Goal #3: Become More Like Christ Every Day (Part 1)

And Brett.

Ronald Reagan was my favorite president.

Of his many strengths, he was the great communicator.

One of my favorite Reagan quotes is this.

The most terrifying words of the English language are,

I'm from the government and I'm here to help.

One of the most needed reminders in election years

was Reagan's quote of Thomas Jefferson.

Reagan said, Thomas Jefferson said,

a government big enough to give you everything you want

is strong enough to take everything you have.

And that's a socialistic government.

One of Reagan's, what I think one of his greatest quotes,

one of his most admirable quotes,

comes from his farewell address

at the end of his eight-year presidency.

He said, whatever else history may say about me

when I'm gone, I hope it will record

that I appealed to your best hopes,

not your worst fears,

to your confidence rather than your doubts.

We're going to look at a passage of Scripture this morning

where Paul appeals to our best hopes

and our confidence,

if we are Christians,

united to Jesus Christ by faith.

It's found in Colossians chapter 3.

Colossians 3 · chapter mention

If you've been here the last three weeks,

you know we've started this new year

with a study of Colossians 3, verses 1 through 17.

Colossians 3:1–17

I'm calling it God's goals for you,

not just this year,

but this hour, this day, this year,

and really every year.

I want us to look at it again.

God's ultimate goal,

summarized in one verse.

For those whom he foreknew,

he also predestined to be conformed

to the image of his Son.

And what that means is that God is working

in the life of every Christian

through everything that happens.

We did a study in my Sunday school class this morning

to point out God is working through your spouse,

or put it a different way.

God is using you in the life of your spouse

to help him or her grow

in the development of Christlike character.

God uses everything,

good and bad,

strengths and weaknesses,

all kinds of people.

But God's goal in your life and mine

as his children

is to shape and mold us

so that we'll be more and more like Jesus

in terms of our character.

Now Colossians 3 helps us see

some of the ways that God works to accomplish this.

We're looking at this passage

in terms of three goals that God has for us.

Number one,

be mindful of who you are in Christ.

We've got to know who we are

by virtue of our faith,

our union,

our oneness with Jesus,

what that means for us.

Goal two,

don't be who you are

apart from Christ.

Don't be who you are

according to the desires of your sinful nature.

We've looked at that for two weeks.

Let's start now looking at goal three.

Become more like Christ every day.

I want us to look this morning

just at verses 12 through 14

of Colossians 3.

Let's read it together.

Put on then,

as God's chosen ones,

holy and beloved,

compassionate hearts,

kindness,

humility,

meekness,

and patience,

bearing with one another,

and if one has a complaint against another,

forgiving each other,

as the Lord has forgiven you,

so you must also forgive.

And above all these,

put on love,

which binds everything together

in perfect harmony.

What we're going to start looking at today

is how this passage shows us

why we must cooperate with God

as He works to make us more like Jesus every day.

First, we are God's special people.

If we're Christians,

and that's a big if,

if we're Christians,

if we are trusting in Him,

united to Him,

one with Him,

by virtue of our union with Jesus,

we are God's special people.

Look at how Paul describes it in verse 12.

God's chosen ones,

holy and beloved.

This is the reason why I said this passage appeals to

our best hopes

and confidence

as Christians united to Christ.

Paul is telling us who we are in Christ

to motivate us

to put forth the effort

to cooperate with the Spirit of God

who indwells us

and actually develop Christian character.

Let's look at what he's talking about here.

We're God's special people.

Why?

Why would I say that?

Well, we're God's chosen people.

God's chosen ones in verse 12.

It's translated,

we have a lot of different translations

every time we gather.

Some of you have one that'll say,

the elect of God.

I want to take a quick look

at how Paul describes

God's gracious work of election

throughout his letters.

You know, Paul does this a lot.

Paul emphasizes how God works in us

unilaterally.

God chooses us.

He regenerates us.

He gives us the ability to believe.

Faith is a gift from God,

Ephesians 2, 8 and 9 tells us.

Well, let's think about how

God goes about this.

First, we were chosen

before we were ever born.

In Ephesians 1 and verse 4,

Paul writes,

he chose us in him

before the foundation of the world.

Before we could ever do anything

that might possibly make God

want to choose us,

he already had.

Before the foundation of the world,

before he created anything,

before we were ever even a possibility,

God chose us

in Christ

to be his children.

Charles Spurgeon described

what we all know is true.

He said,

God must have chosen me

before I came into the world.

He certainly would not

have done so afterward.

You know,

there's some of us

probably might reword that

and say

that

our spouse

chose me

before I actually lived

with him or her

because if they had to live

with me first,

they wouldn't have chosen me.

We were chosen

before we ever did

or thought anything

before the foundation

of the world.

Number two,

we were chosen

according to God's grace

and purpose,

not because of anything

we had

or would have done.

Why did God choose

who he chose?

Why did God choose you?

Why did he choose me?

Within him,

according to his

gracious

choice,

according to his

love,

according to his

purpose or his plan.

Look at how Paul

says this to Timothy

in 2 Timothy 1,

who saved us

and called us

to a holy

calling,

not because of

our works,

but because of

his own

purpose

and grace,

which he gave us

in Christ Jesus

before the

ages

began.

It's

just

within God

to do this

according to his

grace and his

purpose.

Now,

third thing I want

us to see,

we were chosen

and called

by God

to respond

to the gospel.

Some people

have a problem

with the

doctrine of election,

but I heard a great

theologian say

one time,

that

if you're a

Christian,

you believe the

Bible is the

word of God,

you have to

believe in election.

Rudy Gray

said that.

I'm serious.

And it's

true.

You can't

say,

I don't

believe anything

that the

Bible teaches

without saying,

I reject what

the Bible is

teaching.

Now,

you may have a

different kind

of way of

looking at it,

understanding it,

interpreting it,

but you've got to

believe it.

But some

people can go

to seed,

go too far

in dwelling on

God's sovereignty

to the neglect

of what the

Bible says

in many other

places about

we are responsible

to repent of

our sin and

put our faith

in Jesus

and call upon

Him to save

us.

God's choosing

and our

believing,

they're not

opposed to

one another.

There's a lot

of mystery in

it, but they

go hand in

hand.

There's no

stronger statement

in the Bible

than Romans

Romans 9 · chapter mention

chapter 9 on

the sovereignty

of God,

predestination,

election,

and then the

next chapter,

Romans 10.

There's no

stronger statement

in the Bible

that whoever

will call upon

the name of

the Lord

will be saved.

And it goes

on to say,

we have a

responsibility to

take the gospel

to people

throughout the

world.

And if we

don't take

the gospel,

they won't

hear.

If they don't

hear, how

can they

believe?

How can

they be

saved if

they don't

hear?

So God

is sovereign

in salvation.

Election is

true.

We are

responsible

to believe

the gospel,

to turn

from our

sin,

to trust

Jesus,

to call

upon him

to save

us.

They go

together.

And what I

want to see

here, we were

chosen and

called by God

to respond to

the gospel.

Look at how

Paul says

this in 1

Thessalonians

1.

For we

know,

brothers loved

by God,

that he has

chosen you.

How do you

know that?

Here's the

answer to it.

Because our

gospel came to

you not only

in word,

but also in

power and in

the Holy Spirit

with full

conviction,

they were

changed by

the word of

God.

That's how

they knew,

Paul knew,

that they'd

been chosen

because they

believed,

they trusted.

God did this

supernatural work

in them and

they were never

the same.

I want you to

think,

we are God's

chosen people

if we're

Christians.

You are one

of God's

special people.

You are right

now.

God gracious

chose you to

be his child

before the

foundation of

the world.

It had

nothing to do

with who you

are or what

you have or

ever would do.

It was all of

God's grace and

God's love.

But then God

worked in the

people that he

put in your

life.

He worked in

all the life

circumstances to

enable you to

hear the gospel

and then

respond to the

gospel by

being convicted

of your sin,

changing your

mind about how

you're living,

turning from your

sin and trusting

Jesus and calling

on him to save

you.

We're God's

chosen special

people.

But that's not

all it says.

We're also God's

holy people.

The basic

bare bone

definition of

holiness is to

be set apart.

When God chose

us, he also set

us apart as his

special people.

You are in the

sight of God right

now.

Not because of

who you are or

what you've done,

but in spite of

who you are or

what you've done.

If you're one

with Jesus and

God looks at

you, the penalty

for your sin all

sin, past,

present, and

future has been

paid, Jesus

paid the penalty

when he died on

the cross.

When God looks

at you, the

perfect, righteous

life of Jesus is

credited to you.

You're God's

special person,

chosen by him,

set apart by him

to be his.

But, as we're

going to see in a

little bit, today

and next week,

God didn't just

set us apart to

be his special

people.

He set us apart

to live like,

act like,

his special

people.

We'll see that in a

moment.

Then look at this.

We are God's

beloved or God's

dearly loved people.

If you're a

Christian, you're the

object of God's

special love.

Just about every

time Paul talks

about God's

choosing or

electing us, he

attributes it to

God's love or

God's grace.

John, the apostle,

says that it's

because of God's

love that we are

children of God.

Look at how he

said this in 1 John

3.

See what kind of

love the Father

has given to us,

that we should be

called children of

God, and so we

are.

It is special.

We need to

understand this.

The God who

created all that

is, almighty God,

chose us, set us

apart, loves us.

He's made us his

children.

But God wants us

to do, now we need

to think about that

and let it sink in

and think about the

privilege that we

have.

God wants us to do

more than just sit

around and think

about it.

Don't just sit

around and think

about how special

you are.

He wants us to

live like his

special people every

day by becoming

more and more like

Christ.

He wants us to

become more and

more holy and pure

and develop the

character qualities

we're going to look

at in the rest of

this passage.

The rest of this

passage shows us

what it looks like

to become more

like Jesus every

day.

Number two, we

can live like God's

special people.

We can, as

Christians indwell by

the Spirit of God,

we can live like

God's special people.

It's a growing

process, but we

can.

Paul describes what

it means to live

like God's special

people.

And the rest of

this chapter,

really, and in on

the chapter four,

we'll look at

verses 12 through

14 now under this

heading.

Here's the heading.

Let the love of

Christ fill you.

We can live like

God's special people

in the first way.

We need to let the

love of Christ fill

us.

Look at verse 14.

And above all these,

all the things he's

been talking about,

in verse 12,

compassionate hearts,

kindness, humility,

meekness, and patience,

bearing with one

another, forgiving one

another.

And above all this,

put on love, which

binds everything

together in perfect

harmony.

All of these

character qualities,

these virtues that I

just read, verses 12

and 13, they are

demonstrations of love.

You really will think,

say, that you love

your spouse, your

child, your friend.

You'll be compassionate.

You'll bear with them

in good times and bad.

You'll forgive.

Love is what holds

them all together.

Paul says that love

binds them together in

perfect harmony.

They all go together.

You can't pick and

choose.

It's like when Paul

talks along this same

line in his letter to

the Galatians, he

describes Christian

character in terms of

the fruit of the

Spirit.

Well, fruit of the

Spirit is singular.

But he says the fruit

of the Spirit is love,

joy, peace, patience,

kindness, goodness,

faithfulness, gentleness,

and self-control.

They all go together.

You can't pick and choose

which one you'll focus

on, try to develop to

the neglect of the

other.

Let me give you an

example.

If Lisa is sick or

when she's sick, I do

show her compassion.

And I brought that out

in the first service when

she was sitting right

there and I asked her,

am I not compassionate

when you are sick?

She said I was.

If she's sick enough to

be in the bed, I'll get

whatever she needs to

drink, medicine, put it

on the nightstand there.

If you need anything, let

me know I am

compassionate.

But after a day or two,

I'm not very patient.

And what started off being

very kind, when are you

going to do it yourself?

You know, you got to get

stronger, you know, suck it

up, it's time, you know.

You see, honestly, you're

everybody here is like me

in your own way.

Honestly, there are times

I can pat myself on the

back about one quality,

two, some situations,

but not really care that

I'm not all that kind in

another situation.

Or not really be concerned

and work on developing

more patience.

And what Paul wants us to

understand is that is not

acceptable.

You can't be a godly person

on one hand and a jerk on

the other.

We're supposed, as Christians,

indwelled by the Spirit of

God, develop, work on,

becoming like Jesus in all of

these qualities that he

perfectly embodies, that we

see him demonstrating in his

earthly life in the Gospels.

I want us to start looking at

what it looks like for the love

of Christ to fill us.

We're not going to finish it

today, but we're talking about

we can live like God's special

people.

The first thing, we need to

let the love of Christ fill us,

which means it will control us

and have an effect in a lot of

different ways.

Here's how it's going to have an

effect in the first way.

Love will unite us with all our

brothers and sisters in Christ.

Now look at verse 11.

If you've been very careful to

follow along in this whole section

of Colossians, you've thought to

yourself, he skipped verse 11.

We're coming to it now.

Verse 11.

Here there is not Greek and Jew,

circumcised and uncircumcised,

barbarian, Scythian, a lowly,

despised, godless people, slave

free, but Christ is all and in all.

The groups mentioned here, here's

the point.

They were different in race, in

class, social class, and in

culture, in nationality, in

religion.

We understand such differences,

don't we?

We live in a very diverse world,

country, community even.

All kinds of different people we

rub shoulders with, work with,

live near all the time.

There's much racial tension in

this country today.

We're aware of it.

I sometimes think, and others do,

who comment on this kind of stuff,

that there's even more tension

between social classes in this

country.

Now, during election years,

many politicians seem to try to

make these tensions worse by

focusing on every single thing that

divides us to the neglect of any

good thing that unites us.

But among God's people, we are called to

focus on, major on things that unite us

with the different kinds of races,

cultures, and social classes of people

that are around us.

We as Christians, we have two major points

of unity that we need to understand,

be aware of, and then live out.

Number one, we are really all members of

one race, the human race.

We are all people, red, yellow, black, and

white.

We are all created in the image of God.

And we are all descendants of the

original couple, Adam and Eve.

That makes us not so different in the

big scheme of things.

And then that's just general.

That's just living life in this world.

Everybody you see, we're a part of one

big race, the human race.

We are all, every one, created in the

image of God, which makes us of all

equal worth and value and so forth.

We all descend from the same original

couple, Adam and Eve.

There is a basic human unifying factor

that we ought to understand, embrace, and

make as much of as we can in the world

in general.

But in the church, among God's people,

as Christians, we're all members of one

family, God's family.

Through faith in Jesus Christ, we, with

every other Christian, we became brothers

and sisters, spiritually speaking.

God is our Father.

We are His children.

All Christians in this world.

Now, let's try to think about a unifying factor or force.

One of the most unifying forces in this world today

is sports.

I am amazed at the power of sports teams,

what it does to bring diverse people together.

I often read about college football, my favorite sport to watch and read about and know something

about.

I read a lot of things, articles and so forth that talks about the inner workings of teams,

not just Clemson.

We'll talk about Clemson.

What amazes me is all that different group of guys,

different races, different socioeconomic backgrounds,

different cultural stuff they bring.

But when they come to that team and they become one,

they become a Clemson Tiger,

everything that you read and observe,

they talk about being brothers.

These grown, athletic men talk about loving one another.

They talk about having one another's back.

If you look at that whole team,

they're just so different.

They look, think, different.

They come from different backgrounds.

But they are a great example,

models of unity in diversity.

diversity.

If that could happen in a sport,

on a team,

shouldn't we as Christians in the church,

shouldn't we be able to do better

with the Spirit of God indwelling all of us?

The church should be the greatest model

of unity and diversity in the world,

in the country.

But it is not.

And there's a lot of differences,

a lot of reasons why,

not all of them bad.

But we're not.

Let's just look at who we are right now.

If you look around this room,

just this particular room,

we're very different.

Education, wealth, job type,

personal interests, family backgrounds.

We're different.

But our common commitment to Christ,

our common faith in Him,

should bring us together as

brothers and sisters

who embrace one another as brothers and sisters.

Now, I don't want you to think

I'm talking about some kind of

pie in the sky type stuff.

Paul understood that this list of people,

they were very different.

And as in the church, as Christians,

they embraced one another.

They loved one another.

They were united.

He's talking about it in Christ.

But they were still different.

Even in your family.

If you've got more than one sibling,

you are probably closer to one

than the other.

You love them both.

If you've got a whole bunch of them,

you probably don't even like one of them.

I mean, you think about it.

When you get together at Christmas,

Thanksgiving, you've got a bunch of people there,

you know, aunts, uncles, all these cousins.

And you really do love one another.

You go to war with one another.

But there's some of them you really love.

And there's some of them you like.

And there's some of them,

I don't care if I ever see them.

In this church,

being who we're supposed to be,

there's going to be some people,

your brother and sister,

that you love,

you're super close to.

There's going to be some

that you like to see and speak to

and, you know,

talk a little bit to.

There's some,

if your path never crossed,

no big deal.

That's the reality of being different.

But as Christians in the church,

in the kingdom of God,

while we're not as close to everybody,

you can't be.

While we do recognize differences

and we do some things differently,

there should be this common bond

of love,

of common faith in Christ

that enables us to truly look at one another

and love,

care,

hope,

seek the best for.

Embrace one another.

Look out for one another.

Now,

is that true for you?

For some people,

it certainly is.

For some people,

your church family

is truly

your Christian,

spiritual family,

and you look around

and these are my brothers and sisters.

I know some of them better

than I know others,

but

I'm here

and I'm a part of it.

But everybody's not.

I want to ask you,

do you have the kind of love

that allows you to look beyond

the differences you see in this room

and truly embrace

everybody you see

as a brother or sister?

Or,

do you look around

and see all the differences

and you really only embrace

those who

think

and look

like you?

the love of Christ.

When He

fills us,

He will help us

to work on

truly

being

a family

with our

Christian

brothers and sisters.

But let's think about

outside the church

for a moment.

Do you really believe

that people

of different races,

classes,

and cultures

are created

in the image of God

just like you?

Do you ask God,

at least ask Him,

to help you to treat

all the different kinds

of people in your life

with worth,

with value,

with a certain amount

of dignity

because they are

a fellow human being,

your equal

human being?

Let's go one step further.

You look at these

different type of people

around you

in this community.

It's not only being

created in the image

of God,

but being loved

by God.

Do you ever even

think about

some of these people

as someone

for whom

Christ

died?

And

do you ever think

that some of the people

who are different,

who are odd,

who are difficult,

but they're in your life,

they're

in some of your worlds,

do you ever think

maybe God put them there

for you

to embrace

and share the gospel

with

and show them

love?

When the love of God

is active in our lives,

we will be able,

it may be hard,

but we'll be able

to find common ground

with people

who are different

from us,

especially

when they are our

brothers and sisters

in Christ.

We won't let

racial and cultural

and class

differences

be barriers

to our

developing relationships

with them.

Now next week

we're going to

look at how

Christian love

will enable us

to live like

God's people

with those

who are closer

to us,

how love

will enable us

to bear

with our brothers

and sisters

in Christ,

be compassionate,

show kindness,

these kind of things.

And we're going to

also look how

Christian love

will enable us

to forgive people,

not to hold grudges,

not to be bitter,

but to forgive people

just as

God has forgiven us.

But I want to conclude

this morning

by looking at the

first phrase

of verse 12.

He says,

put on.

Verse 12,

put on then

as God's chosen

and so forth

and so on.

Put on.

Some translations

say clothe yourselves.

What he wants to see

is this is a present

tense command.

It means to put on

and keep on

putting on

these character

qualities.

Our developing

humility

and kindness

is something

we're supposed

to work at

every day

in just an

ongoing effort.

spirit.

It's not,

it's a mindset.

It's a lifestyle.

And we can live

and love people

this way

because we are

God's chosen,

holy,

and beloved people.

God has put

his spirit

in us

to give us

the desire

and the ability

to live like

his people.

So here's how

I want to end it.

Do you see

signs

that God

is working

in you

this way?

Do you see

signs

that the love

of God

is at work

in you

toward people

as we're

talking about?

If we're

truly Christians

we should

see some

signs.

If you don't

see any,

if you basically

just do not

care about

anybody that's

different from

you,

you can't be

a Christian.

You can't have

the spirit

of God

in you,

the spirit

of love,

joy,

peace,

patience,

kindness,

you can't

have his

spirit

dwell in

you and

just not

care about

anybody who

looks,

thinks,

or acts

different

than you

do.

So if

that's the

case,

what you

need to

do this

morning

is admit

that and

if it

bothers you,

turn to

Christ in

real faith

and commitment.

But it

could be that

you are a

Christian.

It could be

that you know

very well

what I'm

talking about,

how the

spirit of

God gives

you the

desire and

the ability

to show

this kind

love but

you've just

not been

doing it

lately.

Maybe you

have quenched

the spirit

of God.

Maybe you've

developed a

hard heart

towards certain

kinds of

people or

certain

individuals.

If that's

the case,

I want to

encourage you

to do some

serious soul

searching.

That's not

who you are

in Christ.

That's not

how God

calls you

to be.

And it

may be

there needs

to be

some

confession

made,

changing

minds,

turning from

sin,

coming back

to the Lord

in a new

commitment,

asking him

to help

you to

love this

way.

And you

can do

it if

you're united

to Christ,

filled with

the spirit

of Christ.

That's just

who we are

as Christians.

let's pray

together.

Father,

show each

one of us

just where

we are

in our

relationship

with you

and help

us to

draw

closer.

Give us

the desire

to put

forth the

effort

to put

on

the love

of Christ

in these

specific

ways

that we've

seen

and do

it in our

relationships

with all

kinds of

people.

Let's just

now listen

to the Lord

and respond

to him.

I'd be

happy to

pray with

you here

at the

front

during this

time.

Just

the main

thing is to

obey the

Lord.

What a

man