「キリストによって日々新たにされて生きる」 一月第三主日礼拝 宣教 2026年1月18日
コロサイの信徒への手紙 Colossians 2章20節〜3章11節 牧師 河野信一郎
Good morning. Welcome to Okubo Church, our guests. Welcome back to all our church members. I am so thankful to be able to worship together with you all again this morning. However, this week, a very strong cold front is forecast to sweep in from the Chinese mainland and linger over all of Japan for an extended period. Please take thorough precautions against the cold. We pray for your protection.
Now, this month we are listening to God’s message from the Letter to the Colossians. On the first Sunday, as we welcomed the new year, we heard what is necessary for us to walk according to God’s will. That is, we heard that the only way is to believe in Jesus Christ, who fully knows all of God’s will, and to listen to and obey Jesus’ words daily.
And last Sunday, we heard the reason why we must obey Jesus Christ. Namely, because Jesus is the head of the church, the head of all rule and authority, and the Lord who guides us along the best path, we must obey His word, not our own ways. Though I didn’t mention it at all last time, walking like sheep obeying the voice of the “Shepherd” is the best way to follow His will.
This morning, as the message title indicates, we will listen to the latter part of Colossians chapter 2 and chapter 3, which teaches that it is God’s will for us to be renewed daily by the Lord Jesus and to live accordingly. Most Christians publicly confess their faith, receive baptism, and begin following Jesus. I confessed my faith and was baptized at age 10. That was 49 years ago. Ms. K was baptized during our Christmas service a month ago, and I’m sure the joy and emotion of that moment still fill her heart today.
Then what about me? Am I walking with the same joy and awe I felt when I was baptized and began following Jesus? No, I fear I have taken the faith God gave me and twisted it to suit myself, creating a self-made version. My faith merely pretends to listen to and obey God and Jesus. That’s why, whenever something displeases me, I judge others instantly, just like the Pharisees. My heart is filled only with fear, anxiety, and discontent. I can’t help but wonder how God and Jesus truly view such faith. How about you? How do you walk each day, rejoicing and giving thanks for the faith God has given you through Jesus Christ?
This is a very big “if,” but if feelings of joy, wonder, and gratitude fade away, and only dissatisfaction, anxiety, and fear remain at the center of our hearts, how can we restore that joy and wonder? A long time ago, something like this happened. Today’s cash cards mainly have built-in IC chips, but this story is from when magnetic stripe cards were still the norm. At a post office ATM, my cash card suddenly stopped working, and I couldn’t withdraw money. I immediately took the card to the counter. The clerk smiled and said, “The card’s magnetic strip has become defective, making it unusable. Perhaps it was exposed to something with a strong magnetic field?” She promptly ran the card through some machine to restore the magnetic strip. Immediately, the card worked again, and I was able to withdraw money without issue. It was restored to working order in just an instant. I was amazed.
As years pass after being baptized, the joy and wonder of faith can fade, or even vanish entirely for some reason. Faith can become mere formality. Why is this? Perhaps it’s because our hearts drew near to Satan, that powerful force seeking to separate us from God’s love, or because we embraced desire. Perhaps it’s because we loved the things of this world instead of God.
Colossians 3:5 says, “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.” Verses 8 and 9 also state: “Put away anger, wrath, malice, slander, and shameful talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another.”
We have neither the means nor the power to restore the joy and wonder of faith given to us by God. When we fall into sin, we are utterly powerless. But God possesses that power. The only way faith is restored is through repentance and returning to God. For there is no one but God who can grant restoration, revival, and the filling of the Holy Spirit to our faith. We must repent of our sins and our weaknesses, return to God, and rely on His mercy. So, what is the concrete way to repent and return to God? It is to die with Christ Jesus and be resurrected with Christ Jesus.
The Apostle Paul says something very interesting in verses 20 of chapter 2 and verse 1 of chapter 3. While the New Common Translation doesn’t capture it perfectly, verse 20 says, “If you have died with Christ,” and verse 1 says, “If you have been raised with Christ.” Here we see “dying with Christ and being raised with Christ.”
To rephrase verses 20 through 23: “If you have died with Christ, you should be dead to this world and free from its dominion. You ought to be free. But why do you still live as if you belong to this world, bound by its dominion and living in bondage? Why are you enslaved by the philosophy, traditions, and customs of this world, by asceticism, worshiping angels other than Jesus? Why do you live anxiously pursuing things that vanish in an instant, things meaningless and worthless? They only satisfy human desires!”
“Dying with Christ” means repenting of the mistake of having lived solely for oneself, completely ignoring God. It means breaking away from the things of this world and reordering your priorities to put God first. And “being raised with Christ” means being given new life through Christ, receiving the power to correct the course of a life that was previously self-centered, and living toward God, living according to God’s will. Hearing “living for God,” some might bristle, thinking, “Isn’t that exactly what binds me?”
However, we must carefully read verse 1 once more. It states, “For you have been raised with Christ.” It does not say, “You have raised yourself,” but rather that you are a being “raised.” It is not that we “rose” through our own strength, effort, or faith, but that we “were raised”—meaning we have been given new life through God’s love and mercy. Paul declares here that it is not because we possessed any qualification, merit, or worthiness to receive this new life, but solely by God’s one-sided love, mercy, and grace. He encourages us: “Since you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above.”
Then what is this “what is above”? It can be translated as “what belongs to heaven.” Everything on earth is finite and will fade away with the passing of time. But what is in heaven, what is with God, is all good and eternal. Since we cannot take what we acquire on earth with us to heaven, we are told not to be drawn to earthly things, but to seek the eternal things with God, eternal life.
So what happens then? Verse 3 states, “Your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Through the Lord Jesus Christ, we come to know for the first time our true purpose, reason for existence, and life’s meaning—things sin had hidden from us. We are given a new reason to live, joy and gratitude are restored, we can offer worship pleasing to God, we put on humility, and we are transformed to live for the Lord and our neighbors. This is what the Holy Spirit does for us. Therefore, whenever troubles arise in daily life, pray immediately and seek help from Jesus. The Lord will have mercy and help us.
Verses 5 through 11, which I just read, describe what those who have died with Christ and share in His new life must put off. These things are hostile to God, things that weaken our hearts, Satan’s power that robs us of faith. Paul says they are the dark forces that prevent God’s will from being done on earth and His promises from being fulfilled.
From the latter part of verse 9 to verse 10, it says, “Put off your old self with its practices and put on the new self, created in God’s way in true righteousness and holiness, so that you may be renewed in the spirit of your mind and come to know the true knowledge.” This means we must cast off all the old nature we had before believing in Christ Jesus, be united with Christ Jesus, and live by receiving the new nature given through Him. We cannot receive the new while still holding onto the old. We cannot put on new clothes while still wearing the old ones. Unless we let go of the old, we cannot receive God’s blessings. Why? Because the blessings offered to us are supremely holy.
When we receive this divine love, our hearts overflow with joy, awe, and gratitude. We are able to love God and Jesus, love our neighbors, and even love ourselves. The Holy Spirit helps us. We can live faithfully toward God, sincerely toward our neighbors, and honestly toward ourselves, particularly oneself. For this reason, let us be renewed day by day through Christ Jesus.