26/11/18 TREASURE BLOG 12 - FINDING SUSTAINING JOY IN THE LOVE OF GOD (COLOSSIANS 1:19 & 2:9)

THIS BLOG CONTAINS:

• Community group/family study
• Daily bible studies 
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COMMUNITY GROUP STUDY 12

COLOSSIANS 1:19 & 2:9 FINDING SUSTAINING JOY IN THE LOVE OF GOD

·     We can all become discouraged, feeling that we are giving so much more than we are getting from others. Is this something that members of the group have struggled with? 

Today we will see how the incarnation of Jesus (Him becoming a man for us) is a key to replacing self-pity with sustaining joy.

Colossians 1:19  For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him. 

1. What is the incarnation? 

Colossians 2:9For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form. 

·     Jesus was both fully God and fully man. Jesus is eternal but, as we celebrate at Christmas, at a point in history he took on flesh. ‘All the fullness’, means that Jesus was fully God. All that God is, Jesus is. ‘In Bodily form’ points to the truth that Jesus was also fully man. 

·     What does John 1:14 say about the incarnation? 

·     In Colossians 1:19 it says that ‘God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him.’ – what does this say about God’s attitude toward His incarnation? 

2. How does the incarnation give us joy? 

·     We can often feel that we are taking most of the initiative in our friendships. How has Jesus taken loving initiative toward you and how deeply are you happy about this? 

·     How does the incarnation reveal His love toward you? (Philippians 2:6-8) 

·     Jesus was a true man (whilst being God). What does this say about how He understands your struggles? (See Hebrews 4:14-16)

·     Jesus has been let down by everyone and yet He took all the initiative toward sinners like you and me. How does this help to sustain our joy and keep us taking initiative toward others? (Philippians 2:5)

·     How we should worship Him? (Philippians 2:9-11) 

RESPONSE

There are 2 ways that we will think about responding today:

1.  Rejoicing in grace

In the Greek Colossians 1:19 reads, ‘Because in Him was all the fullness pleased to dwell’. 

The incarnation – Jesus leaving heaven, taking on a human nature, in order to save rebellious mankind –  is the height of love. It was done according to God’s will and ‘pleasure’; it was motivated by His love and mercy alone. As J. I. Packer says,

‘We need to view the incarnation not simply as a marvel of nature, but as a wonder of Grace.’  

If we are feeling discouraged by how we are being treated, we are reminded here that this is a standard of love to which we are all falling short!

·     How does understanding our failure to love God and others keep us from pride and self-pity in regard to how we are being appreciated? 

·     How does understanding God’s love in Christ help us to remain full of joy and gentle toward others? 

2.   keep taking initiative in self-giving 

God’s love, whilst being a standard standard of which we all fall short, is also a challenge to pray for grace and grow in this kind of love; as Paul says, ‘In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus…’ (Phil. 2:5) John also writes, ‘Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another’ (1 Jn. 4:11).  How will you respond to the challenge to keep growing and persevering in radical, servant, love? 

DAILY DEVOTIONAL 

WEEK 12 – FINDING SUSTAINING JOY IN THE LOVE OF GOD

MONDAY – JESUS, THE FULNESS OF GOD

Colossians 1:19  For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him. 

Colossians 2:9For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form. 

The original Greek behind our English translation is,

‘Because in Him was all the fullness pleased to dwell’ 

Let’s break this down:

·     Because…– Paul in the previous verse has said that we are to give Jesus ‘supremacy’ (worship, obedience etc.) and now, in this verse, he is telling us why – because He is God. 

·     In Him…– This is about the nature of Jesus. There is nothing more important than giving our minds to understand ‘Him’.  

·     All the fullness…– All that God is, Jesus is. 

·     Pleased to dwell… – It was God’s will and pleasure to come as a man. The incarnation, so He could die for sin, was God’s pleasure and will. 

‘To complete the biblical teaching about Jesus Christ, we must affirm not only that he was fully human, but also that he was fully divine. Although the work does not explicitly occur in Scripture, the church has used the term incarnation to refer to the fact that Jesus was God in human flesh. The incarnation was the act of God the son whereby he took to himself a human nature.’ (Wayne Grudem)

RESPONSE

·     Firstly,have we given Jesus supremacy in our lives and families? Do we teach ourselves and, if parents, teach our children about the mysteries of Jesus’ identity? 

·     Secondly,in Christ we see a God who acts in history. He is lovingly and, sometimes, mysteriously working in our lives and throughout the world. Do you need to reaffirm your trust that God has not forgotten you, that Jesus is actively working in your life? 

TUESDAY – JESUS, THE SERVANT KING

Colossians 1:19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him. 

Colossians 2:9For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form. 

The incarnation (God taking to himself a human body) was an act of free grace. The ESV. Version translates these words,

‘For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell’. 

It pleased God to come into the world in order, ultimately, to die for us. Good Friday (when Jesus died) was the reason for Christmas. 

This points to the willing humiliation of God as He laid aside His glory, becoming a man in Christ as we read,

Philippians 2:6-8Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;  rather, he made himself nothing  by taking the very natureof a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross! (We will study this text more fully on Thursday and Friday)

Thomas Watson, writing of Jesus coming to earth, 

‘Christ’s taking flesh was a plot of free grace, and a pure design of love.  God himself, though almighty, was overcome with love.  Christ incarnate is nothing but love covered with flesh. As Christ’s assuming our human nature was a masterpiece of wisdom, so it was a monument of free grace.’ 

RESPONSE

2 Corinthians 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.

Do you see that Jesus’ glorious, eternal identity did not stop Him from serving us? He deserves to be ‘supreme’ in the hearts of all people and yet He serves a world that is in rebellion to Him; A life of Christ-likeness is one of sacrificial love. How do you express the dignity of your identity?

•    Are you Haughty? – “how dare you look down on me, treat me that way, I’ll give you what you deserve…”

•    Limp? –“It’s fine, just walk all over me, I’m not worth that much…”

•    Strong sacrifice? – “I give myself for the undeserving; like Christ I’ll lovingly serve…”

WEDNESDAY – GOD IN A BODY

Colossians 1:19  For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him. 

Colossians 2:9For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form. 

John speaks of the importance of the truth that Jesus was God in a body when he says,

Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. (2 John 1:7) 

In His human nature, Jesus experienced all of our weaknesses and temptations. He understands exactly what it is like to be a human being. He understands our lives with its joys and struggles (See Hebrews 4:14-16). 

What was the relationship between His divine and human natures? 

When I was younger I used to love the Superman films. Clark Kent (his alter ego) acted like a normal unassuming man, but, when there was need, he ran into a telephone box, emerging as the ‘man of steel’.  We can wrongly assume that Jesus was like a superman –  acting like a normal man but having all the power of God on tap. 

J. I. Packer corrects this view, 

‘The Incarnation means that the Son of God lived his divine-human life in and through his human mind and body at every point, maximizing his identification and empathy with those he had come to save, and drawing on divine resources to transcend human limits of knowledge and energy only when particular requirements of the Father’s will so dictated.’

In other words, Jesus experienced life just like you and me, and only used His divine attributes when the Father’s will allowed. Therefore, in theory, you may have been able to beat Jesus in a quiz or a running race! Therefore, for example, Jesus could honestly claim ignorance, whilst being omniscient (all knowing), of the day of His return,  

“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Matthew 24:36) 

And He got tired whilst being omnipotent (almighty) 

RESPONSE

In Hebrews we read, 

For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. (Hebrews 216-18)

Pray and respond as God leads you from what we have just read: 

·      Jesus continues to help us – do you need help?

·      He became a man so understands – do you feel misunderstood and unsupported?

·      He suffered temptation – do you need help in temptation?

THURSDAY – WHAT PHILIPPIANS 2 TEACHES US (PART 1)

Colossians 1:19  For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him. 

Colossians 2:9For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form. 

To understand what we read in Colossians 1:19 and 2:9 it is helpful to read Philippians 2:5-11. Like the section in Colossians we are studying, this passage in Philippians is thought by many to be an early Christian hymn. Today we will study verses 5-7. 

Philippians 2:5-7 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very natureGod, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very natureof a servant, being made in human likeness.

·     ‘In your relationships…’– The identity of Jesus is to inform all of our relationships. Jesus’ love must shape our ‘mindset’. 

·     ‘...Who being in very nature (form of) God…’– Prior to the incarnation (Jesus coming as a man) He was eternally with and was God. His ‘nature’ is eternally divine. As we read in John 17:5 “And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.”

·     ‘Did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage…’– Jesus, although being God, did not use His power and rights to avoid the incarnation and the cross. 

·     ‘He made himself nothing…’– Of what did Jesus ‘empty’ (reflecting the Greek word ekenōsen) Himself? The next phrase explains the answer: Jesus emptied Himself by becoming a ‘servant’ and not by loss of anything. As Augustine wrote,"He emptied himself not by losing what he was but by taking to him what he was not."

·     ‘By taking the very natureof a servant, being made in human likeness…’– Jesus who is ‘very nature God’ now becomes ‘very nature a servant’. His emptying Himself involved Him becoming a ‘servant’; God came into the world, as a man, to serve it. 

RESPONSE

Paul is quoting this song in order that it effect our relationships. We live in a world of divisions: men/ women/ sexuality/ gender/ race/ nationality/ class/ beauty/ left/ right/ religion… much of these tensions are created because we do not know Jesus. We don’t know that God, who has every right to our love and worship (‘supremacy’) came to serve the very people who rejected Him. There is much that could be said on this complex subject, but how do you feel oppressed or mistreated and how could you ‘In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus’? 

FRIDAY –  WHAT PHILIPPIANS 2 TEACHES US (PART 2)

Colossians 1:19  For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him. 

Colossians 2:9For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form. 

To understand what we read in Colossians 1:19 and 2:9 it is helpful to read Philippians 2:5-11. Like the section in Colossians we are studying, this passage in Philippians is thought by many to be an early Christian hymn. Today we will study verses 8-11. 

Philippians 2:8-11 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

·     ‘And being found in appearance as a man…’– He appeared as a man, looked in every way like us, but, unlike all of us, He was without sin (Romans 8:3). 

·     ‘He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross...’–  The purpose of Jesus emptying Himself and serving us, in becoming a man, is revealed in the cross; the cross is the reason for the incarnation. 

·     ‘Therefore God exalted him to the highest place…’– Jesus, after His death and resurrection, has been glorified. The one whose glory was hidden in humiliation and death is to take the ‘supremacy’ and first place in our hearts and worship. All who know Jesus take no other opinion and are jealous that He receive all the glory and honour. 

RESPONSE

This week we have been looking at what it means to say, 

‘For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him.’ (Colossians 1:19). 

We have seen that the incarnation is a key to finding sustaining joy. We can all be discouraged by the behaviour of others, and can be tempted to stop loving and serving them as we feel, “I deserve better than this!”. The incarnation, however, encourages us to keep loving and serving; we are all undeserving and have failed to love God and others as they deserve and yet God came into the world to serve us! 

The incarnation means that Jesus, in love, laid aside glory, becoming a man in order to die to save us. We are reminded of the radical nature of what it means to follow Jesus. He, as a man took up the cross to serve the undeserving, and we are called to ‘take up our cross and follow Him’. This is a call to radical loving service. 

Paul reminds us, ‘In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus…’ (Philippians 2:5)Jesus tells us, “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am.  Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.  I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. (John 13:13-15). God is reminding us that if we want to bear the fruit we desire to see, like Christ, we must lay aside our rights and serve God and people in love.