Dear Precious Friends,
On this Magnificent Monday, this gift of a new day, a new week and the amazing reminder that God has a great purpose for our lives or we wouldn't be here and we are to seek Him first as we start this new day as He directs us through the power of the filling and indwelling of the Holy Spirit... Refer have to Wednesday's post for the reminder from God's word of this amazing power we have!!!!
We discussed how important it is when reading scripture to understand context and who wrote the scripture, what was written before, who it was written for and what is written after to make certain we aren't "twisting" the scripture to mean what we want it to verses what it was written to mean....
The Letter of Paul to the Colossians, also called The Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Colossians, New Testament writing addressed to Christians at Colossae, Asia Minor, whose congregation was founded by Paul's colleague Epaphras.
Furthermore, The main theme of Colossians is to provide the early Christians with substantial evidence of Jesus' divinity.
Also, what is the meaning of Colossians?
Definition of Colossians. : a letter written by St. Paul to the Christians of Colossae and included as a book in the New Testament.
SO what exactly does Colossians 3:12 mean:
Let's look at verses that come before Colossians 3:12-15 in Colossians 3:1-11 dealing with what to put off.
verses 3 and 4:
For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, our life, is revealed, then you will also be revealed with him in glory.
“For you died“ (v. 3a). Death is a serious transition. It brings everything to an end. In this case, these Colossian Christians have died to the old order. Their old selves no longer exist. But, for them, death has not been the end. They have been “raised together with Christ” (v. 1)—raised to a new life.
“and your life is hidden with Christ in God“ (v. 3b). There is a good deal of hiddenness or mystery associated with God. After all, God says,
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways….
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9).
How could it be otherwise! How could we, the created ones, plumb the depths of the one who created us?
Once we understand this, we can understand more deeply what it means to clothe ourselves spiritually...
This message is about what to put on. It focuses on the positive practical aspect of our faith in everyday living. Here is the passage that we will be looking at:
Col 3:12-15 Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. (13) Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. (14) And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. (15) Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
The Bible speaks of 'clothing' yourself. We manage to do that well physically each morning. But there is more than cotton and polyester that we are instructed to cloth ourselves with. We are to cloth ourselves spiritually [1] . So when we arise in the morning, as well as putting on socks, shorts, shirts and skirts, we are to cloth ourselves with that which is listed here. Socks and shorts are pretty easy to put on each morning. What about compassion, kindness, gentleness, humility, patience, forgiveness and love?
Sometimes you don't even have to leave bed to have all those positive attributes tested! Sometimes we enter the new day not feeling overly compassionate, gentle, kind or patient. And that can be before we actually meet... people! What about that person at work or a family member or friend that irritates you?
So how does it work? How can these positive virtues be seen in our lives? The ability to do what the Bible commands here is not possible with the fleshly nature we were born with. When we are reading the Bible as a list of commands that we have to obey and we don't take God into account then we are setting ourselves up for failure.In fact there are 6 words that cannot ever be ignored and govern every other command in the Bible. They are the words of Jesus: 'Without me you can do nothing.'
Yet the character and attributes mentioned in this verse are essential in our age. Why? Because humanity in general is going in the opposite direction with so much conflict, selfishness, pride and ungratefulness. So if we are ever to display what is true, instead of just talking about what is true, then it is found in the positive Christian characteristics expressed here - kindness, patience, humility, gentleness.
D.L Moody rightly said 'Out of one hundred men, one will read the Bible, the other ninety-nine will read the Christian." That statement is very true and very sobering! LET'S MAKE CERTAIN WE ARE THAT ONE OUT OF 100!!!!
So we know when we read this scripture that Jesus is all of these things?
How are these things seen in our life? The good thing about the gospel message is that the one who has given His life not only for you, but also to you, is all of these things. He is compassionate, He is kind. He is humble. He is meek and gentle. He is patient.
So let's start by spending time reading this chapter and then each day this week I will cover one of these amazing characterisics of what it means for us to be clothed in each attribute that reveals the character of Christ in us.
I pray you have an amazing day knowing how loved you are, knowing what it means to have the Holy Spirit living in us and the power of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
AMEN!!
Go to this link or to last Wednesday for the details on the indwelling of the HOly Spirit.
AMEN!
