This morning we are coming back to Colossians - Paul writing about how we view the world and how we see ourselves in the world - our worldview - and what we base our worldview on.  Meaning that if what we base our worldview on is messed up then how we’re living our lives is going to be messed up.  Or not.  Depending what we base our view of the world on.

Out there where we live life there are a whole lot of voices speaking different brands of “truth” from a whole lot of different perspectives of what truth is and what all that means for our lives.  Satan’s desire is to distort truth - to skew our worldview - to delude and dissuade and deceive and distort and to lead us to self-destruction and disaster.  Doesn’t that get to you after a while?

Paul - over and over and over and over again - as we’ve been working our way through his letter to the church in Colossae - Paul has been pleading with the Colossians:  Don’t get sidetracked by man focused philosophies and religions all the “isms” and so called “truths” that man has come up with - what ultimately is coming from the pit of Hell.

Paul - over and over and over and over again - as we’ve been working our way through his letter to the church in Colossae - Paul has been pleading with the Colossians to stay focused on Jesus - the Truth of God in the flesh.
 

Coming to Colossians 3 - Paul is going to get really practical on us:  The Truth About Life.  That’s a relief.  Isn’t it.  Verses 1 to 4 are Paul’s theme:  Focus Forward.  Let’s say that together:  “Focus Forward.”

Got Truth?  Stay focused on Jesus.  Jesus is the truth of what life is all about.

Let’s read these together:  If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.  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.

This morning we all experienced Daylight Savings Time.  Spring forward.  Meaning that we all got up a tad earlier this morning.  Or we were suppose to.  Some may be here physically but mentally they’re still worshipping a the church of the inner spring.

I’ve heard that Albert Einstein once said, “The problem with the speed of light is it comes too early in the morning!”

Looking at these verses do you hear Paul’s focus forward?  Paul  essentially saying, “Get up and get going.  If you really are a follower of Jesus you need to go out there and face life with confidence and courage.”

“If you’ve been raised with Christ.”  Meaning since you really are alive because of Jesus.  Not because you’re trusting in the truth of some religion or philosophy or spiritual understanding - or your own whits - wisdom - and working at things.  But you’re alive because you’ve died to your sin and your own self as your own god and the world’s way of thinking and doing.

You’ve given your life to God - trusting in Jesus as your Savior and His work on your behalf on the cross.  Since you’ve been raised to new life in Jesus...

“Seek the things that are above” - strive - desire - passionately pursue where Jesus is as the authority - the ruler - the creator and sustainer and purpose of everything that is.  Seek and keep on seeking what’s above.

“Set your minds on things that are above.”  Meaning “Think heaven.”  Get your mind wrapped around heaven.

Like when we’re going on a vacation.  All we can think about is what we’re going see and who we’re going to see and how we’re going to get there.   We’re planning and preparing and getting all excited about the trip.  We may be here physically but mentally we’re already there.

Some of you are thinking about summer.  Physically you’re in school and you’ve got tests and papers and projects and stuff going on.  But in your mind you’re already on vacation.  Spring fever is starting to hit big time.

Paul:  Get your mind focused on the amazingness of where we will spend eternity.  If we’ve been raised with Jesus we’re going be there some day.  Plan on it.  Live expecting it.

Focus on your life being “hidden with Christ in God.”  Meaning grab onto the security you have in Christ.  We are in Christ and nothing is going to take us out of Christ.  In a very real sense we already belong there.  Meaning nothing is going to remove us from where we already are.

Paul writes:  When Christ appears we will appear with Him in glory.  Whatever separation that we experience today - between here and there - the life that we live here and the life that’s ours there - what we experience now and what we long for then - when Jesus comes back there isn’t going to be any separation.

NOTW - “Not of this world.”  Heard that?  Paul is saying we need to get our minds and hearts and the focus on our lives focused forward on where we’re going.  On Jesus - and what it means to be made alive in Him - all of what God has for us in Him.

Hold on to that truth.  Let that truth rattle around inside.  Way too many people - way too many of us - get locked up living focused backwards.

Have you heard this?  If you try to drive forward by looking through your rear view mirror you’re going to have an accident.  Epic failure.

Why are we looking backwards?  We’ve been there.  We know what all that was like.  And for a lot of us that wasn’t all that great.  Amen?  So, why are we still looking backwards at what’s dead.  At what we’ve been raised from? 

Our adversary - Satan - likes to get us looking backward.  Planting little seed thoughts in our minds about how we’ve messed up.  About how we’re damaged goods.  How all those loose ends back there are stuff we’ll never get passed.  How we’ve failed others.  Messed up as parents and kids and whatever.  How God may have forgiven us but there’s more that we have to do.  God’s forgiveness only goes so far.

Every time we mess up it just adds to our feelings of guilt and doubt and failure and inadequacy.  “See, you really can’t get passed this.”

Satan loves to get us looking backward because if Satan can get us to try living forward while we’re looking backward then he knows we’re just going to keep on messing up in life.  We’re going to keep on looking back and those little seed thoughts are going grow up big time and bear fruit.  We’re going to be bound with guilt and doubt and depression and ugly attitudes about ourselves and others and ultimately struggle to trust the truth of what God really has done for us by His grace in making us alive in Jesus.

The way to stop looking backward is not to focus harder on trying by our own gutting it out and steeled willed determination to keep from looking backward.  That still only keeps us thinking about what it is that we’re not suppose to be thinking about and beating ourselves up every time we mess up.  The way to stop looking backward - ready for this? - is to look forward.

Focus forward on Jesus and who we are in Him. 

That’s what Paul is getting at here - the truth of life - Jesus.  “Since you have been raised with Christ then focus forward - go out there and face life with confidence and courage - focus on Jesus and the life you have in Him. ” 

As someone said, “That’s so easy its hard.”

I appreciate Paul.  He is not going to leave us hanging.  Coming to verses 5-17 - what Paul is going to give us are two lists.  Two lists that are examples of backwards and forwards focusing.

List number one is a description of focusing backwards.  Paul’s purpose being to help us to wake up to when we’re looking backwards.  Because it is way too easy to go there.  Sometime we’re focusing backwards and we don’t even realize it.  So, Paul is going to give us examples of what that might be like so that we don’t go there.

The second list are examples of what it can be like for us to focus forward on what life in Christ is really like.  A contrast.  What we really need to choose to focus on.

Coming to verses 5 to 11 - this is Paul’s first list.  Let’s read these together:  Put to death therefore what is earthly in you:  sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.  On account of these the wrath of God is coming.  In these you too once walked, when you were living in them.  But now you just put them all away:  anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.  Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.  Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

Let’s go back and unpack Paul’s list of Examples of Focusing Backward.  Let’s say that together:  “Examples of focusing backward.”

“Put to death” in Greek means... “put to death” - meaning exterminate it.  Decisively.  Don’t just suppress or try to control our sin.  Wipe it out.  Period.  

Dead means we’re not going to wistfully long for its resurrection.  To entertain thoughts of going back to what we once did.  If its dead its not resurrectable.

We need to grab the deathly seriousness of Paul’s command (pun intended):  Sin is self-destructive behavior.  Always.  Sin is killing us and it deserves to die.  Either we kill it or its killing us.

One commentator said its like a man who’s working at a machine who gets his fingers drawn between the rollers.  In another minute he’ll be flattened into a shapeless bloody mass.  He grabs an ax that’s next to him and hacks off his hand at the wrist.  Its not easy or pleasant.  But it’s the only alternative to a horrible death. (1)

Jesus taught that it was better to cut off one of our body parts than to have our whole body end up in Hell.  (Matthew 5:27-30).

Put to death sexual immorality - sexual activity outside of marriage that God says is to be only a part of marriage.

Put to death impurity - physical and moral impurity.  What we think or do that is sexually impure.  What we joke about.  What we listen to.  What we watch.

Put to death passion - or lust - emotional uncontrolled desire that’s focused on meeting my supposed needs at the expense of others.

Put to death “evil desire” - meaning a desire to do what’s wrong.  Ever do something you knew was wrong but you did it anyway simply because you just wanted to do it?

Put to death covetousness - meaning greed - being dissatisfied with what God gives us and wanting what others have.

Paul summarizes these as idolatry.  Idolatry meaning that they have a greater place of honor and authority over our lives than God.

Paul writes that the wrath of God is coming down on these things.  God is going to judge and punish these things because they’re not of God.  They’re all about us.  Not God.

Verse 8 - Paul writes “just put them all away...”

Put away is like tearing off old clothes - dirty - sweaty - grimy - stinky - shredded - old clothes.  Strip ’em off.  Burn ’em.

Put away anger which is all about… anger.  Deep inside of us anger.  Put away wrath - meaning acting out rage.  Malice - which is about just pure viciousness - wickedness - towards someone else.  Slander is shredding someone else’s cred - their reputation.  Obscene talk is both filthy language - four letter words and jokes and comments - and its crud aimed at tearing someone else down.  Foul mouthed abuse aimed at someone else.

In verse 9 Paul tells us to stop lying to one another.  Why?  Because we’ve put off the old self with its practices - these attitudes and actions - anger and wrath and so on.  Why?  Because you’ve put on the new self - which is being renewed in the knowledge after the image of its creator.

Then in verse 11 Paul writes about “here” - where?  In this new raised with Christ life - there is no Greek or a Jew - circumcised and uncircumcised - barbarian, Scythian, slave, free… or whatever - bottom line:  Christ is all and in all.

Let’s back up and make sure were together with what Paul is getting at.

We’re constantly saturated with what Paul describes in the first part of his list.  The world is focused on and saturated with sex.  All that world driven sexual energy is focused on self-gratification.  Which is where the world has been - is - and will be focused.  The world’s version of sexuality is all about the unholy trinity of me, myself, and I.  Self idolatry.  Not God’s holy purposes for blessing us with our sexuality.

Along with all that sexual saturation comes the attitudes Paul describes in the second part of his list - anger and wrath and malice and so on.  Not that those are wrong - except when all those are focused on me, myself, and I - and not the purpose that God has blessed us with the ability to express those emotions - which is for His glory.

It is so easy for us to get nudged off track by what we are saturated with and find ourselves focusing backwards and living with actions and attitudes that are hugely self-destructive.  Actions and attitudes and actions that are way too easy for us to succumb to when we make life all about us - taking care of our needs - focusing on how everything affects me.  How I’ve been wronged.  How I’ve messed up.  How all this depends on my taking care of me.

Maybe you’ve noticed this for yourself?  When I get focused on myself.  When I’m thinking about how what’s happening effects my little world - when I get focused on my issues - even if I’m not consciously thinking about it - my actions and attitudes towards others is really going to stink.  Stuff that comes out of my mouth and how I’m acting and what’s going through my mind and heart - isn’t even close to Godly.

Verse 11 - Greeks, Jews, and barbarians oh my.  Is about the divisions we create when we’re operating by our own pride and egos.  How we compare ourselves to others - slicing and dicing - judging and categorizing others because of us.

Paul is bringing our self-focused egos back down to size.  When we start seeing these things creeping into how we’re living our lives red flags ought to be waving - sirens going off.  Something is terribly wrong.  We know that we need a huge dose of honesty.

Grab this:  Whatever our background - ethnically - religiously - culturally - spiritually.  None of us deserves to be here.  None of us is holy enough.  None of us is righteous enough.  All of us have messed up royally - completely - totally.  We’ve all fallen immeasurably short of God’s standard of absolute holiness - righteousness - perfection.

The only reason any of us is here is Jesus.  Period.  God.  His grace.  His mercy.  His forgiveness.  Jesus.  Christ is all and in all.  Christ is everything.  Focus forward on Jesus and who you are in Him.

Stop lying - why?  Because you know better.  As someone who has been raised with Christ you know your creator.  And you’re not Him.  You know that life is not about you.  Its about… God.

All that is how you used to live.  When we were living for ourselves we were caught up in all that.  Caught up in what was all about us.  Trying to deceive ourselves and others - lying about the reality of what was really going on in our lives.  What we were trying to cover up with all those empty actions and blustery attitudes.

If we’ve died to ourselves we’ve died to our being our own little god.  All that that once was so much a part of our lives is dead.  When you see that crud creeping back into your life.  Get honest.  Confess it.  Kill it.

Verses 12 to 17 are Paul’s second list - Examples of Focusing Forward.  Let’s try that together:  “Examples of focusing forward.”

Let’s read these staring at verse 12:  Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing 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.  And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.    

“Put on” is what most of us do every morning.  We get dressed focusing forward about what’s going to happen during the day.  Do we wear the three piece suit or the swimsuit?  Do we dress for warm weather or cold?  We dress for what’s coming.

Spiritually we’ve got to put on the right stuff.  To put on the right focus.  Focusing on what’s going to keep us moving forward through life - having the right attitudes and actions.  Moving forward following God and not messing ourselves up by looking backward.  Instead of looking backward at where we’ve been focus forward on these things.

“God’s chosen ones” are the ones God’s chosen.  The kid who usually gets picked last.  Who has nothing to bring.  No skills.  No abilities.  Laughed at.  Voted least likely to succeed.  But God has chosen you.  Try saying this to yourself:  “I am chosen of God.”

“Holy” means set apart for God.  We’re damaged goods.  Some of us are more damaged than others.  But God repairs us - retools us - restores us.  Because of God - we’re like the utensils and pots and things that were used in the Old Testament - in the Tabernacle or Temple - set apart - for God’s use only.  God has a unique and holy purpose for your life.  Try saying this to yourself:  “I am made holy by God.”

“Beloved” means Jesus’ coming and living and dying and living for us.  His work on the cross for us.  Why?  Because God chooses to love us.  God chooses to love us even when we don’t see ourselves as lovable and struggle to even love ourselves.  God chooses to love us even when we want nothing to do with God - when we’re living totally offensive to Him.  God choosing to love us and being committed to keep on loving us forever.  Try saying this to yourself:  “I am beloved of God.”

Paul writes - you who are the chosen holy beloved of God - which is one huge truth for us to focus on - as God’s chosen holy beloved ones - put on compassion.

Compassion is like the young man who jumped off the Empire State Building to show his girlfriend he had guts.  Please don't hold that against me.

Compassion is being “co-passionate” - from deep within our feelings being able to place ourselves within the feelings and suffering of someone else at the gut level.

Paul writes put on “kindness.”  Kindness reveals our compassion.  Kindness is how we act out our compassion through a smile - a kind or encouraging word - a thank you note - a phone call - helping others.

Third - put on “humility.”  Someone put it this way, “All of us are made in the same mold, only some are moldier than others!” 

Its been said that the first test of a truly great man is his humility.  Really great men understand that greatness is not in them but through them.  That they could never do be anything except that it was God who enabled them to do it.

Fourth - put on “meekness.”  Meekness is our strength under God’s control.  Learning to submit our abilities and talents to God so that we can learn to use what He’s blessed us with for His glory.

Put on “patience.”  Literally - long suffering - enduring someone else’s exasperating conduct without loosing it.  I’ve heard that Emerson once said, “A man is a hero, not because he is braver than anyone else, but because he is braver ten minutes longer.”

Paul describes patience as “bearing with one another.”  Its not just “counting to ten”  and hoping we’ll calm down.  Bearing with one another is what we do after we “count to ten.”  Putting up with things so that we can encourage and uplift and support and help exasperating people to move forward in life.

And - Paul goes on put on “forgiveness” - meaning “if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other, as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”

A long time ago in a church really really far away I remember talking with a man who refused to talk with another man in the congregation.  These two men hadn’t genuinely spoken to each other in over 30 years because of something that the one man had done to the other one and they’d never spoken about it.  Never aired out their differences.  That’s just wrong.

The Bible tells us, when someone wrongs us we need to go to that person and in private talk it out.  (Matthew 18:15)   We don’t get to hang on to our feelings of injustice or unfairness.  We need to say how we feel - forgive what needs to be forgiven - and move on.

Paul says that we need to follow the example of Jesus.  When we come to Jesus as our Savior - and ask His forgiveness for our sins - He forgives us - and that’s it.  He no longer holds our sins against us.  Imagine if God constantly dragged out reminders of our past and held us accountable for those sins.  There’s no forgiveness in that.

Then Paul writes - “above all these put on love - meaning the greatest of these is love - love binds all the others together.  If you got love you got it all.

Paul writing to the Romans:  “But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners... Christ died for us.”  (Romans 5:8)

Jesus to His disciples:  “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this, that someone... lay down his life for his friends.”  (John 15:12,13)

The world’s version of love is focused on meeting the needs of me, myself, and I - regardless of what that may cost others.  God’s love is focused on sacrificially dying for the good of others - our willful choice to care for others regardless of what we get back from them.

Do you see what Paul is getting at here? 

When life isn’t about us - love isn’t about us.  We can love sacrificially.  We can respond with compassion and kindness and humility and meekness and patience - bearing with each other - even forgiving each other - all of which is at the core of living together in harmony - in the church - in our marriages.

Which means that if those actions and attitudes are missing alarm bells should be going off and telling us that we need to allow God to do an honest evaluation and make some changes in where our focus is.  Because - if we don’t - real easy like we’re slipping into Paul’s list from verses 5 to 11.  Been there done that disaster. 

Let’s go on to verse 15.  Let’s read these last three verses together:  Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body.  And be thankful.  Let the word of Christ dwell in your richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.  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.

First - Paul writes:  “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.”

The word “rule” means to “act as an umpire” - the man in the black suit standing behind the catcher.  The peace of Christ is what Paul says can umpire our hearts - to bring order and settledness in the midst of chaos - confusion - and concern.

Peace comes as we submit our hearts and our plans and people and our circumstances to Jesus - to realize that even in the middle of the most tumultuous - controversial - or disastrous situations - God is still in control.  He gets to be the umpire not us.

Question:  Who are you looking to for stability in your life?

Second Paul writes, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” 

“Dwell” is like long lost relatives that show up and stay for months.  They just move in and take over.  Which is what God’s word should be doing in our lives.  Never leaving and taking over.

Teaching is formal - like preaching.  Admonish is informal - the kind of study and sharing that happens at Life Groups.  Wisdom is the point of all that - the application of God’s truth - His word - taking God given knowledge and applying it into the day-to-day of how we can live our lives.  Paul’s example of music is huge.  Music can help us embed God’s word deeply in our hearts.  We don’t always remember sermons.  But music is a powerful way to internalize God’s word.

Question:  Who are you looking to guide your life?

Third:  Paul writes - whatever you do - in what you say and how you act - “do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus”

The name of Jesus represents who He is - the God - our Savior - our Lord - the Head of His Church.  As those who are raised with Christ the very focus of everything we do must meet His approval - must be to His praise - for His honor and glory - not ours.

Question:  Who are you looking to for purpose and meaning in your life?

Peace - word - name - stability - guidance - purpose.  Are we grabbing Paul?  Do you see the thread that runs through those.  Verse 15:  “And be thankful.”  Verse 16:  “with thankfulness in your hearts.”  Verse  17:  “giving thanks to God the Father through him - through Who? - Jesus.  

Be thankful for what God has given you in Jesus.

Let’s see if we can pull together Paul’s examples and what all that can mean for us we head out into Mercedland.

In the day-to-day of life we need to choose to keep focused on this:  You are raised with Christ.  You have life - real life - because of Him.  Every day of your life is secure in Him - now and forever.  God has a glorious future planned for you with Him.

God has chosen you.  God is at work transforming you.  God has set you aside as unique and special for Him.  You are beloved of God.

Grab this:  God really does love you.  That love of God - He desires to grow in you and use in your relationships with others.  His love comes out in actions and attitudes like compassion and kindness and humility and so - even forgiveness.

We may see our circumstances as an impossible dead end.  We may see ourselves as complete failures.  But God does not.  As you allow the sovereign God to have control over your life He will bring His peace into your life - guide you with His word - and give meaning and purpose to your life - even using you for His glory.

Isn’t all that something to be thankful for?

Psalm 118:24 says, “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”  There are mornings when we don’t feel like rejoicing and being glad.  We’d rather focus on ourselves and wallow in actions and attitudes that take us backwards.  But if we can choose each day to be thankful - for Jesus and what we have in Him - that thankfulness will help us focus forward on Jesus and all that God has for us in Him.

Where is the focus of your life?  Backwards or forwards?

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1. Alexander Maclaren quoted in the Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 11, page 211, Zondervan 1978