week of 10/19/11 5th recorded HighQuest Colossians 3:12-17

The passage I read was Colossians 3:12-17

You can find that passage here:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians+3%3A12-17&version=NIV

The verse that most stood out to me:

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.

As I reflect:

This passage starts off with a qualification for the remainder of the passage. “God’s chosen people”, is a title that encompasses anyone who has repented and believed on Jesus as Lord of their life (responding in such a manner to reflect this belief). If that sounds like you, then you have been grafted into the vine that is the body of Christ and are now an adopted chosen of God. Therefore, there is a way that we ought to act.

When one comes to Christ and receives the Holy Spirit, what witness would they be of the power of God if they remained the same? Rather, when we receive this great adoption we begin to emulate our Savior just as He emulated His Father while He was among us in human form. This is true of us in human relationships as well. If you have ever found yourself in a respect of someone else and desired to be like them, then you began studying their practices and following their examples; be it that of a role model, mentor, pastor, father figure, or (as it is in our case) The King of Kings. Surely in desiring to be like one who is perfect, we would find no room for hatred, cruelty, arrogance, impatience, unforgiveness, and chaos. Instead we begin reflecting that same forgiveness and love that God showed us and just as He was and is compassionate, kind, gentle, patient, and forgiving still, so we are to be to others. If that sounds like a difficult list, then simply focus on one thing first… Love. Paul states that love will bind all of these characteristics together and it makes perfect since. I can snap at someone impatiently at work and then think to myself, “was that a loving response?”. A loving response requires all of those characteristics that we are to reflect from our God.

I think these first 3 verse are very similar to the idea of treating others how you want to be treated with the exception of the fact that you are already being treated that way by Our God who loves us. Think of the parable Jesus told in Matthew 18:21-35. Be to others as your Heavenly Father has been to you.

The remaining 3 verses seem to be about community. These verses use several greek words that in English we have defined as individual in character, whereas in greek they are in fact meant to be accumulative of 2 or more individuals. For instance the peace of Christ in verse 15 is not speaking about “your” individual sense of peace with Christ but rather “our” peace of Christ among each other as a body of believers. The idea of these last 3 verses is very similar to the idea of a Christ centered marriage. One can be a Christian husband to a Christian wife and still not have a Christ centered marriage. To be Christ centered would require that that Christian husband and Christian wife not individually follow Jesus, but rather come together and grow as an individual unit made of 3 parts (Holy Spirit, man, woman). This is much the message of verse 15-17. We as a body of believers tend to far too often care mainly about only our own growth, and we are instead to be focusing our attentions on treating each other as members of one body, holding each other up and growing as one unit Christ centered. If we can do this, then everything we do can in fact be done in the name of Jesus Christ and we can then be thankful for everything that we do. As it stands, this is and as far back in history as can be remembered always has been a huge down fall of the church. We seem to find it impossible to act as a body of believers in one flock following one shepherd. I suppose it is as much a blessing as a curse in that the reason is our individuality. But, there will be a day…

My response to the Lord:

Father, I look forward to the day when we are all brought together in eternity for your glory. I thank you for making me an individual as I thank you also for my brothers and sisters who are as much different from myself as I am from them. I pray that despite our differences and perhaps even because of our differences we would learn to work together as a complete body of Christ being humble, compassionate, kind, gentle, patient, loving, and holy even as you have been and continue to be to us. May we bear love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control as fruit of your great work in us that others may see your light and taste of your goodness. Lord of Lords, please make evident in me for your glory sake, the present power of the Holy Spirit you have given me and guide and teach me to do your will as I desire to please you with my life. In Jesus’ name.