The Passage:

Colossians 3:12-17 – The Christian Life

12Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, 13bearing with one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a grievance against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you are also to forgive. 14Above all, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. 15And let the peace of Christ, to which you were also called in one body, rule your hearts. And be thankful. 16Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Introduction: Suit Illustration

In 2005, an actor by the name of Christian Bale portrayed the role of Bruce Wayne. In this movie, Bruce Wayne approached a member of his father’s cooperation about something called a Nomex Survival Suit. This suit was a $300,000 prototype for advanced infantry. It was designed to stop a knife, deflect a bullet, and even regulate and mask the wearer’s body temperature. The suit’s design made it ideal for advanced infantry. Unfortunately, the cost of production was so high that it was never put into production.

Bruce Wayne decided to “borrow” this suit. He painted it black and embossed a bat emblem on the chest, to which his male butler Alfred asked, “Why bats Master Wayne?” Bruce replied, “Bats frighten me. It’s time my enemies shared my dread.” Because of the suit’s design, it could stop a knife, deflect a bullet, it would even protect Bruce Wayne’s identity while he wore it, but most importantly, it became the icon of Gotham City’s superhero, Batman.

Without his suit, Bruce Wayne could go about Gotham City without anyone realizing he was Batman. When he put on the suit, he became someone the criminals feared because that was the suit’s design.

Today, we’re going to be talking about a different design, a design God has for His people. In this passage, Paul talks about attributes of a Christian’s life, attributes we must “put on” if we are to reflect and experience God’s design for us. That’s the tile of our message today: Experiencing God’s Design

Our passage today comes from the book of Colossians 3:12-17, but before we get into our passage today, let me briefly give some background information about our passage.

The book of Colossians is one of the many books in the New Testament written by the Apostle Paul. Many of these books (also called Epistles) are letters addressed to a specific person or persons for a specific reason. This particular letter was written to a group of believers in the city of Colossae, a church that Paul did not found but had a positive relationship with.

In this letter, Paul addresses an issue that had risen within the people of the church in Colossae, specifically the rise of false teachers attempting to diminish the authority of God and the truth about Jesus, and one can read about that in chapters 1-2 of Colossians. Paul goes to great lengths to combat these false teachings with the truths of the gospel. In our passage today, Paul reminds the church of these truths by detailing what followers of Jesus should look like.

(read Colossians 3:12-17, then pray)

As we study this passage, we’re going to look at three truths about God’s design for His people; three truths we need to remember if we are to experience God’s design. The first truth is this: we need to remember that we are, Chosen By God.

Point I: Chosen by God. (v. 12-13)

Paul begins this passage with the reminder that those who follow after Jesus are truly God’s chosen people. Paul tells them that they are, “…God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved”.

The word “holy” means to be “set apart” by God and for His purposes. I remember growing up, my friend