Colossians – Week 6
October 17 – Colossians
Colossians 3:18, Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
This week we move to living out our faith in relationships. Unlike Ephesians where Paul more fully develops the relationship between husband and wife, Colossians gives us the abridged version.
First, we need to understand that he is addressing Christians in their marriage. This is not intended for the world for they cannot make any sense of it. As Christians, it may be difficult enough to grasp what he is trying to communicate.
Unfortunately, there has been spiritual abuse tied to this teaching. In some Christian circles, women are treated less than the eternal worth in which they were created. From the very first page of the Bible, we are given this gem,
Genesis 1:27, So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
Equal worth and standing were God’s original design for men and women. Their pure qualities and personalities both reflect the holy nature of God. It was only after the Fall that God doled out His punishment to all parties involved so that we read this,
Genesis 3:16, To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”
As a result of sin, their became a differentiation in the relationship between husband and wife. This was not God’s original design but became the default because of our sinful nature.
However, in some real way, Paul says this is still fitting in the Lord for Christian marriages. Again, this is what the wife is to choose to do, not what the husband is to demand from his wife. Tomorrow, we will discover that the husband has the far greater challenge!
In fact, from the original language, one could say the wife is to willingly come under the devotion, under the love and care, of the Christ-centered husband. Biblical submission is equally expected for both husband and wife as Ephesians 5:21 tells us. Both have different roles to play in coming under each other’s devotion.
Such willing submission is asked of the wife with a Christ-centered husband, not to an abuser, not to one who is over-demanding or expects his wife to be his slave. Tomorrow, we will discover why the wife might choose to do so because this teaching can only be fully understood in the context of what is expected from the husband.
Memory Verse: Colossians 3:20-21, Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.
Question(s) to consider: Is this teaching possible to hear in our culture? Is it outdated and to be disregarded? Are we missing something?
October 18 – Colossians
Colossians 3:19, Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
At first blush, we may think Paul made it easier on husbands than wives. Wives are to submit. Husbands are to love. But then we look at what the word for love is and discover it is agape.
Unfortunately, we do not have such a powerhouse word for love in the English language. If we want a picture of such amazing love, then Jesus is our model. He is agape love defined.
The very quality of love Jesus gave for His bride, the Church, is the exact love that husbands are to wholeheartedly offer to their wives in living out the principle and practice of mutual submission. This kind of love is not harsh. The word “harsh” carries the meaning “to turn sour or make bitter.” When husbands love like Christ, they will not give their wives reason to turn sour on their marriage. Instead, when such agape is being displayed, wives will willingly choose to come under the loving devotion of their husbands.
Let’s look at a few examples of what agape love does:
John 3:16, For God so loved the world that He gave…
Agape gives generously and sacrificially for the sake of their wives.
John 13:1,4, 5 … Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end… so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
Agape humbles husbands to perform the most menial and servant-like tasks for their wives.
John 13:34-35, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
In the very same manner that Jesus loved, so we are to “agape” each other. For husbands their first “one another” is their wife. Husbands are to “agape” like Jesus for their wives.
John 15:13, Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
Husbands are to lay down their lives for their best friends, their wives. Consider how Jesus did so in going to the cross. Husbands, consider how you are to do so for your wives. (Read 1 Corinthians 13 for a detailed description of this kind of love.) If this kind of costly love is being wholeheartedly practiced, then wives, can you envision yourselves placing yourselves under such loving devotion as an act of mutual submission?
Memory Verse: Colossians 3:20-21, Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.
Question(s) to consider: Does Paul’s word to wives make more sense in light of his word to husbands? Husbands, are you loving your wives like Jesus? What will you do to make it so?
October 19 – Colossians
Colossians 3:20-21, Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.
We turn to the relationship between children and fathers (or parents in general.) For there to be order in the home and in the world, children are to understand the God-given pattern for them to be under the loving authority of their parents. This is such important teaching that it was included among the 10 Commandments.
Exodus 20:12, “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
This command came with a promise- to live a long time in the Promised Land that God gave them. Because there are relational, spiritual, and social implications, it is easy to understand why obeying pleases the Lord. Jesus made it a point to clearly reveal how he followed His Father. The word Father is used 109 times in the gospel of John!
Jesus was so in tune with His Father’s will that he could say, “I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30) Jesus revealed relational truth in the spiritual world through His relationship with His Father. John 15:10, “If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.” Even in the Godhead, we are given the beautiful example of how the order of the family is to be lived out on earth.
In a world that offers children so much, sometimes that order gets confused. Parents have a huge responsibility to lead their children along the Godly path but to do so in a way where their children do not become bitter or discouraged. This is the great challenge of parenting; to instruct and expect appropriate behavior but guard against the kind of discipline that turns their hearts away.
As Christian parents, we have the heavy responsibility of being our children’s primary disciple-makers. It is to be found in the routine of each day’s schedule and activity.
Deuteronomy 6:4-8, Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
Just as Jesus welcomed and blessed the children, so we want to bless our children with nothing less than the blessing of the Father Himself.
Memory Verse: Colossians 3:20-21, Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.
Question(s) to consider: How are we getting this teaching right? Where do we need to improve?
October 20 – Colossians
Colossians 3:22-25, Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favoritism.
Paul’s teaching contrasts with the ancient instruction that only advised masters on how to best handle slaves. Slaves were regarded as animated tools. To give them moral duties, as Paul does here, elevated their status and spoke of them as human beings with eternal worth.
The small letter of Philemon addresses this very issue of slaves being equal in Christ. Interestingly, Philemon hosted the church of Colossae in his home. Paul wrote to him to receive back his runaway slave, Onesimus, no longer as a slave, but as a brother in the Lord.
As Paul got to know Onesimus, his sensitivity may have been elevated to the things that a slave might do to arouse anger. So, Paul enlarged the vision for slaves telling them that their obedience to their master should be seen as obeying Christ. Their challenging work becomes something they do for Jesus Himself, not just an earthly master. As unfair as their conditions may have been, Paul said nothing justifies Christians returning evil for evil or offering halfhearted service for evil.
However, this is not just a word to slaves. It is for all of us who work in the best or worst of conditions, for much or little pay. Dependability and service should be the witness at work for all Christians. Whether at work or volunteering, we should do so with all of our hearts because, in effect, we serve Jesus in all things. For this is what Christ Himself did. He took the form of a servant and gave His life away for the glory of His Father and the eternal benefit of others. The Son of God became a servant! Surely, we can serve with such humility as well.
It is interesting to note that slaves could not inherit according to the ancient laws, but the Lord promised them an eternal “inheritance.” Like everyone else, they had been bought with a price and now belong to a new Master, who treasures them as much as He does anyone else. This was a powerful statement of worth Paul spoke into their lives. Paul was sending a message, not only to them, but to their masters and all others about their high status in Christ.
Paul ends with a word to all Christians that we will be held responsible for our actions and cannot plead special circumstances to justify any misconduct. God will be the one who judges offenders, whether we are slaves or masters, or neither.
(Interpretative help is from NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible)
Memory Verse: Colossians 3:20-21, Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.
Question(s) to consider: How do you react to Paul’s teaching for slaves? Do you believe it is a word to all of us for how we go about our work? How do we need to change our attitude?
October 21 – Colossians
Colossians 4:1, Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven.
As Paul has done throughout this section on relationships, he offers instruction to both parties of the relationship.
We discovered how Paul elevated the status of a slave in yesterday’s reading. Servants, (workers today) should see themselves working for the Lord. Our work is not to be seen as menial or meaningless but with a heart that honors the Lord.
From a group that had no status, no benefits, no protections, Paul shares the astounding news that slaves have an inheritance like every other believer.
With his letter to Philemon which would also be read to the Colossians, Paul makes it clear that believing slaves are to be welcomed as brothers and sisters in the Lord. They are to lose their slave status and to be elevated as family.
Paul’s message to masters is that they are to treat their slaves with justice. They are to provide them with what is right and fair, with what is just and equal.
Paul elevates the status of slaves dramatically. What may seem expected in our eyes was actually a rather radical statement for masters to treat slaves equally as human beings and provide them with what was good and appropriate. Slaves were regarded as property, but Paul told masters to treat them with the dignity they deserve as human beings made in the image of God.
Paul’s instruction in practical terms was a dismantling of the state of slavery by elevating the status of slaves. Paul gave masters strong motivation to do so because they too have “a Master in heaven” who is over them.
No matter how high our position is in this world, whether we are owners, executives, managers, or supervisors, we are expected to treat others with high dignity as equals and offer them what is just and fair. There are no second-class citizens in God’s kingdom.
God’s righteous justice is at the heart of the kingdom of God and is the very kingdom that Jesus has ushered into the world. Those who truly belong to Him must work for what is just and good for all people. We will be held responsible for doing our part in upholding the full value and dignity for all of God’s creation.
Memory Verse: Colossians 3:20-21, Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.
Question(s) to consider: Have you ever thought of Paul’s teaching as a way to dismantle slavery? How does this teaching apply to your life, to your work, and to our calling as Christians to promote God’s justice of fairness in a broken world?