Title: WHAT IS YOUR POSITION?

Focus: The power of the resurrection comes to us everyday when our position is in Christ.

Function: To move the people to locate themselves in Christ and thus experience the resurrection power of Jesus on an ongoing basis.

Text: Colossians 3:1-4

 

INTRODUCTION

            Positions matter. If you are a baseball player and the coach tells you that you are going to be the shortstop, you will play a different ball game than when you are an outfielder. If you are an administrative assistant in an office complex, you will be doing different kinds of work than when you are the Chief Executive Officer in that company. Likewise, if you are a civilian participating in America’s economy, you won’t be doing and experiencing what American soldiers are experiencing today in Iraq or Afghanistan. Positions matter.

 

            So it is also with the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ and you and me. If we are in Christ, life will be far different for us than when we are outside of Christ.

Today we find ourselves gathered as a community of faith celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Many of us are here because that’s where we belong. Some of us are here because coming to church on Easter Sunday is “the thing to do.” Others are here, but not quite sure why. But here we are—gathered in this sanctuary! And I thank God for your presence, because now we have one more opportunity to declare and celebrate this good news: the power of Jesus’ resurrection comes to us everyday when our position is in Christ.

 

            If you are new to the Christian faith, or if you come to church only on Easter and Christmas, I hope that you will listen very carefully. For I fear that you are missing out on the power of the Christian faith. Or if you are a Christian by name but not really by practice, I hope that your ears are tuned in today. For I fear that you are missing out on the power of the Christian faith. For you see, the power of Jesus’ resurrection comes to us everyday when our position is in Jesus. In other words, the good news of Easter is not a once-a-year event or experience, but a daily, living reality for all who find themselves in Christ Jesus.

 

THE PASSAGE: COLOSSIANS 3:1-4

            The apostle Paul is writing a letter to new Christians in Colosse. The church in Colosse is a community of faith that has a number of problems (so what’s new, you say? There are always problems in churches). I will not dwell upon the problems today. Rather, I will emphasize the position of every one who comes to faith in Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul underscores that position in the passage we read this morning. Consider, for example,

 

·        Its Claims. There are three

claims in the text. Listen to the first one: “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ….” Here Paul makes the astonishing claim that Jesus’ resurrection from the dead (and his ascension into heaven) touches every believer to the core. You may think that this empty tomb somewhere in Jerusalem 2000 years ago is “ground zero” of the resurrection. But Scripture goes deeper: the bulls eye of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead and his ascension into heaven is you and me and anyone who comes to faith in Jesus Christ. Like an earthquake with a huge aftershock, so Jesus’ resurrection shocks all who seek him by faith. Listen again: “…you have been raised with Christ….”

 

            The second claim in the text is closely related to the first: (vs.3) “For you died….” That first claim may sound pretty good to you, but that second claim may throw you off. Perhaps you say, “Pastor, the doctor gave me a clean bill of health last week.” Or, “Pastor, I may be over the hill, but I still feel like a spring chicken. Don’t relegate me to a coffin or a grave!”  I won’t. But the fact remains: when we come to faith in Jesus Christ, we have died.

 

We must count the old man in us as having died. The sinful human nature, which pulsates through us and clings to us until our final breath, died with Jesus Christ on the cross at Golgotha. A new man, a new Adam, a new nature is born within us when we come to faith in Jesus Christ. And that nature (formed by Christ’s Spirit) shapes a new mind and heart in us. Everything changes when you position yourself on the horrible cross of Jesus’ death and in the wondrous open tomb of Jesus’ resurrection. Then your old position changes from death to life, from having died to having been raised with Christ.

 

            And that leads us to the third claim in the text: (vs. 3b) “…your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” The other day, I heard a TV. reporter speak about secular Americans fearing evangelical Christians. That fear among so many people today is primarily because the secular, or unbelieving world does not understand the position from which Christians move and have their being. That position is hidden from the eyes of unbelief. Why? Because our lives are hidden with Christ in God.

 

            Only those with eyes of faith, enlightened by God’s Spirit can see what eyes of unbelief cannot. That’s why Paul can say to the church (I Cor. 2:14) “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

 

            You ask, “What does it mean that our lives are hidden with Christ in God?” I say: it means that Jesus is the fountain, the source, the pattern of our lives. As branches draw their life juices from the vine, so we draw the resurrection life from Christ, our vine; as our body depends on the head for life, so Christians draw vitality and life and hope and strength from being connected to Christ, from being hidden with Christ in God. That’s why Paul can say in vs. 3 that “Christ is our life.” And since Jesus, the Son of God is in God the Father, and the Father in God the Son, and since every believer in Christ finds him/herself positionally in Christ, we also find ourselves in God—hidden with Christ in God.

 

            Thus we find three claims in this passage—all pointing to a believers position in Christ: (1) we have been raised with Christ; (2) we have died with Christ; and (3) our lives are now hidden with Christ in God. Here you find the Easter secret of the Christian faith: The power of the resurrection comes to us everyday when our position is in Christ.

What is your position today?

 

            Consider again this passage, and note

“When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” Not one of us has seen the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. There were many eyewitnesses 2000 years ago. They recognized the resurrected Christ and saw glimpses of his glory. They observed that Jesus’ resurrection body is a transfigured body. It’s the same body as before he died; yet, different in its resurrection properties or make up, because Jesus is now able to come and go, to appear and disappear. In fact, today he lives with his resurrection body in heaven and rules the entire universe while seated at the right hand of God the Father. There he lives and rules with splendor and majesty.

 

            He is coming again. And when Christ comes again at the end of time, all those who believe in him will share in his splendor and resurrection glory. When the source of our resurrection life appears in all his majesty, then we shall also appear with him in all resurrection glory. That’s the promise that strengthens and drives every believer in Christ, not only on Easter Sunday, but everyday of our lives.

 

            But then you must go back to this passage and take note of

 

            Our new position in Christ calls us to live a life that reflects love and obedience, holiness and purity, justice and mercy. To seek the things above means that we take our cues for daily living, not from ourselves, or from our neighbors or our world, but from Christ who is our King.

 

            Note, however, that the call is two-fold: we set our hearts on the things above, and we set our minds on things above. There’s a need for both: action and reflection; seeking and pondering the things from above—these go together.

 

If you are someone who ignores or despises Christian doctrine or truth, you are stepping on sinking ground. Christian thinking shaped by education and reflection that is Christ-oriented feeds Christian experience. This is why Christian doctrines or truths from the Bible help us ground ourselves in Christ Jesus.

 

How do we seek and ponder the things from above? We turn to the Scriptures, which point us to the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. And we take our cues from him and the Word of God. How do we seek and ponder the things from above? We live in dependence on God’s Holy Spirit, given to all who turn to Christ by faith. So let me say it one more time: The power of the resurrection comes to us everyday when our position is in Christ.

 

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.