Colossians 3:1-17
Just for fun, I went on Facebook this week to take one of those personality profiles. You know, the ones that ask you questions, and somehow know everything about you? Here are some of my results:
Anime - Tsundere - You are good at hiding your emotions from everyone else
Animal - Dog - The sweetest and most loyal out there! A cute and funny dog is what you’ve got. This means that you are a very faithful person and love to give your everything to those you love. You are social, cheerful and you like to give more love than you receive. Without a doubt, you are a great friend!
Am I Funny? - You are very funny
Harry Potter House - Gryffindor - You value pride and dignity. You and your friends are brave and strong. You enjoy playing quidditch and spend your time looking for new adventures!
Perhaps the most accurate was the breakfast buffet quiz. Based on the food I chose, I am officially a “peacekeeper.” Your morals are incredibly important to you and you value honesty in all of your relationships. You often speak up for those who don’t have a voice and want to help push people forward. Perhaps the most incredible thing about you is that you’re not a just a dreamer—you take real steps toward making an impact in everything you do.
While I make light of these quizzes, there is a real desire in all of us to find our identity. Who am I, really? It’s a question we try to help our children unearth. It’s a struggle that can last a lifetime. Who am I?! While it’s good to ask ourselves this question as we learn and grow, our passage this morning actually answers it for us. Rather than reading the passage in it’s entirety, since it’s a longer one this week, we are going to break it into sections and read as we go.
But just to set the stage, here’s our Big Idea for this morning:
Big Idea: We have been given a new identity in Christ, and can confidently say, “Jesus is my life!”
Colossians 3:1-4
1.. Our identity is found in Jesus
We see 2 realities that we’ve talked at length about, the idea of dying with Christ, and the idea of being raised with Christ. This means that we have died to our flesh, to our sin, and have been raised to newness of life. This reality should cause us to seek, or set our minds on the things that are above. When we admit our need for a Savior, and we experience Jesus, our whole perspective changes. Christ above all. Christ supreme. This means that our gaze is fixed on Jesus. This means that our life has the glory of Jesus as it’s ultimate goal.
On the flipside, we no longer have our minds set on the things of this earth. Those things which are harmful, which are selfish and sinful. Material possessions that become idols. Relationships that take priority over Jesus. When we have proper perspective and our minds are set on the things above, everything else around us fades.
“Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace.”
And when that is true of us, look at verse 3 again. “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Your life is no longer yours. Your life is covered by Jesus. Think of a large blanket, hiding you in a game of hide and seek with your kids, or protecting you from the cold. Jesus claims us as His own and covers us. He protects us. We are His. And one day, says verse 4, when Jesus comes back, we will also be uncovered, and people will see the truth of the gospel in its fullness. That’s an end times truth that is hard to truly understand.
But let’s pause here for a second and focus in on one line from verse 4: Christ, who is your life. Here is the identity piece. You remember the saying that started coming up somewhere in the mid-2000s, “ball is life?” This idea that the only thing that matters in my life is basketball. My life revolves around it. It’s all I think about, it is literally who I am at the core of my existence. Now over the years every other industry has used it. Coffee is life. Travel is life. It’s even entered the Christian marketplace, and you can buy clothing that says, “Jesus is life.”
If Jesus is my life, as verse 4 states, then everything about my life should be about Jesus. If Jesus is my life, that should influence the decisions that I make, the music I choose to listen to, the shows I choose to watch, what I do in my free time. Can we sing with confidence:
Hallelujah! All I have is Christ
Hallelujah! Jesus is my life
Practically speaking then, what happens in my life that gets me to this place of Jesus over everything. Jesus in me. Jesus, my life.
2.. Our Old Identity
Colossians 3:5-9
Put to death. Another translation can be “consider as dead.” Listen to what John Piper says about this verse:
“Conversion means death-not just decision for Jesus, but death with Jesus. One great problem in the church today - not the only one - is that we do not grasp the magnitude and depth and wonder and miracle of what happens in genuine conversion to Christ. And therefore we do not know how to live and work and fight for righteousness as Christians.”
When we die with Christ, our old fleshly nature is rendered useless. It is dead, meaning it cannot be revived. I don’t believe that these lists that Paul lays out are exhaustive. But he seems to be speaking of 2 different aspects of life. The first is that which is on the inside. Those sins that manifest themselves in our minds, in our hearts, the exception being sexual immorality. Impurity, passions, which are affections of the mind, evil desires and covetousness which is idolatry. The part of us that drives our thoughts, that drives our decisions, that drives our motives, that drives our actions was evil, and deserved every bit of the wrath of God that would be poured out, were it not for Christ…Paul says this is how you lived! This is our reality before Jesus as well.
The 2nd list seems to speak more to the outward expression of our sin nature. Again, not extensive, but, anger, wrath, malice, slander and obscene talk. These were the natural outpouring of a heart that was infected by sin. To take the motto again, life before Jesus means that impurity is life. Evil passions are life. Covetousness is life. Malice is life. This is what defined us before Jesus.
You might be thinking though, that even without Jesus people can have high standards of morality. A recent study comparing the morality of believers to non-religious or atheists revealed that “most endorse objective moral values and human dignity at similar rates to the general populations in their countries.” Here’s the thing, our sin manifests itself in all sorts of ways. Paul lays out a small list of examples, but we cannot deny that our natural bend as humans is to follow the desires of our hearts, even if they would oppose the standard of Christ. The key is that our flesh, our sin nature is what separates us from God. So however one thinks, however one acts, however one treats others, the sad reality is that the wrath of God is still coming!
But this is not so with us! We have died with Christ, who nailed our sins to that cross, and cut away the flesh from our hearts. And in a moment, we became new creatures!
3.. Our New Identity
Read Colossians 3:10-14
There is quite the contrast here between the old and new self. Interesting language Paul uses though, with an idea that we have clothed ourselves. We have put on something new. The old garments have been removed and burned in the fire, never to return, and the new clothes of Christ have been put on. We have to be careful here with this idea though that once I’m a Christian I won’t mess up sometimes. Paul says that the new self is “being renewed.” It is constantly and presently being made new. We won’t reach perfection until glory. So this putting on, while it has a once for all connotation, also needs to be thought of as a daily decision.
Every day, when I wake up, I’m going to put on compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience. I’m going to intentionally bear the burdens with others. Forgive others. Whereas before we were selfish, prideful, arrogant, desiring our own way, prone to anger, idolatry…now we look at other people differently. Now we are marked by humility, patience and compassion. And again, it’s not that people who don’t know Jesus CAN’T have these same attitudes, but now in Christ the natural response will be marked by the character and standards of Christ. And while a Christian should be marked by these things, Paul states that one thing is more important than the rest. And that is, love.
One pastor says this about love, “Love is the most important moral quality in the believer’s life, for it is the very glue that produces unity in the church. Believers will never enjoy mutual fellowship through compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, or patience; they will not bear with each other or forgive each other unless they love one another.”
When we die with Christ, and are raised to newness of life in Christ. When our life is hid in Christ, when He becomes my identity. When I am fused to the life-giving source that is Jesus, love will flow out of me. And when I understand the sacrificial love of Jesus, I will strive to love like Him. Love is the glue that holds it all together.
Paul says in his letter to the Corinthians that you can speak in the tongues of men and angels, have prophetic powers, understand all mysteries and knowledge, even have faith to move mountains, even give away all your possessions, EVEN die a martyrs death….but if you don’t know how to love like Jesus, then all of that is worthless.
Let’s see how Paul finishes this passage.
Colossians 3:15-17
Paul ends this section with 4 instructions that the young church was to pursue. “Here is your identity!” Paul says. Make sure that as you walk in faith, that you:
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.
Be thankful.
Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly (and OUT of that)
teach and admonish one another
sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs
In everything you do, do it all for Jesus.
APPLICATION
I don't know about you, but I am so thankful that I don’t have to search for my identity. Sure, in my humanity I have a specific personality, traits, quirks, and all of that. But at the end of the day, I belong to Jesus. My life is hidden with Him. He is my life.
And as a result of that, I am able to wake up every day and choose to clothe myself in kindness, to put on humility, patience, peace. Is it easy? No, I so often want my own way. Pride still rises to the surface. But when I take a step back and consider the truth of Colossians 3, that Jesus has taken my pride to the cross, that Jesus has taken my anger to the cross…When I take a step back and hide myself in Jesus, and clothe myself with Him, then my attitude changes. My responses change. And it’s another step in the direction of renewal. It’s another moment of clarity over what Jesus did and how my life has changed.
“Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.”
