Ishmael LaBiosa: Well, you know, when we think about the letter to Colossians, we've been talking about putting all of Christ over all of our life. I can think a few texts in the Bible that teach us more about Christian transformation than the text before us today, which is Colossians chapter three, verses one through 17. If you ask the question, how can I be changed? How can I be different? How does Christ make a difference in my life? Not only today does Colossians 3, 1 through 17 give you the message, this is what Christ has done and this is what it means, it also today gives you the method of how to be changed. You know, the more I live life, the more I study the scriptures, I realize this simple fact that God is not an object to be studied but a person to be encountered. Christianity, while it rests upon the teachings of the Bible, ⁓ is deeply relational. God is a relational God who wants a relationship with us. And yet sometimes when we try to have a relationship with God and nurture a relationship with God, is sometimes previous relationships that we've had that can clutter up our relationship with God. We may have wrong images of what God is like or what God is doing because of maybe what has happened to us ⁓ in our past or the relationships that we have had. And this is the vision today of Colossians chapter three, verses one through 17, that the ultimate relationship you have had is ultimately the relationship that you have with God. That should form your identity over any other human relationship that has been in your life and that God has informed us that that which may have felt normal to us, that which might have felt familiar to us, some of those behaviors and some of those thoughts were actually the thoughts and behaviors that weren't reflecting God's glory back to him, but were things that well actually didn't reflect God's glory back to him. And today the text calls us if we can hear it. to engage in transformation so that God can do in our heart and life all that He wants to do. If you want one text in the New Testament, maybe this text in Ephesians 4 might be the other text, but those two texts, in my opinion, give us no greater window into Christian transformation than these two. And so it is my prayer today that you wouldn't just hear what is under what is taught today, but you would actually internalize it deep in your heart and life. If you have a Bible, Colossians chapter 3, verses 1 through 17, where we can see we can have all of Christ over all of life through the transformation that he could have in our heart and life. Here's the first big idea today. To put Christ over all of life, we must embrace our new identity in Christ. Colossians chapter 3 verses 1 through 4 are four dense verses, but I'll try to quickly unpack them to show you how they affect our identity. Verse 1 says, So if you have been raised with the Messiah, seek what is above where the Messiah is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on what is above, not on what is on the earth, for you have died and your life is hidden with the Messiah in God. When the Messiah who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. So here's a few ideas that you need to get in your mind. The person and work of Jesus, here's the first big idea, should inform your identity and your mindsets. Now it's not been too long ago we celebrated Easter Sunday. On Good Friday, prior to Easter Sunday, and then on Easter Sunday morning, we celebrated both the death and the resurrection of Jesus. And here is the reality, the death and resurrection of Jesus is a historical event. I'm afraid sometimes that for some people it never becomes anything more than that. Well, Christ died, Christ rose. But the Apostle Paul picks up the pen here in Colossians chapter 3 verses 1 through 4 and says Christ's death and resurrection should inform you. Here's the reality Christ did not die for himself nor did he raise for himself alone. For the Bible says that not only did Christ die but if you receive what Christ did on the cross which is he died for you then you have participated with him in his death. The reality is that not only, here's a very important point that should form your identity, not only has Christ died, but if you have trusted in what Christ did in His death for you, listen carefully, you died. Because the way in which you receive what Christ did on the cross for you, Christ died for you, listen carefully, to come to Christ, you must die in Him. And there have been a ton of evangelicals, it seems, who say, it great that Christ died for me? Yes, it is. But I don't think they sometimes finish the circle. Christ died for you, but you have died in Christ. Paul puts this very quickly in Galatians. He says, for I have been crucified with Christ. I no longer live, but Christ lives. within me. And so the Christian's identity should be Christ died for me, I died in him, and the life that I live is now the life Christ wants me to live. Not only did Christ die, Christ rose again. The resurrection of Jesus is a historical event, but for Paul it's more than a historical event. Not only did you die with Christ, listen carefully, you raised or raised with Christ, Colossians chapter 3 verse 1 says, for if you have been raised with the Messiah, set your minds on things above, not on things below. So the reason that you die to yourself is so that you can, as we say in baptism, you have been raised to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. We die in one sense. We have been raised in another sense, very important. And this death to self and being alive to Christ forms our identity. The Christian's identity has been formed by the person of Jesus. Now, that's not all this text says, however. A lot of people say, well, Rusty, if you've been died in Christ and raised in Christ, You're not that impressive. And I say, I know, you know, and you know what Paul says about that? For you have died and your life is hidden with the Messiah in God. Let me tell you something. I am not all that I will be. In the resurrection, I'll get a new body. I'll put sin down once and for all, and I will reflect God's character perfectly back to him in eternity. Yes and amen. But let me say this, I'm not all that I will be, but I am not all that I used to be. And that the Christian has the potential in this moment to die to sin and self, to be raised to walk in newness of life, which sets our focus on this phrase that has been profoundly misunderstood. Many people tell me, know, Rusty, you're so, they don't tell me this, I don't think, you're so heavenly minded, you know, earthly good. Most people have misread this text to come up with that idiomatic phrase. That phrase is exactly wrong because if you truly have set your mind on putting to death your own old self and live into the life that God wants you to live, setting your mind on that is not about escaping the world. but being with Jesus and saying, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth. It's about embodying a way of being in the world that brings life and health and hope to the world. And Paul says, all of this is bound up in your identity. This thing that Jesus did has been applied to you. You have been dead and raised in the present. You will be fully raised in the future. and in this moment get with the program of transformation. Now he's going to set out the path to transformation. Notice the second big idea. To put Christ over all of life, we should do away with practices of the old self entangled in sin. Colossians 3 verse 5 says, therefore put to death whatever is in you, whatever in you is worldly, sexual immorality. impurity, lust, evil desire and greed, which is idolatry because of these, God's wrath comes on the disobedient. And you once walked in these things when you were living in them, but now you must put away all the following, anger, wrath, malice, slander and filthy language from your mouth. Do not lie to one another since you have put off the old man with his practices and have put on the new man who is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of his creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free, but Christ is all in all. Now here's the reality of life. More in life is called than taught, especially when we think about these little children. Most of what I learned before the age of 10, I did not learn it by a teacher explaining it to me. You know how I learned it? Watching mom and dad. Watching friends and family. More is caught than taught. Here's the sad reality. If mom and dad are living in a way they should live, then what is caught is good. ⁓ But here's the reality. And moms, we love you. And dads, we love you. But we all are sinners. That's the reality. And none of us do this perfectly. None of us can model before a child, none of us can model before one another a perfect life. There was only one who was perfect and his name is Jesus. And he is the image of the invisible God. He's the firstborn over all creation. Here's the reality. When God found us, He found us in our sin. Now here's the problem with sin. Sin, Paul actually says here in the text, He will say, you once walked in these things and were living in them. If we just do what we normally do, listen carefully, we don't reflect God's glory back to him. We actually take that which God has given us and we use it in the wrong directions. And Paul points out some things that are not the renewed person under Christ. He points out this is the old person under sin. And he lists out some of the behaviors, sexual immorality, impurity, evil, desire, greed. He says, that's an old person under sin. Then he says, anger, wrath, malice, slander, and filthy language, lying. He says, this is the old person under sin. And so here's the reality, Christian, that those behaviors, because they don't align with our identity, you know what we should do with them? Put them to death. that we shouldn't give them an audience. We should recognize them for what they are. I've asked this question a lot, first and foremost to myself, why don't I change? And then I've subsequently asked the question more deeply, why don't the people who come to me seeking change, not change? Actually, I think I have a window here. Don't have the answer. Not the answer, I don't guess, but I've got an answer. I've noticed that the behaviors that we do and the thoughts that we think, they're very familiar to us. And so here's the way this goes. ⁓ You live ⁓ in relationships with other people and we all do this. There's no way to kind of get out of it. ⁓ You've got things you like to do. You've got things you like to say. And then you don't only do them, you've got people around you. And they either got to, if you're too difficult to deal with, they either got to leave or they got to do what? Tolerate you. That's the way life works. Okay? Pretty simple. Pretty standard. And, and oftentimes when people live out sinful behaviors, not only to themselves, but to other people, especially in families and communities, when somebody loses it, And they do anger, wrath, malice, slander. You know what the family usually says? Well, that's just the way. No, it isn't. Not for Christians. And so we just kind of coddle around. immorality, kind of coddle around greed, we just kind of coddle around anger and slander and wrath and malice. When the Bible says you got to put it down, you say, well, why is it so hard to put it down? I think about this one of, says, do not lie to one another. This is a totally fictitious story, but it's based on true life events. Okay. It's based on true life events. As a guy who came to me, this is a fictitious story based on true life events. A guy came to me and says, know, Rusty, I really want to change. I said, OK, great. Let's go for it. ⁓ I said, you know what the Bible says? First of all, your identity has got to be in Christ. Yep, I understand that. ⁓ You've died to sin himself. Yes. You've raised a walking nuness of life in Christ Jesus. Yes. You're going to set your mind on things above. Yes. You're going to put to death the deeds of the flesh. Yes. Let's pick one. He said, well, you want to pick one? said, sure. Let's pick lying. I said, why don't you this week be a truth teller? He's like, doesn't sound like a big one. Okay, I can probably handle this. so he goes home, talked to his wife, and his wife says, hey, I've got our credit card statement this month. ⁓ You've been telling me where you've been spending all this money. And he goes, ⁓ yeah. The pastors, new life in Christ there. I'm gonna tell you the truth. I've been spending a whole lot at the golf shop. And she's like, how long you been doing this? He's like, just a little while. You ain't been telling me? Well, no, not exactly. But I'm telling you now. His wife is some kind of ticked. He's like, oh, okay, well that didn't work out so well. Then he goes to work. As boss says, hey, you've been putting in a lot of overtime. You've been working here on Saturdays all this much? Well, you see, I got this spending habit. And I need a working habit to match my spending habit, but my working habit ain't matching my spending habits, so ain't been telling you the truth. Now the boss has ticked off. He's like, well man, this ain't working out real well. Then he meets with his friend. and says, man, I've been, I just come clean to my wife and then to come clean to my boss, there's some kind of mad, because I ain't telling the truth on everything. And then his friend says, well, what you not telling me the truth about? Well, he says, not too many things. And he starts laying it out. It's not that big of a deal. And then the friend's upset. So he comes back to my office and I said, how's been, how's your week of new life in Christ been? He says, I feel like I'm going to die. And ladies and gentlemen, that's the reason people don't change. because the Bible says you are going to have to die to live. Most people, as soon as they feel the slightest bit of pain... They say this must not be the right door. And actually rather, you know what was dying in that fictitious man? The barnacles of sin that had been built up around him were dropping off left and right. And yes, it was reforming his relationships. Yes, it was. It was causing consternation. Yes, it was. But one man was dying, the liar, so that the truth teller could emerge. And this fundamental method is quickly jettisoned. As soon as people feel like, I mean, I could not come up with any better language. Paul has takeoff put on language here in Colossians. In other places, he has dying and rising language. I could come up with no better metaphor than how it actually feels to take the things that have been so familiar to us and to lay them down than it actually feel like dying. Now here's the good news, and I promised you to stay on time today, and I am, but I want to say this. Sometimes pastors tell you half a story, because they just say, die to self, die to self, die to self. And I remember at one point in time in my own Christian life, I thought, well, if I die anymore, there's going be nothing left of me. I mean, my goodness, my arms and legs are going to fall off. been mortified until they won't go anymore. And it's only half the story. Listen carefully. You only die to old patterns. You only take off old patterns. So guess what? So you can live into the fullness of what Christ says for you. You take off so you can put on. And this is the beauty of it. And there's usually one block. the more I read the scriptures and the more I live life and observe myself and other people, I see the wisdom of God like shining through on the text. Not that the truth wasn't always there, but I can see it. I feel like more clearly. Because notice this third big idea to put Christ over all of life. We should put on the new behaviors that have been taught to us by Jesus. Notice verse 12. It says, therefore God's chosen ones, holy in love, put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. accepting one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a complaint against one another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so also you must forgive. Above all, put on love, the perfect bond of unity, and let the peace of the Messiah to which you were also called in one body control your hearts, be thankful. And let the message about the Messiah dwell richly among you, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom and singing. Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your heart to God. And whatever you do in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Let me say this carefully, that immorality, greed, and slander, and lying, they need to go. Paul points out what needs to be, what needs to replace them. Compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, love, and peace. But right after verse 12 says, put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, he has to talk about forgiveness. And I want to say a word about this before my time is up today. You know why most people can't have much compassion on anybody else? Why they can't be patient with anybody else? Because they say, I've been hurt and I'm not getting over it. And see, Christianity flips that script. I can almost see them coming. They're like... And I'm like, ⁓ boy, the hurt monster is going to be the hurt monster. You know what I'm saying? I mean, it's just all up inside of them. And listen, you got to do something with that. You can't be the new person in Christ when you're bitter to your chin. You just can't be. And so notice, it's like, do this, put on compassion and kindness and humility and gentleness. And then it has to talk about forgiveness. Look, our world, we love, I don't know if we love it, but it seems that we love it. We love to put ourselves in the spot of the victim. And by the way, some of you have actually been victims, okay? But we like to put ourselves in the spot of the victim and somebody's done me wrong. And see if somebody's done me wrong, then somebody owes me something. And so I can go around and be upset. And quite frankly, that is usually the setup to not live the new life in Christ. To have this full relationship with God, you gotta kinda deal with some of the past relationships that you've had. And see, Christianity flips his scripts, because you say, well, I'm the victimized, I'm the victim, and I've been victimized, and some of you have been victimized. This is a world of injustice. But when Christ speaks to us, let the words of Christ dwell in you richly, actually the story of the Bible is, quite frankly, you're not the victim in the Bible. You're actually the victimizer. And actually the person that you have offended is not neighbor, it's God. And so now the person on the hook is you. And then the question is, how does God treat people who mistreat Him? He sees them with eyes of compassion. Father forgive them for they know not what they're doing. and then he extends to them unconditional love and grace. And so if that paradigm that has been given to you by Jesus, you say, how can I deal with all these people who've mistreated me? Maybe you do for them what Christ did for you. I've heard people say, ⁓ forgiveness. You you forgive to get yourself off the hook and all this type of thing. No, no, that's not what the Bible says. The Bible actually says that we, that you must forgive because Christ has forgiven you. And there is such, listen, ladies and gentlemen. When you can see yourself in your sin as Christ saw you in his grace, you can then see other people in their sin with the same filter that Christ saw you in your sin. And the grace that has been extended to you is the same grace that can be extended to others. And then next thing you know, there's like a warm blanket coming around you of heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, because you know what God has done for you and you have been formed in that relationship with him. Now you can be, you can reform all the other relationships around you. And listen, ladies and gentlemen, the new person in Christ emerges. Let the words of Christ dwell in you richly. And here's the other thing I just wanna say. Here's the beauty of the church. It's really unfortunate in the English language that you singular and you plural is still you. But there's a lot of y'alls in this text. Okay? And maybe in the updated Southern translation they'll figure that out. It would actually help us because we often think of this as such an individualistic process and it is on some level. But notice you were, you have been formed from a family. And listen carefully ladies and gentlemen, if the church gets it even close to right, you get reformed in the family of God. And it says here, what is the church community to be? The church community is to be a place where imperfect people have surrendered their life to a perfect God who are being transformed individually, but then are helping one another. Let the words of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another with all wisdom. This is community activities. Singing, praising. with gratitudes in your hearts. Let me just end on this. You say, what's the takeaway of this? Show these families up here. Only the Lord will know the good that a church could do to alliance with these families to say, as you want to train your children in the teaching and instruction of Christ, we want to also lead our own lives in the teaching and instruction of Christ, and we're going to encourage each other as we move from one degree of glory to another. in this transformation process. When I got here 20 years ago, I thought to myself, I do not want to create a church service. I want to create a church community. The goodness that can happen in Sunday school classes, the goodness that can happen in groups, the goodness that can happen in parking lot conversations, the goodness that can happen in phone calls, the goodness that can happen in emails, the goodness that can happen out of corporate worship. the goodness that can happen with us having hallway conversations. This is the body life of the church and we are not here just running programs and doing things. What we are trying to do is to be a community where the words of Christ dwell in us richly and that we are formed and being reformed by the person of Jesus as he transforms us. That is the vision of the church and when that vision is even partially realized, it is so beautiful and so wonderful. and life and health emerge. And I'll hold that up for you on this Mother's Day Sunday. If you're here today and you're not a Christian. this new life available to you, you say, do I take the first step? You turn from sin and self and put your faith and trust in Jesus and him alone for your salvation. If you're here, the altar is open. I'll be here, Pastor Ishmael will be here. Here's the good news, church. Victorious Christian living is possible. You don't have to wallow in your sin. You can live in the fullness of Jesus. And if you get with a group of people who want to do that, you can be healed up and formed up in a way that we hope you're almost unrecognizable in a while because the person of Jesus and the power of the Spirit has built you up. If you want to use this altar, why don't you come today and say, God, make me the man or woman you want me to be to your glory. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we ask you. God, we pray that all of Christ would be over all of our life. God, we pray that we would engage in a transformation process and be made new. Even when dying to sin rips at our very identity, changes the most familiar of habits, reorders the priorities of our life to make us profoundly uncomfortable, God, may we die to that so that we can live to you. God, may we say with the apostle Paul, I'm crucified with Christ, I no longer live, but Christ lives within me. And God, the characteristics that belong to your heart, may they be written on our hearts. And God, may we be such a church that we encourage one another to love and good deeds, that we embody the character of Jesus, and that we shape and form one another in ways that honor you. God, we say a special blessing on these families and these children today. God, may this be a place of life and health and growth for them. God, may we do nothing to make one of these little ones stumble. In Jesus' amen.