WEEKLY
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
An
international Sunday school lesson commentary
For
Sunday August 26, 2018
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171,000 readers worldwide
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LIVING
THE NEW LIFE
(Living
the new life in the chosen Christian community of GOD)
(Colossians
3:1-17)
Colossae
was a city located in the Lycus River valley in what is now modern-day Turkey. It
was populated with a mixture of Greek, Jewish, and native Phrygians. It was also
a part of the Roman Empire and in fact, was home to many Roman army veterans in
the first century.
At that time the Colossians were being
invaded by many troubling views on religion that were mixed with astrology,
witchcraft, and Judaism, and they had already downgraded CHRIST to being just
another angel. This letter to the Colossians by the Apostle Paul explains
clearly how JESUS was so much more, and in fact, HE represented to us in human
form, just what GOD the FATHER in Heaven is like.
This letter was written during his Paul’s
first imprisonment in Rome circa A.D. 59 to 61. It clearly explains the
centrality of JESUS CHRIST in GOD’s plan for humanity, and how JESUS relates
specifically to the human experience in that plan. The writing of this epistle
was also inspired by the need to specifically combat a first-century form of “heresy”
called “Gnosticism”, which threatened to infiltrate the Christian Church during
its infancy.
Gnosticism, takes its name from the claim
that its members have a superior, secret knowledge, or, “gnosis”, that others
don’t have, simply because they are not a part of their sect. These Gnostics make
a very distinct difference between matter and spirit, and see absolutely no
relationship to the two. They see all material elements in the world, including
the flesh, as being essentially evil, and believe that GOD had no part in their
creation. Therefore they concluded that JESUS could not have been “GOD
incarnate”, and what HE did on the cross in a material body could not really
accomplish salvation.
Here in Colossians 3, after spending
considerable time explaining how to be “a faithful community” in our commitment
to the work of a supreme CHRIST in chapter 1, and being “a discerning community”
in chapter 2, Paul moves on to teach about how we can and should live as “a
chosen community” in CHRIST, in mind, word, and deed.
In verses 1-4, Paul reveals to us, a picture
of the Christian baptism. Here he says that we have died to our old self and
been raised anew in CHRIST JESUS. Therefore, we should begin to set our sights
on the reality, or, truth (alethiea) of Heaven. In other words we no longer
live life failing to take what GOD thinks into account, and we have come to be “in
harmony with reality”.
Our new goal is not to abandon “the lost
world” that we have become committed to CHRIST to help save others from, but
rather, we should now look at the world as “a temporary place of residency”,
from which one has to be rescued from the dominance of sinful activities, and,
our own former personal behavior. The true Christian has to now view everything
against the backdrop of eternity, and he or she has to no longer live as if the
world and its material substances are all that matters.
The Gnostics claimed to have “secret
knowledge” of things that others weren’t privy to. In fact, the books that they
touted were called, “apokruphoi”, and they were “hidden”, or kept from everyone
who was not, first, initiated into their sect. In verse 3 of this passage Paul
uses a form of this Greek word to describe how the Christian life is “hidden” (“apokruphos”)
with CHRIST in GOD. Here he is saying in effect, that, in time, the judgments of
man will be overturned by the judgments of GOD, and then the, “revealed Christian”,
will be recognized as the one who shares in the glory of CHRIST JESUS upon HIS
return (v.4).
As Christians, we have to “put to death”
any part of our thoughts and habits that are antichrist, and, thereby, keep us
from fulfilling the Will of GOD (v.5). We must make radical changes if we are
to allow “self” to wither away and die from our “hearts” (the center of our
thoughts). We must reach a point where “wrong things” no longer fascinate and
have power over us, and lead us into idolatrous behavior.
The “wrath of GOD” will fall on all things
that are “self-seeking”. It is the law of the universe that man can only reap
that which he sows, and no one can escape the consequences of sin. Therefore, “the
wrath of GOD” and “the moral order of the universe” become synonymous with each
other, and are, in essence, one and the same thing.
In place of our wicked sin nature that we
once chose, we now begin to familiarize ourselves with the newly discovered “nature”
that CHRIST JESUS has led us back to (GOD’s Nature which we were born with). That
nature will renew itself each day that we continue to seek GOD, and nourish our
new found relationship with GOD (Vs.10-11).
The holy people of GOD must clothe
themselves with mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience if we are
to act as GOD’s figurative representatives here on earth, as JESUS did. We must
make allowances for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who happens to
offend us. Just as GOD forgives us, so we must forgive each other.
Love is what should bind all of us together
in perfect harmony, and the peace of CHRIST should rule in our hearts. Love is
the one bond that holds true Christians together into one unbreakable
fellowship. As Christians focus on living life as GOD’s people, unified and
confident, doing the things of GOD in JESUS’ powerful name, we will ultimately
find and experience joy and peace, right now, while living here on earth.
A Sunday school lesson
by,
Larry D. Alexander
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