I invite you to turn in your Bibles this morning to the letter of Paul to the Colossians, to chapter 2. Since we all have the same edition, it's on page 1252 if you don't know your way through the books of the Bible. It's a good thing to learn, and I know you young people and students, you learn that all the time at school. It's a great thing to know. Sometimes we get forgetfulness nice to have the page number, 1252. I'll be reading a few short segments that lead us up to our text this morning. Our text this morning is verses 3, verse 18, through chapter 4, verse 1. That's where we're going to give our attention. But again, it's been several months since we've touched on this letter. I want to kind of lead us up into that by reading a few short segments, beginning in chapter 2, verse 6. This is the point in Paul's letter where he turns from a strong emphasis on the gospel of Jesus Christ to what it means for us and how we live our lives. And he says, Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him, and established in the faith just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. And then skipping down to chapter 3, verse 1. If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. And then skipping down to verse 17, after going through several things that we are to put off of sin and to put on of righteousness, Paul ends with this universal statement for us. He says, And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. And now our text. Wives, submit to your husbands as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. Bond servants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye service as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ, for the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality. Masters, treat your bondservants justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a master in heaven. Here ends the reading of God's Word. There's a lot to do in those texts, in those verses. There's a lot for us to do. And perhaps sometimes in all the doing that's involved in our home and in our work life, you've known a day or an hour or perhaps just a fleeting moment when you wished that you were free from all the responsibilities of home and work. When you wished you were independently wealthy and didn't have to labor for a paycheck and deal with workplace politics. Men, when you wished that you could just hang out in your man cave, wherever that might be. I know you have one. And women, when you wished that you were just about anywhere else but at home or at the office. Children and young people, when you wish that you were free to do what you want, when you want to do it. That sounds like heaven, doesn't it? Sounds like utopia. Well, throughout history there have been many who weren't going to take it anymore, who walked off the job, who abandoned the family and who have run away. Not going to do it anymore. some have done so in the name of Christ. As they set their minds on things that are above and not on things of the earth, they become disjointed and disconnected. Many, like the false teachers in Colossae, tried to set their spirits free by beating their bodies into submission. And they sought to be heavenly minded by chasing after visions and the worship of angels. And all of this left little time for home or work. Others have taken the road of shaking off the restraints of God's law and live so spiritually free and so heavenly minded that they're not bogged down with relationships at all, let alone at home or at work. Well, this, of course, is not what Paul meant when he said to be heavenly minded. He didn't mean, and you've heard the phrase, to be so heavenly minded that you know earthly good. This command was given to Christians who through faith in Christ have already been raised in Christ and seated at his right hand in the heavens. And because we've been joined to Christ, we already have spiritual freedom. We don't have to chase after it. We have it. And we're already heavenly minded. We've been given the mind of Christ in his word. Now, we won't inherit this fully until Christ returns in glory, but it's already ours. We're spiritually free and we're heavenly minded. And so in the meantime, as we wait for him to come back, we're commanded to use our spiritual freedom to apply our heavenly mindedness to the world in which we live here and now. We're to make progress in our sanctification, to make progress in our holiness. That's what our life is about now as Christians. And in Colossians chapter 3, Paul has laid down the road map for a heavenly-minded walk on the earth. And his theme throughout has been to be who you are in Christ. To live out of what He's already done for you as you face this world in which we live in. And in just that one chapter, it takes three minutes to read, it's taken us five months to get through, Paul lays out the road map by starting off by charging each of us to put off earthly attitudes and actions that the wrath of God will come against and to put on heavenly attitudes and actions that are pleasing to the Lord. Put off, put on. And then he charges the church, all of the saints gathered together, all of you here today, together in communion, As a community of equals in Christ. To live together ruled by His peace and dwelt by His word. And living out of this worshipful communion to do whatever you do in His name. And then beginning in verse 18, He makes it clear that living as equals in the body of Christ, which we are, doesn't free us from earthly relationships. even at home, but rather sets us free to make them heavenly in His name, especially in the home. Therefore, the Word of God comes to me and to you this morning with the command to be who you are, even at home, especially at home. And you are to do so by remembering your heavenly status while fulfilling your earthly roles. The first thing Paul would have you remember is that you are servants of the Lord Christ. You're servants of the Lord Christ. Sprinkled throughout these nine verses, addressed to households made up of wives and husbands, children and parents, slaves and masters at that time, Paul makes direct reference to the Lord seven times. Seven times we're reminded that the Lord Jesus Christ is the only one who can motivate us to accept these roles and enable us to obey these roles as we live as His people in this world. It is fitting in the Lord, Paul says, for wives and husbands to keep His commandments. It pleases the Lord when children and fathers keep His commandments. Bondservants, that's a big word for slaves, children, are to obey earthly masters because they fear the Lord and work heartily as for the Lord, knowing that from the Lord they'll receive their inheritance as a reward. And earthly masters are to treat slaves with the awareness that they themselves have a heavenly master, the Lord. All of these tie together and come into focus in verse 24, where Paul says to slaves and indirectly to all of us, you are serving the Lord Christ. That's your status. You're servants of the Lord Christ because, as Paul told you in chapter 2, verse 6, you receive Christ as Lord when you heard and believed the gospel. Yes, when you receive Christ as Savior, you receive Him as Lord. You're not your own. You've been bought with a price. You've been set free from sin, and you become slaves to God. You're servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's an exalted position to serve in the house of our God. The second thing that Paul would have you remember about our heavenly status is that through faith, the Holy Spirit joins us to Christ and His righteous accomplishments, His righteous obedience that He's already accomplished in our place. Through faith in Christ, we gain Christ and all His perfections, all His accomplishments, all His obedience, all His sinlessness. Listen to what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for you. Wives, Christ Jesus fully submitted to his equal. He said of himself, I and the Father are one, and yet from eternity past and throughout his life on earth, he submitted his will to the will of his Father, his co-equal in the divine trinity. Therefore, we're told in Philippians chapter 2 that Christ Jesus, who though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God as something to be grasped or to held on to. He emptied Himself. He submitted Himself. And He clearly declared His submission in the Garden of Gethsemane, as we know, where He prayed, Father, if You're willing, take this cup from Me. Nevertheless, not My will, but Yours be done. Christ is submitted fully to his equal. Husbands, Christ Jesus loves and is not harsh with his bride, the church. According to Ephesians, even though we were unworthy of his love, dead in trespasses and sin, Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. He sacrificed Himself for His bride. And He also nourishes and cherishes the church because we are members of His body. Christ Jesus loves and is not harsh with His bride. Children, Christ Jesus obeyed His Father in everything. Hebrews chapter 5 says that even though Jesus was the Son of God, He learned obedience through what He suffered in the world. Do you know what it is to learn obedience? It's not automatic. It's not easy. Jesus learned obedience through what He suffered. And even though He was greater than His parents, Joseph and Mary, He submitted to them and He obeyed them. And you know that He obeyed His Father in heaven even unto death. Death on the cross. Yes, Jesus Christ has obeyed His Father in everything. And He obeyed in everything not only as a son, but also as a slave. He came as the suffering servant foretold in Isaiah. Isaiah 53 we read that He would come to make many to be accounted righteous and to bear their iniquities, this suffering servant. And in Philippians chapter 2, we're told that he emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, the form of a slave, the same word that's in our text. And in Matthew chapter 20, that he came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. Yes, our Lord Jesus Christ obeyed his Father in everything as a son and as a slave. Fathers and mothers. Christ Jesus does not provoke God's children. Jesus said the Father loves the Son and has given Him all things in His hand. And in the same way, Christ Jesus loves the church like He loves little children. And you remember the story, don't you children? Don't you parents? How Jesus said, let the children come to Me. Do not hinder them. For such belong to the kingdom of God. And he took them on his lap, and he blessed them, laying his hands upon them. Jesus is gentle toward his children, the children of God. And God the Son is the Lord and the Master of all. From everlasting, we're told in Deuteronomy 10, He is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who is not partial and takes no bribe. He deals justly and fairly in all that he does. And yet he humbled himself by becoming a man as a servant. And he resisted temptation to do any wrong. And yet he bore the price that we deserve for our wrong. And he accomplished all that is right and required of us. And he earned the reward that we inherit. our Master, our Lord in Heaven, accomplished His greatness, Lordship, as a servant to His people. We've been reminded of these things. Throughout this text, Paul has called to mind these things that he has told us before. Because apart from remembering our heavenly status in Christ and all that Christ has accomplished in our place, his perfect righteousness, his perfect obedience, his perfect sinlessness in our place, we will approach the roles that are set before us today in our own strength. And you and I both know that that is to fail. Repeatedly. We've been reminded of our heavenly status as servants of the Lord, joined to Christ and his righteousness through faith so that we can be who we are in Christ, especially at home. There's no place in your life where you have more opportunities to sin and no more opportunities to practice righteousness than in your home and by extension at your workplace. For most of you, and for students, for children, that's your school, that's your workplace. For most of us, we spend 12 hours or more a day with family and with workers, co-workers, employers. It is our life. Apart from sleep, there's a little time for some entertainment in between, but that's where we live. And there's no place more that we need to practice being who we are in Christ than here. And so then, how does that look is the question. Well, some of you are already on guard against what I might have to say from this text. And others of you are waiting for me to finally tell you what to do. And so before we go through it, I want to give you one assignment. At the bottom of your sheet, write down number 1, 2, 3. 1, 2, 3. By the end of this second half of this sermon, you're going to have one or two or maybe three specific things that this text calls you to work on. In the power of the Holy Spirit through faith in Christ. Now relax a little bit. This is going to be simple. The outline is simple. The points are simple. There's not going to be a long list of do's and don'ts to follow. God doesn't want you to be chasing after what feels urgent and needs to be fixed only to miss out what's really important? He doesn't want you wasting time and effort as the politicians say putting lipstick on pigs. He wants you to know and to get rid of some pigs. He wants you to identify the inner desires of your own heart that drive you as James says into strife. That drive you to disrupt the household. That drive you to disrupt the workplace. we're to take Jesus' instruction to look at the log in our own eye and not the speck in our neighbor's eye. This is what this text is about, is to have us look at our own inner drive. What makes us tick in our relationships at home and at work? So listen carefully and take note. Your list will be simple. At least one, but no more than three. But as you already know, it's not easy. In fact, your list will be impossible to overcome so long as you are trusting in your own ability to get it together. So listen carefully and be encouraged by your only hope for success, your union with Christ and His righteousness as you pursue fulfilling your earthly role, which is our second point. Now it is clear from these verses that God has ordained roles for our households and our working place relationships and that these roles involve unequal authority. We all know this is true and for the most part we don't like it. But God has ordained these roles and it's also clear from these verses that our freedom in Christ and our equality in Christ does not free us from these roles but frees us to fulfill these roles in faith to the glory of God. So women and men, just for the record, you were created as equals. When God created man in his own image, he created the male and female. He created us as equals to fulfill different roles, however, with the man in authority. Genesis chapter 2. Man is created to tend and guard the garden. Woman is created as a suitable helper to him. And God joined them together in marriage so closely that husband and wife become one flesh. And this marriage relationship was affirmed by Jesus Christ and it continues to this day as God's design for how we're to live together and form families. But it has always been frustrated by sin. Genesis 3.16 tells us that because of sin, a wife becomes hardwired to resist her husband's authority. It's in you by nature. And the drive to gain control goes with it. And husbands, you come hardwired to abuse your authority and to strive to keep things in control. This is how we're loaded by sin in this life. And therefore, marriage is prone to strife. Newsflash, if you didn't know that. Well, what we need to remember when we approach this relationship is that Christ has already suffered God's wrath against our sinful strife in marriage. And He has fulfilled God's design in our place as we remember it in the beginning. And therefore, wives and husbands, through faith in Christ, His Spirit is at work in you as His people, as servants of the Lord, both to will, that is to want to, and to work for His good pleasure, not your own. And therefore, wives and servants of Christ, you are called, made willing, and able to be putting off the impulse to strive against your husband and to be putting on submission to him as is fitting to the Lord. Husbands, as servants of Christ, you are called, made willing and able to be putting off your impulse to dominate your wife and to be putting on sacrificial love that is not harsh toward her as is fitting in the Lord. This text calls us to an attitude check. Which way am I pointed? Am I pointed by inclination, by my desires? Or am I pointed by inspiration and work of the Holy Spirit for God's desire? Check your list. The good news is, through faith in Christ and by the power of the Spirit, you can change. You can grow. You can change. And these specific ways are before you hear it. You don't need a checklist. If you get the attitude right, all else follows. And now to children, and that includes you young people, for as long as you're under the care and authority of your parents, you are created in the image of God just as your parents are. You are equals to them by creation. But in his providence, he's assigned you to a different role for now. Children, you are to give your parents, or you were given to your parents in order to continue the human race and to extend the kingdom of God. And children, you are to honor your father and your mother. We read that in the Ten Commandments this morning, did we not? And you're to obey them in everything. So that one day they can pass on, you can pass on what you've learned from them to your children. And parents, you are to raise your children as sons and daughters of God. Bringing them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. To prepare them for when they leave your house to establish a new home. That what they reproduce there is what God would have produced in them through you. And we know that this relationship between children and parents continues generation after generation and always and forever until Christ returns will be frustrated by strife. Because of sin, children are born hardwired to resist instruction and defy authority. They want to do what they want to do. Just yesterday, I had a nine-month-old sitting across the table from me that wanted to eat some tissue. And I had to tell her no. And I had to tell her no and no and no. And she looked me in the eye and she was checking my register. Are you serious? Can I flatter you? hardwired to resist instruction, hardwired to reject authority. And parents, you're hardwired to misuse the authority that you've been given and to confuse God's instruction and to demand what you want of your children. That's the inclination of sin. And therefore, I know and you know that there's strife in the household. Well, the good news is that Christ has already suffered God's wrath against the strife between child and parent. And He's fulfilled God's design in your place. Children and parents, through faith in Christ, His Spirit is at work in you, both to will, that is, to want to and to do what's pleasing to Him. You're servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. You're not your own. You've been bought with a price. Therefore, children and young people, as servants of Christ, you are called, you are made willing, and you are able to be putting off the impulse to rebel against your parents and resist their instruction and to be putting on obedience in everything as is pleasing the Lord. And parents, as servants of Christ, you are called and you are made willing and you are able to be putting off the impulse to make demands on your children that provoke them to discouragement. And to be putting on patience and diligence in training them in the way of wisdom of God's Word. For this pleases the Lord. Again, this is an attitude check. Which way are you going? Whose desires are you following? Your own that are yours by nature? Or God's purposes that are yours through faith? Right. Number two, do you belong on that list? Well, what are we to make of the commands of slaves and masters? Some people want to jettison this whole text because we don't have slaves and masters today. But standing behind slavery and masters is the truth of what Scripture says, that the Lord makes poor and makes rich. He brings low and he exalts. It's his prerogative to apportion wealth and power to whoever he sees fit to give it to. And some are given more than others. That's the way it has always been. That's the way it will continue to be. some have and some have not some have more and some have less and this relationship between the haves and the have nots is frustrated by sin and slavery was just a prominent example upon which civilizations were built but we see it today in the Occupy Wall Street movement we're the 99 it's the haves and the have nots perhaps you've seen it in your own workplace between management and worker. Whichever side of the divide you're on. Because of sin, those who don't have wealth or power, like slaves, are hardwired to resist those who do and to covet what they have. That's what sin does in this inequity. And those who have wealth or power, like masters, are hardwired to take advantage of those who don't. Sin says might makes right. And money not only talks, it wins. Therefore, the relationship between the haves and the have-nots is prone to strife. Well, even here, the Lord Christ has already suffered God's wrath against our sinful strife. And has fulfilled God's design in our place. Through faith in Christ, His Spirit is at work in you, both to will and to do His good pleasure. You're servants of the Lord Christ. Therefore, those of you who have been given less, as servants of Christ, you are called, made willing, and able to be putting off the impulse to resist those in authority and taking what is theirs. An example from our text is stealing time, working only when you're watched, appropriating some of the company goods. Those who have wealth or power like masters are going to be putting off the impulse to overwork and underpay those who work for you. Getting every last ounce out of every last hour. You are equipped to put on just and fair treatment for all, knowing that you also have a Master who is in heaven. Just as servants are empowered for putting on obedience to your superiors in everything, and to work as unto the Lord, and not unto men. Attitude check. What drives you in the workplace? Serving the Lord and His will for you or serving yourself at the expense of another? Number three. You should have your list. Your homework, if you will. God's will for you is to be who you are already in Christ. Remembering your heavenly status, even as you exert yourselves in fulfilling your earthly role. As Christians, you're trusting in Christ alone for your salvation. And saved from all your sins, you know you're going to heaven. But you're to trust Him also, and Him alone to power your progress in this life, in your sanctification, in your obedience to His will that was given to you in His Word this morning. So as you leave here today, get to work on your list, whether it's one, two, or three things. And as you do so, look to Christ and His love for your motivation to keep working at it. Trust in Him that by the power of the Holy Spirit, He will enable you to do it more and more. And exert yourself. Press yourself in this direction, moment by moment, hour by hour, day by day, to be who you are, even at home, especially at home, to the glory of God. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we come before you in the wake of your word and we are clear that you have established things to be the way that things are intended to be. You've made it clear to us, Lord, that because of sin, that which we're born with and that which we practice, Lord, we resist your will. And in resisting your will, we resist one another. We thank you for the gift of family, the structures and the relationship that you've established for our good and as the furnace in which, Lord, you work in us trials and tribulations to teach us our dependence upon you in all things, even for these things, our relationships with one another. We ask that you would bless your people with the mindfulness of that which they want to hold on to that's contrary to your will. And by your grace, through faith, the willingness, Lord, to put that aside and to press on in that which you've called them to be and us to be as your people, servants of the Lord Christ, free now in him to fulfill our callings in our families and in our workplaces. Keep our eyes fixed upon Jesus as we press forward toward glory and make our way through this world. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.