July 15, 2016
Colossians 3:9, 10
(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)
There is still a Gem For Living to be mined from Colossians 3:9 and 10, and it is in last part of verse 10. Here are the two verses of our featured Scripture:
Do not lie to one to another since you have put off the old man with
his deeds; and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge
according to the image of Him who created him….
This Gem is a real key to our Christian life! Yes, we are to “…put on the new man…” – the spiritual nature that God implants within us by His Holy Spirit when we are born again (see John 3:3-7; I Peter 1:23). This godly nature is in “…the image of Him who created him…,” that is, God Himself! We were originally created in that image (see Genesis 1:26, 27) and we were designed to carry His image all through our lives. But when Adam sinned (see Genesis 3:1-7), he obeyed Satan incarnate in the serpent, and his new master (the devil himself – see John 8:44), implanted his own image into mankind, and overrode the original image of God!
Jesus Christ is God the Son incarnate in human flesh! He carries the perfect image of the Father! (See John 14:9; Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 1:3). He came to restore into humanity that which was lost to the devil! (See I Corinthians 15:20-28, 45-49). When we accept Christ as our personal Savior, He gives us back that image of God, implanting within us His new godly nature! (See Ezekiel 36:26; II Corinthians 5:17). Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:7, “You must be born again.” This is accomplished by the Holy Spirit within us (see I Corinthians 6:19; II Timothy 1:14). God’s nature within us cannot sin! (See I John 3:9; 5:18). But as Paul wrote in Galatians 5:17 (Easy-to-Read Version):
The sinful self wants what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit wants what is
against the sinful self. They are always fighting against each other, so that
you don’t do what you really want to do.
But here is our part – and it is emphasized in Colossians 3:10 (our featured Scripture): “…the new man…is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him….” What knowledge? The knowledge of the Word of God! We are to actively feed our new godly nature on Scripture so it can grow strong and remain healthy – dominating over the old sinful nature and manifesting itself in our lives in everything we do, say, and think! (See Job 23:12; Psalm 1:2; 119:9-11; Jeremiah 15:16; Colossians 3:16).
God’s purpose for His children is for them to be more and more like Jesus!
• Romans 8:29 – “For whom He [the Father] foreknew, He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” God’s goal for all His children is to conform us to the image of Jesus!
• II Corinthians 3:18 – “But we all…beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” The idea that Paul is conveying here is that we behold Jesus by reading (study, meditation, memorization of) the Bible! This increases our faith (see Romans 10:17) and it is by faith that we are to live! (See Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38). And by faith we behold Jesus and are more and more transformed into His image! For it is faith that “…is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 1:1). And in Hebrews 11:6 (1965 Bible in Basic English) we are told:
…without faith it is not possible to be well-pleasing to Him, for it is necessary
for anyone who comes to God to have the belief that God is, and that He is a
rewarder of all those who make a serious search for Him.
So faith, built up by God’s Word, is indispensable for growing up in our Christian faith and becoming like Jesus!
• James 1:2 through 4 – “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” There is only One who is perfect and complete – Jesus Christ! So God allows trials and testings to touch our lives so that we may be made to be more and more like Him! This is why we are to “…count it all joy when [we]…fall into various trials….” Through those trials and testings, God is making us into the image of Jesus!
• I John 3:2 – “Beloved, now are we the children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He [Jesus] is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” This is the end product of God’s plan for us. We shall be like Him – exactly like Him in that we will only have our godly sinless natures for all eternity! If this is being accomplished in part now by our beholding Him with sometimes imperfect and hazy faith, think of the completion of it all when we see Him as He is – face to face!
So keep in mind – and practice daily – being “…renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him….” It will transform your Christian life!