My name is Matthew Capone, and I'm the pastor here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church,
and it's my joy to bring God's word to you today.
A special welcome if you're new or visiting with us.
We're glad that you're here, and we're glad that you're here,
not because we're trying to fill seats,
but because we're following Jesus together as one community.
And as we follow Jesus together,
we become convinced that there's no one so good they don't need God's grace,
and no one so bad that they can't have it,
which is why we come back week after week to hear what God has to say to us in his word.
We are once again taking a break from our series in the Gospel of Mark for Easter,
and we're continuing from last week in the book of Colossians
as we're looking at the resurrection and Jesus as our king and what that means for us.
You'll remember from last week that the book of Colossians is actually a letter
written by the Apostle Paul to the city of Colossae, which is in modern-day Turkey.
And Paul writes it in the 60s AD from prison against false teachings that are going on in the church.
Now, if you were with us last week in Colossians chapter 2,
you'll remember that we talked about the difference between being spiritually dead versus spiritually alive.
And you remember we saw Jesus triumphing over the powers and the authorities,
that he brought an end to their rule, their dominion.
And so we talked about the spiritual resurrection,
and I told you this story about the seminary professor
who would take his students out to a graveyard, a cemetery,
and he would say, preach to these tombstones.
And he would tell them that's the same as preaching to someone who isn't saved.
They've not been brought to spiritual life.
They need God's power at work in their lives.
You'll remember spiritual death is when we can't respond to God.
We can't hear God.
We can't love God.
Spiritual life is when we're able to thank God for his gifts.
We're growing in joy and love.
We're able to repent of our sin.
And you'll remember we talked to this spiritual life.
It only comes through Christ's resurrection.
So I told you about the payload,
that it's a rocket that takes up the satellite.
It's the airplane that takes up the passengers.
It is Christ's resurrection, his rising, that raises us as well.
And so that's what we talked about last week from Colossians chapter 2.
This week we're continuing talking about the resurrection with some new questions.
Question 1, how do we live now in light of that fact?
How does that affect our day-to-day lives Monday through Sunday?
And what is it that we look forward to?
What is it that hasn't happened that will happen because of Jesus' resurrection?
And so we're going to look at two things.
This is already written in your worship guide on page 7,
which is resurrection life and resurrection hope.
It's with that that I invite you to turn with me now in God's word.
You can turn in your Bibles.
You can turn on your phone.
You can turn in your worship guide.
No matter where you turn, remember that this is God's word.
And God tells us that his word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path,
which means that he has not left us to stumble alone in the dark,
but instead he's given us his word to show us the way to go.
And so that's why we read now Colossians 3, starting at verse 1.
I invite you to pray with me as we come to this portion of God's word.
Our Father in heaven, we praise you and thank you that Jesus has risen from the dead,
that our life is hidden with him,
that you have transferred us from the domain of darkness to the kingdom of your beloved son.
We ask that you would speak once again by your word,
that you would show us your grace and your truth,
and most of all, you'd show us Jesus.
You'd cast a spotlight on him that we'd see how beautiful and glorious he is.
We ask these things in his mighty name.
Amen.
Last week, as I mentioned just a second ago,
we talked about this issue of being raised from spiritual death to spiritual life.
Paul here continues that to tell us that it is more than that.
It is not just that we've gone from death to life.
It's actually that we've been transferred from one kingdom,
one citizenship into another kingdom, another citizenship.
In fact, he says this in Colossians chapter 1, verse 13.
He says that he's delivered us from the domain of darkness,
and he's transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son.
And in fact, that's what's happening here in verses 1 and 3.
Verse 1, if you have been raised with Christ,
he's saying you've been raised with Christ,
you've been brought into this new kingdom.
You have a new citizenship.
You belong to a new reality.
And then the opposite of that is also true.
Verse 3, for you have died.
It is not just that you've been raised to a new reality,
but that your old citizenship is completely gone.
You no longer belong to that world or that realm anymore.
In other words, you now, because of Christ's resurrection,
look to heaven, not to earth.
You look to heaven, not to earth.
And that's what he's saying in verse 2 when he says,
set your minds on things that are above,
not on things that are on earth.
Verse 3, he tells us, heaven is your place.
Your life is hidden with Christ in God.
And so, in short, he's saying you have new life in one sense.
And you've died in another sense.
You are alive to heaven right now,
and you are dead to earth.
You're alive to heaven.
You're dead to earth.
Now, that's actually, in some ways,
more confusing than it is helpful,
because when we hear the word earth today as Christians,
or worldliness, we might think,
oh, that means anything in the material creation
is somehow worthless,
and all I should be doing now
is just reading my Bible and praying.
But, in fact, we need to use Paul's own definition
of what it means to be earthly or worldly.
When he talks about having died
and not being with the things that are of the earth,
he's talking about the world as it's dominated by sin.
And we know that because he goes on
in the next verse, in verse five,
he says, put to death, therefore,
what is earthly in you,
and then he lists a bunch of sins,
sexual immorality, impurity, passion,
evil, desire, and covetousness.
So, when we talk about being worldly or earthly,
we're not talking about someone
who cares about things that happen in everyday life.
We're not saying you need to exit reality or society.
We're not saying it's wrong to think about
what you're gonna eat next, right,
or what you're gonna wear.
What we are saying is you have died to the world,
to the earth, in as much as it is the realm
of sin and evil and wickedness.
That's what it means that you are no longer on earth,
but in heaven.
I provided you on verse seven of your worship guide,
in fact, a definition of worldliness or earthliness.
It's a system of values in any given age
which has at its center our fallen human perspective,
which displaces God and his truth from the world,
makes sin look normal and righteousness seem strange.
That's what it means when we talk about something
that's worldly.
It's displaced God and his truth from the world.
And then Paul later goes on in Colossians
and gives us a definition of what it means
to be heavenly minded.
This same chapter, verses 12 through 17,
he says it's compassion, kindness, humility, meekness,
patience, love, thankfulness, love for God's word,
and singing, doing everything in Jesus' name,
giving all thanks to God.
I want you to think about it like this.
Some of you, it's true that you were not born
in the United States.
Your home country is somewhere else.
Others of us, that's not true,
but we can imagine what that's like.
That if you are from another place, what do you do?
You often focus on the traditions
and the values of that place.
Even as you're away, you're thinking
about your home country, right?
You're reading in the news what it is
that's going on in the country you came from.
When you have a chance, what kind of dishes
are you cooking?
You are cooking the food that you grew up with,
the recipes that are from your place.
You are doing whatever you can,
even though you're not there,
to bring that place into the present.
You continue to live as if that other country
is your home.
Why?
Because in a sense, you actually belong there, right?
That's actually your place.
That's where your citizenship is.
That is where you are most comfortable.
Paul is saying this when he says,
be heavenly minded.
Look towards heaven as the place
where you actually are from.
Your citizenship is actually in the kingdom of God.
Your culture is actually the culture
of the kingdom of God.
The recipes that you cook
are recipes from the kingdom of God.
This is where you truly belong.
Act like it.
This is where your citizenship is.
Act like it.
You have died, verse three,
in the sense that sin no longer has power.
It no longer has jurisdiction over you.
Sin is not your home.
You are sinful.
Your earthly passport was taken away.
You don't belong to that place anymore.
And you were given a different passport.
You were given a heavenly passport.
So yes, you may fall into the practices
and the patterns of this world,
but that's not where you belong.
You may fall into the country of sin
and its practices,
but that's not your home.
Remember where you actually belong.
You are living out the kingdom of God.
That's what he's saying in verses one and two.
If you have been raised with Christ,
seek the things that are above.
In other words, set your gaze,
your focus on God and his kingdom.
Verse two, set your minds
on things that are above.
That is the north star
that determines and guides everything else.
Why?
Because that's where you belong.
Why do you belong there?
Because Jesus rose from the dead.
Because of Christ's resurrection,
you have been raised with him.
You belong to a new place
and a new kingdom.
Seek those things.
Set your mind on those things.
Why do you seek first his kingdom
and his righteousness?
Because you belong to that kingdom.
Why did we pray earlier this morning,
your kingdom come,
your will be done?
Because that's where your true citizenship is.
If you're a non-Christian,
maybe you have questions or doubts
or objections to Christianity,
I hope that you feel this tension,
that you feel the tension
of belonging to the earth,
which is to say,
you know that we live in a world
filled with systems of evil.
And in fact,
if you're completely honest,
if you press into that,
you recognize that the problems in the world
are not simply problems that are out there.
They're also problems that are in here.
As I've told you before,
the quote from Alexander Solzhenitsyn
who says,
the line between good and evil
cuts through the center of every human heart.
And so maybe you've come to terms
or you're wrestling with this question of,
I know that I am part of the problem.
I know I must change.
And I cannot change myself.
What do you do with that?
Well, Paul tells us here,
and he told us in chapter two,
you need to be brought from spiritual death
to spiritual life.
You need to be brought from one kingdom
to another kingdom.
You need to be transferred
from the domain of darkness
to the kingdom of the beloved son.
Well, how does that happen?
You can't do it by yourself.
No one has ever resuscitated themselves.
No one has ever brought themselves
from death to life.
This is by the power of God.
And that is the only power
that's able to do it.
So I'm just gonna leave you
with that tension.
That's the tension
that I hope that you feel
if you're not following after Christ.
If you look with me on page eight
of your worship guide,
you'll see this
from a beginner's guide to America
set by Roya Hakakian,
who is an immigrant
to the United States.
She says,
people who are not homesick
set their clocks
to the standard time
of their own region.
But in exile,
when homesickness is at a peak
and every thought
chases the next
in a loop of regret,
the hours pass
according to the standard time
of the displaced.
Here the body may slouch
towards east, west, north, or south,
but the heart is ever fixed homeward
to the city you just left.
Christian,
your heart
should be always fixed homeward,
not to the city you've left,
but the city
to which you are going.
You do not set your clock
to the time of this world.
You set your clock
to the time of the kingdom of God
because Jesus has risen from the dead.
If you have been raised with Christ,
seek the things that are above
where Christ is.
That
is your true home.
Paul doesn't just give a command, though.
He doesn't just tell us
to
seek the things that are above
or set our minds
on things that are above.
He also provides us
with confidence
and hope.
They live this resurrection life.
They are embracing
the kingdom of God
because of their resurrection hope.
It is not just
that they are spiritually alive,
but they have
a glorious future as well.
That's what Paul tells them
when he says
that their life,
verse 3,
is hidden
with Christ
in God.
Now,
hidden could mean
all sorts of things,
right?
It has a wide range of meaning.
What it means here
is clarified
by the rest of the text.
It's hidden in verse 3,
but what happens
in verse 4?
When Christ,
who is your life,
appears,
then you also
will appear
with him
in glory.
So your life
is hidden
in Christ
in the sense
that it is concealed.
It cannot be seen.
In other words,
there are things
that are true
about you
as a Christian
that are not visible
to the naked eye.
There's a present reality,
verse 3,
you're hidden.
There's this future
transformation
that you're going
to appear.
There's a glory
that you have now
as a Christian
and an even greater glory
that you will have
in the future
and it cannot be seen
and it is invisible.
Now,
that may sound
a little bit strange
and pie in the sky,
so I want you
to think about it
this way.
There's a Puritan
named Richard Sibbes
who lived
the 1500s
and 1600s
and he was
an Anglican theologian
and he gives us
this example
of two plots
of ground.
One plot
of ground
is actually
a garden.
The other plot
is just a common field.
Okay,
so you've got
the garden,
you've got
the common field.
Can you tell
the difference
between the two
in the winter?
No.
In the winter
they look
exactly the same.
But what does
the garden have
that the common field
does not?
The garden
has the seeds.
There's something
hidden there,
right?
There's power
and potential.
There's life
that's lying
under the surface.
What is going
to happen eventually?
Well,
the winter's not
going to last forever,
right?
There's going
to come a time
we're kind of
feeling it right
now where things
begin to warm up.
The sun
is going to shine.
What's going
to happen
to that garden?
All sorts
of life
is going
to become visible,
right?
It's going
to spring up.
In the past
it looked like
those two plots
of ground
were the same.
Now we see
they were not.
When Christ,
the sun,
returns
in his second coming,
there will be
a glory
that is true
of you
that will be
visible
for all
to see.
When Christ
who is your
life appears,
then you also
will appear
with him
in glory.
There is something
hidden under the
ground,
Christian,
in your life
that is true
in part now
and will be true
in full one day,
which is that you
will be glorious
and glorified.
Your body
will be free
from all sickness
and sin
and disease
and brokenness.
That is the hope
that we have
because of Christ's
resurrection.
Paul tells us
in other places
that he's the first
fruits.
First fruits are
what appear
at the very beginning
of a harvest
and they show
what the rest
of the harvest
is going to look
like.
We know
what our future
will be
because Christ
as the first fruits
has already shown us.
We know
that we will rise
from the dead
with glorified bodies
because Jesus
already has.
We can be confident
of going from
spiritual death
to spiritual life
because we are
raised with him.
Christian,
when Christ
who is your life
appears,
then you also
will appear
with him
in glory.
So set
your mind
on the things
above.
That is where
your true glory
lies.
Remember
your true
country.
Remember
your hope.
Remember
the glory
that is
to come.
Remember
who you are.
Become
who you
already
are.
You are
already
a citizen.
You have
already
been raised
from death
to life.
Paul is saying
this has already
happened.
Act like it.
Live
into it.
Embrace
that.
Seek
the things
that are
above.
Set
your mind
on the
things
that are
above.
This,
by the way,
is the
beauty
of the
gospel.
The
beauty
is that
the
citizenship
comes
before
the
behavior.
The
raising
to
spiritual
life
happens
by
God's
power.
He
doesn't
say,
start
acting
like
you're
a
citizen
of
the
kingdom
of
God,
and
then
I'll
figure
out
later
whether
you're
good
enough
to
belong.
No,
he's
saying,
you
are
a
citizen.
Now
act
in
accordance
with
that
truth.
Line
yourself
up
with
that
reality.
Set
your
mind
on
things
that
are
above,
not
on
things
that
are
on
earth.
If you're
not a
Christian,
I want
to remind
you of
an
inconvenient
truth,
which is
that your
life here
is a
life of
rot
and
decay.
It's
not
anything
new
or
earth
shattering
for me
to say
that,
but it's
something we
spend a lot
of time
and energy
distracting
ourselves
from.
Money
and exercise
and fitness
and power
cannot
save you
from the
fact that
this world
lacks
glory.
Cannot
save you
from the
fact that
this world
is characterized
by decay.
by deterioration.
And no
matter what,
your
existence
here will
come to
an end.
Whether it
comes to
an end
in an
instant
or the
lights
slowly
dim.
And the
Bible tells
us it
actually only
gets worse
after death
if we're
not
hidden
in Christ.
If that
glory is
not planted,
is not
hidden
in the
soil of
the
garden.
That we
all
experience
some of
God's
goodness
here,
whether we
believe in
him or
not.
Matthew
chapter 5
says,
he makes
the rain
to fall
on the
just
and the
unjust.
There
will come
a time
when we
are
separated
from
God
and
his
goodness.
There
is only
one
path
to
glory.
There
is only
one
way
to be
set
free
from
sin
and
sickness
and
disease
and
it
is
this
that
your
life
is
hidden
with
Christ.
He
is the
only
one
who
can
protect,
preserve,
who can
raise.
the
glory
that we
all
long
for
as
humans
and
the
injustice
that
we
grieve.
There
is only
one
way
out
and
it's
in the
resurrection
of our
Lord and
Savior
Jesus
Christ.
There's
a man
named
Mirhan
Karimi
Nasiri
who
spent
11
years
straight
in the
Charles
de Gaulle
airport
in
Paris.
He
was a
Iranian
exile
and he
was a
student
in
Paris
and in
1998
France
decided
they were
going to
kick him
out.
He
had
lost
his
Belgian
refugee
documents
and no
country
was willing
to take
him.
No
one would
give him
any
papers.
At
one
point
Belgium
said,
we'll
reissue
you
your
papers
but
you
have
to
come
here
in
person
to
get
them.
But
without
any
papers
he
couldn't
leave
the
airport.
So
for
11
years
this
man
was
trapped
literally
a
man
without
a
country.
In
September
of
1999
the
chief
medical
officer
at
the
airport
finally
was
able
to
procure
this
man
an
international
travel
card
and
a
French
residency
permit
and
so
he
had
everything
he
needed
to
finally
leave
the
airport.
Only
one
problem.
He
didn't
want
to.
The
chief
medical
officer
said
this
he
needs
to
be
looked
after
to
be
coaxed
back
into
the
outside
world
but
we
will
not
force
him
to
leave.
Brothers
and
sisters
if
you
are
hidden
in
Christ
your
citizenship
is
in
heaven.
It
is
time
to
leave
the
airport.
Because
Jesus
has
risen
from
the
dead
you
have
a
new
life
you
belong
to
him
and
so
do
this
verse
one
seek
the
things
that
are
above
verse
two
set
your
mind
on
things
that
are
above
because
verse
three
you
have
died
and
your
life
is
hidden
with
Christ
in
God
when
Christ
who
is
your
life
appears
then
you
also
will
appear
with
him
in
glory.
Let's
pray.
Our
Father in
heaven
we thank
you for
our
great
hope.
The
hope of
the
future
that
when
you
appear
we
will
appear
with
you
and
the
hope
of
the
present
that
you
have
delivered
us
from
the
domain
of
darkness
to
the
kingdom
of
your
beloved
son.
We
ask
that
you
would
help
us
to
live
that
reality
out
more
and
more
day
after
day
week
after
week.
We
thank
you
that
we
don't
have
to
earn
this
citizenship
but
it's
given
to
us.
And
we
ask
all
of
these
things
in
the
mighty
name
of
Jesus
Christ.
Amen.