A Christian is someone who is a new person with a new mind-set, who puts off the old person and puts on the new person who is filled with gratitude towards God. A new mind-set. Put off the old person. Put on the new person. Possess a heart that overflows with gratitude towards God. This is what it means to be a new person in Christ Jesus.
Look at Colossians 3:1 – 17…
1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. 12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 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. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Three weeks ago we began this short series examining what the apostle Paul wrote to the Colossian church regarding what it means to be a new person. In verses 1 – 9 we unpacked what it means to be a new person with a new mind-set who puts off the old person. In verses 10 – 14 we learned what it means to be a new person who puts on the new person. And now, this week, we’ll look at verses 15 – 17 and we’ll examine what it means to be a new person who is filled with gratitude towards God.
But how does the new person live a life that overflows with gratitude towards God? Gratitude is the natural overflow of the heart of a person who’s been made new in Christ Jesus. Gratitude is the natural overflow of the heart of a person who has encountered the cross of Christ. In other words, a new person in Christ Jesus possesses a life that hides in the shadow of the cross and overflows with gratitude towards God because their life is now ruled by the peace of Christ; filled with the Word of Christ; and does everything in the name of Christ.
Gratitude towards God is the overflow of the peace of Christ… (15)
The apostle Paul says, “let the peace of Christ rule your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.” When the peace of Christ rules your heart, gratitude towards God is the fruit that characterizes your life. When the peace of Christ rules your heart, gratitude towards God characterizes your relationships. Jesus Christ, established peace, between us, and our Father in Heaven, through his work at the cross. At the cross, the price was paid for our war crimes against our Father in Heaven. At the cross of Christ we moved out of the cross hairs of God’s wrath and into the overflowing fountain of God’s love. This truth, applied over and over again to the believers heart results in the overflow of gratitude towards our Father in Heaven. The new person is filled with gratitude towards God, which is the overflow of the peace of Christ.
Notice the language of surrender in what Paul is saying here. He says, “let the peace of Christ rule your hearts.” Surrender your heart to the rule and reign of the peace of Christ. Surrender the throne of your heart’s will to the peace of Christ. Surrender the throne of your heart’s desire to the peace of Christ. Surrender the throne of your heart’s dreams to the peace of Christ. “Let the peace of Christ rule your hearts.” Let me ask you… What is it that rules your heart right now? What desires rule your heart? What dreams rule your heart? Do you desire a better marriage? Desire a better family? Desire a better home? Dream about a different life? Dream about what it would be like if everyone just did what you wish they’d do? Dream about being your own person? Dream about your pursuit of more stuff and more status? “Let the peace of Christ rule your hearts.”
But how? How do you let the peace of Christ rule your heart? How do you practice daily surrender to the rule and the reign of the peace of Christ? I think there’s a clue in the text when Paul says, “to which you were called in one body.” In other words… Surrender to the rule and the reign of the peace of Christ deep within the throne room of your heart. Surrender to the peace of Christ because it is to this surrendered posture that you have been called in one body. It is to this surrendered posture that each of us has been called in one community. One family. We are called together into the surrendered community of the peace of Christ. This journey of surrendering to the rule and the reign of the peace of Christ, was never meant to be walked alone.
When Christ died at the cross, he surrendered his life, so that individuals like you and I could come to him in faith, surrendering our lives to the peace that he won for us. The cross of Christ where Jesus surrendered his life willingly, so that we could become family, is the place that the dividing wall of hostility between us and our Father in Heaven, was torn down. The new person is filled with gratitude towards God, which is the overflow of the peace of Christ ruling and reigning the throne room of our hearts decisions, desires and dreams.
Gratitude towards God is the overflow of the Word of Christ… (16)
The apostle Paul says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” When the word of Christ dwells in each of us richly, gratitude towards God is what characterizes our teaching. When the word of Christ dwells in us richly, gratitude towards God is what permeates our correction of one another. When the word of Christ dwells in each of us richly, gratitude towards God is what saturates the wisdom we speak to one another. When the word of Christ dwells in each of us richly, gratitude towards God is what fills our praise and worship. The word of Christ is the centerpiece of hearts that overflow with gratitude towards God. This is why I say that the new person is filled with gratitude towards God, which is the overflow of the word of Christ.
Notice the language of living value that Paul uses here in verse 16. He says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” Let the word of Christ live in you. Let the word of Christ not only live in you but let it live in you with great value. The question we each need to ask is both how and when. How do we let the word of Christ take up living value in our hearts and when will we know that the word of Christ has taken up living value in our hearts? I think the answer to both questions is the same. In other words I believe that the way we let the word of Christ take up living value in our hearts is also the way we know that the word of Christ has taken up living value in our hearts.
Paul tells us that we let the word of Christ take up living value in our hearts by “teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in our hearts to God.” Is your teaching and admonishment of one another filled to the brim with the word of Christ? Is the wisdom that you claim to have overflowing with the word of Christ? Does the music of your heart and soul ooze with the word of Christ? The new person is filled with gratitude towards God. This gratitude towards God is the overflow of the word of Christ taking up living value in the heart and soul of the Christian through their teaching, encouragement and daily rhythms. Is your heart overflowing with gratitude towards God because the word of Christ has saturated your heart and soul?
Gratitude towards God will overflow into doing everything in the name of Christ… (17)
The apostle Paul says, “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” If you and I have hearts that are ruled by the peace of Christ and if the Word of Christ dwells richly in our hearts then everything we say or do will be seasoned with a deep sense of gratitude towards God. Every word we speak will be seasoned with gratitude towards God. Every action we take will be motivated by gratitude towards God. Everything we think, say and do will be done out of gratitude towards God because we will desire to represent the name of Christ who is our Savior in everything so that our thankfulness toward God will be obvious to everyone who sees our lives. The new person is filled with gratitude towards God that overflows into doing everything in the name of Christ.
Final Observation…
Are you a new person whose gratitude towards God overflows into every arena of your life? Does the peace of Christ rule your heart or are you filled constantly with conflict and anxiety? Does the word of Christ dwell richly within the hallways of your heart or are you filled with deceitful and sinful and shameful desires? Does every word and action of your life represent Christ or are you consumed with selfishness and sin? God is calling every one of us to be a new person in Christ Jesus whose lives overflow with gratitude towards God because our lives are ruled by the peace of Christ; filled with the Word of Christ; and doing everything in the name of Christ.
Does this portrait of the new person describe you? Are you a new person whose life overflows with gratitude towards God? Is your heart ruled by the peace of Christ? Are you filled with the Word of Christ? Are you doing everything in the name of Christ? Are you a new person in Christ Jesus whose life overflows with gratitude towards God?