SERIES: The Book of Colossians
TEXT: Colossians 3:1-11
MESSAGE: “Seeking Jesus in the Struggle”
“When people think of Jekyll and Hyde, they think of the key theme of duality. It is such a bold, ambitious and gripping idea, that ‘man is not truly one, but truly two’. This theme has become so prevalent in pop culture that I think most people are aware of the main idea presented in the novella: Jekyll is the same as Hyde…Duality is, without a doubt, more alive than ever.” — Robin Romano
“For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” — Colossians 3:3–4
TEXT: Colossians 3:1-11
Q: So what does that new life look like—even in the middle of the struggle? Paul gives us three realities: (1) The Withness of Jesus (2) The Waywardness in Me (3) The Newness to Knowing
1. The Withness of Jesus (v. 1-4)
“If then you have been raised with Christ, 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.”
“The first imperative, ‘to seek Christ’, is grounded upon the fact that the Christians have been ‘raised with Christ’. This vividly describes what it means to be a true believer, ‘alive from the dead’…The miracle of conversion has freed the Colossians from the religious systems of their world…It is not a human system linked to earthly sanctuaries, regulations and rites…the Christian is, simply, a man who has been granted a relationship with the exalted Christ at God’s right hand.” — Dick Lucas
“We found that recalling personal unethical acts led participants to report increased subjective body weight… this increased sense of weight was related to participants’ heightened feelings of guilt…only unethical, guilt-inducing memories led to increased reports of weight.” — Martin Day and Ramona Bobocel
“…their new life is…hidden with Christ in God. With Christ because they have been joined with him in his death and resurrection, and in God for Christ himself has his being ‘in God’ and those who belong to Christ have their being there too. Centered in God means that their hidden life is secure, unable to be touched by anyone…Their new life in Christ is not visible to others and, in some measure, is hidden from themselves. It will be fully evident only when Christ, who is that life, appears at his second coming…” — Peter O’Brien
2. The Wayward(ness) in me (v. 5-8)
“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 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.”
“First, you’re in Christ, then put to death. Not put to death, then you’re in Christ.” — Jonathan Shradar
“…If there are rats in the cellar, you are most likely to see them if you go in very suddenly. But the suddenness does not create the rats: it only prevents them from hiding. In the same way, the suddenness of the provocation does not make me an ill-tempered man; it only shows me what an ill-tempered man I am. The rats are always there in the cellar, but if you go in shouting and noisily, they will have taken cover before you switch on the light.” — CS Lewis
“Epithumia is not so much talking about ordinary desire for something that’s bad. It’s an over, inordinate, excessive desire for something good. That’s the essence of what’s wrong with us.” — Tim Keller
“The idols of the heart cannot simply be removed; they can only be replaced… People suddenly realize they’re slaves to something, and then they say, ‘I am not going to be controlled by these things.’ They think it’s just by a simple act of the will. That will never work, not for very long.” — Tim Keller
“The only way to dispossess the heart of an old affection is by the expulsive power of a new one.” — Thomas Chalmers
3. The New(ness) to knowing (v. 9-11)
“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.”
“Those in the Room of Grace are continually allowing God to work on removing the veil from their eyes…They are being freed to live beyond preoccupation over their next failure. Those in the Room of Good Intentions are rarely willing to confront their sin. They’re too busy covering their tracks and grinding it out against temptation.” — John Lynch
TAKEAWAYS: How can we seek Jesus in the struggle? By believing…
- Self-improvement is overcome by His presence
- Waywardness is overcome through worship
“In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And an outstanding reason for choosing some sort of God or spiritual-type thing to worship…is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. If you worship money and things…then you will never have enough…Worship your own body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly, and when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally plant you. On one level, we all know this stuff already…Worship power — you will feel weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to keep the fear at bay. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart — you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out. And so on.” — David Foster Wallace
- Confusion is overcome by truth
“Not only do we know God by Jesus Christ alone, but we know ourselves only by Jesus Christ…” — Blaise Pascal
“For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” — Colossians 3:3