2022-1-30, Christ Above All: Christ's Instruction for Home and Work Relationships, Colossians 3:18-4:1
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
2022-1-30, Christ Above All: Christ's Instruction for Home and Work Relationships, Colossians 3:18-4:1
A stencil is a template which goes over a piece of paper and provides boundaries to someone’s marks on a page. Different kinds of stencils dictate a unique style to the marks they allow.
This is a great picture of how Christ influences our lives. When we are saved by grace through in Jesus our Savior and Lord, we become hidden in Christ. We gain a new self and we learn to obey Christ.
Christ overlays his commands on our lives. They act as a stencil over our thoughts, attitudes, and actions. It even shape our relationships at home and at work
Today, we are going to see how Being hidden in Christ impacts our home and work relationships.
Review
Review
Colossians is Paul’s letter to a good church he’s never been to which is struggling with encroaching heresy (pre-gnostic, Jewish legalism & folklore, asceticism). They face the temptation to diminish Christ and His work.
Paul’s counter to heresy by exalting 1) Christ as God and 2) His gospel and 3) reminding them how the Lordship of Christ impacts touches every part of their lives.
2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
After passage Christ encourages the Christians to put off sinful ways and to clothe themselves in the virtues of Christ
He instructs them first in the their church relationships and this week we see Paul moves to the spheres of home and work.
Let’s talk about the first relationship Christ affects-
Husbands and Wives
Husbands and Wives
Wives Submit to their Husbands
Wives Submit to their Husbands
Marriage was the first human relationship God created. After the fall, this was the first one damaged.
In Genesis 3, God tells Eve, and all wives thereafter, that
16 To the woman he said,
“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
in pain you shall bring forth children.
Your desire shall be contrary to your husband,
but he shall rule over you.”
With the fall, some terrible things came into the human experience. Sin possessed the flesh and the old self was born into us. We became unregenerate, unredeemed, condemned, inclined to sin, and separated from God.
This change became manifest in wives as “Your desire shall be contrary to your husband...” This means wives will not want what their husbands’ want.
There is a division of wills, which shows a brokenness in the intended unity of marriage (two become one flesh, one in will Gen 2:24).
There will be something in you that will want to discount, diminish, and defer what your husband says. Sin in you will incline your resist your husbands leadership and overestimate your own position to the household.
Even if your husband’s leadership were to be absolutely aligned with your benefit, you will still want to rebel against it.
If you need proof of this, just ask yourself how well you follow Christ’s leadership in your life. Something in your resists (sin in you).
The good news is, though the world fell, God has moved to restore His creation. God’s redemption plan hinges on the person and work (the cross and resurrection) of Jesus Christ.
And as Paul has said, Colossians 3:10
10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
The new self, Christ in us, impacts the relationship of a wife to her husband. The Lord sets a stencil over the relationship of the wife and her husband.
Paul says,
18 Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
To submit means to let your husband lead in the relationship and to support that leadership. Become united with him in heart. It means aligning your will with his. This means to quit discounting, diminishing, and deferring the things your husband asks of you. Particularly, those things in which he has your good in mind.
This is not passive (“have your way...”, this is active too. Be involved in making his leadership better. Be for him. Help him.
Paul says this is fitting in the Lord. This is why... Creation expresses the will of God. He made Adam to lead, bless, and love Eve. He made her to help him. As Christ is the Creator (vs. 16), it honors the Lord when we go with His design.
Paul gave the Ephesians more clarity and instruction.
22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
Paul reiterates the creative order and qualifies the submission of wives. It’s as if Jesus says, “submit to your husband as you would submit to me.” “Submit to him as the church submits to me.”
A few misconceptions about submission by John MacArthur
First, submission does not imply inferiority. Jesus submitted to the Father during His life on earth, yet He was in no way inferior to Him.
Second, submission is not absolute. Obedience in this passage is reserved for children and servants. There may be times when a wife must refuse to submit to her husband’s desires (if they violate God’s Word).
Finally, The wife’s submission takes place in the context of a loving relationship. The instruction here is in the context of a Christian wife married to Christian God-fearing man looking out for her best interest.
When you have a husband who does not fear the Lord, things become very confusing, very quickly (sin always has this effect). You will have the constant challenge of figuring how to submit while holding to your convictions in Christ. A good rule is always to submit to Christ first.
Husbands Love Wives
Husbands Love Wives
Next is Paul’s word to husbands. There is a stencil overlay for those given authority and leadership.
In the beginning, husbands were supposed to treasure and lead their wives in unity (one flesh, Genesis 2:24).
Sadly, after the fall, men became proud and overbearing toward their helpmates.
Returning to Genesis 3:16, God told Eve about Adam, “but he shall rule over you.”
Sin in the flesh and the old self led them to think they can use their God-given authority to bark, bully, abuse, and bend their wives to their wills.
Sadly, men stopped appreciating their wives and used their strength to overpower them. This is the ugliest part of men.
Husbands, there is something in us which wants to lord over others. When we direct this toward our beautiful, delicate, and trusting wives, it damages them.
Yet Christ transforms men from ogres to creature who manifest dignity and honor to our wives.
Paul says,
19 Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.
This means we do not poke and prod her in a way to make her angry or resentful. Do not humiliate her, denigrate her, or make her violate her conscience. Do not make her regret marrying you. Don’t be resentful toward her for her failings.
Rather, as Christ rules your hearts, husbands are to love their wives with a love that is like the divine love God has shows toward us.
8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
This is agape love, emphasizing great affection, great care, great security, great loyalty. This love also means to delight in her as God takes pleasure in us.
Paul gives more detail in Ephesians...
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
Husbands, your love should be sacrificial in nature & edifying of your wife. Be for her as you want her to be for you. Be faithful to her above all. Make it clear she is your one and only and that she is your priority. Use your power and authority to give her grace and love.
Act towards her like the Shepherd in Psalm 23.
Don’t wait for Valentines Day to give her your love. Start it right now. “Tell her she’s beautiful, your one and only, and that you want God’s best for her.”
Act this way toward her and I think you will find yourself with a teammates rather than an opponent.
This is the impact of Christ in your marriage.
Parents and Children
Parents and Children
Children obey Parents
Children obey Parents
Like husbands and wives, children carry sin in the flesh and wear the garments of the old self, because of the fall.
Do you have any doubt in this? Why do children first say, “NO!” instead of “Yes, Mother! Yes, Father! As you wish.”
You see the flesh manifest quickly in the life of a child. That sin does not honor the God-ordained order of authority given to parents.
But Christ transforms the hearts of children as well. There’s a stencil for children to follow.
20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.
God designed children to need their parents for survival, maturity, character building, and spiritual formation. God’s given parents the authority and responsibility to raise the next generation to be God-fearers, noble men and women, and great parents in their own right.
Thus, God’s Word commands children to obey their parents. The word for obey is stronger than for submit. It’s not absolute, but close.
The first reason to do this is...It pleases the Lord. It respects His creative order.
Children in the home, read your Bible, pray, live godly lives, share the gospel, but first and foremost, obey your parents.
Not only does it please the Lord, but it sets you up for a life of blessings. It strengthens your witness and your faith.
See what God will have in store for you if you will do this.
1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.”
God promises you blessing and reward if you will make the choice to obey. Practically- wealth, stability, and long life generally go with people who know how to respect authority. You learn this at home.
Further, obeying your parents trains you to obey the Lord. This always comes with reward in the here and now and the hereafter.
Parents love your children
Parents love your children
Christ transforms parents too. In the old self, parents range from wanting to lord over children for personal benefit to neglecting kids in favor of our own desires.
To parents, Paul says,
21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.
The term fathers can be taken to mean both parents.
To provoke means to challenge, irritate, or to stir-up to anger. It’s to do these things which result in discouragement or despair.
There are a lot of ways to do this. Overprotect, favoritism, depreciate them by ignoring or ridiculing them, fail to provide for them, set before them unrealistic goals and expectations, set zero goals or expectations for them, keep love and affection (hugs and “I love yous” from them), do excessive discipline or abuse. Point to other things before the Lord.
Do these enough and a child will become a shell of a person.
Parents, let Christ in you fill your relationship with your children with grace, love, provision, Christian education, and proper discipline. Apply His stencil over your relationship with your kids. Be for their good, edify them in the Lord (Ephesians 6:4) and get them on your team.
Parent them the way the Lord parents you.
Slaves and Masters
Slaves and Masters
The last section is the biggest and is the most likely to be misunderstood. In it Paul addresses slaves and their masters.
Unlike the other two home relationships, slavery is not part of the creative order. It is not legally a part of our culture. It is a result of the fall that people think they could own other people.
Let’s really grasp the 1st century Romans context.
Richard Melick:
“Most slaves found themselves in situations of hopelessness. Slaves were, generally speaking, victims of war. The slavery was political and economic (bondservants), not racial.
“Similarly, virtually every class of person lived with the realization that war could cause them to lose everything and be sold into slavery.
NAC
"Owning slaves was not limited to the rich; many households included at least one slave. The Greeks and Romans both employed a system in which slaves could own property, earn money, and buy their freedom. This system was probably implemented to keep slaves submissive. (LBD)
Slaves who revolted in the Roman empire found themselves in a worse position than before.
So, Slavery was deeply engrained in the culture and an accepted reality.
Yet, the gospel confirms a trajectory away from slavery. In Lk 4:18-19, Jesus said he came to set the captives free. Christ first deals with our spiritual slavery under sin. But we see that the end vision is the eternal state where people do not oppress one another, but we only serve the Lord.
Through the gospel, there is this leveling out and equality established among all those who express faith in Christ, so that in the church, everyone is of the same class, -redeemed.
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
1 Timothy 1:10, Further, Paul classifies slave traders among other groups who practice evil and are outside of the kingdom of God.
However, the 1st century was not the time for the Lord to destroy slavery. So, the emphasis in the NT is not on abolition, but on the attitude of Christians who were enslaved, or the believers who possessed them.
Paul urges all Christians—slaves and free persons—to identify themselves in terms of their status in Christ rather than by their circumstance and worldly standing, knowing that these were temporary. (LBD)
Back to the context...
The amazing thing was that slaves, freemen, and masters all composed the church body of Colossae.
Paul explains that there is a stencil that Christ lays over even this kind of relationship.
So to the Colossians, Paul counsels
22 Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. 25 For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.
Paul tells slaves to obey their masters. They were to help their masters to make the home & business great for everyone.
They were to do so with a right heart and with respect for those whom they served.
This meant they served not with...
1. eye-service- a person who appears to be fulfilling his duties actively only when his master is present.
2. people-pleasers- trying to curry their master’s favor, (disingenuous flattery)
Rather, they were to do their work with all their souls and strength, without duplicity or ulterior motives.
While their circumstance may not be just, they can count that same work as unto the Lord, rather than only toward their earthly masters.
Paul explains that God will see the spirit of work they do and will reward their work. They need to have a long range-vision that they will one day pass away from earthly enslavement and will be brought into God’s household. There they will receive the inheritance of heaven, that God promises to His people.
If they have a rotten master, they should take solace in the fact that God will pay back the wicked for his harm, with no partiality 2 Chron. 19:7
Now, slavery is not a legal fixture of our society. Praise God for the abolitionists whom He used providentially to rid our country of that stain.
So how do we apply this passage? But we do have employment. Most of us have bosses. Paul’s instructions translate very nicely to your work environment.
Employees, approach your work with a good heart and a godly work ethic. Do your job like the Lord is your boss, because He is.
You may be treated unfairly, trust that the Lord will repay wickedness on His timetable.
14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
You work for heavenly reward.
This is how knowing Christ affects your employment.
Employers
Employers
In the last instruction, Paul has instruction for slave masters in the church. This could apply toward employers today.
1 Masters, treat your bondservants justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.
Treat your people well. Do them right. Employers, treat your people with fairness and equality. The Christians who work for you are fellow servants before God. Remember you are not really “over” them. They are an equal servant before the Lord. The Lord is watching very carefully how you treat you brother or sister in the Lord.
9 Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Christ the Lord gives you a stencil to place over your earthly relationships. If He is Lord, then we obey Him because we love Him. We trust that His ways are best.
Repentance
wives
husbands
children
parents
employees
employers
ABCs