A Review of Colossians – Major Themes

Good morning. How's everyone doing? Good. We're going to be looking throughout the book

of Colossians today. This is the last sermon on Colossians. Yes, I can hear your disappointment.

Yes, already I know, right? Been so fast. So we're going to basically do a review of

Colossians, or you could even call it an overview if you wanted to. But we're going to look

at five main themes that we see in Colossians as we wrap up our study. Before we get into

it, let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father, thanks for everything you're doing in our

lives. We thank you for life groups getting ready to start up, and I do pray for the parenting

one, that you would bless that, and all these younger parents, parents that have been parents

just for a few years.

A handful of years, God. Bless that study. Help them to learn how to shepherd their children.

And Lord, we pray that we would glean from the wisdom of the older parents. We pray,

bless that study as well. The Knowing God book is so profound and impactful, so bless

that study as well. And just as we come together twice a month to fellowship and have a meal

together, Lord, bless that.

And let us grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus. And we pray, Lord, for the different

things we have coming up for the fall party, for Operation Christmas Child, for our children's

Christmas play. Bless each one of those things. Let them be fruitful. Let goodness and grace

flow out of each one of those things. And give us, Lord, just the ability to have those glorify

you in all senses. And thanks, Father, for us being able to come together.

Thanks, Father, for us being able to come together today to your table and that we

have a fellowship with you, a fellowship that can't be broken, a fellowship that we get

to enjoy day after day after day. We'll get to enjoy it all the way into eternity with

you forever. So thank you for us having it. Thank you for the fellowship we have with

you, with your Son, and with the Spirit, and the fellowship that we have with one another.

We pray you'd bless our time now as we get into the Word, all for your glory. Amen.

All right, so the first theme that we see in Colossians is the theme of thankfulness.

And so I want to, really my, I guess, first exhortation is to have thankfulness, or you

could just say be thankful.

It's probably, I'd say, the most thankful document in the New Testament, just because

of the number of times this concept kind of flows throughout the book.

So let's just look at a few of it.

Seven times the word thank, or thanks, or thanksgiving occurs, but it occurs all the

way in the very beginning.

Look at Colossians 1, verse 3.

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you.

So Paul right away is saying, hey, we don't just thank God, like we always thank God.

Whenever we're praying for you, like we're thanking God for you.

He carries it on into verse, starting in verse 11.

May you be strengthened with all power.

According to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks

to the Father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

So we get it twice in chapter 1.

Then when we pick it back up in chapter 3, we get it a few times, starting in verse 15.

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in

one body, and be thankful.

And then picking it up again in verse 16, let the word of Christ dwell in you 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.

We also see it mentioned in chapter 2 just once.

Go back to chapter 2.

We're commanded in verse 6, therefore as you receive Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk

in him, rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding

in thanksgiving.

And then the last time we see it is in chapter 4.

We get commanded again.

Verse 2, continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it, with thanksgiving.

And what's the idea?

Like everything that we're doing, everything we're doing.

Just like the letter starts and flows throughout and ends with thanksgiving, like everything

we're doing should have thanksgiving in it.

First, when you think about it, giving thanks rightly acknowledges that everything we have

is from God.

In order to be thankful, that assumes that you're thankful towards someone.

I am thankful for my family, but who am I thankful to?

You have to be thankful.

You have to be thankful to someone.

In one sense, it's very real to say, it's hard for the atheist to be thankful.

Like, how can you be thankful for all the blessings you have if you don't have someone

who you can acknowledge that's given you those blessings?

Now, they might be thankful for their friends, helping them move or different things, but

in the sense of acknowledging everything that you have, what you've been given, the life

that you have, where does that come from?

That comes from the Lord.

So, giving thanks.

It rightly acknowledges everything we have is from God.

I mean, and I'm talking like the material and the immaterial, everything, the physical,

the spiritual.

And when God is doing a good work in us, sometimes our flesh wants to take over.

We want to take the credit for it.

You know, we're like, oh, thank you.

Don't mind if I do.

Now, we want to give credit where credit is due, and guess what?

It's all due to him.

So, we want to shine the light on him.

One clear distinctive we see is that Thanksgiving is at the heart of worship.

Justice emailed the church yesterday, hope he had an opportunity to read it, but really

what he's emphasizing there is us, when we're talking about singing louder, like, if you

try to sing louder, there's only one way you can really do it, and that's joyfully.

And so, we're commanded, like, to give Thanksgiving.

And if you think about when we're singing, we want to have a, we're commanded to have

a joyful heart, right?

But how do we, how do we come before the Lord?

If we're just kind of mumbling the words, that's, that's not a good thing.

That's not a good thing.

So, we get verses like Psalm 100, verse 4, enter his gates with thanksgiving and his

courts with praise.

Give thanks to him.

Bless his name.

I mean, can you imagine entering the courts?

The courts of the king of heaven, and you're just like, okay, Lord, like, yeah, I'm, I'm,

I'm here, I'm thankful.

No, man, we'd be like David, right?

Dancing around, excited, the ark is, is coming in to the city.

We're rejoicing.

We're thankful.

So, if you want to worship God rightly, brothers and sisters, thankfulness is required.

Second, giving thanks shows that, that we believe God is who he says he is.

It rightly acknowledges his position and place in our lives.

If you think about it, when we're singing, we're putting music to the faith that we hold dear.

We're putting music to it.

We're singing things that we actually believe.

We're proclaiming God as creator.

We're proclaiming Jesus as Lord.

We're proclaiming the triune God as king.

We're proclaiming our heavenly father as our heavenly father.

Over and over.

That's why we're very careful, we're very careful when we choose the songs that we sing here,

because there's something, there's something in the words that we sing.

We want to make sure what?

That we're singing truth, right?

We want to sing truth.

And we want to make sure that we're singing biblical truth.

So, we can say many great things, you know.

Two plus two equals four.

We're probably not going to be singing about that, right?

Right?

So, I mean, you talk about, like, the philosophy of worship.

You know, over the years, there's, you know, certain groups, certain worship.

We won't sing.

We just won't sing it.

You might hear it on whatever radio station you listen to, but we won't sing it here.

Because we don't think it's glorifying to the Lord.

And so, we want to make sure that, first and foremost, whatever is coming out of our lips

is completely and totally glorifying to the Lord.

If it's not?

If it's not, then we don't want to sing it.

And you shouldn't either.

Third, giving thanks, it's really the cure for criticizing and condemning and complaining.

It really is.

If you've got a critical spirit, if you complain a lot, if you kind of are pretty good at condemning

people, which you shouldn't be, giving thanks is the cure for that attitude.

So, that's the first theme that we sing.

The next one is false teaching.

And the exhortation is to be on guard against false teaching.

It's really what prompts Paul's letter for writing to the Colossians.

Do you remember what the false teaching that he was combating in the church there?

It was Gnosticism.

And we won't really go over it too much, but just a brief primer or reminder.

The Gnostics believed that knowledge, just normal knowledge, was subpar.

But there was a hidden special knowledge that was needed.

Gnostic just means knowledge.

They also viewed the spirit as good and desirable, matter as evil and detestable.

And there was actually really two branches of Gnosticism.

One was more of a hedonism.

So, since the matter is evil and detestable, the flesh is bad, then it doesn't matter what

you do with your body.

So, you can do all sorts of immoral things.

The Gnosticism being addressed here in Colossians was a different branch, which was more asceticism.

And it's more the focus on this knowledge and abstaining from certain things.

That's why in Colossians 2, Paul's talking about do not touch, do not taste, do not handle.

Those aren't commands that he's given to us.

That's what he's quoting the Gnostics as their beliefs and their values being.

So, the Gnosticism.

So, the Gnostics, they come along.

They come along and say the focus needs to be on knowledge, but it needs to not just

be on any knowledge.

It needs to be on this special knowledge.

Well, how do you get the special knowledge?

Well, oh, of course, it's only through the Gnostics.

So, you have to come and come to them for this special knowledge to get into the kingdom.

So, Paul flips the script on them.

And over and over again, if you look at Colossians chapter 1, he uses...

He uses a form of the word knowledge to talk about what the Colossians have.

So, in 1 verse 9, he says,

So, this word knowledge there, it's the word epigonosis.

Paul uses this word regularly to indicate knowledge regarding God the Father, Jesus,

and salvation in general.

In other words, this is a knowledge that's available to all.

And this is the knowledge.

This knowledge is the knowledge that leads to life.

And you have this knowledge.

It's available.

There's no hidden knowledge you need to try to get access to, so then you have access

to the Father.

No.

God has revealed all that you need through his Son.

All that you need.

You know, the Gnostics say, you need us to show you the way.

Jesus said,

I am the way.

And when we think about it, we have...

When it comes to the Scriptures, are there some things that are challenging to understand?

Sure.

Even Peter even mentions Paul in 2 Peter.

He mentions him and he's like, you know, some of those things are challenging.

But here's the key.

The main things are the plain things.

And the plain things are the main things.

What is presented to us when it comes to faith, when it comes to getting saved, when

it comes to walking with our Savior, it's so simple that even a two- or a three-year-old

can understand it.

They can understand and they can trust in Christ for salvation.

The things needed for salvation are quite clear for those that have eyes to see.

You think about the marks of a church, there's three marks to the church.

We talked about it a little bit.

The right preaching of the Word, the sacraments rightly administered, and then three, the

exercise of church discipline.

Now, some put the exercise of church discipline under the right preaching of the Word.

That's fine.

But here's the thing.

You can't just say you have these, but you actually have to practice them.

You actually have to practice them.

The right preaching of the Word, it has to be preached in its truth.

You can't just read a verse and then the pastor gets to say whatever.

It needs to be founded in the Scripture.

There needs to be evidence of what he's saying is backed up with Scripture.

You also want to make sure the sacraments are rightly administered.

People have distorted the sacraments, well, for two millennia.

They've twisted and turned it into different things.

People say you have to be baptized to be saved.

That's adding something to faith.

That's adding a requirement.

To be saved.

It's adding a work that God is saying you have to do to be saved.

God's not saying that.

What do you have to do to be saved?

You have to trust.

Now, once you've trusted, we get a whole bunch of different things we're commanded to do.

And one of those commands is what?

Be baptized, right?

So walking in obedience.

But that's not required for salvation.

That's what comes after.

Salvation.

So the sacraments rightly administered, and then the exercise of church discipline.

Church discipline can look everything from you as a brother or sister in Christ,

pulling your brother or sister in Christ aside and talking to them about a concern you have,

something that you've seen in their life, all the way up to it being brought before the church.

And focusing on the marks of the church.

Listen, the reformers weren't saying that all a good church.

What it needs to have are these marks.

These marks make the true church recognizable.

You could have those things, and maybe it's not the best church.

But you at least need those three.

And our handbook even mentions some other aspects of it that we strongly believe in,

that we think help with making a church be what the Lord wants.

Wants it to be.

But here's the thing.

When we talk about Gnosticism, it's really like a form of intellectualism.

Intellectualism doesn't save you.

Just knowing things, having knowledge, doesn't save you.

You can have knowledge about all sorts of different things.

You could have knowledge of Hinduism.

Does that make you a Hindu?

You could have knowledge of Buddhism.

Does that make you a Buddhist?

You could have knowledge of Islam.

Does that make you a Muslim?

So you can have knowledge.

You can know all sorts of books.

You know, there's like, I mean, they like make those, you know, trivia games about like, you know, Harry Potter, right?

And, you know, you play those games with those people, and they've watched those Harry Potter or read the books like 25 times.

I mean, they know Harry Potter pretty well, those books.

Does that make them a wizard?

No.

They might wish.

But no, it doesn't.

But they know a whole lot about that information regarding a particular topic.

There are people out there, brothers and sisters, and you need to make sure you're not one of them, that know a whole lot about the Word.

But Jesus ain't real in their heart.

He's not real.

And so that's an intellectualism.

You need more than just knowledge to be saved.

You have to have faith.

You have to have a saving faith.

But it's also more than just emotionalism.

That doesn't give you a firm foundation.

Having an emotional experience doesn't save you.

Jesus saved you.

Now, you might have an emotional experience when you get saved, but that emotional experience isn't the thing that saved you.

It accompanied your salvation, but it wasn't necessary to your salvation.

So you can see videos of people that seem very passionate.

Very passionate.

Passionate, it appears, for Jesus.

And then they walk out the doors of the church, and they just go right back to their normal life, living in sin.

I've seen it.

It's sad.

It's horrible.

Emotionalism is not a firm foundation.

So it can't just be all in the head.

It can't just be all in the heart.

So you do need knowledge.

There should be an aspect of emotion to it.

We're commanded to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Like, with our entirety.

There is emotion to it, but it shouldn't rest on it.

And here's the thing, brothers and sisters.

When we're talking about false teaching, the last four or five years, especially, it's been pretty clear.

There's been a whole lot of conservative churches and members in those churches that have been duped.

They've been duped by wokeness.

There's...

There's been a pastor, well-known.

He wrote an introduction to a book called Woke Church.

Super conservative pastor.

There's probably not a...

I hope there's not a day go by that he doesn't wake up and regret writing the introduction to that book and promoting it.

Because the book was total trash.

And the author has gone off the deep end.

But a whole lot of...

A whole lot of conservative churches got duped by the woke virus.

A whole lot of conservative churches got duped by critical race theory.

We used to use a book, actually, as part of our membership class.

Great book.

By Thabiti Anyabwile.

Thabiti, sadly, I mean, he's gone off the deep end.

Off the deep end.

He got duped.

A whole lot of conservative churches got duped by diversity, equity, inclusion.

The DEI stuff.

Bought hook, line, and sinker.

Made major changes at their church.

Major changes.

And how they did ministry.

Who they were reaching out to.

Who they were targeting.

All in the name of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

And sadly, some of these people are still duped.

How do you combat false teaching?

Biblical teaching.

Grounding it in the word.

That's what you need to do.

Shepherds are to instruct the sheep.

But guess what?

There's something else we're supposed to do.

Protect the sheep.

Protect it.

And so sometimes, well, that's probably a different sermon for a different day.

But we're called to guard the sheep.

Protect them.

So yeah, we got to talk about these things.

We got to talk about false teaching.

It has to be called out.

Names sometimes.

It has to be named.

So, brothers and sisters, it's only a matter of time before the next false teaching comes along.

And tries to infiltrate your heart.

Tries to infiltrate your family.

Tries to infiltrate this church.

You need to be on guard.

We'll be on guard.

We're called to protect against it.

So be on guard against the false teaching.

This is the best training.

You got to know it.

Next thing we see, and it's really the grounding for all of Colossians, is that Jesus is over all.

What does that mean?

He's over the family.

He's over the state.

He's over the church.

I mean, he's over it all.

The whole world, the universe, he has power over all.

Look at Colossians chapter 1.

Listen, if you ever start fretting, if you ever start getting concerned, if you ever start stressing out or freaking out, you start getting fearful, sometimes you can look out into the way it looks like our nation is going.

It's not a good direction, not a good trajectory.

Some of that, I know, it freaks some of y'all out.

Okay, start in verse 13 like we're going to do.

And then read for about 10 verses.

And remind yourself that Christ is Lord.

He has delivered us, verse 13, from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Hey, what can the world do to you?

Can they take away your salvation?

No.

What can they do to you?

Can they mock you?

Yes.

Can they spit on you?

Sure.

Can they put you in prison?

Yes.

It's happening.

A 90-year-old lady is about getting ready to serve a prison term for standing outside an abortion clinic.

90 years old, they're going to send her to prison.

90 years old.

She's a survivor of the concentration camps.

So she knows what's up.

And what are we doing?

What is our nation doing?

We're sending her back to prison.

It's a travesty.

It's horrible.

That's the current administration.

It's not right.

But guess what?

If she knows Jesus, then what does he promise?

I'll never leave you nor forsake you.

She's blessed, right?

Others curse.

She's blessed.

Blessed are you.

When they persecute you, revile you, curse at you.

She's blessed.

So what can man do?

Yeah, they can make this earthly life miserable.

But they cannot take away the very thing that God has given you, and that's eternal life.

And this life is but a drop, a little drop in the ocean compared to eternity.

We're going to be with Jesus a whole long time.

And then we're going to be with him longer.

And then we're going to be with him even longer.

And that's just the beginning of the first day of eternity.

We're going to be there for a bit, forever.

So look at this.

Look at how it continues.

Verse 15.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible,

whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities.

All things were created through him and for him.

And he is before all things.

And in him all things hold together.

And he is the head of the body, the church.

He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.

And through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven,

making peace.

By the blood of his cross.

And you who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,

he is now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death,

in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him.

If indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast,

not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard,

which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven,

and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Brothers and sisters,

Christ wins.

The end.

Right?

He wins.

So, if you want to choose a side, you've chosen wisely.

Choose the side of Christ.

He ends up with the victory.

He already has the victory.

How can you think anything else reading this?

If you wanted to make a higher view of Christ,

you possibly couldn't do it.

Because this is as high,

as it gets.

It's a high Christology here.

I mean, whose kingdom is it?

It's called the kingdom, verse 13, of his beloved son.

Jesus' kingdom and the Father's kingdom are one.

That makes sense.

The Father and the Son, they're ruling.

But so highly exalted is Jesus,

that it is entirely appropriate to call the heavenly kingdom,

Jesus' kingdom.

Just like we see here.

So, you couldn't speak more highly of Jesus if you tried.

This is not just a mere man.

This is the eternal Son of God.

And the Father takes us by the hand when we get saved

and leads us into the kingdom of his Son.

But see, here's the thing.

We're just getting started because when we get to verse 15,

what does it say?

The image of the invisible God.

Now, God is invisible.

No one doubts that.

The scriptures show it and confirm it.

But what does Jesus come and do?

Jesus reveals the Father.

Matthew 11, 27.

All things have been handed over to me by my Father,

and no one knows the Son except who?

The Father.

And no one knows the Father except the Son

and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

I mean, that's some big words to speak.

The power, prestige, and privilege given to the Son is immense.

He reveals the Father.

He reveals the Father to us.

Now, Jesus can't get to the Father.

You've got to have Jesus to get to the Father.

John 1, 18.

No one has ever seen God.

The only God who is at the Father's side,

he has made him known.

Jesus makes the invisible visible so that we can see the Father.

How do we see the Father?

We see him through the Son.

Jesus said to him, John 14,

Have I been with you so long?

And still you do not know me, Philip?

Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.

How can you say, show us the Father?

Look, if Jesus isn't God, that's blasphemy.

It's blasphemy if Jesus isn't God.

But if he is God, and he is,

then it's an entirely accurate, correct, and proper statement to make.

So we see...

We see Jesus seated high on the throne.

He was there from the very beginning.

Verse 15.

The firstborn over all creation.

For by him all things were created.

How many things were created?

All things.

In heaven and on...

I mean, just in case we had any doubt.

In heaven and on earth, visible and invisible,

whether thrones or dominions,

or rulers or authorities,

all things were created through him and for him.

Jesus was right there at the beginning of creation,

with the Father, creating it all.

So this is Jesus.

This is his eternal status.

He didn't earn it.

He didn't acquire it.

It's the eternality of the Son.

John 8, 58.

Truly, truly, I say to you,

before Abraham was,

Jesus says what?

I am.

So you can't think of him more highly than you possibly can

because he is God.

He is supreme.

You couldn't speak more highly of Jesus if you tried.

He is God.

He is supreme.

He has supremacy before creation.

Philippians 2.

Therefore God has highly exalted him

and bestowed...

...on him the name that is above every name

so that at the name of Jesus

every knee should bow

in heaven and on earth

and under the earth.

Every knee will bow.

And this is the Jesus

that humbled himself

and came to this earth

and lived roughly 30 years.

The perfect life.

Why?

Because he covenanted with the Father.

He agreed with the Father

to come and be...

...the sacrifice for us.

The propitiation for our sins.

He would appease the Father's wrath.

He would take the wrath

meant for us.

The wrath has to be poured out.

And what does Jesus say?

I'll drink the cup.

And what do the disciples...

Oh, hey, we'll drink the cup too.

And Jesus is like, y'all don't understand

what you're asking.

You're going to drink a cup of sorts.

But Jesus drank

the ultimate cup.

And guess who he did it for?

Each one of you.

He took the wrath of the Father

so that you could receive forgiveness

of your sins.

The next theme we see

is the contrast between

the old life, the life that we have

before Christ,

and then the life that we have

once we have Christ.

And so what does

the transformed life look like?

Look in Colossians 3.

There's four key words.

Those key words are

put off, that we see in Colossians 3.5.

Put on, we see that in Colossians 3.12.

And then it looks like being subject,

Colossians 3.18.

And then we're commanded to watch and pray.

Those are the four key words

that the transformed life will look like.

Look at these three words just briefly.

What are we supposed to do

with these three puts?

At least in the ESV.

We're supposed to put to death.

So once we put on the new self,

there are certain things we do.

And the new self puts off old things.

The new self puts off old things.

And the new self puts on new things.

So certain things we put off.

Put to death, verse 5,

therefore, whatever is earthly in you,

sexual immorality, impurity,

passion, evil desire,

and covetousness, which is idolatry.

And then notice, on account of these,

the wrath of God is coming.

The wrath is coming, brothers and sisters.

It can be averted.

How is it averted?

Through Christ.

And these two you once walked

when you were living in them.

But now you must put them all away.

I mean, sometimes you're like,

hey, I'm doing pretty good, Lord.

I'm walking pretty well.

No, we're commanded to put them all away.

Put them all away.

Not some.

Not, hey, I'm about 98%.

No, all.

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.

Oh, and then look.

Verse 10.

And have put on the new self.

The new self.

You've got the old and the new.

There should be a difference.

People look at you.

You shouldn't be characterized by the old.

You should be characterized by the new.

So those are the things you rid yourself of.

Those are the things you don't do.

Or if you're doing them, you stop doing them.

I mean, God has certain things

he doesn't want his children doing.

Would we agree with that?

Yes?

So for believers, it's not a matter of intellect.

You know it's true.

It becomes a matter of volition.

Will you live?

It out.

So there's certain things God doesn't want us doing.

And there are certain things God does want us doing.

I mean, you hear, and I've said this before.

You know, people say Christianity isn't about

a bunch of do's and don'ts.

Or Christianity isn't about a bunch of commands.

Well, if the primary message is a list of don'ts,

yes, you've missed the message.

If the primary message is a list of do's,

yes, you've missed the message.

The gospel is primary.

It changes everything.

But between the two,

be careful in explaining the life of a believer to others

so they don't get the idea that nothing is required of them.

I mean, Jesus talks over and over again

the cost of discipleship.

There is a cost placed on you.

It's not like, oh, you're set free

from bondage and slavery to sin

to just like, ooh, I get to do my own thing.

No, you were doing your own thing.

That's why you're in bondage to slavery and sin.

No.

I mean, 1 Corinthians talks about it.

But bondage and slavery to sin,

what does Christ do?

He comes and purchases you.

So now who owns you?

Christ, right?

He purchases you.

Now you're a slave no longer of sin,

but you're a slave of Christ.

Some versions probably don't do the greatest job

translating that word slave sometimes.

And it gets kind of watered down

probably because of being concerned

about the aspect of slavery in the U.S.

and its history with it.

But that term slave, I mean,

it has the connotation

that probably most of us know.

Most of us draw it to mind

like he owns you.

You're his.

He's your master.

And so what do you do?

You listen to the master.

So God's given us a new life.

And what comes with the new life?

Well, with the new life come new ways,

come new habits, come new patterns,

come new living.

And new creations act like new creatures.

So our new life will be marked

by the absence of earthly things.

It'll be marked by the absence

of certain earthly words or verbiage

or language or manners

in terms of anger and malice.

The Christian life is meant to be done

according to God's standard,

not our own.

So there's the initialization

and there's the initial renewal.

That's the putting on of the new self.

And then there's the continual renewal.

And we actually see both of them in verse 10.

You've put on the new self,

so hey, you trusted in Christ.

You're saved.

God's done an amazing work in you.

But then notice what it says.

Which is being renewed in knowledge

after the image of its creator.

Right?

So you get saved.

That's the word justification.

But now Christ is making you more like him.

That's the word sanctification.

Notice again the word knowledge.

That should pop out to you, right?

Because what is Paul doing?

He's hammering on the false knowledge,

the false teaching.

What is he talking about?

The biblical knowledge,

the real knowledge,

the knowledge of Christ.

So new life is not just,

oh, I'm going to heaven.

New life is not just,

I have a relationship with Jesus.

New life is not just like,

I have a get out of hell free card.

It's much more.

It is much, much more.

That's just the beginning.

So all authentic believers,

they have a new self

with new spiritual sensitivities,

with new abilities,

and thus wonderfully new possibilities in this life.

So we're growing in the knowledge.

What does that lead us to?

Well, it leads us really to the next theme that we see,

and it's that this new life affects our God,

given roles.

Each one of us has a role.

God has roles for us.

He has gifts for us,

spiritual gifts.

He's got blessings for us.

And then he has roles.

Roles in the civil sphere.

Roles in the church sphere.

Roles in the family sphere.

And so once we get to chapter,

the middle of three into four,

we get a focus on family roles.

We see that, oh,

now that I'm a believer,

like there's certain things,

he's expected of me.

God has rules,

and that makes sense.

He's got rules for the state,

rules for the church,

rules for the family.

And what does he want?

He wants us to submit to those rules.

So the new life affects our God-given roles.

Christ reigns over all.

So it makes sense that he reigns over the family.

He is the one that created marriage.

He created it.

We went and learned about marriage

and the different things.

But not only did he create marriage,

he created the family.

Genesis 1.28,

God blessed them and said to them,

be fruitful and multiply

and fill the earth and subdue it

and have dominion over the fish of the sea

and over the birds of the heavens

and over every living thing

that moves on the earth.

Right?

So, I mean, we got people here,

they're doing a great job

of being fruitful and multiplying, right?

We got seven new kids over the past year.

But notice what it says,

like be fruitful and multiply

and fill the earth

and have dominion over the fish of the sea.

And subdue it.

I mean, if it was just up to Adam and Eve

to subdue it,

I mean, well, where would we be?

Still digging in the dirt, probably.

I mean, the command is for all of us.

But what did they do?

As they learned, what did they do?

They instructed their kids.

And what did their kids do?

Their kids instructed their kids.

Right?

And practical things,

but also hopefully spiritual things.

And so one of the reasons

we're taking some time

with our life groups

to have one of them focused on parenting.

And if you,

even if you have some like middle-aged kids,

I mean, feel free to come to that one.

And we're not,

what we're not doing is saying

you have to go to this group

and you have to go to that group.

Now, it does make sense

if you just have like a six-month-old

like Justice and Laura,

like the young,

that's where you should be.

But we want to make sure that

we want to help you

to make your kids

feel the design that God has given them.

They're made in his image.

And they're arrows, right?

You're going to shoot,

you're going to shoot them out one day.

They're arrows.

So how can we come alongside

and help you train them

to be everything that God wants them to be?

Our role is not to raise your children.

That's your role.

But our role is to instruct,

to come along inside,

to supplement or compliment,

to encourage,

to exhort,

to rebuke,

to correct.

And what a great opportunity now

for us to do that

with some of these younger families

that are just starting out

or some families just like,

hey, you know what?

I probably could benefit from that.

We need to be in there too.

So the point when we talk about Christ

is wherever the believer is,

wherever the believer is,

Christ is there ruling

and exercising authority.

The civil realm,

the church realm,

the family realm,

Christ is over all.

And thus he reigns supreme

over the family.

And if you notice,

all throughout,

if you remember,

even when we were looking at these,

this passage for rules for the household,

I think it was like seven times

the word Lord is used

in those roughly eight to 10 verses.

Like it's like,

and the idea is like,

hey, this is grounded.

This is from the Lord.

It's grounded in the Lord.

He's the one telling us how to do it.

And he's the one empowering us

to be able to do it.

All of these things,

brothers and sisters,

we've taken actually almost two years

as we've worked through Colossians.

All of these things,

I'm hoping,

and I mentioned this last week,

like as we go through a book,

these are different things that I hope

that where you were two years ago

and where you are now

in some of these things,

that you've grown.

That you've grown.

I mean, hopefully,

I mean, you're hearing the word,

you're learning.

And what are we doing?

We're not just having to come

on,

on Sundays,

which is good,

and it needs to,

but we're having to come on Wednesdays

at Reformation Wednesday.

We're having to come on Fridays

at the life group.

Like, so that's why

we like to take a particular theme

or idea or topic

and we're going to focus on it for a while.

Why?

So you can kind of immerse yourself in it

and really just be there

and learn and soak it in.

And the family is critical

to God's mission.

It's critical.

And so all these people,

all of our kids,

like I pray for your kids,

young, old, adult, not adult,

like I want to see them in the kingdom.

I want to see them in the kingdom.

The best thing you can do,

spouse,

love your spouse.

Love them.

Walk before the Lord.

Let them see that

inside the home

and outside the home.

If what you are here

is different than what you are at home,

that you are sending your kids

on a path to hell.

I'm just telling you.

They can hear and grow up in this church

and hear the gospel,

but they have to see it lived out in the home.

Otherwise,

they will see the very people

that care about them

be hypocrites

and they won't want anything to do with it.

That doesn't mean if your kid's on the path to hell

that that's you,

but I'm just saying,

if you want to send them on that path,

then be a hypocrite

and come to God.

And come to God.

And come here

and act like everything is great

and amazing and fine

and spout the knowledge

and give the right answer in life group

and then you go home

and treat your spouse like trash

and treat your kids like trash.

You're really showing them

what you think about Jesus.

That's the truth.

So if it's real to you,

you've got to live it out in the home.

If you can't live it out in the home,

what's the purpose of doing anything else?

The very people you love,

the one that you say

you'd lay your life down for,

your spouse

and your kids,

you can't get them

and be gracious to them

and speak kindly to them

and love them

and walk in righteousness before them.

And then you wonder

why your neighbor doesn't want what you have

or your co-worker doesn't want what you have.

No, it's got to be legit.

And if it hasn't been legit,

today's the day to repent of it.

Today's the day to get right with Christ.

Today's the day to have true forgiveness,

to seek true forgiveness from your spouse

because it is a recipe for disaster.

No one would ever say who's a believer

or even claims to be a believer,

hey, I want my kids to go to hell.

No one would ever say that.

But your actions,

your actions

can say the exact opposite.

They can say the exact opposite.

So if that's been you,

you need to repent.

You need to go make it right with your kids.

You need to go make it right with your spouse.

The Lord will honor and bless that.

He will honor and bless that.

So our themes here,

thankfulness,

we need to be thankful.

False teaching,

we need to be on guard against it.

Jesus, like Jesus is over all.

He is the supreme one.

We're privileged to have him as our savior.

And because he is gracious

and he is faithful,

and forgives us of our sins,

we come, we trust in him,

he forgives us of our sins,

and he gives us that new life.

What's that new life?

Part of that is getting the righteousness of Christ.

You don't have a righteousness of your own,

Philippians talks about.

The righteousness comes from Jesus.

So he gives us,

not just,

he doesn't just take your sins

and your ugliness

and your wretchedness

and your vileness.

No, then he gives you

the righteousness

that belongs to him himself.

That's why you can appear before God one day.

And he's like,

oh, you're righteous.

Well, how does that occur?

Because Christ gave you his righteousness.

You need the righteousness of Christ

to enter the kingdom of the Father.

You need the righteousness of Christ

to enter the kingdom of the Son.

That happens through repenting and trusting.

And then we see that new life,

if we're walking in it,

guess what?

That affects the roles that God has for us,

specifically here in the family.

And so we want to walk out of it.

We want to walk out those roles.

We want to walk them out faithfully.

Someday, each one of us,

each one of us,

we're going to stand before the Father.

We're going to stand before him,

brothers and sisters.

And we're going to,

we're going to,

what's going to happen on that day?

It's appointed,

Hebrew says,

for man once to die,

and then what?

Then the judgment.

So we'll be judged.

It's going to be probably pretty quick.

But we're going to be judged.

And if we don't have Christ,

the judgment,

won't be pretty.

It'll be scary.

Worse than any scary movie you've ever seen.

Times a trillion,

and then some.

It's going to be horrible.

It's going to be a dreadful day

for those that don't know Christ.

For those that do,

no condemnation, Romans 8, right?

Right?

No condemnation.

If you're covered in the blood of Jesus,

if you have been given his righteousness

from none other than Jesus himself,

you've got no fear on that day.

Now, it says there will be an accounting.

We don't know what that looks like.

We'll have to account.

But there's no fear.

There's no fear.

We do have to appear before that judgment seat.

There's no fear.

For those that believe.

For those that trust.

For those that are truly his.

And because of that,

then we can take confidence,

and we can say whatever the world does,

whatever man does,

it will always fall short.

We don't fear

the one who can kill the body.

No.

What does it say?

Fear the one who can do something with the soul.

That's God.

So we come before him with a reverence and an awe,

a godly fear,

and bow down before him.

The one true God.

If you haven't done that,

let me encourage you today.

Let today be the day that you trust.

Believe in him.

Divert the wrath that is to come.

We've seen it in 1 Thessalonians.

We've seen it in 2 Thessalonians.

We've seen it here in Colossians.

And guess what?

We're going to continue to see it.

We saw it in Obadiah.

We're going to see it next week in the new book that we're starting.

We're going to see it.

We're also going to see over and over again

God with his steadfast love

reaches out over and over again

and over and again

to his people.

And we have a way to be saved from the wrath

through Jesus.

Let's pray.

Father, we thank you that it is through your son

that the wrath is averted.

That what was meant for us,

Jesus

took upon himself.

He didn't have to,

but he covenanted with you.

You and the son were in agreement.

You sent the son on a rescue mission

and the mission was us.

Redeem.

My people.

You said to your son.

Thank you for redeeming us,

for rescuing us from our sin.

Thank you that one day

we will be completely and fully

freed and sanctified in your presence.

But even now, Lord,

the bonds,

the chains are broken

and we can walk in freedom.

Freedom as a slave of Christ.

Let us walk in that freedom

in obedience to you

and all the things,

all the areas, Lord.

I pray you'd give us a humble heart.

I pray you'd give us a thankful heart

that we would take the things

that we've learned from Colossians

and they would be real in our life.

We would inculcate those truths

and not just have the knowledge,

not just have the emotions,

but we would truly live it out.

It would be real in all aspects and all ways.

I pray for anyone here

that might be struggling

with any of the things mentioned today,

the things that we're supposed to put off

or put to death.

They're struggling with it.

If it's been a struggle,

if it's been a snare,

if it's been a thorn,

I ask that you'd free them, Father.

Free them.

Break the chains.

Take out the thorn.

Free them.

Let sin no longer have dominion over them.

And Lord, may we continue to walk

according to your ways.

We can do this by the power of the Spirit

who lives inside us.

So I pray, Lord,

for each person here who knows you

to fill them now with your Spirit

to walk in your ways,

both in speech and in action.

May their walk inside the home

and outside the home be the same.

I pray, Lord,

for all the children represented here,

all the children represented

and the members of Liberty,

each one of them, Father,

be gracious to save them

to come to know you,

to walk with you.

And I pray for these newer families

that they would walk

according to your word.

You'd give them wisdom beyond their years

to shepherd their children.

And all the different things,

the tough decisions,

let them make the tough decisions.

Let them make the hard decisions

in the years to come

for your glory,

for your righteousness.

Give them wisdom beyond their years

to know when to say yes,

to know when to say no,

to know what to do

in those different circumstances

that will occur.

And Lord, be with us

that have paved that path, so to speak,

or walked that road for a bit,

that you'd continue to grow us

as parents as well.

Whether we have kids inside the home

or outside the home,

continue to grow us

to minister and love our kids.

And thank you that you are

our heavenly Father

and that we are your children.

We are blessed to be a part

of your family.

Everything else falls way short.

There is nothing that compares

to being one of your children.

Thank you for adopting us

into your kingdom.

We truly love you.

Amen.