SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/16/2017 11:03 PM
My Worship Time Focus: 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.”
We begin with a short paragraph from John MacArthur
“Christianity is not just personal; it is relational. The life of the new man is a life lived among
other new men. The new man is to have an
impact also on the society in which he lives.
That responsibility becomes Paul’s theme in 3:18-4:1, where he discusses
the new man’s relationship to other people.”
As believers in Jesus Christ we are to penetrate the
world with the Good News of the Gospel.
That can be in our neighborhoods, or especially in your own family, and
can even mean to go to the remote parts of the world. Christianity is to influence the world, and
for the most part it has done just that.
J. C. Wenger wrote of the early church,
“Christianity burst into a
corrupt world with a brilliantly new moral radiance…The moral level of society
was dismal, and sin prevailed in many forms…Into this discouraged world came
Christ and His Spirit-transformed disciples, filled with holy joy, motivated by
a love which the pagans could not grasp, and proclaiming Good News—the message
that God has provided a Saviour…These Christians lived in tiny communities knit
together in the power of the Holy Spirit, little colonies of heaven. They thought of themselves as pilgrims on
their way to the celestial city, but they were very much concerned to manifest
the love of Christ in all human relationships.
“These early Christians
insisted on bringing all of life under the lordship of Christ…It is men and
women of this kind of moral purity who built into society a strong fabric of
integrity and strength.
“Life was cheap in pre-Christian world: murder, abortions, infant exposure, war:
people died in great numbers without anyone being troubled in conscience. The early Christians brought a new concern
into society on these points.”
We will take a short look at how Christianity has
affected the Western world in our next SD, beginning during the 1700’s.
5/16/2017 11:22 PM
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