Connected #4 - "Connected to Jesus' Resurrection" (Colossians 3:1-4)

If you have a copy of god's word, and I hope you do you take it and turn with me to colossians chapter 2 colossians chapter 2

Colossians chapter 2 We're going to begin reading in verse 20 Our text is actually going to be colossians 3 1 through 4

But I want to read this passage in its context as we come to god's word and so Colossians chapter 2 and verse 20 page 10 44 in the bibles that we give away

Colossians chapter 2 and verse 20 Colossians chapter 2 and verse 20 reading through to verse 4 of chapter 3

Once again, if you're able, can I invite you to stand with me out of respect for god's word as we come to the preaching of it

Colossians and Chapter 2 beginning in verse 20 brothers and sisters.

These are god's words to us If you died with christ to the elements of this world

Why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations don't handle don't taste don't touch

All these things refer to what is destined to perish by being used up. They are human commands and doctrines

Although these have a reputation for wisdom by promoting self -made religion false humility and severe treatment of the body

They are not of any value in curbing self -indulgence So if you have been raised with christ seek the things above Where christ is seated at the right hand of god

Set your minds on things above not on earthly things For you died And your life is hidden with christ in god

When christ who is your life appears? Then you will also appear with him in Glory the grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our god will remain forever allow me to pray ask for god's help and we will

Get to work in god's word this morning. Let's pray together Heavenly father.

We ask that as we come before your word now Simply that you would open our eyes that we would see wonderful things out of you

As we consider the resurrection of jesus and its implications for our own life Father I ask that you would simply turn our eyes towards heaven

May we recognize All that has been done for us and may we live in light of that reality

Fathers, I pray for us. I pray for our friends just around the corner from us at grace church of central point

Pastoral search at the moment pray for their interim pastor pastor howard as he is Preaching through first peter at the moment pray that you help them in their search for a permanent pastor teacher there

Help the congregation to remain united and remain steadfast even in this season of uncertainty Father we pray that your will would be done in and through that church

And that you would bless them. I pray that you bless us now as we come to your word We ask all this in jesus name and for his sake.

Amen Please be seated Well this morning, it's the end of a relatively short era

As we close the book on this teaching series that we've entitled Uh connected finding joy in our union with christ by way of review we've been thinking about this teaching that Is known to christians as union with christ.

You remember the definition i've been using it's on the study guide That's in front of you That union with christ is the biblical truth that by faith

God has joined us to jesus in his life death and resurrection So that all of the benefits of jesus's work for us become ours through the holy spirit

And that's been the definition that we've been working with for the last few weeks And what we've been trying to do is to see how that truth that The believer has been joined by faith to jesus in his life death and resurrection and that all of his benefits become ours

We've been seeking to see how that truth It helps us to answer three important questions that all human beings have the question of identity just who am

I question of purpose Why am I here? And the question of destiny where am

I? And to help us to answer those questions what we've been doing is if you look at that definition

I talked about jesus life death and resurrection. Well, we've been looking at each of those Seeing how the benefits of jesus's life and death so far in our study how those

Benefits become ours by faith and how they shape the way in which we view the world around us

If you want to catch up if you missed any of the series It's all up on our youtube channel encourage you to look for the playlist with the sermon series connected

So this morning we complete the circle as it were we started with the Life of jesus.

We thought about his death last week from romans chapter 6 and this morning Like I said, we complete the circle by thinking about our connection to jesus's resurrection

I think we can all agree that the resurrection of jesus was the ultimate proof that jesus was everything that he claimed to be

That he was god's son that he is the only way to be saved that he is the king of kings and the lord of lords

The resurrection is not an option for the christian. It's Not the kind of thing that you can ignore

I think we can all agree that For the christian the christian has banked everything on the fact that not only did jesus die

But jesus also rose In fact in Arguably the greatest chapter in the bible on the subject of the resurrection first christian chapter 15 paul is explicit when he says verse 16

But if the dead are not raised there were people in corinth who were teaching that there was no resurrection of the dead

And so he says for the dead are not raised not even christ has been raised And if christ has not been raised

Your faith is worthless And you are still in your sins

If christ has not been raised paul says He says your faith is worthless

And you are still in your sins I think we can all agree that those are very high stakes.

We we can't treat the resurrection as an option Because if there was no resurrection of jesus

Then everything in a very real sense becomes pointless the resurrection matters

Well and truly matters and our text this morning is one of many texts in the bible There are quite a lot of them, but this is one of those texts

That tell us why the resurrection matters As I said we're in colossians chapter 3 this morning

Again, because we're kind of parachuting into passages In this series i'm taking some time each week to kind of set the context up of the books that we're in You can sum up the letters to the colossians in two verses

Paul gives you his summary In the letter itself. So we're in chapter 3 look up at chapter 2 for a moment

Chapter 2 and verses 6 and 7 colossians chapter 2 and verses 6 and 7

Colossians chapter 2 verses 6 and 7 paul says so then Just as you received christ jesus as lord

Continue to walk in him Being rooted and built up in him and established in the faith

Just as you were taught and overflowing with gratitude Now that seems simple enough.

That seems nice Warm and friendly and indeed it is but there's a reason why paul says that there's a backstory to this letter

Paul didn't start this church. There were a number of churches that paul did start that he wrote letters to but colossians isn't one of them

We know that because in chapter 1 he talks about the fact that he had heard about their faith

So he didn't have a direct hand in planting this church But he did know some of the senior leaders of this church and word had gotten back to paul through these leaders

That some weirdness had crept into the church People had come along and they were teaching a teaching that was kind of a fusion of a number of things scholars and bible teachers refer to it as the colossian heresy

The reason why they call it that is because it's very unique to this It's not like other false teachings that you find in other new testament books

Easy way i've kind of taught myself to remember what's going on with that is to think of a palm tree p -a -l -m

So the p stands for philosophy. There was a element of greek philosophy that was tied into this teaching

There seemed to be an emphasis on so -called wisdom that you could only get by listening to these false teachers

A is for a rather long word asceticism. All that means is There was an emphasis on abuse and deprival of the body that was thrown into this false teaching

You see that even in the text that we just read Where he talks about in verse 23 the severe

Treatment of the body So you've got philosophy asceticism legalism, that's the l in the palm tree

It borrowed judaism ceremonies and calendar and the emphasis on circumcision

And m is mysticism all mysticism means is there was a bypassing of the emphasis on the truth and there was this

Weird sort of belief in angels and hyper spiritual experiences that drew one closer to god

And so when you put those together p -a -l -m i'd say it's like having a weird palm tree growing in your garden and if it sounds like a mess of a teaching it's because It was a mess of a teaching

Technical term that theologians use is this was a folk religion It wasn't one of the more standard religions of the day.

It was kind of a mishmash of a bunch of beliefs But regardless of what this teaching was,

I think it's very apparent as you read this letter that this church needed help That this church needed to be reminded of some foundational truths

They needed help and paul was willing to do exactly that But what's interesting is that paul's approach to dealing with the problems that this church had

Is kind of interesting Paul doesn't just say well, you know what we can ignore this, you know, um, you know, leave it alone and it'll wear itself out

He doesn't do that He doesn't really enter into any sort of dialogue with it, he you know, he doesn't say, you know

Help me understand how you why you feel that way You know, let's see if we can have some dialogue and find some common point he doesn't do any of that But what's probably most interesting is that paul doesn't do what he does in like the letter to the galatians some of you who have

Been regular czar church. Remember we preached to galatians a few years ago If you remember in galatians paul was very systematic.

He leaves no stone unturned in dealing with the full teaching there He doesn't really do that here

He doesn't take it apart piece by piece like paul being the master bible teacher that he was like he could

Paul doesn't do any of that It's almost as though paul doesn't want to give this teaching center stage

But what he does want to give center stage is the lord jesus and as you read this letter, he reminds these precious christians that they didn't need what these

Religious hucksters if you will were offering Because they already had everything they needed in jesus

And that's why I believe a number of commentators do that colossians 2 6 and 7 really summarize his purpose in this book

He's essentially saying to them guys the way you came to faith in jesus

Simple faith in the message of his death his burial and his resurrection Guys the way you came to faith in jesus is the way you continue to grow in jesus

That you don't need something else. You don't need someone else that jesus is enough

And so even in his treatment of this false teaching, uh, really that treatment begins all the way in chapter 2 verse 6

He devotes so much time to his teaching, but he doesn't really devote time to the teaching per se he'll touch on it

But his focus is to point to the lord jesus and in the section that we read beginning in chapter 2 verse 20, he's dealing with the

L part of that teaching the legalistic parts the part that said, you know

Here are these rules if you keep these rules you'll have favor with god and paul essentially says listen

Keeping the rules even the rules that god gave doesn't make you accepted before god

That only jesus can do that Only jesus is enough for the christian he alone is the answer to everything

I like science fiction. There's a very famous science fiction series the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy If you know that um, the famous answer was the answer to everything 42 42

No, I mean I enjoy that series, but no the answer to everything is not 42 the answer to everything is jesus

Only jesus is enough for the christian and that's really the foundational truth that ties this book together

As you come to chapter 3 Which is where our text is he kind of leaves the false teaching in the rearview mirror And what he seeks to do is to show how?

Jesus is enough for the life of the christian For the direction of the christian

And I put it to you that really in this passage. There was one foundational truth here There's one foundational truth in our passage that I believe if you can get a handle on this

And I say this with no exaggeration. I think This might just change your life Again, it's foundational.

And in fact, it's so simple and the danger is it's so simple. We often forget it What's that foundational truth well, actually that's my big idea for this message this morning

That foundational truth is this that the christian has a new perspective on life because jesus rose from the dead

The christian has a new perspective on life because jesus rose from the dead

Again, deceptively simple And yet just like these colossian christians the danger can be

That we forget that but god is gracious he knows us he knows that we are prone to forget things

And so he reminds us again and again and again and as we've been thinking about our connection to jesus

What better place for us to land the plane of this series and to think about the fact that we have a new perspective on life because jesus rose from the dead

For the rest of our time this morning. I want to consider Four dimensions to our resurrection life

Four dimensions to our resurrection life. These are directions that dimensions. Excuse me I think that if you understand them properly, they should center our understanding as god's people of our identity our purpose and our destiny

So four dimensions I want us to consider with the time that we have Can I begin by pointing your attention to first of all the reality of your risen life

If you're in christian, if you are a christian, excuse me There is the fact that your risen life is a reality

So if you read verse one It might sound the way it's written in english like there's some uncertainty here

Like paul's not sure about the people he's speaking to here So chapter 3 verse 1 it says so if you have been raised with christ

Again, when we use the word if in the english language if is a conditional statement You may not like grammar.

I apologize allow me to do some basic grammar if there's a conditional statement It's a statement that is it might be true.

It might not be true Generally in english. That's how that works in However, which is the language the bible is written in.

Um If there's a little more complicated than that Again You don't like english grammar.

You probably won't like greek grammar, but I apologize For a moment. This is going to be important If in the greek language can mean four different things, i'll try and make this as simple as possible

You can tell which is being used by the way. The sentence is put together technical term how the sentence is constructed

So sometimes if can mean if And it's true so it's a condition of certainty

Sometimes if can mean if But it's not true.

So i'm posing as a hypothetical, but really this is not true So you can have if it's true

If but it's not true Thirdly, there's the way we typically use if where there's some conditionality to it, so if And more positively you probably will ever so tracking with me so far

Finally, there's if but it's not likely Want to take a guess which one paul is using here in colossians 3 -1

If you said the first one you are indeed, right In fact, you could translate it like this so if you have been raised with christ and you have

For paul, this isn't a question for the christian. It's a matter of fact you Have been raised with christ.

This is a definite reality for the christian When you became a believer at that moment you went from being spiritually dead to being spiritually alive

In fact, that's language that paul uses elsewhere. So in Ephesians, excuse me chapter 2 After he talks about who we once were in verses 1 through 3 verse 4

He says but god who is rich in mercy because of his great love that he had for us made us alive with christ jesus himself describes

Salvation as a passing from death to life So in john chapter 5 he says truly

I tell you john 5 24 He says truly I tell you anyone who hears my word and believes him who sends me has eternal life

And will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life

He goes on and says truly I tell you an hour is coming and is now here When the dead will hear the voice of the son of god and those who hear will live

Jesus isn't talking about the future resurrection He'll do that in the next set of verses in john 5 because notice what he says an hour is coming and is now here

When the dead will hear the voice of the son of god and those who hear will live. He's talking about the spiritually dead

That those who are spiritually dead will hear the voice of the son of god in the gospel message and those who hear will live

Faith i mean salvation is more than just saying a prayer It's more than just believing a few well -arranged facts

It's more than just going to church and being good for goodness sake. Can I put it to you that?

Salvation is nothing less than a resurrection That salvation is god taking a dead man or dead woman who was dead in their sin

Not is it the princess bride where he says he's not dead. He's mostly dead I forget

I think it's that film or something like there's a film where someone says But there's no mostly dead about it

The sinner was truly dead But god takes that dead man and that dead woman and he breathes new spiritual life into them

We talk about dead men walking But there's a real sense which the christian isn't a dead man walking

No, the christian isn't a dead man walking. The christian is a dead man made alive Jesus rose from the dead and we have been raised with him

For the believer life as we know it is life in christ

And so before we go anywhere else in this teaching this morning We have to start with the fact of the reality of our new risen life if you are here today and you're a christian

I mean this should make perfect sense if we take everything we've heard in this series. It's true

So if we're connected to jesus's life of obedience for us so that his righteousness is now our righteousness

And if we've been connected to jesus's death for us so that his death leads to our death to sin

That was last week's message in romans 6. Well, if that is true, then of course it makes sense that we are connected to jesus's resurrection

He rose to new life and so have we And so that's the first really the most basic dimension to your risen life if you're here today

And you know the lord jesus that you actually have resurrection life That's your position if you're a christian

You But knowing your position is rarely if ever the full story, isn't it? It's not enough to just know your position position has to in the bible give birth to practice

Who you are shapes what you do And that kind of leads us to dimension number two.

So we thought about the reality of Risen life. I want you to consider with me. Secondly the responsibility of your risen life

The responsibility of your risen life So paul doesn't just end there with things so if you've been raised with christ and you have verse one

So if you have been raised with christ seek the things above where christ is

Seated at the right hand of god It makes perfect sense

This is who we are then that should shape the way in which we live You know since you've been raised with christ paul says here's the command seek the things above Good question to ask at this moment.

Well, just what are the things above? I think we can get a clue by reading this passage in its wider context

So we're looking at verses one through four this morning, but let's look at the start of the next section. Look at verse five so that's five

Of course is therefore in light of the fact that you have resurrection life Put to death now the csb says what belongs to your earthly nature

In the original language, it literally means put to death. What is on the earth? And what is he defined as the things that are on the earth?

sexual immorality impurity lust evil desire and greed, which is idolatry

What do all of those things have in common one two, three, four five of them What do they have in common?

Well, they're all heart attitudes and desires their heart attitudes and desires

I put it to you. I think this fits So when paul says we have to seek the things above that he's talking about Seeking the attitudes and desires that map with our new life in christ

Whatever the attitudes and desires of this world are the things that are above are the opposite Whatever the world tells you to do yet do the opposite Or in fact, let me double back not do the opposite pursue the opposite The christian's new life starts with new heart attitudes and new heart desires that are informed by heaven not influenced by the world around them

This same word seek is used by jesus in a verse that many of you probably know if you've been in church a long time matthew 6 33

But seek first the kingdom of god seek same word Seek the kingdom of god and his righteousness and all these things will be provided for you

This is what the christian pursues above all else As I was reading and preparing this week the word that came up Over and over and over again from different writers across traditions was the same word preoccupation

Preoccupation dictionary defines it as that which dominates or engrosses the mind of someone to the exclusion of other thoughts

Does that sound kind of extreme to you? Be honest.

Does that maybe make you sound nervous? It's a christian I should Be Preoccupied With the things above I don't want to presume that everyone who's here is either a believer or Fully understands all the implications of being a believer

It might make you nervous that might seem like a little much And just in case it does feel that way can

I put a question to you that you might want to consider What else is worthy of that kind of mental emotional and can

I put it life space? If christ is

Everything if christ is all Doesn't it make perfect sense to be preoccupied with christ?

I mean this is The things of life and eternity we're thinking about I think preoccupation might be too little the word maybe

One writes. I read this we put it like this the quote To be preoccupied with heaven is to be preoccupied with the one who reigns there his purposes plans provision and power

It is also to view the things people and events of this world through his eyes and with an eternal perspective

Christian your eyes ought to be firmly fixed on christ who is our ruling and reigning king

And yeah, of course, we're not going to do this perfectly. Let's not put a greater burden on ourselves than we should yes, we will need the grace of god to be able to do this, but might

I suggest to you christian that jesus and jesus alone Is worthy of being preoccupied with?

I mean, it's not always easy Let's let's not pretend that Talking about this on our sunday school hour this morning.

Just the danger of distraction. It's very easy for stuff to distract us than for us to keep our

Pursuit of god red hot and that is why god in his graciousness gives us reminders like this

In just in case you missed it the first time paul kind of doubles back verse two He says set your minds on things above not on earthly things

This term for setting your mind. It's literally to think about intensely Some of you remember last summer we went through the letter of philippians

And if you remember that word kept on coming up kept on coming up over and over and over again the word to think same word here

And I put it to you that sometimes as christians we can get this backwards What I mean get this backwards.

Well, we can start with saying okay I need to do certain things as a christian And we start there.

My answer is that maybe you don't want to start there That actually your best your best course of action

The best way to live out the responsibility of your risen life is actually to start by thinking about some things

Before you start thinking about what to do Might I put it to you that this is a matter of the mind

Before it's a matter of action Ultimately what paul is calling us here is to a singular focus as christians

But that begs the question. How does the christian maintain? How does the christian get this kind of singular focus?

Well, I put it to you that the way the christian gets that Is through this word of god romans chapter 12 is one of those passages

I come back to often romans 12 where paul says, you know present your bodies as living sacrifices

In the tradition I grew up and we always focused on that verse. I rarely ever heard the second verse mentioned because in romans 12 2 paul doesn't just say

Present your bodies as a living sacrifice holy and pleasing to god. This is your true worship He says do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind jb phillips new testament scholar who wrote a paraphrase of the new testament in the mid 20th century when he translated this verse

Used an image that's kind of become just household furniture in some circles, I think rightly so When he said don't be conformed to this age he said don't let the world squeeze you into its mold be transformed by the renewing of your mind the word for transformed is an interesting one it's

The word that was used for what happened to a butterfly one of the books we read to him

We haven't read it in a while to him But one of the books we read to gareth often is some of you remember this from your childhood the very hungry caterpillar

If you remember that childhood story right at the end what happens After he eats a ton

He buries himself in this cocoon. He's in there for two weeks and then out he comes as this butterfly that process um, if you remember your science class metamorphosis

That's the word that's used here don't let the world squeeze you into its mode instead let the word of god

Transform you be transformed by the renewing of your mind Why because you will either think what the world tells you to think

Or you will think what the word tells you to think because if we're really honest, but we know this there's no neutrality.

Is there? Either you are being squeezed into the world's mold

Or the word of god is shaping you more and more into the image of christ and so part of this responsibility in our your risen life is simply

To fill your mind with the word of god It's only as you fill your mind with the word of god that you will know what heaven's priorities are

Now I can hear the objection kofi.

This sounds like being so heavenly minded you are No earthly good

Kofi this makes it sound as though we don't have a life outside of Like church and the bible and stuff

First of all, I don't like that phrase. I'll just be 100 % honest I think it's one of the worst phrases ever because and this is why

I think it's one of the worst phrases ever the truly heavenly minded person

Is actually in the position to be the most earthly good Even in this very letter

Paul is going to map out for us how the heavenly minded live in this world in Families and in jobs and in our public witness

We don't have time to read it but start reading in chapter 3 verse 1 right through to chapter 4 verse 6

Chapter 3 verse 18, excuse me through to 4 6 He's going to spell out from chapter 3 verse 18 to 4 6.

This is how heavenly minded people live in this world I put it to you that the only way to be any earthly good is not to be earthly minded but to have heaven's mind

Firmly in sight so that it shapes the way in which you live

And that's the second dimension of your resurrection life. If you're here today and you're a christian

You There's the reality of your risen life There's responsibility of your risen life and all of that comes out of third of all the roots of your risen life the roots of your risen life

So why should the christians seek the things that are above? Why should the christians set their minds on things above?

Well verse 3 gives us the answer for you died And your life is hidden with christ in god

Before we talk about what paul says here. Can we notice what paul doesn't say? Paul doesn't say

These are the rules of being a christian Now quit whining be quiet and get on with it Paul doesn't say this is what good christians do you you want to be a good christian, right?

Paul doesn't even say this will make your life easier. It will make life more pleasant folks will love you if you live like this

Paul doesn't appeal to any of that Christians can sometimes appeal to that So can

I put it to you that that's probably not the best place to start And in some cases you really shouldn't say that Instead Paul plants this truth in the fertile soil of the gospel message

Remember what we saw last week in romans 6 the christian died When christ died

We can't be reminded. We can't be reminded of that fact too often We need to be regularly reminded of the fact that we died in christ

That the old you the you that was marked by sin and rebellion and weakness

That you is well and truly dead. We can close the coffin on that boy

Instead we are now marked by and identified by life In and paul says for you died

And your life is hidden with christ in god Can you follow the logic here he says you are in christ and christ is in god

I can't help but think that paul is channeling and this I want you to see turn with me to john chapter 10

John chapter 10 I can't help but think that john has the words of jesus firmly in the back of his not john

Paul has the words of jesus firmly in the back of his mind as he writes these words

Because in john chapter 10, you see something very similar So john chapter 10 jump down to verse 28 with me

John chapter 10 verse 28 Jesus says I give them

Who's them verse 27 his sheep? believers I give them eternal life

And they will never perish No one will snatch them out of my hand

My father who has given them to me is greater than all No one is able to snatch them out of the father's hand

I and my father Are one Do you see the same flow the same similar logic here?

You as a christian have eternal life from christ Christ describes that eternal life as being in his hand and he says no one can snatch you out of his hand

You cannot be taken out of the father's hand. Why because you are not just in the excuse

Um, excuse me. You're not just in christ's hand. Excuse me. You are in the father's hand And since christ and the father are one not in personhood, but in purpose

Cannot be lost And I can't help but think that come back to colossians 3 with me paul is channeling that same thinking here to these christians so that when he says

You died The you that you used to know dead and gone But the life you now have

You have Because it's hidden with christ in god

Can you see how this would have some real world application for a christian? That you can have rock solid assurance.

First of all of your salvation in christ Because think about this Is jesus is placing the trinity up for grabs?

Is he up for re -election? Can he be uh impeached out of the trinity and replaced by someone else?

It sounds ridiculous when you say it out loud, doesn't it? That's the point If jesus's place in the trinity isn't up for grabs then neither is your salvation

That's why quite frankly I the more I study god's word the more insulting I find it that anybody can teach

That a christian can lose their salvation. I'm, sorry. It just doesn't make sense Any more than we can say jesus got kicked out the trinity this morning

So you can have rock solid assurance of salvation You can have rock solid assurance of the love of god for you because the love of god for you

Was first the love of god in christ Remember what paul says in ephesians 1 that god uh

Lavished his grace on us in the beloved one. The beloved one isn't you it's jesus That's what john can say 1st john 4 14

That we have come to know and to believe the love that god has for us

You can have rock solid assurance of your salvation of the love of god for you. You can have rock solid assurance of your destiny in christ

And that's actually the fourth dimension I want us to consider this morning as we start to land the plane There's the reality of your risen life.

There's the responsibility of that risen life. There's the roots out of which it grows and Fourthly, there's the result of your risen life

The result of your risen life, what's the end game here?

Of this new life in christ. Where is all this headed? Well verse 4 Paul says when christ who is your life appears

Then you will also appear with him in glory. Have you ever asked yourself the question?

What is jesus doing right now? After me when I was a kid, I didn't I grew up in a christian family.

I wasn't saved but grew up in a christian family And it was one of those questions. I always as a kid. I wonder what's he doing up that they say he's in heaven

What's he doing? Well, that makes us understand that Right now jesus is at the right hand of the father

So right now he is ruling and reigning But that's not where his story ends

That one day the bible teaches us jesus will return And it won't be a quiet unassuming

No one saw it coming it won't be like the first coming of jesus You ever think about that When jesus came the first time only a handful of people knew he was coming

It was as arrivals go. It was pretty quiet and unassuming my kind of arrival actually

But it was very quiet and unassuming But when jesus returns the second time this will not be a quiet unassuming sliding through the back door

Oh, no, though. I'm basically he is coming in glory In fact even the word that's used here when it says when he appears

It's not just a word for someone turning up It's a word that carries this idea of a shining a blazing a dazzling display

Or says christ is coming and it's going to be a big thing when he does Christians can get real weird when it comes to the return of jesus, you know

Either they get really weird and start trying to predict jesus is coming You know jesus coming he's coming now like okay

Um lay off the coffee it's a bit much remember that eclipse thing that happened a couple of weeks ago

Oh so much. I saw on social media people kind of putting all sorts of me the rapture's gonna happen

Um, it's the beginning of the end. Um, you know, all kinds of chaos are gonna It came it went nothing happened

Christians can get real weird about jesus returning Either they start like I said get weird start trying to predict it and you know, um,

What was it? I can't remember who was who said it but you know bible in one hand newspaper in another Or some christians look at that like yeah, that's weird

So what's the what do they do swing the pendulum right the other way? We don't talk about that here We've got bigger things to be uh concerned with we're not going to talk about that So, you know i've visited churches where i've heard the pastors from the pulpit say we don't talk about the return of jesus here

Let me leave that alone. I can say something really offensive. I'm not going to Neither of those are helpful.

In fact, some of you remember I preached a message A number of months ago called does the end matter? If you are the type who's tempted to think it really doesn't matter

I encourage you go on our website or our youtube channel go look up that message. Does the end matter? I put it to you.

Actually, it really does matter And christians can't afford yes people might get weird about it, but we can't afford to be unconcerned about jesus returning either

People might get weird, but might I put it to you that it's neither biblically faithful Nor practically helpful

To get weird about jesus coming It's not biblically faithful because one of the marks of a christian.

We don't talk about this enough in my opinion But we should one of the marks of a christian is that they are waiting for jesus's return

So titus 2 13 titus 2 11 to 15 is my favorite new testament passage of all of them and in titus 2 13

Paul says the grace of god that appears teaches us to say no to ungodliness To live sober and righteous lives and then he says while we wait titus 2 13 we wait

For the blessed hope the appearing Of the glory of our great god and savior jesus christ

Jude will say in his letter jude 21 that we have to keep ourselves in the love of god waiting expectantly

The new american standard bible translates that word wait anxiously Might not be the best word, but I get what they were trying.

I get what they were trying to do That we should be waiting for jesus to return with an expectancy that borders on anxiety

So it's not biblically faithful to not care that jesus is returning. It's not practically helpful either Why is it not practically healthy and we bring you back to our passage?

But paul says when christ verse 4 who is your life appears then you will also appear with him in glory the christian's ultimate destiny isn't

Crawling into heaven kind of bloodied knees and beat up Made it glad this life is over Paul says that just as christ will come in glory.

We will appear with him in glory Yes, it might not be what the world sees when it looks at christians now

But oh it will be when christ returns On that day wrongs will be made right that which has been unseen will be seen that which has been broken by sin

Will finally be healed once and for all on that day one of my favorite old testament verses Isaiah 25 9 god's people will sing that this is our god

We have waited for him and he has saved us. This is the lord.

We have waited for him Let's rejoice and be glad in his salvation

On that day the connection that with jesus that we know right now by faith that connection will become sight

How's that for a destiny? How's that for an ultimate purpose for life?

The perfect place to end this series, don't you think? I mean think about we started being back to message one.

We talked about election and god's purpose in eternity past We started all the way in eternity past and where do we end?

That is the future Appearing with christ in his glory and if you're here today, you're a believer.

That's where you're headed This is who you are this is why you're here again,

I never want to presume that everyone who's here Knows the lord jesus

Because let me be clear if you are not a christian. This is not true of you, but it can be

This can be true of you christ can be your life

You can find death to sin and life in him because two thousand years ago he

Took on a human nature. He entered into creation the very creation that he had made He experienced what it was to be truly human lived a life of perfect righteousness and then went to the cross and died for us

And when he went to the cross the father accepted his sacrifice and said it is finished He stamped his paid in full stamp on that when jesus rose from the dead

And so he calls all men to repent to tell him this and to believe in him

And he says that if you believe in him, you can have eternal life So I invite you if you don't know jesus, can

I invite you to get connected to him? Come talk to me talk to any one of us who are here. We'd love to say more

About how you can come to know him and father. We thank you for all that.

You've taught us in this series We thank you for the fact that in jesus

We have a glorious destiny That we have a genuine life -changing purpose and ultimately we find our true identity

In his life in his death in his resurrection for us Father I pray for anybody who's here or anybody who's listening who doesn't know you who doesn't know this kind of Father, I pray that you would do a work of bringing spiritually dead people to faith in jesus

May this day be the beginning of new life anybody who's listening who doesn't know and for us who do

May our identity be found in jesus. May our purpose be found in jesus.

May our Ultimate pursuits and ultimate destiny be found in him We ask all this in jesus name and for his sake