Colossians (2011)

Like relationships within the Godhead, the divine institution of marriage is defined through roles, with equality in person and distinctness in role. Authority and submission are foundational. Without authority we are left on our own, doomed to failure in our relationship with God and every relationship that flows from that pattern. If the idea of submission makes you want to fight for control, look carefully at the submission of our Savior. Successful marriages function through roles God has prescribed. Circumstances, feelings and cultural trends don’t alter Truth. See the effective analogy of dance and marriage; success in marriage is a function of the correct application of authority and submission carried out within marriage’s unique framework of intimacy, love and respect.

Marriage can be a great source of joy, or suffering, depending on whose rules of relationship you apply. See how relationship roles predate creation and how elements of creation communicate and reinforce God’s design in role distinctions. Where is the equality in marriage? Does headship imply greater value? Does submission imply lesser value? See how God’s original purposes for man and woman were directly frustrated because of the Fall. Appreciate how God did not abandon us in the hopelessness of judgment but provided a solution in ultimate redemption through Jesus Christ and spiritual recovery in time through the Holy Spirit and the Word.

See how the creation of a comic book character in the 1940s fed into the distortion of role God has for women and how it was accomplished with allure and humor, building to a fever pitch around the goal of female empowerment as a good thing. In the past, Satan’s subversion of truth required subtlety. Today Truth has been replaced by blatant lies that need no half truths as a disguise for acceptance. Learn how role distinction AND equality in essence preexisted the Fall yet remain God’s modus operandi for us as spiritual beings in a fallen world. In what ways can we use the creation narrative to demonstrate God’s intention regarding roles, authority, submission, accountability and a pattern for human history?

Critics discredit this verse as something out of the culture of Paul’s time that has no impact in our culture today. But scripture’s clear idea of gender roles had been revealed since Genesis 1. The world tries to define equality through roles while God defines equality in our very essence. The argument has been extended to the absurd in discussions about the gender of God. We are in the image of God. God is not in the image of man. There are references to God in masculine, feminine and neuter forms. Apart from Jesus in His incarnation, God doesn’t introduce himself as a man or woman, but as the leader, Almighty God. Learn about role distinction, authority and equality within the Godhead and how that has application in the structure of marriage relationships.

The foundation of a good marriage is orientation to authority, humility, submission and imitation of Christ and relationships within the Godhead. These are applications that extend to all relationships at every age and marital status. Preservation of this divine institution is essential for our culture to survive and for sanctification to live itself out in our lives. Marriage is defined in scripture, not by starry-eyed lovers or embittered divorcees. Marriage is to fulfill the purpose of God. The only way to know that purpose is to seek advice from scripture. Biblical roles for men and women create clarity. Our culture has attacked these roles creating gender confusion and cultural degeneration. Be encouraged about what the Bible teaches about marriage. Live out His truth in our confused culture and know abundance in a God-defined counter culture.

This lesson also includes Genesis 1:26-28

God tells us to sing. Why? To express the word of God that dwells in us richly, teaching and admonishing in wisdom. Our inspiration is God’s grace; our motivation is truth; our audience is God; and our conduit is excellence. Worship, expressed in this way, will transform our values in the midst of a culture that has no absolute values. Excellence is in the standard. Adhere to the standard, and real beauty will be expressed. Our question is not, “Is this good enough?” Our question should be, “Is this the absolute best means to glorify God, reflect who He is and echo the Truth He has given?”

Congregational singing expresses our submission to God’s will and authority. Congregational music is a reflection of Christian culture, not an expression of society’s culture, tradition or a warm up to Sunday’s message. Culture is made up of all aspects of thinking and acting but apart from a Biblical base, it is all worldliness. To evaluate music we must embrace, separate and eliminate. The issue is embracing a standard before we can even consider our music. To embrace our music preference first is to apply an internal, subjective standard and sometimes results in leaning into the attraction of our sin nature. Learn about the source and mandates we embrace and why music is not a neutral element of worship.

Anything other than God’s idea of worship by means of Spirit and Truth is a breakdown of standards. Within God’s creation, if all areas aren’t addressed by His righteousness and holiness, then no area is addressed. That must mean that God’s character is the issue when we worship through congregational music. What source do we use to evaluate music for worship so that it reflects intrinsic, objective, Godly beauty? Is our appreciation of beauty a measure of its worth? Learn some fallacies and truths in the worship wars involving church music in our culture.

God commands corporate worship. It is valuable as an encouragement, a response to what God has done and a display of our joy. At the beginning of the 18th century Isaac Watts added a dimension to congregational singing. How was that change different than the changes brought about by contemporary church music today? Christians knew that all beauty existed in the mind of God and that to know beauty, we first had to know God. The Enlightenment shifted the idea of beauty to an internal, relative standard separate from the absolute standards of God. Beauty was in the eye of the beholder. Which idea reflects joy in worship which is all about God?