Colossians 1:24-29
One interesting statement in this section is Paul says that his suffering is "filling up that which is lacking in Christ's afflictions." The literal translation says "of" Christ's afflictions and I think that is probably a better translation. This would have me understand that Paul is fulfilling the sufferings that Christ has appointed for him. He is full of joy because he is worthy to suffer for the name of Christ. Paul then goes on to speak of his ministry. Verse 25 tells us that Paul was given a stewardship. The word stewardship comes from a greek word literally meaning house-distributor. Paul has been given the authority to, in a sense, distribute the house of God. Who gave him this authority? God. Why? That he may preach the Word of God to a lost and dying world. This stewardship also reminds me of 1 Cor 9:16-18. “For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel. For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me. What then is my reward? That, when I preach the gospel, I may offer the gospel without charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.” Paul is talking about how it is his duty to preach the gospel. And since it is his duty, he should not get any glory for doing it. But there is a reward that he seeks and that is to offer the gospel free of charge. He did have the right and authority to ask for support to preach, but it was rewarding for him to preach for free. That said, he did receive support from churches, but usually not when he first brought them the gospel. Sometimes, I catch myself giving myself a ‘pat on the back’ because I shared the gospel or because I want to serve God through international missions like it’s some great and amazing task. Yet, it is only our duty. It’s what God has commanded us to do in Matt 28:18. My pastor taught on this a few weeks ago and reminded us of the passage in Luke 17:7-10. It hit me afresh when I was listening to his message. "Which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, 'Come immediately and sit down to eat'? "But will he not say to him, 'Prepare something for me to eat, and {properly} clothe yourself and serve me while I eat and drink; and afterward you may eat and drink'? "He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded, does he? "So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, 'We are unworthy slaves; we have done {only} that which we ought to have done.' " This was Paul's attitude towards life.
Paul goes on in verse 26 to describe the mystery of the Word of God that was hidden, but now has been revealed. This takes me back to Hebrews where Paul explains how the OT law was a foreshadowing of Christ and His work on the cross. It is amazing that God sent His Son to save the Jews, but even more so that He came to save the whole world! We serve an amazing God! This gift that we have been given is so amazing that we should not be able to keep from telling people. We should be like Paul and proclaim the gospel to those around us. But Paul does not stop at proclaiming the gospel. He goes on to teach every man in order to present them complete in Christ. This is something I find lacking in some church outreaches. They preach the gospel, but often times don't follow up with those who have expressed a desire to know Christ. If we are going to preach Christ, we must be ready to give people the tools they need to live for Christ. Otherwise, we are setting them up for failure.
As I mentioned earlier, sharing the gospel is a command; it is our duty as followers of Christ. When we obey this command, we are doing nothing more than our duty. We don't deserve any praise or glory because we were just being obedient. The thought of being an unworthy servant is something I have been thinking a lot about in the last few weeks. I am reminded of my lack of humility and desire for my own glory instead of God's. That is so wrong! Who am I, but a sinner who is not even worthy of being a servant of Christ. Yet, Christ in His grace has washed me and is making me into His image. It is nothing I have done, there is nothing I could do to earn this. The one thing I can do is serve Him with all that is within me, and tell others of His amazing grace. In the last couple verses in this passage, we see Paul's heart. I too feel this way as I seek to teach and admonish you guys. I am laboring and striving so that you will be made complete in Christ. It is my joy and passion to see people growing in Christ. That is why I want to do long term missions wherever I am. I want to be able to help people grow in Christ and understand His will for their lives. I pray that you girls will grow and change more into the image of Christ each day as we walk this road together.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Monday, January 28, 2008
Christ our Savior
Colossians 1:12-23
This section of verses talks about who Christ is in relation to us and our salvation. God has qualified us to share in Christ's inheritance. He transferred us from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of Christ. How is this possible? Christ has redeemed us and forgiven our sins. The word redeemed in the Greek means "the act of freeing or releasing from." Before Christ we were slaves to sin, Satan was our Master. But when Christ died on the cross and took our sins upon him, he paid the debt that we owed. Then he conquered death by His resurrection. Jesus is the visible representation of God. The word for image in the Greek means a prototype, not merely a resemblance of something, but actually being drawn from God. In other words, it is confirming the deity of Christ. Paul goes on in verses 16-18 to explain what it means that Christ is the first-born of all creation. He was the author of all creation, it flowed from him. Everything that is seen is because of God, and everything was created for His good pleasure. I am reminded of the parable of the evil tenants in Matt 21:33-46. The story represents how God created the nation of Israel, but then they tried to run things on their own, and would not give to God what was rightfully His. This too describes all of creation. God has the right to tell us what to do and demand our submission, we are His creation. As such, we should be willing to give ourselves and the fruit of our labor to the Lord who has made it possible for us to live and produce fruit.
Verse 19 describes Christ's humanity and deity. He was fully God, and fully man. Through Him all things have been reconciled. Christ's blood was sufficient to save every man, but is only applied to those who accept it, whom God predestined. We were formerly enemies of God, but now we have been redeemed and are able to stand before God holy and blameless because of Christ's imputed righteousness. Verse 23 puts a condition on our presentation as holy and blameless before God. Paul is saying is that continuing in the faith, being steadfast, and not straying from the hope of the gospel are evidences of your salvation. Theses things are accomplished only through the strength and grace of God. We could not do this on our own.
In applying this scripture to our lives, we must remember that we are God's. He has the right to do what ever He thinks is best in our lives. This means that when we experience trials, we must remember that God has put it in our life for our good and His glory. It also means that every thing we do should be dedicated to His glory. So often we forget who we are and seek to gain glory for ourselves. The only glory we should be concerned about is the glory of God. This should be our supreme desire, to please Him and bring Him glory.
This section of verses talks about who Christ is in relation to us and our salvation. God has qualified us to share in Christ's inheritance. He transferred us from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of Christ. How is this possible? Christ has redeemed us and forgiven our sins. The word redeemed in the Greek means "the act of freeing or releasing from." Before Christ we were slaves to sin, Satan was our Master. But when Christ died on the cross and took our sins upon him, he paid the debt that we owed. Then he conquered death by His resurrection. Jesus is the visible representation of God. The word for image in the Greek means a prototype, not merely a resemblance of something, but actually being drawn from God. In other words, it is confirming the deity of Christ. Paul goes on in verses 16-18 to explain what it means that Christ is the first-born of all creation. He was the author of all creation, it flowed from him. Everything that is seen is because of God, and everything was created for His good pleasure. I am reminded of the parable of the evil tenants in Matt 21:33-46. The story represents how God created the nation of Israel, but then they tried to run things on their own, and would not give to God what was rightfully His. This too describes all of creation. God has the right to tell us what to do and demand our submission, we are His creation. As such, we should be willing to give ourselves and the fruit of our labor to the Lord who has made it possible for us to live and produce fruit.
Verse 19 describes Christ's humanity and deity. He was fully God, and fully man. Through Him all things have been reconciled. Christ's blood was sufficient to save every man, but is only applied to those who accept it, whom God predestined. We were formerly enemies of God, but now we have been redeemed and are able to stand before God holy and blameless because of Christ's imputed righteousness. Verse 23 puts a condition on our presentation as holy and blameless before God. Paul is saying is that continuing in the faith, being steadfast, and not straying from the hope of the gospel are evidences of your salvation. Theses things are accomplished only through the strength and grace of God. We could not do this on our own.
In applying this scripture to our lives, we must remember that we are God's. He has the right to do what ever He thinks is best in our lives. This means that when we experience trials, we must remember that God has put it in our life for our good and His glory. It also means that every thing we do should be dedicated to His glory. So often we forget who we are and seek to gain glory for ourselves. The only glory we should be concerned about is the glory of God. This should be our supreme desire, to please Him and bring Him glory.
Friday, January 25, 2008
The Hope of Heaven
Col 1:1-11
Paul begins this letter by commending the brothers at Colossae. He is thankful for them for two reasons: 1) their faith and 2) the love that they have for all the saints. Why do they have this faith and love? Verses 5 tells us that it is because of the hope stored up for them in heaven. The word hope in the Greek means "expectation or confidence." The Colossian believers had a firm confidence in the hope of heaven and the Word of God. The gospel had begun to spread all over the world and was (and still is) "constantly bearing fruit and increasing." This reminds me of the passage in Isa 55:11 "So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding {in the matter} for which I sent it." Verse 7-8 tell us that Epaphras is the one who founded the church and brought the report of it to Paul. In verses 9-12 Paul explains how he prays for the Colossians. 1) He prays without ceasing. 2) He prays that they will be filled with the knowledge of His will. 3) He prays that this knowledge would cause them to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. 4) He prays for them to be strengthened with the power of God to obtain endurance and patience with joy. 5) He thanks God for them.
In verse in 9, the word for knowledge is epignosis. This word literally means "to know above or beyond." It implies participation in knowledge. Thus Paul is praying for the Colossians to not have only intellectual knowledge of God, but to really KNOW God. If they really know God, they will walk according to His will and obey His commandments. But accomplishing this goal is hard, and we get tired. So Paul prays that the power of God would strengthen them. The word endurance is hupamone in the Greek. It literally means "to abide under." The same word is used to describe endurance in James 1. "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have {its} perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." This word for endurance also implies hope, so it is a an endurance that has hope in what is to come. In James 1, I think of it as a humble submission to the trial and thus to God's will because we have epignosis (knowledge beyond the here and now). We must also remember that it is through God's "glorious might" that we can attain such endurance.
There are several of ways that we can apply this to our lives. The first is to examine our lives. Are we full of faith and love for other believers? When people look at you do they see someone who is abounding with love for others? Second is to use Paul's prayer to challenge our walk. Are we living out the things Paul is praying? Is this a pray that we need to pray for ourselves? Does the way you live your life show that you KNOW God, and don't just know OF Him? The book Knowing God by J. I. Packer is a really good resource for the topic of knowing God. The more we know God, the more we should desire to serve Him and thank Him for His amazing grace! Thirdly, we can use Paul's prayer as outline of how to pray for others. When you don't know how to pray for someone, there are many examples in scripture of prayers that can help you get started. Eph 3:14-21 is another good one. Fourth, we can practice endurance. This is not something we just all the sudden get, but something that God grows in us. How? Through trials. This is why we are to have joy in trials; we know that trials help us to see our sin and get rid of it. And if we have endured the trial with this attitude, we will be more like Christ and so thankful for the trial.
Paul begins this letter by commending the brothers at Colossae. He is thankful for them for two reasons: 1) their faith and 2) the love that they have for all the saints. Why do they have this faith and love? Verses 5 tells us that it is because of the hope stored up for them in heaven. The word hope in the Greek means "expectation or confidence." The Colossian believers had a firm confidence in the hope of heaven and the Word of God. The gospel had begun to spread all over the world and was (and still is) "constantly bearing fruit and increasing." This reminds me of the passage in Isa 55:11 "So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding {in the matter} for which I sent it." Verse 7-8 tell us that Epaphras is the one who founded the church and brought the report of it to Paul. In verses 9-12 Paul explains how he prays for the Colossians. 1) He prays without ceasing. 2) He prays that they will be filled with the knowledge of His will. 3) He prays that this knowledge would cause them to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. 4) He prays for them to be strengthened with the power of God to obtain endurance and patience with joy. 5) He thanks God for them.
In verse in 9, the word for knowledge is epignosis. This word literally means "to know above or beyond." It implies participation in knowledge. Thus Paul is praying for the Colossians to not have only intellectual knowledge of God, but to really KNOW God. If they really know God, they will walk according to His will and obey His commandments. But accomplishing this goal is hard, and we get tired. So Paul prays that the power of God would strengthen them. The word endurance is hupamone in the Greek. It literally means "to abide under." The same word is used to describe endurance in James 1. "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have {its} perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." This word for endurance also implies hope, so it is a an endurance that has hope in what is to come. In James 1, I think of it as a humble submission to the trial and thus to God's will because we have epignosis (knowledge beyond the here and now). We must also remember that it is through God's "glorious might" that we can attain such endurance.
There are several of ways that we can apply this to our lives. The first is to examine our lives. Are we full of faith and love for other believers? When people look at you do they see someone who is abounding with love for others? Second is to use Paul's prayer to challenge our walk. Are we living out the things Paul is praying? Is this a pray that we need to pray for ourselves? Does the way you live your life show that you KNOW God, and don't just know OF Him? The book Knowing God by J. I. Packer is a really good resource for the topic of knowing God. The more we know God, the more we should desire to serve Him and thank Him for His amazing grace! Thirdly, we can use Paul's prayer as outline of how to pray for others. When you don't know how to pray for someone, there are many examples in scripture of prayers that can help you get started. Eph 3:14-21 is another good one. Fourth, we can practice endurance. This is not something we just all the sudden get, but something that God grows in us. How? Through trials. This is why we are to have joy in trials; we know that trials help us to see our sin and get rid of it. And if we have endured the trial with this attitude, we will be more like Christ and so thankful for the trial.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Introduction to Colossians
Author: Paul states that he is the author in 1:1. Date: Scholars believe he wrote this letter around 62-63 A.D. from Rome, and sent it and Ephesians with Tychicus (4:7,8).
Location: Colossae was a little town in Asia Minor, about 100 miles east of Ephesus. The church there was founded by Epaphras. Some people think that Epaphras was Paul’s convert from Ephesus; others believe him to be just another brother and servant of Christ. From Philemon 23, it seems like he might have been in prison with Paul in Rome.
Theme: The preemenience of Christ. Purpose: Paul was writing to the Colossians to encourage them, but also to combat false doctrine that had entered the church. This false doctrine was Gnosticism which believes that that matter and knowledge are separate. All matter is evil, but knowledge is the "ultimate salvation" (Key Word Study Bible). They did not believe in the humanity of Christ because of this thought. They also felt that whatever they did with their body did not matter because the spirit and the body are separate. Paul uses this letter to refocus the Colossian church on the truth.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
How are we doing?
Ok, this is the post where you can comment on how things are going this week. Make sure you read my previous post.
BTW, I def complained more than twice today about my really long day at school. :( FYI, I don't know that not complaining more than twice is a realistic goal to start out with, but I wanted us to start thinking about how much we complain and then try to stop it! Maybe someday we will get to the point of no complaining!!
Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, (Phl 2:14-15 NASB)
I haven't written a note to mom yet, but I will soon! Hmm, I think that should be a goal for tomorrow!
BTW, I def complained more than twice today about my really long day at school. :( FYI, I don't know that not complaining more than twice is a realistic goal to start out with, but I wanted us to start thinking about how much we complain and then try to stop it! Maybe someday we will get to the point of no complaining!!
Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, (Phl 2:14-15 NASB)
I haven't written a note to mom yet, but I will soon! Hmm, I think that should be a goal for tomorrow!
Instructions
Alright Girls. I'm gonna outline how I want this blog to work ok? Ok, so here's the deal. Each week, I want you to study the given chapter, and then formulate your thoughts. Explain what you think it means and then how you can specifically apply it to your life. I want you to do one post every week with an explanation and application. After the one post, you can post any comments on the comment section of the person's note. In other words, don't use the big blog section to post about daily goals or any kind of reply to a previous post. Also label your post with the book name (ie "Colossians") in the little box at the bottom right of the posting box. This post is labeled as "instructions," so anything having to do with instructions regarding the website will be labeled as such. This will help us keep the site organized and free of clutter. You can see the labels organized on the right-hand navigation bar. As we do more posts, it will help us to sort things out. Does that make sense to everyone? Comment on this post or email me if you have questions. I'm gonna reorganize the current posts to demonstrate. Oh, and make sure you put a title for your post.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Favorite Verse
verse 10 of ch.1 of Colossians is my favorite. I need to work on this:
"That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God"
what your guys's favorite verse in ch.1? =)
Welcome
Hi Girls,
Here's where we can post our thoughts and comments about what we read. You should have an email with instructions for how to sign up to post on this blog. If you have an questions, just email me.
Here's where we can post our thoughts and comments about what we read. You should have an email with instructions for how to sign up to post on this blog. If you have an questions, just email me.
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