Better Than (Olympic) Gold!

For some reason, I am overwhelmed by Colossians 3 and lacking focus.  It strikes me as a mother sending her son off on a trip.  "Remember this....OH! And, don't forget that!"
Then, also, it is all so important....
I figure I may be in this chapter for a while.

So, let's get started.  Focus.  Focus.

Paul actually begins with talking about focus and about priorities.  Life is like a huge banquet of food choices (I was into the food thing yesterday...looks like I have not left...).  We get to choose what we put on our plates.  We had better choose well, if we want to be healthy, and of course, this goes for both the physical and the spiritual realms.

1Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.2Keep thinking about things above, not things on the earth, 3for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Colossians 3:1-3 (NET)

Keep seeking the things that are above.  Choose this.  Don't choose that.  Seek this.  Don't seek that.
Keep thinking about this, not about that.  Olympians aren't the only ones who make critical choices all the time.  We all do.  It's just that some of us choose better than others, more often!  It seems like, every day, we hear more and more stories of our fellow men and women who chose heartbreak. Perhaps that is why we love the Olympics so much!

Paul shows us the motivation for making holy choices:  because we have made the choice to surrender Christ's lordship, to live for Him, which requires dying to ourselves.  Paul talks about this in many of his letters. When we accept Jesus' offer of salvation, our lives are then hidden with Christ in God.

What does this mean?

Again, verse 3 speaks of a finality, a "done deal".  Dying is pretty final.  So, when Paul uses the euphemism of "dying" to self, in one sense it connotes a final transaction, forever sealed and sure.
In another sense, Paul speaks of "dying daily" to the old nature's desires and wants, and this is why he admonishes the Colossians to "dwell on" (in some translations) righteous things.

In another layer of meaning, I love how there is a layer of protection and safe-keeping implied here, not that God will protect His children from all pain or trouble or stress, but that, in the final analysis we are His, and He is ours, forever.  One day, when we move into His presence eternally, all such heartache will end.

The fact that Christians are "hidden with Christ in God" does NOT mean that we should hide our faith, or only trot it out during trying circumstances.  Jesus proclaimed that "a city set on a hill cannot be hid".  If you are a Christian, the Holy Spirit will most definitely shine forth through you!

Currently, the 2016 Olympics are taking place, with millions watching on television.  And, the first black American woman to win a gold medal for swimming is a Christian.  She doesn't hide it either. When Simone Manuel of Texas won her Olympic spot, after being deemed a "long shot", she tweeted out on Twitter:  "All glory to God! Isn't he awesome?"  Other 2016 Olympians who are Christians and not shy about it include:  Maya DiRado, who said, "My faith frees me to dream big!" and who also medaled for the United States, and David Boudia, who is already a gold medal winner from 2012, but just won the silver a few days ago for synchronized diving.  David has a book coming out soon:  Greater than Gold: From Olympic Heartbreak to Ultimate Redemption.   1

What marvelous examples of not hiding one's faith, but instead living it out gloriously!  Many in the world will say, "How do they do it?  What incredible force is at work in them to account for this seemingly superhuman performance? What is their secret?"  To that extent, the Christian's life is "hidden with Christ in God".  Jesus Christ, a relationship with Him, is the secret, the best secret, a secret ... better than gold!


Source:

1   http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2016/august-web-only/meet-rio-olympians-who-put-god-before-gold.html

Marked People

You may be familiar with this idiom: "a marked man".  It generally refers to someone who is in danger of harm from someone else.  Or, it can mean a person bears some distinguishing mark which sets him or her apart from others.  Jesus was a "marked man" for most of His ministry, and then he showed the "marks" of his crucifixion in His hands, feet and side, in appearances after His resurrection.

What marks do you bear in your body?  In mine, I bear a scar in the middle of my forehead from a tumble I took as a toddler, and one on my knee from one I took as a youth.  My body shows evidence of giving birth, twice....various adventures in the dental office, pierced ears...I could go on with this boring recitation, but won't.

A family friend broke a bone last week.  Now, that bone will heal.  But, when it is viewed on the x-ray, it will always show evidence of having been broken.  The bone is forever changed.

I've been thinking about this a lot lately, and Ephesians 1:13-14 brought it to the forefront of my mind this morning.  Here are the verses :

3And when you heard the word of truth (the gospel of your salvation) – when you believed in Christ – you were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is the down payment of our inheritance, until the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of his glory.

(NET)

Let me juxtapose here another, related verse, 2 Corinthians 5:17 - -

So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; what is old has passed away--look, what is new has come.

(NET)

There is such a thing as "spiritual DNA".  We are born with a flawed type of it, a type that is hopelessly contaminated wtih sin.  But when we hear the gospel (1:13 above) and accept Jesus as Savior, that DNA with which we were born ("born into sin") is forever, eternally changed.

It's pretty amazing, really.  Think of it as a "chemical change".  I took just enough chemistry in high school to be dangerous, (thank you, Dr. Singh!).  But, I did learn enough to know that when two things are merged/combined, they might make a mixture, defined as a combination that can later be separated.  For example, if you combine iron filings with grains of salt, a magnet will separate the iron from the salt for you. A mixture is not a "forever change".  Both (or however many) different entities retain their original properties, clear and distinct from each other.  There is no chemical change that occurs.

When you combine things like vinegar and baking soda, however, there is a chemical change.  You can see it occur, and after it occurs, the chemist is no longer able to separate the vinegar from the baking soda again.  They are both forever altered.

So, what does that have to do with salvation of the soul?  When one accepts Christ, His Holy Spirit enters the body, soul and spirit in some way we cannot quantify or fully comprehend.  The "old" becomes "new", the scriptures declare!  This is a forever change.

In Ephesians, Paul describes the Holy Spirit as a "mark", making Christians "marked people".
Is this a mark that one can physically see?  Sometimes.  Unbelievers or yet-to-become-believers will sometimes remark, "There's something different about him/her..."  I don't know about you, but I've met people I immediately knew were believers, not by their appearance, but rather by the presence of the Holy Spirit in and around them.

This happened to me at a conference, and I'll never forget it.  A lady came up to me at one of the breaks - - a lady I'd never met or heard of - - and asked if I was a Christian.  She said she could see the Holy Spirit in me.  Not so stunning when you consider Romans 8:16 - - -

The Spirit Himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God's children, 

(HCSB)

True Christians all have the same Spirit, the Spirit of their Savior, and that Spirit testifies that they are God's children.

21Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, 22who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.

2 Corinthians 1:21-22 (NET)

We are "God's own possession" because His Spirit inhabits and possesses us.  Christians are as marked for all eternity as Christ's wounds are.  God will keep His Word.  He is unchangeable.  We can rest in that certainty of eternal destiny.

Have we received all of our eternal inheritance in Christ?

Not entirely, and we won't have received all until we are with Him, in glory.  But, because of the Holy Spirit, because He has marked us, we know we have as much of God's wealth that we can possibly handle here on earth and WILL receive all of the riches in Christ Jesus when we step onto the golden shore of that beautiful land called Heaven.

"O say but I'm glad!"  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jN-h1wEfyc

Father God, thank you for marking Your children as Your very own.  There is such comfort and peace in that!  We know that our salvation grows and matures as we battle daily the sin nature that continues to be a part of us.  But, we know that we can never be separated from You, from the love that is ours in Christ Jesus.  I'm so grateful to be Yours, and to know that I am forever Yours!  In Jesus' name, amen.