Colossians: Jesus Christ, Your Life

Introduction and Scripture

Colossians 3:1–10 NIV

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

Pray.

From 2007 to 2020, Jerry Falwell Jr. served as the President of Liberty University, a position previously held by his father, Reverend Jerry Falwell Sr. During his presidency, Falwell Jr’s savvy leadership, financial management, and consistent messaging grew Liberty to one of the largest evangelical universities in the world. His success, however, was overshadowed by unsavory details of family affairs, abusive rhetoric, polarizing politicization, and a social media scandal. His tenure came to an undignified end in August of 2020.

In January of this year, Vanity Fair released a lengthy article chronicling Falwell’s story (Inside Jerry Falwell Jr’s Unlikely Rise and Precipitous Fall). One of the most cited quotes from the piece came from Falwell himself:

“Because of my last name, people think I’m a religious person. But I’m not. My goal was to make them realize I was not my dad.”

This rightly brought controversy.... How could the president of one of the largest Christian universities in the world claim he is not a religious person?

Amidst the article’s backlash, Falwell went to Instagram to qualify his comments:

“While I didn’t wear my religion on my sleeve to be seen by others, I have nonetheless had a strong faith in Christ and his teachings since college….While I am far from perfect, let me be clear: I believe Jesus was born of a virgin. I believe in the Deity of Christ as the only Son of God.”

Although the response may have provided some context for his “I’m not religious” concession in the Vanity Fair article, it raised other questions–important questions. Specifically, what does it mean to be a Christian? To what extent should our beliefs have a bearing on our behavior and lifestyle? Falwell Jr’s carefully-worded post separates orthodox beliefs (Jesus born of a virgin; Deity of Christ; etc.) from moral conduct (didn’t wear religion on sleeve; far from perfect)—which seems to suggest that the Christian life is primarily qualified by the faculties above one’s neck: what is believed with the mind and uttered with the mouth.

Catch up:

High Christology. Jesus was before all, is through all, supreme to all.

Mystery of God is that Christ is in you

Christ in the church

And today, with that reality…our life should resemble and be shaped by this truth. We should live this very life....

As NT Wright points out: The Colossian Christians have entered the new age, and, belonging there by right, do not have to struggle to attain the status of membership in God’s people: they already have it. They simply allow its life to be worked out in them.

So a lot of times we see a list of sinful behavior like what follows in Colossians 3 and think this is the cost of entry. This is not the case!!!

sexual immorality

impurity

lust

evil desires

greed

idolatry

if that list doesent get you, keep reading from chapter 3:

anger

rage

malice

slander

filthy language

do not lie

This is not the price of admission, to live in this way without these sins so that God loves you. Brother and sister in Christ you are as loved as you ever will be. However, these are not life.

Again according to NT Wright: “continue to live your life” is a Jewish literal rendering of “walking in life.” You have it, walk in it.

What does it mean to walk in this life? Well this is what Paul says....

Colossians 3:1–4 NIV

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Live your Lives in Him

There are three focal points in the verses of chapter three that we just read. These three points are Paul’s layers of what it looks like to live your life in him, to walk in him.

Live your lives in Him:

Life is already reality

Life involves the mind and the will

Life is focused on the Kingdom

Life is already reality

We have talked about this but I just want to make sure it is clear....for those in Christ life is a reality. Paul is instructing us to not do those things that lead to death.

Carlos Wittaker is a pastor who wrote a book telling the tough story of healing coming back from an addiction that almost cost him his family. His book, Kill the Spider, is inspired by a story his dad told him as he went to therapy retreat to trying and start over.

“When I was early in my ministry in Panama, I was preaching a three-day revival in a small church by the ocean. That first night I preached mi corazon [my heart] out. I preached hard and loud. Many were touched by God. Toward the end of the invitation, Ms. Ramirez stood up. She made her way to the center aisle and walked very slowly toward the front. When she finally got to me, I asked why she had come forward. Her answer was simple.

“‘Pastor, I need you to pray that the Lord cleans the cobwebs out of my life. I have so many cobwebs. Could you please pray?’ she asked me.

“And so I obliged. I prayed that the Lord would clean the cobwebs out of her life. She thanked me and went on her way. On night two of the revival I saw her get up again — Ms. Ramirez. And she came walking down the aisle with a little more certainty.

“‘Pastor, could you pray again? Could you please pray again that the Lord cleans the cobwebs out of my life?’ she asked.

“I reminded her I had prayed the night before for this very thing, and that the Lord would honor our prayer. But she insisted I pray again. And so I did.

“Son, listen to me. The last night of the revival — I couldn’t believe it — she got up again. She made her way down the aisle even faster this night. I wondered if she was going to tell me that her life had begun to take a turn for the better — that the Lord had begun to clean the cobwebs.

“‘Pastor Fermin, please, one last time? Can you please pray that the Lord cleans the cobwebs —’

“I stopped her mid-sentence. I stopped her because I realized we were praying the wrong prayer.

“And so I prayed, Father, we do not ask You tonight to clean the cobwebs from Ms. Ramirez’s life. In fact, Lord, keep them there for now. But tonight we ask for something much greater. Tonight we ask that You KILL THE SPIDER in Ms. Ramirez’s life. In the Name of Jesus I pray. Amen.

“Carlos, I have watched you your entire life. You are a professional at cleaning the cobwebs from your life. You are amazing at playing the part and being used by God in spite of your circumstances. But do not go to this place and try to clean up your life. That won’t work. You have to kill the spider. You must find the producer of all the cobwebs in your life and kill it. It is much more difficult, but that is why you are there. To kill the spider.”

Preach this out....

Life Involves the Mind and the Will

Secondly, life involves the mind and the will. It is both/and. It is a mental practice and discipline that is married to actionable obedience. Training the mind develops healthy habits . However it is possible to learn and learn and never do.

“Set your hearts and mind on things above”

The Mind: Our lives are too cluttered and filled with all of the distractions. We have no capacity for prayerful reflection, we have no attention to spend more than a couple of minutes in Scripture and when we do it is not the dopamine producing experience that our smart phones give.

Busy is our greatest threat. In his book “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry” John Mark Comer describes the deadly cycle we are stuck in:

It may be the case that:

(1) Christians are assimilating to a culture of busyness, hurry and overload, which leads to

(2) God becoming more marginalized in Christians’ lives, which leads to

(3) a deteriorating relationship with God, which leads to

(4) Christians becoming even more vulnerable to adopting secular assumptions about how to live, which leads to

(5) more conformity to a culture of busyness, hurry and overload. And then the cycle begins again.

We need to think seriously about how technology and our calendars are affecting us.

In the last three years, we have moved twice. Finished a doctoral degree, Lauren has nearly finished with her degree (yeah she went back to school while raising our family), had a child, cared for loved ones in our family…I could go on and on. The other day a friend of mine asked “how did you do it?” How do you manage all of it and stay sane. (sanity is relative, by the way). I had to think about it for a while.

I wake up before everyone else

Friends. Community and accountability.

On the flip side of things: we can spend our whole life in church and still be racists. We can take in every bible study on the Holy Spirit and not live a life marked by the fruit of the Spirit. This is why discipleship accountability is important. Learning to be “doers of the word” as the book of James puts it.

It cannot just be about what is above the neck when it comes to our faith. As a matter of fact theologically and biblically, it is a non-starter to say being a Christian can be separated from the life of the Christian. We believe in new birth, in life of Christ in us.

Life is focused on the Kingdom

The object of the activity of our minds and our will are in the kingdom of heaven. Look at it again:

Colossians 3:1–4 NIV

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Walking in life is to keep your mind and heart actively focused on heaven. This is not like the trite saying “too heavenly minded to do any earthly good.” No, for those focused on heaven, they begin to see where heaven has already come on earth and more importantly the potential of it.

One commentary...

Colossians and Philemon: An Introduction and Commentary i. Live in Christ, the Risen Lord (3:1–4)

The command to aspire to the things of heaven is a command to meditate and dwell upon Christ’s sort of life, and on the fact that he is now enthroned as the Lord of the world. The Bible does not say very much about heaven. But its central feature is clear: it is the place where the crucified Christ already reigns, where his people already have full rights of citizenship (Phil. 3:19ff.). To concentrate the mind on the character of Jesus Christ, on that unique blend of love and strength revealed in the Gospels, is to begin on earth to reflect the very life of heaven.

To live in life given in resurrection is to refuse to wait for heaven but to live in heaven now.

Years ago, I hired this guy from out of state to come on staff at church. He was a big sports fan so when he got to Texas he wanted to adopt a Texas university to cheer for. It was a sports and communal kick of his. So his first friends were aggies. But then a few weeks ago I saw him wearing a Texas Tech hat that was given to him. Not quite an unforgivable sin but a sin nonetheless. I had a little talk with him. Fast forward a few months and he is wearing a longhorn shirt. This is unforgivable. Intervention.

Dude…you are just an aggie by name. It does not really mean anything if you are all over the place.

Now this is petty and silly about athletes throwing a ball. But here is the thing....too many of us have given our allegiance all over the place.

Sin, business, worldly consumption.

Life is here. Christ in you. Live Christ today.