Evening Sermon

May 4, 2008

If Then...

Text

Colossians 3:1-4

We come tonight to a typical transition point in one of Paul's letters. The transition from faith to life, from doctrine to practice, from what we believe concerning God to what duty God requires of us. And in that transition, you must never think that we are moving on to a new and separate subject. You must never think that you are leaving one area of study and beginning another. Because what you believe is the very foundation upon which the applications of the law are based. Your doctrine is not merely something that you believe, but more importantly, something that forms the basis for how you are to go about living your life.

Clearly, we can say, Paul has preached Christ in the first two chapters of Colossians. We have come across some of the most familiar and powerful descriptions of the glory and preeminence of Jesus Christ. The gospel, the grace of the gospel, is as clearly proclaimed as it might be anywhere else in all of Scripture. For example,

Col. 1:13 "He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist."

Col. 2:9 "For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power."

And he accomplished something absolutely incredible,

Col. 2:13 And you, ...He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross."

The triumph of the cross. That's what Paul declares, and therefore, as we saw last week, therefore you are free from the burdens and obligations of obedience to the commandments and doctrines of men.

So he writes to Christians, explaining what it means to be a Christian. And he has already begun to make applications of what it means to live as a Christian. That is the transition point we arrive at this evening in particular.

Paul begins chapter 3 with a summary review of,

I. WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A CHRISTIAN. What does it mean? What is the biblical description of a person who is a Christian, who is saved? Unfortunately, in our day, the answer and answers to that question generally revolve around what you have done. You went forward at an invitation or altar call. You accepted Christ. You received Christ. You made a decision for Christ. You were baptized. You joined the church. You were born again. You made a profession of faith.

All of those things are fine and good, but none of them address the fundamental nature of what it means to be a Christian. None of them get to the heart of what we find our text this evening. You see, the answer to that question, "What does it mean to be a Christian?", is an answer that is given by biblical definitions of what God has done, not an answer that merely describes something that you have done.

What it means to be a Christian is that God has done something to you! So what has God done? Not, "What have you done?", but "What has happened to you?"

And the answer, first of all in Paul's mind, what has happened to you most fundamentally is that,

A. You have been raised with Christ. That's what it means to be a Christian. It means that you have been resurrected from the dead. The first resurrection.

Paul's transition here in Colossians 3 begins with, "If then.." The presumption of his words is that this has happened. There is no uncertainty in his thoughts. He is writing to Christians, and the "If then" could just as well be "Therefore because you have been..."

v.7 "If then you were raised with Christ."

That's who you are, as a Christian. You were dead, and now you are alive. You have been raised from the dead with Christ. We saw that with reference to circumcision in chapter, being circumcised in Christ.

Col. 2:12b "In [him] you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses."

Same thing in, Eph. 2:1 "And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins...4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus."

That's the definition of salvation, as Paul continues,

Eph. 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast."

God made you alive. That's what it means to be born again, or born from above. Raised from the dead, given spiritual life.

Rom. 6:5 "For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection."

The first resurrection. Those who are born again. And beloved, there is no Christian other than a born-again Christian.

As Jesus proclaimed to Nicodemus, John 3:3 "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

And so we sing his praise, 1 Peter 1:3 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."

But there is something else about being a Christian. Another description, seemingly contradictory. Not only have you been raised with Christ, but also,

B. You have died with Christ. Now what does that mean? Are you alive, or dead? It's what we say in the discussion of circumcision,

Col 2:11 "In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead."

You were circumcised with the circumcision of Christ. You were buried with Him in baptism. You have died with Christ.

What that means is this, in the words of,

Rom. 6:1 "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? 3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts."

So we died to sin. We died to the curse and condemnation of sin.

Gal. 2:17 "But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not! 18 "For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. 19 "For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. 20 "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 21 "I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain."

Thus to die with Christ, to be crucified with him, is to die to the whole idea that your justification is in any way based upon your own performance of works-obedience. You die to the law. You were crucified with Christ.

But even further, you died not only to the curse and condemnation of the law, but to the power of sin. Therefore, you cannot live in sin any longer. That's a promise. The bondage of that old man is dead. The corruption of that old man is dead. It is the death of death. And that death is so clearly the path to life, but don't skip over the reality of death. To become a Christian is to die, to die with Christ, to die to that old man of sin.

Rom. 6:6 "...knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin."

So you have died with Christ. You have been raised with Christ. And,

C. You have been united to Christ. In other words, now, as a Christian, Christ is your life! v.3

Going back to Romans 6, you have been united to Christ in his death and in his resurrection! Joined to Jesus. That's what it means to be a Christian. By the grace of God, at work through the power of God, you are joined to Jesus Christ, vitally joined in the sustenance of all life.

And so, we see,

II. THE ESSENCE OF YOUR LIFE AS A CHRISTIAN. In Philippians 1:21, Paul puts it this way, "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain." "To live is Christ."

A. Christ is your life here and now. That cannot be but a mere slogan. That cannot be simply a religious bumper sticker. It must be the deepest reality of who you are and what you are. It must be the ultimate expression of your identity. To live is Christ.

Here in Colossians 3, Paul says all of that offhandedly, within commas, as he talks about the future. But don't miss the context of that future hope. Christ is your life here and now. v.4

So Jesus would say of himself,

John 14:6 "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

He also says, John 11:25 "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 "And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?"

I am the life. I am life itself. To know me is to be alive. To be raised with me is to live. To be united with him is to enjoy life. To live is Christ.

In practice, few of us could really ever say that truly, and honestly, for we live for all sorts of other things. The things of this world. The pleasures and enjoyments of this world. But that is not your deepest and most fundamental identity, not if you are a Christian. Christ is your life.

And he will appear. He will return, and so, built upon that reality of Christ being your life here and how, so also,

B. Christ shall be your life when he returns in glory. v.4

When he returns, you shall be with him. In glory. "You also will appear with Him in glory."

This is our promise, Phil. 3:20 "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself."

Beloved, don't ever lose that hope! Sometimes it might not seem that you have actually died with Christ or been raised with him. Sometimes the allure of sin is overwhelming, and sometimes your resistance is weakened. All too often we give in to sin, and live as though we were still in bondage to it. But the hope and encouragement is not merely in the promise of our present reality, which we only experience partially. The hope is the future reality of glory, a promise we shall inherit and experience fully and completely. He will "transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body." v.4

So what do we do? What do we do here and now? What do we do in response to these glorious promises and this glorious hope? In other words, how does your faith become your life? How do you apply the doctrine of what it means to be a Christian in,

III. THE APPLICATION OF WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A CHRISTIAN. We go back to the transition of, v.1

If you have been raised with Christ, and you have, as a Christian, if you have been raised with Christ, then first and foremost, Paul says, "seek those things which are above, where Christ is."

Jesus put it this way, Mat. 6:33 "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."

Those earthly things. Food, drink, and clothing. Jesus words were spoken in the context of worry, anxiety.

Mat. 6:25 "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 "Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 "Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 28 "So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 "and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 "Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 "Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 "For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things."

Don't live your lives with a preoccupied focus upon the things of this world, even those things which are of necessity for your physical lives. Even those are not to be the ultimate objective of your energies and affections. There is to be a pursuit of heavenly realities. Things where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Seek first the kingdom of God.

It is, A. The pursuit of heavenly realities.

Now, all of us can benefit from a genuine and sincere challenge to examine the priorities of our lives. This isn't an absolute, all-or-nothing declaration that you shouldn't get a job to earn a salary, but should volunteer all your time to the church, since, with the idea that after all, God will provide for your food. That is a ridiculous and reductionist interpretation of words spoken for their impact and impression.

But it is a matter of priority. It is a matter of principle. It is a matter of value. You have to work, and the Bible commands it. You have to provide for your own family, and if you don't, you are worse than an infidel. There are all sorts of necessary things associated with life on this earth.

And Paul's point is that those aren't things for which you live. You live for the heavenly realities, seeking as of highest priority not those necessary things of this life, but those things which of absolute and essential necessity for your life as a Christian in union with Jesus Christ, seated at the right hand of God in the heavenly realms.

So you live as one who has been made alive together with Christ and raised us up together with him, and seated together with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. That's where the really important part of your life is lived, there, with Christ, at the right hand of the father.

And among other things, that ought to stir up within you,

B. The desires for heavenly benefits. v.2 "Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth."

Set your mind, the object of your thoughts and intentions. Focus your priorities, the priorities of your mind, upon heavenly, spiritual realities.

Paul addresses the mind as well, in his great transition passage of, Rom. 12:1 "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."

So the application of what it means to be a Christian begins with the refocusing, the transformation, of the mind. What you think, or actually more like HOW you think. You see, if your foundational principle of your thinking is a focus upon this world and this world's things, then that will govern the very process of thinking. The very definition and identification of what is important, what is true, what is beneficial.

But if your mind is transformed, so that you think of spiritual things as of greatest importance, then your whole process of thinking will be different. And it is through the thinking, through what is often called your world and life view, that all the applications of what it means to be a Christian come forth. Your thinking, your view of all of life, begins with a fundamental and foundational premise. And there are actually two opposite, contradictory and irreconcilable starting points. The things above or the things on the earth. The things of God the creator or the things of creation. The things of spiritual and eternal significance or the things of earthly and worldly value. It's going to be one or the other, as much as we Christians sometimes try to merge the two, thinking we can compartmentalize our minds, spiritual things over here in this corner and worldly things over here in this corner.

Such a danger that is, and a disaster ready to happen. So, v.2 "Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth."

Why the focus on heavenly benefits? Because, as a Christian, you have already died. Your life, your real life, is in Christ. Thus the ultimate thought of all,

v.4 "When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory."

That's how faith and life fit together. The mind is the starting point. Your faith, what you believe. That is the starting point for the transformation God will actually work in your Christian life.

Faith and life. You have been raised with Christ. Now, raised from the dead and seated with Christ in the heavenly realms, "seek those things which are above...Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth."

Peter puts together those two things with this exhortation,

1 Peter 1:13 "Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; 15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy."

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