Series: Colossians: Supreme!

Title: “How to Exchange the Gross Life for the Good Life”

Scripture: Colossians 3:5-14

(Commentary helps listed at the end)

Last week’s Bottom line: We keep good things from becoming God things when we set our hearts and minds on things above.

This week’s Bottom line: We exchange the gross life for the good life when we take off our nasty, selfish, fleshly, worldly ways and replace them with our gloriously good and Godly ways. Our motive is from a healthy understanding of who we are in Christ: “God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved.”

Opening story:

Our new grandson visits us about once a week for the day. I’m getting new material from him all the time.:-)

This week I was reminded of the grossness that is the bib.

Tension: “Too often, we’re more concerned with feeding our desires more than ministering to those in need. Instead, we must take off our spiritual bibs and put on spiritual aprons that reflect the compassionate heart of our Savior by loving others and willingly sacrificing on their behalf.” -Scott Pace

He’s a little over a year old now and learning to feed himself. But he needs a bib. The bib doesn’t do a lot but it does reduce the damage done by the amount of food and drink that misses his mouth and lands on his belly. What’s even more gross are those marsupial bibs that have the pouch in front to catch all the food trying to run for it’s life.

Paul uses a clothing metaphor to help us picture the contrast between the way of the world and way of Christ.

We’re created in God’s image but are still wearing the grossness that is our old, nasty, selfish passions, practices and pride. We need to be wearing spiritual bibs. Our actions can just be plain gross in God’s eyes (and each other’s).

We know that we should shed the bib and exchange it for the apron—a symbol of spiritual humility to willing and sacrificially serve God by serving others.

It’s not a coincidence that the pre-runners to the Deacon were men serving tables for the widows in their local church. (See Acts 6)

From gross spiritual bib of sexual immorality, greed, and rage, to the good spiritual apron of godly love: humble, sacrificial acts of service to God on behalf of others.

Outline: (based on Pace and Hughes outlines)

I. Taking off (putting to death) the gross life (the bib): The Challenge (5-9a)

A. Put to death our sinful passions. (5-7)

B. Put off our sinful practices. (8-10)

C. Put down our sinful pride. (11)

II. Taking off the gross life: The rationale (9b-11)

III. Putting on the good life (the apron) (12a)

A. Why? Because we’re God’s chosen people

B. What are God’s chosen people like?

1. Holy

2. Dearly loved

IV. Wearing the apron. (12b-13)

A. So we clothe ourselves with

1. Compassion

2. Kindness

3. Humility

4. Gentleness

B. Along with

1. Patience (long-suffering)…bear with one another

2. Forgive as the Lord has forgiven you (cf. Matthew 6:15 “But if you do not forgive others their sins, your FAther will not forgive your sins.”)

V. The ultimate apparel. (14)

A. Love is the ultimate apparel. Why?

B. It binds it all together into perfect unity.

Conclusion

Bottom line: We exchange the gross life for the good life when we take off our nasty, selfish, fleshly, worldly ways and replace them with our gloriously good and Godly ways. Our motive is from a healthy understanding of who we are in Christ: “God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved.”

Choose to exchange.

Choose to believe.

Walk as God’s chosen person, holy and dearly loved.

Pray

Lord’s Supper, 1 Corinthians 11:17-32

Other

Pace Outline:

OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS:

Our girls would sometimes watch the TV show The Suite Life of Zack and Codie. This has nothing to do with today’s message. But it comes from the “sweet” connection to something called the good life—something we all likely are drawn to. But what is the good life?

What is the meaning of the good life?

Webster’ s dictionary defines the good life

1 US : the kind of life that people with a lot of money are able to have.

Philosophy = love of wisdom. So let’s see how some philosophers define “the good life.”

How does Socrates define the good life?

Socrates definition of the good life is being able to fulfill the “inner life” by inquiring and expanding the mind to the greatest extent possible. ... Socrates proposed his idea of the good life in his encounter with Crito which was written by Plato.

Kant believes that the highest good for a human being is the conjunction of happiness and complete virtue and how it is possible for an individual to attain these two things at the same time. ...

What is the key to a good life?

“Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence,” he said. Epicurus observed that the key to a good life is avoiding pain, abstaining from unnecessary desires and beinggrateful for what you have in life.

How does Plato define the good life?

Like most other ancient philosophers, Plato maintains…happiness or well-being is the highest aim of moral thought and conduct, and the virtues are the requisite skills and dispositions needed to attain it.

What is a good life to Aristotle?

Aristotle argues that what separates human beings from the other animals is the human reason. So the good life is one in which a person cultivates and exercises their rational facultiesby, for instance, engaging in scientific inquiry, philosophical discussion, artistic creation, or legislation.

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MAIN COMMENTARY HELP:

• Exalting Jesus in Colossians by Scott Pace

• Preaching the Word: Philippians, Colossians and Philemon commentary by R. Kent Hughes

• ESV Global Study Bible

• Bible in One Year by Nicky Gumbel

• Bible Knowledge Commentary

• The Outline Bible, Wilmington

• Paul for Everyone, The Prison Letters, NT Wright’s commentary on Philippians and Colossians

• Gospel Transformation Bible

• NIV Study Bible

• The Bible Exposition Commentary, Warren Wiersbe