If you open your Bibles to Colossians
chapter three. Colossians chapter three. Heavenly Father, bless us now
as we have gathered in the name of your son, and make your word
clear to us, and cause it to be impressed on our hearts, that
it not just fill our minds with information, but change the way
we think and the way we live according to what is written.
In Christ's name we pray it, amen. Okay, Colossians chapter one.
excuse me, chapter three. Now we looked at verses one through
three last week, but we're going to look at three again for just
a few minutes. It says, for you died and your
life is now hidden with Christ in God. Now this is one of those
statements in scripture that is startling to read. I mean,
if I came up to you and said, you died, you'd say, no, I didn't,
here I am. How come I haven't been buried?
But that's Paul's manner of talking because he often speaks to us
in terms of what is real already in heaven. Remember that what
we experience as time, the flow of time, is merely this creation
catching up with what's already done in heaven. In heaven, we've already died.
In heaven, we've already been raised again. In heaven, we are
already glorified with Christ. Now these things have not become
a part of our experience in the flow of time and space, but that
doesn't mean they're not real. And so what Paul is saying here
is that while we are here going through time and space, I mean,
you know, our natural lives, We are to live according to the
heavenly truth about us, not according to the earthly truth
about us. So he says, you died, you died to the world. Paul says,
and you can look over here in Galatians chapter six. Galatians chapter six, verse
14. It says, may I never boast except
in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ through which the world
is crucified to me. Now, what does he mean by that?
The world doesn't mean anything to me anymore. That's what he's
saying. You know, a crucified person was a cursed person. It
was a person who'd been cut off. And he says, okay, I'm crucified
with Christ, but that means in my mind the world is crucified
to me. As far as I'm concerned, God
has crucified the world. He has cursed the world. He has
cut it off. The world's crucified to me.
And he says, and I to the world. The world looks upon the believer
as dead, as crucified. And the more we live according
to the reality that we have died and our life is now hidden with
Christ in God, the more the world perceives us as having been crucified. That is, dead, cut off. And they cut us off, and I don't
mean by that particularly in our culture. It's not necessarily
with malice or anything like that. It's just we kind of end
up parting ways. because the direction they want
to go and the direction we want to go are different. And, you know, many years ago,
and it was probably within the first three or four years that
I lived here, maybe even the second year, but I had a group
of people from a local church come to visit me, a pastor and
a couple of the women from that church. And they started asking
me questions about this, that, and the other. Finally, they
got around and said, well, we felt that we had to come and
disfellowship with you. And I said, well, it's not like
we're going out to dinner or anything. Well, what fellowship? And I said, and the truth of
the matter is, once I learned what church they were from, I
already knew there never was any fellowship between us. Disfellowship? And we don't ever have to take
an action of disfellowshipping. And here's the reason. All we're
doing is fellowshipping with the father and the son. And the
world kind of says, well, I don't want to go to that party. That's
not what I'm interested in. And so we have died. We've died to the world, but
then also we've died to the law. Paul says that the law has authority
over a man only as long as he lives. Illustrate that. A man commits
murder, he is tried and convicted and sentenced to death, and they
put him in jail. The law has authority over that
man. Until they strap him to the gurney, and put the needle
in and put him to death. And once he's pronounced dead,
the law has no more claim on him. Isn't that true? You know,
they take him out the back, put him in the hearse and whatever
the family is determined to do with the body or whatever, that's
theirs. The law has no more claim on the man. We have died and
the law has no claim on us. The law through our connection
to Christ and our dying with him through his crucifixion,
the law considers us dead and therefore having paid the price
of our sin and it no longer has authority over us. So Paul said in Galatians 2.20,
I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Now, if
the law actually pronounced an executed man dead, and they surrendered the body
to the loved ones, and let's just say, I mean, he was dead,
dead, dead like, you know, doctors can't bring him back. But an
hour or two later, his eyes opened, he raises up and he's alive.
Could the law do anything to him? No. Why? Because whoever it was opened
his eyes. So far as law's concerned, it's
another person. That's why Paul says, if any
man be in Christ, he's a new creation. He's not, Paul is not
there addressing this new spiritual life that we get. He's saying
that legally speaking, we've become a different person than
we were. And that's why old things are
not passing away, they've already passed away. Because we died
in Christ. They passed away with him. All
things have become new. We are a completely new person.
A person upon whom there is no charge of guilt. So he says, you have died and
your life is now hidden with Christ. The life that we now
have and the life that we're living is not a natural life. I mean, this fleshly life goes
on in its natural way, but we've been born again to a new life. It's a hidden life. In fact,
it's so hidden, sometimes we wonder if it's there, but it's
hidden to the world. The reason the world cannot understand
us, does not discern or perceive
the things we claim to believe is because they do not have a
nature that's made to see the things we see. And one of the
things that the world cannot see is the life that we have
that we didn't have before. Our Lord Jesus Christ said, I
have come to give them life, that they might have life, and
life to the full. Now in saying that he has come
that they might have life, meaning his people, he's saying they
didn't have life, at least not the kind of life he came to give
them. He didn't come to merely ratchet up the life he had. They
already had. He came to give them a life that
they did not have. And this life is not discernible
by the world. It can't see it. It's hidden with Christ. Where? In God. It's hidden in that the world
can't perceive it. It's hidden to be kept safe.
And what safer place can there be than in God? If anybody is going to take away
the life of a believer, he's going to have to invade God because
that's where our life is. Now, Let's go on to verse four. When Christ, who is your life? Now it says our life is hidden
in Christ, but now he says Christ is your life. Now this is typical
of Paul. Christ himself is the source
of life. But he is not life as such. The Bible says, in him was life,
and this life was the light of the world. But Paul often says things like,
for instance, in 1 Corinthians 1, verse 30, I believe, it says,
for of God you are in Christ Jesus, who of God has been made
unto us wisdom. Christ has made wisdom. How can
a person become a concept? Christ has been made unto us
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption. Now all of these
things are concepts. They are what in grammar is called
an abstract noun. Now a person is a concrete noun,
and a person cannot, or a concrete noun cannot become an abstract
noun. So Paul is actually using language in an improper way,
but he's doing it on purpose. He's doing it to further emphasize
the connection between Christ and these things that we gain
from him. He is our life. Apart from him,
we don't have that life. United to him, we have that life
to the full. They see what the point Paul's
making, this is an either or thing. Christ is your life or
you don't have life. There's such, you know, there's something that's common
among churches that claim to be Christian. They believe that
you're saved and you have life, and then you just press on to
the abundant life. And I remember hearing that.
Go for the abundant life. I've got it. I have the fullness
of the life that is given to me by Christ Jesus. Now, I've lived 65 years. I am no more alive right now
than I was while yet in my mother's womb. I'm no more human. than I was. See what I mean? These things are either or. So
Christ, the life that He gives, it is so connected to Him that
you cannot have it without Him. You cannot have any of it without
Him. And if you have Him, you have
all of it. And this is the testimony that
God has given concerning His Son. that he has given us eternal
life, and this life is in the Son. He that has the Son has
life. He that does not have the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. Now, there
are not many things in this world that are black and white. We'd
like to think they are, but they are not. But the gospel is. If you don't have Christ, you
don't have anything. If you have Christ, you have
everything. Christ, who is our life, when
he appears, this word means to be made manifest. It doesn't just mean when he
shows up. You know, a person can show up and you really don't
see them as they are. In fact, we really don't know
one another perfectly, do we? because all of us put on some
kind of front. We reveal to people what we want
them to know about us and we try to hide the rest. When Jesus
Christ came into the world, now there he was, he appeared as
he showed up in that sense of the word, and people saw him,
but he did not manifest himself to them. They could not see him. for who he really was. Look over
at 1 John chapter 3. 1 John chapter 3. In verse 2 it says, Dear friends,
Now we are the children of God, and what we will be has not been
made known. Now this is John, and he outlived
all the other apostles by quite a bit. And this was written near
the end of his life, and he says, you know, it never has been told
to us plainly what our glorified state will be like. And I figure
it wasn't told to us because there's no way we would understand
it even if it was told to us. He says, but we know that when
he appears, again, he's not just meaning
that when he shows up. It means when Christ is made
manifest to the world. We shall be like him, notice
this now, for we shall see him as he is. Now on the Isle of
Patmos, where John had been exiled in punishment, and he received
the visions of the book of Revelation, he saw Christ as he is. On the Mount of Transfiguration,
they saw Christ as he is. And they saw Moses and Elijah
as they are. And it was startling thing to
behold. So it says back here now in Colossians
chapter three, when Christ who is your life, when he's made
manifest to the whole world, a day is coming when Jesus Christ
will be seen and known as he is by everyone. And you can imagine on that day,
there's gonna be millions and millions of billions of people
going, oh no, I sure got that wrong. Now you and I, we've been told
about what he's like now. We haven't seen it yet. And I
think when we do, it's going to be overwhelming, even though
we've, in a sense, been prepared for that. But we have been taught who he is as he is, what he is
as he is. We've been taught that, and we
believe it to be so. He is the glorious Son of God. He is God in human flesh. He has glorified humanity, perfect
in every way. And when he is made manifest,
then you will also be made manifest with Him in glory. Not meaning in heaven. You know
people talk about all up in glory and they're talking about heaven.
That's not what Paul means. We will be manifested. We will
be shown for what we really are by grace through Christ on that
day. We will be like Him. It's more than I can imagine
to conceive of what Christ is like. How much more difficult
to conceive of the idea that I shall be like that someday in my own experience. And if
you have died with Christ and your life is hidden with Christ
in God, you too will be made manifest for what you are by
the sovereign grace of God. And the world which never did
perceive us or understand us or know us or believe us, the
world that mocked us will see us and say also, oh my, I was
wrong. I was wrong. I say they'll say
that, if they're honest, they will. They'll be so full of hate
and malice, having had all common grace stripped away from them,
I don't know that they'll say any such thing. But can you imagine
the amount of envy, hateful, malicious envy that they shall
have toward us when they see what God has made us to be by
His grace. And it could have been theirs
as well, had they not persisted in their rebellion against God.
So that's our destiny. Now, a person's conduct should
be determined by his destiny. I mean, we look into the future
And we kind of guide what we do today by what we expect in
the future. If we expect to live for some
time to come, we live like those who have plans for years to come.
If we think that tomorrow we're going to die, we'd probably live
differently than if we thought we were going to live for a long
time. Well, here we have this destiny that we shall be like
Christ in glory. That is, as he is glorious, so
shall we be. And it should then affect how
we live now. And notice the things he mentions.
Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature.
He said, earth is not your destiny, not this earth. Natural life
is not your destiny. So put to death those things
that are connected with this life. And he lists some of them. Sexual
immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is
idolatry. Now we look at this list, and
if we are honest, we must confess that these passions, these desires,
these directions are in us. And Paul says, put them to death.
Does he mean that there is some method by which you and I can
make it so that we no longer have these desires? No. Referencing again to Romans chapter
7, Paul said, O wretched man that I am. Not, O wretched man
that I was. He says, when I would do good,
evil is present with me. What he's saying is that any
time these principles uh... these anti-virtues rise up within
us he said put them to death crucify them as it were curse them put them down and
why verse six because of these the wrath of God is coming and I God's wrath is coming, that is
ultimate wrath, is coming because of a single sin committed by
a single man thousands of years ago. We understand that theological
concept. But you know, there's judgment
coming on the world within the framework of time and space because
of these things. If you read my article in the
Bulletin, I mention the corruption of our
culture. And we see, I mean, it's astonishing
to see just how quickly American culture is going downhill. And
what do you think is going to be the result of that? Well,
first of all, that our culture is going that way is judgment. But it's a judgment that brings
more judgment. And unless God is pleased by
his grace, to restrain the direction this nation is going, the time
will come when he will say, that's enough, that's it, I'm done,
my patience has run out. And he will bring upon this nation
judgment, just as he has brought it upon other nations who followed
this path. And in due time, the whole world
shall suffer his judgment. He said, now, since the wrath
of God is coming because of these things, don't have anything to
do with them. Whenever the desire for these
things pops up, put it down. Says you used to walk in these
ways in the life you once lived. Remember, but you're dead. You
don't have that life anymore. But now you must rid yourselves
of such things as these. Anger, rage, malice. what we see going on with the
riots right now. Right there it is. Anger, rage,
malice. Those people are out of control. I'm not talking about all the
protesters. I realize, you know, there may be some issues worth
protesting. I'm talking about the rioters.
But even some of the protesters, even if they aren't picking up
bricks and throwing everything, in their hearts they are full
of anger, rage, and malice. And it cannot be reasoned with. And Paul says to us, just put
that aside. Why? And this is a lesson to
me as much as anybody else in the world. As distressing as those things
appear, that's not our life. And that does not affect our
life. Not our life in Christ. They could hold a riot right
out here on Main Street, and you and I would still be alive
in Christ. You and I would still have that
blessed hope of His appearing, His being manifested, and then
us being manifested in glory with Him. Nothing that goes on
in the natural world affects what we are and what we shall
become in the spiritual world. Verse 8, but now you must rid
yourselves of all such things as these, the anger, rage, malice,
slander, filthy language from your lips. When I was still attending the
13th Street, I went with another fellow, he was going to preach
at one of the churches just a long way away, and we stayed in a
motel overnight. And I remember, you know, he told a joke. Now,
it wasn't a horrible joke, certainly not by the standard of the world,
but just say it was an off-color joke, you know. And he said,
he mentioned another brother, you know, he said, he mentioned,
you know, how nice it is when we're around each other, we can
talk like this, you know. And I remember thinking to myself,
that doesn't sound quite right. Now, does that mean I never use filthy language, tell off
color jokes? I'm not going to stand up here
and make a boat. I'm not going to lie to you. But I know this, that's
not the vein we're supposed to be thinking in. Our thoughts
should be elsewhere. Why? Because our life is elsewhere. This is not about, you know,
as children, you know, you teach them not to use foul language.
And, um, I remember one of the methods they used to use in the
South. If you uttered, you know, one of the naughty words, you
know, they'd wash your mouth out with soap. You'll clean up
your language. If you ever had that happen to
you, I'll tell you, it'll make you think again before you say
that. It's not just that you see. Christian morality is not based
on the worry of judgment. It's based on the glory of what
lies ahead. It's not based on a fear of what
we're running from. It's based on the glory we're
called to. Do not lie to each other. You
think you wouldn't have to tell believers that? But Paul said, let God be true,
and every man a liar. And he didn't say all the unbelievers
are liars. Every man's a liar. So don't
lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self
with its practices, and have put on the new self, which is
being renewed in knowledge in the image of its creator. This new man, this new life, it's a new thing. It's being
renewed day by day in the knowledge, as we gain more understanding,
that life is nourished and built up. And it's being renewed in
the image of its creator. Remember God, when he created
man, said, let's make man in our image? And then that image got messed
up really, really bad. He's restoring that image. He
says here, where? In the new creation, the new
self, being renewed in knowledge, renewed in knowledge in the image
of its creator. Here there is no Greek or Jew,
circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or
free. None of that stuff matters, not
one whit. The only thing that matters is
Christ. Christ is all and is in all. Is Christ all to you? Now understand he is all whether
or not he's all to you. Now here's what we must confess.
Again, knowing that we are of two natures. In one nature, he
is all to us. In the other, he's nothing to
us. And that nature in which he is
nothing to us will die. And then it will likewise be
renewed and made glorious like him. But we don't live, that
is we are not to purposely live as those who have this old fleshly
nature. We are to live, make it our goal
to live. Pursue this kind of life. The
life of someone who is like the Lord Jesus Christ. Fully glorious. Fully accepted. Fully approved. We've been called to something
better than the world has been called to. And Paul says, live like those
who've been called to something better. All right.