So Walk In Him

and before we turn to God's word,

I want to thank you all for praying.

For those of you who may not know,

last weekend I was in California

preaching at a youth retreat,

60 or 70 students,

and I got to tell you, gang,

it went beyond well.

It was just evident

that God was at work.

We had students who were hungry

for God's word,

students and adult volunteers,

and it was just such a joy

to be a part of,

and I attribute that

to both y'all praying

and the power of God's word.

The theme of the weekend

was all in for Jesus,

and so four sessions,

I got to do this.

I got to declare that Jesus Christ

is the controlling center

of all things.

And then I got to declare

how these students

can live in light of him

as their controlling center.

It was just a privilege.

And so I got to tell them,

this is who your Jesus is.

You got to think right about him,

and that's going to inform

right living for him.

to know the truth about Jesus

determines how we truly live for Jesus.

And that's where we find ourselves

in the book of Colossians.

Colossians 2, 6, and 7.

I'm just preaching on two verses

this morning.

But if there's a purpose statement

in the book of Colossians,

this is it.

So hear God's word.

Colossians 2, 6, and 7.

Therefore, page 1,169 of your pew Bibles.

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus,

the Lord, so walk in him,

rooted and built up in him

and established in the faith,

just as you were taught

abounding in thanksgiving.

I'll read that again.

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus,

the Lord, so walk in him,

rooted and built up in him

and established in the faith,

just as you were taught,

abounding in thanksgiving.

This is the purpose statement

of the book of Colossians.

And there's another way you can say it.

Who Christ is determines how you walk.

Who Christ is determines how you live your life.

Believing in the truth of who Christ is

informs the way you truly live for Christ.

Next week, we're going to see this in fuller detail

when I preach 2, 8 through 23.

But back in the day,

when the Apostle Paul wrote the Colossian church,

this is first century,

they were being influenced by false teachers.

And these teachers were trying to convince

these Colossian Christians

to not live according to Christ

as their controlling center,

but they were to live according to

the views of the false teachers

on circumcision

and what you could and couldn't drink

and which religious holidays

you should observe

and what you could touch

and what you couldn't.

There were just purity rules.

And so what these false teachers were saying

is that, hey, central to your living

is the obedience to these rules and regulations.

They seem to have been advocating

some kind of works righteousness,

works salvation.

If you're not familiar with that phrase,

this is what it means.

It's the common belief that,

hey, you do good and you earn salvation.

But that's not the Christian gospel.

The Christian gospel is this.

Christ's finished work on the cross

has earned our salvation.

And we receive it by faith as a gift.

These false teachers were saying,

obey and be saved.

And the Christian gospel says,

be saved and obey out of that.

So these false teachers,

you know what they were doing?

They were proclaiming a Christ-less way of living.

And so Paul says,

none of that.

Who Christ is determines how we live,

how we walk.

So I'm going to make two points this morning.

First point,

Christ is the spring in our step,

verse six.

And verse seven,

Christ is the sound of our step.

Who Christ is determines how we walk.

So let's look at this, verse six,

how Jesus Christ is the spring in our step.

Did anybody notice the first word of verse six?

Therefore.

And that should be like all capital letters

because it's a big therefore.

When I was a boy,

growing up,

I would watch Saturday morning cartoons

with my older brother, Scott.

And we watched this network TV show.

There's a lot of generations

who don't know what network TV,

that's okay.

But this,

on Saturday mornings,

they had these public service announcements

and one of them was called Schoolhouse Rock.

And Schoolhouse Rock had a particular song

when it came to conjunctions.

Conjunction, junction.

All right,

this is just going to show,

this is going to separate generations.

But you know what I'm talking about.

Conjunction, junction.

What's your function?

Right?

Hooking up words, phrases, and clauses.

This, therefore,

is hooking up something bigger than phrases,

words, or clauses.

It's hooking up an argument.

Paul has just made a case

in chapter one of who Christ is.

And so this, therefore,

is kind of summarizing that.

In light of who Christ is,

so walk in Him.

This is a very significant pivot

in the book of Colossians.

And now he's going to turn his attention

to how we live out our lives

in light of who Christ is.

And chapter two,

for the rest of it,

is don't live in the trash

of these false teachers.

And then chapter three,

onwards through four, six,

is this is how you live this out.

In terms of your pursuit of holiness

and life together in the church

and in your marriage

and your parenting

and your workplaces.

So what we have here

is a very significant therefore.

And Paul, in verse six,

he makes a cause and effect argument.

Because of this,

then do this.

Because of this Christ,

you live this Christ way.

So let me just help you see

the Christ cause of verse six

and the Christ effect of verse six.

We read,

therefore,

as you received Christ Jesus,

the Lord.

Now upon reading that,

you might think,

okay,

you know,

I'm a fan of the Reformation.

I'm,

I like solo fide.

I,

by faith alone.

Surely,

the apostle Paul is saying,

therefore,

as you received Christ Jesus,

the Lord,

by faith,

so walk in him by faith.

And that's true.

Do I have an amen?

But that's not what Paul

is arguing here.

If you wanted to make that case,

he would have just said it explicitly.

Paul is actually emphasizing

something else.

Not the how we receive,

but the who we receive.

Therefore,

as you received Christ Jesus,

the Lord.

Christ Jesus,

the Lord,

is apostolic shorthand

for Christ is awesome.

Christ is a title.

It means Messiah,

anointed one.

It would,

it would conjure up ideas

of kingship.

David's greater son

who would come

and establish

a forever reign

over a forever kingdom

that brings in people

from every tribe,

tongue,

and nation.

It's a name

that carries authority,

kingship,

role.

And then we have

the word Jesus.

It's a name,

the name of a man.

The humanity of Jesus.

The humanity of Christ.

And that word Lord,

it's actually a reference

to God.

The Lord of the Old Testament.

It's getting at the divinity

of Christ.

I mean,

this is apostolic shorthand

for glorious Christ.

And in this title,

we have what theologians call,

buckle up,

the hypostatic union.

And here's what that means.

Two natures in one person.

Jesus the Christ,

definitively and completely

100% human.

And Jesus the Christ,

definitively,

completely,

100% God.

in one person.

That's the hypostatic union.

And that is right here

in these three words.

Christ,

Jesus,

the Lord.

And he's got all authority

over all things

as the Christ.

Do you know what he's doing?

He's tipping his hat

to where he's already been.

Paul is saying,

just as you received

this one,

Christ,

Jesus,

the Lord.

You know,

I was already talking about him

in 1,

15 through 20.

In verse 13,

this one who,

if you've believed in him,

you've been delivered

from the domain of darkness

and transferred into

the kingdom

of the beloved Son.

He's a king

with a kingdom

in whom is redemption,

salvation,

the forgiveness of sins.

Verse 15,

he's the image

of the invisible God.

He is God.

Verse 19,

in him all the fullness

of God was pleased

to dwell.

He's fully God.

Verse 15,

he's the firstborn

of all creations.

He is the king

of creation.

He created everything.

Verse 17,

in him all things

hold together.

Not only is he the creator

of all,

he's the sustainer

of all.

Right now,

your next breath.

Verse 18,

he's the head

of the body,

the church.

18 again,

he's the firstborn

from the dead.

He is not just the king

of all of creation,

he's the king

of the new creation.

He's the firstborn

raised from the dead

and he is doing a work

of raising people

from the dead.

Amen.

And he does that

through reconciling

all things to himself

by the blood

of his cross.

That's the Christ,

Jesus,

Lord,

that you've received.

Not a little Jesus,

a glorious Christ

reigning over all things.

Jesus.

And he is the spring

in our step.

When Jesus is the controlling center

of your life,

he compels you.

He's the power of your life.

He's the one

for whom you live.

So here's the question.

He's the Christ cause.

The basic question is this.

Is it true?

Is he all that?

If he's not all that,

don't waste your time.

He's not worth it.

What you'll have to endure

as a Christian

is not worth it

if he's not all that.

But if Christ

is all that,

if he is

risen

and reigning,

if he is

the firstborn

of all creation

and the firstborn

from the dead,

if he's fully God,

fully man,

and one man

in all hypostatic glory,

if that is who

he says he is,

if that's true,

he's the spring

in our step.

We

organize our lives

around him

this is the Christ cause.

Now let's look

at the Christ effect.

So walk in him.

In light of who Christ is

in all of his

hypostatic glory,

walk in him.

It's a command

urging us

to press into a life

with Christ

as the controlling center.

Now if you're not familiar

with that language,

walk,

it's just a common

biblical way

to talk about

living your life.

Have you heard the expression

like life is a journey?

That's the way

we're talking about walk.

It's living out your life.

And so,

because of who Christ is,

the cause,

we live

a certain way.

Effect.

We've encountered

this walk,

talk before

in chapter 1,

verse 10.

Paul,

Paul, in verse 9,

is praying for this church.

Verse 10,

so as to walk

in a manner

worthy of the Lord,

fully pleasing to him.

Paul is praying

for the Colossian church

that they would be

so moved upon

by God

and his spirit

that they would

walk

all in

for Jesus.

A few sermons ago,

I asked this question,

what is God's will

for your life?

Five words.

To please Christ

in everything.

When you've been delivered

from the domain

of darkness

and transferred

into this kingdom

of this beloved son,

you've been saved

for another.

you've been rescued

from living a life

for yourself

and you've been

rescued

to a life

lived for Christ

and there's

no greater joy.

And that's what it means

to walk in him.

So walk in him.

Live your life

for him

in light of who he is,

in light of what he's done

for you,

in light of being brought

into his kingdom.

You're no longer

outside of his kingdom.

You're no longer

living in darkness.

You're no longer

following the course

of the world,

the prince of the power

of the air.

You've been brought

into his kingdom.

Now you are a son

or daughter

of the living God.

So now you live

for him.

You belong to him.

He belongs to you.

In fact,

if you are a Christian,

you bear his name.

Christ-chen.

You're his.

And we live for him.

Who he is

and what he's done,

what he's doing,

what he will do,

it determines,

it defines,

it delights

who we are

and how we live.

We take our cues

from him

because he's the controlling

center of all things

in our lives.

We live

accordingly

for him.

Christ's cause,

who Christ is,

Christ's effect,

we live

for him.

Now maybe

you're like,

well,

how do I get this Jesus

to be the spring

of my step?

If you're not a Christian,

it begins with

becoming a Christian.

And the way

that you become

a Christian

is simply acknowledging

the fact

to Jesus himself

who is risen

right now,

you say,

Lord Jesus,

I've been trying

to live my life

for myself

and it's grievous

in your sight

and I've been making

a mess of it.

I turn from that

and I turn to you

and Lord Jesus,

would you bring me

into your kingdom

as you promised?

And at that moment,

you've been delivered

from the domain

of darkness

and transferred

into the kingdom

of the beloved son.

You went from thinking

that all things

orbited you

to realizing

by God's grace,

all things orbit

the crucified

and risen Christ.

You put a stake

in the ground

and you say,

Lord Jesus,

I'm yours.

That's how it starts.

But maybe you're

a Christian in the room

and you're like,

well,

you know what?

at any given time

during the day,

I am not sure

if Jesus is the controlling

center of my life.

I'm not sure

if he's the spring

of my step.

How

can

Jesus become

the spring

of my step

being that

I belong to him?

Well,

it's not rocket science.

It means

treasuring him.

it means

it means

seeing him

for who he is

and allowing

his glorious

person

and his glorious

work

to affect

you.

So much so,

he takes first place.

That he's worthy.

So you might be asking,

how do I grow

in treasuring Jesus?

Here's what you do.

You ask

God the Father

to show you

the glory of Christ

and then you open up

your Bible.

And you're like,

show me your glory.

Help me to treasure you.

There's a couple

spots

that I would encourage you.

If you're looking for

a dose of Jesus' glory,

write these down.

Revelation

Revelation 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1,

12 through 18.

Revelation

Revelation 19 · chapter mention

chapter 19,

11 through 18.

These are

hot spots

with the big Jesus.

Or you can start

making your way

to the gospel of Mark.

And as you're

walking your way

through the gospel

of Mark,

you're saying,

Lord,

help me to see you

for who you are

and help me to

arrange my life

around you

in your glory.

He's the glorious

spring in our step,

brothers and sisters.

We're united

in our walk

around Him.

Is this true?

Hey,

here's one

testimony.

Wholehearted,

full-throated,

yes and amen,

it's true.

He's all that.

He's worth my life

and He's worth yours.

Jesus.

Which brings me

to the second point.

He is the sound

of our steps.

Pastor Mike,

where's the sound?

Where's the noise

in verse 7?

You know,

when people walk in here

and it's a really quiet

morning

and they walk down

to the front,

do you know

what you hear?

Squeak,

squeak,

squeak.

the floors creak.

You hear their steps.

Can't miss them.

There's a sound

our steps make.

In verse 7,

we move from

Paul,

in verse 6,

urging us to live

a certain way

to where he spells it out.

Here's the manner

in which you walk.

And there are

four words here

that kind of

unpack

the manner

of our walk.

They're very helpful

and I think

as we walk through them,

I think there's a chance

you're going to be surprised

and encouraged.

The first word

in verse 7

is rooted.

This word is the name

of our youth ministry

and it's the name

of our youth ministry

for a reason.

Rooted.

We walk rooted.

Now,

I'm going to get

technical on you.

This is a verb

but it's in a mood

that's called

the passive mood

which means this.

It's not us

rooting ourselves

in him.

It's God

having rooted us

in him.

We walk

in him

having been rooted

by God

in him.

We walk

rooted.

That rooted word

is a word

from

horticulture.

Psalm 1

the man

who delights

in the law

of God

he is like

a tree

planted

rooted

by streams

of water.

Jeremiah 17

7 and 8

the one

who trusts

in the Lord

he sends

out his roots

to the stream.

Another

horticultural

picture is

John 15

5

Jesus is the vine

we're the branches

we need to

be vitally

connected to him

to bear fruit.

Jesus

and what

we're learning

here is that

we walk

vitally

connected

to Jesus

because God

connected us

to Jesus.

You're walking

as the result

of God

rooting you

in Christ.

Our living

for Christ

is the result

of being

rooted

by God

in Christ.

does anybody

find that

encouraging

a little

bit?

He's got you.

He wants

you

to live

for Christ.

The second

word is

built up

in him

and Paul

shifts

metaphors

from horticulture

to architecture

but what's

interesting

is just like

rooted

this word

built up

it's

in the

passive

this is

a God

building

up

of those

who walk

in Christ.

This is not

a we doing

this is a

God doing

he's actively

presently

ongoingly

building

up

his church

so together

we follow

Christ.

Christ

in 1

Corinthians

3

this

build up

language

shows up

a lot

and

Paul

is using

it

in a

very

interesting

way

he's

making

a case

in 1

Corinthians

3

that

God

is

building

up

his

people

as

the

new

temple

of

God

God

dwells

in

his

people

his

new

temple

we don't

need

a

temple

in

Jerusalem

anymore

gang

because

we're

the

temple

the

church

and

God

is

actively

building

up

this

structure

of

living

stones

in

which

God

himself

dwells

if you

look at

chapter 1

verse 27

you'll

see something

to them

God chose

to make

known

how great

among

the

Gentiles

are the

riches

of the

glory

of this

mystery

which is

Christ

in

you

the

dwelling

place

of

God

we

are a

mystery

revealed

gang

Christ

dwelling

in

us

and you

know

what that

means

it

means

that

we

are

holy

to

the

Lord

a

holy

dwelling

place

we

live

lives

that

are

to

be

holy

that's

how

we

walk

this

out

as

God's

holy

dwelling

place

we are

a

holy

habitation

for

him

so

when we

gather

together

like

on a

Sunday

morning

here

we are

a

holy

gathering

a

holy

structure

in which

God

is

dwelling

so

it

shouldn't

be

unusual

if

someone

comes

in

here

they're

not

a

believer

maybe

they're

a

new

believer

and

they're

like

wait

something

is

different

about

this

group

of

people

I

hope

our

difference

is

that

they

detect

the

presence

of

God

in

our

midst

we're

being

built

up

which

means

our

gathering

on a

Sunday

morning

is

more

than

just

a

happy

time

to

see

one

another

God's

getting

something

done

established

in

the

faith

just

as

you

were

taught

it's

another

passive

this

is

God

establishing

us

in

the

faith

the

objective

realities

of

who

Christ

is

it's

established

in

the

faith

about

Christ

it's

God

doing

the

establishing

so

what

does

it

mean

to

be

established

if

you

look

in

verse

23

if

indeed

you

continue

in

the

faith

chapter

123

if

indeed

you

continue

in

the

faith

stable

and

steadfast

not

shifting

from

the

hope

of

the

gospel

that

you

heard

that's

what

it

means

to

be

established

to

be

unwavering

undistracted

enduring

focused

not

shifting

not

moving

to

the

left

or

to

the

right

but

staying

course

established

persevering

in

your

walk

in

the

faith

in

the

objective

realities

of

who

Christ

is

established

there is

a

beautiful

picture

of this

of what

it means

to be

established

in the

faith

and that's

in

Matthew

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

chapter

7

this is

at the

end of

the

sermon

on the

mount

and

Jesus

says

this

everyone

then

who

hears

these

words

of

mine

sermon

on

the

mount

and

does

them

will

be

like

a

wise

man

who

built

his

house

on

the

rock

established

and the

rain fell

and the

floods

came

and the

winds

blew

and

beat

on

that

house

but

it

did

not

fall

because

it

had

been

founded

on

the

rock

on

Christ

on

his

words

in

the

faith

if

you

flip

to

Colossians

Colossians 3 · chapter mention

chapter

3

16

let

the

word

of

Christ

dwell

in

you

richly

teaching

and

admonishing

one

another

in

all

wisdom

singing

psalms

and

hymns

and

spiritual

songs

with

thankfulness

in

your

hearts

to

God

that's

how

he's

establishing

us

when

we

gather

together

and

we're

hearing

God's

word

preached

we're

singing

these

wonderful

songs

there

is

this

word

of

Christ

these

doctrines

of

the

faith

that

are

establishing

us

it's

all

true

it's

all

true

despite

what

the

world

says

throughout

the

week

this

is

true

Christ

is

who

he

is

he's

getting

something

done

around

the

world

and

he

is

glorious

rooted

in

Christ

being

built

up

in

Christ

being

established

in

Christ

this

is

how

we

are

walking

for

him

in

him

where's

the

sounding

here's

the

sounding

abounding

in

thanksgiving

so far

those

three

descriptions

were

all

God's

doing

this

last

one

is

a

we

doing

our

response

to

what

God

has

done

and

is

doing

is

a

response

of

thanksgiving

to

him

thanksgiving

is a

significant

theme

woven

throughout

the book

of

Colossians

we've

already

encountered

in

verse

12

giving

thanks

to

the

father

chapter

1

verse

12

who

has

qualified

you

to

share

the

inheritance

of

the

saints

and

light

he's

delivered

us

from

the

domain

of

darkness

and

transferred

us

to

the

kingdom

of

the

beloved

son

we

thank

God

for

his

work

of

salvation

in

us

for

delivering

us

from

darkness

and

bringing

us

into

the

light

to

seven

right

here

abounding

in

thanksgiving

but

flip over

to

chapter

three

verse

14

and

above

all

these

put

on

love

which

binds

everything

together

in

perfect

harmony

and

when

you

think

of

harmony

you

might

think

of

like

singing

look at

verse

15

and

let

the

peace

of

Christ

rule

in

your

hearts

to

which

indeed

you

were

called

in

one

body

and

be

thankful

verse

16

let

the

word

of

Christ

dwell

in

you

richly

with

thankfulness

in

your

hearts

to

God

at

the

end

of

the

name

of

the

Lord

Jesus

giving

thanks

to

God

the

Father

through

Him

we

walk

thankfully

in

Christ

together

we

harmonize

our

thanksgiving

to

God

together

thanksgiving

is simply

this

it's

gratitude

given

voice

to

God

that's

what

it

is

you

find

yourself

thinking

about

who

Christ

is

and

what

he

does

what

he's

doing

and

you're

like

there's

no one

like

you

there's

thanksgiving

it's

gratitude

given

voice

and so

here's

what

Paul

is

showing

us

when

we

walk

we're

like

rooted

established

built

up

thankful

rooted

built

up

established

thankful

together

we're

rooted

we're

built

up

we're

established

we're

thankful

to God

together

one of the

things I love

about singing

and singing

loud

though I don't

sing well

is that

I get to

sing loud

of

gratitude

given

voice

with my

brothers and

sisters in

Christ

every Sunday

after Sunday

we get to

do that

together

we get to

sing

you are so

worthy

of our

walk

Lord Jesus

that's the

sound of our

step

thanksgiving

gratitude

praise

and honor

that's how

we walk

in light of

who he is

and what

he's done

that we've

been

rooted in

him

and built

up in

him

and

established

in

him

he is the

sound

of our

stepping

who Christ

is determines

how we walk

believing in

the truth

of who

Jesus

is

informs

how we

truly

step

for him

he's the

spring in

our step

he's the

sound of

our step

and did you

notice that

little phrase

just as you

were taught

established

in the

faith

just as you

were taught

this Christ

that is

Christ

central

of how

we live

our lives

he's the

gold

standard

of the

Christian

life

we

live

treasuring

him

we live

for him

he's the

gold

standard

just as you

were taught

this is

what's been

passed down

to us

through the

scriptures

and the

apostles

but what

we're going

to see

next week

is that

this gold

standard

not only

helps us

to see

what's

most valuable

it actually

helps us

to spot

to spot

and renounce

counterfeits

false claims

things that

are not

worthy of

our lives

and that's

what we're

going to

look at

next Sunday

but between

now

and next

Sunday

would you

call to

your mind

who

Christ

is

so that

you live

your life

for him

in him

to him

by him

who Christ

is

determines

how we

walk

all for

the glory

of Jesus

let's pray

together

father

father

god

would you

pour out

your spirit

upon us

that we

would

walk

empowered

by your

spirit

to take

step

after step

for the

lord

jesus

christ

would you

would you

do a work

in us

father

to make

us a

grateful

people

who give

voice to

that gratitude

in heartfelt

full-throated

thanksgiving

it's your name

we pray

amen