Colossians Ch3v1-17 - Made Alive In Christ

Well, good morning, church. It is a pleasure to be back with you. It was a year ago when I was here last.

For those of you who don't know me, my name is Sean Herrick. I am married to Roisin. I'm living in Douglas. My wife, unfortunately, cannot be here today. So she sends her love and her apologies as well. Yeah, it's a pleasure to be back with you this morning and to share God's word.

And I want to share also greetings from Douglas Baptist Church. You guys are very much in our thoughts and our prayers. Today's passage isn't from Revelation, don't worry, but we're going to be looking at Colossians.

So Colossians chapter 3, if you want to turn to your Bibles there. In the church Bible, I don't know what page that is, but Colossians chapter 3.

1, 1, 8, 4 in the church Bible. Thank you. And we're going to read verses 1 to 17. Starting at verse 1, Colossians chapter 3.

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 the things above, not on earthly things. For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ and God.

When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you will also 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, filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other since you have taken off your old self with its practices.

And have been put on the new self, which is being renewed in the knowledge and the image of its creator. Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free.

But Christ is all and is in all. Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience.

Bear with each other and forgive one another. If any of you have a grievance against someone, forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly.

Let us pray and ask for the Lord's help.

Heavenly Father, I thank you for who you are. Lord, I thank you for your faithfulness and your unfailing love.

Lord, we are weak and needy people. Lord, we need you. Lord, I ask that you would open our ears and soften our hearts to your word this morning.

May we be challenged and encouraged by your word. Lord, show us your glory. Show us the glory of Jesus this morning. In Jesus' name.

Amen. Let me ask you a question. How often do you forget things? If you're like me, constantly.

And we are constantly being reminded of things. I know when I was younger, my mom had to remind me constantly to clean my room. And I used to sit there and go, I know, mom.

And I would go and do it. Sometimes. But there are some good reminders. Let's say you have a schedule and you have things to do that day. And my wife is very good at telling me, remember you have to do this?

And I was like, okay, yeah, thank you. That's actually good. They're good reminders. One of the best reminders, my mom and dad always used to say to me before I leave the house, Sean, remember who you are.

And he used to drive me nuts. I was like, I know, I know. Remember who you are. And that has still stuck to me till this day. Well, here in this passage, Paul is reminding the believers of the church in Colossae of who they are.

He's saying, remember who you are and how they are changed in Christ, that they live in him and for him. They no longer live like they used to.

It is easy to forget that, isn't it, as Christians. Studying this passage this week, it has been so convicting and challenging, but also really encouraging.

And a great reminder of how Christ has made us new. And I pray that if you are feeling weak and heavy and burdened as a Christian, I hope that you'll be encouraged today by this word.

I want to look at three different reminders this morning. The first reminder, remember to set your heart and mind on the things above.

Look at verse one with me. Ralph read this earlier. Since then you have been raised with Christ. Set your hearts on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

You see, Paul is summing up what he has just talked about. So far he has talked about that you are free in Christ. You are no longer bound by human traditions and rules.

But you are actually free to live in Christ. And so he's emphasizing that point. Since you have been raised with Christ. So the question is, have you been raised with Christ this morning?

In chapter two, verse 20. It says, since you have died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world. So he's talking about you have died with Christ.

And now he's saying, since you have been raised with Christ. So Paul is saying, so sorry, picking back up in verse one.

Since you have been raised with Christ. We have a new perspective, don't we? We have a new perspective in this life. So Paul is saying to the believers to set their hearts on things above.

In other words, as Christians, we look ahead, don't we? We look ahead to where our home is. Our home is dwelling with Christ face to face.

Worshipping him. That is our home to dwell with him. In relationship with him. This is what our hearts should long for. And so Paul is saying, set your hearts on the things above.

If this is the case that you have been raised with Christ. Let's look at verse two. Set your minds on the things above, not on earthly things.

See, we shouldn't just set our hearts on things above, but our minds also. But our minds not on the earthly things. Now just to clarify, this doesn't mean that we don't care about things or things are important in our life.

There are many places in the Bible that talk about that we should enjoy this life and enjoy the gifts that God has given us. Just read the book of Ecclesiastes. So why should we not set our minds on earthly things?

There are two reasons. First, the things on this earth are so temporary. They are here one minute and gone the next.

The second, look with me in verse three. For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. So your life is not of this world anymore.

Your life is hidden with Christ. And you are his. Our life is his. Look with me in verse four.

When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you will also appear with him in glory. What an encouragement that is, brothers and sisters. Christ, who is your life.

When Christ appears, we will appear with him in glory. We long for that day where there is no more sin.

There is no more struggle. There is no more death. But just complete and utter joy in Christ.

And that was what Paul is reminding these believers. And it is a great reminder to us. That is an encouraging thought to set our minds on things above.

However, we don't just sit back and wait for that day and do nothing, do we? We have been changed, radically changed by Christ. So this should impact the way we live in this world.

The second reminder is remember to put on the new self. Look with me in verse five. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature.

Sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry. Paul is saying put to death everything in our earthly nature.

That means our earthly nature is sinful, isn't it? Something we battle with every single day. And these things lead to destruction and death.

But they also lead to something else. Look with me in verse six. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. The wrath of God is coming and he will judge sin once and for all.

This is what Jesus saved us from. He took the wrath of God. Jesus took the wrath of God on himself for us.

For those who have put their trust in him. So why would we live on our old self? We should put on the new self.

And Paul is saying even in verse seven that you used to walk in these ways in the life we once lived. Isn't that amazing?

We used to live like this. We still struggle with this. But we used to live like this. We were doomed to face God's wrath.

But yet Jesus took it on himself for us. Graciously offering mercy to us. We do not deserve that. But let me ask you a question.

Do you struggle to put to death the old self? Or does it rear its head from time to time? Or all the time? Do you struggle?

And in verse eight he says, But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things. Anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy language from your lips.

We are to rid ourselves of these things. Do you hear that kind of undertone of like, we should hate these things. We should, as Christians, sin.

We should hate our sin. One thing I've been praying recently is, Lord, help me to hate my sin. Help me to see it for what it is. Wicked.

And sinful. Help me to see it for what it is. And Lord, help me to hate it. Help me to run away from it. Help me to cling to the new self. We should rid ourselves of these things.

These are our old sinful selves. All these things that Paul has listed so far, do we see them in the world around us? Absolutely. Absolutely.

That is why, as people who have been raised with Christ, made a new creation and alive in Christ, we should be radically different. We should be radically different to the practices that we see in this world.

He says in verse nine, Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices. So all these things are of the old self, the sinful self. And we should hate these things.

And you'll see later on in verse 12, what Paul lists that as people, the holy people called by God, what we should live like. We have put on the new self.

Those who have been made alive in Christ. Look with me in verse 10. And have put on the new self, which is being renewed in the knowledge, in the image of its creator.

Man, that's an amazing verse. It is nothing of ourselves, but what Christ has done. The new self is being renewed in the knowledge of its creator.

As we grow in Christ, as we grow in Christ, he sanctifies us through the work of the Holy Spirit, who changes us to become more and more like Christ. This is an ongoing thing, this is an ongoing thing, though.

This isn't going to happen overnight. Maybe some of you, as I asked at the start, are weary and faint and disheartened at struggling with living in the old self and to put it to death.

But may I urge you and encourage you to cling to Christ and to his word. He changes desires and gives you new ones. The battle with the old self is going to always be there until we die or until the Lord Jesus returns.

But what an encouragement that we are being renewed in the image of our creator. The ESV puts it, being renewed in the knowledge after the image of its creator.

But it is nothing of ourselves. It is only through the work of the Holy Spirit in us. One encouraging word that is for us who struggle with sin, that has really touched my heart this week, that sometimes we can think that we have to do it ourselves, that I have to do these things to put away this bad sin or this sin that I'm struggling with.

I don't know what you're going through this morning. But cling to Christ because it is only through the work that he does that the old self can be put to death. The third reminder is remember that you are members of one body.

Look at me in verse 11. Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all and is in all.

See, Paul is pointing out that there is no division between each. There shouldn't be separate groups of people within the church. Now, obviously, there are different roles within the church.

Obviously, you have your elders, your deacons, your members. But even in those roles, we are all one in Christ. From the new believer to the believer who has been a believer for 50 years.

We are all one in Christ. This is what unites us. I know in our church in Douglas, there are so many different backgrounds. And looking out at the church, you're like, how are all these people from all different countries in one room?

Christ. That's what unites us. In verse 12, and this is where Paul lists out how a Christian should live life.

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with the compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

Let's just stop and think about that. Do you see yourself like that? That you are God's chosen people, that you are holy and dearly loved?

Not in an arrogant way. Not like, oh, look at me. God loves me. Not like that. But with thankfulness and with utter awe at the grace and the mercy of God.

That's an amazing thought, that you are dearly loved, even struggling with sin. and because of that, Paul says, clothe yourselves.

Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Do you see the difference between the old self and the new self? Drastically different.

Drastically different. But this is how the Christian should live. Should live. Now, can I ask, do we do this perfectly? Nope.

I can put my hand on, I don't. I fail at this every day. My job that I recently got two weeks ago, I clamp cars for a living.

Not the most desirable job and not the most liked person in the world. But, I have to learn that I need to be kind and gentle and humble and patient.

I don't always do that. The interactions that I get on a day-to-day basis are with a lot of angry people. But I need to be, I need to work on my patience.

That's something I've been praying for is Lord, help me to work on my kindness and my gentleness and my patience. But Paul is also saying that this will even happen with each other.

There's going to be times, even in interactions with people, brothers and sisters in Christ, in church, where you are going to sin against one another. That you are going to clash with each other.

Look what, Paul has something to say about this. Because Paul isn't, Paul isn't ignorant about this. He knows that we're still sinful and that people will clash with each other.

Verse 13, bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

we are to bear with one another. Not looking to hold something against someone or picking on every little thing they do. If someone has a grievance, we are to forgive just as the Lord forgave you.

Now that can be hard, can't it? That is not to say that if someone does not ask for forgiveness though, we can't have that transaction of forgiveness, can we?

But, we should have a heart to forgive. That if they come to us and they ask for forgiveness, we should forgive. We should have that genuine heart to forgive because the Lord forgave us.

But why? Look at me in verse 14. All over and all over all these virtues put on love which binds them all together in perfect unity.

All of these characteristics of a Christian, what holds them together? Love binds them together. This kind of love though is that only comes from Christ.

Someone who has been set free, forgiven by Jesus and living in him can love the way the Lord loved us. And we need to love each other which isn't always easy is it?

But Jesus loved you. He loves you and he gave his life for you even though we didn't deserve it. So we should forgive even though it seems like the person shouldn't deserve forgiving because the Lord forgave us.

God will will be to be thankful.!! And the peace that only Christ gives to his people. Look at me in verse 15.

Let the peace of Christ rule your hearts since as members of one body you were called to peace and be thankful. Let that rule your hearts since we are members of one body.

We are called to peace and to be thankful for each other and to be thankful for Christ and what he has done for you. Is that always easy?

We don't remember that all the time do we? We need to be reminded of this. To remind to let the peace of Christ rule our hearts.

And there is such peace in Christ. If you are not a Christian here, the peace that Christ gives is, you can't, it's hard to describe. That doesn't mean life is easy. That doesn't mean life is, yeah, happy and, you know, you're getting things all the time.

No. That's not the case. But even in the bad times, even when things are not going well in a sinful world, the peace of Christ is with you. It's in your heart.

Let that rule your heart over everything. And not only that, verse 16 says, let the message of Christ dwell among you richly.

Let the message of the gospel dwell richly among you and let us remind each other of the love and the grace and the mercy of our king, our living king and savior.

That is the basis of our faith. May it dwell with you in the teaching of God's word, admonishing one another as we sing songs together as we just have.

We sing to God, but we also sing to each other. We encourage one another through psalms, hymns, and songs from the spirit singing to God.

But do it with a heart of gratitude, of gratefulness, of gratefulness to God. I know that in times when life has hit you hard, life has knocked you down.

And you're in church and you're like, I literally, I can barely sing these words because you're just so beaten down. But to hear others sing the richness of the gospel to you, oh, the peace of Christ, let it rule your heart.

It's an amazing thing to hear people sing the truths about Christ. in verse 17, and whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Brothers and sisters, everything we do, whether it's your job, whether it's at home, whether it's making tea or coffee in the back, whether it's doing creche or Sunday school, or meeting up with friends or anything.

Anything we do, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to him, giving thanks and glory and honor to God.

That is the call of the Christian life. That has been such an encouragement to me studying this week, and I hope it was to you. But before we close, I just want to try and think, what do you take away from this?

Well, first of all, if you are here and you are not a Christian, remember what it says in verse 6. Because of these things, the wrath of God is coming.

You are living in the old self, and the wrath of God is coming on those who are sinners, who have not turned to Jesus. Sin will be judged one day, but there is one who came down from glory to become flesh, human who lived a perfect life, who showed the compassion and kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, and showed the greatest love by giving himself for sinners, paying the price of sin.

Your sin. Will you put your faith and trust in him for the forgiveness of your sin? For the Christian, it's a great reminder for us, but let us remember, first of all, verse 1, you have been raised with Christ.

You have been raised with Christ. We are new creations in him, all because of what he has done, nothing of what we have done. Let the old self die.

Our sin and the old self, brothers and sisters, that has been nailed to the cross. Our sin has been nailed to the cross.

So let's live for Christ. Let us bear with one another and let the message of Christ dwell richly among you. And in everything, let us give all the glory to God in everything we do.

Is your life hidden with Christ? I want to read to you verse 3 again. 3 and 4. For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you will also appear with him in glory. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, I thank you, Lord, for your word.

I thank you for the encouragement of this passage, Lord, that we have been raised with Christ. Lord, help us to put the old self to death.

Help us to clothe ourselves with all kindness and gentleness and humility and compassion, and that we love each other as the same way as you have loved us.

And Lord, we confess that we do not do this perfectly, but Lord, keep strengthening us day by day by day. Help us to serve one another, but Lord, help us not to do it for our own pride, but Lord, help us to do it for your honor and glory, giving thanks to God in everything that we do.

Lord, help us to be drastically different from the world we see around us. Help us to live for you, people who are free in Christ, who can live this life with the peace that you give.

Lord, help us to show people that. Help us for people to notice those things in our lives. And may you draw them close to yourself.

Lord, I pray that if we have family or friends, or even if there's people sitting here who do not know you, Lord, I pray that you would reveal yourself to them.

Lord, I pray that they would see Jesus for all his glory, that they would see his ultimate act of love by giving your life for us and raising again to give us life undeserved, all because of your love and mercy and grace.

Lord, be with us now in our days, this day, and our week to come. May we do everything for the honor and glory of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.