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Christ Central Living Part 1: New Thinking

April 14, 2024 Christ the King Church Sermons

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Amen. If you would open up your Bibles to Colossians chapter 3, I'd like to excuse the

Colossians 3 chapter mention
children to go to their King's Kids class. In your pew Bible, it's page 1169. I'm going
to be preaching on four verses this morning, Colossians 3, 1 through 4. Hear God's Word.
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. May
God bless the reading, hearing, and now preaching of His Word. In the fall of 2013, Jenny and
I purchased the house we're living in, and we got it for a song because it was a fixer-upper.
And one of the first things that we did was we replaced the old fuse box with a new and
updated circuit breaker box. That box is what the electricity in the house comes into and
distributes it. And so this is like the electrical life of the house comes in and out of that box,
and we upgraded it. New ownership, new box, and some rewiring. With that new box, we had to do a bunch
of rewiring in that house. If you're a Christian, the moment you believed in Christ, you were
purchased by Christ, new ownership, and you were delivered from the domain of darkness and
transferred into His kingdom, the kingdom of the beloved Son, in whom you have redemption,
the forgiveness of sins. And as part of that redemption, He swapped out your box.
According to the Old Testament, the new covenant would be marked by people whose hearts of stone
would be replaced with a heart of flesh in order to live for God. And so when Christ purchased you
for Himself, He replaced your heart, that box in you, with a heart for God. And He regenerated you
by His Spirit. And with that new heart comes a new life. You're a new creation, Christian. The old is
gone. The new has come. You've got a new heart. And now God is rewiring our thinking. He's helping us to
think His thoughts. This new way of living is called sanctification. Sanctification is the process of
becoming more like Christ in your thinking, and in your character, and in your conduct. It's what the
Apostle Paul talks about in terms of walking in a manner worthy of the Lord, worthy of our calling.
And so as we are walking more and more worthy, we are being sanctified more and more like Christ.
becoming like Him. We're living more and more with Christ as the controlling center of our lives.
What's essential to Christ-centered living is Christ-central thinking.
What you think matters to God. And in Colossians 2, 8-23, a couple weeks ago, we were told how not to walk,
how not to think. We're not to be taken captive by the Christ-less philosophies and practices of this
world. But in Colossians 3, Paul turns the corner and he starts to instruct us how we are to walk,
how we are to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. And it begins with this Christ-central way of thinking.
It's a new thinking.
And what is absolutely essential to
living for Christ is adopting a Christ-central mindset.
And so this morning, I want to point to
three new ways of thinking from Colossians 3, 1-4.
A new way of thinking about your identity.
Who you are.
A new way of thinking about your aim.
Your purpose.
Your orientation.
From the things on earth to the things above.
And a new time frame.
Christ-King Church, what time is it?
It's Christ time.
These three elements of a Christian mindset are essential to Christian living.
So let's dig in.
Verse 1, we're told,
if then you've been raised with Christ.
God is actively rewiring the way we think about ourselves.
Our identity.
God wants you to live out who you are in Christ
with a Christ-shaped identity.
It's a new way of thinking.
It's who you are now.
Identity.
What I mean by that is,
what is true about you?
What defines you?
The truth that defines you.
For many people, that is a political party.
Others, that's a last name.
That is one's maleness or femaleness.
Youngness, oldness, skinniness.
Heavy setness.
One's job.
It's not infrequent in conversations.
Hey, what do you do?
Because it defines you.
Are you a creative?
Or are you pragmatic?
These are the things that define us.
What's interesting in our day and age
is that Christians and non-Christians alike
are wrestling to find the answer
to a very basic question in life.
It's this question.
Who am I?
Christian,
who are you?
When you look in the mirror every morning,
who are you looking at?
God has a very definitive answer.
Who God says you are
is very different than
who the world says you are.
Even what you say you are.
If you look up at chapter 2, verse 20,
we read this.
If with Christ you die to the elemental spirits
of the world.
Now look at chapter 3, verse 1.
If then you have been raised with Christ,
seek the things that are above.
Both of those statements start with the word
if.
And they sound iffy.
But they're not iffy.
Those are statements that are called
conditions of fact.
It's as though the apostle Paul
is saying like this.
If with Christ you die to the elemental spirits
of the world,
and you have.
Or in 3.1,
if then you've been raised with Christ,
and you have.
So what you can do is you can replace
the if with a since.
Since with Christ you've died
to the elemental spirits of the world.
Since then you have been raised with Christ.
And what these statements are,
are statements of who you are in Christ.
Your identity.
What is getting,
what we're seeing here
is what people call our union with Christ.
Did you notice the with Christ language?
If with Christ you die to the elemental spirits.
Verse chapter 3.1,
if then you have been raised with Christ.
It's describing our union with Christ.
Your conversion to Christ, Christian,
is vodically linked to you being united to Christ.
Because you've been united to Christ in his death,
that means you've been forgiven of all of your sin.
Sin does no longer,
has no longer mastery over you.
The penalty's been paid.
Because you've been united with Christ in his death,
the world no longer has mastery over you.
Death has no longer mastery over you.
It's because you've been united with
the work of Christ on the cross.
your identity is tied
powerfully
to the cross work of Jesus.
But it doesn't end with being united to his death.
We've also been united with his resurrection.
If then you've been raised with Christ.
What that means is this.
Because you've been raised with Christ,
you no longer are ruled by sin,
but now you can live for God.
You can obey him with joy.
And now you live for the things of God.
Your union with Christ in his death
delivered you from something.
And your union with Christ in his resurrection
delivered you to something.
From sin in this world,
to God,
and living according to his kingdom.
This shows up in Romans chapter 6.

Romans 6 chapter mention
Your union with Christ results in you being dead to sin
and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
And here in Colossians,
your union with Christ,
with his death,
means you're no longer held captive
by the Christless philosophies
and practices of this world.
You've been freed from that.
You've been redeemed from that.
You've been delivered from that.
It's not who you are anymore.
And in Colossians,
your union with Christ in his resurrection
means you've been freed to now
seek the things above where Christ is,
to set your mind on the things above,
not in the things on the earth.
So having been purchased by Christ,
you now have a Christ-shaped identity,
gospel identity.
You've been united with Christ
and his death and his resurrection.
That's who you are.
You know what the application is
from this part of the sermon?
Believe.
Trust.
define yourself this way.
It's a Christ-shaped identity.
It's who you are now.
And this is a new way of thinking
for many of us.
We tend to let our circumstances
define who we are.
But God has changed that.
Believer, you need to be convinced of this.
You are united with Christ
in his death and resurrection
regardless of how you feel.
It's true.
It's true of you.
Your union with Christ,
it's not just a truth
that defines you.
It is the truth
that defines you
in every aspect
of your life.
So brother, sister in Christ,
when you look in the mirror,
who do you see?
You know, the real question is,
who does God see?
In the book of James,
the book of James talks about the Bible
as a mirror.
And when you look into the mirror
of God's Word, Christian,
do you know who's looking back at you?
A sinner that's been united to Christ
in his death and resurrection,
and you are now a saint.
Do you need to grow in this area?
Do you need to grow in
how you think about yourself?
The way you do that
is by getting God's Word
on your mind.
Just a simple verse
like Romans 6.11,
so consider yourself
dead to sin
and alive
to God in Christ Jesus
because you've been united to Him.
If you get that on your mind,
you know what happens?
You walk through your day
a little differently.
You walk through your day
tempted to things,
and you're like, no.
That's not who I am anymore.
That's not me.
I live for Christ now.
God is actively rewiring
how we think about ourselves,
our identities,
into this more and more
Christ-shaped identity.
It's who you are,
regardless of how you feel.
And this Christ-centered mindset
about you yourself
tied to Christ
is absolutely crucial
to Christ-centered living.
Now we move from identity
to aim.
in verses 1 and 2,
the Apostle Paul starts talking about,
he starts using above language.
He starts using
what you're aimed at language.
Your purpose.
If then you see,
if you have been raised with Christ,
united 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.
When we come across words like this,
like strong words,
seek,
set your minds,
this is God urging us
to think a certain way,
to have a certain mindset,
to have a certain posture.
If you've got a Christ-shaped identity,
you must have
a Christ above aim.
That word seek
is a wonderful word
and it shows up a lot
in your Bible.
It shows up a lot
actually in the Psalms.
Let me just orient you
to a couple Psalms
where there's this seek language.
Psalm 27, 4.
One thing have I asked of the Lord
that will I seek after
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and inquire in His temple.
Verse 8, Psalm 27.
You have said,
God has said,
seek my face.
David says,
my heart says to you, God,
your face, Lord, do I seek.
It's beautiful.
Les read something this morning
from Psalm 34 to open us up.
The young lions suffer want and hunger,
but those who seek the Lord
lack no good thing.
Psalm 63, verse 1.

Psalms 63:1
Many of you know this one.
Oh God, you are my God.
Earnestly I seek you.
My soul thirsts for you.
My flesh faints for you
as in a dry and weary land
where there is no water.
So I have looked upon you
in the sanctuary,
beholding your power
and your glory.
David in these Psalms
is talking about seeking the Lord
in the sanctuary,
the temple on earth.
Paul is urging us
to seek the Lord
in the heavenly sanctuary.
To seek the things that are above.
where Christ is.
Right now.
Seated at the right hand of God.
Now you,
if you've been around the block,
you hear that phrase,
seated at the right hand of God,
and you're like,
yeah, I know that verse.
It's more about,
more than just who Christ is,
it's where He's at
and what He's doing.
It's a reference to Psalm 110.
And if you want to turn in your Bibles
to Psalm 110,
Psalm 110.1
is one of those Old Testament verses
that is one of the most frequently quoted
Old Testament verses
in the New Testament.
And the reason why,
it's because Jesus Christ fulfills it.
But,
David,
saying to God,
says,
the Lord says to my Lord,
sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies
your footstool.
Fulfilled in Christ,
Jesus is known as David's greater son.
That the Lord God
has set all things
as a footstool
under the feet
of Jesus Christ,
David's Lord.
And so what we're being told to do here
is seek Christ above
on His throne
who's reigning over everything.
And what this is to do
is to reorient ourselves
off this present earth
and onto Christ's reign
in heaven.
His throne room
where He is carrying out
His new creation work
on this fallen old earth.
this is the one whom we seek
and where we seek Him.
We seek Him where He's at.
Above.
Sitting on His heavenly throne.
He's reigning over all.
It's contested
now,
but He's reigning over all.
It reorients us
to Christ's rule in heaven.
There's this phrase
in Daniel chapter 4 and 5.

Daniel 4 chapter mention
It's heaven rules.
Jesus is ruling
from heaven now.
It's one of these truths
that we need to get
our minds on.
Set your minds
on the things above.
Chapter 3, verse 2.
What the Apostle Paul is doing.
He says,
Seek the things above.
And then he says,
By setting your mind
on the things above.
On Christ.
We seek the things above
by setting our minds
on the things above.
We renew our minds
on the truth
of who Jesus is
and where He's at.
Heaven rules.
Jesus is reigning.
Imagine you are working
for a company
whose headquarters
are in Sydney, Australia.
And you are living
in Sydney, Australia.
Down under.
But that headquarters
moves to Chicago, Illinois.
But you're still in Sydney.
You know what's going
to need to happen.
Your thinking is going
to get reoriented.
You're going to go
from below thinking
to above thinking
in terms of
your headquarters.
Brothers and sisters,
our headquarters
is not on earth,
but in heaven.
Let me say that again.
Our headquarters
is not on earth.
It's in heaven
where Christ is.
And so we need to
learn to think
oriented to heaven
and where Jesus is.
Not on the things of earth.
We're to think
of where Christ is.
What He's doing.
His work of a new creation.
Making new creatures.
Paul says,
think on that.
Not on the things
that are on earth.
And before you start thinking
about particular material things,
remember the context.
In Colossians 2,
8-23,
the Apostle Paul
has been talking
about the things
of earth
as philosophies,
as lifestyles,
as practices.
Don't set your mind
on those things.
On all the isms.
Expressive individualism,
scientism,
materialism,
Christian nationalism.
Don't set your mind
on those.
Set your minds above
where Christ is.
Think those thoughts.
And with that reorientation
of where Christ is,
you align yourself
with not just
who Christ is
and where He's at,
but what He's doing.
You're positioned
to walk in a manner
worthy of the Lord
in the fallen earth.
this is essential.
This mindset,
this Christ above aim
and orientation,
it's essential
to a Christ-centered walk
on earth.
This is unseen, right?
Christ at the right hand of God,
ruling on high,
it's unseen.
Because we walk by faith,
not by sight.
We are inundated
with thousands of claims
every day
through a variety
of different screens
and voices
that are making the case daily
that this world
is all that there is.
we must be vigilant
in reminding ourselves,
renewing our minds,
setting our minds
on Christ above
to fight back,
to push back,
to remember,
no, no, no, no,
no, no, no.
This season we're in,
it's not just a presidential
election cycle.
No, no,
there's other things,
there's greater things
going on.
Christ's reign.
So let me urge you
to consider something.
If you tend to get focused
on this earth
and you're realizing,
man,
I can take some ground
and setting my mind
on things above,
you want to get Bible
on your mind.
You want to get Scripture
in your heart.
You want to allow Scripture
to aim your soul.
And one of the things
you can do is
write out of Colossians 3.1.
They're just seven words.
Write them somewhere.
Write them on their heart,
on your heart.
Seek the things above
where Christ is.
Seek the things above
where Christ is.
Could you imagine
popping out of bed?
Seek the things above
where Christ is.
What a great way
to start your day.
And then you walk
through the day
with those seven words
rolling around in your mind.
It will aim you
throughout the day.
Seek the things above
where Christ is.
God is rewiring
our priorities.
He's rewiring
the thinking
of what we're aimed at
day in and day out.
It's absolutely essential,
this way of thinking,
meaning this aim
as we walk
on this earth
day in and day out.
We live for unseen things now.
Things above,
not things below.
Things that are eternal.
Things that are lasting.
Not things that are
temporary and passing.
Nothing.
Who you are in Christ,
your identity,
is to aim you
at things above
as we live
in a certain time frame.
And this is where
we want to land
the sermon.
We're going to close it
with these points,
this last point.
In verses 3 and 4,
God is seeking
to rewire our minds
in a certain time.
Church,
what time is it?
Let me show you.
Right now,
you woke up today,
how did you frame
your life,
time frame wise?
Well,
I got to get to church,
you know,
we've got lunch afterwards.
You kind of frame
your life
in terms of the day.
Or maybe you frame
your life in terms
of your birth
and your death.
Maybe you frame
your life
in terms of your marriage,
in terms of a season
of parenting,
or maybe you're framing
your life in terms
of your work life
when you start work
and when you will
one day retire.
Maybe you are framing
your life in terms
of a presidential
election cycle.
Paul starts verse 3
with reason language.
For you have died.
So we set our minds
on the things above,
not on the earth
because we've died
with Christ.
We've been raised
with Christ.
And we're ushered
into a Christ-framed life.
We, brothers and sisters,
live in between
the already of Christ's
inaugurated reign
and the not yet
of the fulfillment
of that reign.
We live in between
the first coming
of Christ
where He died,
He was raised,
and 40 days later
He was ascended
to the right hand
of God
where He's been reigning
ever since,
up until this point,
until the second coming.
His appearing
when He returns.
And at that point,
He makes everything new.
He judges all
and recreates
the heaven and the earth.
So we live now
between the already
and the not yet.
The beginning of Christ's reign
and the fulfillment
of Christ's reign.
What time do we live on?
How do we synchronize
our watches together?
We synchronize them together
to Christ.
Christ time.
We live in between
Christ's present reign
and the fulfillment
of His reign.
Let me just show you
from the text.
In 3.3,
we're said,
for you have died
and your life
is hidden
with Christ in God.
Do you remember
where Christ is right now?
He's above in heaven.
So when we're talking
about our hiddenness,
our out-of-sightness
with Christ in God,
it's located.
Just like in Ephesians 2.6,
the Apostle Paul
talks about that
Christians are seated
in the heavenly places.
Now,
we have a spiritual place
with Christ
in the heavenly realm.
And why that's important
is what comes with that.
Sometimes Christians think
that because
Jesus is in heaven,
He leaves us exposed
on earth.
Exposed to demonic attacks.
Exposed to wrongs
that are outside of His reign.
No.
No.
Believe it,
you're hidden
with Christ in God.
Scholars think
this is a reference
to Psalm 27
and I tend to agree with them.
If you want to turn back
to,
if you want to look
at Psalm 27, 5, and 6,
hear what David says.
For He will hide me
in His shelter
in the day of trouble.
He will conceal me
under the cover
of His tent.
He will lift me
high upon a rock.
And now my head
shall be lifted up
above my enemies
all around me.
And I will offer
in His tent
sacrifices
with shouts of joy.
I will sing
and make melody
to the Lord.
Again, this is the temple
on earth.
We are hidden
with Christ
in the heavenly temple.
We've got a place
with Him.
It's a picture
of protection,
guardedness,
sheltering,
concealment
in the day of trouble.
Oh,
brother and sister,
you've been hidden
with Christ.
Christ in God.
You are not exposed.
You're not in danger.
You're protected in Him.
In fact,
you're defined by Him.
You're united to Him.
We are hidden
with Christ in God
as He reigns on high.
This is the already
of His present reign.
We are hidden
with Christ in God.
Nothing
and no one
can separate us
from the love of God
in Christ Jesus.
But there's also
the not yet.
We're hidden
with Christ in God,
but when He appears,
verse 4,
when Christ
who is your life
appears,
then you also
will appear
with Him in glory.
What we're talking about
is a heavenly mindset,
a heavenly framework
of Christ's present reign
and Christ's future
fulfilling reign.
One reign is hidden
and unseen,
but when He comes,
it appears
with fullness of glory.
glory.
Paul is pointing
to the promise
that Jesus has made
that He Himself
will come back
in glory.
That's Matthew 24,
36-51,
where Jesus talks
about His second coming
will be like a thief.
In fact,
it shows up so much
in the New Testament.
1 Thessalonians 4 and 5,
the Thessalonians
were to encourage
one another
with the promised return
of Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15,
there's going to be
a blast
of a trumpet
of an archangel
and Christ will return.
Don't lose heart.
Titus 2,
11-15,
we are all
waiting
for the glorious
appearing
of our God and Savior,
Jesus Christ.
And so we press on,
growing in self-control,
Revelation 19,
11-16,
Jesus is pictured
as a returning
victor
on a white war horse
with a number of titles.
When we read here,
when Christ,
who is your life,
appears,
then He will also appear
with Him in glory.
Jesus,
we're one day closer,
brothers and sisters,
to this
surprise return
of Jesus.
Glorious
and awesome
and for those
who don't believe,
terrifying.
He's no longer
hidden.
He appears
fully for all
to see.
And we,
who have been
united with Him
in His death
and resurrection,
we,
who have been
hidden with Him
in God
during His present reign,
we will appear
with Him
in glory
when He returns.
This promise
of glorious,
His glorious appearing,
it,
it puts hope
in our hearts.
It,
it gets a time frame
in place.
It's a,
it's a Christ
frame way
of thinking
and living.
We,
we live in between
the first coming
and the second coming.
We live in between
His hidden,
present reign
and His appearing
when He returns
and makes
all things
right.
And this kind of
Christ-framed
time frame
is absolutely
essential
to living
a Christ-central
life
on earth.
What time
is it,
church?
Who you are
in Christ
aims you
at where
Christ is
in between
the already
and not yet
of Christ's
appearing.
Who you are,
you,
Christian,
have a Christ-shaped
identity.
What's your aim?
Christ above
aim.
When you live,
you live
as I do
between Christ's
first coming
and His second.
Between the already
and the not yet
in these three
elements,
they shape
our minds
so that we can
live for Christ
on earth
by faith.
Now,
I just want to
point you to something.
because this
isn't just
kind of a little
deposit
and Paul
moves on.
He tells us
these things
here in 3,
1 through 4
because in 3,
5,
and through 11,
he gets into
this.
He says,
who you are,
it requires you,
who you are
in Christ
will now require
you to put
your sin
to death,
to put it
off
on earth.
Christ.
And then in
12 through 17,
who you are
in Christ,
your identity
with Him
requires you
to put on
Christ-like
character
and conduct.
And then he
takes that way
of thinking
of putting off
sin and putting
on Christ-likeness,
he brings it
into our
everyday lives.
In verses
18 and 19,
we live out
our identity
in Christ
in our marriages,
wives and husbands.
We live out
this identity
in Christ,
verses 20 and 21
of chapter 3,
in our families,
children and parents.
And then in
chapter 3,
verses 22 through 4,
1,
we live out
this identity
in Christ
with this
aim
and time frame
in our workplaces.
Whether we have
a subordinate
role or a
supervisory role,
we're living
for Christ.
And this kind
of thinking
is absolutely
crucial to that.
Your identity
in Christ
informs all
of who you are.
All of who
you are.
When you
became a Christian,
Christ
purchased you
with his blood
for himself.
Change of ownership.
And he swapped
out your box.
He took out
that heart of stone
and put in
a fleshly,
soft heart
to live
for him.
And he is
rewiring
our thinking.
How we think
about ourselves,
what our aim is,
even the time frame
that we're on.
Christ the King
Church,
what time are we on?
One more time.
Christ's time.
Do you know why?
Christ
is
our
life.
God in heaven,
we thank you so much
for your word.
Would you use
your word
to form
our thinking
so that
we can live
faithfully
with you
as the center
of all
that there is.
Bring us
into that reality
more and more.
It is reality.
Father,
would you pour out
your spirit?
Would you press
these truths
into our being
and that,
God,
you would set us free?
We pray this
in Jesus' name.
Amen.