Last night we were thinking about the Discipline of Worship.
We defined this as "the attitude and activity of consistently declaring God's worth and majesty".
We learned that Biblical worship is always a RESPONSE to the REVELATION of God to us and thanksgiving for His RESCUING of us. This worship is something we can give Him through every activity we do each day, if we will purposefully turn it to glorifying God. We also learned that we can worship God through whatever circumstances we find ourselves in: from the depths of the Valley of the Shadow of Death, all the way up to the heights of the Mount of Transfiguration where we see and meet with the glorified Jesus.
A very helpful video about worship to watch and think about is what John Piper says about a lesson that changed his way of worshipping God forever:
John Piper - "Why Does God Command Us To Worship Himself?"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43yC_JwSsIU
Some things to think about if you're wanting to apply this further:
1) If you're struggling to worship God, then seek out a fuller and greater understanding of His revelation of Himself in the Scriptures and utlimately the Person of Jesus Christ
2) If you're in the middle of a hard and dry situation, when it hurts to even think about praising God, be like the Psalmist and bear your heart to God. Tell Him exactly how you feel, even if you're angry or you're feeling abandoned. Tell Him! And then express your worshipful dependence to Him as you ask Him to rescue you, and worship Him that because He is good and faithful that you can trust in His salvation and His good purposes in your life (Romans 8:29)
3) If you're expressing real blessing and good things at the moment, rejoice and be thankful to God. Don't sin by stealing the worship God deserves by enjoying the good things at the expense of giving Him all the glory, honour and praise. Thank the Lord Jesus for His grace to you.
God bless you
David Nixon
Monday, November 1, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Night 1: The Gospel - Key for Godliness
Hi everyone,
We had a great Welcome Weekend - it was good to welcome back so many of you and meet new people too! We're going to try to keep this blog updated with some additional things to be thinking about or looking at after each night's teaching.
WHAT WE LOOKED AT ON SUNDAY:
- We considered what the gospel message is and its scope
- We also considered what real difference the gospel makes in our lives.
James 1:22-25 says:
22Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.
We need to be hearers, knowers and doers of the gospel. How can we be doers of the gospel?
WHAT WE CAN NOW DO:
Let me suggest what I have to do - ask yourself questions each day and pray to God for help to live the gospel:
a) Even though I feel rubbish, will I choose to believe what the gospel says about my position with Christ rather than what my circumstances tell me? [Gospel: Our being united to Christ and having new life in Him]
b) When I am doing my work or serving in church, will I remember that I cannot do anything to make God love me any more or impress Him, rather I can only express my thankful love to Him? [Gospel: God's grace and justification by faith alone]
c) When I am worried, will I choose to trust and rely on my Heavenly Father who in giving us His Son will surely provide all that we need for day-to-day living? [Gospel: God's love and provision in Christ]
d) When I sin and fail, will I choose not to despair or pretend it's ok but instead realise that I have been set free from slavery to sin and through the help of the Holy Spirit can resist temptation through Him [Gospel: grace and the sealing of the Holy Spirit for sanctification]
The possible list goes on. Maybe read one of the gospel's this week and try to read Ephesians or Colossians to think about the implications of the love of Jesus revealed in the gospel for your life.
Also the following link may be useful reading "The Centrality of the Gospel in Healthy Christianity": http://nathanmccavery.tumblr.com/post/1157487524/the-centrality-of-the-gospel-in-healthy-christianity
May the Lord bless you as you are believers in the gospel and doers of the gospel!
We had a great Welcome Weekend - it was good to welcome back so many of you and meet new people too! We're going to try to keep this blog updated with some additional things to be thinking about or looking at after each night's teaching.
WHAT WE LOOKED AT ON SUNDAY:
- We considered what the gospel message is and its scope
- We also considered what real difference the gospel makes in our lives.
James 1:22-25 says:
22Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.
We need to be hearers, knowers and doers of the gospel. How can we be doers of the gospel?
WHAT WE CAN NOW DO:
Let me suggest what I have to do - ask yourself questions each day and pray to God for help to live the gospel:
a) Even though I feel rubbish, will I choose to believe what the gospel says about my position with Christ rather than what my circumstances tell me? [Gospel: Our being united to Christ and having new life in Him]
b) When I am doing my work or serving in church, will I remember that I cannot do anything to make God love me any more or impress Him, rather I can only express my thankful love to Him? [Gospel: God's grace and justification by faith alone]
c) When I am worried, will I choose to trust and rely on my Heavenly Father who in giving us His Son will surely provide all that we need for day-to-day living? [Gospel: God's love and provision in Christ]
d) When I sin and fail, will I choose not to despair or pretend it's ok but instead realise that I have been set free from slavery to sin and through the help of the Holy Spirit can resist temptation through Him [Gospel: grace and the sealing of the Holy Spirit for sanctification]
The possible list goes on. Maybe read one of the gospel's this week and try to read Ephesians or Colossians to think about the implications of the love of Jesus revealed in the gospel for your life.
Also the following link may be useful reading "The Centrality of the Gospel in Healthy Christianity": http://nathanmccavery.tumblr.com/post/1157487524/the-centrality-of-the-gospel-in-healthy-christianity
May the Lord bless you as you are believers in the gospel and doers of the gospel!
Friday, September 10, 2010
Welcome Weekend 2010
It's going to be a great weekend.
Join us for a social night on Sunday 12th and then on Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th to begin a new year at INDEX
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Summer Index #11 1 Thes 1:1-10
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 – “The Spread of the Gospel”
This letter follows on from the hurried flight recorded in Acts 17:1-11 and shows Paul’s great concern for this first church plant in Europe.
1) The Process of Salvation in Lives:
i) God the Father has chosen us (v.4),
ii) The Word of God concerning the work of Christ for us is presented (v.5a),
iii) The Holy Spirit works in His power to bring about conviction of the truth of the Word and the reality of sin in our lives, so we are born again (v.5b) => reality of our election is demonstrated by this occurring (v.4)
iv) We turn in faith from dead idols of sin to the living and true God (v.9) => shows the other aspect of election that it is not fatalism or determinism
v) We become imitators of Christ and mature Christians as we walk in the Christian life (v.6),
vi) This progression through the doctrine of salvation culminates as we await the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and the resurrection from the dead in our eternal, incorruptible bodies (v.10).
You will notice the different persons of the Godhead are referred to a great deal in these few verses, which emphasises that the spread of the Gospel and salvation is God’s work which we participate in spreading by being living ambassadors of its reality.
2) The Reality of the Gospel:
- v.3 Our working out of faith, labouring in love and endurance/steadfast of hope all flows out of the reality of the gospel in our lives. Real faith produces fruits of good works (it is not dead!); real participation in the love of Christ and a desire to love others in Jesus’ name will produce incredible labours of pain and tears in us as we seek to share it with others; real steadfastness in the face of trouble, attacks, doubts comes from the reality that we have received Christ’s sustaining grace to help us perseverance to the end with the great hope of the resurrection and eternal life with Him. *Also notice this early formulation of Paul’s extolling the three spiritual virtues of faith, hope and love
- v.5 The Gospel comes not only as words or ideas, but in power as dead sinners are born again and made alive to God in Jesus Christ – conversion of souls is something you cannot argue against when you see it! In this sense the Gospel is self-authenticating (but that is to say nothing against the importance of apologetics).
- v.6 There is true joy found through the gospel as the Holy Spirit ministers to us in the midst of opposition and affliction, as we are counted worthy to suffer for Christ’s sake. This suffering also serves to fill up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ (Colossians 1:24) – namely that proximately most of the world did not witness His death, but we bring His sufferings to them and show them the glory of the gospel as we share in the fellowship of His sufferings for His sake.
- v.8 the reality of their faith is seen in all the areas around as the gospel breaks new ground in Europe (“Macedonia and Achaia…has gone forth everywhere” v.8) so that the apostles “need not say anything”. People can see that these people have received the gospel and been changed by it in such a dramatic way – they don’t need to be told that something has happened. HOWEVER, they will still need to be told how and what the gospel means for these people in Thessalonica because the gospel needs to be proclaimed and explained.
- v.9 to abandon your idols in this culture was to make yourself a loner in society and an oddity. It would threaten family relationships, friendships, social positions, jobs. To take such a step would take a real belief in some glorious reality, which we do indeed find in the Lord Jesus!
3) Application:
There are three aspects to the Christian life that we all live (Saints, Sufferers and Sinners):
A) We are Saints: new born-again creations in Christ Jesus. We should seek to share the gospel and live out its reality to show the world that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. We also should await with anticipation His coming again (v.10)
B) We are Sufferers: we are still in a broken and cursed world. We should seek to experience the true joy that is unspeakable in Jesus, ministered through the Holy Spirit. We should seek to be abiding in Him and walking obediently with Him so our joy may be full (John 15) even in the midst of unspeakable pain. We should also ask for the Lord’s help and comfort and fellowship as we suffer for Him.
C) We are Sinners: there is still the inward battle between our sinful flesh and our new hearts. We should be continuing to repent of sinful idols, by turning from them to the living God. We need to pursue Him and Him alone. All the gifts He gives us should always end in praise and worship of Him – never in the gift themselves. We need to ask Him to help us see our heart aright, and come alongside others who can help us to see what we cannot see ourselves, for our hearts are deceitful.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Summer Index #10 Eph 6:10-24
Ephesians 6:10-24 "Life as a Gospel Warrior"
We finish Ephesians today looking at the issue of spiritual warfare.
1) The War
- The spiritual battle we find ourselves involved in is done by "being strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might" (v.10), and putting on the "whole armour of God" (v.13) that He provides us with for protection.
- The Ephesian church faced a great deal of opposition from the Cult of Artemis and the pagans of the city (indeed Pastor Timothy would be martyred by them for preaching the gospel during one of their pagan processions), but Paul calls people to recognise that the real battle is a spiritual one: "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood..." (v.12). Whatever men and women do in opposition to the gospel, we should remember that they are themselves deceived, blinded and being destroyed by the enemy, Satan who merely uses them for his own purposes.
- "rulers...authorities...cosmic powers over this present darkness...spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places" (v.12) is a description of Satan's kingdom on earth, which Christ has come to liberate captives from and to destroy at His coming, for He has decisively won the victory at Calvary - Satan's power is now broken.
2) The Armour
- Purpose of the armour: "to stand against the schemes of the devil" (v.11); "withstand in the evil day" (v.13)
- Sometimes we think that the gospel and the church are being marginalised in society, that we are on the retreat...but the truth is that not even the gates of Hell can prevail against the gospel as we press on (gates are a defensive measure, so it is really Satan's kingdom that is under siege). The Church stands its ground and advances through the work and power of the Lord Jesus Christ
- The pieces of armour are all coming from the gospel that God gives us to equip us for our gospel ministry in this world => we are to ACTIVELY "PUT ON" (v.11)
a) The belt of truth => God gives us the truth through revealing to us His Son, who is the truth and giving us the Spirit of truth, and His word which is the truth. This allows us to run into battle easily without being tripped up over confusion of what is actually true.
b) breastplate of rigtheousness => We have received Christ's righteousness, which has been creditted to our accounts and which changes our hearts. We receive this armour to protect our hearts from Satan's attacks, for he hates Christ's righteousness in us
c) shoes of the gospel of peace => Remarkable that our feet are to be a blessing of peace in this battle, for Paul elsewhere talks from the OT about "blessed are the feet which bring good news". Everywhere we walk we can bring good and a blessing, because we are bringing the gospel of peace and offering men and women an invitation to be reconciled to the King.
d) shield of faith => this is our defense against the fast and unsuspecting arrows of Satan who fires doubts, pains, troubles our way from out of sight. We must be prepared to choose to walk in faith and to apply our faith to many situations, because the shield of faith is no use if we do not direct it at the direction of attack.
e) sword of the Spirit => the Word of God is our great weapon for taking on the attacks of Satan, with it the Lord Jesus also fought Satan in the wilderness and was able to properly use the scriptures to disarm Satan's temptations.
f) helmet of salvation => we have been gifted to protect our minds this helmet, which guards our thoughts when it comes to the doubts and attacks of the enemy so we might have assurance (for we cannot fight at all if we doubt we are even saved by the gospel and doubt its truth)
- With all these pieces of armour, it's not just an once off thing putting them on, rather we should be "praying at all times in the Spirit" (v.18) about being equipped with this armour as we seek to serve the Lord in this hostile world, as we never cease to be His "ambassadors" (v.20).
=> given this armour we should pray for one another that we can "open [our] mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel" (v.20)
3) A Balanced Perspective
- "Peace be to you...from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ" (v.23) => after spending a study thinking about warfare, here is quite the conclusion talking about peace. We often in the West seem to forget about the spiritual aspect of the war we are in for the gospel. However, we must avoid the other extreme of being terrified about the schemes and threat of the enemy. We can have peace even though we face the kingdom of Satan, because we are on the side of God, who is the victor and has secured the victory. That peace comes from Him, firstly for the forgiveness of sins, and also in giving us His spiritual power of protection so we might stand.
4) Applications:
- We need to be asking God consciously in prayer each day to be clothed in this armour
- We should remember that Satan is scheming against us and seeking to discredit the gospel - when we are tempted let's remember what's going on!
- We need to take up and use the shield of faith, by choosing each day to walk in faith and apply it to whatever troubles and situations we face. Faith is lived out!
- We should be praying for all the saints and our brothers and sisters in relation to this warfare we all face
- We need to ask God to help us to be bold ambassadors of the gospel, because even Paul indicates that is not easy!
- We need perserverance from God in order to press on through this life and to reach the end of the course - that perserverance will be given to us (as we cannot lose our salvation) but we should never let that fact dull the fact that we must keep pressing on in the strength and power of God!
We finish Ephesians today looking at the issue of spiritual warfare.
1) The War
- The spiritual battle we find ourselves involved in is done by "being strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might" (v.10), and putting on the "whole armour of God" (v.13) that He provides us with for protection.
- The Ephesian church faced a great deal of opposition from the Cult of Artemis and the pagans of the city (indeed Pastor Timothy would be martyred by them for preaching the gospel during one of their pagan processions), but Paul calls people to recognise that the real battle is a spiritual one: "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood..." (v.12). Whatever men and women do in opposition to the gospel, we should remember that they are themselves deceived, blinded and being destroyed by the enemy, Satan who merely uses them for his own purposes.
- "rulers...authorities...cosmic powers over this present darkness...spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places" (v.12) is a description of Satan's kingdom on earth, which Christ has come to liberate captives from and to destroy at His coming, for He has decisively won the victory at Calvary - Satan's power is now broken.
2) The Armour
- Purpose of the armour: "to stand against the schemes of the devil" (v.11); "withstand in the evil day" (v.13)
- Sometimes we think that the gospel and the church are being marginalised in society, that we are on the retreat...but the truth is that not even the gates of Hell can prevail against the gospel as we press on (gates are a defensive measure, so it is really Satan's kingdom that is under siege). The Church stands its ground and advances through the work and power of the Lord Jesus Christ
- The pieces of armour are all coming from the gospel that God gives us to equip us for our gospel ministry in this world => we are to ACTIVELY "PUT ON" (v.11)
a) The belt of truth => God gives us the truth through revealing to us His Son, who is the truth and giving us the Spirit of truth, and His word which is the truth. This allows us to run into battle easily without being tripped up over confusion of what is actually true.
b) breastplate of rigtheousness => We have received Christ's righteousness, which has been creditted to our accounts and which changes our hearts. We receive this armour to protect our hearts from Satan's attacks, for he hates Christ's righteousness in us
c) shoes of the gospel of peace => Remarkable that our feet are to be a blessing of peace in this battle, for Paul elsewhere talks from the OT about "blessed are the feet which bring good news". Everywhere we walk we can bring good and a blessing, because we are bringing the gospel of peace and offering men and women an invitation to be reconciled to the King.
d) shield of faith => this is our defense against the fast and unsuspecting arrows of Satan who fires doubts, pains, troubles our way from out of sight. We must be prepared to choose to walk in faith and to apply our faith to many situations, because the shield of faith is no use if we do not direct it at the direction of attack.
e) sword of the Spirit => the Word of God is our great weapon for taking on the attacks of Satan, with it the Lord Jesus also fought Satan in the wilderness and was able to properly use the scriptures to disarm Satan's temptations.
f) helmet of salvation => we have been gifted to protect our minds this helmet, which guards our thoughts when it comes to the doubts and attacks of the enemy so we might have assurance (for we cannot fight at all if we doubt we are even saved by the gospel and doubt its truth)
- With all these pieces of armour, it's not just an once off thing putting them on, rather we should be "praying at all times in the Spirit" (v.18) about being equipped with this armour as we seek to serve the Lord in this hostile world, as we never cease to be His "ambassadors" (v.20).
=> given this armour we should pray for one another that we can "open [our] mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel" (v.20)
3) A Balanced Perspective
- "Peace be to you...from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ" (v.23) => after spending a study thinking about warfare, here is quite the conclusion talking about peace. We often in the West seem to forget about the spiritual aspect of the war we are in for the gospel. However, we must avoid the other extreme of being terrified about the schemes and threat of the enemy. We can have peace even though we face the kingdom of Satan, because we are on the side of God, who is the victor and has secured the victory. That peace comes from Him, firstly for the forgiveness of sins, and also in giving us His spiritual power of protection so we might stand.
4) Applications:
- We need to be asking God consciously in prayer each day to be clothed in this armour
- We should remember that Satan is scheming against us and seeking to discredit the gospel - when we are tempted let's remember what's going on!
- We need to take up and use the shield of faith, by choosing each day to walk in faith and apply it to whatever troubles and situations we face. Faith is lived out!
- We should be praying for all the saints and our brothers and sisters in relation to this warfare we all face
- We need to ask God to help us to be bold ambassadors of the gospel, because even Paul indicates that is not easy!
- We need perserverance from God in order to press on through this life and to reach the end of the course - that perserverance will be given to us (as we cannot lose our salvation) but we should never let that fact dull the fact that we must keep pressing on in the strength and power of God!
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Summer Index #9 Eph 5:21-6:9
Ephesians 5:21-6:9 “The Gospel Lived Out: Marriage, Families and Work”
The last three weeks have considered how the gospel affects how we live the gospel in this world, with a particular focus on living in a way that pleases God in that vertical relationship we have. The focus this week is primarily horizontally focused on our relationships in the home and workplace. V.21 sets out the general principle for the Christian life which is that we are to submit to one another, that is to look to each other’s good and interests, rather than ourselves, in reverence to Jesus. He has set us free from our selfish old self, and given us a new self which is self-sacrificial in love as we seek to be incarnational in our gospel living.
1) The Gospel Shaped Marriage (v.22-33)
*It is crucial to see that every time Paul says that a husband or wife should do something in such a way, it is always followed up by saying: “as to the Lord” (v.22), “even as Christ” (v.23), “submits to Christ, so also…” (v.24), “as Christ” (v.25), “in the same way” (v.28), “just as Christ” (v.29), “refers to Christ and the church” (v.32). It is as John Piper says in his book “This Momentary Marriage: A Parable of Permanence” the purpose of the marriage relationship in this life is not to stay in love; rather it is to put on display God’s love and covenant faithfulness to the world. This has always been the purpose of marriage, but it was something hidden in the Old Testament only to be fully revealed in the New, thus why Paul says (quoting Genesis) the one flesh union of man and wife is a “mystery” (v.31-32).
A) Picture for wives:
• submits to her husband as a picture of how the church submits to Christ. The church lovingly and willingly submits to Christ, because of the incredible love and care He has shown her in His self-sacrificial offering of His life so she might have life. Likewise a wife is to love her husband and willingly submit to him as he seeks to care for her and lead.
• Submitting also involves submitting to authority, because Jesus has authority over His church. The husband’s authority comes from Christ and is “in everything” (v.24) [in fuller context of scripture and pastorally-minded, provided it is not contrary to scripture, violating her God-given conscience, or leading to sin]. The husband is given a God-given responsibility as her “head” – just as Christ is the head of the church (v.23). This does not mean a dictatorship, but rather than he has the primary responsibility to protect, provide and lead the relationship according to God’s will – just as Adam did in the original creation *this is a principle of creation, not a matter of culture! (See 1 Corinthians 14 for more on this)
• Stott’s commentary says: “whenever the husband’s headship mirrors the headship of Christ, then the wife’s submission to the protection and provision of his love, far from detracting from her womanhood, will positively enrich it”.
B)Picture for husbands:
• is to self-sacrificially love his wife as Christ has given up Himself for the church (a very high calling and demanding responsibility men!) (v.25).
• this works out as having initiative (not necessarily doing everything all the time though), as the head has the initiative that causes and leads the rest of the body to respond and act.
• This also works out as leading spiritually so that he is involved in his wife’s sanctification by seeking to lead them both before the Lord in prayer, scripture study (v.26) and serving in the church. Husbands are stewards of their wives; who ultimately are the bride of Christ. Husbands are part of Christ’s means of working through the Holy Spirit, so that He might present the church and wives to His father as holy and blameless (v.27).
• Another call against ill treatment, dictatorship or despising his wife is the saying that we are to nourish and cherish (v.29) our wives as we do our own bodies (v.28), for this is a very practical illustration to us to show us the very minimum of what our self-sacrificial loving authority is to be like
*A really helpful observation shared in the group was that this picture of marriage makes the temptation to go out with a non-Christian fade away, because this picture is only possible between two followers of Jesus.
*It was also remarked that given the seriousness of marriage and relationships, it is not something to worry about being single and not being in a relationship as that gives time for undivided service of the Lord
So these two pictures are reciprocal, the husband initiates the sacrificial love and the wife responds in love and submission.
2) The Gospel Shaped Family (v.1-4)
There is another reciprocal picture here: children have the duty to obey their parents (v.1), which means the parents have the right to expect obedience. But parents have the responsibility not to provoke their children to wrath (v.4), which gives the children a right to be well treated.
It is said bluntly and simply: “for this is right” (v.1), which then is expanded by saying it is one of the Ten Commandments (v.2-3)– since these are given by God as His intended order for life in this world then it can be simply stated as being right, for God is perfectly righteous and so is His law.
The gospel motivation here is that Jesus was entirely obedient to the will of His Father in going to the Cross, even when it was hardest in Gethsemane he said: “Not my will, but thine be done”. So we are to be obedient like Jesus. Also in His earthly life He was obedient and honoured His parents in all times – even when He ran off to the Temple at the age of 12 He honoured and respected His parents when they found Him and were annoyed at Him for scaring them. Even though He was right to be in His Father’s house, He did address His parents with respect and obeyed them by going home at that time. Likewise the gospel motivation for parents is the patient, forbearing love of the Father who overlooked the past sins in patience waiting to deal with them on the Cross – His grace is immense when we consider that we all deserved to perish with Adam and Eve without ever being born.
How this works out in a non-Christian context is more difficult, because this teaching is to Christians who are called to live according to the gospel. Do we have to always obey our parents if they command us not to attend church? Not to read our Bibles or pray? Again this is a situation where our allegiance is always to be to God first. However, how that allegiance works out depends on factors of age and circumstances we concluded. So as John Stott suggests a young child ordered not to go to church might need to obey that command until they reach the age of majority, but they cannot accept an order not to pray or read their Bible. *Although as stated this is not the final word and each situation must be approached individually.
Also we concluded that age does not change the fact that we are to always honour our parents, as the commandment says. This involves more than obedience, it involves including them in our decision processes, looking for their input, caring for them in old age, supporting them financially, giving them love and encouragement as they have given so much to us. Also in unbelieving families it means loving them so much that we battle through the difficulties to share with them the gospel so their souls may be saved.
3) The Gospel Shaped Workplace (v.5-9)
Finally another reciprocal relationship is to be found in the workplace: the worker (slave here or servant, although not the doulos, as here is pictured slaves who have limited rights and some pay, and also the hope of being released from their slavery) is under a duty to serve their master, but the master has the duty to treat their workers properly and kindly (v.5, 9)
The worker is not just to perform when being watched by their master or just to please people half-hearted. The master is not to be cruel imagining that their special position of authority and wealth gives them any right or power to do what they wish with their servants. The gospel motivation for both is that the worker is to remember they are under the watchful eye of Christ in their work, and that they are to remember they are rendering their services to Him. So they ought to seek to please Him from their hearts by doing their best. This also will potentially have the effect that people will see the hardwork and dedication of Christians in their work, and think well of Christ and the gospel as they think that there is more to faith than they imagined if we are just as conscientious in our studies and serving for the gospel. *Our workplaces are incredible places for living out the gospel.
The master also has to remember that while they are in control now, they ultimately must face the king of kings and answer for all they have done, and He will show no partiality.
So our whole working lives should not be seen as inferior to church or gospel ministry, rather our workplaces are a place for gospel ministry (not just in our conversations but in our very work itself, for we will be but hypocrites if the standard of our work does not measure up to our talk).
In application, we concluded that most of us are not in Christian workplaces, but even though we cannot control others or make them live up to these ideals we can do our bit, according to the purpose and plan of God trusting He will bless it, and it will make some difference and bring in the gospel’s salt and light.
The last three weeks have considered how the gospel affects how we live the gospel in this world, with a particular focus on living in a way that pleases God in that vertical relationship we have. The focus this week is primarily horizontally focused on our relationships in the home and workplace. V.21 sets out the general principle for the Christian life which is that we are to submit to one another, that is to look to each other’s good and interests, rather than ourselves, in reverence to Jesus. He has set us free from our selfish old self, and given us a new self which is self-sacrificial in love as we seek to be incarnational in our gospel living.
1) The Gospel Shaped Marriage (v.22-33)
*It is crucial to see that every time Paul says that a husband or wife should do something in such a way, it is always followed up by saying: “as to the Lord” (v.22), “even as Christ” (v.23), “submits to Christ, so also…” (v.24), “as Christ” (v.25), “in the same way” (v.28), “just as Christ” (v.29), “refers to Christ and the church” (v.32). It is as John Piper says in his book “This Momentary Marriage: A Parable of Permanence” the purpose of the marriage relationship in this life is not to stay in love; rather it is to put on display God’s love and covenant faithfulness to the world. This has always been the purpose of marriage, but it was something hidden in the Old Testament only to be fully revealed in the New, thus why Paul says (quoting Genesis) the one flesh union of man and wife is a “mystery” (v.31-32).
A) Picture for wives:
• submits to her husband as a picture of how the church submits to Christ. The church lovingly and willingly submits to Christ, because of the incredible love and care He has shown her in His self-sacrificial offering of His life so she might have life. Likewise a wife is to love her husband and willingly submit to him as he seeks to care for her and lead.
• Submitting also involves submitting to authority, because Jesus has authority over His church. The husband’s authority comes from Christ and is “in everything” (v.24) [in fuller context of scripture and pastorally-minded, provided it is not contrary to scripture, violating her God-given conscience, or leading to sin]. The husband is given a God-given responsibility as her “head” – just as Christ is the head of the church (v.23). This does not mean a dictatorship, but rather than he has the primary responsibility to protect, provide and lead the relationship according to God’s will – just as Adam did in the original creation *this is a principle of creation, not a matter of culture! (See 1 Corinthians 14 for more on this)
• Stott’s commentary says: “whenever the husband’s headship mirrors the headship of Christ, then the wife’s submission to the protection and provision of his love, far from detracting from her womanhood, will positively enrich it”.
B)Picture for husbands:
• is to self-sacrificially love his wife as Christ has given up Himself for the church (a very high calling and demanding responsibility men!) (v.25).
• this works out as having initiative (not necessarily doing everything all the time though), as the head has the initiative that causes and leads the rest of the body to respond and act.
• This also works out as leading spiritually so that he is involved in his wife’s sanctification by seeking to lead them both before the Lord in prayer, scripture study (v.26) and serving in the church. Husbands are stewards of their wives; who ultimately are the bride of Christ. Husbands are part of Christ’s means of working through the Holy Spirit, so that He might present the church and wives to His father as holy and blameless (v.27).
• Another call against ill treatment, dictatorship or despising his wife is the saying that we are to nourish and cherish (v.29) our wives as we do our own bodies (v.28), for this is a very practical illustration to us to show us the very minimum of what our self-sacrificial loving authority is to be like
*A really helpful observation shared in the group was that this picture of marriage makes the temptation to go out with a non-Christian fade away, because this picture is only possible between two followers of Jesus.
*It was also remarked that given the seriousness of marriage and relationships, it is not something to worry about being single and not being in a relationship as that gives time for undivided service of the Lord
So these two pictures are reciprocal, the husband initiates the sacrificial love and the wife responds in love and submission.
2) The Gospel Shaped Family (v.1-4)
There is another reciprocal picture here: children have the duty to obey their parents (v.1), which means the parents have the right to expect obedience. But parents have the responsibility not to provoke their children to wrath (v.4), which gives the children a right to be well treated.
It is said bluntly and simply: “for this is right” (v.1), which then is expanded by saying it is one of the Ten Commandments (v.2-3)– since these are given by God as His intended order for life in this world then it can be simply stated as being right, for God is perfectly righteous and so is His law.
The gospel motivation here is that Jesus was entirely obedient to the will of His Father in going to the Cross, even when it was hardest in Gethsemane he said: “Not my will, but thine be done”. So we are to be obedient like Jesus. Also in His earthly life He was obedient and honoured His parents in all times – even when He ran off to the Temple at the age of 12 He honoured and respected His parents when they found Him and were annoyed at Him for scaring them. Even though He was right to be in His Father’s house, He did address His parents with respect and obeyed them by going home at that time. Likewise the gospel motivation for parents is the patient, forbearing love of the Father who overlooked the past sins in patience waiting to deal with them on the Cross – His grace is immense when we consider that we all deserved to perish with Adam and Eve without ever being born.
How this works out in a non-Christian context is more difficult, because this teaching is to Christians who are called to live according to the gospel. Do we have to always obey our parents if they command us not to attend church? Not to read our Bibles or pray? Again this is a situation where our allegiance is always to be to God first. However, how that allegiance works out depends on factors of age and circumstances we concluded. So as John Stott suggests a young child ordered not to go to church might need to obey that command until they reach the age of majority, but they cannot accept an order not to pray or read their Bible. *Although as stated this is not the final word and each situation must be approached individually.
Also we concluded that age does not change the fact that we are to always honour our parents, as the commandment says. This involves more than obedience, it involves including them in our decision processes, looking for their input, caring for them in old age, supporting them financially, giving them love and encouragement as they have given so much to us. Also in unbelieving families it means loving them so much that we battle through the difficulties to share with them the gospel so their souls may be saved.
3) The Gospel Shaped Workplace (v.5-9)
Finally another reciprocal relationship is to be found in the workplace: the worker (slave here or servant, although not the doulos, as here is pictured slaves who have limited rights and some pay, and also the hope of being released from their slavery) is under a duty to serve their master, but the master has the duty to treat their workers properly and kindly (v.5, 9)
The worker is not just to perform when being watched by their master or just to please people half-hearted. The master is not to be cruel imagining that their special position of authority and wealth gives them any right or power to do what they wish with their servants. The gospel motivation for both is that the worker is to remember they are under the watchful eye of Christ in their work, and that they are to remember they are rendering their services to Him. So they ought to seek to please Him from their hearts by doing their best. This also will potentially have the effect that people will see the hardwork and dedication of Christians in their work, and think well of Christ and the gospel as they think that there is more to faith than they imagined if we are just as conscientious in our studies and serving for the gospel. *Our workplaces are incredible places for living out the gospel.
The master also has to remember that while they are in control now, they ultimately must face the king of kings and answer for all they have done, and He will show no partiality.
So our whole working lives should not be seen as inferior to church or gospel ministry, rather our workplaces are a place for gospel ministry (not just in our conversations but in our very work itself, for we will be but hypocrites if the standard of our work does not measure up to our talk).
In application, we concluded that most of us are not in Christian workplaces, but even though we cannot control others or make them live up to these ideals we can do our bit, according to the purpose and plan of God trusting He will bless it, and it will make some difference and bring in the gospel’s salt and light.
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