LIVING A CHRISTIAN LIFE
Colossians
3:1-18
IDENTIFYING YOURSELF
V:1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set
your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2
Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your
life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life,
appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
YOU ARE A HEAVENLY CREATURE
Question How
do you see yourself?
If you see yourself existing on earth, you will never
see yourself existing in heaven
The phrase has been raised with Christ in Greek is aorist
passive which means it
Has already happened. In simple terms. You are already
in Heaven with Christ.
To understand this, you must understand the concept of
time. God does not exist in time.
He exists outside of time. Time is for you and me. When God created the
heavens and the Earth, He did it in time frames of days.
To God, time is irrelevant. The Word says, to God a
day is as a thousand years and a thousand years is a day.
We have already been raised with Christ. He said, where I AM there you will be also.
Therefore, we must view ourselves in the present as
being in Heaven.
How can this be?
There is another concept to understand, position and
experience.
Positional every believer is in Christ at this very
moment in Heaven
I am not heavenly bound, spiritually, I am already
there.
Experientially you are on earth.
You are in heaven because God has placed you there
with Jesus
You are on earth because God has more work for you to
do under the
Guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Since we are in heaven, our hearts ought to be on the
things of Heaven.
Everything we do must be done from a view of heaven.
We cannot neglect the responsibility God has given us
on earth. The work
We do is to please God and draw others to Him (Matthew
28:19)
LIVE BY FAITH
When we deal with our daily experiences and problems,
we must deal with
Them from a heavenly basis. Since you are a new person in Christ, put the
New person on the scene.
For example, on the job, the new person in Christ works
to please God, not man
God gave us earthly supervisors. But He is in control
of everyone.
Titus 3:1-2
3 Remind the people to be subject to rulers and
authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, 2 to slander
no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all
men.
NIV
When an argument arises enter to listen and learn.
Allow God to guide your response
How do you deal with a difficult person?
You have to take yourself out of the flesh and put
yourself in the calmness of Christ
The Geneva College gives this advice
Put Faith in action
1. Ask
the Holy Spirit to intercede.
2. Pray
for self-control.
3. Diffuse
the situation by depersonalizing it
Ask yourself: “Is this conflict really about me?” It could be
that the other person has just experienced a horrible loss or is enduring a
painful physical challenge. Try to become spacious and generous with your
attention instead of contracted and self-focused. Put yourself in the other
person’s situation, and be open to the idea that this may have nothing at all
to do with you. If you can bring some humor and levity into the situation, all
the better!
3. Turn
the pointing finger to you
Prayerfully search inside and ask
yourself:
- How am I contributing to the
discord here?
- Is this person reminding me of
myself when I’ve done the same thing?
- What are my true motives for my
words and actions?
How
do a Christian deal with mounting bills?
1.
Trust God
2.
Philippians 4:19
And my God will meet all your needs according
to his
glorious riches in
Christ Jesus.
How
do you deal with unanswered prayers?
1,
Consider the prayer of faith has already been answered.
Isaiah
38:4-6
Then
the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: 5 "Go and tell Hezekiah, 'This is
what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and
seen your tears; I will add fifteen years to your life.
Verse 2 of Colossians 3 commands us to set our minds
on things above.
What are the
things above?
Love, forgiveness, patience, long-suffering,
tolerance, gentleness,
Praise and worship, eternal life
CLEAN UP YOUR ACT
V:5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your
earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed,
which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.
A The mind is a terrible thing to waste on the devil.
1, There is
a war going on between the flesh and the spirit.
Romans
7:22-23
For in
my inner being I delight in God's law; 23 but I see another law at work
in the
members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and
making
me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.
Romans
8:1-3
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for
those who are in Christ Jesus,
because
through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from
the
law of sin and death.
Don’t let the mind that in Christ which is also in you,
Be shared with the devil.
WALK LIKE A CHRISTIAN
V:7 You used to
walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must rid
yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and
filthy language from your lips.
The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord
Don’t let feet that will walk the golden streets of
heaven, walk in the dirt of life
GET RID OF THE OLD SELF
V:9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off
your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is
being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no
Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free,
but Christ is all and is in all.
Study the Word of God daily. Meditate on it day and
night
When you study the Word, you will know the truth and
the truth will set you free.
You will be set free from the desire to lie.
Why do we lie?
- People may lie because they believe the lie is
critically important, even though it may seem inconsequential.
- People lie to control a situation or to avoid
disappointing someone.
. People
lie when it just doesn’t matter because they do think it
matters.
. People lie because it’s not a lie to them.
When we are under pressure, our thinking
about the big picture can be
challenged. Our memory of things can be quite
unreliable:
PUT ON NEW CLOTHES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
V:12. Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and
dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness,
and patience.
We have been wearing old clothes for so long that we
are comfortable with them.
While the old man in us is dead, his attitude is alive
and well.
Becoming a Christian does not automatically eliminate
old attitudes. It takes constant work.
PUT ON THE VIRTUE OF LOVE
V: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.
WHAT IS THE DEFINITION OF LOVE?
We grew up with idea that love is a feeling. We
constantly hear the phrase I don’t feel loved.
Love is not a feeling. It is a quality of God.
There is a difference between the way man defines love
and the way God defines love.
Webster's definition of love
a(1)
: strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal
ties
maternal love for
a child
(2): attraction based on sexual desire: affection and tenderness felt by lovers
YOU MAY HAVE FEELINGS, BUT IT IS NOT LOVE
No one ever told us that love is not a feeling. We
have been deceived.
Love is a Godly attitude. God is love. Love is an action word.
Love does not originate in us or with us, It is bestowed
upon us.
God's relentless,
Royal love arrives in Jesus, and his affection for us drove him to
give us the ultimate act of loyal love in his life, death, and resurrection.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his khesed endures forever (Psalms
118:1)
God used khesed to describe Himself in Exodus 34:6,
where God calls himself “compassionate, gracious, slow to
anger, abounding in khesed and
faithfulness.”
In the New Testament, the Greek word for Love is agapao
found in
Matthew 22:37
Agapao love is high esteem or high regards
Love is like oil to the wheels of obedience. It
enables us to run the way of God's commandments (Psalms 119:32). Without such
love, we are as nothing (1 Corinthians 13:3). Such Spirit-inspired love never
fails (1 Corinthians 13:8) but always flourishes.
(from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Copyright
© 1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers)
The reason we have a problem with God’s love is we
keep applying man’s definition of Love to all our situations.
Inside the four walls of the church, we show up
together. Outside the
Church, we are largely separated.
We see ourselves as individuals, separate from each
other.
The truth is, In Christ, we are all part of the same
family.
THE BENEFITS OF LOVE
Colossians 3:15-18
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts since
as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the
word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with
all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude
in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it
all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Love brings
peace
Love brings
togetherness
Love brings
wisdom
Love brings
worship
Love brings
fellowship
Love brings gratefulness
Love brings
service
Love
produces good works
Love causes
obedience
Love brings
unity in purpose
Love brings
us together in Christ
CLASS
QUESTIONS
·
DO YOU VIEW YOURSELF AS A RESIDENT OF HEAVEN?
·
ARE YOU LIVING YOUR BEST CHRISTIAN LIFE?
·
WHAT MORE CAN YOU DO TO AS AN EXAMPLE OF CHRIST?
·
DO YOU SEE CONFUSION BETWEEN MAN’S DEFINITION
OF LOVE AND GOD’S DEFINITION?
No comments:
Post a Comment