A sermon by Pastor Joey Colón. More about Grace Bible Church: ⁠https://begrace.org

Summary

Joey Colon's sermon from Colossians 3:1-9 centers on a single, clarifying thesis: real life is life that is hidden with Christ in God. Preaching as part of a series titled Jesus Over Everything, Joey situates this passage within the broader arc of Colossians — from the preeminence of Christ as Creator and Reconciler, to the mystery of Christ in us, to now the practical question of what it actually looks like to live in that reality day to day. The sermon is organized around three movements: the mission, the method, and the motivation.

To open, Joey reaches for a vivid and unexpected illustration — Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. He describes Dr. Victor Frankenstein not as a true creator, but as a scavenger, piecing together decaying body parts from graveyards and trying to animate them through sheer willpower. Joey's point is sharp: this is precisely how many believers approach the Christian life. We take our old selves — our tempers, insecurities, selfish ambitions, and sinful habits — and try to stitch a few religious behaviors on top, hoping that attending enough services or saying the right things will eventually spark new life. But Paul, and Mary Shelley's story alike, show us that animating dead things doesn't produce new creation. It only produces a more decorated version of the old self.

The mission, as Joey draws it from Colossians 3:1-4, begins with a crucial grammatical observation. The word "if" in verse one is not a word of doubt — it is a word of settled consequence. Paul is saying, since you have been raised with Christ, here is your new orientation. The call is not a to-do list for getting closer to God, but an invitation to align the heart, mind, and affections with the reality of where believers already are — hidden with Christ in God. Joey draws on the image of Moses hidden in the cleft of the rock as God passes by, and connects it to the peace and security that this hiddenness should bring. In a culture obsessed with being seen, curating a personal brand, and constantly defending one's worth, Paul's declaration that our true life is safely tucked away in Christ is radically freeing. Our identity, value, and worth are anchored in an eternal reality that doesn't shift when relationships fail or Markets crash.

Joey also engages the ancient philosophical tension between Plato and Aristotle — one pointing upward toward the ideal and divine, the other gesturing toward the physical and ethical world at hand. For centuries, people argued over which orientation produced real life. Paul, Joey explains, offers the Christian answer: setting our minds on things above is not an escape from earth but the very foundation for being effective within it. Heavenly security fundamentally changes how we act in the physical world. Quoting John Piper, Joey frames the daily mission as "becoming what you already are" — a child of God, raised with Christ, already secure in Him.

The method follows in Colossians 3:5-9, and the language Paul uses, Joey notes, should be shocking. "Put to death" — in the Greek, to deprive of life, to make a corpse of something, to strangle or suffocate it — is the language of execution. Joey makes clear that if Jesus is truly over everything, then He, and not culture or personal preference, has the authority to name which parts of our lives are toxic and must be destroyed. Paul's list moves from private desires — sexual immorality, passion, evil desire, covetousness — to public words — anger, wrath, malice, slander, and lying. And he calls all of them idolatry. Joey connects this to the golden calf, arguing that just as Israel ran back to old ways when they stopped trusting God, we cling to our sins because we don't trust Jesus enough. We seek security in wealth, validation in lust, and power in anger — heart idols that must be dismantled.

To drive the method home, Joey returns to Lazarus. Jesus calls him out of the tomb, and Lazarus obeys — he steps out into the sunlight, raised to life. But he's still wrapped in grave clothes. He still stinks. Joey asks the congregation to imagine Lazarus walking around for three years refusing to take off those burial wrappings, sitting down to dinner still smelling of death. It would be absurd. And yet, Joey says, that is exactly what Paul is describing when believers continue walking in sexual immorality, malice, slander, and deception after being raised to new life. These sins belong in the grave. The decisive change has already happened. The call is to strip off the grave clothes — not in our own strength, but through the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (Eph. 6), through community, through the renewal of the mind described in Romans 8.

Finally, Joey returns to the motivation that runs throughout the entire passage: Christ himself. He reflects on doubting Thomas after the resurrection — struggling, skeptical, looking for proof. Jesus doesn't hand him a checklist or tell him to get it together. He simply reveals himself, shows his wounds, and says, I am the motivation. The finished work of the cross is the reason. Joey urges the congregation not to look inward at how they can improve, but to behold the risen Lamb who is seated at the right hand of God, interceding for them right now. It is that vision — of a King who has already secured our reputation in heaven, who is already advocating for us — that causes the grave clothes of anger, greed, and lust to lose their grip. We kill sin not to earn God's favor or to become His children. We already are. We kill sin because we are already raised with Him, already empowered, and already moving toward the future glory described in Colossians 3:4 — when Christ, who is our life, appears, and we appear with Him in glory. The call, Joey concludes, is simple and total: behold the risen King, rest in His finished work, and live like the new creation you already are.