Peaceful People
Christian Characteristics during times of Crisis • Sermon • Submitted
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Introduction
Introduction
Many people cry for peace in our world today and throughout the history of humanity. A study conducted by Gallup indicated that there is a correlation between countries with high well-being (comfort, happiness, success) and being peaceful. Now this makes sense in our world today - right? People want to be comfortable and happy and whenever that happens, peace can exist. The issue with peace, though, is that A) it never is permanent on our planet, and B) our circumstances (wellbeing) change(s) frequently! If being peaceful and satisfied in life was determined by our comfort and happiness then we would all be hopeless right now, would we not? The good news about Scripture is that our peace, love and satisfaction in life is not based upon our comfort, finances, health or relationships, rather it is based on the person and work of Jesus Christ.
The Bible has much to say about the difference between the old self and the new self. We know that we were dead in our sins but God has made us alive (Ephesians 2:4-5). We are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5)! Because of this, we live a different way as we lay aside the old self and put on the new self! Is this an easy thing to do, though? Not always. We are all tempted to partake in activities and actions that used to define our lives before Christ and many of us have to battle with these thoughts on a daily basis! This is difficult work, friends! It is difficult to think that you’re right only to find out that you’re lost in sin. It is difficult to think that something is ok because society says so only to discover that the Bible says it’s a sin. Just because these changes are difficult, though, does not mean that we are left without hope.
One of the most amazing parts of salvation is that we are literally a new creation the millisecond that you are adopted into the family of God by salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit comes in and changes some things in all of our lives and guess what? We all have room to grow in this regard! The last few weeks we have looked at how Christians are commanded to be people of action because of our faith in Christ. One of the things that we do as Christians is we love others and give one another grace, even when it’s hard to do so. Our final study this morning will focus on sanctification - being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. As Christians, we are commanded to put aside the old self and put on the new self. To not seek the things of this world but instead seek the things above - to be people of peace in a world of confusion and chaos. While the rest of our world tries to find happiness in order to find peace, we as Christians have peace and joy not in ourselves but in Christ.
Our text this morning is out of Colossians 3 as the apostle Paul is writing to the church in Colossae to give them instruction on defending their faith against false teachers and providing them instruction on how to live as a new creation. These are things that we must understand and apply today as we are Christians living through times of crisis.
1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.
3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.
5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.
6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience,
7 and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them.
8 But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.
9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices,
10 and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him—
11 a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.
12 So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;
13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.
14 Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
17 Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
We have peace because our focus is on Christ (1-4)
We have peace because our focus is on Christ (1-4)
Paul opens up this incredible text of Scripture with a very important qualifier to everything else that follows, he says “therefore” - connecting the previous section (Colossians 2:20-23) to what will follow in Colossians 3. Colossians 2:20-23 talks about salvation and how we as Christians have died with Christ and we are called to not indulge in the desires of the flesh. Colossians 3:1 continues this theme and says “if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above.” Who is this statement related to? Christians! Christians are commanded to seek not the things around us, but rather the things above!
Paul says that we seek these things. The Greek word carries the meaning of delighting in these things rather than simply thinking about them. We love the things of God and we value them above all else. Do you value spending time with the Lord? Do you value growing in your faith and knowledge of God through prayer, worship, evangelizing and reading? Those things should delight our hearts and give us ultimate satisfaction! Sadly, that’s not always the case, is it? Sometimes it can be difficult to spend time in prayer. The Bible says to pray without ceasing. Sometimes it can be hard to spend time worshiping because we are in a rough situation. Why do we do these things? Not because it’s easy, it’s impossible for our old self, but we do so because we have been set free and we are commanded to not focus on ourselves and this earth but rather on the things above. Whenever we do that, we find peace and joy that lasts because our Savior is seated at the right hand of God as Paul notes in Colossians 3:1 - a reference to Psalm 110.
A question for all of us this morning: Are we just going through the motions or are we actively encouraging others to turn from sin and run to Jesus? It can be so easy to do “church” and fill our cup on Sunday morning and go through the motions, the traditions, the “old paths” how things have always been done. This is the easy mode for all of us. But that’s not what we’re called to be like, is it? We’re not called to just do things the way that makes us the most comfortable, we are supposed to encourage one another to become more like Jesus - that’s really tough and it requires a whole lot of humility! It requires us to share the name of Jesus with others - when is the last time you’ve done that? For many, it’s been a while. Church, we have to understand that it’s not about us. It’s not about the way things have always been in this church. It’s about Jesus and being the most concerned with eternal matters rather than temporary ones that have zero significance. Whenever we arrive at the place where we care completely about things of eternal value then we have peace because our perspective is in the right place.
Is your perspective in the right place today?
Paul notes that these Christians have died with Christ. What does it mean to die with Christ? How am I alive today if this is the case? Your old life is dead and the life you are living today is in Christ. Christ is your life source! This is the language that we use whenever someone is baptized, is it not? Buried with Christ in baptism, raised to walk in newness of life! If you’re still living how you lived before Jesus, you need to do some evaluating this morning because that’s not how we’re supposed to live as Christians! We have new life in Christ. We have hope and peace in Christ - not in ourselves. Therefore, we act differently because the Holy Spirit works inside of us.
Verse 4 notes that in doing this, we will one day be revealed with Jesus in glory. We identify with Christ during this life, we live and act for Him, but one day in the future that identification will be manifested and visible in doxa (glory). Richard Melick notes this regarding this idea in Colossians 3:4, “The present time is a time of death. Often Christians suffer for their faith, but they continue with a life source unknown to those who do not know Christ. Someday, however, Christ will be revealed.”
There are some people who just don’t understand why anyone would be a Christian. Why would you set your eyes on heavenly things instead of the here and now? Why would you care more about studying God’s Word than reading up on this or watching that? Because we are called to something higher and our heart desires to know more and to live for Christ. As we grow in our faith and understanding of God’s Word, we become more like Christ. As this happens, our priority in life continues to shift from the here and now to the eternal. This gives us peace, even in times of uncertainty. Even when traditions and comforts are changed, we have peace because of the truth in Scripture that
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
We have peace because the old is gone (5-11)
We have peace because the old is gone (5-11)
To Paul, coming to faith in Christ marks a distinct change in your life. There was an old way of life that we all had, but whenever we become a part of the Kingdom of God we change. The old way leads to death, the new way leads to life. Because we are a new creation and we have put these old things to death in our own lives, we have peace and hope in this process of being made more like Jesus.
I’ve used this quote by John Newton before, but it bears repeating this morning because this is our story as Christians, “I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I want to be, I am not what I hope to be in another world; but still I am not what I once used to be, and by the grace of God I am what I am.” We still fall short as Christians, we will never reach perfection this side of heaven, but we certainly should look differently than how we used to look. This is cause for celebration but also cause for reflection. Verses 5-11 note that there are things that we are supposed to put to death. Again, just because we have the right knowledge about Jesus Christ doesn’t mean we’re saved, faith without works is dead! We have to change our lives and behaviors.
There are some attributes and qualities that should not exist in the life of a Christian. Immorality, impurity, lust/passion, evil desires and greed must be put to death in verse 5 and verse 8 instructs us to get rid of anger, wrath, malice, slander and abusive speech. What a list! If everyone would just practice what Paul instructs here in Colossians 3 then the world would be a much better place, would it not be?
The incredible part of being a Christian is that you do not have to do these things by yourself - certainly you must respond and choose this day who you will serve, but there is a power inside of you that is transforming your very life this second if you are in Christ - the Holy Spirit! One of the issues that we can run into, though, is in focusing more on one of these lists and less on the other. For example, if someone was sexually immoral and unfaithful to their spouse many Christians correctly say that person sinned and they did something wrong. Paul notes that we are to put those types of desires to death! However, far fewer people feel the same way when it comes to abusive speech, gossiping or having a bad temper. Paul gives an imperative command for his audience and for Christians in the future to put these fleshly passions to death and get rid of all of these other actions. Is Paul saying that adultery and gossip are on the same level with one another? That’s not his point. His point is that both actions come from a place that is not Godly. Therefore, because we are a new creation, we are not supposed to indulge our fleshly desires but rather live, act, think and speak differently.
Why is it so important for us not to live this way? Because verse 6 says the wrath of God is coming! This is not a future tense verb in the Greek but a present one. If you continue to choose to live for yourself and not repent, you are facing the wrath of God right now. Paul says in verse 7 that this was true for all of us! Friends, we all used to be dead in sin and alienated from God. Because of this there is no room for boasting because we didn’t save ourselves by our works of righteousness, Jesus saved us! Because of this, we do things differently.
We lay aside the old self and put on the new self as verse 9/10 state
10 and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him—
11 a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.
It’s so easy to have pride in our ways, culture or traditions but Paul destroys the very thought of that in verse 11. As we become more like Jesus Christ we begin to see that there is no distinction between ourselves and our brothers and sisters on the other side of the world. We begin to see that there is no difference between ourselves here and those who attend a church that does things differently than we do. Again, does this mean that we agree with them on all things? No. But it means that we see that they are worshiping Jesus just as we are - even though it might look or sound differently, we are all in this together. Therefore rather than tearing one another down, we have peace that the old is gone and that we are growing to be more like Christ together.
We have peace because the new has come (12-17)
We have peace because the new has come (12-17)
The final few verses in this text talk about the things that we are supposed to do as Christians. Rather than putting off or getting rid of some things, we are to put on the things found in the coming verses. Have you ever heard the expression that you have to replace something bad with something good? The same principle applies to our spiritual lives! We are a new creation, but we all have to learn and work at acting like a new creation. This is hard work! Whenever someone has a serious surgery on a leg or arm, often times they have to undergo physical therapy/rehab in order to regain the muscle memory and usage of that specific body part. Even after undergoing the rehab, though, things might never feel the same as they did before the injury. If you’ve ever had a surgery like this then you likely know what I’m talking about.
Whenever I was 16 I tore my patella in half and required surgery to bring everything back to where it was supposed to go. A couple hours and a couple of screws later and I was discharged from the hospital and my knee was “normal” - but things still aren’t necessarily normal. Every time I run I can feel a difference between my “good” and “bad” knee. When the weather gets cold, my knee hurts and can swell up. Just because I had this surgery doesn’t mean that everything is the same as it was, it’s not. The same is true in our spiritual lives. Things are different than they were before we repented of our sin and trusted in Christ. We still do some of the same things as before, but things feel differently because we have undergone a major surgery - we were dead but now we are alive!
With that in mind, though, it’s not always easy, as we discussed last week, to be a good neighbor and give love and grace to all. Yet, Paul has some insightful words for us as we live as a new creation. First, in verses 12-14 he gives us some instruction on how to live as individuals. Next in verse 15 he instructs the church body and in verses 16-17 he concludes by giving us instruction outside our local church.
The things Paul says to live out include compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. There are 2 more in verse 13, bearing one another (enduring with one another) and forgiving one another just as God has forgiven us.
I’m sure you have examples in your life of people who have wronged you and how it hurt deeply. Think for a moment about the worst you have ever felt and been wronged by someone else. Think of the hurt and bitterness you felt in your heart because of what was done to you. Now think of all the times that you have wronged someone else. Even worse, think of all the times you have sinned against God. Are you uncomfortable yet? We all should be! Our sin against God is something that should cause us to mourn according to the Sermon on the Mount as Jesus said
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
The more that we grow to become like Christ, the more we understand the severity of our sin and the more we walk in righteousness. We put on these attributes as the chosen of God as verse 12 says - as Christians, and we fight against our fleshly desires which try to enslave us. We look and live differently because we are a new person and we are dressed in different clothes! We endure with one another and we forgive one another. The Greek word for forgive is “Charizomai” which can mean “pardon”, “forgive”, “cancel” or “give graciously”. Why do we do this to others? Because the Lord has done this to us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us!
The climax is verse 14 - even more than all these other characteristics and clothes, we put on love (agape) and love unites us. We have much that can separate us as Christians, but love is what unites us and strengthens our relationship through thick and thin. Even in times of chaos and crisis, we have love that gives us peace and unity.
Because of this love that unites us, as individuals, the church is supposed to be unified as the peace of Christ rules in our hearts. Peace is supposed to rule. You cannot have a peaceful congregation of individuals are not at peace with one another. If there is quarreling and bickering transpiring, there will be no peace. Just as whenever a body part is not working properly, your entire body aches so it is whenever a member of the body of Christ is not at peace with others in the body. Friends, we must put on love and as we love one another as we have been shown love from God, we have peace and unity. What is our response to this? We are thankful. Even in times of uncertainty and when things don’t go our way, we are thankful because of the unity given to us by God.
What do we do with this unity and peace? We share the name of Jesus! Whether it be teaching or singing. I love Colossians 3:16 because I love music. Many of you do as well! One of the greatest ways that we grow in our faith and one of the greatest ways that people in Scripture grew was through singing songs that deliver a message. What matters in verse 16, though, is not the beauty in the song. It’s not only hymns or only praise and worship music or only psalms, it’s all of the above! Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs but they are sung with thankfulness in your hearts towards God. The early church sang more than hymns. We sing more than hymns in our church as well! Church, why do we sing? Do we sing because it’s the traditional thing to do in church? If that’s the case then we’ve missed the boat. Singing isn’t primarily about us. It’s about giving praise to God for what He has done in our lives and we do that with more than just hymns from 1700-1900 - we sing songs of all ages and generations that glorify God! Singing encourages the body of Christ and it unites us in worship. Worship is the heartbeat of heaven and we sing with thankfulness - do you sing with thankfulness or do you only do so whenever it’s a certain song? Does your worship extend and encompass your entire life? It should!
Paul concludes in verse 17 by saying that whatever we do, we should do all for Jesus Christ. The power of Jesus is everything, friends! We give thanks to God for what He has done for us. We have peace in our hearts because we focus on Christ, because we are not who we used to be and because we are a new creation and we do everything differently as a result. We view things differently as Christians and we have compassion, love, grace and peace even in times of chaos.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Whenever something shocks our world, there are many different emotions that flood our mind. Will I be ok? Will my family be safe? How long will this last? When will things get back to normal? During a pandemic these are questions that we ask on a daily basis. As Christians we can ask these questions, but in asking them, we have peace because we know this world is not our home. We are simply passing through en route to our eternal destination with our Lord and Savior! This doesn’t mean that we have the right to be reckless, rather we have a duty to live a different life than those around us.
We are a new creation and rather than operating how the world does, we fight back with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. We endure through hard times with one another and we forgive others as Christ has forgiven us.
We have peace during the pandemic because our focus is on the things above and sharing the name of Jesus with others regardless of the cost!
Ask yourself, does my life look like my non-Christian neighbors during this season of life or does it look different? It should look different. My prayer for all of us is that we would continue to be obedient to do all things for the glory of God, even in this difficult season of life. That we have peace, that we are thankful and that we are united along the way through thick and thin because our God reigns and our God saves! Why does this matter so much? Because as Colossians 3:11 says, Christ is all! He is either Lord of all or He is not Lord at all - I pray He is Lord of all in your life today!