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*Intro*
Take a lot at these pictures.
After each one, I want you to tell me the title of their profession.
Ready?
I’m sure this is the easiest test you have probably ever taken.
The reason is because it is easy to identify people when they are in uniform.
You can tell a lot about people from the way they dress.
I am sure with each of these professions, if each of these people showed up to work failing to “dress the part,” there would be serious consequences.
Do you know Christians have a wardrobe that they need to put on every day?
No, I am not talking about long robes, a collar or a huge cross around their neck.
Neither am I talking about a tee shirt that says “Jesus saves” or bumper stickers.
I am talking about characteristics in line with our new character.
I am talking about spiritual clothing.
We must put them on as purposely as we put on our clothes in the morning.
We must put them as decidedly as a sports player puts on his uniform to play in the game.
We must put them on as unflinchingly as a soldier puts on his army attire for the battle.
We must dress ourselves to meet our identity.
All of these people know who they are and thus, how they should dress and the importance of representation.
They cannot be about themselves, for they are driven by something greater, something beyond them.
Similarly, as believers and as the church of Jesus Christ, we are put on this earth with a new identity, called out to represent the One who gave us this identity.
We better dress the part!
Identity and Representation: these two key words describe Colossians 3. How you walk depends on where you sit.
Because of who you are, walk appropriately.
The title of the message today is, “The Supremacy Demonstrated: By Being a Sharp Dressed Church.”
This is a two part series.
Today we are going to cover Col. 3: 10-12.
Lord willing, next week is joint service, but the week after that we will look at part 2 in Col. 3:13-17.
What is the spiritual attire of believers?
There was an old song from the 80s sung by ZZ Top called, “The Sharp Dressed Man.” Anyone ever heard of it?
Am I dating myself?
The song is about the fact that a man who dresses himself well is going to get the attention of the ladies.
Well, here we are going to look at the Sharp Dressed Church.
What are the qualities of a believer and of the church that would make the world notice and turn its head?
Let’s start with this, the sharp dressed church has a:
*I. **Firm Conviction about Change** (Col.
3:10)*
We left off last week with Paul saying that we must destroy and discard sin like old rags, particularly sexual sins and social sins.
How can we do this?
We can because we have been made new.
You are a new man.
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the Bible says (2 Cor.
5:17).
Notice he says, “You have put on the new self.”
New men wear new clothes.
Before he talks about what those clothes are, he defines what is happening to the new man (please do not be offended ladies when I say “man”).
The new man is “being renewed in knowledge after the image of its Creator.”
That word “renewed” refers to ongoing renewal or remaking by an outside force.
It refers to a new quality of life that never before existed.
It is a change caused from knowledge.
Rom.
12:1-2 (transformed from being renewed in your mind).
I like how commentator Warren Wiersbe described it.
We were /formed/ first in God’s image (Gen.
1:26), then /deformed/ because of sin, but because of knowing Jesus Christ, we can be /transformed*[1]*./
/ /Where does the knowledge come from?
It comes from the Word of God, which we must desire like newborn babies craving milk (1 Pet.
2:2).
As we grow in the knowledge of the Word and put it into practice, we become transformed into the image of Jesus Christ.
How many of you when you became a believer realized you were just like Jesus Christ in every way?
How many looked at the Book and realized that you got it all done already?
I don’t think there is such a person.
You had new life, but that did not mean instant maturity.
God doesn’t want to just forgive me, He wants to change me.
The flesh, the old self, comes along all the time dangling your old rags in front of you that it thinks you should put on.
It’s a constant struggle, but we must not give up.
So you are not there yet.
There is still a capacity for growth.
You are under construction.
You are clay in the Great Potter’s hands (if you remember the Retreat) as He puts His hands on you, cleans you and starts molding you into His image.
As the wheel is spinning, the clay is changing.
But you and I know that change does not happen in our sleep.
The clay is useless on the ground.
It needs to be on the wheel.
And as I have been a believer for 13 years now, I have come this conclusion.
The Christian life is like riding a bicycle.
Either you are moving forward or you are falling off.
I need to always have a conviction about change.
I am thankful I am not what I was, but I have yet to be all that God has me to be, but that does not stop me from wanting to change.
It is so easy to think you have arrived.
This was the problem of the church at Laodicea, which made Jesus want to throw up (Rev.
3:16).
The sharp dressed church is convicted about change.
The transformation is only complete when we see Jesus and we will be like He is (1 John 3:2).
But until then, I must have the conviction that I will never stop changing.
It is not about how many chapters I am reading or how long I am praying, both of which are means to the end.
The end is me becoming more and more like Jesus Christ.
Illus: Pastor Craig Barnes shares the story of Roger, a 12 year old graciously brought into his family by his parents, after he had lost both his parents to a drug overdose.
Since there was no one to take care of Roger, his parents decided to raise him as if he was one of their own.
Pastor Barnes says,
“At first it was quite difficult for Roger to adjust to his new home—an environment free of heroine-addicted adults!
Every day, several times a day, I heard my parents saying to Roger:
"No, no.
That's not how we behave in this family."
"No, no.
You don't have to scream or fight or hurt other people to get what you want."
"No, no, Roger, we expect you to show respect in this family."
And in time Roger began to change.
Now, did Roger have to make all those changes in order to become a part of the family?
No.
He was made a part of the family simply by the grace of my father.
But did he then have to do a lot of hard work because he was in the family?
You bet he did.
It was tough for him to change, and he had to work at it.
But he was motivated by gratitude for the incredible love he had received.
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