Christ Jesus Restores Our Lives

Good evening from the Panhandle, I pray it has been a good day for you. I have a second cousin that use to restore old cars for people. The people would bring him the old car and ask him to put it back into it's original state or they would ask him to customize the car or pick-up. Christ Jesus does the same for you and me if we will let Him. We come to Him broken and wracked with sin, He lovingly restores us to a right relationship with God and in most cases He does some custom work too.

If we are in Christ, if we have become Christians, a change has taken place. We have had to say goodbye to the Old Man, to Mr. Wrong and all the habits, passions, and practices of the past. And because Christ Jesus has restored our life, because He has given us abundant life, we are new creations, made in His image.

Here in Colossians 3 verses 12-17 we are given clear and persuasive instruction on what the new person in Christ Jesus looks like. We are told how to live the new life in Christ Jesus and what that restored life looks like. A certain and undeniable change should have taken place. That change is not something we have done. It is something Christ Jesus has done for us, in us and through us. And as we read and study this passage, we need to remember that the Bible is not a book about people. It is a book about God and His dealings with people - In this case God's dealings with us as His people.

So as we examine the first part of this text, verses 12-14; let's remember that God is always proactive. He always takes the initiative. He took the initiative in creation, He took the initiative in salvation, and He takes the initiative in our sanctification. God always takes the initiative and then calls upon us to respond appropriately.

Col 3:12-14

12 Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

This morning let's look at the first of five areas where He has taken the initiative to restore us, and the response He expects from us as those who have been restored to fellowship with Him.

I. Because He chose us, we enjoy favor with God (vs. 12a)

Paul begins by reminding us of the fact that God chose us or elected us, and therefore we enjoy a position of unique favor with God. 

We are Holy - set apart from sin, from the rest of the world, and set apart unto God. We are God's unique creation, His people, chosen to demonstrate His reality to the world in which we live. We were chosen to be different so that others can see His power and glory. God restored us to demonstrate His power to the world around us. Phillips' translation says because you are "Picked representatives of the new humanity, purified and beloved of God Himself."

Now not only are we holy, or set apart unto God, but we are beloved, or loved by God. It means that God loves us and wants the very best for us. Deuteronomy 7:7-8a: "The Lord was devoted to you and chose you, not because you were more numerous than all peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But because the Lord loved you . . ." 

And Because God loves us He counsels us to put off the old man, the sinful way of life, and to "put on," or clothe ourselves, cover ourselves. It is the same word used in Ephesians 6:14 where the Scripture tells us to put on the armor of God before we do spiritual warfare. But in this context Paul is telling us to put on certain characteristics that will prepare us for peace, not war. Whereas in Ephesians we are putting on the armor for spiritual warfare, here we are dressing ourselves for a peaceful existence with other Christians. We are to clothe ourselves with garments of the new life in Christ Jesus. These are the garments worn by the person who has been changed by Him. How are you clothed?

This is from British journalist Malcolm Muggeridge's interview Mother Teresa.

Malcolm: Spending a few days with you, I have been immensely struck by the joyfulness of these Sisters who do what an outsider might think to be almost impossibly difficult and painful tasks.

Mother Teresa: That’s the spirit of our society, that total surrender, loving trust and cheerfulness. We must be able to radiate the joy of Christ, express it in our actions. If our actions are just useful actions that give no joy to the people, our poor people would never be able to rise up to the call which we want them to hear, the call to come closer to God. We want to make them feel that they are loved. If we went to them with a sad face, we would only make them much more depressed.

Malcolm: Even though you took them things they needed.

Mother Teresa: It is not very often things they need. What they need much more is what we offer them. In these twenty years of work amongst the people, I have come more and more to realize that it is being unwanted that is the worst disease that any human being can ever experience. Nowadays we have found medicine for leprosy and lepers can be cured. There’s medicine for TB and consumptives can be cured. For all kinds of diseases there are medicines and cures. But for being unwanted, except there are willing hands to serve and there’s a loving heart to love, I don’t think this terrible disease can ever be cured.

Willing hands to serve because of hearts that go on loving.

This brings us to our second observation. Look in verses 12-14.

II. Because He changed us, we love the People of God (vs. 12-14)

Paul is clearly talking about unity in the church. He is talking about the kind of harmony that should exist among those people who really love the Lord, among those people in whom the Holy Spirit is living. 

Verse 14 sums it up, and the preceding characteristics should all be seen in light of the love God commands us to have for one another. Remember that love is the sash or belt that binds all of these garments together.

• Heartfelt compassion: This is a great word: “compassion.” Mark used it to describe Christ Jesus’ feeling toward the people of Galilee. “He has compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.” Luke used this word to designate the action of the Samaritan for the man on the Jericho road, and the response of the father to his prodigal son. 
   
  Compassion begins with pity, but it is more. Compassion is that deep response we have when we do something about our feelings of pity. I can feel sorry for you and do nothing about it. Feeling sorry for you may result in my pitying you. But to be moved by your pain, to feel your situation so deeply that I seek to act in your behalf, is compassion. 
   
  As for other Christians, we are part of the same family and we should not be indifferent to one another. We should not be cruel, harsh, and cold toward one another. One of the characteristics of a genuine Christian is that he or she possesses heartfelt compassion for other Christians. This is nothing less than feeling toward others what God feels towards us.

• We are to put on kindness: This is a sweetness of disposition. It is also translated generosity or goodness. A person who is kind has good things to say about others, is considerate of the feelings of others. Their words are tempered with grace and with tenderness. A kind person is not abrupt or harsh but is soft-hearted, and genuinely cares about others. 
  
  
  Everyone of us knows someone like this, someone whose manner and smile communicates kindness, even if they never said a word. This, too, is evidence of the Holy Spirit living inside of a Christian. The word “kindness” does not appear often in new translations of the Scripture. Does this mean that the word has lost a good deal of its meaning? How about in the world, have we lost a good deal of its meaning? The writers of Scripture defined kindness as: the virtue of the person whose neighbor’s good is as dear as their own.

• We are told to put on the garment of humility: This means that we are to submit ourselves one to another. Putting the other person before ourselves, to have a proper estimation of ourselves. It means to be lowly. In God's economy it is the lowly that are exalted and the proud who are brought down. If Christ Jesus humbled Himself, even to death on the cross, we too must humble ourselves. 
  
  
  We live in a world where we are constantly told we must promote ourselves. People today are seeking to "one up" the next guy. Their pride is easily wounded. In this crazy society people even shoot each other if someone disrespects them on the freeway. The Christian should never be possessed by this type of attitude. 
  
  
  It is interesting to me how we have come to understand sin. In many Christian circles mortal sins are always defined by sins of the flesh. Those who drink or smoke, watch R-rated movies, and other such worldly things are looked down upon as the dregs of society. While sins of the heart; sins such as pride, arrogance, anger, envy, hatred, and mean spiritedness - are tolerated. 
  
  
  The humble know who they are. The humble know who they are in relation to God and other people. They don't flaunt their strength nor weakness, but take their place in God’s kingdom without fanfare. The humble also know their source of power. God’s presence and power in their lives gives them certainty and confidence. Remember that God is always more concerned with the condition of our heart because it is the heart that determines the actions and course of our lives.

• We must put on the garment of gentleness or meekness: It is the willingness to suffer injury instead of inflicting it. What a contrast with the way the world thinks. The world sees meekness as weakness. Sometime ago humorist J. Upton Dickson said he was writing a book titled Cower Power, and that he had also founded a group for submissive people called Doormats - an acrostic for Dependent Organization of Really Meek and Timid Souls, if there were no objections. Their motto was, "The meek shall inherit the earth, if that's OK with everybody." Their symbol was a yellow traffic light." 
   
  That's the way the world sees meekness, as weakness. But the Bible says Christ Jesus was meek, and we know He was not weak. The person who has meekness is the person who is self-controlled, because he or she is God-controlled. When Christ Jesus is in control of our lives we do not have to control others. We can be gentle with strength. Meekness, from a biblical perspective, is strength under control. It takes a greater strength to exhibit meekness than to burst out with anger and lose control.

• We are told to clothe or envelop ourselves with patience: This is longsuffering, especially in the face of injury or insult. It is marked by the ability to respond in love when others treat us poorly. William Barclay writes, "This is the spirit which never loses its patience with its fellow-men. Their foolishness and their unteachability never drive it to cynicism or despair; their insults and their ill-treatment never drive it to bitterness or wrath" (The Letters to the Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians [Louisville: Westminster, 1975], p. 158). 
   
  Patience in our own strength is impossible. Patience is not something the world teaches us to practice. In fact, while the world may give lip service to these characteristics in a patronizing kind of way, it looks down upon these traits and ascribes them to weak, timid, insecure losers. So the question is this: Will we give in to worldly pressures and act like the world, or will we allow Christ to have control of our lives, and live according to His mandates, regardless of what the world thinks?

When we put on these traits two specific things take place:

• We forbear with one another: That means to put up with or tolerate one another. It can even mean "to endure." Have you ever know those people you simply had to endure. Being around them is never any fun, it is never a joy or pleasure. But we are told to tolerate, to have patience with or endure these people. There can never be unity in the church unless we are willing to tolerate one another. The only way we can do this is through forgiveness.

• We forgive one another: That's the second thing that happens when we clothe ourselves in these traits - we forgive one another, even as Christ forgave us. Even if you have a valid complaint against someone, forgive. I have seen people who call themselves Christians who have an unforgiving spirit. Their pride and ego was wounded and they cannot bring themselves to forgive another Christian for some offense. 
  
  
  One author puts it this way: "Forgiveness is surrendering my right to hurt you for hurting me." (Archibald Hart, quoted in James Dobson, Love Must Be Tough.) To forgive someone involves three things. First, it means to forego the right of striking back. One rejects the urge to repay gossip with gossip and a bad turn with a worse turn. 
  
  
  Second, it means replacing the feeling of resentment and anger with good will, a love that seeks the other's welfare, not harm. 
  
  
  Third, it means the forgiving person takes steps to restore good relations. For the true Christian, forgiveness may not be easy, but it's not optional either. It is an essential characteristic of the transformed life.

When we put on the “new man” all the rules change. Grudges have to go. Revenge is out of the question. We leave judgment to God. We are forbearing and forgiving. Forbearance and forgiveness are never a problem when we are talking about people we really love. Love does it bind these virtues together, completing a lovely garment of Christ likeness? Or does it bind the members of the Christian community together in mature oneness? Personally I think it does both. And because Christ Jesus restored us to fellowship with God, we are to love the people of God even as He loves them.