Colossians 1:1-8
Notes
Transcript
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. 3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf 8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit. 9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
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The church in Colosse was started, or at least led, by a man named Epaphras. As far as we know, Paul has never visited this church… but this church was well acquainted with Paul and obviously saw him as a leader and a person of influence in Christianity.
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In fact, they had probably received some of Paul’s other letters. Most likely, the letter to the Galatians, as I’ll explain in a moment… but also, the letter to the Ephesians… for it’s believed, because of it’s general content and lack of specific correction… That the letter with the name Ephesians, was actually a letter that was meant to be circulated amongst the churches in Asia minor.
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At this point, Paul is once again is in one of his imprisonments, and this man, Epaphras, has come for a visit… and to give a report on how things are going in Colosse.
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Much like, in the situation with the Galatians and to some degree, the Philippians and the Corinthians… there were problems that needed to be addressed.
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In fact, Colosse was in the region of Galatia, so they faced some of the exact same problems that the the letter to the Galatians covered. They faced those who opposed the Gospel by calling them back to a practice of the law. In fact, they may have even been a fellow recipient of the letter to the Galatians.
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Because they lived in a Greco-Roman culture… they also faced some of the exact same problems that those in Corinth and Philippi dealt with. They faced those who opposed the Gospel, by calling them away from the supremacy of Jesus.
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Two challenges:
- Abandon the simplicity of the Gospel message that is maintained through Grace… for a system that requires rules, and laws, and observances...
- Abandon the supremacy of Jesus, for something that is more culturally and academically appealing.
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From experience… as one who has worked in the field of ‘Christian Ministry’… all but a few years on and off, since 1989… - I have seen A LOT of people abandon their faith. .
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The vast majority of those who abandoned their faith… followed one of these two paths.
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In the early 80’s, I started to discover that there were actually some good bands who were marketing themselves as ‘Christian’. - I had become a Christian in 1984… but my opinions on music has been formed through genres we called’ Punk rock, British ska, and New Wave.
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So, when I became a Christian… I was getting pressured to get rid of my good music, and listen to the horrible stuff that the kids in my youth group listened to. I know Jesus had called me to make some sacrifices… but listening to groups like Whiteheart and Petra in exchange for The Clash and the Specials… - well, that wasn’t ever going to happen.
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It took a while, but I eventually found some bands, that were actually good.
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I have continued to follow the musicians in many of these bands… I have become acquaintances with some of these musicians, and have even made a couple friends.
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One thing I’ve learned, from that music scene… is that a great majority of these musicians who preached Jesus after these concerts all through the 80’s… have abandoned their faith.
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In fact… when I hear of a musician from those days who still has a real walk with the Lord… it’s actually refreshing… because it doesn’t seem to be the norm.
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So, one of my favorite bands from that time… was Undercover. One of my best friends in the pastor world was their lead singer in the beginning… he has been here with us and I have gone on mission trips with him. - But the leader of that band… another guy I kind of consider a friend…
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He went a different path. He first transitioned into a very ritualistic form of Christianity… and then transitioned into something that is a bit more on the atheist / agnostic scale. - He now lives in Harrisonburg and is a professor at JMU… but is now very vocal against Christianity and basically, anything to do with Christian values.
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I just read a tweet from Kevin Smith… or Kevin Max as he goes by… former member of DC Talk… who said… “ I no longer identify with evangelical christianity but am a follower of the Universal Christ...” - If you’re confused by the term ‘universal christ’… it’s an inclusive, universalism term.
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You grow up with someone’s music… and you build a relationship with them as a band… through their music… - and you think that they are the people that their music represents them to be.. - and then, you find out… - that they have either...
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- Abandon the simplicity of the Gospel message that is maintained through Grace… for a system that requires rules, and laws, and observances...
- Abandon the supremacy of Jesus, for something that is more culturally and academically appealing.
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Epaphras is sitting down with Paul… in that jail… and he’s telling Paul - These are the problems we are having in the church, back in Colosse.
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And we have seen these very same problems… springing up… -not only in this thing called the ‘Christian music industry’… but also… close to home… in our communities… in our churches… and in our homes.
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One of our biggest threats… in the church… in our culture… - is what they call “Progressive Christianity”…
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One of the new voices in the church speaking out against this heresy… is a sister named Alisa Childers… who was known as a member of the band Zoe Girl… and who really faced a challenge by a pastor she really trusted… who called himself ‘a hopeful agnostic’…
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And she faced a crisis… One which God brought her through… and through which she has started a ministry.. .wrote a book and has a podcast.
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You should learn about progressive Christianity… and Alisa Childers is a good resource.
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Progressive Christianity… starts with social morality. Whatever thing our society is calling moral… our media people… our celebrities… our college professors… - this is where it starts..
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Then, they bring in the ‘teachings of Jesus’. Not actual teachings of Jesus, just a vague, nice idea of what they think the teachings of Jesus are about, and how they affirm the ever fluid, and ever changing myth of cultural morality.
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Progressive Christianity almost always becomes a political thing… reacting in a polar opposite direction to anything that might be called a conservative value… even on extreme value issues, like abortion.
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Progressive Christianity dismisses the deity of Jesus and denounces the substitutionary atonement of Jesus.
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It also dismisses the authority of the Bible, and interprets it in light of the contemporary worldview of shifting social morality.
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In progressive Christianity… the new Gospel, is social justice… and the new salvation experience… is to become ‘woke’.
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And it’s huge. It’s everywhere. My oldest daughter had jumped fully into the deep end of this wickedness… and it’s not unlikely… that others we are connected to… through both friends and family in our church… are also embracing these ideals.
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So… the book of Colossians… - I think we are a people… and this is a culture, that can relate to the issues that Paul is going to be addressing.
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And even when it seems like he is not speaking directly to the issues… we need to be mindful of them… for what he says, he says with great purpose.
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Paul is going to talk at length, about who Jesus really is.
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I’ve said this many times… when we go astray in our thinking… often times, it starts, with us thinking wrongly about God.
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When we develop wrong ideas about who and what God is, or who and what Jesus is… we will go astray in our thinking.
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Also… when we go astray in our thinking… often times, it is also an issue of us, thinking wrongly, about who we are as believers. - Paul’s letters to the churches in Asia Minor focus heavily on this. Remember, that’s what the entire first three chapters of Ephesians was all about.
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And let me say this. - My job, is to direct you… to think rightly about who God is, and to think rightly about who you are as a redeemed child of God. -I do this, by teaching you the scriptures… all of the scriptures. -I do this, by giving authority to the scriptures, and not to the culture.
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It is not my job… to tell you how to think, politically… or how to respond to social issues… or how to necessarily apply your knowledge in every situation in life. It’s my job, to equip you with the stuff… that will inform those decisions.
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In our church today… we have people who are outraged that Christians will vote for a man they see as being dangerous and morally corrupt… and we have Christians who are outraged that other Christians will vote for a party that they see as being dangerous and morally corrupt.
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And yet… I trust, even though with your votes… you might be on polar opposite sides… I hope, that your decisions are informed with a right thinking, of who God is… and who you are as His redeemed child… and what you do, you do with conviction.
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Paul exemplifies this.. He wants the believers to veer away from those things that would draw them away from the true Gospel…
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So he teaches them about who Jesus is.. and who they are as His redeemed believers.
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1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.
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In verse two… it says ‘to the saints’
Saints! -This is a common translation of the word ‘agios’… which literally means: ‘holy ones’. I believe the NIV and the NLT actually use this literal interpretation…
“to God’s holy people”
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Technically, this is what ‘saints’ means… but, because of our familiarity with the word… we might be thinking of dead people the Catholics think are cool.
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We read it… and we think of it in an exclusively NT context.
But what did the ancient reader think, when they read the term ‘holy one’.
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Hopefully, some of you watched the videos I did in the spring ‘weird things in the Bible’… or caught the first study in Genesis where I went over the principle of God’s divine counsel…
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For the sake of those who missed those studies.... let me briefly repeat some of that information…
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I mentioned… in those studies… that once you see that God governs the cosmos in the midst of an assembly of spiritual elohim… whom He also created in His image… - it becomes hard to un-see.
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We are familiar with the idea that we will one day… rule and reign with Jesus… Passages that speak of this are all over the NT… but when this happens… we will actually be joining in on something that God has already established.
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He has always had creatures… ruling and reigning with Him.
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In Psalm 82, they are called the ‘Divine Counsel’… and in 1 Kings 22:15-29 we actually see this counsel at work, coming to a decision on how to deal with Ahab, and then carrying out the plan… In Daniel 7:9-10, we see that there are a thousand thousands who serve Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand sand before him, and the court sits in judgment…
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- In fact, this language is all over the Bible… but it’s not commonly taught, because the church, for the most part… doesn’t see the overall significance of it. This is just… weird, hard to comprehend heaven stuff..
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But… it is significant… because, it’s part of God’s story in the past… and it’s part of our story, in the future…
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We will be those, who rule and reign with Jesus. - And this title, ‘Holy Ones’… is a hyperlink to this reality.
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The Jewish people in Jesus day… were well versed in the idea of ‘Holy Ones’ administering the cosmos under Yahweh’s direction. There is tons of literature from this time period that verifies this…
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When the people of this day… were told that they were ‘holy ones’… .. it meant something to them… because the vast majority of times, in the OT… when the word ‘holy ones’ is used (qadosh)… it refers to member’s of God’s divine counsel.
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In Psalm 89 we get a passage where the Psalmist is speaking of God’s greatness and superiority over all other beings… - and outside of God, what beings would be considered great? Well, there’s not much on earth to compare God to… - but in the heavens… there are the other beings… angels, cheribum, seraphim, living creatures, elders… all of these great beings… -
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So… the Psalmist will use these beings… these created elohim in the spiritual realm, to compare to God… to show His greatness..
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5 Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Lord, your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones! 6 For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord? Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord, 7 a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones, and awesome above all who are around him?
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We get other comparisons like this… Ps. 135:5 “our Lord is greater than all gods (again, this word ‘gods’ isn’t speaking of idols.. the word is literally ‘elohim’ which is a generic term for those who dwell in the spiritual realm” -
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There are a bunch of passages, where Yahweh is spoken of as being greater than the next greatest beings that humans could think of.. - If you want to write them down.. I’ll list a few for you.. - Ps. 86:8-10, Psalm 95:3, Ps 96:4, Ps 97.9, Deut 10:17
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Back to Colossians.. - they are being told, they are ‘Holy Ones’. - Interestingly… they are Holy Ones… in a thing called ‘the church’. - the church is a word that means ‘assembly’.
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When the OT was translated into the Greek… in what we call the LXX.. - This passage in Ps. 89:5… literally says… that there is an assembly… a koinonia… a church of holy ones..
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The people in Paul’s day, would have connected this… and surely, Paul would have used this word… ‘holy one’, with this in mind.
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So right off the bat… Paul is writing a letter, that will ultimately combat some wrong thinking about their faith..
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But he starts by reminding them who the are.
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They are holy ones… which means… - They will one day, serve God… as fellow rulers of His cosmos. - They are special. They are unique. They have great things in store for the future. It’s not just a matter of going to heaven and floating about on a cloud with a harp..
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No.. for eternity… it’s a matter of serving along side of God… being active… being responsible… being a part of what God is doing, for all eternity.
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If you want to combat wrong thinking… teach people to think rightly about God… and teach people to think rightly about themselves…
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In 1 Cor. 6… when the church was getting all worked up about differences in their midst… Paul reminded them who they were..
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2 Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? 3 Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life!
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If you doubt me… about what the people of this day thought, when they were called ‘holy ones’… - Maybe this passage in 1 Corinthians 6 will clear things up..
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so… that’s a lot of talking about one work in verse two.... let’s read on..
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3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf 8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.
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Paul, and his fellow ministers… were well aware of the church in Colosse. They included that church in their prayers on a regular basis.
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In this introduction… Paul continues to remind them… who they are, as redeemed believers in Jesus.
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They are a people who are known for the love that they show to other believers.
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Why did they show such love? - Because they were driven and motivated by hope. They had a confident anticipation for what God had in store for them, on an eternal level.
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Where did an understanding of this confident anticipation come from? - In the word of the truth… THE GOSPEL.
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Here’s a deductive reasoning lesson for us… and I believe Paul meant it for the church in Colosse too..
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If we are struggling to love one another… that is, we are focused more heavily upon ourselves… our stuff… our needs… our feelings… - than upon other people… - Then something is lacking. - What is lacking? A motivation of hope.
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If we have lost a present drive to love… because of lack of motivating, eternal hope… Then this means… we have first lost the significance of some important information.
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What information? - The Gospel.
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Paul was always writing to people who were forgetting the Gospel.
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Sometimes he would say… “I’m not going to talk about anything with you guys… except for the Gospel.”
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We already know… that both of the problems that were leading people away… were ultimately gospel related issues. People were embracing different ideas of what the ‘good news’ was… and heading off towards the law… or heading off towards other philosophical ideas.
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Paul commends them here, for their love… - But as they are commended… they are probably thinking, “Yea, we have some of this love going on… but not as much as we used to.” - “There are some folks where, who are not loving like this anymore… they are not driven by hope… they are not informed by the Gospel.”
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Paul goes on, in vs. 6, to remind them how incredible this Gospel message… that some of them are loosing their grip on… is.
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This information, that should be informing your hope, and your love… it is working powerfully in the whole world.... bearing fruit.. and increasing.
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And he reminds them… that they learned this from Epaphras....
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That too… was a significant reminder.
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Some of you are veering off towards the law… some of you are veering off towards liberal heresy… - KNOW THIS… You didn’t get this new information… from Epaphras.
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He taught you something different. He taught you… the GOSPEL… and when you knew the GOSPEL… you had ETERNAL HOPE.... and that ETERNAL HOPE… was the thing that motivated… YOUR LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER.
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Conclusion:
Notice what Paul is doing...
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There is a problem… - But he isn’t going to talk about that yet.
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First… He’s going to talk about how wonderful it is… when things are right.
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when things are right.... YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE.
you are a HOLY ONE… which means… you are part of something huge and wonderful that God is doing… in all eternity, and you have a part in it.
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And you are a people who KNOW THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS. The Gospel. The story of who Jesus is, according to the scriptures… what He has done… What He taught… that He died and rose again with a unique purpose… ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES… and that He was witnessed by over 500 people… who went on to TURN THE WORLD UPSIDE DOWN. - That is Paul’s definition of the Gospel.
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that is the story… that informs our hope. We believe in who Jesus is, and what Jesus did… and because of it… - WE HAVE ETERNAL HOPE.. - Paul often spoke in terms of eternal hope… - abandoning this tent for a heavenly dwelling… leaving this weak broken body behind for something that will be glorified… - He had, eternal hope…
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And a person whose hope is informed by the Gospel… will be a person with a unique perspective. - All the junk that divides us… all the junk that offends us… all the junk that feeds pride, greed and lust… - all that junk… is worthless.
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A person with eternal hope… isn’t getting offend at other… they aren’t seeking to hurt others… they aren’t out to elevate themselves over others… no… THEY WILL BE A PEOPLE.... WHO LOVE OTHERS.
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Folks… we have problems. We might be tempted to go after some other things… contrary to the Gospel… - but, if we start here… thinking rightly about God… about ourselves… and about the Good News… - then I don’t think we will go down one of those paths.
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Close.