Colossians 3:16 NIV
[16] “Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.”
The second “let” is as fundamental as the first. You see, our entire lives, past, present, and future, rest on the message of Christ in all it’s richness. “Dwelling” means living, being at home, being comfortable in the environment of all the details of what Jesus did and how they affect us.
This is about letting Jesus be sovereign in every minute detail of our lives. If He is Lord, then He IS Lord.
There are many ways in which we express His sovereignty and live it out day by day. One way is to obey Him in everything. Another way is to encourage others to obey Him in everything. Yet another way is to be perpetually and unconditionally grateful to Him in every circumstance and situation, no matter what.
This is the message of Jesus
He is qualified to be Lord. The Father gave Him that honour because He did what He did.
Philippians 2:5-11 NLT
[5] “You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. [6] Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. [7] Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, [8] he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. [9] Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, [10] that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, [11] and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
This is the message of Jesus in all its richness that must live in us like the fuel that drives an emgine.
How do we “Let the message of Christ dwell among you?” I notice with interest that this translation says “dwell among you” rather than “dwell in you.” The Greek preposition “en” denotes a fixed position, “in”. Christ’s presence in us is fixed position. “En” can be translated “among” but it seems that a more accurate rendering is “in”.
What does this mean for us? It means that His message has become fixed in us. This message influences all our thoughts and behaviour so that His message also becomes fixed among us, teaching us how to treat one another.
As we internalise the life of Jesus by reading and believing, His life in us enables us to think and act increasingly like Him.
Jeremiah predicted that the new covenant with which God was to replace the old, had this provision in it.
Jeremiah 31:33 NLT
[33] “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
No longer would God’s Word just be laws and regulations written in a book. Now His Word would be woven into their lives because of their new nature, written on the pages of their hearts.
So, Paul says, let this new nature, so clearly portrayed in Jesus, and made real in us by His Spirit, be the controlling factor in our lives. Let’s allow our new nature to do it’s work just as we allow Christ’s peace to monitor and guide us along His path.
To be continued…