Now why is the devil's money accepted, the world's offer embraced, and God's rejected? Truly, men do not know the worth of what God offers them. The money the devil and the world offer is in their own currency, and is familiar to them. Swine trample on pearls, because they do not know their value. Men prefer the poor things they have because they are in their present possession. The devil seeks to peck out the eyes of men, that they do not see the blessed God and the happiness that is to be enjoyed in him. O how dull is the world's glass in the presence of true crystal! The magnet of earth will not draw man's affections while heaven is visible. He that has fed on the heavenly banquet cannot savour anything else. A man who sees a candle after fourteen years, having been born in a dark dungeon, wonders at its glory, delights in beholding it, and inquires into its nature. Bring him afterwards into the open air to behold the sun, and all his wonder will be directed to this great luminary. Man is taken up with the candle of creature comforts. Let him once see the sun of righteousness, the all-sufficient and eternal God, the excellence of his glorious being, and that which was glorious before has no more glory in comparison to the sight of God."[1]

These words are both an indictment against us as mankind and an encouragement. They are an indictment against us in that they tell of the ways that our hearts have often been wooed by that of a lesser glory of this world, of a choosing this glory while rejecting God. But then, they are too an encouragement to turn our eyes away from this lesser glory to set our eyes on the banquet of heaven. For in doing so, our tastes will mature. We will no longer desire the tastes of infancy, but the finer and more delicate things.

It is this turning to these finer and better things that our passage here in Colossians 3:1-11 wants us to clearly see. To turn our eyes from this world upward, choosing the better things of Christ.

Recap: Before we read our passage, I want to help give us a running start by giving a brief recap of where we have been so far in Colossians to help ensure we are all on the same page as we begin. The letter of Colossians was written by the Apostle Paul, with his protégé Timothy to this particular gathering of believers in Colossae to both give thanks for them and the faith that has already begun in them and encourage them onward to the point of maturity in Christ.

For it is this maturity, that Paul says that he toils and strives for in his labors to proclaim Christ (1:28-29). Part of this maturing is in helping guard them against a false teaching that has entered their midst. A false teaching that seeks to turn them from trusting in Jesus alone to a need for something more. Particularly as we saw in Colossians 2, this need to be given over to philosophy of human traditions and asceticism as their means of being accepted.

To counter this then, Paul has been both giving particular warnings to not be judged, disqualified by, and taken captive by these things. But as his main counter argument, he has been revealing to the Colossians, and through them, us, the greatness of Christ!

This is highlighted in the hymn like nature of Colossians 1:15-23 where Christ is declared as the one who is supreme in both creation and redemption. Declaring that we both were created for him and redeemed for him. For this Christ, this Jesus, is on in whom the fullness of the deity of God dwells in. In him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge of God.

But not only is this the greatness of Christ, as we saw two weeks ago in Colossians 2:9, his fullness now dwells in those who have received Jesus. And because of this, we are now being called to walk in a worthy manner of Christ, to walk in him just as we received him. So then, as we have been created for Christ, so in our redemption, we are redeemed for Christ. We are to have the glory of Christ fill our minds and motivate the manner in which we walk.

Let’s now then hear the word of our Lord from Colossians 3:1-11…

Main Point: As Christians, our very lives are hidden with Christ. Therefore, let us pursue the things of Christ and his glory.

1. A Pursuit of the glory of Christ

2. A Killing of the sin hidden within

[1] George Swinnock. Edited by Richard Rushing. Voices from the Past Volume 1: Puritan Devotional Readings. (East Peoria, IL. Banner of Truth, 2009, Reprinted in 2018), 257.