Colossians 3:15-17
The Bible is a valuable resource for learning about God and His will for humanity. Last time, in Colossians 3, we examined two imperatives for living life to the fullest. They let the peace of Christ officiate and allow the Word of Christ to educate. Today is a continuation of this teaching, and the third one is to let the name of Christ motivate all we do.
As you can see, Christ is central to each point, and we, here at Heralds of Hope, believe that everyone who wants to live life to the fullest will have Jesus Christ at the center of everything. Make Jesus your king, become His servant, and you will be well on your way to living life to the fullest.
Let’s go now to Colossians 3 for the rest of our lesson.
Today, we are resuming our study, and our text is Colossians 3:15-17.
15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
This text provides several IMPERATIVES that, if obeyed, will enable us to “Live Life to the Fullest.”
The Next IMPERATIVE (that will enable us to live life to the fullest) is,
Let the Word of Christ Educate
In the contemporary church, many people are woefully uninformed about biblical truth. I saw a recent poll of 1,000 professing Christ-followers. 60% of these folks believe that Jesus is not the only way to acceptance with the Father. That’s nearly two-thirds; to me, that’s incredible! Jesus Himself pointedly told us in John 14:6 that “no one comes to the Father except by Me.” So, either they don’t know what Jesus said, or they don’t believe it.
For Christ-followers in the developed world, there’s no excuse for not knowing the truth about Christ or about the things He taught. We have more ways to access the Word of God than any previous generation, but, as a rule, we have a lot less Bible knowledge. And too often, even the Bible knowledge we have remains theoretical; it’s in our heads.
HOW is this word of Christ to dwell in us–richly, in all wisdom? The word richly is plousios (ploo-see’-ose). It means abundantly plentiful, a bountiful yield, like a mountain spring gushing continually from its source without diminishing. We’re not just to have a small portion of the Word of Christ, but an abundance of it, an overflowing of it from our lives in every kind of wisdom.
The Colossian false teachers were promising their followers a kind of wisdom available only to a select group of people, especially those initiated into their group. But Paul says, no, this wisdom contained in the Word of Christ is a resource of infinite riches for ALL genuine Believers.
What is the context in which this bountiful richness of wisdom is to be exercised? In the Body of Christ, to which you and I have been called. Do you notice the pattern here? In the preceding verse, the peace of Christ is also to be exercised in the context of the Body.
The New Testament teaching on the Church knows nothing of a Christ-follower who is, by their choice, detached from a local body of Believers. The prevailing idea today is that the Church exists to serve me, rather than that I’m called, as a Christ-follower, to serve the Church.
The richness of the Word of Christ dwelling in us and educating us will produce a specific effect. That wisdom will result in teaching and admonishing one anoth...
