This is our Sunday Re: Think; an opportunity for us to continue to think on the events of last Sunday.
Last Sunday we began to dig into Paul’s letter to the Colossian Church. We looked primarily at 3 Marks of the Real Gospel. Drawing from Colossians 1:3-8 we saw first that the Gospel is Visible; secondly the Gospel is Visual; and finally, the Gospel is Viral.
In all of these we noted that it is essential we know who God is in Christ, His Character, His Nature. This will inform and influence who we are. As Francis Chan has said:
The core problem isn’t the fact that we’re lukewarm, halfhearted, or stagnant Christians. The crux of it all is we have an inaccurate view of God
Battling an inaccurate view of God was not only a constant war the Colossians faced, but one we do today as well. Unless we seek to dive fully into the person and work of Christ, and derive our identity from there, we are in danger of creating a freak God we worship instead of the One True God as revealed in the Bible. In order to help combat this danger, Paul zero’s in on 3 Marks of the True Gospel.
Paul tells the Colossian church that he has heard of their faith in Christ and Love for the Saints. These are visible marks of the true Gospel. If we are embracing a true Gospel, exemplified by faith in Christ and love for the saints, and not one of a counterfeit nature it will be visible to the outside world.
The Visual aspect reminds us that the true Gospel has Heaven as its ultimate goal. We saw that having heaven as our ultimate goal in no way means we are so heavenly minded to be of no earthly good, but rather the infatuation we have for our future life motivates our mission today. As John Piper reminded us, it is not heavenlimindedness that binds the hands of love, but worldlimindedness. A needed reminder indeed.
Finally, a true Gospel is one that is Viral. It is marked by the bearing of fruit in the life of the believer and the spreading all over the world. As the Gospel takes root in our lives it will bear fruit and through us God will transform the whole world with the power of the Gospel. This is the message of the book of Acts and should be the mission of our lives as well.
How should faith in Christ and Love for the Saints be more visible in our lives? What are some practical ways we can see this Gospel bear fruit and spread all over the world?
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