You pick up your Bible and wonder, is there more here than meets the eye?
Is there anything here for me? I mean, it's just words printed on paper, right? Well, it may look like just print on a page, but it's more than ink. Join us for the next half hour as we explore God's Word together, as we learn how to explore it on our own, as we ask God to meet us there in its pages. Welcome to More Than Ink. Hey, do we ever hide things that are good?
Sure we do. Like when we wrap a present for somebody we love, we want them to be delighted and surprised when they open it. Well, today in Colossians, Paul's going to tell us that our life is hidden in Christ, and we're going to open that present together today on More Than Ink.
Well, yes, this is More Than Ink. I'm Jim. And I'm Dorothy. And we're glad you're with us today.
I have a little bit of a head cold, so my voice sounds unusually low. It's not serious. It's not serious, but we can get by. So we're glad you're with us. We are studying through the book of Colossians, a little letter that Paul wrote to a little know-nothing church in the middle of Turkey, and a church that we don't think he ever visited. So based on that, these are some powerful words, kind of concentrated a lot of truth in a small spot. We've gone through the first two chapters, and what a contrast to today, because at the end of the last chapter he was talking about, you know, don't let those people point their finger at you and say, do not handle, do not taste, do not touch. They were talking all about behavior and conduct. And today we come back to behavior and conduct, but from a godly perspective. From the point at which it is now growing in us, Christ in us, the hope of glory, as he said at the beginning of the letter. This is probably one of my very favorite sections in Colossians. Actually, I probably have said that all the week.
Every week. So I'll let you do all the talking today. That's fine with me since my voice is kind of hoarse. So this is Dorothy's favorite passage.
It's one of my favorites too. And as we pick up going into chapter three, I just want to remind you that he had said, way back in the middle of chapter two, in verse 12, that we have been buried with Christ through baptism, in which you were also raised up with him through faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead. So now he's going to kind of pick up on that thought with chapter three. If then you've been raised up with Christ, right?
So he went a lot of places in between. But we're kind of coming back to that idea. What does it mean to live as a new life person? Yeah, and the new life is the key here, because if you died, you'd think life is over, but he's given you new life in him. So what is this new life like that you're living right now? So that's what he's going to focus on. So if you're joining us, we're in chapter three of Colossians, and we're going to start in verse one, and you'll see this raised with him idea brought back again in a very practical, day-to-day living way.
Here we go. Okay, chapter three, verse one. 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.
Yeah. So this is kind of his basis for our conduct from this point on. We have a new life, and that new life is with Christ. And by the way, Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Does that sound like a psalm to you? Yeah, Psalm 110. A very famous, what we call messianic psalm. It talks about God's favored one, his Messiah. And I believe that's the opening verse in Psalm 110. Yeah.
That Messiah's Sith writing of God. This whole idea of being seated is having sat down and taken his rightful place, right? The work has been accomplished, and he has taken his seat.
Right. And it's a powerful vision of authority as well. I mean, he's in charge from here on out. In fact, it says he's waiting for his enemies to be made a footstool for his feet. So in a sense, he's seated, and he's already conquered. And truly, on the cross, he has conquered all the spiritual powers and entities that are raging against us.
And we talked about that a couple times back. Well, and he's emphasized all the way through the letter that we are in Christ. We're in Christ. So we're seated at the right hand of God with him, right? So he gives us in these first couple of verses two parallel and very related commands. He says, seek the things that are above and set your minds on the things that are above.
Right. So if you're seeking something, what are you chasing after? What are you pursuing? What is your goal? That's a good self-evaluation question. What is it you're chasing after right now?
Right. And Jesus said back in the Sermon on the Mount, you know, keep seeking the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So what are you pursuing in life? Paul says, if you've been raised with Christ, pursue that. Pursue that. Pursue that. Because that's where your life is now.
You've been raised with him, and that's where he is. Well, and then he says, he goes on and kind of amplifies it. Set your minds on the things that are above. So that's, if you set your mind on something, you are intent on it. You're paying attention to it.
It involves not just your will, but also your affections. What occupies your mind? Yeah. Yeah. And then I like the word mindset, which, you know, your mindset is that… Where you set your mind. Well, it's that grid through which you press all of your thoughts about life in the world.
Right? Your mindset is the way you see things, your frame of reference. So Paul says, let your frame of reference be not on earth, but in heaven with Christ. Yeah.
And where he is. So he's just basically saying as his premise for what will come next about what you should and shouldn't do, what your behavior should be like. Right. Because your life is no longer in earth life. That's what he says the universe do.
Yeah. You know, don't set your mind on things on the earth. Set your mind on something much bigger. Because that's where your life is. Your life now is not here.
It's there. So that's pertinent to what he had said at the end of chapter 2. Exactly. Which is, you know, don't be concerned with keeping up holidays and eating foods and all of that.
Because those things are of no value in controlling the flesh. Yeah. Yeah. So he says that our relationship with the earth now in verse 3, we've died to these things. We've died to this earth. So, you know, your life is now hidden with Christ. That's where you should be setting your attention. But we seldom do.
I mean, we spend so much of our time talking and arguing about things that are temporary and now and of little importance, issues that will pass with time. See, that's why he's reminding us how important it is that we have died and been raised with Christ. And now our life is hidden with Christ in God. So Paul has told us about some other things that are hidden in Colossians. In chapter 1, he talked about the mystery of God, which is hidden in Christ. Right. And early in chapter 2, he talked about all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge being hidden in Christ. So now he says, now, and you, your life is hidden in Christ. Right. So I don't know if you've ever spent any time with that word, but here's a good... Hidden? Hidden.
Okay. Here's a good word study technique. You listeners, if you're not acquainted with Greek at all, you can look this up in, say, a Strong's Concordance. And it will give you a number. They've numbered every Greek word in the New Testament.
You can look that number up in the back of the book. And it will give you the Greek word and a basic definition. So when you track down this word hidden, it's the Greek word krypto, right?
Which sounds like some other words we use in English. It sounds like crypt. Krypto. And it sounds like cryptology or cryptography, which is putting things into code or deciphering code. So just hang with me here for a minute, because I was thinking on this idea of being hidden in Christ. And Paul's going to amplify this for us when he says our life is going to be fully revealed when Christ is fully revealed. But if he's been talking about dying with Christ, well, then krypto is an appropriate word to use, because we literally were put in a grave with Christ, right?
A crypt is where you put dead bodies. Then we started thinking about cryptography and about writing and deciphering of code. We have a daughter who's brilliant in this. And when I was first studying this passage, I was getting ready, actually, to teach it somewhere to retreat. And I called her from the airport. She said, honey, talk to me about cryptography and about maybe think of source code, right, because she works in this idea of code that is written at the unseen level in a computer. So here's what she said to me. And I want you to think about this in terms of our being hidden with Christ in God. The source code is the logic and reality of a program.
That's what she said. And here's the second quote. The source code contains the author's ideas and intent. If we have been encrypted into with Christ in God, God is rewriting our source code, right? His logic and ideas and intent are now reality in us. And what remains is for us to walk that out. Now, I found that really helpful because we live in a technological world.
And when we start talking about the source code for something, like, oh, that makes this much more meaningful. God is rewriting the very source of our life. He's overwriting the flesh code. Yeah. And his intention for us, even for us, is not clearly seen just yet.
No, not yet. Because if you take this whole hidden in Christ idea from that same perspective, I mean, if you roll back to the day that you gave your life to Jesus. And for me, that was at age 15, you know? And I think if I were to ask God, well, God, you know, 50 years from now, what will I look like after you've done five decades of changing me? And he could say, right at that moment, he could say, well, what you're going to be is hidden from your eyes right now.
Right. But I've got an intention, and I know what I'm going to be doing, and I'm going to be writing that in who you are in terms of your behavior and what you say. So in a real sense, who we are to become, who God is in the process of becoming for us, is a little hidden from us right now. But it's not totally hidden because we can look at Christ and we can see.
Because he's actually transforming us into the image of his Son. And it is a process. And it is a process. Right. Paul says in another place, 2 Corinthians 5.17, that when we come into Christ, the old has passed away and the new has come. And, you know, Jesus said, you must be born again.
Right. So that all is this idea of a new beginning. But I want to read here Ephesians 4, 22 to 24, which kind of gives us a pattern of what God is doing. Paul says in Ephesians 4, 22, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind.
So that's kind of an ongoing process. And put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness and truth. So that's the process that God is undertaking in us. Now he imputes to us the righteousness of Christ. Right, right.
But what it means to walk into living a righteous life in holiness and truth, that's a process that we uncover step by step. Right. And I might just add, we said this last time, that that's a process that doesn't find its completion in order to qualify as for heaven. Right.
We're qualified for heaven already based on what Jesus has done for us. Right. But this slower process of transforming us, what's hidden to us now but will be very clear at the end, is a process that God is using to glorify himself.
Yeah. And to give us an appreciation of the magnitude of his grace toward us while we're yet sinning. So there's a lot of reasons for that.
But don't let anyone tell you, oh well you better do these things or you're not going to make it into heaven. This has nothing to do with that. Those are two separate issues. So that's why even in verse four he says, you know, when Christ who is your life appears, well you also will appear with him glory. In a sense that the making of who you are as a new pot from the potter will be apparent when we come with him in Christ. And that appearance is wholly revealed, right? Right, right.
Uncovered when it's all seen and done. Yeah, yeah. And it reminded me of a verse in Romans eight where he says all the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.
To see it done and accomplished. Right, right. And he's talking about us there.
That's just an amazing thing. All creation is waiting for us to be finished products of the work of God in Christ. So God is in this process of reshaping us away from the old life and into the new life. And so Paul says, okay, what does that look like?
Well here we go, in practical measures, what does that look like? Verse five. Verse five. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you, sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness which is idolatry. On account of these things the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked when you were living in them, but now you must 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. Let's stop there for a second. So this is more than just Paul saying, okay, what you need to do is do good and do often. That's not what he's talking about here. He actually is giving us a role in this process of sanctification. He can be actively engaged as a partner with God in terms of declaring those things that used to have a hold on us dead.
And when you say something is dead, what you mean is that it has no effect on you anymore. So that's what he says, put to death therefore these things. And that means much more, it's a powerful statement, it's much more than saying, well, you need to just resist more. You need to resist sin more.
That's not what he's saying. He says you need to put it to death. You need to realize that these things have no longer any hold over you. Have no power over you. They are dead.
So you need to declare them dead because that's what they are. And in the beginning of his list in verse five, those first handful of things are all about sex, which is fascinating. Isn't that interesting? Yeah, really fascinating. It's all about our bodies and our passions.
Yes, yes. Sexual immorality, the impurity, the passion, the evil desire, I looked them all up, they're all about sex in various forms. And isn't that true that when a culture, when a people move away from God, this is where they go. They go into this crazy sexual immorality land.
Well, that's the first place that it shows up in us. There's much more. Well, it is, and I don't think we have time to really dig into why for that. But God has designed us as sexual beings for a purpose in order to enjoy self-giving, other-oriented love. Yeah, and when you say self-giving, that's a key issue right here because what's at the heart of our transformation and what he's doing slowly in this is turning us away from me creatures to others creatures, people who are oriented towards others. Rather than always serving my appetite and what I want, that gets turned around. And so in these things right here, you find things that are self-pleasing to you, but usually almost always at the expense of others. And that's what sin is in its nature. It's all about serving me. Which is why probably the covetousness shows up on this list, right? I desire what you have and I deserve to have it.
Right, right. And he says that is idolatry. Well, an idol is anything that you look at and say, if I have that, I'll have life. I'll be happy.
That will be my source of life. That's idolatry because God is your only source of life. Yeah, this is a philosophy and it's a sinful philosophy, but this is a philosophy that life consists in what you possess.
And I'll tell you, that's what we live today in the Western world. It's what we possess, we think, that makes us happy. And so you pursue it, you invest in it, you give it sacrifices. That's true, you make sacrifices to it.
You treat it like an idol because you're expecting to give to it and that it will in return give you life, but it won't. So, you know, he says, so you used to walk that way, right? In these you did once walk, but the wrath of God is coming against those things. Well, if you want to read a clear statement of that, read Romans 1. Yeah, I actually have it written down here.
Yeah. Because it says in Romans 1 18, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. Who suppress the truth.
Who suppress the truth, yeah. So, and it says, you know, at the end of that section, he tells us what the wrath of God is. And it's the fact that he gives them up to all these, he just gives them up to them. And he says that three times in that passage. He lets them have what they're after.
You want this? What have they set their minds and hearts on? Right. God will let them have it. And that is the outworking of the wrath of God.
Right. And I want to emphasize in verse 7, he says, these things you too once walked. Now it doesn't mean, God forbid, that from time to time we failed today in some of these things. I mean, what we would categorize as a fall or a trip, right?
And you get back up again. But he says you once walked, which means this was, this was your life. This was your day after day, step by step thing. This was all about what you were and what you were pursuing and you were bought into this 100%.
So, you know, it's the opposite of what he says in Colossians 2 where he says, you know, as you receive Jesus as Lord, so walk in him. Right. It's a, it's a stated, deliberate course of life. It's not just a fall from time to time. It's a pursuing. A setting your mind on. It's a setting your mind on.
Footfall by footfall. Yeah. So he says, what you need to do is you need to put these things away.
After all, they're dead. And we're talking about anger and wrath. You know, largely what we say. Okay.
This is all stuff that comes out your mouth. It is. This whole list.
Again, it proceeds out of the first list. Yeah. Yeah. Which is really interesting because it set me thinking that Jesus said, the clearest statement is in Mark 7, when he says that which proceeds out of a man is what defiles the man.
For from within the heart of men. Yes. Proceed evil thoughts, fornication, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting, wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things. Yeah.
Come from within and defile the man. So if you want to understand the nature of your heart, listen to your words. That's what he's saying because they'll follow. Because what is in your mouth, what is in your mind and your heart will eventually find its way out your mouth. Right, right. So put away this malice, this slander, you know, talking bad about people. Obscene talk from your mouth. Don't lie.
You know, all things about what we do. In fact, if you want a master class on the tongue, go to James chapter 3. Oh, yeah. James chapter 3, you know, the tongue, oh. The tongue is on fire. Who can tame it?
Who can tame it? Yeah. So it's really, it's a fascinating thing. And he says in the beginning of James 1, I had to look this up. If anyone thinks he's religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. So what he's saying is that if you have a belief system that's changed your heart and your mind, your tongue should be different now. Well, it should begin coming out your mouth, right?
And if it doesn't, then there is a disconnect somewhere. Right, right. And it's interesting to me that he calls out, do not lie to one another. Yeah, specifically. Right, do not, lying is the opposite of telling the truth, right?
And we are becoming transformed into people who live in truth because God is truth. Yeah, yeah. I challenged someone once to say, I said, here's my assertion. I think that every lie is always self-serving. It's always about you.
Well, I would agree with that. It makes you look better. I mean, you have a selfish reason for lying. It's often because you want to look better than you actually are. So when he says don't lie, it's not because you're going, oh, you're going to steer people astray.
It's actually because it's the tongue's way of being able to support your selfish nature. Which is idolatry. Which is idolatry, yeah. I'm more important than the truth. That's exactly right.
That's exactly right. So again, he gives this reason because that belongs to the old self and its practices and you have been separated from that, right, in the circumcision of Christ, which we talked about a couple of weeks ago. You're different people now. You've put off that old self and have put on the new self. So he's going to use that putting off and putting on expression into the next section, probably into next week.
But it has to do with the external visible expression of the new nature. Yeah, what you wear. Yeah. Well, we didn't read 10 to the end, so let's do 10 and 11.
We'll quit there. Okay. Well, we did read through 10, but he says, and you've 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.
You know, those things, he makes these several couplets here. Race and culture and social status, these are things that separate us. Yes. Right, that we measure ourselves against one another. They divide us. They divide us, yeah.
Yeah, and it's fascinating because today that's part and parcel of our modern culture. That's right, our tribalism. You separate into tribal groups.
You know, I'm this kind of person, I'm this kind of person, and those two never touch. They're different. And then you kind of jockey back and forth to figure out who has more relative power or authority or righteousness in a sense from the culture. That's all very divisive. Here, he's saying, you know, in Christ, we're one thing and it doesn't matter about all these racial distinctions, all the ethnic distinctions. Those are all barriers, but in Christ, those barriers are gone. Right.
There is no innate advantage of one group over the other. And this new self, this is an introduction to the next section we'll look at next time, but this new self is being renewed by our knowledge of after the image of its creator. Our knowledge of who God is, who Christ is. That's somehow renewing our understanding of this outward, visible clothing of our behavior and that knowledge. That knowledge is key to us in this transformation process. And this is not just an understanding of facts.
No, no, no. This is a knowledge which, when you understand it, it begins to transform you. Yes. And Paul had prayed that for them way back in verse 10 of chapter 1 when he said, I'm praying that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. The knowledge, yeah. The more deeply we know God, the more we are transformed by that understanding. Or another way I put it, when I see scenes of Jesus loving people in extraordinary ways, like when He heals the leper and actually decides to touch him, it tells me a lot about the heart of God Himself. So as we come into that knowledge, we fall in love with the character of God. And because we fall in love with His character, it's part of the process of changing us. Well, and that's where Paul's going in the next part of this passage.
And I won't skunk it, but we'll get into that next week. Well, yeah, because we're going to talk new self next week. Right. And as God's holy and beloved chosen ones.
Yeah, yeah. Right, because we belong to God and we're His. Well, so let me just make a closing observation here. You know, we talked about these racial or cultural divisions between us. The one about slave or free is a fascinating one because you have a great example in the New Testament of this little book called Philemon. And if you haven't read it, you need to read it.
It's very short. But Philemon is a slaveholder and his slave Onesimus leaves his... Had run away. Had run away, had found himself in Paul's presence. And in Paul's presence, he comes to Jesus, becomes a believer. And so Paul writes a letter to give Onesimus to take back to Philemon and say, look, you need to accept him as a brother now, not just a bondservant. He says in Philemon 1.16, he is no longer as a bondservant, but more than a bondservant.
He's a beloved brother. Right. Isn't that how being in Christ, even with a slave owner and a slave erases the divisions?
And that relationship did not change. Right. Right. Onesimus was going back into his position as a bond slave.
Yeah. But you can see, even though they have the distinct roles, you can see that both of these two men in Christ have now put away the division that came from that because Christ is all and in all. And it changes, it levels everything in our culture. And if I could ask God to do one great thing in our culture, it would be to level us all to realize that none of us have any kind of advantage or prestige over anyone else. Christ is all. Christ is all and he's in all. And that's what he does inside the body of Christ.
It doesn't matter whether you're an employer or an employee or whether you're from out of town or from in town. All those things are gone because Christ is all and in all. And in all, nothing on this list in terms of race or culture or social status affects the ability of Christ to indwell you. Exactly. Yeah. And that fact of Christ indwelling in you is what changes everything about your status in the universe. Right. So your life is hidden with Christ in God.
So whether you're an insider or an outsider, a slave or a slave holder, it doesn't matter. In Christ, all are together. Well, we are out of time. I'm Jim. And I'm Dorothy. And definitely come back next time. We're going to talk about the new self.
This is what God has planned for you. And we'll do that here together on More Than Ink. There are many more episodes of this broadcast to be found at our website, morethanink.org. And while you're there, take a moment to drop us a note. And remember, the Bible is God's love letter to you. Pick it up and read it for yourself, and you will discover that the words printed there are indeed more than ink. Okay. How did you just do that? This has been a production of Main Street Church of Brigham City.
