Nothing Is The Way It Was Before

We have been working our way through a letter written about 2,000 years ago, by the Apostle Paul to a church. Today we are going to look at Chapter 3 of that letter, but only the first 17 verses. That is because v.18 says, “Wives submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord” and I am certainly not going there! I would get into big trouble!

Actually, of course, this is simply postponing the trouble until next week, when we will address it.

READ Colossians 3:1-17.

The Bible is a book of rules. Don’t do this. Don’t do that. Do this. Do the other thing. This chapter is a good example. Don’t be sexually immoral; don’t be greedy; Don’t be angry, or malicious, or lie. Be compassionate, kind, gentle, humble, patient. Lists of dos and don’ts. Christianity is all about how to be a good person.

Is that true? Partly, but not really. Here’s what makes the difference. Notice the first words in this chapter: Since, then, you have been raised with Christ. And look back at 2:20: Since you died with Christ… And look back at 2:12: having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him. There is a whole lot about dying and rising with Christ. In Chapter 3:3: For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ. You died but you are alive. What does this mean? And what difference does it make?

When we put our faith in Jesus and choose to follow Him, lots of things happen. Lots of them are mentioned in this letter. Paul talks about what Jesus has done for us.

• We are forgiven. If we are followers of Jesus, we have been forgiven. (1:14, 2:13, 3:13)

• We have been reconciled to God and have become His children. (1:22, 1:2)

• We are saved. We have been rescued from the kingdom of darkness and been brought into the kingdom of Jesus. (1:3)

• We receive eternal life (1:5-6, 12, 23; 3:1-4)

• We receive the Holy Spirit (various references).

There is a long list of other things that happen when we become Christians. Amongst them are these two: we died with Jesus and we were raised with Jesus.

I do not understand that but the Bible talks about us being incorporated into Jesus; His death also becomes our death and His resurrection becomes our resurrection. I do not understand how it happened but I believe it did happen. The old me died and a new me was raised to life. Paul simply stated it as a fact: Since you died with Christ… And, since you have been raised with Christ…

I don’t play computer games so I don’t know what I am talking about, but imagine your character in a game was suddenly transformed into an entirely new character with new super-powers. The old one has gone, you are now a new person.

Actually, Paul used another image to say the same thing. 2:11 says that having been buried with Him and raised with Him, we were circumcised in Him – the old self, ruled by the flesh, was put off.

So many things happen when we become Christians that the post-conversion reality is entirely different from the pre-conversion reality. The right-hand side of the cross is utterly different from the left-hand side. Nothing is the way it was before. You will notice, if you read this letter, that various times Paul says, “This is how it was, but now…” Now it is entirely different.

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above…” could mean, “In response to what Jesus has done for you, out of gratitude, your responsibility is to live a morally upright life”. That is true. Given that Jesus died and rose for us, what is our response? What is the right response to God, given His mercy towards us? But, if that was all it meant, it would mean that all of the responsibility still rested on us. In response to God, we have to reform our lives. And, most of us know that we are not capable of that. No matter how hard we try, we fail.

Fortunately, it means far more than that we have to pull our socks up. Having died and risen with Jesus, we are brand new people; we are new creations. And once we die, the power of sin over us is broken. Sin has no power over dead people. Now we have been raised to a new life in which we are not prisoners to sin. If you want to understand this better, read Romans 6. The Bible talks about our old nature and our new nature, and it says that our old nature has been put to death.

Romans 6:6-7

For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin – 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

This is why Easter is so important. Everything changes because of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Again, we might not understand quite how this works. It might sound mysterious, but, nevertheless, we can believe it is true. In Christ, I died and in Christ I have been raised to a new life.

Before, all of the responsibility to live a God-honouring life fell on me and it was impossible. I was a slave to sin. But now, nothing is the way it was before. The old me died; the new me is no longer a slave to sin. God has made it possible for me to live a God-honouring life. Yes, it is true, the old me failed God repeatedly but now I am a whole new person.

But there is still some responsibility on me. I am called to co-operate with God, to work with God. God has made it possible, now I need to do it.

We are called to have a different focus: set your hearts on things above, not on earthly things. Put to death whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry… Rid yourself of anger, rage, malice… since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

When we become Christians, nothing is the way it was before. The old you died; a brand new you was created. God has done everything to enable us to live this new life. The only thing remaining is that we choose to turn our backs on the old life and life this new life. God has done His part. We are called to believe it and live it. We still have a part to play. V.5 says, “Put to death whatever belongs to your earthly nature.” We couldn’t do that by ourselves. But now, because God has already put it to death, we are called to also put it to death – to take off the old self and put on the new self.

We can read through this chapter and see what things do not please God, and what things do please God. They are all important but there is one that Paul highlights.

Colossians 3:14

Over all these virtue put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Love for one another will mean that we are not greedy, or get angry, or are malicious. Love will mean that we are compassionate, kind, humble, gentle, patient. Love means we treat people well.

Specifically, for Christians together as a church, love means living in peace with one another and love means that we each serve one another – we minister to one another. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.

Our ability to live a God-pleasing life depends entirely on Jesus. It is possible only because Jesus has incorporated us into His death and resurrection. Paul wrote to the Colossians because they were in danger of adopting other ideas that do not centre on Jesus. Paul wanted to ensure they kept Jesus right at the centre. In this chapter, he said there is a right way to respond to Jesus. That right way is to choose to live God’s way. Again, putting Jesus in the centre, Paul says, “You can do that because when He died, you died, and when He rose, you rose. Your old sinful nature died; now you are a brand new person. Since you have been raised with Christ”, set your hearts on things above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.”

Because of Jesus, nothing is the way it was before.

I wondered if we might affirm our belief in what Christ has done for us and what it means to us. I don’t want anyone to feel pressured to say something that is not authentic. I will read it through. You consider whether you can say these words.

I was an enemy of God but now my past has been forgiven and I am a loved child of God.

How does a loved child of God live? How does a loved child of God love God?

I have been rescued from the dominion of darkness and brought into the Kingdom of Jesus (1:13).

My desire is to know my new king better, to discover His will and live a fruitful life, pleasing to Him.

Can I do that? Yes, I can because nothing is the way it was before.

I have been circumcised in Christ.  By the grace of God, and because of Jesus’ death on the Cross, my old flesh nature has been removed. It is gone and I am free.

Plus, I have died with Christ and been raised with Christ. I have died to the old life. I have been raised to a brand new life where sin no longer has power over me [and the Holy Spirit helps me].

I choose to believe that nothing is the way it was before and I choose to live that new life, my heart set on the things of God.

I choose to put to death my old nature and to put on my new self. I choose to be the new person God has made me, clothing myself with Christ-like attitudes and actions, in all things but including in my relationships with others.

These words assume that we are on the right-hand side of the cross. It might be that some of us are saying, “I’m not there. I cannot say those words.” That is OK. But maybe some of us are saying, “I would like to be there. I would like to be forgiven and reconciled to God. I would like to die to my old life and be raised to a new life.”

If that is true, I invite you to silently pray this prayer with me.

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