This perspective of a missional church starkly contrasts the typical church today that sees itself as a church that has missions.  In these churches, missions are always done by a specially called person who is a missionary.  Missions is always done in a foreign country.  Missions is a program or ministry that is run by a committee in the church.  The church goes on mission trips, has a missions fund, and has a missions bulletin board in the foyer with a map of the world with colored pushpins in it.  Missions is completely separate from the church and exist out of the church.  The church has missions.

Whereas a missional church understands the opposite—the mission of God has a church.  This perspective changes everything.  This means that the mission field is where the church is.  We are all missionaries.  There is no missions program.  Instead, every program and ministry is a missional program.  The church doesn’t run missions—the mission runs the church.  The church doesn’t have a mission.  The mission has a church.  This is what it means to be a missional church.  Being missional isn’t the next catchy fad, but instead it is being caught up in the mission of God.

The word missional also gets its meaning and understanding from John 20:21 when Jesus tells his disciples, “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” We must understand that the Father sent Jesus.  God is a missionary God.  God is on a mission to reconcile the entire world to Himself.  Therefore, the Father sent Jesus into the world to usher in the Kingdom of God in order to begin this reconciliation.  This is what theologians call the Missio Dei (Latin for Mission of God).

Jesus then tells his disciples that he is sending them on the same mission.  Jesus calls his church to go into the world and to share that the King has come and that we can be reconciled to the Father.  Being a missional church means that you understand that the church is sent on mission as an instrument and as a sign of the Missio Dei.  Although the word missional has only been used for a few years, the concept has been around since the 1950s.  Darrell L. Guder and Lois Barrett tell us the following:

By mid-century, the emphasis in mission thought shifted toward a theocentric approach that, in contrast, stressed the mission of God (Missio Dei) as the foundation for the mission of the church.  The church became redefined as the community spawned by the mission of God and gathered up into that mission.  The church was coming to understand that in any place it is a community sent by God.  “Mission” is not something the church does, a part of its total program.  No, the church’s essence is missional, for the calling and sending action of God forms its identity.  Mission is founded on the mission of God in the world, rather than the church’s effort to extend itself.[1]

A missional church exists because of and for the mission of God.

The word missional’s meaning is rooted deeply within the understanding of the church’s purpose. This purpose displays itself in three different ways. The church is a missionary sent on mission as a sign and instrument of the Missio Dei. The first area in which we are called to be missional is as a missionary in our own culture. The general idea of a missionary is a person in a foreign country in a completely non-Christian culture. But in reality, today all Christians live in non-Christian cultures. Tim Keller gives insight into this reality by focusing on the missionary Lesslie Newbigin:

The British missionary Lesslie Newbigin went to India around 1950. There he was involved with a church living ‘in mission’ in a very non-Christian culture. When he returned to England some 30 years later, he discovered that now the Western church too existed in a non-Christian society, but it had not adapted to its new situation. Though public institutions and popular culture of Europe and North America no longer ‘Christianized’ people, the church still ran its ministries assuming that a stream of ‘Christianized,’ traditional/moral people would simply show up in services. Some churches certainly did ‘evangelism’ as one ministry among many. But the church in the West had not become completely ‘missional’—adapting and reformulating absolutely everything it did in worship, discipleship, community, and service—so as to be engaged with the non-Christian society around it. It had not developed a ‘missiology of western culture’ the way it had done so for other nonbelieving cultures.

Even if you are in a “Christianized” culture, the reality is that we still need to view ourselves as missionaries. Every culture needs some amount of contextualization of the gospel. This means that you have to be missionary to do the contextualization needed to present the gospel.

What is the difference between a church that has missions and a missional church? This seems to be the question that everyone is asking lately, and it has been one that I’ve been developing a personal answer to for a while.

There always seems to be a new buzzword in Christian circles every few years. The words enter our vocabulary quickly and leave just as fast. People reword mission and purpose statements around them, and some even restructure their entire church around them. “Seeker-sensitive,” “purpose-driven,” “organic,” and “emerging” are just a few, but the newest to be added to the list is the word “missional.” It is the new buzzword of our day. There are missional churches, missional small groups, missional preaching, missional books, missional degrees, and even missional missiology.

But what does “missional” mean exactly? Most people use it without even stopping to determine what it means. Worst yet, some simply make it mean what they want it to mean to give themselves license to do idiotic and irrelevant acts. This is a sad thing, because the word missional has a deep and beautiful meaning for our churches today.

For one of my classes last semester, I had to define what the local church is.  Fo the fun of it, I thought I would share with you what my definition came out to be.

This definition is heavily based on Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears, Vintage Church: Timeless Truths and Timely Methods (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2009), 38. I took a considerable amount of time studying the different elements of their definition and added where I personally thought it might be lacking.  Since I am a member of Mars Hill Church, I wanted to stay as close to Mars Hill Church’s definition of a church and only tweak it a little bit.

The local church is a community of confessing and covenantal believers of Jesus Christ who are organized under Biblically qualified leadership. They regularly gather physically for preaching and worship, and scatter in the unity and power of the Holy Spirit to carry out the mission of God by evangelizing and caring for people everywhere. They observe the Biblical sacraments of baptism and communion, and are disciplined to maintain the purity of the church in order to live out the Great Commandment and the Great Commission to the glory of God.

What do you think?  Would you change anything?  Do you have a working definition of the church?

Thanks to Mike Anderson and Jordan Buckley for asking and for all you hard work at theResurgence.com.  You and your team do amazing work, and it’s a true blessing to me personally.  If you’re not subscribed to theResurgence.com, you need to go there right now and check out all their stuff.  Once again thanks.

There are several more themes about Jesus that Paul presents in his letter that we don’t have time to cover here. Paul presents Jesus as the mystery of the Father,[1] our proclamation,[2] the resurrection,[3] our mediator,[4] the fulfiller of Old Testament law,[5] and our sanctifier.[6] It is clear, though, that as you read the correspondence from Paul to the Colossians, you see that they were receiving a clear, concise, complete, and authoritative teaching on several themes that would help form their (and our) understanding of the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Paul writes the letter as an “apostle of Jesus Christ…to the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae” (Col. 1:1). He gives thanks for their “faith in Christ Jesus” (Col. 1:4). Paul goes on to give them deep doctrinal truths about the person and work of Jesus.[7] He speaks of his own ministry for and in Jesus.[8] He helps the Colossians see the errors in the heresies about Jesus.[9] Lastly, he ends his letter by helping the Colossians see what a life lived in Christ looks like.[10] The letter to the Colossians was written by a minister of Jesus, to a people of Jesus, to give a better understanding of Jesus, so that the Colossians could learn to walk in Jesus. From start to finish, Paul’s letter to the Colossians is all about Jesus.

[2] Col. 1:28; 4:3

[3] Col. 2:12; 3:1

[4] Col. 3:17

[5] Col. 2:16-19

[6] Col. 1:28; 2:7; 3:16

[7] Col. 1:9-22

[8] Col. 1:23-19

[9] Col. 2:1-23

[10] Col. 3:1-4:18

Of all the ways that Paul presents Jesus’ atonement, he devotes most of his attention to Jesus being presented as the Colossians reconciliation. Colossians 1:19-22 states:

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him….

Grudem defines reconciliation as “the removal of enmity and the restoration of fellowship between two parties.”[1] It is through Christ that the relationship that God once had with humanity in the Garden of Eden is restored.

Paul tells the Colossians that they were alienated. MacArthur explains that “Apallotrioo (alienated) means ‘estranged,’ ‘cut off,’ or ‘separated.’ Before their reconciliation, the Colossians were completely estranged from God.”[2] There was no relationship between them and God. As we’ve already seen, this wasn’t an estrangement in which God was simply ignoring them though. Instead, they were cut off from God and under His wrath.

This estrangement went two ways though. Paul continues to write that the Colossians were “hostile in mind” (Col 1:21). Stott says, “True, we were ‘God’s enemies,’ hostile to him in our hearts. But the ‘enmity’ was on both sides. The wall or barrier between God and us was constituted by our rebellion against him and by his wrath upon us on account of our rebellion.”[3] The Colossians’ estrangement from God was their choice as they were hostile towards God and chose to do “evil deeds” (Col. 1:21). God in his righteousness could not be in their presence because of their sin and had to separate himself from them.

Paul shows the Colossians are no longer estranged from God though. The relationship has been restored, and it is Jesus who reconciles them by “making peace by the blood of his cross” (Col. 1:20).  Jesus “has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death” (Col. 1:21). Reconciliation happens by the blood of Jesus on the cross. Hendriksen explains what this reconciliation means:

Through the blood of the Son of God’s love peace had been made. He, meaning this Son of God’s love, in his body of flesh (that was the sphere of the reconciliation), and through his death (that was the instrument) had brought about a return to the proper relation between the Colossians and their God. A return, not as if there had been a time, many, many years ago, when these Colossians had been Christians, but rather in this sense, that the establishment of peace between the Father-heart of God and the soul of the sinner is for the latter a going back to the state of rectitude in which God originally created man.[4]

Jesus pays the penalty for their sin and cleanses them from it, allowing the Colossians to have the close, intimate relationship that man once had with God.

In this passage, Paul also speaks of Jesus’ reconciliation of all of creation. This isn’t reconciliation in the same sense that is spoken of for the Colossians. Paul isn’t presenting a doctrine of universalism. Instead, Paul is referencing back to the preeminence of Christ in creation that is stated in verse 16 as Paul says, “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.” MacArthur clarifies that “there is a sense in which even fallen angels and unredeemed men will be reconciled to God for judgment – but only in the sense of submitting to Him for final sentencing. Their relationship to Him will change from that of enemies to that of the judged.”[5] Paul is speaking of a reconciliation that brings all things under the rule of Jesus Christ.

[2] MacArthur Jr., Colossians and Philemon, 60.

[3] Stott, The Cross of Christ, 197-198.

[4] Hendriksen, Phillippians / Colossians / Philemon, 83.

[5] MacArthur Jr., Colossians and Philemon, 59.

In the same way that Paul presents Jesus as their propitiation, he presents to the Colossians that Jesus is their expiation. On the Day of Atonement after the high priest had sacrificed the goat and sprinkled its blood on the mercy seat as Israel’s propitiation, he performed a ceremony with another goat:

And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness (Lev. 16:21-22).

Whereas the first goat paid for the sins of the people, the second goat actually removed those sins from the people. This cleansing from their sin is what we call expiation.

Paul reminds the Colossians that they were “doing evil deeds” (Col. 1:21). The Colossians are reminded of their “old self with its evil practice” (Col 3:9, NASB). They were a people that were marred by their sin, but Paul also reminds them of the expiation of Jesus. Jesus “has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him” (Col 1:22). Through the cross of Christ, their sins are “set aside” (Col 2:14), and they are presented to God as holy. This is only possible because Jesus acted as their expiation, cleansing them from the filth of their sin.

In Paul’s letter to the Colossians, it is clear that he wants them see that Jesus is their propitiation. Wayne Grudem defines propitiation as “a sacrifice that bears God’s wrath to the end and in so doing changes God’s wrath toward us into favor.”[1] This is a concept that would have been familiar to Paul’s Jewish readers in Colossae. Every year on the Day of Atonement, the high priest would offer a goat as a sacrifice for the sins of the people in order to deter the wrath of God.[2]

Paul clearly shows the Colossians that they were under the wrath of God because of their sin. Paul tells them to “put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming” (Col. 3:5-6). The earthly things that are in them, their sin, will lead to nothing more than the wrath of God. Wright clarifies:

Destruction, indeed, will be the result for those who disregard the warning: because of these, the wrath of God is coming. It is not the case that God happens to dislike this sort of behavior and so has decided as it were arbitrarily, to punish it. On the contrary. ‘The wrath of God’, it hardly needs saying, is not a malicious or capricious anger, but the necessary reaction of true holiness, justice and goodness to wickedness, exploitation and evil of every kind.[3]

Paul wants the Colossians to know that their sin will lead to the wrath of God. On the other hand, Paul doesn’t simply present the wrath of God. He also presents Jesus as their propitiation.

Paul tells them that God the Father is “making peace by the blood of [Jesus’] cross” (Col. 1:20). In the same way that a goat’s blood was offered on the Day of Atonement for the sins of Israel to hold back the wrath of God, it is that Jesus’ blood is offered on the Colossians part to bring peace with God. Unlike the goat’s blood though, Jesus’ sacrifice was done once and for all “by canceling the record of debt…nailing it to the cross” (Col. 2:14). It is through the cross that Jesus becomes a propitiation for the Colossians taking the wrath of God upon himself.

[2] Lev. 16:8-9, 15

[3] Wright, Colossians and Philemon, 135.

Paul also connects Jesus’ work on the cross as a victory over sin and the rulers of this world. “Christ was victorious over evil powers in his death, resurrection and ascension. In recent years this emphasis has been particularly associated with the Swedish theologian Gustav Aulén, whose own position has become known as Christus Victor, after the book of the same name.”[1]

Paul presents Jesus as the Colossians’ Christus Victor in his letter when he states that “by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him” (Col. 2:14-15). In one single act on the cross, Jesus took the penalty for the Colossians’ sin and a conquered its power. John Stott makes the connection in these verses for us in his foundational book The Cross of Christ:

Paul here brings together two different aspects of the saving work of Christ’s cross, namely the forgiveness of our sins and the cosmic overthrow of the principalities and powers. He illustrates the freeness and graciousness of God’s forgiveness (charizomai) from the ancient custom of canceling debts. ‘The written code with its regulations, that was against us’ can hardly be a reference to the law itself, since Paul regarded it as ‘holy, righteous and good’ (Rom. 7:12); it must rather refer to the broken law, which on that account was ‘against us and stood opposed to us’ with its judgment.…God frees us from our bankruptcy only by paying our debts on Christ’s cross. More than that He has ‘not only canceled the debt, but also destroyed the document on which it was recorded’.

Paul now moves from the forgiveness of our sins to the conquest of the evil powers…[I]t is surely significant that Paul brackets what Christ did to the ceirographon (canceling and removing it) with what he did to the principalities and powers (disarming and conquering them). The bond he nailed to the cross; the powers he defeated by the cross. It does not seem necessary to insist on the latter being any more literal than the former. The important point is that both happened together.[2]

Paul wanted the Colossians to see that Jesus’ death wasn’t only substitionary death on their behalf to pay their debt, but that his death was also victorious. Through Jesus’ victory on the cross, they now had victory over the power of sin and the rulers and authorities of this world.

[2] Stott, The Cross of Christ, 233-234.

Jesus is also presented to the Colossians as their redemption. Paul tells the Colossians that God the Father “has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:13-14). As Jesus has paid for their penalty of sin, he also redeems them from the domain of darkness.

As a slave is redeemed from an evil master, so are the Colossians. They are no longer mastered by sin because of the forgiveness found in the cross. Paul restates it to the Colossians and says, “you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses” (Col. 2:13). In the atonement, Jesus becomes their redeemer.

Paul presents Jesus to the Colossians as their penal substitutionary atonement. Being unable to take care of the penalty of their sins, Jesus substituted himself on the cross for them. Paul writes to the Colossians: “the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross” (Col. 2:14). The Colossians were in debt and deserved the penalty of death and hell.

The New American Standard translation of the Bible says that the certificate of debt was “hostile to us” (Col. 2:14, NASB). “The certificate was hostile to us, that is, it was enough to condemn us to judgment and hell, because ‘cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, to perform them’ (Gal. 3:10).”[1] But this debt was set aside when God took out the Colossians’ punishment in Jesus on the cross, thereby making him their penal substitutionary atonement. “As our substitute Christ did for us what we could never do for ourselves: he bore our sin and judgment.”[2]

[2] John R. W. Stott, The Cross of Christ (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1986), 276.

While Paul presents many different themes about the person and work of Jesus Christ in Colossians, none is more predominant than Jesus as the atonement for sin. It is in Christ that they have “the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:14). Paul makes reference after reference to the fact that Jesus died on the cross for the Colossians.

Each one of these is a reference to Jesus as the atonement for sin in one way or another, but each reference has its own flavor as to how Jesus is our atonement. The fact is that books have been written on each one of these themes in and of themselves. Therefore over the next couple weeks, we will briefly look at each one on it’s own to gain an understanding of the fullness of the message of atonement in Jesus that Paul was trying to convey.

While Paul displays Jesus’ preeminence and authority over all of creation, he also takes the time to show Jesus in authority over the church. Right before Paul declares Jesus’ preeminence over everything in Col. 1:18, he states that Jesus “is the head of the body, the church.” Wright states:

It is to this Jesus Christ, none other, that the Colossians now belong in belonging to the church. This is the moment when…the thought moves from creation to new creation. Paul starts where the Colossians are, as members of the one world-wide people of God. If God’s people are the new humanity, the metaphor of a human body is utterly appropriate to express not only mutual interdependence (as in Rom. 12:5; 1 Cor. 12:12ff.) but also, as here, an organic and dependent relation to Christ himself.[1]

Jesus isn’t just the ultimate authority in the church, but he intimately leads his church. As it is impossible for our bodies to survive and move without our head, so it is true of the church. Jesus is in a deep and intimate relationship as he leads his church. Jesus is the head and we are “his body, that is, the church” (Col. 1:24).

Jesus’ headship in the church is also reiterated in Paul’s references to his and Colossians place in the church under and for Jesus. From the very first sentence in his letter to the Colossians, Paul shows Jesus’ headship by saying that he is “an apostle of Christ Jesus” (Col. 1:1). Paul’s apostleship is only shown to be of value because of its relationship to Jesus. When Paul speaks of Epaphras, he says that Epaphras “is a faithful minister of Christ” (Col. 1:7). Being called to one body in Christ, the Colossians are called to “let the peace of Christ rule in [their] hearts” (Col. 3:15). As the body of Christ, they are called to “do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Col. 3:17). Lastly, Paul gives them a clear perspective on their work, saying that “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men…You are serving the Lord Christ” (Col. 3:23-24). As members of the body of Christ, the person the Colossians ultimately work for isn’t here on earth but the person of Jesus Christ.

Jesus isn’t just the head of the church, but he is also displayed at the source of the church. Paul continues in verse 18 to say that Jesus “is the beginning.” MacArthur gives a better understanding of what Paul meant when he used the word beginning:

Arche (beginning) used here in the twofold sense of source and primacy. The church has its origins in Jesus. God “chose us in Him before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4). It is He who gives life to His church. His sacrificial death and resurrection on our behalf provided our new life. As head of the Body, Jesus holds the chief position, or highest rank in the church. As the beginning, He is its originator.[2]

Because of the work of Jesus on the cross, the Colossians have been brought into the body of Christ. The source of the church is Jesus, as “in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross” (Col. 1:19-20). The Colossians have been saved from their sin to Jesus and his body, the church.

[2] MacArthur Jr., Colossians and Philemon, 51.

Because of Jesus’ standing as fully God and his role as the agent of creation, Paul naturally displays Jesus’ preeminence over all of creation. Paul tells the Colossians that Jesus is “the first-born of all creation” (Col. 1:15). Some might see this as confusing and think that Paul was saying that Jesus was created. Paul’s Jewish readers would have understood exactly the point he was making. “’Firstborn’ was a Hebraic-Jewish way of saying ‘specially honored.’ In the Old Testament the nation of Israel was called ‘firstborn’ (Ex 4:22). So was David (Ps 89:27). In such contexts, the reference is not to physical birth but to position of honor before God. Paul is saying that Christ has ‘pride of place’ over all creation.”[1]

Paul goes on to tell the Colossians that Jesus “is before all things” (Col. 1:17). Jesus “is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent” (Col. 1:18). John MacArthur Jr. comments on these verses, saying, “As a result of His death and resurrection, Jesus has come to have first place in everything. Paul summarizes for emphasis in verse 18. He wants to drive home the point as forcefully as he can that Jesus is not merely another emanation from God.”[2]

In the same line of thought, Paul focuses on Jesus authority. Jesus is “the head of all rule and authority” (Col. 2:10). The Father “disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him” (Col. 2:15). Ultimately, Jesus reigns over all of creation as he is “seated at the right hand of God” (Col. 3:1). Paul emphasizes the authority of Jesus by continuously using the title of Lord [kurious] for Jesus.[3] The word kurious ascribes to Jesus the place and position of might, power, master, and owner and is “the NT Gr. Equivalent for the OT Hebr. Jehovah.”[4] As Paul is writing to the Colossians, it is clear to see that he wants them to see Jesus in his rightful place, high and exalted in complete preeminence and authority over all of creation.

[2] MacArthur Jr., Colossians and Philemon, 52.

[3] Col. 1:3,10; 2:6; 3:13,17,18,20,22,23,24; 4:7,17

[4] Zodhiates, The Complete Wordstudy Dictionary, 900.

Paul also displays Jesus as creator in Colossians. He states that “by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities” (Col. 1:16). Paul wants to hammer home the point that everything was created by Jesus.  In fact, he goes on to restate his point. He says that Jesus was the agent and purpose of creation as “all things were created through him and for him” (Col. 1:16).   William Hendriksen explains:

All things – it makes no difference whether they be material or spiritual – were created in him, that is, with reference to the Son, the firstborn. As two walls and the bricks in these walls are arranged in relation to the cornerstone, from which they derive their angle of direction, so it was in relation to Christ that all things were originally created. He is their Point of Reference. Moreover, it is through him, as the Agent in creation, and with a view to him or for him as creation’s Goal that they owe their settled state.[1]

The Apostle Paul wanted to make sure there was no confusion about Jesus’ place in creation. He wanted to make it very clear to the Colossians that Jesus was creator and not creation.

Paul also goes on to emphasize Jesus’ intimate relationship with his creation. The next verse states that “in him all things hold together” (Col. 1:17). Jesus didn’t simply create the heavens and the earth to only walk away. Instead, Jesus sustains creation. Wright comments on Col. 1:17 saying, “The world is now sustained and upheld by Christ…The verb, again, is in the perfect, indicating that ‘everything’ has held together in him and continues to do so. Through him the world is sustained, prevented from falling into chaos. No creature is autonomous. All are God’s servants (Ps. 119:91) and dependents (Ps. 104).”[2]

Jesus’ act of sustaining is also focused on the Christians in Colossae. Paul states that “when Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Col. 3:4). It is only the life that is lived in Christ that ultimately leads to glory with him. Paul refers to Jesus’ sustaining power elsewhere in Colossians. Paul is “struggling with all his energy that [Jesus] powerfully works within me” (Col. 1:29). The Colossians are told that since they have received Jesus Christ, they are now to “walk in Him” (Col. 2:6). Jesus is their savior and sustainer.

[2] Wright, Colossians and Philemon, 73.

While Jesus is fully God, he lives in relationship with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit as a member of the Trinitarian Godhead. Paul consistently presents Jesus as fully God, but he also presents Jesus as the Son of God. This doesn’t make Jesus any less of God, because Paul clearly articulates Jesus’ deity. But Paul distinguishes Jesus’ role and relationship within the Trinitarian Godhead. According to Bruce Ware,

The Son, then, is fully God. He is not one-third God, but fully God. Yet, it is not the Son alone who is fully God, but he eternally exists along with the Father and the Spirit, each of whom also possesses fully the identically same divine nature. Because of this, what distinguishes the Son from the Father and the Spirit is not the divine nature of the Son. This–the one and undivided divine nature–is also possessed equally and fully by the Father and the Spirit. Therefore, what distinguishes the Son is his particular role as Son in relation to the Father and to the Spirit and the relationships that he has with each of them.[1]

Throughout the epistle to the Colossians, Paul shows the relationship between Jesus and God the Father. Paul’s first reference between Jesus and God the Father is in Col. 1:3 when Paul gives thanks to “God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul establishes that there is God the Father and God the Son. Continuing in Colossians, God the Father delivers “us to the kingdom of his beloved Son^” (Col. 1:13). Paul declares that it is “the Father’s good pleasure for all the fulness to dwell in [Jesus]” (Col. 1:19, NASB).

Paul also makes known that the Son’s role is in submission to the Father’s authority. Jesus was used by the Father “to reconcile to himself all things” (Col. 1:20, ESV). “God [the Father] made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses” (Col. 2:13). Jesus’ role as the Son is to be used as the Father’s agent of salvation. Jesus is the Father’s agent of creation as “all things were created through him” (Col. 1:16). The Father also “disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in [Jesus]” (Col. 2:15).  Lastly, Jesus is our mediator to the Father. Paul says that the Colossians are to give “thanks to God the Father through [Jesus]” (Col. 3:17). Through Jesus, the Colossians had a relationship with the Father.

While Paul makes several references to God the Father, there is only one reference to the Holy Spirit in the epistle to the Colossians. In Col. 1:7, Paul speaks about Epaphras being a “faithful minister of Christ” to the Colossians. In the same sentence, Paul says that Epaphras has “made known to us your love in the Spirit” (Col. 1:8). While this doesn’t give us much of an understanding of the role and relationship between Jesus and the Holy Spirit, it does let us know that the Colossians would have known there is a third person of the Godhead. The Colossians would have to rely on other epistles from Paul that would eventually circulate to them, the gospels, and the teachings of Epaphras to get a better understanding of the rich interaction between Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

[SIDE NOTE: To have a better understanding of the Trinity, go buy Bruce Ware's book "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: Relationships, Roles, and Relevance" right now and read it immediately.  It is the best book I've read on the Trinity to date (not like I've read a lot...but it's really good).  Don't wait...go do it.]

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: Relationships, Roles, and Relevance

While Paul clearly articulates the deity of Jesus, he doesn’t shy away from focusing on Jesus’ humanity. In Colossians 2:9, Paul makes the second of his statements about Jesus having all the fullness of deity dwell in Him, but Paul doesn’t end there. Within the same sentence, Paul uses one simple word that could seemingly be completely contradictory or at least paradoxical. Paul states that in Jesus “the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” [emphasis added]. Paul is stating that Jesus is fully God while also being fully human.

Paul uses the word “bodily” (soma) in his statement to combat the thought that Jesus was simply a spirit that appeared to be human. This can be seen in Paul’s previous statement in Colossians that this body was a “body of flesh” (Col. 1:22). The Complete Word Study Dictionary explains that “in Col. 1:22 the expression ‘in the body of his flesh [sarx]’ means in his body incarnate, flesh that forms an organized whole. This is the antithesis of he psuche… , the soul … , and to pneuma … , the spirit … ; or where soma, psuche and pneuma make a peripharasis for the whole man.”[1] Jesus was God incarnate.

Paul also emphasized this fact in the references to Jesus’ death. Jesus is “the firstborn from the dead” [emphasis added] (Col. 1:18). Jesus reconciles all things “making peace by the blood of his cross” (Col. 1:19). “He has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death” (Col. 1:22). We have “been buried with him in baptism” (Col. 2:12). Since God is immortal, these references to Jesus’ death can only be attributed to the fact that Jesus was human.

Now Paul isn’t simply saying in these passages that God simply put on a suit of flesh and walked around on earth for a little over 30 years and then removed it. He is saying that Jesus is 100% human. To every extent that we are human, Jesus is. These can be known from Paul’s statement that the Colossians are “reconciled in [Jesus’] body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him” (Col. 1:22). The only way that Jesus could have completely reconciled them was if he was completely human. The early church fathers made this clear in their defense against Apollinarianism at the Council of Constantinople.  Fred Sanders explains:

Behind the rejection of Apollinarianism was a vision of salvation represented by the soteriological axiom: ‘What is not assumed is not healed.’ This axiom, articulated by Gregory of Nazianzus (who chaired part of the proceedings), presupposes that the Son of God saved humanity by ‘taking on’ or ‘assuming’ human nature into union with himself. Everything in human nature needs to be saved, so everything must be taken into union with Christ. In this light if Christ had no human soul, the human soul is left unredeemed.[2]

So when Paul says that we are “reconciled in his body of flesh” (Col. 1:22), this is only possible if Jesus is fully human. If any part of Jesus is less than human, then humanity could not be completely reconciled with God.

As you turn the pages of the letter to the Colossians, you can see that Paul wanted the readers to know that Jesus was fully human. This was not in contradiction to Jesus’ deity but in addition to it. In Jesus, “the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” (Col. 2:9). Jesus was both fully God and fully man.

The Complete Wordstudy Dictionary: New Testament

[2] Scott Horrell et al., Jesus in Trinitarian Perspective: An Introductory Christology (B&H Academic, 2007), 20.

One of the primary themes about Jesus that Paul presents to the Colossians is that Jesus is fully God. This theme is clearly presented in two key passages. Paul says, “for in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,” (Col. 1:19) and later Paul reiterates this truth by saying, “for in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” (Col. 2:19). Jesus wasn’t partly God or a godly person. He was God. John MacArthur Jr. helps us to better understand what Paul meant by the “fullness” of God dwelling in Jesus:

Pleroma (fulness) was a term used by the later Gnostics to refer to the divine powers and attributes, which they believed were divided among the various emanations. That is likely the sense in which the Colossian errorists used the term. Paul counters that false teaching by stating that all the fulness of deity is not spread out in small doses to a group of spirits, but fully dwells in Christ alone.[1]

Not only is Jesus said to contain the fullness of God, but Paul also says that “He is the image of the invisible God” (Col. 1:15). This statement would have reminded Paul’s Jewish readers of Genesis 1:27, which states that “God created man in his own image.” Jesus wasn’t created, though. “As the image of the invisible God, the Son is, first of all, himself God.”[2] In this statement, Paul is pointing to the deity of Jesus.

Along with the clear statements of the deity of Jesus, there are also other statements in which Paul gives the incommunicable attributes of God to Jesus. There are a few that are worth noting. We have “forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:14). Paul states that “all things were created through him” (Col. 1:16). Jesus is declared to be eternal, as “he is before all things” (Col. 1:17). The preservation of our salvation is found in Jesus as we are “built up in Him” (Col. 2:7). Jesus is in heaven and “seated at the right hand of God” (Col. 3:1). Whether boldly stating the fullness of Jesus’ deity or subtly giving attributes of God to Jesus, the Apostle Paul is communicating to the Colossians that Jesus is fully God.

Colossians and Philemon

[2] William Hendriksen, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon (The New American Commentary, Vol. 32) (The Banner of Truth Trust, 1981), 71.

What would it have been like to be one of the first recipients of a letter from the apostle Paul? To be a member of the small growing movement of Jesus followers? To receive some of the first teachings about Jesus and his church? Receiving from the apostles letters of encouragement as you struggled in your early faith? Would you know that what you were holding in your hands would later make up our modern-day Bible? Many of the churches that Paul wrote to were struggling and fighting with false teachers and false doctrine that was creeping into the body. The apostle would write to these churches to encourage and correct them in order to help them grow in Christ. This is the case with his letter to the Colossians.

The book of Colossians was written sometime around 62 A.D. by the Apostle Paul while he was imprisoned in Rome.[1] [2] It is interesting that Paul wrote a letter to the church in Colossae. Colossae was a small, rural town in the valley of the Lycus that was hidden in the shadow of the greater cities of Laodicea and Hierapolis.[3] Furthermore, there is no record that he ever visited Colossae. He even states that they had never seen him “face to face” (Col. 2:1).[4] To top it off, “[h]e was not the founder of their church. That honor fell to Epaphras, who was a native of the area and had labored for its evangelization.”[5]

So why would Paul have taken the opportunity to write to the church in Colossae? It is clear from the letter that Epaphras traveled to Rome to visit with Paul, to seek his wisdom, and to encourage him with the growth of the church in the area. There is common understanding among scholars that there was a growing heresy in the church at Colossae. Therefore, it is thought that Paul wrote Colossians as a letter of encouragement to the church. Where exactly the heresy came from or what it was, no one really knows. According to N.T. Wright,

Scholars have long held that Colossians was written to combat a particular danger within the young church. False teachers were inculcating spurious doctrines and practices, demoting Christ from his position of unique pre-eminence, and encouraging various dubious mystical and ascetic religious practices. But there is no agreement on the identity of these teachers or the nature of their teaching.[6]

In general, Paul’s defense and doctrine in Colossians went against both common Judaic and Pagan distortions about the person and work of Jesus. Therefore, Paul’s writing in Colossians focuses heavily on Jesus. This focus gives Colossians a very heavy Christology (the study of the person and works of Jesus Christ).

Donald Guthrie makes this point very vividly in his book New Testament Introduction when he says the following:

The epistle contains a high Christology. Christ is pre-eminent over all other creatures and over creation itself. In fact, all things were not only created by him but for him. He is seen at the centre of the universe, sovereign over all principalities and powers, over all agencies, that is to say, which might challenge his authority. Not only so, he is the image of God and possessor of the fullness of God, and these statements could not fail to exalt him to an equality with God. He is further described as the Head of the church, which is conceived of as his body. The Christological passage (Col. 1:15-19) in which all these ideas are expressed is followed immediately by a statement regarding Christ’s redemptive work (1:20 ff.) and this work is supported by the further statement in 2:14 that in the cross Christ triumphed over all his enemies. Clearly Paul’s purpose is to demonstrate the immeasurable superiority of Christ, as contrasted with the inadequate presentation of him being advocated by the Colossian false teachers.[7]

The book of Colossians was written, by a man who served Jesus, to a church that wanted to follow Jesus so that they might know who Jesus truly is. This epistle, in the simplest and clearest way, is all about Jesus. So being a church in the first century that had never met or heard from Paul in person, what would they have learned from the Apostle Paul’s letter about the person and work of Jesus? In the coming weeks we will answer just that question on this blog. As you read the correspondence from Paul to the Colossians, you see they were receiving a clear, concise, complete, and authoritative teaching on several themes that would help form their (and our) understanding of the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Colossians and Philemon: New Testament Commentary

[2] David Lipscomb, A Commentary on the New Testament Epistles: Ephesians Philippians, and Colossians (Nashville, Tennessee: Gospel Advocate Company, 1939), 245.

[3] Donald Guthrie, New Testament Introduction, Rev Upd Su. (InterVarsity Press, 1990), 564.

[4] Unless otherwise noted, all biblical quotations come from the English Standard Version.

[5] Walter A. Elwell and Robert W. Yarbrough, Encountering the New Testament: A Historical and Theological Survey (Baker Academic, 1998), 318.

[6] N. T. Wright, The Epistles of Paul to the Colossians and to Philemon: An Introduction and Commentary (IVP Academic, 2008), 23.

[7] Guthrie, New Testament Introduction, 571-572.

We live in a world where those with the most authority do the least amount of work.  Those with the power don’t serve others.  They are the ones that are served.  It is the American dream to gain enough power and wealth that you never have to work again.

Jesus showed us that in the kingdom of heaven it is quite the opposite.  The all-powerful God became a human being and served us by dying on the cross.  Jesus is the perfect example of leading by example.  He constantly served those around himself.  While his disciples were arguing about who is the greatest, Jesus healed countless people, fed thousands, and humbly washed the dirty feet of those that were fighting for ranking in the kingdom of heaven.

A true Christian isn’t noted by their pious self-righteousness but by their humble servanthood.   It is through service that we walk in the same steps that Jesus did when he was here on earth.  Through a kinetic learning experience of serving, we grow in our understanding of God’s heart for the lost and hurting people of this world. Here are some simple tips and steps for developing a discipline of service.

Tip #1: Aggressively look for places to serve.  For those of you raised with a strong work ethic engrained in your brains, this won’t be much of an issue.  The rest of us need to constantly seek places to serve.  This is both in the church and out of the church.  Seek ways to serve fellow Christians, but also seek to serve those in your community and at work.  If you ever catch yourself saying, “I wish someone would…” You need to take it upon yourself to be that someone.

Tip #2: Seek a change of heart.  1 Corinthians 13 says that if we do anything without love, it is pointless.  If you have a heart that is begrudging towards service, seek God to change your heart.  Jesus wasn’t reluctant in his service.  It was his joy to serve.  Seek God to give you a heart that takes deep joy in serving those around you.

Tip #3: Use your stuff to serve others.  Everything that we have in our lives is a gift from God.  Therefore we should see our stuff as a gift from God not just for us but also for those around us.  Serve those around you by sharing your stuff with them.  Open your house to share meals with friends and family and host events.  Use the yard tools you have to care for and maintain more than just your yard.  Give people rides in your car.  If you have two of something, give one away.  Develop yourself to see the stuff you have as being used more than just for you but for those around you.

Tip #4: Serve first and ask questions later.  Just like generosity, our tendency is to ask the question “Why?” Why should I serve those around me?  How is this going to develop my relationship with Jesus?  The reality of it is that these questions can’t truly be answered on paper. You can read countless Bible verses. You could hear stories from people’s lives. You could hear hundreds of hours of sermons about Jesus humbling himself as a servant. But you won’t get it. You won’t get it until you mow your elderly neighbor’s yard without them asking or paying you. You won’t get it until you pick up trash in your neighborhood without anybody asking you.  You won’t get it until you serve in your church’s nursery. If you decide that you aren’t going to serve until you fully understand why, you’ll never serve. The reality is you need to serve first and then ask questions, because by serving you’ll find the answers.

Jesus was sent on mission into our world.  God the Father sent Jesus into this world to “seek and save the lost.”[i] As we are made into the image of Christ we are sent too.  From the beginning, Jesus’ desire wasn’t for us to receive his gift of salvation and then be whisked off to heaven.  Jesus’ prayer for us as his disciples was clear and simple.

I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.[ii]

As Christ followers, we have been blessed with a great gift.  Jesus has trusted us to share his good news with those around us.  This is a beautiful and simple task, but it isn’t easy.  Just as the world was against Jesus, it will be against us.  Jesus didn’t send us into the world alone though.

When Jesus told his disciple to love one another in John 13:34-35, he wasn’t telling them to live in loving community for the benefit of each other (although there are benefits to living in loving community).  It was for the benefit of those around them.  “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”[iii] We are called to share the good news of Jesus through the instrument of community.

There are two areas that can hurt our mission to image Jesus to the world that are found in Jesus’ prayer in John 17:14-18.  The first is if we are part of the world.  Jesus was not of this world.  He lived differently than everyone around him.  He handled money differently.  He handled relationships differently.  He handled work differently.  He handled family differently.  He handled love differently.  Jesus lived a life different from the world around him.  We are called to do the same thing.  By living differently than the world around us, we bring the focus to Jesus who is the instrument of salvation.

The second area that can hinder our mission is if we separate ourselves from the world.  Jesus was different as he was in the world.  He didn’t escape the dirt and evil of this world, but instead dived deep into it to shine His light into the darkness.  He ate and drank with alcoholics, corrupt city officials, prostitutes, self-righteous religious leaders, disease- infested street dwellers, and blue-collar workers.  Who cares if we have the hope of Jesus if it doesn’t make a difference in the world around us?  Like Jesus, we are sent into the world and share that hope.  We glorify Jesus when we are in the world but not of the world.  Spend this week focusing on how you are sent to be a light in this dark and dying world.

[ii] John 17:14-18 (ESV)

[iii] John 13:35 (ESV)

Martin Luther began his 95 Theses with the primary thought of, “the whole life of believers should be repentance.”[i] Repentance of our sins doesn’t end when we become a Christian.  It continues until we are received into heaven.

Unfortunately most Christians slowly begin to forget that it is Jesus’ righteousness that puts us in relationship with God.  Over time they begin to trust in their own righteousness.  This leads to either despair or pride, neither of which Jesus wanted for his disciples.

Therefore, it is a necessity to continuously seek God to expose our sins to us through the power of the Holy Spirit, repent of those sins, and confess them to loving brothers and sisters in Christ.  Through repentance and confession we are able to experience true community and love.  We are able to see each other as we truly are and love each other despite our sins because of the blood of Jesus.  Here are some simple tips and steps for developing a habit of repentance and confession.

Tip #1 – Keep a short list of sins.  One of the worst things you can do is to hide your sin.  Sin holds you captive and steals the joy that is yours in Christ.  It separates you from those around you.  Don’t build up a list of sins before you confess and repent.  The instant that God reveals a sin in your life to you, immediately confess and repent of your sin.

Tip #2 – Find a righteous person.  When James says that “the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working,”[ii] he isn’t saying that there are people who are actually righteous on their own merit.  He is talking about those who trust in the righteousness of Jesus.  This is the type of person that you need to find to confess your sins to.  You need to find a person that will help you see your sin in light of Jesus.  Many times when ours sins are made real to us, we tend to focus on ourselves.  A righteous person helps you see that there is forgiveness found in Jesus.

Tip #3 – Keep a journal.  As Jesus reveals the sins in your life to you, keep track of them in your journal.  Make note of your sin, how it made you feel, the consequences of it, and the work of Jesus in your life to remove it.  Later you can look back on your journal to see how God has been working in your life.

Tip #4 – Don’t get discouraged.  You might think that as you grow as a Christian, you will begin to feel like less of a sinner.  The reality is quite the opposite.   When you look at the writings of Paul the Apostle, you see a progression in his understanding of his sinfulness.  Early in his writings, Paul simply called himself a sinner.  Then he called himself a chief sinner.  Towards the end of his life here on earth, he called himself the greatest of all sinners.  This isn’t because he began to sin more.  Instead, it is because as you walk with Jesus, your understanding of the glory of Jesus deepens.  As your understanding of his glory deepens, your understanding of your sinfulness grows in light of his glory.

The beauty is that you are a work in progress.  The Holy Spirit is continuously working on conforming you into the image of Jesus.  This is a project that won’t finish in your lifetime.  Therefore, trust in Jesus and his work in your life.

Tip #5 – Focus on Jesus.  The ultimate purpose of repentance and confession isn’t to focus on your sin but to focus on Jesus.  True repentance and confession turns you back to finding your identity in Jesus.  It’s only when we find our identity in Jesus that we have truly repented of our sins.  Anything less is simply pointing out your flaws with no ultimate power to have change in your life.

[ii] James 5:16 (ESV)

Jesus lived in community.  He grew up in a large family.  He spent his entire ministry with 12 close-knit friends.  He had larger groups of people who followed him during his ministry.  He constantly ate meals with people.  He healed people.  He prayed for people.  He preached to multitudes.  His life was marked with constant and continuous community.  Everything he did was within the context of community.

Jesus’ lifestyle of continuous community didn’t start with his ministry here on earth but was just an extension of his eternal relationship with the Father and Holy Spirit.  We are called to live in community because God lives in community with Himself.

God’s tri-Personal reality is intrinsic to his existence as the one God who alone is God.  He is a socially related being within himself.  In this tri-Personal relationship the three Persons love one another, support one another, assist one another, team with one another, honor one another, communicate with one another, and in everything respect and enjoy one another.  They are in need of nothing but each other throughout all eternity.  Such is the richness and the fullness and the completion of the social relationship that exists in the Trinity. [i]

In John 13:34-35, Jesus tells us the way that we image him to those around us is by living in loving community.  He puts it this way: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”[ii] When Jesus says we will have love for one another, he isn’t talking about the typical-everyday-pithy love that we come across.  He is talking about a deep, never ending, never failing, all-encompassing kind of love.  It is the same kind of love that he showed his disciples by loving them at their best and at their worst.  It is the love Jesus is talking about when he said; “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”[iii]

Because of this love, it is in community that we help each other grow.  It is in community that we pray for one another.  It is in community that we repent.  It is in community that we care for one another.  It is in community that we spread the gospel (more on this next week).  It is in community that we bear the image of God and ultimately bring glory to Jesus and find deep joy in our lives.  Spend this week focusing on how you are called to live in loving community with brothers and sisters in Christ.

[ii] John 13:34-35 (ESV)

[iii] John 15:13 (ESV)

After understanding that everything we do is worship, you will begin to see that one of the biggest idols in your life is stuff.  More than likely, you are a worshipper of stuff.  Your car, house, computer, iPod, phone, television, paycheck, books, yard, clothes, furniture, bike, music instrument, and movie collection all hold a higher place in your life than God.  You spend more time focusing on them than Him.

At heart, we are very selfish and greedy.  This is in direct contrast to God the Father who gave us His Son and the Son who gave up His life for us.  If we want to grow closer in our understanding of God, we need to become generous people.  We need to have the mindset that God is more important than stuff.

Here is the amazing thing.  You can use your stuff to worship God.  Your stuff is really God’s stuff and He can do with it whatever He wants.  When you invest your stuff in the kingdom of God, you start to put God before your stuff.  By being generous with your stuff, you are aligning your heart with the heart of God.  Here are some simple tips and steps for developing a discipline of being generous with God’s stuff.

Tip #1: Make it a priority. You’re not going to be generous until you make it a priority.   For example, when I was in college, I had a moment of enlightenment. I was a poor college student, and I went out to eat with a group guys. At the end of the meal, an older gentleman in the group paid for the meal. I remember telling him how I wish I could do the same thing. He responded with the kindest of words: “If you aren’t generous when you have nothing, then you won’t be generous when you have everything.”  You have to make being generous a priority in your life. There are too many other shiny things that will take center stage if you don’t. Make it a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly task to look for ways to be more generous in your life.

Tip #2: Have a budget. 
You won’t know what to give until you know what you have. This works for both your money and your time. For your money, you should have a budget for every month. This takes away the excuse of saying, “I just don’t have any money to give.” You don’t have money to be generous with because you don’t plan.  Most people will tell you that when you first started budgeting, it was like you get a raise.  When you start budgeting, you are finally able to plan. You are able to make your money work for you instead of the opposite.
 You also need to budget your time. Some of us don’t serve others because we never have any extra time. Here is a tip…there is no such thing as “extra” time. There are 24 hours in a day and that is all you have. Just like your paycheck only has a set amount of money, your life only has a set amount of time. You have to budget your time wisely so you’re able to serve those around you.

Tip #3: Give first. This has two implications. You can take the idea of biblical “first fruits.” This was the commandment given by God that you should give the first of everything that you receive (animals, harvest, children, etc.) to God. The top line of your budget should have a line for a certain percentage of your money that you want to give away. When you get paid you should automatically take that percentage of money out of your check to give away.  If you’re a member of a church, it should go to your church. No questions. No ifs, ands, or buts. Just do it. Then budget the rest to live off of. If you don’t do this, you’ll just make excuses and never be generous with the money you have. This will teach you to be generous. The other implication is if you have the option to serve someone or to do something else with the “free” time in your life, serve. Give of yourself first. Generosity now has the priority. So skip watching TV and go do a generous act.

Tip #4: Have a separate checking account. This is a little trick that my wife and I learned when we weren’t part of a local church for a while. We didn’t have a place that we could write a check to for a weekly tithe. So we opened up another checking account and we transferred a percentage of our paychecks into the account every time we got paid. Then we knew we could use this account to be generous whenever the opportunity presented itself without having to worry about whether we were using money that was needed to pay the bills. When we became members of a church, we started giving our tithe to them. We still transfer the money into the account so we don’t get it mixed up with the rest of the money we have, but we enjoyed having the freedom of the extra checking account so much that we transfer an additional amount of money into it every month so we can be generous when the Holy Spirit presents us with opportunities.

Tip #5: Give first and ask questions later. Now this might sound like you’re to give money to anyone on the street who asks you for it, but this is different. What this means is that we have the tendency to ask the question “Why?” Why should I be generous with my time and money? The reality of it is that you can’t understand the answer to that question until you start being generous. You could read scripture. You could hear stories from other people’s lives. You could see a vision of heaven coming to earth. But you won’t get it. You won’t get it until you take a homeless guy across the street to Arby’s for lunch. You won’t get it until you mow your elderly neighbor’s yard without them asking or paying you. You won’t get it until you help your wife’s single-mother-coworker pay her rent. You won’t get it until you pay for lunch for you and your friends, knowing that you might not be able to eat dinner. If you decide that you aren’t going to be generous until you understand why, you’ll never be generous. The reality is you need to give first and then ask questions, because by giving you’ll find a lot of the answers.

Jesus continuously worshiped God the Father.  Depending on your background, the word worship could have a lot of baggage with it.  Some view worship as a meeting time once a week.  Some view worship as a music genre.  Some view worship as doing a set of prayers/chants/mantras.  Some view worship as singing some songs.

While all of these are forms of worship, they all fall short of a full understanding of what worship is.  Worship at its core is giving value to something or someone.  In his book Unceasing Worship, Harold M. Best defines worship better by saying that, “worship is the continuous outpouring of all that I am, all that I do and all that I can ever become in light of a chosen or choosing god.”[i]

Human beings are worshipers.  Everything we do, says, think, or feel is an act of worship.  At the heart of everything we do is giving value to someone or something. We are born worshiping and we never stop. The only thing that changes is what we worship.  God is the only one worthy of worship.  God’s original design was for us to continuously worship Him, but sin entered the world and we started worshiping lesser things.  We started to worship created things (ourselves generally being at the top of the list).  We started to worship idols.[ii]

The reality is that at the heart of all sin is an issue with worship.  Romans 1:24-25 puts it this way, “Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.”[iii] Because of sin, instead of continuously worshiping God, we continuously worship created things.  Because of sin, we have had no desire to ever give glory to God.

Now that we are being made into the image of Christ, we are able to glorify God with our lives once again.  Jesus used everything in his life to worship God.  He is the only person to perfectly worship God, and through the power of the Holy Spirit we can do the same. Instead of worshiping money, we can use money to worship God.  Instead of worshiping our jobs, we can use our jobs to worship God. Instead worshiping our families, we can use our families to worship God.  Instead of worshiping all of our stuff, we can use our stuff to worship God.  In Jesus, we have been freed to worship God.  Spend this week focusing on how you are called to worship God with all your life.

[ii] An idol is anything that we worship that isn’t God.

[iii] (ESV)

As it’s already been stated, Bible reading and prayer are the two most basic spiritual disciplines of Christian faith.  Prayer in the simplest way is talking to God.  It is sharing with your loving Father your heart, thoughts, emotions, requests, needs, cares, anxieties, worries, praises, thanksgivings, hopes, and desires.  The list could go on for days.  God speaks to you through His Word and you speak to Him through prayer.  Here are some simple tips and steps for developing a discipline of prayer.

Tip #1: Set up “triggers” in your life. We talked about triggers last week.  Take things that you do everyday and make them triggers for you to pray.  Here are some ideas to help you get started: taking a shower, using the bathroom, getting in your car, making coffee, getting in bed, getting ready to read your Bible, finishing reading your Bible, driving to work, driving home, finishing lunch, eating eggs, sailing on a boat, scratching your nose, and buying a tambourine. You get the idea. Take things that you do everyday and use them as a trigger to pray.

Tip #2: Have a plan. If you don’t have a plan, you can easily become a random prayer. Whatever comes to your head at the time is what you will pray for. You will constantly be praying for the same things over and over. This isn’t necessarily bad, but there are a lot more things/people in your life that could be praying for.  So have a standard place where you keep track of all the things that you want to pray about. Then review this list at least once a day. This way nothing gets left behind.

Tip #3: Talk to God. 
This might sound dumb to some, but for others this will be an epiphany. I don’t know if you noticed this or not, but some people like to use what could be called “prayer talk.”  This is where a person suddenly embodies the spirit of a TV evangelist and sees how many times they can say the words God, Father God, Lord, or Jesus (whichever is the persons favorite) in a prayer.  It comes as a surprise to most that you can actually just talk to God. You don’t have to use His name as the punctuation to every sentence. You don’t have to speak in old English. You can just talk to Him. Just like you talk to your friends about your troubles and your successes, you can talk to Him. You can tell Him your struggles and failures. You can tell Him jokes. You can even be angry and cry out to Him (read a few Psalms and you’ll get the idea). Prayer is you simply talking to God. No flair. No technicalities. No special formulas. Just talking.

Tip #4: Write it down.   When you develop a habit of constantly praying, it becomes easy to forget what you’ve prayed about.  Therefore, you can lose track of whether or not God has answered your prayers. This is so you can look back and see how God has answered your prayers over time.  Keep it simple though.  Don’t set a limit. That means no minimum or maximum. It puts an unnecessary burden on you. Some days you will write pages worth of prayer to God. Other days it will be the simple phrase, “God help me.” The idea is to simply write it out.

Tip #5: Keep it simple. During the time of Jesus, Jews would have standard prayers for everything that they would do. You would have a standard prayer for plowing a field, eating a meal, drinking wine…even going to the bathroom.[i] The key was that most of these prayers were only a sentence long. The reality is that our prayers don’t have to be five minutes long for God to hear us. Sometimes the simplest prayers are the best prayers. If you can only think of a few things to say to God, then say them. God isn’t keeping a tally of how much you pray. He just wants to hear from you.

Tip #6: Keep it sweet. 
Remember whom you are talking to. While God is the King of the Universe, He is also the Lover of your soul. One of the reasons that David was a man after God’s own heart was because he was passionate and honest with God. He was open and honest as you can only be with a closest friend. The worst prayer isn’t a long prayer or a prayer said in Old English but a prayer that has no heart. If you aren’t praying out of a love for God, then are you really praying?  The reality is that this is the core of all prayer…to seek the face of God….to seek after His heart. Prayer is one of the most intimate times we have with God. Treat it that way.

Our Father Abraham: Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. ² And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. – Ephesians 5:1-2

In the beginning, God created us in His image.  Like a mirror, we were created to reflect God’s glory to the world around us.  Unfortunately, sin entered the world and our reflection became distorted.  Our mirrors became bent and broken.

The story doesn’t stop there though.  Jesus entered our world and imaged the Father perfectly.  He reflected God’s glory to the world perfectly.  Everything he did showed us a perfect image of who the Father is.  Jesus said, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”[i] Jesus imaged the Father.

We are called to image Jesus in the same way that Jesus imaged God the Father.  As disciples we are being conformed into the image of Jesus.[ii] Bruce Ware describes our imaging this way:

Created and finite representations (images of God) of God’s own nature, that in relationship with Him and each other, they might be His representatives (imaging God) in carrying out responsibilities He was given to them.  In this sense, we are images of God in order to image God and His purposes in the ordering of our lives and carrying out of our God-given responsibilities.[iii]

In the next three weeks we will focus on three distinct areas in our lives in which we are called to image God.  We are called to worship Jesus with all of our lives, live in gospel-centered community, and be on mission in the world around us.  For now we will simply focus on the thought of imaging God.

Now that our identity is in Jesus, our lives are called to be a reflection of Jesus.  Our mirrors are being repaired so we can image Jesus in everything we do, think, feel, and say.  This is only possible because of the relationship that we now have with Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit as we are continually purified into the image of Jesus.

As a disciple of Jesus, it is our goal that every aspect of our life would reflect God’s glory.  Our families should reflect God’s glory.  Our finances should reflect God’s glory.  Our relationships should reflect God’s glory.  Our jobs should reflect God’s glory.  Spend this week focusing on how you are called to be an image-bearer of God.

[ii] Romans 8:29

[iii] Wayne Grudem, Biblical Foundations for Manhood and Womanhood (Crossway Books, 2002), 79.

The two most basic disciplines of the Christian faith are scripture reading and prayer.  In fact, it is hard to separate the two.  God communicates to His people through His Word, and we communicate with Him through prayer.  This week we are going to focus on reading our Bibles and journaling, and next week we’ll look at prayer.

Reading our Bibles and journaling our thoughts are helpful tools to cultivate our relationship with Jesus.  Through scripture we are able to learn more about Jesus, have Him speak to our hearts, and be prepared to do His work.  Here are some simple tips and steps for developing a habit of spending time in God’s Word.

Tip #1: Have “triggers.” Probably one of the hardest things to do is to get in the habit of opening your Bible.  Leo Babauta of WritetoDone.com talks about putting triggers in your life to help you develop habits.

What’s a trigger? It’s the event that sets off your habit. For example, when I used to smoke, I had a number of triggers: I would smoke upon waking, when stressed, after a meeting, etc. When I wanted to change that habit, I had to change each trigger so that I had a new habit to replace smoking. Upon waking, for example, I would exercise instead. To create a new habit, you need to strongly associate your habit with a trigger. For example, let’s say you want to write in the morning — you might awake, use the bathroom, make your coffee, and then start writing. So making coffee is the trigger for writing, and using the bathroom is the trigger for making coffee, and waking is the trigger for using the bathroom. And as you wake every day, you have no problem. Choose a trigger that you know you’ll do every day, and then do your writing right after it, without exception.[i]

Triggers can be a very powerful tool for any spiritual discipline that you are trying to start.

Tip #2: Have all the right resources. It is suggested that when you sit down to spend time in the Bible, you should have the following items:

A Bible – Make sure it is a version that you can understand (different versions of the Bible are written at different reading levels). This guide uses the English Standard Version, but you might find another version easier to understand. Just go to your local bookstore and test a few out. See how easy they are to read and if you can understand the words that are being used.

A Journal – This is where you are going to write down your thoughts.  You can find several different styles at your bookstore.  Don’t be afraid to switch journals if one isn’t working for you.   Use the first few pages to keep an index of what you are learning each day. This way you can look back and see what you have been learning.

A Reading Plan – This guide provides you with passages to read every day while you’re going through the lessons.  When you’re done going through this guide, read whatever you want. Just have a plan. There are several different Bible reading plans online that will take you through the Bible in a year, or you could make it as simple as reading two chapters a day. Whatever you do, use a plan, or you’ll spend half your time trying to figure out what to read.

A Planner - It’s going to happen. You are going to be in the middle of having a wonderful time with God. Journaling your heart out…and you are going to remember that you’re out of milk. This is where your planner comes in handy. You can write down, “get milk” and go right back to your journaling. If you don’t have a planner, just use a scratch piece of paper.  Otherwise, your time with God will be hijacked by random thoughts of things you need to do for the day.

Tip #3: 
Use S.O.A.P.  This is an acronym for a Bible reading and journaling structure from Wayne Cordeiro.[ii] It stands for the following:

Scripture: Start off with the Bible. Read the verses that are on your plan for the day.
Observation: As you read, write down any observations that you have from the text. Use the questions, “Who is God?,” and “How do I enjoy Him?,” to focus your observations even better.
Application: Based on what you have read…what should you do? Try to make this practical and realistic. Set a goal for the day based upon your reading. Write it down and hold yourself accountable to it.
Prayer: Last but not least, spend some time in prayer to God. Confess and repent of any sins that were brought to light while you were reading. Spend time thanking God. Also spend some time in silence listening to God.  Make note of these in your journal.

Tip #4: Keep it simple. The goal of your time with God is to try to grow closer to Him. It’s not to check off your list. Don’t add extra burdens to this focus, such as: “I have to make at least 15 observations.” “I have to write at least 5 pages in my journal.” “I have to pray for at least 45 minutes.” The goal is to spend time with God and to grow closer to Him. Do what it takes to do just that…the rest is just distractions, burdens, and religion.

[ii] Wayne Cordeiro, “Plenary Session 1” (presented at the Exponential Conference (National New Church Conference), Orlando, Florida, April 25, 2007).