“Who are my mother and my brothers?” Jesus asked. (Mark 3:33, NIV)
At the end of our look at Paul’s letter to the Colossians, we were reminded that Christians are part of a bigger church family than just those we meet with each week. One day we will be with countless thousands from every tribe and tongue and nation. This Sunday morning, we will be thinking about the wider church family and praying for them together.
Remember that the clocks go back at 2am on Sunday morning
Devote yourselves to prayer, ... Be wise in the way you act towards outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. (Colossians 4:2,5-6, NIV)
As Paul brings his letter to the Colossians to a close, he highlights two areas. First, that we should be devoted to prayer, that we are pray to the God who created us, and who is able to do all things. Second, that we should make the best use of every opportunity to talk about Jesus, the one who saves us. What might that look like for us? How can we take every opportunity to talk about Jesus?
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:1-4, NIV)
What should our lives look like as Christians? Should there be any difference? As Paul writes to the Colossians, and us, he certainly thinks so. As we have died with Christ and live in Christ, so has our behaviour. Christians are to live as God’s chosen people, holy and loved by God. What might that look like for us?
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. (Colossians 2:6-7, NIV)
Continue to live your lives in Christ. If Jesus Christ is our Lord - our saviour and our king - why would we end up following anything or anyone else? Paul wants us to be entirely focussed on Jesus, because of what Jesus has done for us.
My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ (Colossians 2:2, NIV)
We often use the word ‘mystery’ to describe something that we don’t know, might never know, or might be restricted to certain people. When Paul uses the word, he is describing something we do know and can all know: Jesus Christ. At the centre of the Christian faith is one man, Jesus. This is the mystery that Paul wants us to understand, to know, and to grow in.