Resurrection Life, Resurrection Hope

My name is Matthew Capone, and I'm the pastor here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church,

and it's my joy to bring God's word to you today.

A special welcome if you're new or visiting with us.

We're glad that you're here, and we're glad that you're here,

not because we're trying to fill seats,

but because we're following Jesus together as one community.

And as we follow Jesus together,

we become convinced that there's no one so good they don't need God's grace,

and no one so bad that they can't have it,

which is why we come back week after week to hear what God has to say to us in his word.

We are once again taking a break from our series in the Gospel of Mark for Easter,

and we're continuing from last week in the book of Colossians

as we're looking at the resurrection and Jesus as our king and what that means for us.

You'll remember from last week that the book of Colossians is actually a letter

written by the Apostle Paul to the city of Colossae, which is in modern-day Turkey.

And Paul writes it in the 60s AD from prison against false teachings that are going on in the church.

Now, if you were with us last week in Colossians chapter 2,

Colossians 2 · chapter mention

you'll remember that we talked about the difference between being spiritually dead versus spiritually alive.

And you remember we saw Jesus triumphing over the powers and the authorities,

that he brought an end to their rule, their dominion.

And so we talked about the spiritual resurrection,

and I told you this story about the seminary professor

who would take his students out to a graveyard, a cemetery,

and he would say, preach to these tombstones.

And he would tell them that's the same as preaching to someone who isn't saved.

They've not been brought to spiritual life.

They need God's power at work in their lives.

You'll remember spiritual death is when we can't respond to God.

We can't hear God.

We can't love God.

Spiritual life is when we're able to thank God for his gifts.

We're growing in joy and love.

We're able to repent of our sin.

And you'll remember we talked to this spiritual life.

It only comes through Christ's resurrection.

So I told you about the payload,

that it's a rocket that takes up the satellite.

It's the airplane that takes up the passengers.

It is Christ's resurrection, his rising, that raises us as well.

And so that's what we talked about last week from Colossians chapter 2.

Colossians 2 · chapter mention

This week we're continuing talking about the resurrection with some new questions.

Question 1, how do we live now in light of that fact?

How does that affect our day-to-day lives Monday through Sunday?

And what is it that we look forward to?

What is it that hasn't happened that will happen because of Jesus' resurrection?

And so we're going to look at two things.

This is already written in your worship guide on page 7,

which is resurrection life and resurrection hope.

It's with that that I invite you to turn with me now in God's word.

You can turn in your Bibles.

You can turn on your phone.

You can turn in your worship guide.

No matter where you turn, remember that this is God's word.

And God tells us that his word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path,

which means that he has not left us to stumble alone in the dark,

but instead he's given us his word to show us the way to go.

And so that's why we read now Colossians 3, starting at verse 1.

I invite you to pray with me as we come to this portion of God's word.

Our Father in heaven, we praise you and thank you that Jesus has risen from the dead,

that our life is hidden with him,

that you have transferred us from the domain of darkness to the kingdom of your beloved son.

We ask that you would speak once again by your word,

that you would show us your grace and your truth,

and most of all, you'd show us Jesus.

You'd cast a spotlight on him that we'd see how beautiful and glorious he is.

We ask these things in his mighty name.

Amen.

Last week, as I mentioned just a second ago,

we talked about this issue of being raised from spiritual death to spiritual life.

Paul here continues that to tell us that it is more than that.

It is not just that we've gone from death to life.

It's actually that we've been transferred from one kingdom,

one citizenship into another kingdom, another citizenship.

In fact, he says this in Colossians chapter 1, verse 13.

Colossians 1:13

He says that he's delivered us from the domain of darkness,

and he's transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son.

And in fact, that's what's happening here in verses 1 and 3.

Verse 1, if you have been raised with Christ,

he's saying you've been raised with Christ,

you've been brought into this new kingdom.

You have a new citizenship.

You belong to a new reality.

And then the opposite of that is also true.

Verse 3, for you have died.

It is not just that you've been raised to a new reality,

but that your old citizenship is completely gone.

You no longer belong to that world or that realm anymore.

In other words, you now, because of Christ's resurrection,

look to heaven, not to earth.

You look to heaven, not to earth.

And that's what he's saying in verse 2 when he says,

set your minds on things that are above,

not on things that are on earth.

Verse 3, he tells us, heaven is your place.

Your life is hidden with Christ in God.

And so, in short, he's saying you have new life in one sense.

And you've died in another sense.

You are alive to heaven right now,

and you are dead to earth.

You're alive to heaven.

You're dead to earth.

Now, that's actually, in some ways,

more confusing than it is helpful,

because when we hear the word earth today as Christians,

or worldliness, we might think,

oh, that means anything in the material creation

is somehow worthless,

and all I should be doing now

is just reading my Bible and praying.

But, in fact, we need to use Paul's own definition

of what it means to be earthly or worldly.

When he talks about having died

and not being with the things that are of the earth,

he's talking about the world as it's dominated by sin.

And we know that because he goes on

in the next verse, in verse five,

he says, put to death, therefore,

what is earthly in you,

and then he lists a bunch of sins,

sexual immorality, impurity, passion,

evil, desire, and covetousness.

So, when we talk about being worldly or earthly,

we're not talking about someone

who cares about things that happen in everyday life.

We're not saying you need to exit reality or society.

We're not saying it's wrong to think about

what you're gonna eat next, right,

or what you're gonna wear.

What we are saying is you have died to the world,

to the earth, in as much as it is the realm

of sin and evil and wickedness.

That's what it means that you are no longer on earth,

but in heaven.

I provided you on verse seven of your worship guide,

in fact, a definition of worldliness or earthliness.

It's a system of values in any given age

which has at its center our fallen human perspective,

which displaces God and his truth from the world,

makes sin look normal and righteousness seem strange.

That's what it means when we talk about something

that's worldly.

It's displaced God and his truth from the world.

And then Paul later goes on in Colossians

and gives us a definition of what it means

to be heavenly minded.

This same chapter, verses 12 through 17,

he says it's compassion, kindness, humility, meekness,

patience, love, thankfulness, love for God's word,

and singing, doing everything in Jesus' name,

giving all thanks to God.

I want you to think about it like this.

Some of you, it's true that you were not born

in the United States.

Your home country is somewhere else.

Others of us, that's not true,

but we can imagine what that's like.

That if you are from another place, what do you do?

You often focus on the traditions

and the values of that place.

Even as you're away, you're thinking

about your home country, right?

You're reading in the news what it is

that's going on in the country you came from.

When you have a chance, what kind of dishes

are you cooking?

You are cooking the food that you grew up with,

the recipes that are from your place.

You are doing whatever you can,

even though you're not there,

to bring that place into the present.

You continue to live as if that other country

is your home.

Why?

Because in a sense, you actually belong there, right?

That's actually your place.

That's where your citizenship is.

That is where you are most comfortable.

Paul is saying this when he says,

be heavenly minded.

Look towards heaven as the place

where you actually are from.

Your citizenship is actually in the kingdom of God.

Your culture is actually the culture

of the kingdom of God.

The recipes that you cook

are recipes from the kingdom of God.

This is where you truly belong.

Act like it.

This is where your citizenship is.

Act like it.

You have died, verse three,

in the sense that sin no longer has power.

It no longer has jurisdiction over you.

Sin is not your home.

You are sinful.

Your earthly passport was taken away.

You don't belong to that place anymore.

And you were given a different passport.

You were given a heavenly passport.

So yes, you may fall into the practices

and the patterns of this world,

but that's not where you belong.

You may fall into the country of sin

and its practices,

but that's not your home.

Remember where you actually belong.

You are living out the kingdom of God.

That's what he's saying in verses one and two.

If you have been raised with Christ,

seek the things that are above.

In other words, set your gaze,

your focus on God and his kingdom.

Verse two, set your minds

on things that are above.

That is the north star

that determines and guides everything else.

Why?

Because that's where you belong.

Why do you belong there?

Because Jesus rose from the dead.

Because of Christ's resurrection,

you have been raised with him.

You belong to a new place

and a new kingdom.

Seek those things.

Set your mind on those things.

Why do you seek first his kingdom

and his righteousness?

Because you belong to that kingdom.

Why did we pray earlier this morning,

your kingdom come,

your will be done?

Because that's where your true citizenship is.

If you're a non-Christian,

maybe you have questions or doubts

or objections to Christianity,

I hope that you feel this tension,

that you feel the tension

of belonging to the earth,

which is to say,

you know that we live in a world

filled with systems of evil.

And in fact,

if you're completely honest,

if you press into that,

you recognize that the problems in the world

are not simply problems that are out there.

They're also problems that are in here.

As I've told you before,

the quote from Alexander Solzhenitsyn

who says,

the line between good and evil

cuts through the center of every human heart.

And so maybe you've come to terms

or you're wrestling with this question of,

I know that I am part of the problem.

I know I must change.

And I cannot change myself.

What do you do with that?

Well, Paul tells us here,

and he told us in chapter two,

you need to be brought from spiritual death

to spiritual life.

You need to be brought from one kingdom

to another kingdom.

You need to be transferred

from the domain of darkness

to the kingdom of the beloved son.

Well, how does that happen?

You can't do it by yourself.

No one has ever resuscitated themselves.

No one has ever brought themselves

from death to life.

This is by the power of God.

And that is the only power

that's able to do it.

So I'm just gonna leave you

with that tension.

That's the tension

that I hope that you feel

if you're not following after Christ.

If you look with me on page eight

of your worship guide,

you'll see this

from a beginner's guide to America

set by Roya Hakakian,

who is an immigrant

to the United States.

She says,

people who are not homesick

set their clocks

to the standard time

of their own region.

But in exile,

when homesickness is at a peak

and every thought

chases the next

in a loop of regret,

the hours pass

according to the standard time

of the displaced.

Here the body may slouch

towards east, west, north, or south,

but the heart is ever fixed homeward

to the city you just left.

Christian,

your heart

should be always fixed homeward,

not to the city you've left,

but the city

to which you are going.

You do not set your clock

to the time of this world.

You set your clock

to the time of the kingdom of God

because Jesus has risen from the dead.

If you have been raised with Christ,

seek the things that are above

where Christ is.

That

is your true home.

Paul doesn't just give a command, though.

He doesn't just tell us

to

seek the things that are above

or set our minds

on things that are above.

He also provides us

with confidence

and hope.

They live this resurrection life.

They are embracing

the kingdom of God

because of their resurrection hope.

It is not just

that they are spiritually alive,

but they have

a glorious future as well.

That's what Paul tells them

when he says

that their life,

verse 3,

is hidden

with Christ

in God.

Now,

hidden could mean

all sorts of things,

right?

It has a wide range of meaning.

What it means here

is clarified

by the rest of the text.

It's hidden in verse 3,

but what happens

in verse 4?

When Christ,

who is your life,

appears,

then you also

will appear

with him

in glory.

So your life

is hidden

in Christ

in the sense

that it is concealed.

It cannot be seen.

In other words,

there are things

that are true

about you

as a Christian

that are not visible

to the naked eye.

There's a present reality,

verse 3,

you're hidden.

There's this future

transformation

that you're going

to appear.

There's a glory

that you have now

as a Christian

and an even greater glory

that you will have

in the future

and it cannot be seen

and it is invisible.

Now,

that may sound

a little bit strange

and pie in the sky,

so I want you

to think about it

this way.

There's a Puritan

named Richard Sibbes

who lived

the 1500s

and 1600s

and he was

an Anglican theologian

and he gives us

this example

of two plots

of ground.

One plot

of ground

is actually

a garden.

The other plot

is just a common field.

Okay,

so you've got

the garden,

you've got

the common field.

Can you tell

the difference

between the two

in the winter?

No.

In the winter

they look

exactly the same.

But what does

the garden have

that the common field

does not?

The garden

has the seeds.

There's something

hidden there,

right?

There's power

and potential.

There's life

that's lying

under the surface.

What is going

to happen eventually?

Well,

the winter's not

going to last forever,

right?

There's going

to come a time

we're kind of

feeling it right

now where things

begin to warm up.

The sun

is going to shine.

What's going

to happen

to that garden?

All sorts

of life

is going

to become visible,

right?

It's going

to spring up.

In the past

it looked like

those two plots

of ground

were the same.

Now we see

they were not.

When Christ,

the sun,

returns

in his second coming,

there will be

a glory

that is true

of you

that will be

visible

for all

to see.

When Christ

who is your

life appears,

then you also

will appear

with him

in glory.

There is something

hidden under the

ground,

Christian,

in your life

that is true

in part now

and will be true

in full one day,

which is that you

will be glorious

and glorified.

Your body

will be free

from all sickness

and sin

and disease

and brokenness.

That is the hope

that we have

because of Christ's

resurrection.

Paul tells us

in other places

that he's the first

fruits.

First fruits are

what appear

at the very beginning

of a harvest

and they show

what the rest

of the harvest

is going to look

like.

We know

what our future

will be

because Christ

as the first fruits

has already shown us.

We know

that we will rise

from the dead

with glorified bodies

because Jesus

already has.

We can be confident

of going from

spiritual death

to spiritual life

because we are

raised with him.

Christian,

when Christ

who is your life

appears,

then you also

will appear

with him

in glory.

So set

your mind

on the things

above.

That is where

your true glory

lies.

Remember

your true

country.

Remember

your hope.

Remember

the glory

that is

to come.

Remember

who you are.

Become

who you

already

are.

You are

already

a citizen.

You have

already

been raised

from death

to life.

Paul is saying

this has already

happened.

Act like it.

Live

into it.

Embrace

that.

Seek

the things

that are

above.

Set

your mind

on the

things

that are

above.

This,

by the way,

is the

beauty

of the

gospel.

The

beauty

is that

the

citizenship

comes

before

the

behavior.

The

raising

to

spiritual

life

happens

by

God's

power.

He

doesn't

say,

start

acting

like

you're

a

citizen

of

the

kingdom

of

God,

and

then

I'll

figure

out

later

whether

you're

good

enough

to

belong.

No,

he's

saying,

you

are

a

citizen.

Now

act

in

accordance

with

that

truth.

Line

yourself

up

with

that

reality.

Set

your

mind

on

things

that

are

above,

not

on

things

that

are

on

earth.

If you're

not a

Christian,

I want

to remind

you of

an

inconvenient

truth,

which is

that your

life here

is a

life of

rot

and

decay.

It's

not

anything

new

or

earth

shattering

for me

to say

that,

but it's

something we

spend a lot

of time

and energy

distracting

ourselves

from.

Money

and exercise

and fitness

and power

cannot

save you

from the

fact that

this world

lacks

glory.

Cannot

save you

from the

fact that

this world

is characterized

by decay.

by deterioration.

And no

matter what,

your

existence

here will

come to

an end.

Whether it

comes to

an end

in an

instant

or the

lights

slowly

dim.

And the

Bible tells

us it

actually only

gets worse

after death

if we're

not

hidden

in Christ.

If that

glory is

not planted,

is not

hidden

in the

soil of

the

garden.

That we

all

experience

some of

God's

goodness

here,

whether we

believe in

him or

not.

Matthew

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5

says,

he makes

the rain

to fall

on the

just

and the

unjust.

There

will come

a time

when we

are

separated

from

God

and

his

goodness.

There

is only

one

path

to

glory.

There

is only

one

way

to be

set

free

from

sin

and

sickness

and

disease

and

it

is

this

that

your

life

is

hidden

with

Christ.

He

is the

only

one

who

can

protect,

preserve,

who can

raise.

the

glory

that we

all

long

for

as

humans

and

the

injustice

that

we

grieve.

There

is only

one

way

out

and

it's

in the

resurrection

of our

Lord and

Savior

Jesus

Christ.

There's

a man

named

Mirhan

Karimi

Nasiri

who

spent

11

years

straight

in the

Charles

de Gaulle

airport

in

Paris.

He

was a

Iranian

exile

and he

was a

student

in

Paris

and in

1998

France

decided

they were

going to

kick him

out.

He

had

lost

his

Belgian

refugee

documents

and no

country

was willing

to take

him.

No

one would

give him

any

papers.

At

one

point

Belgium

said,

we'll

reissue

you

your

papers

but

you

have

to

come

here

in

person

to

get

them.

But

without

any

papers

he

couldn't

leave

the

airport.

So

for

11

years

this

man

was

trapped

literally

a

man

without

a

country.

In

September

of

1999

the

chief

medical

officer

at

the

airport

finally

was

able

to

procure

this

man

an

international

travel

card

and

a

French

residency

permit

and

so

he

had

everything

he

needed

to

finally

leave

the

airport.

Only

one

problem.

He

didn't

want

to.

The

chief

medical

officer

said

this

he

needs

to

be

looked

after

to

be

coaxed

back

into

the

outside

world

but

we

will

not

force

him

to

leave.

Brothers

and

sisters

if

you

are

hidden

in

Christ

your

citizenship

is

in

heaven.

It

is

time

to

leave

the

airport.

Because

Jesus

has

risen

from

the

dead

you

have

a

new

life

you

belong

to

him

and

so

do

this

verse

one

seek

the

things

that

are

above

verse

two

set

your

mind

on

things

that

are

above

because

verse

three

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.

Let's

pray.

Our

Father in

heaven

we thank

you for

our

great

hope.

The

hope of

the

future

that

when

you

appear

we

will

appear

with

you

and

the

hope

of

the

present

that

you

have

delivered

us

from

the

domain

of

darkness

to

the

kingdom

of

your

beloved

son.

We

ask

that

you

would

help

us

to

live

that

reality

out

more

and

more

day

after

day

week

after

week.

We

thank

you

that

we

don't

have

to

earn

this

citizenship

but

it's

given

to

us.

And

we

ask

all

of

these

things

in

the

mighty

name

of

Jesus

Christ.

Amen.