Christ was a faithful servant of the Father. Though He was the Son, He became a slave to free us from slavery and make us sons. Because of the work of the Suffering Servant who gave Himself to make us sons, we are those most free to serve in every situation under any leader. Therefore, both earthly Christian workers and earthly Christian bosses have been set free to be the greatest servants of all.

In Paul’s treatise on the Christian family, he now addresses parents and children. We see two interrelated commands that produce powerful emotional responses – good or bad. A changed heart changes the manner of a father’s leadership … and that changes the whole family.

In Colossians 3:18, 19 Paul provides gender specific commands for the Christian husband and wife to properly live out their distinct roles within the marriage. These principles follow the overarching theme of marriage seen through scripture and allow Christian marriages to ultimately reflect Christ and the Church.

If you are a Christian, you have been made new! The Bible says you have a new heart, have been regenerated, have the Spirit within you—you have a new identity in Christ. But, just as we live in the already-not-yet kingdom, our experience in the Christian life is already-not-yet. We are free from the condemning power of sin, but not yet free from its presence. Nevertheless, just like clothes, we need to take off the old and put on the new. We need to put on the new way of life that is consistent with our new creation heart. As we do this individually and as a church community we will be exemplary doing everything in the name of Jesus to his glory!

In Colossians 3:5-11, the Apostle Paul instructs Christians on how to live out their faith by “putting to death” and “put away” the sins in his or her life. Paul specifically instructs the believer to put to death sins of immorality and put away sins of the tongue because they have died in Christ and are now hidden in Christ. We are to put on the new self, which is being renewed in the knowledge of God who is our creator.

Having extolled the Gospel and provided some necessary warnings to the Colossian believers in chapters 1-2, Paul now is ready to instruct this local church on the Christ-like behavior that ought to characterize their ordinary Christian living in chapters 3-4. Doctrine must always lead to stirred affections and holy obedience. In these opening verses, the call is to look up to the things above – Seek them and Set your minds on them. You died to the earthly, ‘below things’ and you belong to the ‘above things.’

What do we want people to say about our local church? Our prayer is that above all they recognize a group of people who are committed to holding high the beauty of our Lord Jesus Christ. We want others to see that our main preoccupation is not to make a name for ourselves, but to make the name of Jesus famous. These are other ways of simply saying – We want to be all about the glory of God!

Discipleship isn’t a spiritual mystery. It is simply the progress and joy of our Christian faith. It is never done alone; it is always deeper than information; and it ends not only in the growth of one person, but the growth of many. If we are growing and multiplying disciples, then we are a healthy church.