Series: Christ First Week 3: Live as if Jesus Rules & Eternity is Real!
Paul instructs the Colossians on how to put Jesus first—how to make Him pre-eminent—in their lives.
One of the problems Paul addresses in this letter is his concern that the culture of Colossae had warped the Colossian believers’ understanding of God.
The Colossians had a Jesus and… mentality. They didn’t discard Jesus, they just thought they needed other stuff in addition to Him.
Paul’s answer is a simple and emphatic: NO. Christ is enough!
Jesus + nothing = Everything!
Colossians 2:8–3:3. No longer should we be looking to earthly things to make life work! We should look to Christ!
We typically express a “Jesus and…” mentality by thinking that in order really to make life work—in order to be happy and secure—we need other things in addition to obedience to Jesus.
Colossians 3:2. Live as if Jesus rules and eternity is real!
2 of Jesus’s parables: LUKE 12:15-21. What good is all that money—all that saving—if you enter into eternity, the ultimate existence, with nothing?! Set your mind on things above not on things of the earth!
The 2nd parable is from Luke 16:1-7. The point is, if you know your time in your current reality is coming to a very quick end, isn’t it wise to use these precious few moments to prepare for the coming reality—the permanent one?
Set your minds on things above, not on things of the earth!
Live as if Jesus rules and eternity is real! Why waste your life on trivial things in this world? Why not make your life count for eternity?
Colossians 3:4.
Faith is Living as if Jesus Rules and Eternity is Real.
