I remember a lecture given by a guy named Tommy Amaker. Most likely you have never heard of him. Currently men’s basketball coach at Harvard. At the time of the Lecture I attended he was playing for Duke University.
Tommy was an exceptional basketball player. He was sharing how he achieved his skill. How did he become great? Time in the gym.
He said, “When everyone was at the Friday night football game in High School, he was in the gym playing basketball: dribbling, shooting, running.”
In his words, “It is what you do when no one is watching.”
How would you define being great? Is it something you think about?
Philosophically Plato defined being a great person as not being driven by personal desires but by a love for what is just and good.
Socrates defined it as the cultivation of virtue through wisdom and self-knowledge.
Descartes, the highest form of human greatness is a virtue he calls generosity
How about more recently, Jordan Peterson said greatness is a combination of disciplined, voluntary sacrifice, pursuing what is meaningful, that looks out for the moral good of self and society.
Even though I would consider only one of these I have quoted is an actual Christ follower, there are bits and pieces of truth in all of these ideas.
Jesus, with authority, said it best. “Whoever wants to be great must be a servant. . .just as I have come not to be served but to serve and give my life for many” Matthew 20
It is the call of the Christ follower to see Christ’s example and copy it.
Many years ago we had these bracelets that were popular that had WWJD What Would Jesus Do. It was a fashion statement but even more, it is the beginning of being great.
This is how you grow into greatness. Stop and consider, what would Jesus do.
Colossians 3:99 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self[d] with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
Genesis 1:26-27 26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
Introduction:
Edmond Rostand wrote the play Cyrano de Bergerac in 1897. Anyone know what that is about? The movie Roxanne was released 90 years later, in 1987 and it starred Stephen Martin and Daryll Hannah which was a loose modern bend on Cyrano de Bergerac.
Cyrano had a very low opinion of himself because his nose was too large, and he had gained a love interest who was very beautiful. His interest in this beautiful woman was not just a physical desire. He cared for her completely, her mind, her heart, her likes, her dislikes. Yet he would not allow himself to pursue her because of the possible rejection that he faced.
There was another man who also was interested in this beautiful woman. This man was extremely handsome. He had all the outward marks of an attractive male, tall and strong but he was not in any way smart or intelligent.
Cyrano found his way to express himself and it was through this handsome man. He would write her letters and poems and send them to her with this other man’s name attached.
There would be scenes in the play where Roxane, the beautiful woman in the play, would be on her balcony speaking to the handsome man at night and Cyrano would be hiding nearby, whispering words for him to say. It is these very words that caused Roxane to develop a deep affection for this handsome young man.
Cyrano continued to harbor his own affection for Roxane but remained hidden. He did not want to be vulnerable. He did not want to face the rejection. He was ashamed.
This came to mind while considering our passage here in Colossians 3. Last week we introduced this idea of the old self and the new self. We will be building on that idea this week.
If we do not properly understand our relationship with Jesus and more importantly, OUR POSITION IN JESUS, we will begin to resemble Cyrano. HOW? It is in the struggle between good and bad, righteousness and evil. When confronted with holiness, we will see our deficiencies.
Within us, the Spirit begins to work and Jesus becomes precious to us. He is no longer just a good teacher. He is no longer just an old Rabbi. He is precious and we love him. We want to read of him and learn from him.
But when we do not understand our position IN HIM, and we see our Spiritual life as totally dependent upon ourselves, it is a heavy burden. When failure comes, and it will, we do not feel attractive enough to approach him. Let’s just stay on the downlow. There are others who are much more attractive than me to Jesus.
This position keeps us from fully experiencing Him. Loving him from far away. Living with this notion that if we get too close, he will reject us. Let’s not get too close.
Textual Observations:
3:9 “Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices.”
This section began in 3:5 that we are to put to death what is earthly in us. As believers, here are our marching orders. What are we to do? It is an imperative. It is passive (according to the grammar). What does that mean? We are commanded to perform a thing which we will be helped to perform. You are not alone in this.
Then there is a list of things and we dealt with those over the past few weeks. Sins of the flesh and sins of the mouth.
Then he gets to 3:9-10 and says, we are to put these things away “seeing that we have put off the old self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”
We see this word appear again. It is a word that we talked about way back on June first. The sermon title was Iconic Jesus.
That word here for image is the Greek word icon. Remember that Sunday? I put up a bunch of icons on the screen and you had to guess the brand that the icon represented?
That same word is used here. There is this statement about the OLD SELF and the that old self is being renewed in knowledge after the of its creator. Interesting isn’t it? What does it mean?
There is a lot going on there in that statement. Let’s spend some time unpacking it.
Created in the Image of God
26 Then God said, “Let us make man[h] in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
On day six God made man, it was the pinnacle of His work. How is this true? It says that man (which means humanity) was made in the image of God. Here is our word. Greek eikon was used to refer that man is in image of God. The male is in the image of God and the female is in the image of God.
How were we made in the image of God? In what ways do we look like Him? What traits or characteristics do we have that are similar to God?
There are what we call communicable and incommunicable traits of God. The Incommunicable traits are ones that only God possesses such as this partial list would be what I call the Omni’s which means ALL or EVER.
God is omnipresent. He is everywhere at once. There is nowhere God is not. “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there” (Psalm 139:7-8).
THIS WOULD INCLUDE Eternality– God does not have a beginning or an end. Hard to fathom this but it is true. “From everlasting to everlasting, you are God” (Psalm 90:2).
God is Omniscient (all knowing). God learns nothing. There is nothing God does not know. There is nothing you can do to teach God something. He does not learn something new from you. “God is greater than our hearts and He knows everything” (1 John 3:20). I know most things, but not everything.
God is Omnipotent (all powerful). God is all powerful. There is nothing outside of His power. He does not need to sleep. He does not need to work out. “Nothing is too hard for me.” (Jeremiah 32:17). I am not all powerful. I get injured. I get tired.
This would includeIndependent– It is said by some that God created the Universe and humanity because he was lonely. There are variations of this but it is untrue. I don’t know who started it but it is false and bad theology. Paul said in Athens, “God made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by man NOR is He served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives all men life and breath and everything.” (Acts 17:24-25)
These are a few of the attributes of God that He has that we do not have. He alone has them. Even Adam and Eve, before sin, did not have ALL the attributes of God.
Communicable attributes of God. These are things that God has that we also have. It would include this partial list:
Knowledge – God possesses all knowledge, but we do have some knowledge. Some have more than others. Some are geniuses, most are not. But all have an ability to retain and learn something.
Love – 1 John 4:8 says that God is love. I can love. I do not love like God, but I can love. Everyone, even Hitler, loved someone and was loved by someone.
Wisdom – We read that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”. God possesses all wisdom, but we have some too. Again, like knowledge and love, some have more than others. But everyone has some wisdom.
So, you can see, this is a partial small list of the characteristics that God has, that we also have in our own lives.
In what way were we made in the image (the eikon) of God? How do we resemble Him? How do we reflect His image?
It is in holiness. How do I know this? From our passage in Colossians.
“Since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being RENEWED in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” (Colossians 3:9-10)
There was something lost in the paradise of Eden. Something that happened that damages that reflection of God’s image that it needed to be restored.
Holiness.
That is it. We still retain, at least some wisdom. We have retained our ability to love. Some to the degree that they love things more than God. We love ourselves more than we do the Creator. We are able to gain knowledge but, in the flesh, it is void of the author of knowledge.
What was lost for humanity in Adam is holiness. That which was lost can be regain in Christ Jesus. Because of this, put off that which is earthly.
That ICON we regain IN CHRIST is Holiness. We do not need to hide like Cyrano.
Putting On – Application
The motive for change is the new self
Andrew Murray[i] says that Christians have 2 natures that are striving within them. And they are striving against each other (Ga 5:17, 24-25; 6:8; Eph 4:22; 1 Pt 4:2). The motive to achieve holiness is the new self, which is the life in the Spirit.
If you want to dig deeper in this, I encourage you to read John Owen who wrote, The Death of Death in the Death of Christ. Be prepared NOT to read one chapter at a time. Be prepared to read one page at a time. Be prepared to read this over the course of a year. This is not a quick fix.
But also, be prepared to grow deeper and deeper in love with Jesus. Be prepared to see the work of Christ in your life from an entirely new perspective.
John Owen says that this new nature is like turning on a lamp. It is not simply knowledge. We do not just gain knowledge, but we gain illumination. We see ourselves differently. THE NEW NATURE SPEAKS
We find with this light that we look in a mirror. The mirror is Christ. We begin to see things in this reflection that we want to change. Things that do not look like our life.
Do you remember, “Christ, is our life” Colossians 3:4. As we go through this life, there are the two natures. These are at war with each other.
We put on this new clothing of righteousness the old will not feel right
Throughout our time in this section, I have really wrestled with how to present it. Here is my issue, because we have these two natures in us, I do not want to appear flippant and just proclaim, we are going to sin. At the same time, I also do not want to appear too harsh because we are going to sin.
It could be this is what John felt when he was writing 1st John when he said, “If you say you have no sin you are a liar and the truth is not in you.” Yet a few words later he says, “But I am writing so you will not sin.” Then next breath says, “If you do sin, we have an advocate who is faithful and just to forgive us.”
There is this back and forth. It is the struggle. I want to encourage you to strive for holiness. At the same time, it is not your striving that is saving you. It is your striving that points to whom you belong. You belong to the Savior, and it is His righteousness that will save you. HE IS THE NEW CLOTHING.
I have an old t-shirt, grey in color. I got it from Walmart about ten years ago. I bought about 5 of them, I often do this because when I like something I stick with it.
But out of the 5 I have one remaining; it was different than the rest and it is my most comfortable shirt. I like to wear it. It is growing thin, almost to where you can read through it. It is still my favorite.
You have any clothing like that? Clothing that maybe you put on that you do not wear out of the house. You wear it because it feels right, and you can relax in it.
You find out that I am coming over to visit with you and now disappointment because you have to change. You were comfy, now uncomfy.
This is life for the believer with these two natures, one in the flesh and one in the Spirit. When you sin, it will not feel right. It will not fit right. You will not be satisfied. You will want to get out of that as quickly as you see it.
Change is the constant
While going through Colossians, we have looked at some of the original grammar. It reveals more than often the English text provides. However, I did find a translation of 3:10 that I really like:
“Put on the new self, which is continually being renewed in fuller and fuller knowledge, closer and closer to the image of its creator.” Jewish New Testament
This is progressive sanctification.
This translation shows that this growth in Christ is not just a one-time thing. Just as we have two natures striving in us, there is one nature, the one of the Spirit, that keeps lovingly and faithfully drawing us to the image of Jesus.
This is the eikon that has been restored. The image and likeness of Jesus that we see in Colossians 2:15-20 is the eikon that has been given to us. What was damaged in the Garden has been restored in Christ Jesus.
Close
Zechariah 3 there is this beautiful scene where the enemy brings Joshua in a court setting. The enemy is the prosecuting attorney, and they are standing before Jesus. Joshua is said to be standing there guilty. The guilt is in his garments. He was filthy.
It was then that Jesus commanded his garments be changed. Joshua was to be clothed in clean and pure garments. Jesus said to him, I have taken away your iniquity.
Christ has robed us in righteousness. What is our charge? Grow in Him. Our image has been restored. Grow in Him.
I want you to love Jesus. I want you and this community to see Jesus, grab hold of Him and love Him. To forsake ourselves. To live for something more than our appetites. To taste and see that the Lord IS GOOD.
[i] Andrew Murray, The Essential Works of Andrew Murray, Barbor Publishing, page 190.