One of the favorite times of my life was living in Orlando, FL while I was attending seminary. I loved it. People up here in New England rationalize that it just gets too hot down there in the summer. It gets no hotter down there than it does up here, it is just consistently hot through the summer. Because it is consistent, your body adjusts and gets used to it. Of course the hot 94 degree summer gives way to the 75 degree fall, winter and spring. I loved that.
If you are going to live in Orlando, one of the things you have to deal with is the immense tourist business. Disney, Seaworld, and Universal are the biggest employers. Once winter came, the beaches, theme parks, and attractions swell with people looking to escape the cold.
After you have lived there a while, it becomes real easy to pick out who lives in Orlando and who is a tourist. One of the big tells is people who run to the beach and go swimming in January. Once the water temperature dips below 72, no self-respecting Floridian is going to go swimming. When it was in the 60’s outside, we were wearing long pants and sweaters and maybe a jacket. While tourists would be in shorts and tank tops….as if it were warm outside!
Like picking out tourists in Orlando, when people see us together it should be obvious that we are marching to the beat of a different drum. Too often however the church acts like it is more concerned with blending in than standing out. Too often the church struggles with how she looks in the eyes of the world instead of thinking how her Father wants her to look being the Bride of His Son.
In Colossians 3:12-14 (NIV), the Apostle Paul paints a picture of what he expects the community life of the believers at Colossae to look like.
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
He starts in verse 12 by telling them why they should look this way: they are God’s people. This is further marked by three things:
- They are chosen by God. John in the opening words of his gospel (John 1:12-13, NIV) says, Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. Jesus said of His disciples in John 15:16 (NIV), You did not choose me, but I chose you. We are not a people who have come looking for God and are united because we all share that search. We are a people who have been chosen by God, and adopted by Him to be His sons and daughters, to be citizens of His kingdom, and together to be the Bride of His Son, Jesus Christ. God’s people are a chosen people.
- They are holy. In the Bible a person, or thing can be called holy for one of two reasons: either by its being set apart by God for His work and purposes, or that it shares His moral character. The church is holy in both these senses. It is holy because God has chosen her and set her apart for His Son. The Church is also holy because the Spirit of God lives in her. This is not a casual thing, but an intensely intimate union that is so deep that Peter says in 1 Peter 1:4 that we participate in the Divine Nature. The Spirit does not simply reside in us but transforms us into the image of Christ. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NLT) And the Lord—who is the Spirit makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image. The church is unique in that it alone reflects God’s holiness in both ways: being set apart by Him for His purposes and work, and in reflecting His holiness in personal relationship with one another. God’s people are a holy people.
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They are dearly loved. God’s people are not only chosen, they are not only holy, they are dearly loved. Very often we strip this down to the individual level and take it to mean that God loves me, that God loves each person in the Body of Christ. That is certainly true, and it is clearly implied. But what Paul is explicitly teaching is that God loves us, He loves His people, He loves His Church. He not only loves us as individuals but He loves us collectively as His people. This love moves God to say mind blowing things to His people like Isaiah 43:1-7,
But now, this is what the LORD says— he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead. Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth—everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”
This promise, this love, this devotion is not given to any particular person but to a particular people—to His people. God loves His Church so much that other peoples are given in exchange for her. I will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life. Why? Because His church is precious to Him, she is honored in His sight, and because He loves her.
Paul then tells the Colossians the implications of being God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved. Their life together should be a reflection and witness to the truth of those realities. In verses 13-14, Paul focuses on how God’s transforming love is expressed; by being people who, like Christ, are full of God’s grace. This grace is to be clearly seen in the community, as clearly seen as the clothes they are wearing.
The expressions of grace in this passage all refer to how we respond to one another. Compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, bearing with one another (long suffering), and forgiveness. At the end of verse 14, Paul distills all these together into love, which is the unity of them all.
From this we may conclude that one of the essential marks of the Body of Christ is that it is a community that cultivates grace. Grace is not only something we are supposed to receive from God, but a gift that is to be given to others. We are not to be a people who only know about needing grace; we are to be a people who know about giving grace.
Learning To Be Full Of Grace And Truth. 