Col 3:1-4
I have struggled with getting my topic or my idea captured
- In words on paper
- It seems I have had a restlessness
- About what to talk about today
- I have a desire, a deep desire
- To encourage you to look heavenward
- In every day, in every situation, in every moment
Let me read you a story told by Bruce Thielemann:
Imagine a colony of grubs living on the bottom of a swamp. And every once in a while, one of these grubs is inclined to climb a leaf stem to the surface. Then he disappears above the surface and never returns. All the grubs wonder why this is so and what it must be like up there, so they counsel among themselves and agree that the next one who goes up will come back and tell the others.
Not long after that, one of the grubs feels the urge and climbs that leaf stem and goes out above the surface onto a lily pad. And there in the warmth of the sun, he falls asleep. While he sleeps, the carapace of the tiny creature breaks open, and out of the inside of the grub comes a magnificent dragonfly with beautiful, wide, rainbow-hued, iridescent wings. And he spreads those wings and flies, soaring out over those waters. But then he remembers the commitment he has made to those behind, yet now he knows he cannot return. They would not recognize him in the first place, and beyond that, he could not live again in such a place. But one thought is his that takes away all the distress: they, too, shall climb the stem and they, too, shall know the glory.
Now let’s look at a Scripture and see what we can discover
2 Cor. 5:17-18 (ESV)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;
- All of us who have come to Christ
- Who have placed our faith in His salvation
- Are a new creation
- Brand new creatures in Christ
- The old has passed away
- It has been set aside, put away
- It was destined to remain in the grave
- And we have become new
- By the work of God
- Who has brought us to Himself in Christ
I know many say that you were new creatures
- But that new birth
- Occurred many years ago
- The new creature has added some years
- Been through a lot since then
- It is a bit ragged and frayed around the edges
- By the struggles of life and by sin
- Yet others are still looking and feeling fresh and new
- Well, what is the reality
- Look back to 2 Cor 4:16
2 Cor. 4:16 (ESV)
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day.
- The truth is we are new creations in Christ
- And are being renewed day by day
- Christ renews, repairs and restores
- Our newness in Him constantly and continually
- As we walk with Him and follow Him.
- No matter if you have been a Christian for years or only days
- You can be new every day
- Your relationship with the Father
- Can be ever fresh and vital
- As you are renewed in Christ
The truth again here is that the old has passed away
- It no longer is to influence our behavior
- It is not supposed to shape our thinking anymore
- We are to have a new perspective
- Shaped by the reality of Christ’s work in our lives
- The old is gone
- That means its power over us has been broken
- We have a new dynamic of life in Christ
- He has brought us into a transforming freedom
- The freedom to become all we were intended to become
- The freedom to allow Him
- To make us all we can be
- To make us in His image
All very well, you say
- But I somehow don’t seem to be very new or renewed
- I don’t seem to be going very far with this freedom
- I seem to be bogged down in the same old stuff
- Where is the freedom you talk about?
Well, the reality and the truth remain
- You are new creatures in Christ
- And are free from all the habits, sins and thoughts
- Of your old live before you came to Christ
- Yet that old life is not entirely dead yet
- It will be when Christ comes again
- But it is still lurking around out there
- Hoping to deceive you into believing the lie
- That you have not changed
- That nothing has happened
You know better
- You have tasted Christ
- And know the incredible peace and joy
- That is found in Him
- But it is hard to focus on things
- That are not seen
- To keep your heart fixed on things
- You can’t touch
Paul tells us in 2 Cor 4:16, “So we do not lose heart.”
- We don’t get discouraged
- We don’t give up
- When things seem to go from bad to worse
- When those old habits and thoughts
- Come pouring back in
- He continues in vs 17 “For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”
- Don’t give up
- Even if things seem so hard
- Even if your faith feels like it is not firm
- We are being prepared for eternal glory
- That makes even the worst here seem weightless and minor
- Fix your eyes and thoughts on the things above
- On Christ and eternity
- Then you will find your situation transformed
- It may not seem to be changed
- But Christ will meet you in it and transform it
Good theory right?
- You say I have to decide on what I am going to do today and tomorrow
- I need to find work, housing, a career
- I have responsibilities to my family, my job
- My time and my attention are occupied with the necessities of here and now
- I say true enough
- Those things are real and necessary
- But I ask you, what are your priorities?
- How do you go about making those decisions?
- And fulfilling those responsibilities?
- On what base are you building your life?
- What are your goals?
- How did you decide on them?
I tell you in no uncertain terms
- That if Christ is not the source, guide and goal
- Of those plans, goals, needs, priorities, etc
- You are headed to disappointment
- Get this clearly
- I do not want you to miss what I am saying
- I do not want you misunderstand me at all
- If the life you have in Christ is not lived for Him
- And by the power He gives you
- You are going to end up regretting it one day
- You may attain your goals,
- You may build a good career and have all you want materially
- But you will end up with less than the best
- You will stand before Him one day
- Ashamed for your selfish living
- And your failure to grasp the claim of Christ on your life
- (Story about Anaias and Sapphira)
William Law wrote: “If you attempt to talk with a dying man about business or sports, he is no longer interested. He now sees other things as more important. People who are dying recognize what we often forget, that we are standing on the brink of another world.”
Turn with me to Col 3:1-4
Col. 3:1-4 (ESV)
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
- If you are in Christ
- You have been raised with Him in new life,
- That new and daily renewed life in Christ.
- In fact the life you have now is life in Christ
- Your life is hidden in Christ
- It is His life in you
- So then seek those things above
- Or literally- keep on seeking those things above
- Where your life is
- With Christ
- You have died
- All that stuff the world values
- Possessions, passions, pleasures, pursuits
- All are in the past
- Gone!
- So often we Christians
- Come to Christ because we have an incredible hollowness inside
- We long for meaning in life
- And when we hear the good news of Christ
- We leap to Him and find peace and salvation
- The hollowness is filled by Jesus
- The peace of God comes and we rest in Him
Then we say good, that need is met
- Now let me take that old life
- And work to make it a success as well
- Let me find a away to have the new and the old too
- Don’t you get it?
- The old is gone
- It never will be of any value anymore
- Your life is in Christ
- Your life is Christ
- Your only hope, the hope of anyone, is only in Christ
- Fix your hope on things in Him
- Look to see what has eternal value and pursue that
- What is on Christ’s heart?
- Choose that!
Look at Col 3:5 “Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you…”
- Take those things that belong to the world
- The worldly values and goals
- And execute them
- Put them to death!
- They will die eventually anyway
- When Christ returns
- And this whole world is ended
- Your choice is to put them to death now
- Or suffer loss when He does it for you
Bishop Stephen Neill was fond of observing, “We all have some dying to do. Jesus showed us how it should be done.”
The youth at camp this last summer
- had a funeral for all those things
- That were keeping them from following Christ fully
- The JWC did a similar thing with all their “I can’ts”
- We are called here to do the same thing with anything we cling to
- That keeps us from completely and fully following Christ
- Whatever it might be- desire for money, a car, job, career, esteem, position, acceptance, image, looks, popularity, love, sex, etc
- You know what it is that you hold on to tightly
- The thing that is so important to you
- That you don’t think you can do without
- If you are not sure, ask God!
- He knows and wants you to bury it
- Put it death!
- Execute it and then bury it!
Now it is not good enough just to get rid of the old
- You must put on something
Vs 12 says,
Col. 3:12-14 (ESV)
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
- Put on Christ as a garment
- Put on what Christ has set aside for you
- Put on what He has called you to
- Put Him first
- Put His purpose and His life in you first
- Let Him lead you even if it is not where you want to go
- Do what He leads you to do
- Even if it isn’t what you think you want to do
- Vs 15 says,
Col. 3:15 (ESV)
And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
Col. 3:16 (ESV)
16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
Col. 3:17 (ESV)
17And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
- As you make decisions and choices about life
- Are you asking God to use you here and now
- For His purposes?
- Or are you hoping He will bless your plans for your own life?
- Who are you living for?
- God or yourself?
- Who is the center of your living?
You cannot hope to have a rich and full existence
- If you are trying to pursue less than
- What God in Christ is calling you to
- You cannot hope to know His peace
- If you are working in this life for the rewards a good life
- Here and now
- You are missing the real meaning and value of life eternally
- Can you say that you do “everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
If not, well, then I have to tell you
- Get real!
- Remember the words in 2 Cor 4:18
2 Cor. 4:18 (ESV)
as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
- The physical world is decaying and will perish
- Our society is decaying and will perish
- Our possessions are decaying and will perish
- Our dreams are transient and will be replaced with God’s eternal reality
- Our desires in this world will only disappoint
- We are to look above to Christ
- Who is the ultimate reality
- And live our lives by the power of His resurrection
- And for the purposes He sets before us.
- Let go of trivial pursuits
- And grab hold of Him
- Find out what He values and value it
- Discover what He is doing around you
- And join Him
- Pursue what has permanent value
Maybe you will not be the big man, or the successful woman, or the comfortable family
- Or have the best of this world
- But you will have something worth more
- Something that will go with you
- Beyond the grave
- The saying is you cannot take anything with you when you die
- But the truth is
- You can!
- Nothing from this world will go
- But everything done in Christ’s name
- Will go with you
- The people you touch in His name
- The acts of grace and love will go with you
- The things said and done by the power of God in you
- Will all go
- The house won’t, the car won’t, the job won’t
- The clothes won’t
- The uniform won’t
- The pleasures of life won’t
All of us who have found life in Christ
- Are like grubs
- Who have climbed to the surface
- And were transformed into dragonflies
- We have been transformed, changed forever
- We are no longer what we once were
- But are now the children of God
- Yet we so often forget we are dragonflies
- Flying above the swamp
- We try to live a grub’s life
- Down in the swamp
- And we miss the wonder of what God wants us to experience
- We miss the warmth of His light and love
- As we invest ourselves in less than His best
He invites us to spread our wings and fly with Him
- To experience the fullness of His life in us
- To know the depths of His love and wisdom
- As He guides us daily to serve Him
- And to enjoy Him forever
Your choice is
- Live with your eyes fixed on here or now
- Or on forever
- Pursue your life
- Or pursue Christ’s life in you
- This world or the next
What will you do?
- Peter said to Christ, “Where else could we go? For You have the words of life.”
- You can’t live with new life and still pursue the old
- It won’t work
- Make the choice to pursue the new life in Christ wholeheartedly and with abandon
- Trust Him to lead you and provide the way for you
- He never fails or disappoints
Prayer
Invitation
You are dragonflies, not grubs. You have found the new life that sets you free. Why would you want to continue to live like grubs? Our Father is inviting us to spread our wings and fly with Him. There is no going back, no returning to the old. It has passed away. The invitation is to rise up and explore the richness of the new life in Christ. We have faced the death of the old and hopefully we see what is in fact valuable. Come join me in living a life lived in Christ to the fullest, lived in Him for His purposes.
