Embracing resurrection life

The film Invictus is on one level about the victory of the Springboks in the 1995 Rugby World Cup held in South Africa.

Yet it is actually about how this team, galvanised by the vision of Nelson Mandela, played its part in uniting a nation divided by the long years of apartheid. The film explores what it is to build one people out of a South Africa where on both sides the old prejudices and desire to get even still existed.

Mandela’s task as President was not simply to give more rights and greater equality to the blacks, but to help everyone to see that they were part of a new nation and to live as citizens of the new South Africa not the old one. That involved a dying to the old ways and embracing the new nation.

New humanity

In Colossians Paul teaches that the death and resurrection of Christ have not simply made things better for the Christian in his or her old life, but has made them into a new humanity with Jesus as the head. The death of Jesus was the death of the old life for the Christian. 2.20 says: ‘Since you have died with Christ’, and 3.1 says: ‘Since you have been raised with Christ’. For the Christian this is the reality. The full revealing of that new life happens when Christ returns (3.3,4). Nevertheless it is in this resurrection life that the Christian should live now.

The Colossian church was influenced by those who said that, while belief in Jesus enabled you be a Christian, a really God-pleasing life was obtained through certain religious practices (see 2.16,20). Actually such practices only bring religiosity, not true holiness. What is required is something much more radical, namely death and a new start to life. That, says Paul, is what the gospel offers: death in Christ and life in Christ. That does not mean that the Christian’s life is now easy; free from temptation or struggles. But, as with South Africa, Christian living required an understanding of the radical change that has taken place. So the Colossians must understand the transformation that the work of Jesus brings and live accordingly. Christians are to put sin to death because it has no place in the new creation (v.5) and to embrace the new life as those (v.12) who are already holy, loved and chosen by God.

Let me remind you of the life to which you have been called by looking at four instructions Paul gives as he directs us to embrace resurrection life.

New dress code: The character of Christ (vv.12-14)

Do you remember that transition from primary to secondary school? For me, it involved a trip with my mother to the school outfitters on the high street. You arrive in your casual summer clothes and suddenly you’re thrust into a changing room to reappear fully rigged out in blazer, long trousers and school tie. The process is an ordeal, but entirely necessary. You’d look a fool if you turned up at secondary school dressed as a primary school kid.

Similarly, for the Christian, the new life in Christ (v.12) requires a new set of clothes. You get the school uniform because you have already got a place at the school. Paul is urging the Colossians to put on those characteristics which are fitting to the status of being, in Christ (v.12), chosen, holy and loved by God. Adopting these characteristics doesn’t make us Christians, rather they show that we are.

These characteristics of compassion, kindness, meekness, humility and patience are not a random list. They are the very characteristics that God reveals of himself (Exodus 34): ‘The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God…’ And ultimately these are the characteristics of Christ, who had compassion on the crowds; who did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but humbled himself; who bore our sin and forgave. Note the contrast that Paul is making in verses 12 and 13 with verses 5-9. The Christian is being transformed from a way of life which creates fear and isolation to one which creates community. And rightly, therefore, the coat, buttoning up over the all the other garments, is love (v.14). ‘How do I put these things on?’ we might ask. The answer becomes more apparent in the verses ahead, but Paul directs our attention to the gospel. ‘Forgive each other as the Lord has forgiven you.’ In the gospel we have encountered one who was filled with humility, and was full of love as he went to the cross to pay the penalty of our sin. It is, as the next verses indicate, by letting his achievements rule in us that we become more like him, dressed appropriately.

New house rules: The peace of Christ (v.15)

The word translated ‘rule’ in our Bibles could just as easily be translated ‘umpire’ or ‘referee’.

For better or worse, Howard Webb, a few weeks back ‘ruled’ that World Cup Final between Spain and Holland.

But it is not a person that should referee for us but the peace brought about by Christ. The Old Testament foretold that the coming of the Messiah would bring peace, shalom. So a passage like Israel 11 foretells that the wolf will lie down with the lamb. As Christians we look forward to the return of Christ when we will see the full realisation of that promise. But Paul is saying that the shalom, the peace brought by Christ, should umpire our lives now as the new humanity. Christ’s death brought peace with God and it is a peace that unites people into ‘one body’ (v.15).

Paul talks about bearing with and forgiving one another. It is the peace brought in the gospel that must arbitrate our complaints, our feelings of being hard done by and so on. And note, it rules in our hearts, for that is the place where resentment, not to mention guilt and shame in wronging others, so easily arises. The peace of the gospel is the judge in cases where we are wronged or where we have wronged others. This resurrection life here in this world is not sin free but ruled by the peace that Christ has bought. That means, as we come together as God’s people, we do so as those who are at peace with God and one another. Perhaps you are aware of your own sin this week, with feelings of guilt and unworthiness. But Paul says it is not those that should rule your heart but the gospel of peace. Perhaps you are aware of being wrongfully treated by someone, and your heart is ruled by resentment. But Paul says don’t be ruled, don’t make decisions based on such attitudes but based on the peace brought by Christ. So seek reconciliation, look to forgive. You see what liberation it is to have the gospel of peace rule your heart. And so Paul adds, be thankful. And that thankfulness extends into song.

New anthem: The word of Christ (v.16)

As I have watched the World Cup this summer, I have wondered why countries have national anthems. Who thought one day, ‘What can we do to feel more like a nation? I know let’s have a song!’ Yet, in the marvellous way we are created as human beings, we come together in song. Even as we watch films, we are conscious of the soundtrack which enhances the whole thing.

Paul instructs the Colossians that the word of Christ, the gospel should dwell in them. If you like, it is the soundtrack of our new life. It is the anthem that we sing.

Perhaps that is why Paul here instructs the Colossian church to teach and admonish one another in their singing. Paul, of course, is not saying that that is the only way in which teaching should occur. But he would say that in our singing together we also minister to one another as we bring the message about Jesus to one another. Perhaps we need to look at one another as we sing? We all have a responsibility of keeping the gospel central in the church and song is a natural overflowing of our own joy in the gospel. It is not an opportunity to disengage the brain. Its purpose is praising God and building up others. Through a new anthem, the gospel dwells richly with us.

New calling card: The name of Jesus (v.17)

The phrase ‘in the name of the Lord Jesus’ is used in many contexts in the New Testament. Believers are baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus in Acts 10, salvation is in the name of the Lord Jesus in Acts 4. Here the whole of the Christian life is summed up ‘in the name of Jesus’. We are acting on behalf of the Messiah in word or in deed. We live as his representatives. As we adopt his character, let the peace he brought rule our hearts, let the gospel dwell with us, then our actions, words, deeds will be shaped by him.

Can you see the parallel that emerges between Adam and Eve, as created by God in his image to live under God’s rule and to act as his viceroys, and now, through the work of the Messiah, a new humanity is to do just the same? If you want to see what this imperative means in practice, it is spelled out through 3.18 into chapter 4. Notice how, when Paul talks about being a wife, a husband, a child, a manager, a worker, he repeatedly uses the phrase ‘in the Lord’. The ethics of this new community are shaped by the resurrection life we have in Christ.

The point is that for the Christian, who awaits the revealing of the Messiah in glory, life now is to be lived in the new community as new creations in Christ. The goal is not to personally impress others but to contribute to a community that abounds with praise and love to God for what he has done through the finished work of the Messiah.

At one point in Invictus, Nelson Mandela invites the Springbok captain, Francois Pienaar, to the presidential office for afternoon tea. The conversation turns to leadership and Mandela asks how you make an individual player believe that they can do better. Perhaps you ask that question for yourself in your own Christian life. Paul would point us to what we already have in Christ and urge us to live as his people, who are raised with him, to embrace that life where Christ is all.

Colossians 3.12-17

New humanity

New anthem: The word of Christ (v.16)

MHB

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