“The Supreme Life”
A Sermon Series in Colossians
“Seek The Things That Are Above”
Colossians 3:1-17
Introduction
My grandfather’s brother owned a hog farm and he lived less than a mile up the road from our family home. If the wind was blowing in the right direction you could smell the pig farm and man did it stink! Carlyle had a routine that when he finished his day of pig farming, he would strip down at his back door and go directly to the shower. Tootsie (his wife) would not let him come in unless he stripped down, and his clothes went right into the wash. He had to have a routine of taking off his stinky dirty clothes and taking a shower, then putting on clean clothes. Can you imagine coming in with pig stuff all over your clothes and sitting on the couch, lying in the bed, hugging his wife – we would say nope.
Today Paul is going to call Christians to take off the sin in our lives and put on righteous behavior because this is the process of living the life God has called us to. Living a godly life does not just happen – believers must make a concerted effort and be intentional about how we live our lives.
Prayer
Living the Christian Life Must be Intentional (vv. 1-4)
If (Since) then you have been raised with Christ (coresurrected), seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Up until this point in the book Paul has been warning the church about false teachers and for them not to allow themselves to be carried off with man’s traditions, teachings about elemental spirits and things that would corrupt the gospel (angel worship, works like being circumcised, etc.) Now Paul turns to what they should be doing, and he phrases it two ways, “seek the things that are above,” and “Set your minds on things that are above,” – Jesus says it this way Matthew 6:33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness . . .”
“Believers “seek the things above” (keep on seeking, continuous) by deliberately and daily committing themselves to the values of the heavenly kingdom and living out of those values.”[1] It is an intentional orientation of the will. Also notice that there is a break between “where Christ is, (comma) and “seated at the right hand of God.” Jesus is in heaven, so we should focus our minds on where Christ is.
Paul gives four reasons why you should seek and think about the things that are above:
- Because You Are “In Christ.” There are several places where Paul just a few verses earlier combines the believer with Jesus. Colossians 2:11-15 “In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
Here is 3:1 he says, “you have been raised with Christ” – Jesus rose from the dead overcoming sin and death, and now sits at the right hand of the Father. And in some way we go with Christ into eternity, as Paul describes as, “your life is hidden with Christ in God.” – It is hidden now because you are still alive, but when you pass from here to glory the secret will be told, you will be with Him in reality (not just in promise). If God hides you away, no thief can break in and steal you – you are well hidden by God until the proper time.
2) Because Your Previous Sin Led to Death – “you have died,” –
3) Because Christ Returns You Will Be With Him In Glory – “and your life is hidden with Christ in God,” and “When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory,” –
Living the Christian Life Requires Putting Things Off (vv. 5-11)
5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.[2] 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.
Paul has told the church that they are to have a heavenly mindset, so they should then be eager to get rid of things that don’t reflect that heavenly mindset. “Put to death,” – mortify, “to treat something like it is dead.”[3] (v. 7) describes them as once “walking in them” and “living in them.” You are either living in an action or you are treating it like its dead. (v. 9) Paul says, “now you must put them all away.”
(v. 5) Paul says to put to death “what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” The word used for idolatry here points back to the previous list, and it is covetousness because you want more and more of these experiences. It is the increasing desire for more and more pleasure experiences that it then becomes an idol on their lives.
This is the progression of sin in our lives – it begins with something outside of God’s Word and plan for your life, because of this it leads to impurity in your life, then it creates within you a desire for it, which leads to wanting more and more of it, to the point to where you bow down to, it controls your life.
Seeking after earthly things leads to idolatry in your life
and judgement upon your church.
In v. 6 we have another reason (number 4) to be intentional about our walk with Jesus. 4) Just in case you think sin is not that big of a deal Paul adds, “On account of these the wrath of God is coming.” Our minds must be on the things above because the wrath of God is coming. Our lives, words, actions (within the church and without) all impact the world around us, and while we may be forgiven and have a place in eternity, those around us may not have chosen Christ yet.
“God’s true people are guaranteed deliverance from wrath (1 Thess. 5:9; Rom. 5:9), but at the same time, they are repeatedly warned that persistent sinful behavior will bring God’s judgement.”[4] And again this is given in the context of those that belong to the church. What you do in private (or maybe not even in private) affects the church as a whole. If you say, “My sin is private – it does not affect others” that is not true. And if you say, “Then I will hold on to my sin but not belong to the church because I don’t want it to affect others,” then it is idolatry and an offense to God.
(v. 8) “But now you must put them all away,” and “you have put off the old self,” – “This is a metaphor for clothing, replace the filthy rags (sexual immorality, passion, etc.) with “have put on the new self,”
(v. 8) “anger, wrath (rage), malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another,” All of these deal with speech, and what you say. These ways of using language should never be used by those who are walking a new life in Christ.[5] They are given as a group pointing to the same idea of how Christians are to communicate with other Christians. “obscene talk” – or filthy language, literally shameful words, in the context of referring to another person. The things that come out of your mouth come from your heart. Jesus explains it this way, Matthew 15:18, “ . . . what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart,”
You are not showing love and Christ likeness when you rage, in anger, and say things against someone with the intention to harm their reputation, or curse at them with vulgar words – cussing them out and then lying about it.
“which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator” – At the beginning of time before the fall, humanity had a knowledge of God. Genesis 1:26 “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” This knowledge of God was lost when sin came into the world. As the believer puts on a new self he will progress towards true knowledge of God.
It is through our relationship with Christ that we learn how to live in relationship with God and His creation. 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” Every human is made in the image of God, and everyone loses what that means because of sin. But when a person is saved, that knowledge is restored as they grow in their relationship with Him.
(vv. 9-10) We are not trying to put on the Greek or the Jew, it’s not about appearing circumcised or uncircumcised; we are not trying to be the ideal barbarian, or Scythian, slave or free – the image we want to put on is one of our Creator, we put on Christ. Our identity is Christ not where we are from, how much money we have, or our race. So racial distinctions disappear (no Greek or Jew), class distinctions disappear – in the church there were slaves, free, slave owners, freedmen all in the same church. It is our identity with Jesus that strips away any distinctions.
Living the Christian Life Requires Putting Things On (vv. 12-17)
12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved,
(v. 12) “Put on then” – In order to have a change in your life, whatever a person takes off, needs to be replaced with something else, and Paul gives that which you should put on. Also, this list are virtues that will foster community and give the church cohesion (whereas the above list of vices causes division and splinters the church). This is a list of things the Christians is to put on, but it is not a list isolated from their relationship in the church – it is a list of how to live life out as a church. Here again is the assumption by the apostle that the Christian is associated and an important part of the local church.
“chosen ones, holy and beloved,” These three terms are standard ways of describing Israel in the Old Testament. But instead of choosing or electing His people from one nation, now God chooses them from the world (Jew and Gentile). Holy means to be set apart for God’s purpose, and beloved means greatly loved. So God has chosen you, set you apart for His purposes, and He greatly loves you – in light of these things consider your sin.
1 Peter 2:19-20 puts it like this “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”
1) compassionate hearts,
literally translated as bowels, the seat of emotion, be moved to the core of who you are towards people 2) kindness, goodness, gracious acts 3) humility, Philippians encourages us to show humility in that we view others value as being above our own, and looking out for the interest of others, 4) meekness, not being overly impressed with one’s sense of self-importance, 5) and patience, kindness refers to our basic approach to people, and patience refers to the kind of reaction we should display toward them.
6) 13 bearing with one another
Literally means “holding yourselves back from one another.”[6] Or “put up with one another.” This is the first step in establishing community within the church. We all have our ideocracies – so put up with the strange and annoying stuff we all do. Paul has also mentioned people from different religious backgrounds, people from different regions and socio-economic levels. These differences need to be overlooked for the bigger mission,
7) and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
One step further than just putting up with one another, we actually forgive each other. Jesus says it like this as part of the Lord’s prayer, “. . . and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors . . . For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Matthew 6:12, 14ff). God has forgiven our sins, so we should also (as we are in Christ), forgive others (specifically others within the church).
8) 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
If Paul is referring to putting on this list of things, around all of it is a belt. What holds it all together is love. Put on love – it is an intentional decision to choose love. When everyone puts on love, there is harmony.
9) 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body.
The peace that we let rule in your hearts is the same idea as an umpire – when the ball moves across the plate he has to make a decision (strike or foul, inside or outside the line). When life comes your way, and you have to decide how to react, Paul says, “let the peace of Christ” decide – choose the peace of Christ (instead of anger, wrath, slander, etc.) Paul highlights “peace” as one of the key blessings of Christian experience.
“to which indeed you were called in one body” – God calls men to serve as pastors, but He also calls people to join churches. Those at Colossae were called into one body (the body of Christ), and together with all their challenges, putting up with one another, forgiving one another, together they were to reach their area of responsibility for Jesus. If you are a believer God is calling you to join a church, to get plugged in (to follow this list of virtues) and find your place of service. We are one unit – one body (where Jesus is the head, and the gospel is our mission).
10) And be thankful. There is peace that comes from knowing that in all of life’s struggles, you are where you are supposed to be, doing what God has called you to do. And in that place – be thankful. Thankful within the body of Christ.
11) 16 Let 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.
(v. 16) references when they gather for worship there was to be the teaching of God’s Word (let it live within you richly), and putting God’s Word to music, adding new music or songs of praise – and as you worship let your hearts be thankful. How can those who have not experienced the salvation of Jesus, and the life change that he brings – sing the songs of the Lord? They can sing the songs, but there is no thankfulness in their soul.
The reaction that drives the worship service is thankfulness to God. We must be careful not to try and drive our worship services with worldly methods.
12) 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Everything, including what we say and what we do, should be governed by the consideration of what it means to live in the realm of the risen Christ.
Conclusion
After serving a prison sentence, prisoners are released. They are set free from bondage since their time has been served. After they come out of jail, they take off their prison clothes and put on new clothes. These clothes suit the new life they have begun. The same is true for Christians we have been set free from the bondage of sin. We are no longer prisoners to it. We have started a new life. Therefore, we should once and for all throw out the old clothes of death and put on the new clothes of life. After Jesus rose from the dead, He had no use for His grave clothes so He left them in the tomb. He now lives in the garments of righteousness and life. Since believers have been raised from the dead we too should put on the clothes of righteousness. We should practice what we are in principle.
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[1] Douglas J. Moo, The Pillar New Testament Commentary, The Letters to the Colossians and to Philemon (Grand Rapids, Michigan; William B. Eermans Publishing Company, 2008) 246.
[2] See also Galatians 5:19-21; Ephesians 4:29-31.
[3] Archibald Thomas Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, Volume IV (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman Press, 1931) 501.
[4] Moo, 259. See also Hebrews 12:5-6
[5] My comments on the importance of godly speech, click here
[6] Robertson, 504.
