Thur 7.4 – A level playing field

Today’s Readings: Colossians 3.10-16; Romans 9.24-26,30; I Corinthians 12.13; Gal 3.28

What is a social class? Political power? Celebrity influence? I could keep going, but the point is that no matter who the HUMAN is, they have no power over other human beings unless those other human beings allow them to have that power. A person in a celebrity because a bunch of other people said they are and are interested in their lives. A person has political power because the people choose him, or because the yield to his tyranny. A person has social status because of our embedded biases and other’s deciding to follow their example.

Very simply, the only One who can command power and authority is a way that demands us obey is the Lord God. All humans beings are sinful according to Romans 3.23! Let’s take a second to examine the thought of this verse:

“ALL” – how many people is that…exactly.

“have sinned” – what is sin? It is our failure to live perfectly according to God’s will for us. And according to scripture, we’ve all stumbled head-over-heels on this one.

“come short” – no matter how close we were, we are short. If you and I run and jump off a cliff in northern California and try to make it to Asia, we will both FALL SHORT of that goal. You may jump further than I, but neither of us has come near to Asia.

“glory of God” – you see that glory is the standard we cannot meet! No mere mortal will come to the standard of God’s holy, righteous, beautiful glory! Some may get a little further here and there, but nobody is even in sight of the goal!

HOWEVER, in you (the believer) is that NEW MAN! That NEW MAN is our way of being conformed back into the image of GOD that was lost when Adam sinned. That same spiritual part of us is where we are going to find the means to live up to God’s will. While nobody is perfect, and we all make mistakes, when we stand before God, all are equal!

When they stand before God there is no difference between the rich man, Lazarus, Peter, Paul, you or me! There is an old saying, “the ground is level at the foot of the cross” and I would have to simply say AMEN to that! Maybe you feel like a social reject, an outcast, unloved and unwanted? That is not so with our God. All can come, and all must come the same way. There is no favoritism with God (I Pet 1.17)

May you find your purpose, meaning, acceptance, righteousness, and life in Him today! Amen.

Tue 7.2 – “Raised to walk in newness of life”

Today’s Readings: Colossians 3.10-16; 2 Corinthians 5.17; I John 3.9; I Corinthians 6.17, 15.45-49

Yesterday, we looked at some of the characteristics of the NEW MAN that we are to PUT ON. I want to point out a couple simple things today as we compare the verses from today’s reading with each other to cover these truths from Colossians 3.10-16

1 – please notice that we ALREADY HAVE the NEW MAN if we are born again. 2 Corinthians tell us that if any man is in Christ, he IS a new creature. That means they already has the newness in him/her. What we are talking about here is not HOW TO GET THE NEW MAN. That is a question of salvation. What we are talking about is PUTTING ON THE NEW MAN, or in other words how to live in the full reality of our new life in Christ.

2 – I want to make sure and point out another vital truth this morning. The new man is not simply a better version of ourselves. Some will read these words and think that we are talking about how to adjust our lives to be BETTER lives than what we currently have. That is NOT it. What we are talking about here is a COMPLETELY NEW PERSON living in us after salvation. This is not simply a reformation, it is a replacement. It is not just a remedy, it is a rebirth.

And, just in case all of that goodness was not enough, that NEW MAN inside of us is not even us! Sure, we are united with it; Peter said we are PARTAKERS OF THE DEVINE NATURE (2 Pet 1.4), but the amazing truth is that in being united with HIS NATURE we are no longer simply ourselves. Check out how Paul describes it in Romans 13.14, “PUT YE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST” wow!

THE NEW MAN IS JESUS CHRIST IN US! Remember what we read back at the end of chapter 1? Paul describes the golry of God in the Mystery of CHRIST IN US! It’s just like our God…He will never call us to do something that He hasn’t first already equipped us to do! (1 Thes 5.24)

When we yield our lives to the new man, allowing the life of the new man to reign, and we PUT OFF the old man, we are actually seeking to distance ourselves from … well … OURSELVES, and place ourselves more fully in the One who is IN us! Check out 1 Corinthians 15.45-49 as you conclude your time with the Lord today and notice all the differences between the two men in that passage. One is earthly, carnal, sinful, and mortal. The other is heavenly, spiritual, sinless, and immortal. ADAM was that first man – the old man that we are to PUT OFF! And Christ was that second man – the new man that we are to PUT ON!

What are you wearing today? Rags, filthy stains, temporary things? Or are you wearing gold, silver, eternal works, blessings and praise, divine nature??? Now that we are RISEN WITH CHRIST (3.1) let’s walk in the newness of THAT life! Amen.

Mon 7.1 – Putting on the Ritz

Today’s Readings: Colossians 3.10-16; Ephesians 4.21-32; 2 Corinthians 5.17

Today, we are starting our next to last week in our DIRECTIONS study. We are looking at the next step in the SPIRITUAL PRESCRIPTION that God gives to believers in Colossians 3, to PUT ON the New Man, or the LORD Jesus Christ. Let’s look at the foundation we have built so far and hopefully that will help us to see how this next thought fits into the equation . . . (you didn’t know there was math in the Bible did you?)

• We saw that we are to be SEEKING and SETTING OUR AFFECTION on the THINGS ABOVE.
• We saw that we are NOT to be doing that on THINGS OF EARTH.
• We saw that the PRIMARY thing of EARTH is our BODY/FLESH
• We saw the DANGERS that come with having this BODY and how they will keep us from doing the things that will matter for ETERNITY
• We saw how to keep from being distracted, we are to MORTIFY and PUT OFF our bodies and their desires, members, etc…

Today, we build upon this foundation with this thought, Since we have PUT OFF the old man, with his deeds, his members, his ways, his deceitful lusts, and …. We are not to PUT ON the new man. We will spend the next week looking at this new man, who he is, what he is, how we put him on, and what all of that should look like in our everyday lives.

Before we get there, I think it would be a good idea to just slow down and hover in this passage from Colossians today. I have some references above, but for today they are just references, for your further thought. Today, I want us to open our Bibles, lay them beside a notepad, and make a list with me.

Find Colossians 3.8-9, and on your paper, just jot down the heading “OLD MAN”. Now put down some of the things our Bible associates with him.

Next, find Colossians 3.10-16, and make a similar list under the heading “NEW MAN”. Do not simply copy the exact words out of your Bible, read the phrases that describe the NEW MAN, and brew over them for a moment, and then write down the things that your find.

Do you see the contrast between those two MEN? Now, as we go through this passage, what we will find is that the new man, IS someone different than the old man, and the reason for these differences will be obvious. However, for today…just ask God to help you make this practical in your life. As you go to school, work, practice, home, and wherever life takes you today, look for these men in your life. Identify them, and them MORTIFY the one while you RELEASE the other. (please understand, I do not mean this is a very theological way, this is just speaking practically. The old man is ALREADY mortified, and the new man is ALREADY IN YOU, I just want us to be able to IDENTIFY them more easily so the next few days will mean more to us.)

May God bless your time with Him today. I pray that you will see God doing amazing things in your life as you begin to see the NEW MAN taking control of the body of your life! Amen.

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!