31/05/2026
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Living the New Life in Christ
Colossians 3: 1-4
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Colossians 3: 1- 4
(1.) Background & brief review on the past lessons. We are now on the 4th Sunday of our series in the Book of Colossians. We will be focusing on chapter 3 Verses 1 - 4, but it will be good for us to do a brief review of our past lessons.
*(a.) The main purposes of Paul in writing this letter to the Church - A clearer understanding & appreciation of these facts will help us relate our present condition with that of the Colossian Church in spite of the thousands years gap with us.
*Paul's general purposes were first of all, to show the Deity & supremacy of Christ in the face of spreading heresy in the city - 1: 18- 19, 2: 9. The message from the Book of Colossians is very much relevant today because we can see that the number of false teachers have tremendously increased in our time & so false teachings & false doctrines have spread all over the world to deceive the people who have put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as well as preventing worldly people from possible chance of believing in God & in the Lord Jesus Christ. By emphasizing the incomparable attributes of the Lord Jesus Christ above all, it will strengthen the faith of all true believers until the end; while those who reject the truth about Him might be enlightened & bring them to repentance.
*Secondly, he wanted to lead the believers into spiritual maturity- 1: 28, 2: 6- 7. Genuine Christians cannot remain spiritual babies as Paul told the believers in the Corinthian Church as well. They are expected to grow deeper in their spiritual life in order not to be deceived by false teachings & to move toward the fullness of life in Christ. *Thirdly, Paul wanted to inform them about his real condition & requested for prayers on his behalf - (4: 2-8).
*(b.)The recepients of the letter - *First of all, the Book of Colossians is directed to those who have put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, & believed that they were chosen by God even before the foundation of the world. Since the Bible is the Living Word of God, relevant & intented for all generations, these teachings are very much directed to us who are living in the last days.
*For those who are not sure of their relationship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray that the grace of God may come upon you as you listen & that the Holy Spirit may open your hearts not only to understand the message but that you may be able to respond to the love of God.
*May we be reminded again that those who have responded in faith to the call & invitation of the Lord Jesus Christ, have received eternal salvation for their souls. They have become citizens of heaven, & therefore commanded to live their lives in Christ Jesus. *They are instructed & commanded to pursue spiritual maturity & live their lives for the honor & glory of God.
(c.) The main reason of God the Son in coming to earth as a human - The eternal God the Son came down to earth in the flesh & took the nature of a man like us (but without sin) & He offered His sinless Blood & very life as ransom for our sins, bailed us out from the curse of sin & death.
*As we continue with our lesson, we need to go back to what we have slightly touched last Sunday - Col. 3: 1- 4 in order to have a complete flow of thoughts & broader understanding on what the Lord wanted to emphasize in the life of those who belong to His kingdom. (Read Col. 3: 1-4)
Paul had given important pieces of advice, instructions, lessons & encouragement to the Christians in Colosse toward spiritual maturity, extendng it up to the whole 3rd chapter wherein practical applications of Christian values, attitudes & practices are specifically being pointed out. ( But we will only focus on Verses 1-4 today).
*(2.) The Christians who have actually received a New Life in Christ are instructed to to set their heart or rather the desires of their hearts on the things of the eternal - 3: 1 - 2.
*(a.) The true believers' lives should be dominated by the patterns of heaven. The desires of the hearts & the focus of life of those who belong to this world are on the ways & concerns of worldly life, but those belonging to the kingdom of God are expected to have already turned away from this k8 do of worldly life.
*The life of the children of God should no longer be focused on worldly ways & worldly life-style. They should no longer spend their life in self-indulgence or enjoyment & satisfaction of the flesh with material & earthly things, but instead everything should now be directed toward heavenly concerns.
*The word "set" means "to seek or strive for earnestly," fixing their attention dicisively toward the things above, wherein the glorified Christ becomes the center of their lives.
*(b.) Those who belong to the eternal family of God should concentrate their concerns on the eternal & no longer on the temporal. They should fix their (spiritual) eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen which is eternal - 2 Cor. 4: 18. This verse does not only confirms what was said in V. 1 & 2 but it also gives a strong impact on this Command. *This particular matter is one of the weaknesses of many Christians because of the very strong influence of this material world wherein the devil is dominating the lives of people by offering attractive but deceitful way of living.
*This does not mean however, that we would no longer take responsibility on the things that concerns our earthly life. God has temporarily placed us in this world & has given us life to live & enjoy His Creation & all the provisions for life which He made available to all of us.
He has intended from the beginning that we would enjoy the the beauty of His Creation along with all the amenities of life, but with responsibility to take care of everything that is in it - Gen. 1: 28, Gen. 2: 15.
*Some children of God are given the privilege to handle greater material wealth, but they are not supposed to take the advantage of enjoying the fleshly benefits of material prosperity because it will durely cause them to fall into satan's trap of self- indulgence to worldly happiness; instead, it should be an apportunity to be God's instruments & a channels of His blessings to others - 2 Cor. 9: 6- 13.
*In times of material prosperity, a child of God always have in his heart & mind the fact that his purpose is to glorify God with all that he has. On the other hand, in times of poverty, a child of God looks up to heaven with a thankful heart that his portion is the Lord Himself. In whatever situation therefore, the heart of a child of God is focused on what is in store for him in eternity & not on the temporal things & earthly condition of life.
*When man fell into sin, man's heart was enslaved by the devil & affected his perspective & purpose in life. Since then man lost his connection with God & became self-centered in all his desires focusing on what could satisfy his flesh, his eyes & his ego. Since then, the desires of man's heart were focused on the things that this material world can offer.
*(c.) The general spiritual condition of man - Since all have sinned as a result of our first parents' sin & this world was placed under the power of the evil one, man's heart was enslaved by a desire for self-happiness & self-satisfaction from the things that this material world offers. Having been separated from God, man has lost his perspective of the eternal & desired primarily for the things that can give pleasure & satisfaction of the flesh through the influence of the prince of darkness.
*On th other hand, those who have been saved by the grace of God & responded in faith were raised up with Christ; which means that they, or we, have died (our old sinful self) with Christ & when He resurrected from the dead, we too were raised up to a new beginning & a new way of living. This fact is explained earlier in 2: 12-13. This reality is also well emphasized in Ro. 6: 8 - 12.
*For this reason, we are no longer of this world. We are still in this world but we do not belong to this world anymore - Phil. 3: 20. Our desires, perspectives & values in life are no longer according to the concerns of the flesh but according to the things of eternal value.
*Since we have died in our old sinful self, our life now is hiden in Christ - Gal. 2: 20. Because of this truth, our life is no longer focused in pursuing the things that the material world keeps offering. Knowing that these things can never satisfy the heart & the soul, but are just temporary which will vanish sooner than we expect; our hearts & minds are now focused on heavenly things that will give us eternal joy & eternal peace.
*We are no longer enslaved by worldly desires, self-centered ambition & praises of men, instead, our heart's desire & purusuit is to accomplish the purpose of God & a life that will bring glory & honor to His Name. *We are no longer worried with our day to day needs in this material world because we know that God takes care of our needs if our main concern is the concern of God's eternal kingdom & our desire is to live a life pleasing to God Matt. 6: 33.
*For a true Christian, life in this world is not defined by possessing anything in this material world but rather a life that is lived by a power beyond this world, the power of the Resurrected, Ascended & glorified Christ.
*(3.) At the moment of salvation, a person has died in his sinful flesh possessing the sin nature - V. 3. The word "hidden" implies both concealment & safety, invisible but secured. He is not yet glorified, but he is secure & safe in Christ. In fact, Christ is his very life -Jn. 14: 19 - 20, Eph. 1: 13-14
*(4.) The most awaited moment - the coming of the glorified Christ for His own - V.4.
What is mentioned here is the"Rapture," - 1 Thes. 4: 15- 18. The word "Rapture" is not in the English Bible, but it came from the Latin word "Rapturo" from which comes the term "Rapture" which means "caught up." The true believers & followers of Christ, those who were chosen before the foundation of the world & responded in faith when they were called, evidenced by the kind of life expected from genuine children of God, will be caught up in the air; first, those who were dead in Christ will rise, then in a moment thereafter, those who are still alive in Christ will be "caught up" in the air to meet the glorified Christ.
*The Prophesy of the Rapture is as sure to be fulfilled as the Prophecies of Christ's death & resurrection.
*The most glorious moment that true believers & followers of the Lord Jesus is the moment that when His glory is revealed during the Rapture, we will also be revealed in His likeness - 1 Cor. 15: 51- 58.
꧁ᴘᴀsᴛᴏʀ ᴊᴏᴇ ᴇ. ᴍᴀʀɪᴀɴᴏ꧂
