Life in Christ (10)
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Every day Christianity...
Every day Christianity...
The book of Colossians gives us a lot of theology of who Jesus Christ is.
Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,
for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him.
For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body.
Our faith is based on God coming to earth and living in a human body, dying a cruel death on a cross to make payment for our sins. He rose from the dead and is seated at the right hand of God the Father.
If Jesus was only a man, if He was only a good moral teacher, there is no salvation in HIs name.
Theology is necessary, but good and sound theology must lead to holiness.
We need to practice what we preach.
As Paul was nearing the end of his earthly journey, he encouraged Timothy with these words,
So never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord. And don’t be ashamed of me, either, even though I’m in prison for him. With the strength God gives you, be ready to suffer with me for the sake of the Good News.
For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus.
And now he has made all of this plain to us by the appearing of Christ Jesus, our Savior. He broke the power of death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the Good News.
And God chose me to be a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of this Good News.
That is why I am suffering here in prison. But I am not ashamed of it, for I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until the day of his return.
To Paul and the apostles, teaching was paramount. That’s why they wrote the epistles, the letters, to churches that had been planted.
We can have the purest doctrine. Our beliefs can be perfect, but it’s not enough to just have good beliefs.
What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone?
Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing,
and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?
So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.
We are saved by faith alone. Jesus paid the price, but because we believe, our faith must be accompanied by action.
Even demons believe and they tremble.
This morning, we’re going to look at every day Christianity.
Let’s read our Scripture:
Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.
Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.
Paul starts this section with
The Family
The Family
In our society today, many would like to say that the Bible is archaic and outdated. It is obsolete and irrelevant.
Looking at the direction things have gone, we need more of God and more of the Bible, not less.
ln an article called “Removing the Veil: Revealing God’s Truth for women”, the author shares how women were treated in ancient Rome. It may be hard to hear.
Removing the Veil: Revealing God’s Truth for Women Gendercide and Pagan Gods
Women had little value in the brutal Roman system. In fact, they were treated as if they were not really people at all. “This was shown by the way they named their children. ‘Roman citizens had three names … Women, however, had only the [clan] name and the family name. They had no individual name.’ Instead of being given her own name, a Roman female was referred to by the feminine form of her father’s family name.”
Genocide or “gendercide” was as common in ancient Rome as the practice of abortion is today. When a mother gave birth to a girl, the newborn often was cast off in the woods or on a hillside and left to die by starvation or to be eaten by wild animals. The practice, called “exposing” an infant, was illegal for boys but permitted for girls. “The very fact that Romulus had to make a law guaranteeing that a family keep at least one daughter alive shows how widespread the practice of killing female babies was. How many female babies were killed is evidenced by such things as burial records that show twice as many male adult burials as female.”
Roman society placed very little value on wives, and husbands were not encouraged to treat wives well. Roman husbands demanded that their wives be submissive and pure, and the heavy hand of Roman law stood behind them to enforce their “rights.” If a wife did not obey her husband and submit to his rule, she broke the laws of the Roman state and could expect severe treatment, even death.
Husbands and Wives
Husbands and Wives
Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
Paul had just finished talking about putting on love which binds compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience together in perfect unity.
Our problem starts when we bring a worldly mindset into the family unit.
We are all free in Christ, but Paul gave direction that wives would make the choice to submit to their own husbands, not to a man or to someone else’s husband.
We have often misused and misinterpreted what the Bible teaches on the family.
In Roman culture the man had ultimate authority in the family.
In our families, God must have ultimate authority and we must submit to Him.
This is what Ephesians 5:21-26 says
Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord.
For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.
Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her
to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,
Paul said, “Wives submit yourselves to your husbands as is fitting to the Lord.
Let’s put emphasis on
...as is fitting to the Lord
I think that this is an area where the church at times has the emphasis on
“submit yourselves to your husbands...”
and we have forgotten the as is fitting to the Lord.
Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
Husbands, I’m needing to point fingers at myself here too.
If we love our wives as Christ loved the church and gave His life for it, do you think that your wife would have any issue choosing to submit as is fitting to the Lord?
I grew up in a home when decisions were often made without Mom’s consent.
Dad was a little old school. In my mind, there was no question that he wanted what was best for mom and the family, but at times having that voice of reason on purchases would have been wise, especially when it affected the family as a whole.
Which pasture to put what cow, or what crops to sow is one thing, but capital purchases is completely another thing.
Do not be harsh with them...
Do not be harsh with them...
In ancient Roman culture, women were like possessions.
If authority was questioned, it could be fatal.
In the family unit if we remember that God is the head over the family and we must answer to Him, it may affect how we treat each other.
Husbands, if we love our wives, we won’t be harsh with them.
Children...
Children...
Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
As parents we are called to train our children.
Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.
It’s not society’s role to parent our children. There is a saying that goes something like this, “It takes a village to raise a child.”
This can be true, but we must be careful what voices we allow to speak into our children.
Not every voice is going to bring our children closer to the Lord.
My Dad used to talk about a wonderful Christian family who had hired men on their dairy farm.
As the boys grew older, even though they loved their parents, they followed the ways of the hired man.
Fathers...
Fathers...
Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.
Paul reinforces this in
Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
Paul didn’t say mothers. He said, “Fathers...”
This could have been because of the society that he was speaking into, men had the ultimate authority in the home. Discipline could be harsh.
Maybe because many women had very little education, the fathers were quite involved in training and instructing.
My prayer is that by God’s grace, we could do what is fitting to the Lord as we raise our children.
We need to teach skills to our children. Physical training is of some value, but nothing is more important than giving our children the opportunity to know God and follow his ways. God needs to be more than Kids Club and Sunday School, he needs to be the center of our lives.
Slaves and Masters...
Slaves and Masters...
Why would the Bible speak to slavery?
Why wouldn’t Paul speak up against slavery? Didn’t he know it was wrong?
Slavery was a part of the ancient world, and slavery has been a part of history through the ages.
This doesn’t mean that God condones slavery. In fact, even though some people used the Bible to try to condone slavery, it was Christians that stood up and said. “This is not right! We must stop this!”
In our society today, this could be treated as
Employer and Employee
Employer and Employee
relationships.
Let’s read
Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord.
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,
since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favoritism.
Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven.
We have labour laws which are put in place to protect employees. Employers have expectations of employee conduct, but what would like be like if we lived by
The Golden Rule
The Golden Rule
“Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.
In our society, protection is needed for both employees and employers because of our sinful natures.
If everyone lived by the Royal law that brings freedom which says,
Yes indeed, it is good when you obey the royal law as found in the Scriptures: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
But if you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin. You are guilty of breaking the law.
The question really becomes,
Who’s your boss?
Who’s your boss?
The reason that we give our best effort, the reason that we do the same job whether your boss is looking or not, is because we are actually working for the Lord.
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
When you are called in because something is wrong, when you’re working the night shift, even when you don’t feel like being at work,
Do it all for the glory of God!
Do it all for the glory of God!
Some of these slaves weren’t being treated very well. They were being taken advantage of and yet Paul encouraged them,
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,
Why?
Why?
since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
We will never hear greater words than when we stand before the Lord and hear Him say,
“Well Done good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of the Lord!”
The trials you may face today will pale in comparison to spending eternity with Christ.
Maybe some of the slaves would say to Paul,
But what about when…?
But what about when…?
Some masters were very hard, very demanding…maybe they showed favoritism.
Here’s Paul’s response,
Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favoritism.
Pay day doesn’t always come on Friday. God who sees, keeps a good record. With God there is no favoritism.
Finally, Paul adresses
Masters...
Masters...
Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven.
God calls masters to do what is right and be fair. As Christians, God calls us to do what is right and to be fair. It’s not right for the rich to exploit the poor.
As Christians, we are brothers and sisters. We need to treat each other in that manner.
In Exodus, God called the Israelites to treat each other with respect.
If you take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge, return it by sunset,
because that cloak is the only covering your neighbor has. What else can they sleep in? When they cry out to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.
Let’s be compassionate as God’s children.
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Let’s not separate our theology from every day life.
In other words, as we live what we believe Christ will be glorified in us, in our families, in the market place, and in our world.
Let’s pray!