Jesus is supreme over everything.
Jesus is sufficient for everything we need.
- The Church lives under Jesus as the supreme Lord
- The Church worships Jesus as the supreme Lord
The Christian life is sustained by prayer, and prayer fuels our worship.
We’re called to be a worshiping and witnessing Church.
Worship — reverential devotion
Colossians 3:1-4 (ESV)
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.
“There is no neutral ground in the universe: every square inch, every split second, is claimed by God and counterclaimed by Satan.”
[1] C.S. Lewis
Colossians 3:5-9 (ESV)
Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices
Sins of Desire — borne out of lust
Sins of Discord — borne out of anger
Jesus was raised, we were raised with him, so put on what lives.
Colossians 3:10-14 (ESV)
and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. 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 also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
Put on our new mind
Put on our new practices
Put on our new allegiancE
“…in Christ the old is passé. That old is ethnic disunity, ritual disunity, socioeconomic hierarchies, cultural disunities, and gender domination—all shaping one’s honor and sense of worth (in society and before God).”
[2] ~ Scot McKnight
Colossians 3:11 (KNT)
In this new humanity there is no question of “Greek and Jew,” or “circumcised and uncircumcised,” of “barbarian, Scythian,” or “slave and free.” The king is everything and in everything!
Colossians 3:1-4 (MSG)
So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective. Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.
[1] C.S. Lewis, “Christianity and Culture,” Christian Reflections, ed. W. Hooper (Bles, 1976), p. 33
[2] Scot McKnight, The Letter to the Colossians (The New International Commentary on the New Testament, pg. 314