Wed 7.3 – Renewed in Image

Today’s Readings: Colossians 3.10-16; I Corinthians 12.13; Galatians 3.28; 2 Corinthians 4.16;

We talked yesterday about the “newness” of life. If you were not able to be a part of that study, please return to 7.2 and check it out so that you will have a better reference for today’s study.

I want to take yesterday a step further today. The fact that we have been raised to NEWNESS of life is very true! Please do not hear me saying anything different than that today. However, that is not the full extent of the truth of our LIFE IN CHRIST (Col 3.4).

Notice how God describes that new man in Colossians 3.10, he is RENEWED in knowledge after the IMAGE of him that created him. Now let’s look into that for a moment today.

Did you realize that when you were saved, it was not simply that you transitioned from a child of darkness to a child of light? Our salvation is more than a COMING to God, our salvation is a RETURNING to God. Here’s a little summary breakdown of the GOSPEL truth:

• GOD made man perfect and sinless to fellowship with Him and worship Him as the sons of God.
• SIN enters the picture with man’s seeking of self rather than seeking God and causes a separation between God and man.
• CHRIST, the gospel, comes to bridge the gap between man and God to bring sons of God back to Himself.
• FAITH is the agent by which men partake of Christ and receive their salvation unto life everlasting in Him.

Now, as we read the book of Genesis, we see that man was ORIGINALLY created in a perfect way with God. The Scriptures said that man was made in the IMAGE of God (Genesis 1.27), but notice a MAJOR CHANGE when sin enters the picture, now men are no longer in the image of God, but in the image of Adam (Genesis 5.1-3). Man LOST the image of God which allowed the fellowship with God and the reproduction of other sons of God. Adam was a son of God (Luke 3.38)but since sin, all men are the sons of Adam (I Corinthians 15.45-49 – with special emphasis on verse 49!)

So, when we are RAISED to walk in NEWNESS of life, we are actually being raised to walk in ORIGINAL life, the way God intended it before sin entered the picture and brought death. God says in Colossians 3 that we are “RENEWED” and that our renewal is after the “IMAGE” of the One who “CREATED” the new man…(Colossians 1.16-17)

Folks, remember today, we are not simply walking in a new way. It is just new to us, in God’s eyes it is ORIGINAL! God is in the RESTORING business. He wants sons of Adam to become the sons of God (John 1.12-14) and thus be renewed and alive-again to the original walk He wanted for us.

This truth leaves us needing to evaluate how we approach our walk with Him…is it simply to keep the list of things the NEW MAN should do and to avoid the list of things the OLD MAN would? Or is it in passionate thanksgiving for our restoration to His family as sons of God? And also, how are we doing at helping others find the RENEWAL their souls so desperately need?

May God awaken us to the reality of who we are in Him as sons of God! Amen.

Wed 6.3 – iFlesh

Today’s Readings: Colossians 3.1-9; Judges 1.21-36, 2.6-13

Today I want to stop and talk about a simple truth from our familiar passage in Colossians, and compare that to an illustration the Lord gives to us in Joshua.

Have you ever seen the Apple Software series that all start with “i-Whatever the software is for”? Like, iTunes, iWork, iLife, etc…? That is a great marketing strategy for their software. Without actually coming out and saying it, they are personalizing their product to the consumer. Their branding is one of the most successful of all time because of their ability to present it in such a “our way is better” model. This is even subtly seen in their “PC and MAC” commercials with the dorky PC guy in glasses and a suit from the 80’s, and the hip MAC guy.

Unfortunately we seem to take that same approach with our FLESH! We look at the scriptures, and we hear God saying to MORTIFY that flesh, and to PUT OFF that same wicked flesh, so that we can PUT ON the new man (Col 3.1-9). However, what we begin to do, almost instantly, is to excuse us keeping our flesh around. Too often we try to make it sound spiritual. We will let our flesh remain UN-MORTIFIED, and not completely PUT IT OFF because it can HELP us in the work of God.

Here’s an example of what I mean. Have you ever looked at someone and thought to yourself, “man, if that guy would just give his life to Christ, he has so much potential.”? Well, the BASE problem with that kind of thinking is that we are immediately connecting his USEFULNESS to God with his FLESHY ABILITIEIS. The last time I checked, God was in the business of taking that which was NOT FLESH, and making it useful in spite of the flesh so that the whole world knows this thing must be of God (see 1 Corinthians 1.27).

So, what we do is see some part of us that may even LOOK like it is potentially good for the work of God, and we let that one part of our flesh remain alive, remain on, and we just try to take that FLESH as a PRISONER OF WAR to our Spirit…which will never work.

We have no leg to stand on in our passage in Colossians if we think God was saying that we could keep some of the flesh alive and around…absolutely not. Look at an illustration of this in the Old Testament.

As the Children of Israel were delivered from Egypt (Salvation) and were led through the wilderness by Moses (law) to the Promised Land of God, they encountered many things and failed many times. Then God raises a new generation of Israelites to possess THE LAND (abundant spiritual life, John 10.10) under the new leader Joshua (Jesus). When they get there, God says to COMPLETELY wipe out everyone that is in the land (just as we are to completely mortify/kill/destroy our flesh before we can possess abundant life) and just like so many of us, they DISOBEY.

Rather than simply obeying God, they decided that these people who they were to kill could be kept alive as slaves and pay them tribute (or money) and be a profit to them. While this system worked for a generation, check out the commentary in Judges 1 and 2 as noted above. Because they kept those people around, those HEATHEN PEOPLE exposed God’s people to HEATHEN WORSHIP and HEATHEN GODS which eventually led the CHILDREN OF GOD away from the ONE TRUE GOD unto another. If they had simply OBEYED God in the beginning the sad, sad, sad, commentary of Judges 2.11-13 would not be the case because the enemy would not have been there to present the false gods.

Today, let’s ask God to show us areas of our lives where we are allowing FLESH to remain because we think it benefits us, and maybe even Him. No matter how impressive your flesh may be, God wants nothing to do with it. He wants no sacrifice of it, no worship from it, no things concerning it, because “God IS a SPIRIT and they that worship Him MUST worship Him in SPIRIT and truth.” May we completely destroy and put off that wicked flesh that tempts us so!!!

Tue 6.2 – Old Man, Old Self

Today’s Readings: Colossians 3.1-9; 2 Timothy 3.1-7;

When you read Colossians 3.8-9, what comes to your mind when you see that term “old man”? Are we supposed to find an Old Man like this guy, and so something to him? No, of course not. So, then what does God mean by “old man”? (ok ladies, you are going to have to work with me, this is just a biblical term – MAN – that speaks of the whole of the human…ok, not necessarily the male chromosome of our species.)

I think the best way to define something is to illustrate it. Oftentimes we can understand a concept very well, although we may not be able to verbalize it exactly as we want. Like if I asked you to explain “love”. You may know what love is, you may have experienced love, you may even be remembering the emotions that are so strongly attached to such a word as we talk about it, however…to put all of that into words, you may struggle.

THE OLD MAN?

So, let’s look at an example of a day in our lives when the OLD MAN was THE MAN in control of our lives. Check out Ephesians 2.3, now get that picture in your mind. What is God describing there? He’s describing that way of living that is TOTALLY YIELDED (Rom 6 – know, reckon, yield) to the ways, desires, and LUSTS of the FLESH. That’s pretty easy to identify with isn’t it? We have all been there, some more recently that we’d like to admit.

That is the OLD MAN, the OLD WAY, the OLD SELF, the PRE-CHRIST version of living that was totally captive to the desires inherited from the FIRST MAN – ADAM (Romans 5 is an in depth treatment of this subject if you’d like more information, maybe even compare that with 1 Corinthians 15 for a overall understanding). That man – the OLD MAN, who was in control when we were lost but now is dead (Romans 6.6) is what we are to “PUTT OFF”.(for more on the old man, just in case you are itchy about these kind of things like I am, see Ephesians 4.22; Galatians 2.20, 5.24, 6.14)

PUTT OFF?

I don’t know about you, but when I was in High School I was not very concerned with how my clothes looked in my closet. I would come in after school, in a hurry to scatter off to wherever my friends were going to be that night and would come into my room, throw off what I had on and grab some different shoes, maybe a hat and hoodie or something, and jet our the door. In the midst of the clothes-changing-frenzy that would take place in my room, little concern was given to hanging those clothes back up, or making sure they were color-separated for the laundry, or whatever… I just wanted to get off my cheesy “school clothes” and get on my comfortable weekend clothes, caring nothing about those I was throwing off my back…where ever they landed was fine by me…the bed, the floor, the chair, the stereo, the trash can, on top of my dog, whatever…I was in a hurry to get the good ones on.

Now, do you get the idea of PUTTING OFF from that story? It was simply that I was throwing those things OFF my body, casting them aside for the sake of PUTTING ON something better! When we are saved, and we realize that our RISEN LIFE is that NEW MAN Jesus Christ that we PUT ON, then there shouldn’t be any question in our minds that we are to PUTT OFF the OLD MAN who is ALREADY DEAD, CRUCIFIED WITH HIM, and HOLDING US BACK from living in the reality of who we are IN HEAVENLY PLACES via the NEW MAN.

God says, take that OLD MAN and PUT HIM OFF, rip that junk off your body, throw it to the ground, and never give it a second thought…don’t even take the time to hang that mess back up in your closet…it’s dirty…it’s tainted…it’s worldly…it’s opposing God…and YOU – a NEW MAN IN CHRIST JESUS should never wear those NASTY OLD GARMENTS of the OLD MAN!May God help us to realize this truth today, may you PUT OFF the old man today, and may all his ways and wills go right along with him!

Mon 6.1 – undressing

Today’s Readings: Colossians 3.7-9; Ephesians 4.17-32

Yesterday was a huge day of the year for Christians. It is the day we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord from the dead! What a great time we had in our gatherings yesterday. I believe many people were able to clearly hear a presentation of the Gospel and respond and THAT is bringing great GLORY to our RESURRECTED Lord.

In Sunday school we talked about how fitting it is this study in Colossians to fall during Easter. As we have been talking about MORTIFYING OUR FLESH, we were able to see how CHRIST LITERALLY MORTIFIED HIS FLESH on the cross. By looking at His example of dying, we are able to more fully understand Paul’s words in I Cor 15.31 where he says “I die daily.”

Now, as Sunday has come and gone and we have all been reminded of the GLORIOUS TRUTH of the RESURRECTION of Christ…and we have seen from last weeks devotions how He left us the example for MORTIFYING… let me draw your attention to another verse from our passage today…look back at Colossians 3.1, remind yourself of what this verse teaches is true about the believer, where there ARE currently wit Christ. The verse says we are RISEN WITH HIM. Risen where? When? How? The answer to all of those questions is in what we have just celebrated. We are risen to HEAVENLY places WITH Him, right now as we speak. So, now that we have that nailed down, the whole next progression of Colossians is to develop what should be different about our lives because of that truth.

We have talked about the things we spend our lives chasing after (seeking).We have talked about the things we spend our lives loving, and having a passion for (setting our affection).

We have talked about the need to kill the members (bodies) that we have on this earth to keep from seeking the things of this earth (mortify).

Today, let’s remind ourselves that if we are truly born again…truly risen…truly a child of God, there are things that should be different! We talked about the illustration yesterday in Sunday School about a McDonald’s employee coming to work dressed as a Chick-fil-a employee…how crazy would that be? You would probably lose your job pretty quickly. However, while we would all agree that showing up for work dressed like one of their greatest competitors would be a huge slap in the face to your company…so is living life as a Christian but being DRESSED in a lifestyle that is according to the OLD MAN who was crucified with Christ that the NEW MAN may live with Him…now…in heaven…resurrected.

Paul says we used to LIVE IN OUR MEMBERS ON THIS EARTH (Colossians 3.7) and when we did, we obeyed them, we were slaved to them…but now that we have that SAME POWER that raised Christ from the dead, RAISING US to be with Him, we also have the SAME POWER to mortify, or kill those, members(bodies) on the earth! As we move into this next thought from Colossians, we see God say to PUT OFF the things of those members. In Colossians 3.8-9 he gives a whole list of things that CHARACTERIZED those members we used to live according to. Look at those things…those are the kinds of things that come when we completely yield to the MEMBERS on the earth – those are some of the THIGNS OF EARTH we no longer live unto.Once that body is MORTIFIED, it is just dead weight. It’s like a huge, heavy, winter coat in the middle of the summer. It’s just hot, heavy, stinky, and limits how freely you can move around. So, why let it remain over you…just PUT IT OFF! That’s what Paul’s saying…once it’s dead, it’s just dead weight, so put it off (UNDRESS FROM THE FLESHY NATURE YOU USED TO LIVE UNTO) and now, live unto God!

Sat 5.6 – Easter Eve

Today’s Readings: John 18-20

Hey guys, let’s take a little different approach to the devotional this morning. We you go through your day today, remember what today is as we celebrate this season. We know he rose on the first day of the week, Sunday. We know he was crucified on the fifth day of the week, Thursday. But have you ever stopped to think about those days in between? Have you ever considered the sorrow and distress that would have been on the hearts of the people? Have you ever thought of the brokenness and defeat that would have overcome Jesus followers during these three days? These would have been hard times for the disciples!

I selected a familiar passage from scripture that recounts the whole Easter story for us. Take a minute and think about some of the people involved with this story and try to see all of these events through their eyes as you read these chapters today…

Jesus – He knew why he was here, he knew the future, he knew the weight he was to bear. He also knew that the disciples didn’t fully understand all that was going on. He knew Peter, though full of passion, was about to stumble. He knew John, the beloved, would be left alone without his mentor. He knew his mother was about to enter the darkest days of her life. He knew he was leaving behind a group of people who needed him…(see John 14-17 as he so beautifully explains how they are to live in his absence) Yet, “for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame”.

Peter – Having just promised the Lord his companionship to the end, has defected and ran away ashamed, even denying him publically three times. The last glimpse he had of Christ was during his final screaming denial of their friendship. Peter would soon return to fishing (the life he knew before Christ called him to be a disciple). Imagine his heart of regret. Having the opportunity to make a difference and yet, failing to do so. His Master and Lord, Teacher and Leader, now crucified and there’s no going back.

Mary – Think of all the years she spent as a social outcast. Nobody wanting to come within 30 yards of her (unless they too were of poor reputation). When all the townspeople mocked, when all her family abandoned her, when nobody seemed to care if she live or die, there was One man…Jesus…who not only cared, but he gave her a purpose to live. He showed compassion when none of the others would. He would give her those loving pats on the shoulder that so many were afraid to be seen doing, He didn’t care about her past, only her future. And now, the Hope giver, the life redeemer, the compassionate One, gone. Dead. Buried. And hope, with him.

John – having grown so close to the Lord as to be called the “beloved disciple”, he knew the heartbeat of Christ because he’d heard it with his own ears, he knew the desires of the Lord because he was inside Christ’s life, Christ’s inner circle, and after all those years of growing together, becoming friends, learning at his feet, and molding to fit the Master’s will…now…his beloved Leader, Master, Teacher, Friend…gone. The WAY the TRUTH the LIFE, all gone away. Surely loneliness would have plagued him, solidarity would seem bitter to him…but he must go on somehow.

Now take those eyes and look through the pages of scripture…imagine the morning Mary arrives at that tomb. Imagine the fervor with which Peter and John would have run to that tomb. Imagine the hope that would have flooded their eyes when they heard of this glorious news… RESURRECTION… HOPE … CHRIST!

May you have a wonderful Easter…and may this weekend be a time for you to reflect on how you look at these events, and may we never let them become a Sunday school story, but rather a world changing truth of the hope we have in our Lord!