PT-1 "Intro to Colossians 3:18-4:1"

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/15/2017 9:47 PM

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  PT-1 Intro to Colossians 3:18-4:1

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Col. 3:18-4:1

            Message of the verses:  “18 Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be embittered against them. 20 Children, be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so that they will not lose heart. 22 Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. 25 For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality.  1 Masters, grant to your slaves justice and fairness, knowing that you too have a Master in heaven.”

            I really like the title that John MacArthur gives to this 14^th chapter in his commentary on the book of Colossians “The New Man Makes a New Home.”  We have been talking about the old man and then the new man and now we will be talking about the different persons who are in this new man’s home.

            The word “amorality” according to John MacArthur means that “man apart from God has no absolute moral or ethical standards to regulate his behavior.”  He goes on to talk about the next problem that man has and that is “anonymity.”  Man does not know who he is or why he is here, and yes that is a very large problem for man to have.  In spite of having a Bible that tells man exactly where he came from and also what he is doing here on planet earth man still struggles with knowing where he came from and why he is here on planet earth.  The last word MacArthur uses to describe man’s problem is “Alienated.”  Francis Schaeffer writes “the fall alienated man not only from God, but also from himself and from other people.” 

            As we look at these three words which describe three major problems man has they get their roots in man’s separation from God which happened in the 3^rd chapter of Genesis.  “People are characterized by amorality or immorality because apart from God there can be no absolute moral standards.  They are then doomed to moral relativism and situational ethics.”

            Man also faces emptiness because they live apart from God, as they feel trapped in an impersonal universe.  I suppose that is why we have so many space shows on TV and at the movies to show that man is not alone in the universe, but that too if folly as Solomon likes to use that word.

            Now once a person becomes a believer in Jesus Christ these three problems cease to exist.  We see an absolute moral standard in the Word of God for man to follow, and that standard is rooted in the very nature of God.  Believers become a child of God and so they are no longer anonymous.  Believers do not suffer from alienation or loneliness because they are now beloved children of God.

            We will continue looking at this introduction in our next SD.

5/15/2017 10:10 PM