You see them in any good Western movie.  The guy wearing the black hat gets his face put up on a poster and a reward is offered.  And the words appear:  Wanted, Dead or Alive.  The criminal had been so bad that it didn’t matter if he was dead or alive.

But in America today we take a higher view of life, don’t we?  We are so good at pretending death really doesn’t happen.  Look at our funeral customs.  Sometimes they are designed to deny death.  Then we pass a dead animal on the road.  We can’t really look at it because we don’t want to face the fact that death is real.

No matter what we say, death is real and it does matter to us.  And it matters to God as well.  This morning, I have a question for us: Does God want us dead or alive?  The answer is found in our text for this morning.  The answer is both!

Dead
v.3 “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
v.5  “consider the members of your earthly body as dead...”

All of these are images of death, and if you are a Christian these apply to you.  Christians are the original dead heads!

Over 330 times the New Testament there are statements which saw we are in Christ...

Just as Christ was absolutely, completely dead, we died too.  That part of us which rebelled against God, that which the Bible calls the old self was put to death, crucified, and went out of being.

Then, God, in mercy, raised us up to newness of life and gave us a brand new start, a new spirit which can serve God.

v. 1 says that we have been raised with Christ
v. 9b ...laid aside the old self with its evil practices and put on the new self who is being renewed...

Sounds great?  There’s just one problem.  You say, “I can’t live like that.”  You’re absolutely right.  You can’t live like that.  But I know someone who can.  Verse 4 tells us that Christ is our life, and that one day we will be like Him.  But we don't have to wait till the sweet by and by.

I issue a challenge for all of the family of Saint Paul who call themselves Christians to give up and let Christ be life for you.  Do I believe it’s possible?  If it is not possible to live a holy and pleasing life in this life then the whole message of the gospel is empty.  But we can’t and don’t have to do it in our own strength.  God gave us power through the Holy Spirit who indwells us.  The Spirit of Christ who indwells you and me is available.  Why do we just neglect it and say, “It’s hopeless?”
 
Look at some of the specifics God says we are to put to death:
immorality (fornication), impurity (in our thought life), passion (unreasonable emotions), evil desires, covetousness, which is idolatry (a lusting after material things).  It reads like a listing of the things Cable TV brings into our living rooms and tells us to enjoy.  And the Christian is to have no business with any of those things. description of a Christian:

[7]
Verse 8 tells us to throw those things out like they are garbage, because indeed they are...anger, malice, slander, foul talk.  And tell the truth.
Well, that church back then sure had some serious problems.  I’m glad we don’t have to worry about them now, or do we?  God wants us to realize that they have been nailed to the cross.  What business do we have with them?  What business do we have being suspicious of other Christians, or being envious of each other’s ministries, or enjoying the grief left in the wake of failure, or participating in the rumor mill.  Notice this passage doesn’t even mention Satan.  In fact, neither does the book of Colossians.

As pastors often we bemoan the church’s loss of influence on today’s society, and we say, why can’t the church make a difference?  There are many answers, but it seems to me that before the church will have real influence in the community the death and resurrection of Christ must make a real difference in your life and mine.  Don’t let this be one of those shovel sermons...I hope ____ is listening!  What about you!  Does it?
God not only wants us dead.  God gave us life!  According to verse 10 we are to put on a new self, one who  is in the image of God, one who is renewed and being led into knowledge of Christ.  Is that you?  If not, why not?
Today I ask you to examine yourself in light of the cross.  I don’t mean some wish washy, unauthentic, feel-good religion.  Today even rock stars and wrestlers have crosses around their necks and any dime store will sell you a cheap pair to put through those holes in your ears.  It’s too easy to wear a cross today.  It means little.

The cross is a symbol of death.  It stands for abrupt, violent of a human being.  In Roman times the one who took the cross and started down the road had already said goodbye to his friends and his life.  He was not coming back.  The cross made no compromise and it slew completely.

But the cross is also a symbol of life.  A. W. Tozer said that “the heart that learns to die with Christ soon knows the blessed experience of rising with Him, and all the world’s persecutions cannot still the high note of holy joy that springs up in the soul that has become the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit.”  May the joy of real Christian living be yours today.
 
There is a Wanted poster.  It has your name on it.  The face on it is yours.  Underneath your identification it reads, Wanted by God:  Dead and Alive.