DEFINING LIFE: Out With the Old; In With the New

INTRO

Colossians 3:1–17 ESV

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. 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. 11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. 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.

1) Right Thinking

Colossians 3:1–4 ESV

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.

Before Christ, we are broken people through and through.

Our lives point away from our Creator and towards ourselves.

Our desires are for gratification of what we think we want, but leads to more and more brokenness.

How we think about things…how we view the world and our place in it…how we deem best to make our way through the world…is all skewed, distorted, and debased. It is not founded in truth, but a distortion of true reality that if found only in God.

When Jesus becomes LORD of our lives and we shift our focus to Him, how we think about everything needs to change.

We no longer seek what pleases temporally, but rather what matters eternally. (vs. 1)

We no longer set our minds to a worldly and distorted way of thinking, but rather let the King of Kings who reigns from heaven shape our thoughts. (vs. 2)

We no longer fear what turn our lives on this earth can take, but realize that our life and our hope is protected in Jesus (vs. 3)

We no longer hold our lives as our own, but rather our souls are sold out to Christ and His glory is now the glory we seek and chase. (vs. 4)

Jesus works in us to kill the wrong way of thinking that is based on lies and distortions. He fixes our view of life and the world around us and corrects our thinking to what is right and righteous!

When how we consider the world is changed, then how we conduct ourselves also changes

2) Reverent Living

Colossians 3:5–14 ESV

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. 11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. 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.

The life of one who is dying in sin, which is “what is earthly in you:”

Sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desires, and covetousness, which is idolatry. (vs. 5)

All of these things are corruptions, perversions, and distortions from God’s original design.

All of these things miss the mark of God and incur His righteous wrath. (vs. 6)

These are the things that once drove a person who was dead in their sin, but no longer! (vs. 7)

Notice the past tense of vs. 7

As you fix your eyes on Jesus, these things fade and become a testimony to the greatness of God and the power of the Holy Spirit upon our lives.

The over flow of the sinful heart and outward expression of these debased desires must also be put away from our lives:

Anger, wrath, malice, slander, obscene talk and Lying to one another. (vs. 8-9)

All of these things are to be cast aside like a old worn out garment that isn’t good for anything anymore. (vs. 9)

The new life of one who is being redeemed.

We are to put on the new self.

Every aspect of our lives are to be wrapped in Christ!

As we wrap ourselves up in Him, He is renewing the new way of thinking and expression (living) that mirrors Him. (vs. 10)

In this new life, worldly divisions are no longer relevant. (vs. 11)

In Jesus, He is the focus, not us.

Since Jesus is the focus, what once distinguished us and divided us, no longer has a place in our way of living.

What is now lived out in our lives is the characteristics of God on display through us:

Compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, bearing with one another, forgiveness, and true love. (vs. 12-14)

All of these things fed into our lives through the new life that Jesus gives as He changes how we think.

This transformation comes from Him as we draw closer to Him.

3) Relational Worship

Colossians 3:15–17 ESV

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.

Worship is not singing. Singing is an expression of worship and praise. Worship is a living sacrifice in which we give all of who we are to Jesus every moment of every day. (Rm. 12:1)

It’s “Let[ting] the peace of Christ rule in our hearts...” (vs. 15)

It’s built on ritual and repetition, but rather on an ongoing relationship with Jesus as we let the “Word of Christ dwell in you richly.” (vs. 16)

As the Word dwells in us richly it teaches us and corrects us (shapes us) in all wisdom, expressions of truth, praise and acknowledgment of God’s glory, and produces in us thankfulness and gratitude. (vs. 16)

A new life in Jesus brings Right Thinking, Reverent Living, and Real, Relational Worship that drives us to do all things with the same heart and manner of Jesus as we live out a continual expression of gratitude to God for making a way for us through Jesus (vs. 17)

CLOSING