2018-03-16
Good Morning Dear Ones,
As promised last week, I will obey the command of the Holy Spirit to continue discussing the relationship between Christ and believers with the principles given us in COL 2. Christ speaks to us by the inspiration He has given the apostle Paul. Paul writes for the reason Christ has given Him, which is to cause us to “be filled with courage and drawn together in love, to have the full wealth of assurance that true understanding brings” [COL 2: 2]. This is true understanding of God’s secret, which is Christ Himself. Christ is the key which opens the hidden treasures of God’s wisdom and knowledge” [COL 2: 3]. Everything that is found in the Scriptures is designed to prepare us to deal with the challenges living in the earthly world gives us. What we can learn from God while on earth is just enough to fulfill this goal and to build faith in us in Jesus Christ.
God’s will for us is to keep our faith strong and for us to build our lives on Christ. Having our lives built on this faith will enable us to offer our God the praise, thanks, and honor He deserves. We can be thankful that we don’t have to live, as some do, wallowing in the misery that comes from self-loathing, evil thoughts and actions, idolatry, and hate. Strong faith also prepares us to discern between human-crafted lies and God-given truth. We won’t be enslaved by following beliefs that lead to spiritual death. A truly great gift of faith in Christ is that the “full content of divine nature lives in Christ, in His humanity, and you are given full life in union with Him. He is supreme over every spiritual ruler and authority” [COL 2: 4-10].
In this relationship with Christ, we are freed from the power of the sinful self. This is due to our circumcision not by human hands, but by divine ones. At one time, we were spiritually dead in our sinfulness, but now that we have Christ in us, He has made us come alive in the Spirit. We can look forward to eternal life! Our sins are forgiven and nailed to the cross. That is the same cross upon which Christ sacrificed His physical life, so that our salvation might be possible. Human-crafted ideas or behavior, such as having special visions, false humility, engaging in idolatry, or worship of angels are contraindicated and constitute the slippery slope into hell that they are. Yielding leadership of our lives to Christ holds the body of Christ (the church) together and fulfills God’s will for how it should grow [COL 2: 11-19]. Following human-crafted rules and regulations have no value in controlling physical passions (23).
Giving some examples is in order. It is God’s will that we should live in orderly groups, families and congregations. He defines them as committed relationships in which there are a head adult (the father and decision-maker), a nurturing adult (the mother, who takes a leading role in rearing children), and children born to that marital union. The whole family should yield ultimate leadership to Christ. Of course, there are times when one or the other responsible adult passes away or can’t fulfill his/her role in the family. There are godly ways for the one left to establish a new family in Christ. Those widowed or divorced who are promiscuous give rise to unwanted children or children who are left for society to rear. That is surely not what God wants! God would also not want His congregations to be jockeyed about by human-crafted politics. I’ve been in a church that split, because of this kind of interpersonal action. Its behavior led to the lives of its members being turned upside down by loss of strong faith, social chaos, and broken friendships. No one, least of all God, would want this to happen.
PRAYER: O Lord, in Your unparalleled wisdom, You have sent Your Son to make the greatest of all sacrifices ever, that of His physical life on the cross, so that we could be saved, justified, and eternally forgiven when we come to faith in Him. His paradigm of love teaches us how to be loving. When we come to faith in Him, we die to sin and come alive in Him [RO 6: 10-11]. We now have access to Your wisdom and knowledge through Christ. That opens the treasure chest of how to live our lives while pleasing You. You have given us a clear path for what our lives should be and no longer drift around chaotically with aimlessness. We have been given discernment to see the difference between lies and the truth. That direction gives us assurance and strengthens our faith as we follow it. You forge precious relationships in our lives, particularly as we meet with other members of our congregations. Because of them, our congregations grow with the love that Your Son models for us. We are no longer buffeted about by human-driven sinfulness, but instead, are living with Christ in us and at peace with You. This gives us stronger faith in Him and greater inner peace. We thank and praise You for all the wonderful principles You share with us found in this little book of Colossians, in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: The Holy Spirit directs me to write about the principles in COL 3-4: 6, as they apply to the relationship between Christ and believers. I’ve found that it really helps to revisit Bible chapters and passages in different contexts like this. It’s important to understand that nothing I’ve written here should give the impression that believers in Christ are better than other people. That isn’t the point at all. In God’s sight and with His direction given to us, we have a better chance to find both inward and outward happiness. We are charged with the responsibility to: 1) learn God’s teaching well and 2) convey it effectively to those others willing to listen. We are not here to brag about anything we do, nor should we think better of ourselves, when it is by God’s grace alone that we have this improved chance for happiness and eternal life [EPH 2: 8-10]. God has given each of us our talents to use for His purposes, purposes He has already prepared for us to fulfill. We are to be humble, because “God resists the proud and shows favor to the humble” [1 PET 5: 5]. We are to be tolerant of one another and forgiving. We are to show the love for other people that Christ showed us. Doing this isn’t always easy, but it is always right with God. Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2018. All Rights Reserved.
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