Lesson 411 - Senior
Memory Verse
"Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuferring; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye" (Colossians 3:12, 13).
Cross References
I Dead with Christ -- Risen with Christ
1. The Christian is dead with Christ to the things of the world, [COL:2:20-23]; [COL:3:3]; [ROM:6:1-6]; [1PE:2:24].
2. The Christian is risen with Christ to newness of life, [COL:3:1-4]; [2CO:5:17]; [EPH:2:1], [EPH:2:5-6].
II The Old Man -- The New Man
1. The old man with his evil conduct and tempers is to be put off, [COL:3:5-9]; [EPH:4:22], [EPH:4:25-31].
2. The new man in the image of the Creator is to be put on, [COL:3:10-11]; [EPH:4:24].
3. The new man is to be clothed with Christian graces, [COL:3:12-15]; [EPH:4:32].
4. The new man is to be nourished by the Word, and Christ is to be the centre of all activity, [COL:3:16-17]; [PS:119:11], [PS:119:97]; [JER:15:16]; [1CO:10:31].
III Christian Living
1. Wives are to be submissive; husbands are to be compassionate, [COL:3:18-19]; [EPH:5:22-25], Ephisians 5:28-29; [1PE:3:1-7].
2. Children are to be obedient; parents are to be considerate, [COL:3:20-21]; [PRO:8:32]; [EPH:6:1-4].
3. Servants are to labour as unto the Lord; masters are to give a fair wage, [COL:3:22-25]; [COL:4:1]; [EPH:6:5-9]; [1TM:6:1-2]; [JAM:5:4].
Notes
Risen with Christ
Paul the Apostle wrote to the Colossians about a most glorious spiritual experience. He called it being "risen with Christ." Let us consider briefly why it is necessary to have this spiritual experience, and by what means it is made possible.
In the beginning of time God created man in His own mage and placed him upon this earth. Here man walked and talked in fellowship with God, but because of sin, this fellowship was broken and death passed upon all mankind. This was more than physical death, for God said that in the day that Adam would eat of the forbidden fruit he would surely die; and we know in that very day a change came over Adam. He no longer looked for fellowship and communion with God, but rather he hid himself when God came to the Garden. Death passed upon Adam -" spiritual death -" and from then on, all the sons of Adam were born in sin. David said, "I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me."
But God through His infinite love devised a marvellous plan of redemption by which sinful man could be brought back into the fellowship of God. It took Jesus' death on the cruel cross of Calvary to pay the penalty for sin. Jesus remained in the tomb three days, and then He arose; and Paul tells us that He arose for our justification. When a sinner comes to God through Christ, confessing and forsaking his sins, and believing on Jesus as his Redeemer, a wonderful transaction takes place. That person is born again -" a spiritual birth -" risen to walk in newness of life, a new creature in Christ, the old things passed away and, behold, all things become new. Paul told the Ephesians, "And you hath he quickened, [made alive] who were dead in trespasses and sins" [EPH:2:1]).
What a tremendous price our Lord Jesus paid that we might have this glorious spiritual experience of being "risen with Christ"!
Holy Ambitions and Affections
When a person is saved, all his sins are forgiven. Every wrong deed or malicious act is forgiven so completely that he stands before God as though he had never sinned. No work of righteousness of his own brings this transaction; it is accomplished through faith in the work of Christ at Calvary. But, there are certain positive actions and activities, that a person is admonished to follow in order to keep saved and make Heaven his home. Two words of action that Paul uses are "seek" and "set"; both centre about things above, not things on the earth.
Many may think of ambition and affection as evil things; but these are natural principles in the human soul and become evil only when they are directed to an improper object. The ivy will climb upward if only it can lay hold on some tall object, to which it may adhere, but if no such support lends itself it will creep along the ground. Like it, ambition and affection will mount heavenward if they be fixed on some heavenly thing, but left to themselves they will trail along the earth and may degenerate into the worst of things.
An ambition or affection bounded by the horizons of this present life, its riches, honour, pleasure or power, falls far short of what Paul was admonishing the Colossians to seek. He wanted to lift their eyes far above the transitory things of this present life. "While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal" [2CO:4:18]). Paul's desire was that the Christian's love for God, for His truth, and for His righteousness would be coupled with a holy ambition for the work of the Lord in labouring for lost souls to win them from the darkness of sin to the glorious light and liberty of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. With this holy zeal for God, Paul wanted the Colossians to have "humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering"; for he knew that it was possible to be all out for the Lord and still be humble. A person can be truly humble, never promoting, defending, or avenging himself, and he can at the same time possess holy boldness for the Lord and His cause.
A reason for this holy ambition and affection Paul stated was: "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." From this and other Scriptures, we know that our position in glory shall be determined by our Christian character and the work which we have faithfully done here. An outstanding example of this would be our Lord Jesus Himself. After His resurrection there were the scars of His sacrificial death; and the height of His exaltation in glory is proportioned to the depth of His voluntary humiliation when He was here on earth. (Read [PHL:2:8-11].) As we approach His likeness here, so shall we obtain a measure of His glory hereafter. What a solemn thought this is and what an influence it ought to be toward seeking those things, which are above and the setting of our affection on things above.
Sanctification
The Christian, having been raised with Christ and proceeding with a holy ambition and affection for the Lord and things above, soon finds there is to be yet a deeper work wrought in the heart. Though all his committed sins and transgressions have been forgiven, there is yet a nature of sin within, a root of sin, which was inherited from Adam. Paul calls this "the old man," and he says he is to be put off "with his deeds."
When we are saved the carnal nature or old man suffers a stunning blow. He is nailed to the cross, made powerless, but he is still not dead. There comes an instant when the old man dies, the heart is sanctified and pure love reigns supreme. The new man is put on, "which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him" [COL:3:10]); "which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness" [EPH:4:24]). The image of God's sinless creation is restored and Paul then called them "the elect of God, holy and beloved."
John the Beloved saw a revelation of the Bride of Christ and she was "arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints" [REV:19:8]). Here Paul calls this adorning, "bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another." Then to bind all this together, Paul said to put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. Oh, what glorious adornment!
Nurturing the New Man
Paul does not leave the Colossians without a means of maintaining and strengthening in the faith their spiritual new man. He said: "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." Line was to be upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little. They were never to tire of hearing the Word of God. They were never to grow weary of being admonished in their spiritual warfare, but rather they were to encourage one another by assembling together, by the singing of hymns, and preaching and teaching God's Holy Word.
Christ was to be the very centre of all motivation and action so far as the Christians were concerned, even to every word and deed done in the body. This of course would influence their homes, their conduct between husbands and wives and children. In their secular labour as they worked for their living, they were to work as if they were doing it unto the Lord. After all, the main purpose of their life was to live for the Lord and to see others brought to the saving knowledge of Christ. Because of their faithfulness in work and labour, and their living for Christ, perhaps their employers would be saved. Paul the Apostle, even as a prisoner, saw fellow prisoners saved and a jailer converted -" certainly not because he held hatred and animosity toward them, but because he had a love for every eternity-bound soul.
Questions
1. What experience was Paul speaking of when he said, "If ye then be risen with Christ"?
2. Name two positive actions that Paul admonished the Colossians to follow.
3. Explain how it is possible to have an ambitious zeal for the Lord and still be meek and humble.
4. What experience was Paul speaking of when he said, "Put off the old man with his deeds"?
5. The "new man" was to bear the image of whom?
6. What were the Colossians urged to do to nourish and sustain the new man?
7. Explain in what way these Christian experiences were to affect each member of the home and the employer-employee relationship.