And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through him. Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands as
is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. Children,
obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not embitter your children,
or they will become discouraged. Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything and do it
not only when their eyes are on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and
reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord,
not for human masters. Since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward,
it is the Lord Christ you are serving. Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs,
and there is no favoritism. Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair,
because you know that you also have a master in heaven. Let's pray.
Heavenly Father, we do thank you for your word made available to us so easily in our language.
Thank you for your servant, Alan, for his service to us as a church family this past summer.
Thank you for the work and the preparation that has gone into this morning's message.
We pray that you would bless him by your words as he grapples with us day in and day out.
Help him to speak clearly now to us as one who is speaking your very words.
Help us to listen well and to engage and to be challenged by your word,
so that we will go out as not just hearers of your words, but as doers.
So bless us, we pray as we listen and go out and live it out. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Thank you, Alan.
Well, good morning. It's a pleasure to be here again this morning.
We get close to wrapping up the book of Colossians here, the epistle of Colossians.
Like we said last week, we are heading into the end of the letter where Paul is just getting very practical in his teaching here.
And last week he showed us that our whole life as Christians is really a response to everything that God has done for us through Christ.
We saw that really we respond to the gospel in lives of worship, in song, in word, and in deed.
And then in verse 17, we ended there and we said that would kind of start us off today.
So verse 17 says,
Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
Now, I don't know about you, but when I get to verse 17,
I'm really ready to do anything that God has for me to do.
And I'm a bit adventurous.
I'm a bit of a, you give me the challenge, Lord, I'll get after it.
And so I imagine if I were sitting there listening to Paul,
he were to say, are you ready to do anything?
I'd say, yeah, I'm ready, Paul.
He'd say, okay, are you sure?
Absolutely.
And I would be thinking big thoughts.
And Paul would say, okay, here's what I want you to do.
I want you to go home, okay?
I want you to go to work, okay?
And then Paul would just stare at me.
I'd say, no, Paul, keep going.
Because here's the thing, Paul, I'm an American, so I'm a pioneer.
I'm an adventurous guy.
I'm going to go explore.
I'm going to take over the world, Paul, so tell me what to do.
And he says, yes, Alan, go home.
I can do that.
And then go to work, absolutely.
And I think Paul would say, what are you waiting for?
Go home and go to work.
And it's interesting because sometimes we read Scripture
and we get these thoughts that I'm going to go serve God
in word and deed and anything I do,
it's going to be for the Lord and He's going to call me to something
and it's going to be this big, huge thing.
And Paul says, here's the big, huge thing I want you to do.
I want you to go home and go to work
and glorify God in doing so.
Why would Paul start here?
Why would he call us as believers to respond to all that God has done
by going home and going to work?
Well, note a few things here.
These are some of the most time-consuming,
and I don't mean that in a negative sense,
but these are the most time-consuming relationships in our lives.
This is where we spend our most time,
at home and at work.
These are some of the most sensitive relationships in our lives.
And really, these are the nuts and bolts of our life
as we spend a lot of time and a lot of energy
and a lot of thought at home and at work.
And so Paul kind of says,
this is a bit of the litmus test, if you will,
of everything that he's taught so far in the book of Colossians.
The degree to which the gospel has really taken root in our lives
is seen first and foremost at home and at work.
And so here's what I want to do today.
I want to look at those two parts of our life,
and I want to look at three things.
The ideal, what it should look like according to Scripture.
And then the real, the reality of what this looks like,
and our hope for redemption, our hope for renewal.
The ideal, the real, and our hope for renewal.
So first, the ideal home.
Paul gives us verses 18 through 21.
And then he says,
It starts with wives submitting themselves to their husbands
as is fitting in the Lord.
It gets really quiet when a preacher says that.
I've noticed that.
I've preached this type of passage a few times,
and every woman's got the same look right now.
And every man's trying really hard not to grin.
But it really says right there,
wives submitting themselves to the husbands
as is fitting in the Lord.
And I'll be honest,
I don't like that word submit.
And I don't know many people that like that word submit.
The ladies, I tried hard to look for different translations.
I looked at all the different,
how else can we interpret this word?
It says, here's an option.
Willingly enter into a submissive relationship with someone.
Well, that doesn't sound any better.
Subject yourself to the authority of someone.
Or subordinate yourself.
Those are the options.
It really means submit.
Submit.
Submit yourselves to your husbands.
Now I want to point out what this does not say.
It does not say,
women, submit yourselves to men.
It doesn't say that.
You might hear that argued,
but that's not what it says.
It's talking about one wife submitting herself to one husband
as is fitting in the Lord.
It does not say,
obey.
Notice that.
It's going to say,
for children and slaves,
obey.
It doesn't say that for the wife.
It says,
to submit herself to the Lord
as is fitting,
or to her husband as is fitting in the Lord,
or proper.
And our example is Christ in the garden
on the night of His betrayal.
He says,
Father, please take this cup from me.
Speaking of the cross.
He says,
yet not my will,
or not my plan,
but yours be done.
Showing us an example of perfect submission.
And then Paul says,
this is to be coupled with perfect love by the husband.
Verse 19 says,
Husbands,
love your wives,
and do not be harsh with them.
He says,
husbands,
have a warm regard for,
take pleasure and cherish,
show affection to your wives.
And he says,
do not be harsh.
That's an interesting way of translating that actually,
because you could also say,
the translation could read,
do not make them bitter or sour.
The only other time we get this phrase in Scripture
is Revelation 10.9,
where John is given a scroll to put on his mouth,
and he's told,
at first it will taste really sweet like honey,
but then it will turn sour in your stomach.
It will make you bitter.
It will be harsh on you.
Paul says,
men,
we are not to sour our wives.
We are not to make them become bitter.
The opposite actually is what we're supposed to do.
We're supposed to love our wives and cause them to blossom.
Again,
our example is Christ himself.
In a parallel passage in Ephesians 5,
Paul says,
husbands,
love your wives as Christ loved the church.
In the same way that Christ loved the church,
men are called to love their wives.
In the way that he gave himself up for her.
Cleansing her.
To present her holy and blameless.
That's how we're called to love our wives.
And so this first relationship that Paul sets up
in this ideal sense of a man who loves his wife
the way that Christ loved the church,
and a lady who submits to her husband
in the way that the Lord Christ submitted to the Father
by going to the cross.
This, Paul says,
is the ideal Christian marriage.
This is part of responding to what God has done.
Ladies,
submitting to your husband.
Husbands,
loving your wives.
Then to that,
Paul adds
children obeying their parents.
And fathers encouraging their children.
Verses 20-21.
Children,
children obey your parents in everything.
For this pleases the Lord.
Fathers,
do not embitter your children,
or they will become discouraged.
And the opposite of discouraging a child
is to encourage them.
And Christ is our example once again
as he both obeys his earthly parents
as well as his heavenly Father.
I find it interesting that scriptures say
Jesus obeyed his earthly parents.
If any child
ever had the right
to stand up to mom and dad
and say,
I have a different idea,
it's God incarnate.
And yet he obeyed his parents.
Children,
you really are called to obey your parents.
Even adults,
we're still children,
aren't we?
We still have parents.
In the same way,
Christ,
he encourages,
you could say,
he shepherds his disciples.
He encourages them.
He trains them up.
He's so patient.
He's so loving.
You don't ever get a sense
in the Gospels
of Jesus being harsh
with his disciples.
Even though we read it
and we're going,
come on guys.
Get with the program.
Jesus is so patient with them.
He's so encouraging.
And Paul says,
this is what the Christian home
should look like.
Husbands loving their wives.
Wives submitting to their husbands.
Children obeying.
Fathers encouraging.
Well, what more
could one ask for?
Paul says,
how about,
how about once you've done that at home,
then go to work
and create the ideal work environment.
We say,
well, what does a Christ-centered
work environment look like?
He tells us,
first of all,
in verses 22 through 25,
he says,
slaves,
obey your earthly masters
in everything.
Now,
if we bring that into today's context,
we would say,
employees and employers
would be the language
which we would use.
Employees,
obey your employers
in everything.
Not only when their eye is on you.
And not just to curry their favor.
But with sincerity of heart
and reverence for the Lord.
Again,
our example is found in Christ
who in John 17
says to the Father,
I have brought you glory on earth
by finishing the work
you gave me to do.
Christ is the perfect servant
who obeys in everything.
And then it says,
employers,
do what is right and fair.
In chapter 4,
verse 1.
Masters,
provide your slaves
with what is right and fair
because you know
that you also have
a Master in heaven.
And again,
we look to Christ,
our example,
in 1 John 2.
It says that
He is our advocate
with the Father.
He is the righteous one.
The one who is right
and fair.
So Paul says,
employers,
treat your employees
like Jesus treated us.
Or maybe you're not an employer,
but you have someone
who works under you.
It says to treat that person
in a righteous way.
And so we have
the ideal home
and we have the ideal
work environment.
And Paul has brought us
all the way to this point
where he says,
everything you do
in word and in deed,
do it to the Father,
for the Son,
in the name of the Father,
giving thanks.
And we say,
okay,
tell us what that is.
And he says,
go home
and go to work
and live lives like this.
And we do have to feel
the weight of that
because that really is
the command in Scripture.
There's no linguistic gymnastics
I can do
to get us out of that.
That's really commanded
by Paul.
And yet there's a reason
why Paul has to command
these things,
isn't there?
These aren't natural to us.
This is not the reality
we live in.
And so we have to look
at the reality
of where we're at.
And we just have to be honest
with how these relationships
really are right now.
We also have to recognize
the effect
that the fall has had
on each of these relationships.
When we look at marriage,
we see in Genesis 3.16,
as part of the curse,
God says,
your desire,
ladies,
your desire will be
contrary to,
or your desire will be
to master your husbands.
And he will lord over you.
See,
part of the effects
of the fall
is that for ladies,
it's not natural
to want to submit
to your husband.
It's natural
to want to get over him
and lord over him.
And it's not natural
for him to just love you
the way Christ has loved the church.
It's more natural
for him to lord over you.
And men,
we go from Eve
being flesh of my flesh
and bone of my bone
to that woman you gave me.
And we see right away
in the fall
this fracture in marriage.
If you keep reading
into Genesis 4,
it gets worse
in verse 19
where it says,
Lamech,
he takes two wives.
I think that language
is interesting.
It goes from one man
and one woman
to now this man
who will take two wives.
If you look at their names,
it's even more interesting.
Their names mean
my ornament
and my shade.
So we've gone from
a helpmate
who God has created
to be one man
and one woman
in this beautiful relationship
to women
wanting to lord
over their husbands
or master their husbands
and men just saying,
I will take wives
and I'll make them
my ornament
and my shade.
And the marriage
relationship
is fractured deeply
by sin.
If we're honest,
we can admit
and we have to admit
that our marriages today
are built on centuries
of domination
and manipulation.
Centuries of misunderstanding
and warfare
between men and women.
Two sinners
plunged into
a lifelong struggle.
You say,
how come my spouse
is this way
because they're a sinner
just like you.
And so we have a woman
fighting her sin nature
and we have a man
fighting his sin nature
trying to glorify God
in this marriage.
What about parenting?
What does it really look like
to parent
in a fallen world?
We see right away
Cain kills Abel.
We see very soon
Noah's son
Ham
shaming him.
Even King David's son
Absalom
commits treason
against his father.
That one always blows my mind.
Your dad is King David.
How great would that be?
But Absalom
commits treason
against him.
Why do all these children
sin and obey?
Or sin and disobey?
Why do your children
sin and disobey?
Have you ever thought of that?
Sometimes I think
why would my child sin?
And then I'm reminded
because they're my child.
They've gotten the same
curse that we have on us.
The reality is
it's very difficult
to father and mother children
and it's very difficult
for children to obey
their parents
because of the fall.
The reality today
is in the U.S.
and the United States
an average of five children
per day are killed
because of child abuse.
Five children a day
because of child abuse
in the home.
That's a home
that looks nothing like
what God's called it to be
because of sin.
We say these are
the non-Christian homes.
The Christian homes
are much better.
We have to be careful there,
don't we?
I don't always agree
with the Danish philosopher
Soren Kierkegaard
but I have to agree
with him on this point.
He says
the worst thing in the world
for a child
is not that the child
should have a secular
atheist parent.
He says
that's not the worst thing.
He says
the worst thing in the world
is for a child
to have a father
and I think he's speaking
about his father here
he says
for a child
to have a father
or mother
who profess
all the orthodoxies
of Christianity
yet plainly live lives
that do not show
that they trust in God.
He says
that is far more devastating
to any child
than having a secular
atheistic parent.
God creates children
in his image
and he entrusts
his children
to our cares
as parents
and again
if we're honest
with ourselves
we fail to recognize
how sinful they are
and how hard it is
for them to obey
and we fail to recognize
how discouraging
we can be
towards our children.
And this is the reality
of our homes today
sinners
leading sinners
sinners
born to sinners
sinners wondering
why their offspring
are sinful.
what about our jobs
what is it
what is it like
to work in a fallen world?
There's a very interesting
book called
Working
by a man named
Studs Terkel
that's the greatest name
I think I've ever heard
Studs Terkel
in the introduction
he says this
I find it fascinating
he says
this book
being about work
is by its very nature
about violence
to the spirit
as well to the body.
He says
work is about
ulcers and accidents
shouting matches
and fist fights
work is about
nervous breakdowns
and kicking the dog around
it is above all
or perhaps beneath it all
about daily humiliation
for some
to survive the day
is triumph enough
for the walking wounded
among the great many of us.
He says
that's life in the work world
that's life at work
in a fallen world.
And I know that
sounds terrible
and you think
well that's probably
just the United States
we all know
Americans work way too hard
and they live to work
instead of working to live
I've heard that
so many times.
Interestingly enough
BBC News
ran an article
just last week
that said
burnout is rising
in the land of
work-life balance.
And they go to
Sweden
of all places
the place
known for promoting
the balanced lifestyle
and they show
in their article
how burnout
is just
on the rise
in Sweden.
So even the places
on planet earth
where we're most balanced
the work environment
is brutal to us.
And that's the reality
of life on planet earth.
And so we have
the ideal world
that Paul has called us to
the ideal marriage
and the ideal parenting
and the ideal work environment
and then we can look
at reality
and I don't think
we have to press
too much harder
to recognize
our marriages
aren't ideally
what they should be
our parenting
isn't what it should be
and our work life
isn't what it should be
and so then we have
to pause and ask
how are we supposed
to do this Paul?
How are we really
supposed to pull this off?
How do we go
from real
to ideal?
What is our hope
for renewal?
What Paul says
he says
the key to our hope
is found in this word
that's repeated
seven times
in this passage
and that's this word
Lord.
Turn with me again
and look at verse 17.
Whatever you do
whether in word
or deed
do it all
in the name
of the Lord
Jesus.
Wives submit
to your husbands
verse 18
as is fitting
and proper
in the Lord.
Verse 20
Children obey
your parents
and everything
for this
pleases the Lord.
verse 22
Slaves obey
your earthly masters
in everything
with sincerity
of heart
and reverence
for the Lord.
Verse 23
Whatever you do
work at it
with all your heart
as working
for the Lord.
Verse 24
Since you know
that you will receive
an inheritance
from the Lord
as reward
it is the Lord Christ
you are serving.
Seven times
he uses that word
Lord
and then he finishes
off in chapter 4
verse 1
by referring
to our master
in heaven.
And so what's
Paul's aim here?
What's he doing?
Why is he all of a sudden
just throwing this word
Lord out
seven times
so quickly?
He says
our example
is Christ
and our only hope
for renewal
is to recognize
that he is our example
and he is where
our power comes from.
Our example
and the ability
to go from real
to ideal
is found
in our Lord
Jesus Christ himself.
And you say
well how do we
actually do that?
How do we actually
live out these relationships
under Christ's lordship?
It's to look at
who he is
and what he's done.
And what Paul's doing
is he's echoing
you can make this note
Psalm 130 verse 4
which just simply says
with God
there is forgiveness
so that we can
with reverence
serve him.
With God
there is forgiveness
so that we can
serve him
with reverence.
And so first
Paul says
first we look to
we look to the cross
and we see
both our faults
and the other person's
struggles.
We admit
and empathize.
We look to the cross
and we see
both our faults
and our spouses
children's
parents
co-workers
struggles.
Why did Christ
have to die
for each of these
people groups?
Because all have sinned
in each of these roles.
husbands
and so we need
to admit
our shortcomings
in this.
We have to own
our part.
Husbands
we have to admit
to our wives
I haven't loved you
very well
and I'm probably
really hard to submit to.
Men
I would challenge you
to say that
to your wife.
Say
I recognize
I'm probably
really hard to submit to.
And she
in grace
will try not to smile
or laugh out loud
and she'll just
you know
thank you honey
is what you'll get.
And then
ladies
you can look
at your husband
and say
you know what
I haven't submitted
to you well
I could probably
be hard to love it
sometimes.
And many say
no absolutely not
it's just all me.
But we can admit
that we haven't
done well
in these roles.
And we can empathize
with the other person
and say
why is it so hard
for my wife
to submit to me
because I'm probably
not loving her
very well.
And wives can say
why isn't he
loving me very well
maybe I'm not
submitting like I should.
And you can look
at your children
and say
why aren't they
obeying me?
And you can probably
think about
when you're a child
and go
man I was a bit
of a rascal
myself wasn't I?
And fathers
you can look
at your children
and when they
do those things
that get you
just about to get
angry you can go
I've done the same
both to my parents
and to my father
in heaven.
We can admit
how we've
fallen short
and then we can
look at our children
and we can love
and encourage them
and say you know
what don't just
obey me because
I'm perfect
because I'm not
perfect.
Obey me because
God's called you
to and he's the
one that we're
obeying.
We tell our kids
all the time
we know we're
not perfect parents.
At some point
we know that
they're going to
go hey my mom
and dad weren't
perfect.
We say yeah
we'll admit that
right now.
We'll call the ball
on that.
When you have
that thought
yes that's true
but we love you
and we're trying
but God loves you
even more.
And you don't
just obey us
for the sake
of obeying us
you obey us
because that's
what God's
called you to do.
But we look
to the cross
and we see
our shortcomings
we admit
those shortcomings
and then we can
empathize with
others.
We can look
at our boss
and say
well that person
drives me crazy
and then we can
think about our
master in heaven
and say I drove
him to the cross.
so we admit
and we empathize
and then secondly
we see where
Christ was perfect
and we admire
his sacrifice.
We see where
Christ was perfect
and we admire
his sacrifice
and this is
one of the
beauties of the
gospel
is his righteousness
is now ours
and his sacrifice
complete.
See Jesus
is the one
who perfectly
submits to the
father
and then dies
for the
unsubmissive.
He's one
who perfectly
loves
and then dies
for the
unloving husband.
Christ is one
who perfectly
obeys
and then dies
for the
disobedient child.
He's one
who perfectly
serves
and then dies
for us
the lazy
wicked
servants.
He is our
perfectly
righteous
master in
heaven
and yet
while we
were still
sinners
Christ
died for
us.
See
Christianity
says if
you truly
want to
change
then you
have to
set your
eyes on
our perfect
example
over and
over again.
You have
to have
your mind
renewed
in the
knowledge
of who
Christ
is
and what
he has
done.
And we
have to
have our
affections
stirred by
the one
who has
done
everything
we have
failed to
do
and then
credited
that
perfection
to our
account.
And that
changes a
person.
See,
men,
when you
look at
your wife,
yes,
you see
this beautiful
lady who's
created in
God's image,
but you
also recognize
how far
we've
fallen and
yet how
Christ has
died for
us,
His bride.
Wives,
when you
think of
submitting to
your husband,
you think of
your Lord
and Savior
who in
the garden
shed sweat
like blood
and yet
submitted to
the Father.
God's
who loved
perfectly,
who submitted
perfectly and
imputed that
to our
account.
And when you
get up tomorrow
morning to go
to work and
you think of
the people I
have to work
for, you can
recognize Christ
was the perfect
servant who's
imputed that
service to our
account and
who's paid the
price in full for
all of our
shortcomings.
And so we
admit and we
empathize and
we see where
Christ was
perfect and we
admire His
sacrifice and
then finally we
submit to
Christ's lordship
and we trust
His sovereignty.
We submit to
His lordship and
we trust His
sovereignty.
He will see us
through and He
will be glorified.
And this is why
Paul used that
word seven times,
Lord, and then
Master in Heaven.
See, there's a
certain amount of
faith required in
trusting that we
aren't just
submitting to our
husbands but to
Christ our Lord.
That we aren't
just obeying our
parents for their
pleasure but for
the Lord's.
We aren't just
serving our
masters on earth
but we are
serving the Lord
our Master in
Heaven who served
so perfectly for
us.
See, as we
live life under
Christ's lordship,
He will see us
through and He
will be glorified
as He continually
conforms us to
His image.
And so we
strive.
We absolutely
strive to obey
the commands in
this passage to
go from the
reality of where
our marriages and
our parenting and
our work
relationships are.
We strive to
go to the ideal
where they're
supposed to be,
where they're
commanded to be.
While we do
that, we recognize
where we fall
short.
We admit and we
empathize.
We look to the
cross.
We see the
penalty for
these failures
being paid in
full and then we
submit to Christ's
lordship all over
again, day by day,
week by week,
month by month,
year by year,
in word and in
deed, at home and
at work.
Let's pray.
Father, we come to
you people who live
in a broken,
fallen world.
We take comfort in
knowing that even as
we call out to you
in prayer that you
can relate to what
we're going through
because you've lived
life in this world.
We know that you
submitted perfectly
at great cost.
We know that you've
loved us perfectly
at great cost.
We see how you
obey your Father
in heaven and we
long to obey like
that.
We long to serve
you.
We long to be
righteous like you.
We thank you that
on one hand you
have credited your
perfect life to us
and on the other
hand we deeply
apologize that it
cost you your life.
would you help us
Lord to fulfill
these commands?
Would you help us
to live the lives
you've called us
to live?
Would you help the
ladies as they
fight their sin
nature to submit
to imperfect
husbands?
Would you help
the men as they
fight their sin
nature to love
their wives the
way you've loved
us?
Would you help
the children Lord
to obey as they
are called to obey
and please you?
Lord would you
help us as parents
as we strive to
encourage our
children in the way
they should go?
Would you help us
this afternoon at
home and would you
help us tomorrow as
we go to work?
Would you help us
to do our best for
you our master in
heaven?
Would you help us
to work hard not
just when someone's
watching but at all
times knowing that we
serve you the God
who has served us
beyond any way we
could have ever
imagined?
help us Lord as we
go from real to
ideal keep our eyes
fixed on Jesus
in his name we
pray amen
I invite you to
stand with me as
we'll sing
Jesus my all in all
as we head towards
the Lord's table
and there's just
that line you are
my strength when I
am weak
for you and just
myself or else we
can find a way to
opportunity for me and
work the same for me
to be able to have no
lunch yet
as we'll be able to
you
to be able to
who I am
to Paul Nutella