"Renewed to the Image of God" Sermon: Colossians 3:1-11

“Renewed to the Image of God”
[Colossians 3:1-11]
April 10, 2011 Second Reformed Church

This week I received the renewal application for the registration for my car. Have you ever renewed anything? A book? A driver’s licence, your car’s registration, your membership in an organization?

Paul tells us that God is renewing us to the Image of God.

This morning we are concluding our look at the Image of God by looking at the third of three words that Paul uses to describe what God does to restore the Image of God in us. We will remember that when God created humans in the Image of God, God gave us dominion over the Creation – we are to steward and care for the Creation as God’s representatives. But, through our first parent’s sin, the Image of God became marred or broken. Yet, through salvation in Jesus, the process of restoring God’s Image in us begins.

False teachers had come into the church at Colossae, and they were teaching that holiness and perfection come from within ourselves. They were teaching that we just had to think positively and visualize success and we would have it. We just have to bring together all that positive energy that is within us and will it to break forth into reality. If we just have enough faith, we can carry out all of the commandments of God through our own power. They added to this their own favorite man-made rules about celebrations and food and so forth – things that God does not requires of us. (We can still hear the Colossian false teachers on the TV and radio.)

Paul explains that in Christ’s death, we also died. We died to our slavery to sin and Satan. We died to the keeping of the Ceremonial and Judicial Law of Israel. We no longer have to sin. We no longer have to follow after Satan. We no longer have to keep the rules and regulations about diet and holidays that God gave Israel. And we certainly don’t have to keep laws about days and food that are not in the Scripture.

Understand, if we think the kosher diet of Israel is a more healthful way to eat, we can eat that way, but we are not to impose it on anyone as something that must be done. Likewise, if we want to celebrate holidays, that’s fine, but celebrating them earn us nothing in the eyes of God. Our salvation is by grace and grace alone.

And so, just as Christ died, we died in Him. And just as Christ rose from the dead, we rise with Him to new life in Him. Jesus died in the flesh after living a perfect and holy life under God’s Law and because He is Innocent He was qualified to bring we who were enslaved to sin to death in Him. Jesus brought our spiritually dead selves who were slaves to sin and by His Righteousness, He killed our slavery, freeing us to serve God through our resurrection.

Did you know that you – everyone who believes in Jesus Alone for salvation – has risen from the dead?

Paul explains that just as we have died in Jesus, we have risen in Him and will rise because of Him. Jesus has raised us from spiritual death to spiritual life, so now, by the Power of God the Holy Spirit Who lives in us, we can live for Jesus and respond positively to God, because we are called to holiness.

We were born spiritually dead, and through Christ, we have been made spiritually alive. And just as Jesus physically rose from the dead, we will physically rise from the dead on the last day. In the meantime, we are called to proclaim the Gospel to the whole Creation and to abide by God’s Moral Law.

What the false teachers didn’t understand – or, at least weren’t teaching – is that, although we are under a call to moral holiness, becoming holy is a process that is not completed until Jesus receives us and glorifies us at His Return. It may be shocking to some of us, be we need to realize that none of us is holy – not yet – we are all continuing through the process of becoming holy, called sanctification. We will not be holy until we receive our physical resurrection. (That is not an excuse for us to sin, however. We are called to holiness and we are to do everything we can to make progress towards holiness, and God the Holy Spirit moves us along in that process.)

Just as Christ died and Christ rose again, we have also died and will die, and we have been raised from the dead, and we will rise from the dead. And, just as Jesus ascended back to the Father, we will ascend into the Kingdom, and we are to be about the process of ascending even now.

Since we have been spiritually raised from the dead, we can pursue that call to holiness, so Paul tells us, “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 the things that are on earth.”

Does that mean that we can forget about the Creation? Use it and abuse it and throw it away? No. Some of the false teachers in Colossae were teaching this – deny yourself all the things of the earth; live ascetic lives of complete denial. But that can’t be what Paul means: We have been talking about our call to care for the Creation as the meaning of our having dominion – the Image of God in us. And God gave us the Creation to know Him and to enjoy.

What Paul is telling us is that we are to use our minds – our intellect – to find Christ throughout the world. Everything has to do with Jesus. Everything was created by Jesus, for Jesus, through Jesus, so as we look to the vast Creation, as Christians, we ought to be able to find Christ.

For example, many of us enjoy listening to music. As we listen to music, do we ever go to “the things that are above”? Do we ever listen to music and enjoy it and sing along – and then, praise our Savior for giving us ears to hear and enjoy music, for giving the musicians and composers the skill to play and sing, for the wisdom and skill of the people who made the CD-player, the recording devices, the instruments being played, for the voices that God gave, etc.?

Does that mean we shouldn’t be thankful to the artist? Of course not. But, ultimately, the universe is not about Josh Groban or Bach – it’s about Jesus Christ, our Mighty Savior. He Who deserves all praise and adoration – He to Whom we ought give thanks and recognize as the giver of all good things.

Do you enjoy our coffee hour? As you enjoy the drinks and food, have you ever “sought the things above”? Have you ever been amazed as you eat and drink that God has given us tastebuds to enjoy our food and a digestive system to process it, that God has given us people who can put foods together in ways that are enjoyable to us, as well as the ability to afford our coffee hour supplies, and to be in a country where they are readily available?

It doesn’t take long to see that we can find Christ throughout the world and we have so many things to be thankful for and amazed by – by God’s Mercy, that we could spend the rest of our lives doing nothing other than seeing Christ in everything and giving Him thanks and praise.

Hear this word of comfort: “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” We have hope and comfort in knowing that Christ is our all in all. He is faithful to us, and in thanks, we are committed to Him. We have fellowship with Christ and security in Him. Paul wrote to the Romans, “For in [the] hope [of the redemption of our bodies] we are saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes in what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience” (Romans 8:24-25, ESV).

Just as Jesus is secure in God, we are hidden – we are securely protected and reserved for a glorious future in the Kingdom – with Christ in God. Lift your eyes to the things above where Christ is – we have been raised from spiritual death, God has given His Life and sworn our future life with Him by His Own Life. What greater security could we have?

This world is not perfect, and we are not sinless, but, “When Christ who is [our] life appears, then [we] will appear with Him in glory.” We will not become holy through obeying the Ceremonial and Judicial Law, nor through willing and positive thinking – we will be holy and glorified by God; we will be glorified and perfected in every way as Jesus when He returns.

That is our hope, based on the security and the Promise of Jesus.

Yet Jesus still calls us to holy living now. We are to do everything we can to “put to death therefore what is earthly in you” – those things in us and outside of us that tempt us and lead us into sin. We all have areas of weakness, areas that we more easily fall into temptation, areas in which, God help us, we enjoy following after sin. We are to put those things to death – to deny them and refuse them in the Name of Jesus and by the Power of the Holy Spirit.

Paul tells us to put to death “sexual immorality” – the church in the first century and today is prone to follow after sexual practices that God has forbidden – in the flesh and in our minds, “impurity, passion” – lust, “evil desire” – of many kinds, and “covetousness, which is idolatry” – because coveting is thinking that we deserve something more than someone else who does have something.

The Puritans called this “putting to death of what is earthly” – mortification. And it is not easy – especially about the things that we really enjoy sinning in. Lust, greed, idolatry – these are at their root are telling God that God doesn’t know what’s best for us. “God, Your Word says that we aren’t supposed to have sexual relations with certain persons, but we’re in love – or it feels good – or it makes me feel better about myself.” “God, You’ve given so and so a high-paying job that he really enjoys, but I deserve it so much more than he does. I work harder. I sin less.” “God, You’ve given me such heartache and suffering in my life – more than I can possible handle – and You don’t seem to be doing anything to lighten my burden.”

Maturity comes in realizing we’re not as strong as we think we are. We’re not as good as we think we are. And God is a greater Savior that we ever imagined He was. Maturity comes as our pride collapses and we cry out to God, “Take away the joy of sinning from me. Make me follow after You in the way I know I should. Give me the strength to turn away from the temptation to do...whatever it is.” “Wretched man that I am Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord ” (Romans 7:24-25a, ESV).

The Wrath of God is coming against the world because of the sin – the cosmic rebellion that we have all taken part in. But thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord, He has chosen to choose some of us – to save us – to make us new – to renew us and restore us.

Stop being unjustly angry, stop taking vengeance into your own hands, stop seeking to hurt others, stop gossiping and telling lies about each other, stop the obscenity coming from your mouths – and that doesn’t just mean “bad words” – that means anything that is offensive. When we say anything that is contrary to what God has said – when we say something that is not true about God and His Word – that is obscene.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord, we are able to put off these and all of our sins, because He is God Who works in us and through us and with us to put on our “new self” – our holy and glorified self that we will finally receive when Jesus returns – “which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”

God is renewing us – God is making us new – restoring us to the Image of God our first parents had in the Garden, and glorifying all we who believe so we can never sin again. This is not “Let go and let God” – this is not, sit back and see what God does – this is, let us do everything we can to pursue holiness and righteousness and godliness and sinlessness and God will work through us to accomplish all these things according to His Plan and Purpose and Promise.

The renewal of God’s Image that God is causing in His people has nothing to do with who we are or where we are from or our ethnicity or anything else. Paul writes, “Here [– in the renewing of the Image of God in God’s people] there is not Greek or Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.”

In other words, just as there is no difference among humans in the fact that we are all born sinners – cosmic rebels against God, so there is no difference in the fact that He is God Who restores the Image of God in His people. God renews His people, and there isn’t a black renewal and a white renewal and a male renewal and a female renewal. God restores us and glorifies us to perfectly and eternally be His people.

John Calvin says that our renewal includes our nature being restored, true integrity being restored, being able to follow in the obedience of righteousness, and the renewal of our reason and will – so we can rightly exercise dominion with our Brother and Head, Jesus.

Christ is the beginning and the end of all things. He created us and He has chosen a people for Himself to redeem and restore through His Life, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension. And so, He has raised us from the dead, and we are progressing towards full renewal – holiness in and through Jesus.

Paul goes on to explain that as God’s holy and beloved people, we are not merely to stop sinning, but we are to become like God – we are to exhibit God’s Image now – we are to strive towards the holiness we are moving towards – we are to work hard – Paul calls the Christian life a fight – a race.

We are to be compassionate towards others, because Jesus has shown compassion to us. We are to be humble towards others, because we understand the rebellion and sin we have taken part in against God – there is no job or call beneath us, and there is no person beneath our care. We are to be meek – not self-seeking, but always pointing others to Jesus and His Salvation. We are to be patient, because God is patient towards us, seeking our full salvation, even as we struggle and continue to fall into sin. We are to bear with each other – accept that we are all different people, and, if we sin against each other, we are to forgive each other, because Jesus has forgiven us more that we can imagine and more than anyone will ever sin against us.

Most importantly, we are to put on love – not just friendship, not just erotic love, but the self-sacrificing love that Jesus has – the love which “binds everything together in perfect harmony.” And as we pursue that love, the Peace of Christ will rule in our hearts, and we will indeed be one body.

And let us be thankful. Why are we reminded to be thankful so often in the Scripture? Because we are very good at complaining, but not so good at giving thanks. After college, I worked in a Christian bookstore, and at the end of the day, the owner thanked us each for our work. Initially, I thought that the strangest thing. I was working for her, doing my job, earning my paycheck, why should she feel the need to thank me? Because thanking people changes them and us for the better. Do you thank the clerk at the store or the supermarket? Do you thank your mail carrier? Do you thank your doctor? Do you thank others who do things for you? Do we thank God – every day – for the multitude of blessings we have received?

We are called to “let the word of Christ dwell in [us] richly” – let us read our Bibles, hear preaching, study God’s Word. Let us teach each other from the Scripture – those who have the gift of teaching ought to be teaching. Let us admonish each other in wisdom – let us help each other and correct each other and lead each other in paths of righteousness. Let us sing together in praise and thankfulness to God.

And in case something seems to have slipped by Paul’s description, he writes, “And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3 17, ESV).

Why do we do what we do? Paul tells us the first reason we should do anything is to make God’s Name – His Gospel – His Salvation – His Glory known. We might well ask ourselves, “Am I doing this to the Glory of God and in thanksgiving to Him?” Can we thank God and see Who He is as we pay our bills? As we mow the lawn? As we work at our jobs? As we are sick in bed? As we are at the funeral of a loved one? As our niece or grandchild throws up on us?

God is renewing the Image of God in us. God is transforming us to the Image of God. God is conforming us to the Image of God. And we can see the Image of God, because He came to earth in the Person of Jesus Christ. We were created to rule with God over the Creation and we shall rule with Jesus over the Creation – all those who believe in Jesus savingly will rule with Him in the Kingdom. And God will restore His Image in us, perfecting and glorifying us.

For now, let us work hard in thanksgiving to be all that God has called us to be. And let us trust that the Holy Spirit Who lives in us is working through us and using us and our efforts to bring that restoration to completion. Salvation is all of God, and then He calls us to take part in the restoration of the whole Creation.

Let us pray:
Almighty God, Lover of Your children. We thank You for creating us in Your Image and for choosing a people to be Yours through Your Son Jesus. We thank You that You are changing us and restoring us, not merely to what our first parents were in the Garden, but into the Very Likeness of Your Son and Image Jesus Christ. Help us to trust and to work hard in thanksgiving and to Your Glory. And may Jesus Christ be praised. Amen.