A Gospel Lens - Colossians 3:1-17

Thus far, Haggai has been an incredible book to study. I continually find myself astounded by the clear themes of God’s saving grace and mercy that find their ultimate fulfillment in Christ. I come away from my studies feeling the conviction of the Holy Spirit as he reminds me of the need to once more align both my actions and my heart with Jesus.

And so, for the next couple of weeks I want to take a step back from Haggai itself and ask the same type of question that God asked his people all those years ago.

“What are our priorities as Wabash youth group?”

As that question tumbled in my brain the last few weeks, one answer kept popping up as a consistent theme.

The gospel.

Ultimately, at Wabash we want to be all about the good news of Jesus. It’s what causes us to gather and what causes us to scatter. But the funny thing is, the term “gospel” is one of those christianese words. I mean, in our Christian circles we use it all the time, but if we are sat down by our pastors, could we really define it in more than basic terms? Perhaps not.

If that’s you, don’t feel ashamed! At the same time, don’t let yourself stay that way! I don’t want to just provide you with my explanation of the gospel here, and rob you of your own process of discovery, but I do want to get you started on the right track. So maybe this coming week, take some time to read the passages I’ve listed below and see for yourself how God is weaving together the story of creation, the fall of humanity, the process of redemption, and the hope of restoration, together into a beautiful tapestry of good news!

• Isaiah 53:1-12

• Romans 3:21-26

• Ephesians 2:1-10

• Galatians 3:10-14

• 1 Corinthians 15:1-5

“That’s all well and good,” I hear you say, “but what does it matter?”

Great question, thank you for asking! That’s where a little illustration might come in handy.

When I was a kid, I really wanted to have glasses. Not as bad as my sister did (she actually popped the lenses out of an old pair and pretended to have them), but if I was presented with a pair of glasses, they would inevitably find their way onto my face. The thing was though, I didn’t need glasses, and so when I put them on my world became a blurry mess. One time, I found a pair of glasses that had belonged to my dad before he had Lasik surgery. When I put those massive disks of glass on my face, the world grew so blurry that my eyes even started to water.

But to the person who needs the glasses, putting on those lenses changes their whole perspective on the world around them. Things that seemed distant and out of focus become clear.

If we are to apply this to us, we must first admit that we are far more broken than a simple pair of glasses could fix. But by the grace of God and through faith in Jesus Christ we are given a new pair of lenses so to speak. So that as we view the world, and live in the world, things don’t seem the same as they did before.

This is the idea that Paul is trying to get at in Colossians 3. He writes that if we are in Christ, then we have the gospel as our new way of viewing the world. We, “set our minds on things that are above.” No longer do we have to live with our self-seeking lens, always asking “how can this or that please or satisfy me?” Instead, we are to “seek the things that are above, where Christ is…”

But my question is, what lens do we look at the world through? What are we tempted to make central in our lives? What is the thing that your schedule, finances, and adoration revolves around?

When we make the gospel the lens through which we view our lives, when Jesus becomes that central thing, Paul says that there are 2 natural results. First, in verses 5-10, we see that as we become more centered on the gospel, we should love our sin less. Actually, the way Paul puts it, we should be killing our sin. As John Owens put it, “Be killing sin, or it will be killing you.” So my question is simple. Is sin allowed to live in your life? Do you water it regularly, do you try to ignore it? Or do you seek to tear it up from the roots? Killing sin is never fun or pleasant, but is always God glorifying.

But the second outworking of a gospel centered life, is a “putting on” of Christ. Not only do we kill sin, but we learn to live as our Lord and Savior did. Verse 13 in particular stands out, “bearing with one another, and if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other, as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”

Do you feel the Holy Spirit’s pull as you read Colossians 3? My goal is not to push you to kill your sin and put on Christ out of feelings of obligation or guilt. Instead, my goal is to remind you of the precious gospel. For to be a Christian is to have died with Christ, and so the guilt of your sin dies there. But to be a Christian is also to be raised with Christ, and to walk in newness of life. So if you can take away one thing from this week, let it be this. Even in your rebellion against God your creator, God’s grace is covering you by the person and work of Jesus. You receive his right standing before God, and he takes your sin to the grave. Preach that gospel to yourself this week, and rest in the hope that “When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” Colossians 3:4