Wednesday – March 16, 2016
Wow, hump day already, we must be about the Father’s business. I think the caption for this camel picture should be; “My mother thinks I’m pretty.” And people don’t think God has a sense of humor. Well let’s dive back into our study.
Colossians 2:6-7 (KJV)
6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
The Apostle Paul is telling the saints and faithful brethren at Colossae and Laodicea that because they have received Christ Jesus the Lord they are to walk in Him. They have received Him as Lord, the One of highest authority in their lives. They have received the sacrifice of Jesus, His precious blood spilled to obliterate their and our sins. We have eternal life spirit, soul, and body because of that sacrifice, that very highest price that was possible to be paid. They and we have received Christ. Recall that the word ‘Christ’ has three potential interpretations; it can mean Messiah, Anointing, and or Anointed One. The Messiah and the Anointed One is Jesus. The Anointing is the Holy Spirit. Not only was it vital to do away with sin but it was essential to bring the fullness of the Holy Spirit back into the earth available to every person. When we receive Jesus as Lord it is the Holy Spirit Who is present everywhere who does the work of salvation quickening our spirit, taking up residence within us, and anointing us with Himself. So let’s rephrase Colossians 2:6 this way from the breakdown of the words; because we have received the Holy Spirit in the process of declaring Jesus as the One with supreme authority in our life, we are therefore mandated to walk in Him.
Let us now examine the final phrase of this sixth verse; “so walk ye in him:” Walking is an activity and this activity is taking place in Him according to His leadership. We are to walk, or do, as He did in His recorded ministry, as instructed by the Scripture, and by His still small voice (The Holy Spirit). Jesus made it clear that we are to be doing in the earth, in the world, what He did in the earth, in the world.
John 14:12 (KJV)
12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
What Jesus did in the earth is not reserved for just a few it is intended to be common in the body of Christ. That is not to say that every member of any given group of believers will be doing all that Jesus did but some should be at any given time. This can only come by faith, walking in love, immersed in Him. Jesus told us plainly that the reason we are not seeing these things is that we have negated the power of God with our own traditions. We are straining gnats and swallowing camels.
Mark 7:13 (KJV)
13 Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.
Matthew 23:24 (KJV)
24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.
When Jesus came He said we were to repent and believe the gospel of the Kingdom of God. That means we were to change our whole way of thinking, from that of the world to that of God. Yes, Jesus taught about salvation, but He spent most of His time talking about how the Kingdom of God operates. Why, because that was how we were to think and operate. We are to do what He did. The disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus when John was in prison asking if He, Jesus, was the one (The Messiah) or should they look for another. In response Jesus demonstrated the Kingdom of God in operation in the earth, and in the world.
Luke 7:22 (KJV)
22 Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.
Brother and sister, Jesus is our example, not another, although we may learn valuable things from many in Scripture, we are to follow Jesus. Let us determine to put away our thoughts, words, and deeds of unbelief, our watered down religion, and walk in Him.
By Pastor David R. Wood
