The resources God has given us to live a thriving life are His Word, Spirit, and People.
Read God’s Word:
Philemon, Colossians 1-4
Act 3: God’s New Covenant People
Scene 4: Christ’s Church: God’s People Advance the Kingdom
Background Information: Philemon, Colossians 1-4
In God’s kind providence, Onesimus, the runaway slave, seeking his freedom, met Paul, a free man in Christ living in Roman chains. Onesimus heard the gospel and became a truly free man himself. Paul wrote a letter to his dear friend, Philemon, urging him to receive Onesimus back not as a slave but as a brother in Christ. He sent this letter and one to the church that met in his home, back with Onesimus (Colossians 4:9). Paul began his letter to Philemon with this: “Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ.” Was he not a prisoner of Rome? Yes and No. Paul’s heart was captive to Christ; it could not truly be enslaved by anyone else. Why didn’t Paul tell Philemon that slavery was evil and that he should free Onesimus? Why didn’t he tell Onesimus that he was free and that he no longer needed to return to Philemon? He did much better than that. Philemon was not to treat Onesimus as merely a freed slave, still under him in worth and status. He was to receive him as a brother in Christ, equal in every way. Philemon was no longer a master but a slave himself. He has Christ as his master, and he must act accordingly. As for Onesimus, he was not merely a former slave he is now a prisoner of Christ. He can now do everything he does, for whomever he does it, as unto the Lord. He is a free man in Christ, but only because Christ is his master. Paul warned the church about getting sucked back into all the externally focused, and ultimately empty, rule-keeping. Christ has set them free to live a life worthy of the Lord, pleasing him in every way, and bearing fruit in every good work. He could have given them more rules, like “Don’t own slaves!” But for Paul, this would have been stating the obvious and missing what he was intent on teaching them. “Look, you have been raised with Christ, set your affections and your minds there. You died to the old life, and one day you will fully experience a new life in Christ. So put the old way of life to death right now!” He was not trying to start an insurrection or an externally focused social revolution. He was preaching the gospel of heart transformation. Now, wives are free to submit to their husbands, and husbands are free to love their wives. Children can obey their parents, and fathers encourage their children. Even slaves can obey their masters because in all this, it is the Lord Christ they are serving. The gospel would eventually be the hammer that smashed slavery in many places in the world, but it happened through the efforts of hearts captured by the Lord Jesus. Holding faithfully to the content of the gospel must lead to faithfully living the intent of the gospel, which is transformed lives and relationships. We exist by him, he is our master, and we exist for him; his glory is our good.
“All things have been created through him and for him.”
Colossians 1:16
Pray:
Praise God for…
Thank God for…
Confess your sins to God
Pray for Tajik church leaders to humbly lead their flocks and boldly proclaim the gospel. Ask God to protect them from temptation and grow them in godliness.
Ask God for… (what else concerns you?)
Reflect:
Write down one passage of scripture that stood out to you today.
Write down why this passage stood out to you.
Engage Community:
Text or call someone now and tell them…
– What you are praying for.
– What stood out from God’s word today.