The Life That Is All About Jesus – part 1
Colossians 3:1 – 4:1
May 3, 2015
As you know, for the last couple of months we’ve been on a Sunday night study that we have called, “It’s All About Jesus”
I do intend at some point to transform this study into sermons that are simply “about” Jesus. I hope to look at His mercy and compassion and zeal and commitment, etc.
But before we get there,
The Lord has really had us focusing on a different aspect of this series.
And that is the reminder that your life and my life and this church
Must be “All About Jesus”
We’ve seen that church at Ephesus who was so faithful in areas of doctrine and commitment and who fought for the gospel and exposed heresy.
And we saw how that church was about to be removed as a church because despite all their religious successes, they had failed to accomplish the most important thing – they weren’t in love with Jesus.
They had left their first love – it was the intolerable failure of Ephesus.
We watched Mary, who was twice rebuked for her zeal for Jesus.
Once because she sat at Jesus feet while her sister served…
Once because she seemingly wasted expensive perfume on Jesus’ feet…
Both times Mary was rebuked, but neither time by Jesus.
Mary understood that listening to Jesus was more important than a clean house, Mary understood that no gift was wasted if it was lavished on Jesus.
She had her priorities right in a world that was way out of sorts.
They have been pointed and vivid reminders to us
That our life is meant to be all about Jesus.
Loving Him, Seeking Him, Trusting Him
Tonight we continue, and we return to the book of Colossians.
You will remember that we actually started this study here looking at chapter 1,
In what we called “Jesus 101” where we simply saw that
Jesus does in fact deserve “first place in everything”
Well tonight I want to return to this book and look at chapter 3.
If chapter 1 gave us “Jesus 101”,
Then chapter 3 gives us “Christianity 101”
If you were to go out into the streets this week and share the gospel and were granted the awesome privilege of seeing someone come to faith in Christ,
And then that person said, “What should I read?”
I can’t think of a better chapter than Colossians 3.
It is about as practical and direct on what the Christian life should be
As any chapter you’ll find in Scripture.
It is basic – but in reality that is what this study is about.
Getting back to the basics of Christianity
With the reminder that, “It’s All About Jesus”
So we’re going to spend the next few Sunday nights in this great chapter.
Now you know I don’t like simply picking up midstream…I much prefer a complete book study because the context is so important.
So let me again give you the context.
You already know from our previous study that the Colossian church was under doctrinal attack.
They had multiple heresies seeking to infiltrate that church.
• There was Gnosticism
• There was paganism
• There was Jewish Legalism
This threat is expressed in chapter 2
Colossians 2:8 “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.”
There was the threat of “empty deception”
• Some of it was philosophical
• Some of it was traditional
• Some of it was downright worldly
And the church at Colossae was sort of in danger
Of becoming a melting pot for all of these.
Paul wrote the letter to right the ship,
And the solution was to focus the Colossians on Christ.
In chapter 2, the specific deception Paul was dealing with
Was a mixture of MYSTICISM and LEGALISM.
There were people who claimed a special revelatory vision from the Lord
Which spoke to how important things like self-abasement,
And participation in various feasts and festivals was.
Colossians 2:16-19 “Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day — things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.”
These people were clearly “puffed up” and arrogant
Since they had received this higher revelation through some sort of angelic vision and now they were using that to get everyone else to fall into step with them.
They were manipulating others
To get involved in all these feasts and ordinances
And to deprive themselves of basic necessities.
Paul even says they were leading others to worship angels,
No doubt by causing these people to seek out their own angelic visions.
And this was absolutely heretical.
Furthermore it was of no value.
Colossians 2:20-23 “If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!” (which all refer to things destined to perish with use) — in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.”
In other words, what they are doing, certainly does look good.
No different than the Pharisee who prayed on the street corner, or who blasted a trumpet when he gave, or who neglected his appearance when he fasted.
The only problem is Paul said all of that was
“of no value against fleshly indulgence”
In other words, all of that nonsense doesn’t help you
Accomplish the real goal, which is to kill the flesh.
In fact asceticism (doctrine of self-depravation)
Actually GRATIFIES THE FLESH in a strange sort of way.
It achieves glory from others, which gratifies the ego.
(That is why Jesus said to give in secret, pray in secret, and fast in secret –
Don’t give the flesh an opportunity to be gratified)
But this was the problem in Colossae.
You have all these new Gentile Christians who are being told that
The life God expects of them is a life of rigorous religious involvement and self-deprivation.
And this absolutely exhausting and oppressive.
That is why Paul said in verse 18,
“Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize…”
Don’t let someone steal the true benefits of Christianity
By throwing you into bondage.
Strenuous religious involvement and self-deprivation
Are NOT the expectations of God.
Paul told Timothy that those things were actually the doctrine of demons.
1 Timothy 4:1-5 “But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.”
So the men who were preaching this asceticism to the Colossians may have indeed seen an angelic vision, but it was a fallen angel to be sure.
God was not requiring those things.
Well, that brings us to the question before us, which is this:
What is God requiring?
If God doesn’t want religion and deprivation, what does He want?
What is the Christian life supposed to look like?
(If not a bunch of monks walking around?)
And that is the question Paul answers in Colossians 3.
If I could spill the beans and give you the answer
Before we ever get into it, it’s simple.
God expects you to be conformed into the image of Christ.
He wants you to focus on Him
He wants you to strive to be like Him
And everything you do, he wants you to do because of Him
And that is what Paul will show the Colossians.
We can divide the chapter into 3 points, though we won’t get through it all tonight.
#1 THE PLEA FOR A JESUS FOCUSED LIFE
Colossians 3:1-11
Of course you recognize that Paul begins this section with “Therefore”
This is the response to all of those false visions
You’ve been hearing about.
And we can break these verses down a little further.
1) THE REQUEST (1-2)
“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.”
The first thing you must notice is that this is a “qualified” statement.
We see the word “if” in there.
“if you have been raised up with Christ”
We are only here dealing with people
Who have been “raised up with Christ”
Well, what does that mean?
Ephesians 2:1-6 “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ ( by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,”
In those 6 verses Paul spoke of several spiritual realities.
• He spoke of the reality of spiritual death – which you had.
• He spoke of the reality of lusting after the flesh – which you did.
• He spoke of the reality of being under divine wrath – which you were.
But those realities gave way to new realities.
Thanks to the amazing grace of God.
He replaced your death with life, and then He raised you up.
Paul said, “and raised us up with Him,
And seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”
Once we were trapped in sin, longing for sin,
And not only were we forgiven, but we were “raised” beyond that.
Romans 6:1-7 “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.”
And here it’s coming into even greater focus.
The question was asked if the way to get more grace
Was to commit more sin.
If grace increases when sin increases then it only stands to reason that if you want more grace then you should commit more sin – WRONG
A Christian should never be ok with sin.
Why?
Because “we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”
When we came to Christ, we identified with His death.
Paul said we were “crucified with Christ”
We died to self.
But we didn’t stay dead, just as Christ didn’t stay dead.
We experienced a resurrection.
A resurrection of a new spiritual life.
What once was dead was now alive.
• And this new life was no longer in bondage to sin.
• We were set free.
And that is what Paul is talking about here in Colossians.
“Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ”
Paul is saying, if you have been redeemed.
If you received that new resurrected life.
If you have died to self and been given new life in Christ.
If that is you… “keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.”
Why should you seek the things above?
Because that’s where Christ is.
We are to seek out all that Christ has and desires for us.
Paul will even restate it.
(2) “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.”
You can live this life focusing on all the things around you
And what it demands of you,
Or you can live this life focused on Christ
And all that He wants and has for you.
And this is the struggle that the Colossians are facing.
Someone has told them that they have to attend every religious function and feast, and honor all those days and abstain from all those foods.
They were told to really pay attention to all of that earthly stuff.
And Paul says, “No”, don’t be focused on what these men require of you, instead be focused on what Christ requires of you.
That is the request.
Focus on what Christ is wanting, not on what all those puffed up teachers are wanting.
2) THE REASSURANCE (3-4)
(3-4) “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.”
And this is really important.
Do you remember why those false teachers participate in all those feasts and all those acts of self-deprivation?
Colossians 2:23a “These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body…”
They do it because it looks good.
It impresses people.
And the Colossians were willing to do it also
So that they would not be labeled as
“unrighteous” or “Not devout” or “uncommitted”
Well, I don’t want people to think I’m not a real Christian, so I guess I better do all that stuff too.
If they do it, and I don’t, they won’t think I’m real.
And so participating in all that nonsense
Really becomes a show or a demonstration
Just to try and prove to other people that you are a real Christian too.
Here is something you need to remember.
“For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
“hidden” translates KRYPTO
It’s where we get our work for cryptic
It means, that it can’t be readily seen.
And think about it, can anyone in here see my spiritual life?
(You may see what you think to be the fruit of it, but you can’t physically see a light in my chest that reveals I have spiritual life)
And some, because they want others to see it,
Then start jumping through hoops
To make sure everyone else knows they are real.
But Paul says your true spiritual identity is actually “hidden” in Christ.
But some day it will be revealed.
(4) “When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.”
When does Paul say your genuineness will be revealed?
At the same time Christ’s genuineness is revealed.
Here is the point.
Don’t spend your life jumping through all those hoops
Just to try and prove to someone that you are real,
Instead focus on pleasing Christ (which is what it means to be real)
And someday Christ will show everyone that you were real.
This is a very freeing reality when you grab it.
• I don’t have to prove my Christianity to you.
• I don’t have to prove to you how much I love Jesus.
• I don’t have to participate in every goofy religious event to prove that I am real.
That is what Paul meant up in chapter 2
Colossians 2:16 “Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day”
Don’t let someone else be the judge as to whether or not you are real.
Only one opinion in that regard matters.
Whose? (Jesus)
If His opinion regarding how devout you are is the only One that matters,
Then I suppose He should be the only One you try to please.
(Hence “keep seeking things above, where Christ is”)
Now I’m not saying that as Christians we shouldn’t demonstrate Christ.
I’m not saying we should let our light shine.
I’m not saying that our faith shouldn’t be evident.
(in fact Paul will get to that later in the chapter)
Certainly we want to demonstrate our love for Christ.
What I am saying is that we don’t have to prove our love for Christ
To anyone but Christ.
It only matters what Christ thinks, so seek Christ.
And He’ll show the world that you were real.
The Request, The Reassurance
3) THE REQUIREMENT (5-7)
(5-7) “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.”
Now the false teachers were adamant that
You should do without something.
They didn’t want you to eat certain foods
They didn’t want you to handle certain things
Their decrees were outlined in verse 21 of chapter 2
Colossians 2:21 “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!”
It was all self-deprivation as a means of being pleasing to God.
But Paul wants you to know that God’s list
Might be a little different than theirs.
God isn’t asking you to abstain from meat or marriage or coffee
God’s list is much different.
God’s list is “immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed”
Paul says “consider the members of your earthly body as dead to” these things.
The NIV has it more accurate when it says, “put to death…”
If you really are one of those people who has died to self and found new life in Christ, then by all means kill off the old man.
In regard to the fact that we are crucified with Christ, Adrian Rogers said, “You’ve been dead for 2,000 years, don’t you think it’s time you had your funeral?”
We are past it now, but I get almost amused (or more accurately frustrated) every year when the Catholic lent comes around.
You know how it works, in order to be more pleasing to God, they are going to willfully abstain from certain pleasures, and their sacrifice is supposedly going to make them more pleasing to God.
I’ve heard of people giving up cokes
I had a friend in Jr. High that gave up “dried squid”
They give up all sorts of things.
And just as Paul said, that has the appearance of wisdom,
But in reality is of no value in helping you kill the flesh.
All doing without cokes for 40 days will do is make you want more cokes,
It won’t draw you closer to God, or make you more holy.
God would rather you abstain from “immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed which amounts to idolatry.”
WHY?
(6) “For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience,”
God won’t judge the world for drinking coke,
But He will judge them for sexual immorality.
Well, why do I need to focus so hard on getting rid of that stuff?
BECAUSE YOU ARE A RECOVERING SINNER.
(7) “and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them.”
Do you get Paul’s point?
• Seek the things that Christ requires,
• And let Him be the One who declares whether or not you are
pleasing.
In regard to self-deprivation and giving stuff up?
• Well don’t give up brisket, give up sexual “immorality”.
• Don’t give up dried squid, give up “greed”.
God doesn’t mind you drinking a Dr. Pepper,
But He does take issue “evil desire”.
So be sure and seek to please the One that matters.
Don’t spend your life trying to be pleasing to some false teacher
Who has angelic visions.
Spend your life focused on Christ
And what He desires and on what pleases Him.
And that leads us to the fourth point here.
4) THE REMINDER (8-11)
(8-11) “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.”
First he adds to his list of things that are displeasing to God.
“anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech”
And then Paul says “Do not lie to one another…”
WHY?
“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”
Now we’ve come full circle.
• You were the one who acknowledged you were dead in sin.
• You were the one who cried out to Christ for new life.
• Now that He has given it to you and raised you up, by all means seek to live it.
The old man supposedly died, you are supposedly a new man,
Then quit living like the old man and start living like the new.
And incidentally this new man “is being renewed…according to the image of the One who created him.”
This new man is being continually renovated to look like the One who gave you this new life…Jesus.
Is it coming into focus?
You are concerned about doing all these external religious things
To make sure you are pleasing to all these people here on earth.
Instead you should be focused on what Christ wants
Since He is the One who gave you this new life to begin with.
And since the goal is that you start to look like Christ,
Then by all means do everything you possible can to look like Him.
Put on the new self that is being renewed.
(11) “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.”
Notice what he said.
The renewal that God is working is not a renewal to make you look more “Greek” or more “Jew” or more “circumcised” or more “uncircumcised”
It’s not a renewal meant to conform you to some earthly race or ritual.
The renewal God is working on is all about Christ.
It’s a renewal where “Christ is all, and in all”
THAT’S THE GOAL!!!
The goal of God is not to conform you to some earthly pattern. The goal of God is to conform you to a heavenly pattern.
Who is that? Christ
Romans 8:29 “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;”
The Colossians were getting all mixed up
Because they were trying to conform to some man-made pattern,
And Paul says, STOP.
Quit looking at them, and start looking at Jesus,
He is the One you’re supposed to look like.
“Christ is all”
And so again I can remind you that “It’s All About Jesus”
What we do is not primarily to please others.
What we do is primarily to please the Lord.
This new life God has given is not to make you more religious,
It is to make you more righteous.
God has elevated Jesus
That you might gaze upon Him and be transformed into His image,
So if you’ve been given this new life, then by all means seek it out.
“keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set our mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.”
THAT IS PAUL’S PLEA FOR A JESUS FOCUSED LIFE.
When you rise in the morning and go to bed at night,
Focus; set your mind on; being like Christ.
And when Christ appears, He will make sure that everyone will see it.
We’ll carry this farther next week…
