The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Colossians 3:5-9,
"Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other..."
Here Paul lists the types of things that belong to our "earthly nature". It is called our "sinful nature" or "the flesh" in various places. What is clear is that mankind is defective when it comes to being what we were originally created to be. Following the fall of man in the garden of Eden, the heart of man has morphed into a dark, evil and corrupt state. Just pick up a newspaper (well, check your news feed on line), we see it on full display every day. Better yet, just look in the mirror - I can see it there.
There are many naive people who "feel" mankind is basically good and if we just did this or that, all that goodness and sunshine will flow and glow from within the hearts of us all. The war on poverty is a great example of a sorry and misguided attempt at social engineering to address what we all see. After the transfer of trillions of dollars, not one thing has changed an iota. We still have every bit of the wickedness and rot that was just as apparent in the 1960s. The naive idea was that if poverty was eradicated, mankind would become transformed. Mankind's efforts at fixing mankind's defectiveness has always been a fool's errand. But, I digress.
Paul assumes these nasty character traits within everyone. Note he says, "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature..." without specifying the individuals he is talking to within the fellowship at Colossae. He doesn't need to. Every last one has an "earthly nature." This is why the cross of Christ is an offense. It indicts us all as having a sin-riddled life that needs redemption.
Some, who acknowledge the sinful condition within them that remains even after the regeneration of our new birth in Jesus Christ, have attempted to hold it in check by focusing on its traits. "Don't lust", "don't be greedy", "don't get angry", etc. That is not Paul's approach. He says to get your focus off the sinful nature and direct it on Jesus Christ:
"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." Colossians 3:1-3.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
"Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other..."
Here Paul lists the types of things that belong to our "earthly nature". It is called our "sinful nature" or "the flesh" in various places. What is clear is that mankind is defective when it comes to being what we were originally created to be. Following the fall of man in the garden of Eden, the heart of man has morphed into a dark, evil and corrupt state. Just pick up a newspaper (well, check your news feed on line), we see it on full display every day. Better yet, just look in the mirror - I can see it there.
There are many naive people who "feel" mankind is basically good and if we just did this or that, all that goodness and sunshine will flow and glow from within the hearts of us all. The war on poverty is a great example of a sorry and misguided attempt at social engineering to address what we all see. After the transfer of trillions of dollars, not one thing has changed an iota. We still have every bit of the wickedness and rot that was just as apparent in the 1960s. The naive idea was that if poverty was eradicated, mankind would become transformed. Mankind's efforts at fixing mankind's defectiveness has always been a fool's errand. But, I digress.
Paul assumes these nasty character traits within everyone. Note he says, "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature..." without specifying the individuals he is talking to within the fellowship at Colossae. He doesn't need to. Every last one has an "earthly nature." This is why the cross of Christ is an offense. It indicts us all as having a sin-riddled life that needs redemption.
Some, who acknowledge the sinful condition within them that remains even after the regeneration of our new birth in Jesus Christ, have attempted to hold it in check by focusing on its traits. "Don't lust", "don't be greedy", "don't get angry", etc. That is not Paul's approach. He says to get your focus off the sinful nature and direct it on Jesus Christ:
"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." Colossians 3:1-3.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
No comments:
Post a Comment