Christocentric Church

Introduction

We are Doing a Series Called “Christocentric”

It’s All About Having Christ as Our Center

I Started Off the Series with an Illustration of a Man Buying a Painting

He Wanted the Painting to Be the Centerpiece of His House

But He Would Have to Renovate His Entire House to Make that Happen

So That’s Exactly What He Did

He Wanted Himself and Everyone Who Entered His House…

To Admire and Honor His Painting

This Series is to Help Us Be Like that Man

Jesus is Our Painting

And Every Aspect of Our Lives is Our House

As Christians, Jesus Must to Be the Centerpiece of Our Lives

And We Must to Be Willing to Make Whatever Renovations Necessary for that to Happen

The Christocentric Person’s Greatest Desire:

Is for Jesus to Be Admired and Honored Through Us

This Morning We are Looking at Christocentric Church

I Mean By “Church” What the Bible Means By “Church”

The Community of People Who Belong to Jesus

A Christocentric Church is a Community of People Who are Centered on Jesus

We Want to Be a Christocentric Church

But the Problem is:

You Don’t Find Many Churches Like that

What You Find in Many Churches is:

Traditions Being Taught More Than the Gospel

We Looked at that Last Week

Individuals Who are More Self-Centered Than Christ-Centered

Sin Secretly (Or Maybe Even Publicly) Running Rampant Amongst the Members

A So-Called Community of Divided and Detached People

Gossip, Slander, Anger, Grudges, etc.

Does that Sound Like a Christocentric Church to You?

And Yet that’s What We Find in So Many Churches

What Does a Christ-Centered Church Look Like?

Paul is Going to Tell the Colossian Church the Answer to that Very Question

We’re Going to Be in Colossians 3

Colossians 3:1–4 (NASB95)

Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

Paul Told Us in Col. 2:12 that Being “Raised With Jesus” is Being Baptized into Him

Those Who are Baptized into Jesus Should Keep Seeking/Setting Their Minds on Things Above

To Seek/Set Their Minds on the Kingdom of Heaven

Things that Pertain to the Reign and Rule of King Jesus

This is the Simple Answer to What a Christocentric Church Looks Like

They are a Community of People Who are Seeking the Kingdom of Heaven

They Set Their Minds on King Jesus and the Spread of His Gospel

If We Have Been “Raised/Resurrected with Christ”…

That Implies that We Also Died with Him

And that’s Exactly What Paul Says, “For You Have Died”

We Have Given Our Lives to Jesus

And He has Hidden Our Lives with Himself in the Heavenly Realm

And When He Returns, Our Lives Will Be Revealed With Him in Glory

“Hidden” Carries 2 Ideas

1st, Something that is Hidden is Unseen

We, Nor the World, are Able to Presently See the Life We Will Be Given When Jesus Returns

We Know that Our New Lives Will Be Spent in Glorious Immortal Bodies…

But that Life is Still Hidden at the Moment

2nd, Something is Hidden so it can Be Protected

Those Who Have Died and Resurrected with Jesus Have Our Eternal Lives Protected By Jesus

Our Eternal Life is Secure with Jesus

Jesus is Our Life

He is the Giver, Protector, and Revealer of Our Lives

That Means Exactly What Paul Said to the Galatians

Galatians 2:20 (NASB95)

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

A Christocentric Church is a Community of People Who Say:

“Our Lives are Not Our Own”

“Jesus is Our Source of Life, and Therefore We Live for Him”

There’s No Room for Self-Cernteredness in a Christocentric Church

Colossians 3:5–7 (NASB95)

Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them.

All of These Sinful Desires and Practices Have at Their Very Core this Idea:

“My Life is About Me”

“Forget About Loving God and Loving My Neighbor…”

“I Love Me”

Paul Specifies that Greed is Just a Form of Idolatry

But When it Comes Down to it…

Everything Paul Listed Here is

They are All About Gratifying the World’s Favorite God - Self

These Desires and Practices Come From a Self-Centered Heart

Paul Gives 2 Reasons We Shouldn’t Live By These Desires and Practices

1st, God’s Wrath is Coming for People Who Live this Way

2nd, These are Characteristics of Our Former Life

But as Christians, We Died

We are No Longer Old Humanity

That Old Creation Died

Life is No Longer About Me; It’s About Jesus

And if My Life is About Jesus…

My Life is About Pleasing Him, Not Me

A Christocentric Church is Focused on Jesus, Not Ourselves

Colossians 3:8–11 (NASB95)

But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him—a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.

Since We Have Taken Off the Old Humanity (Like Taking Off Dirty Clothes)…

Along with that Old Humanity Should Be:

Sins of Hot-Temperedness and an Uncontrolled Tongue

Anger, Wrath/Rage, Slander, Abusive Language, Lying

And Sandwiched in Between Those 2 is “Malice”

This is the Desire for Ill-Will or Harm to Come to Others

That is Often Acted Out Through Angry Outbursts and Uncontrolled Tongues

These are All Sins that Cause Harm to Your Neighbor

They Bring Harm to Interpersonal Relationships in a Community

They Bring Harm to the Church

These Shouldn’t Be Characteristics of a Christian Individually…

Nor Should They Be the Environment of a Church

As Christians, We Have Taken Off the Old Humanity and its Practices…

And We’ve Put on the New Humanity

And This New Humanity is in the Process of Being “Renewed”

Another Way to Translate this Word is “Renovated”

As New Humanity, We are Being Renovated to the Knowledge of the Image of God

I Talk Quite a Bit About the “Image of God”

The Reason is Because That’s What We Were Originally Created to Be

We Were Created to Be God’s Image-Bearers, His Little Idols Here on Earth

Just as an Image/Idol Represents an Invisible God…

We Were the Images/Idols that Represent Our Invisible God

But When Humanity Sinned, We Were No Longer a Proper Image/Representative of Him

But Then Jesus Came

Colossians 1:15 (NASB95)

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

He Became the Firstborn of the New Creation/Humanity

Since the Fall, There Hadn’t Been a True Image-Bearer of God Until Jesus

And Because of Jesus’ Death and Resurrection…

We Now Can Join Him in Death and Resurrection Through Baptism…

And Have Our Purpose Restored to Us

We Can Be the Image of God/His Representatives Once Again

We Do this By Being Centered on Jesus…

Which Will Lead Us Becoming More Like Him

I’m Afraid Far Too Many People in the Church are More Focused on…

Dying and Going to Heaven…

Than Living with the Goal of Becoming More Like Jesus

The Gospel of “Jesus Died so that I can Go to Heaven”…

Is a Deeply Twisted and Distorted Gospel

The Goal of the Gospel Isn’t So We can Die and Go to Heaven

The Goal of the Gospel is About Restoring Us to Our Purpose of Being God’s Image-Bearers

That Means Being Transformed From the Way the World Thinks, Speaks, Acts, and Lives…

To the Way Jesus Thinks, Speaks, Acts, and Lives

This is What New Creation/Humanity is All About

This is What the Gospel is All About

But it’s Good to Focus on the Tense of the Verb Here

We are “Being Renewed/Renovated”

In this Age and in These Bodies, We Will Never Be Perfect Image-Bearers of God

Only When Jesus Resurrects and Transforms Our Bodies Will that Be the Case

But Until Then, We are to Be Growing to Be More and More Like Him Each Day

As a Community of New Humanity, We No Longer Divide in Ways Old Humanity Divides

In Jesus’ Church, There are No More Distinctions Based On:

Race (Jew or Gentile)

Past Religion (Circumcised or Uncircumcised)

Culture (Barbarian or Scythian)

Barbarians Were Those Who Were Uncultured in the Language and Traditions of the Greeks and Romans

Scythians Were Even Worse; Savages Known for Their Brutality

But None of that Mattered Once They Died and Raised with Jesus

Social Status (Slave or Free)

None of These Characterizations that Used to Divide Us have Any Significance in Jesus

Those Things Don’t Matter

As the NLT Says:

Colossians 3:11 (NLT)

In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.

In a Christocentric Church, All People are Considered Equal

There Should Be No More Divisions Among Us

Jesus is All that Matters and Every One of Us Have Him Living Within Us Through His Spirit

Colossians 3:12–13 (NASB95)

So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.

Here’s a Beautiful Description of a Christocentric Church

They are God’s Chosen People

Holy (Sanctified - Set Apart From the Ways of Old Humanity)

Beloved (God Loves Them)

And as God’s Chosen People, We Have Taken Off the Old Humanity/Creation…

And We are in the Process of Being Renovated More and More into New Humanity/Creation

That Includes Clothing Ourselves with:

Compassion for Those in Need

Kindness - Doing Good to Others

Humility - Not Being Prideful or Thinking Too Much of Yourself

Gentleness - Meekness, Power Under Control

Patience - To Experience Injustice or Injury Without Retaliating

This Includes the Choice of Bearing/Putting Up with the Abuses and Offenses of Others…

And Choosing to Forgive Them

Notice How the Focus is on the Individual Who is to Have Patience…

Not the One Who Caused the Problem

A Christocentric Church is Full of People Striving to Be Patient

The Root Word for the Word “Forgiveness” is the Word for “Grace”

Just as Jesus has Been Gracious to Completely Forgive You…

You Should Be Gracious to Completely Forgive Those Who’ve Wronged You

A Christocentric Church is One that is Full of People Who:

Are Compassionate and Kind to One Another

Are Humble and Gentle in Their Interactions with One Another

Are Patient and Forgiving with One Another

A Church that is Centered on Jesus Will Treat Each Other the Way Jesus Treats Us

We All Want to Be Members of a Christocentric Church

But Do We Want to Participate in Making this Church a Christocentric Church?

Colossians 3:14–15 (LEB)

And to all these things add love, which is the bond of perfection. And the peace of Christ must rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body, and be thankful.

The Gigantic Cherry on Top that that Brings the Church to Complete Unity is Love

Love is Not Just a Feeling, It’s an Action

It’s a Choice to Devote Ourselves to the Service, Care, and Well-Being of Others

If We Want to Be a Christocentric Church, We’ve Got to Love Each Other

And We Must Make the Peace of Christ the Ruler of Our Hearts

Peace is to Be the Ruler/Authority Over All Our Disputes and Differences

Peace, Harmony, and Unity Must Always Be the Goal

Love, Peace, and Thankfulness Must Be the Atmosphere of this Church…

If Our Hope is to Be a Christ-Centered Church

Now, All I’m Asking and All Jesus is Asking…

Is that You Do Your Part in Helping this Church Be Centered on Him