Title: Those in Christ/Colossians 3:18-25
The book of Colossians is Paul's letter to the members of the Colossian Church. While Paul was imprisoned in Rome, Epaphra, who founded the Colossian church, came to visit and report some difficult problems that were occurring in the church. The letter that was sent to solve the problem after hearing the report was the book of Colossians.
The book of Colossians deals with two major issues. It is a matter of doctrine and of practice. The doctrinal problem reveals who Jesus Christ is and what the heresy is, and the practical problem clarifies how Christians should live. In particular, 3:18-4:1 teaches how to live as a married couple, how to live between husband and wife, and how to have a master-slave relationship. Let's look at that lesson in detail.
1. Lessons for Husbands and Wives
Verse 18 says, “Wives, submit to your husbands, as it is in the Lord.” Verse 19 says, “Husbands, love your wives and do not trouble them.” The divorce rate has quadrupled since the IMF. Marital relationships are not established by ideals alone. No matter how much we love each other, it is impossible to live in love for 20 or 30 years while sleeping on the street, naked and starving. However, it is problematic for a couple who have lived in love all the time to break up due to changes in the environment or hardships in their lives.
In the meantime, the Korean family system has continued the tradition of acknowledging the authority of the patriarch and elevating the position of the husband. However, in recent years, with the advancement of women into society and the improvement of economic activities, the axis of authority has begun to shift from the authority of the patriarch to economic power rather than the authority of the patriarch. In other words, the voice of the wife who is earning a living is stronger than the husband who has lost his job, and his influence and initiative have increased.
Until the 80's and early 90's, counseling centers for beaten wives were open, but from the mid-1990s onwards, counseling centers for beaten husbands were established. However, we cannot revise the Bible.
Paul told wives to “submit to their husbands.” Ephesians 5:22 says, “Wives, submit to your husbands as you would to the Lord.” And the reason is explained in 5:23. “For the husband is the head of his wife, as Christ is the head of the church, and he himself is the Savior of the body.”
Regardless of the East or the West, the human body structure is at the top. If the head is on the sole of the foot or under the diaphragm, it is a deformity. If the church tries to stand on Jesus, it is also deformed. There was a time when the church became stronger than Jesus, imprisoned Jesus in the church system and liturgy, and showed off his chastity. That is medieval Catholicism.
According to the Bible, when a wife despises, ignores, and despises her husband, the church despises and ignores Jesus. Paul said to submit to your husband as you would to the Lord. There are several reasons to submit to your husband. (1) Because it is a command of the Bible. (2) It is for the establishment of family order. (3) It is for the right education of children.
Here's a clue. That is, when a husband fulfills his ethics, morals and responsibilities as a husband, that is possible.
Paul said to husbands, "Love your wives and do not trouble them." Husbands are given two orders. It is to love and not to suffer. Of course, these two commands are linked. A man who loves does not bully his wife. Conversely, there is no such thing as loving a wife while tormenting her mentally, physically, financially, in every case.
It should be noted that in our society, there are surprisingly many wives who cry, sigh, and suffer because of their corrupt husbands, loose husbands, lazy husbands, and incompetent husbands. To harass means to stab with thorns, to abuse, to despise.
Ephesians 5:24 says, “Husbands must love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.” What does it mean to love as my body? Thinking that if I'm hungry, my wife will be hungry too, thinking that my wife will be cold if the cold wind seeps into my body and I feel chilly It means to think, care and love. And in 3:18, it says, "It ought to be in the Lord." It is in this verse that the basis of marital ethics lies. Obedience, love, obedience, and care are to be done in the Lord.
Now is the time our society desperately needs warm couple love. Let us not allow our love and friendship to be cracked by financial trials or suffering. Let's overcome this with the courage and encouragement of the wife, "Honey, be strong, let's work together. Let's get through this hurdle" and the husband's courage and encouragement, "Honey, I have a lot of trouble. .
2. Lessons for parents and children Verse 20 says, "Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing in the Lord." In verse 21, "Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, lest they become discouraged." said
One day, King [Shun] told his servants to draw water from the well and pour it into a guruk (mantaegi) made by weaving it with a rope. The servants were talking and joking and did not pour water. This was because the water was poured into a bucket or bottle, not a gureuk. But a loyal servant said, "How can you disobey the king's command?" and poured water from the well all day. When the servant's power was exhausted, the well water ran out. As soon as I looked up at the bottom of the well, a golden lump of yellow was shining on the bottom. Astonished, the servant brought the gold nugget to the king and talked about his intentions. In front of all the servants, he said, "Hey, this gold nugget belongs to the obedient, so you should have it."
In Ephesians 6:3, Paul said, “If you are filial to your parents, I will prosper and you will live a long life on earth.” In the Old Testament, children who were disloyal to their parents were dragged out of the city and stoned. When a dove sits on a branch, the mother dove It is said that the crow sits on a branch three tiers below the tree and feeds the old mother crow.
There are lessons for parents as well. “Do not provoke your children to wrath” and in Ephesians 6:4 it says, “Do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and admonition of the Lord.”
A youth research organization investigated how young people purchased and watched pornography videos. High school students said "I borrowed it myself from a video store" and "I borrowed it from a friend" the most, and for middle school and elementary school students, "I secretly stole what my mom and dad saw" the most. In this case, parents make their little ones slaves to decadence and sex. Smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, watching pornographic videos, yelling and fighting, disobedience and arguing are all things my parents taught me and showed me if I thought about it. We should pay attention to the fact that it is me who ruined my children, and it is the parents who kill my children's souls.
That is why Paul said to bring up in the discipline and admonition of the Lord. Let's think about passing on an inheritance to our children. Few second-generation chaebols who have inherited a business from their parents, inherited a fortune, and inherited an astronomical amount of money, lead a healthy married life, family life, or ethical life. While they are entangled in alcohol, gambling, and women's problems, couples are mostly divorced, separated, and in a state of the Cold War, and their families are as desolate as the cold winds of Siberia.
Greater than money or property is spirit and faith. If you pass it down with Jesus, that will not happen. Recommended for parents. Do not pass on more or less. When we cherish, spend, and die, let's dedicate it to God and the church Let's cultivate independence in our children and teach them filial piety and faith. Let's hand over an inheritance greater than money or wealth.
3. Lessons for your servants Verse 22 says, "Slaves, obey your masters of the flesh in all things, not with an eyebrow, like a pleaser, but with a sincere heart in the fear of the Lord." Ephesians 6:5-7 says, “Do it with fear and trembling and with sincerity. But more importantly, it says, “Fear the Lord” and “as servants of Christ,” “as to Christ,” and “doing the will of God.” In this verse, we find the Christian view of the workplace. A Christian is the most sincere and honest person in the workplace, the most diligent and polite person, the most capable and creative idea, the most capable and creative idea. should not be criticized for being the most lazy, cocky, talkative, inefficient, dishonest and unfaithful.
Colossians 3:23-24 gives us a crucial lesson. "Whatever you do, do it wholeheartedly, as to the Lord, and not to men. For you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord, so you serve the Lord Christ." "Do it as to the Lord, you are serving Christ." We must also do our best to one another as to the Lord. And every Christian must remember that wherever he is, and whatever he does, he is serving Christ.
Once upon a time, there was a man named Gwanzi in China who said that there is a reason for a country. It is said to be courtesy, righteousness, salt, and chi. It was said that the moral standards of a country should be polite and respectful, but if it is cut off, the country will be overthrown. But now, in our country, the country of courtesy to the East is degenerating into a country of courtesy to the East. I don't know the shame or the shame. The moral pillars have collapsed. Parents don't know, adults don't know, and they don't seem to be polite or caring. We should always keep in mind that I am in the Lord and that I am doing His work.
Auguste Piccard, a Swiss physicist born in 1884, rode his own condor one day and climbed into the stratosphere to observe it. And the National Geographie published him as follows: "The stratosphere I've been up in is an almost constant atmosphere. The sun was shining all the time, and there were no dust particles on the ground that bothered us. Let's assume that it is the bosom of Jesus, the world of God. Jesus' embrace is quieter and calmer than the stratosphere of the atmosphere. There are no hurricanes, no radiation, no dust.
We must remember that we are the people of Jesus who live in it. Couples, rich people, friends, and elders alike are peaceful and happy when they are in Jesus. And when a married couple serves the Lord in harmony with rich people, mother and daughter, labor and management, it becomes a pleasant place to live and work. We should be grateful for the fact that we are in Christ. Let us be thankful that we are in Christ.