Colossians (Program #45) – The Renewing of the New Man

Here is an interesting question for us to ponder. Just what is Christ doing today? We all know that following His resurrection and ascension into glory, He was seated at the right hand of throne of God in the heavens. Well, does that mean He is just resting there? Or is He actively involved in the carrying out of God’s eternal plan and purpose?  Hebrews tell us that He’s very busy, in fact, interceding, that means praying on our behalf to God the Father. And, there’s more that He’s engaged in as we’ll see today.

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Colossians (Program #44) – One with Christ in the Things Above

The full salvation that we receive in Christ is not a simple thing. Yes, we have been forgiven and eternally secure to be with the Lord. That, in itself, sounds simple, but our salvation brings with it much more than simply this. For example, do you know that you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Well, this is a direct quote from Colossians 3:3. So what does it mean for our life to be hidden with Christ in God? Well, we’ll find out a bit more today, but for sure it means that when we receive Christ into us as life at the moment of regeneration or rebirth, Christ then hides us in Himself and brings us into God as our realm and our sphere. Still think salvation is a simple thing?

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Colossians (Program #43) – Christ as All the Members and in All The Members In the New Man

Colossians 3:4 says, “When Christ our life is manifested, then you also will be manifested with Him in glory.” What a wonderful utterance by Paul the Apostle! Christ our life. What is it to have Christ as our life? Well Paul goes even farther in Colossians to bring us to the eventual stage of having Christ not just as our life, but as our living. Christ, as our life, bring us to an awareness, a consciousness of His Body and our place as members in His Body. But Christ as our living bring us to the higher stage of the new man, where Christ is all and in all.

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Colossians (Program #42) – One Position, One Life, One Living, One Destiny, and One Glory With Christ

On one hand, Christ is mysterious, He is at the same time sitting at the right hand of God in the heavenlies but also simultaneously dwelling in us. He’s also practical. He not only saves us eternally, but He wants to become our very living, that is to live Himself out in our everyday life. We’ve been treated to a marvelous view of Christ in the book of Colossians for many weeks now. And as we near the end of this memorable life-study, we want to come back to a few key passages to be nourished and enlightened once again.

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Colossians (Program #41) – Having Died With Christ And Having Been Raised With Christ

The Bible tells us that, in Christ, we are dead to sin and to the world and even to ourselves. Not only so, it also tell us that we also have been raised in Christ and made alive to God in Christ. This is truly wonderful when we treasure verses like these that point us to the spiritual facts that are true in Christ. But, does simply knowing these facts help us in our day to day walk?  Is our experience parallel what is true in Christ? Well, I think we all know the answer to this question and the struggle and the anguish that most serious believers go through trying desperately to experience in us what is factually true in Christ.  As we come back again to consider how to bring into reality, the reality of being in Christ.

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Colossians (Program #40) – Holding the Head, Out From Whom All the Body Grows With The Growth of God

Consider this interesting phrase from Colossians 2:19 “And not holding the Head, out from Whom all the Body … grows with the growth of God.” Well as believers we read such verses and surely none of us will disagree but do we really stop to consider, what is it to hold the Head; and why does it say, “holding the Head” and not holding Christ? Well the answer is that most of us take the Bible for granted. Of course we have our special and favorite passages that that we often quote and understand to some extend.  But for the most part, we skim over accepting what it says but not taking the time or the interest to dig and probe and pray over the word.  Today we will dig and probe and even pray concerning this crucial and important section of Colossians.

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Colossians (Program #39) – Not Defrauded of Your Prize of Enjoyment of Christ

What is your favorite book in the Bible? Maybe many would say the gospel of John or perhaps one of the other gospels. Others will surely pick the book of Revelation with all the exciting things it says about the end times. But what about the writings of Paul, the apostle, which actually make up the bulk of the New Testament? How many of you picked one of Paul’s letters? Let’s see what Paul has to say about his ministry in Colossians 1, it says “Of which I became a minister according to the stewardship of God, which was given to me for you, to complete the word of God. The mystery which has been hidden from the ages and from the generations but now has been manifested to His saints; To whom God willed to make known what are the riches of this glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

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Colossians(Program #38) – In Christ and According to Christ

What does it mean to be “in Christ”? Many places in the New Testament, especially in the letters of Paul the Apostle, use this term. Well, the easiest answer is to say that according to the facts, whatever is true of Him is true of us. For example, we died in Him and we were made alive in Him. As I said, these are the facts. But, what about our experience?  If we’re regenerated, born again. Then without doubt, we have these divine facts as our spiritual history, but we may not have a corresponding experience: being in Him and living according to Him.

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Colossians (Program #37) – Having Been Rooted In Christ And Being Built up in Him (1 & 2)

What is genuine spiritual growth?  The term is found repeatedly in Scriptures and is tossed about quit freely by Christians.  What does it really mean to grow or to grow in Christ?  The apostle Paul uses this term many times with a corresponding phrase “we have been rooted in Christ.”  as a plant or tree has been rooted into rich soil.  Such a plant’s growth, not from studying the Bible or by determination or by laboring but it comes by absorbing the rich nutrients from the soil in which it has been rooted.  Being rooted in Christ and growing with the growth of God that’s our topic on this life study of the Bible.

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Colossians (Program #36) – Christ Replaced in Every Way

Three important books in the New Testament are 1 Corinthians, Galatians and Colossians.  It’s interesting to know that all three of these letters written by the Apostle Paul were sent to the churches largely because the believers in these places had allowed things other than Christ to replace Him in their experience.  With the Corinthians it was gifts and knowledge.  With the Galatians, religion had replaced Christ and with the Colossians, it was their top culture.  All good things yet all had replaced Christ.  How about us?  Have we allowed things other than Christ Himself to become our focus?

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