Christ in You, the Hope of Glory Colossians 1:27 I. Introduction: Intro to the Book of Colossians A. Discuss the background and setting of the book of Colossians. 1. Paul writes the brethren at Colossee while he is being held in prison in Rome. - Colossians 4:18, Remember my chains. 2. Paul likely has never met any of the brethren he is writing. - Colossians 2:1, have not seen my face in the flesh. 3. He and Timothy had heard of their faith. - Colossians 1:4, heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints. 4. Yet, we see the great love of Paul for these brethren. - Colossians 2:1-3, For I want you to know what a great conflict I have for you and those in Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 5. He is writing to encourage these brethren to keep going. B. Chapter 1. 1. Tells them of the prayers on their behalf. - Colossians 1:3, praying always for you. - Colossians 1:9, do not cease to pray for you. 2. Tells them of the shared inheritance they both will have. - Colossians 1:12, qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. 3. Reminds them of the power of Christ and the magnitude of what He had done for them. - Colossians 1:21, And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled. C. Read vs. 24-29. 1. Focus on Christ in You, the Hope of Glory. - Christ in You. - the Hope of Glory. 2. Because Christ lives in us, we have the hope of glory. D. What does it mean that Christ lives in us? 1. That s what we will discuss this morning. 2. In this letter to the Colossians, Paul describes the new man in which Christ resides. 3. We will focus on chapter 3 and a little of chapter 4 for our study.
II. Paul reminds the New Man that the Old Man is dead. A. Verses 1-2. 1. Don t concentrate on the things that are on this earth. - work, school, recreation. - bills. - providing for physical needs. - gaining material things. 2. Instead, set your mind on things above. - Our focus should be on spiritual things. - Our thoughts should be filled with spiritual thoughts. - The things we value most in life should be of a spiritual nature. 3. This is part of the change. - A change in priorities. - A change in our mind set. - Giving up dwelling and concentrating on physical things. B. Verses 3-5. 1. Paul makes the point that we die when we become a Christian. - and we have a new life: Christ. 2. Verse 5 tells us very specifically what that means. - It means that we must give up certain things. - We must give up our fleshly desires. - sexual immorality. - evil desire/thoughts. - covetousness. 3. They have been put to death. - The old man was about these things. - The new man has given them up. C. Verses 6-9 1. Refers to their former life. - their former life of following their flesh. 2. He describes to us more about the life that we have to give up. - anger. - evil speech. 3. Notice a couple of points Paul makes regarding the types of things we must give up. - Not just actions, but also our thoughts. - in fact, most of what he mentions focuses on the heart. - The emphasis in verses 8 & 9 is on how we treat other people. - especially our brethren ( one another ). 4. It is a complete change that a Christian must make. - a change illustrated as life and death. - when one dies, he loses it all. - when one lives, he begins again.
III. Paul tells the New Man he must take on new characteristics. A. Verse 10. a. It s not enough to put off the old man, but you must put on the New man. b. You must let Christ dwell in you, with His characteristics. i. Reference back to verse 4, Christ who is our life. c. It s like when they burn a field or a forest to reintroduce the native plants. - you burn off all of it (put it to death). - but then something new grows (comes to life). d. Christ replaces the old man of sin and sorrow. - the new man that has Christ living inside. B. Verses 12-13. 1. Tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering, bearing with one another, forgiving one another. 2. Feelings of forgiveness and mercy. 3. Paul appeals to the example of Christ. - Giving His life for those who were killing Him. - Meekness. - Offering forgiveness to us. 4. Characteristics directly opposite of those in vs. 8. - again notice the emphasis on the relationships with each other. C. Verse 14. 1. Above all these things put on love. - If there was only one word to describe Christ or God. - It would have to be love. 2. Thus, it is imperative that we learn how to love. 3. The bond of perfection. - explain the illustration of bond. - glue is a bond. - it holds things together. 4. If we don t have love, we have no hope, no matter what else we have or do. D. Verse 15 1. Paul continues to describe characteristics of the new man. - The Peace of God. 2. Knowing that you ve been reconciled to God produces peace. 3. Philippians 4:7, the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. - we don t have to worry about anything. - we can have peace of mind. 4. Christ provided that peace. 5. Peace must rule in our hearts. - To rule means to be in charge. - To give the orders.
- The peace of God must rule in our hearts. - It controls us. - It keeps our emotions in check. - It keeps us focused on the right things. E. Verse 16 1. Another characteristic of the new man. - The Word of Christ dwells in his heart. 2. The new man must take the word of Christ and let it dwell inside them. 3. Not just a reference to studying. - studying is simply the means by which you get the word of Christ. - it refers to taking it into our heart and letting it work. 4. If we feed on God s word, we will transform into a totally different person. - evidenced by what we do with it: teaching and admonishing. F. Verse 17 gives a summary of the description of the new man. 1. Everything he does is in the name of the Lord Jesus. 2. That is, it is done by His power and by His authority. - He has completely turned his life over to Jesus. 3. Everything he does is also accompanied by thanks and appreciation. G. Summary. 1. Characteristics of the new man. - Forgiveness and mercy. - Love. - Peace. - Word of Christ lives in us. - Acts under the authority of Christ. 2. This is what our life should be like. IV. Paul instructs the New Man on How to do these things. A. Verse 3,7 - DON T FORGET WHERE WE CAME FROM! 1. Our Old Man has died. 2. We used to do the things of the old man. B. Verse 4 - REALIZE THE HOPE WE HAVE IN CHRIST! 1. Christ is our life. 2. Christ is all and in all. (Vs. 11) 3. When Christ appears, we will also appear with Him in glory. C. Verse 6 - REMEMBER THE WRATH OF GOD! 1. Don t forget what will happen if we disobey.
2. Just as important as remembering the glory. D. Verse 10 - RENEW YOURSELVES IN KNOWLEDGE! 1. Constantly feed on the word of God. 2. Can t emphasize enough. E. Verse 12 - DON T FORGET WHO YOU ARE! 1. We are the elect of God, holy and beloved. 2. We were purchased with the blood of Christ. F. Verse 2 (ch. 4) - CONTINUE EARNESTLY IN PRAYER! 1. God will help us. V. Conclusion: Christ in You, the Hope of Glory. A. Return to the phrase in Colossians 1:27. B. God has revealed the mystery. C. We are the mystery.