This week, Bart Wilkins reveals 5 Life Disciplines that will help us use one of the three most important possessions we have: our head.

 

 My Three: Head (Part 1) [36:47m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The Supremacy of Christ: Colossians 1:15-23
Today’s passage is Colossians 1:15-23. Please join us in study.

Paul in this hymn declares Jesus as God, Creator, the supreme Christ. He is head of the Body and the perfect sacrifice that can redeem us. In all things, Jesus is supreme. This hymn reflects similar thoughts as seen in the Gospel of John, chapter 1. It emphasizes not only that Jesus is God, creator of the universe but also that He became a man made of real flesh that He might die for our sins, be buried and raised from the dead on the third day that God could glorify Him above all. Before we could be reconciled to God, He had to redeem us through the sacrifice on the cross. This is the great love of God, that before we ever accepted Him, He died for us that we might live.

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Thanksgiving & Prayer: Colossians 1:1-14
Today’s passage is Colossians 1:1-14.  Please join us in study.
The Good News
It has been said, “All truth is God’s truth.” This is said to emphasize that our belief in God is not based on a bunch of mumbo-jumbo. Rather, the universe and all in it proclaim the truth of God (Romans 1:18-20). All truth, science, math, and “just the facts” flow from God.  Paul tells the Colossians that the Good News is life transforming and it includes the head. Often it seems we have to get our head out of the way that faith may enter. But Paul said to the Colossians, “It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace.” (Col 1:6 NLT).

We should never give up praying for and witnessing to those who have rejected God on “purely rational” reasons. The truth of the Gospel is the truth of the universe and those who are willing to receive it will be changed by the Good News. It is life transforming. The Holy Spirit opens our minds to accept the truth and understand it. Even the most hardened “Just the facts” person can have the truth of the Gospel revealed to their minds.

We must not stop allowing our minds to be transformed from when we first accept Christ. Paul says that he continually prayed for the Colossians that God would “give you complete knowledge of His will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding.” We must remain open to God’s transforming power that we might “let the Spirit renew your mind and attitudes” (Eph 4:3). The Good News is one of a rescue from the kingdom of darkness, including a mind wandering in the dark, to the Kingdom of God where our minds are opened up to the glory that God reveals.

Questions:

1. Paul greets the Colossians with ‘Grace and peace from God our Father’ (v.1).  Is Paul being trite here, much as we might be in addressing a letter to ‘Dear So-and So’ whom we may not necessarily hold to be very dear or is he serious in his passing along grace and peace from God our Father?  What are grace and peace, especially when they come from God?  Why would God our Father want to give us grace and peace and why would we want to receive them from Him?
2. It all boils down to the forgiveness of sins, which is the price on our heads. As long as that debt is owed, we are slaves in the dominion of darkness. Where did that debt come from? Our understanding of that debt, how it relates to us and our bondage, goes a long way towards our attitude towards the kingdom/dominion we serve and whether we want out or not.
3. How did I get into the situation where I am owned rather than being the free-agent that I think that I am? Have I ever really been a free-agent or has that always been a misconception on my part?
4. The only reason that I would have to move from the dominion of darkness into the Kingdom of the Son is if I see it as an upgrade. So what are the pros and cons of both?