Marriage God's Way

Marriage God’s Way

Colossians 3:18-3:25

Good morning everyone, glad that you have joined us both in service today and online.

Last week we finished up the series life choices.

Most important life choice… our relationship with Jesus Christ.

Then People and the many complicated dynamics of relationships.

Doing service once we are believers.

We were in Colossians 3 where Apostle Paul talks about having a heavenly mindset as we do service for the lord. We are again going to look at Colossians 3 but this morning going to look at what Paul called household codes.

Service for the Lord that begins at home and the responsibility we each have to have a family dynamic that lines up with God’s word.

I want to say that there are buzz words that the church family uses and society is trying to get out of their vocabulary.

Buzz words defined is an informal word that means -words that are fashionable and acceptable for a season of time.

Prayer-

Colossians 3:18-3:25 read from the bible

Wives “submit” to your husbands -

Husbands “love your wives” and don’t be harsh

Children “obey” your parents in some things? No IN EVERYTHING!

Slaves, “obey” your earthly masters- Can’t tell you how wrong that statement is in today’s society.

Buzz words- submit, submission, obey…words today that are disappearing from our vocabulary and certainly taken out of marriage services. Very few like the word submit in their ceremonies.

Paul is working out in the church the practical working of Christianity and the sanctity of marriage and family in relationships that make up our lives.

He was changing the way culture looks at Godly relationships and today many people are also changing culture but it is not for the good.

Paul tried to straighten out the bad behavior of his day and make it better.

Culture today is so full of personal rights that nobody in society feels like they have any moral obligation to God’s word or to any person that they are in a relationship with.

The Christian ethic is mutual obligation/explained

Husbands have as great an obligation as wives.

Parents have as binding a duty as children

Masters (employers) as much as the slaves (employees)

This was a new idea to his culture- under Jewish law, a woman was a thing, she was a possession of her husband, just as much as his house or his flock or his material goods.

She had no legal rights whatsoever!

A man could divorce his wife for any reason- burnt toast if he wanted.

About the only way a wife could leave her husband is if he got leprosy, gave up his beliefs as a Jew, or sexually attacked a virgin.(caught red handed and someone turned him in)

A woman could not go out on the street by herself except to get water in the morning. She could not go shopping.

A man on the other hand could do whatever he wanted and the woman had no say.

All the privileges belonged to the husband and all the duties to the wife.

Same for the children- They were very much under the domination of the parents. There was a law Roman Patria potestas) (The law of Father’s power)

He could do whatever he liked to his children-

He could sell them into slavery

He could Force them to work on the farm

He had the right to condemn his child to death and actually kill them himself.

All the privileges to the parents and the duties to the children.

In the case of slaves they owned

The slaves were things owned by the owners

No good working conditions

When they were too old to work they could be thrown out to die.

They were not allowed to marry. If they cohabited with each other and a child was born, that child belonged to the slave owner.

All the privileges belonged to the slave owner and the duties to the slaves.

The Christian ethic - the duties rest with individuals. All have rights and privileges.

Here is where the extreme struggle with some lay in danger.

The men who think that women should do as they are told.

All women not just your wife are second class citizens and all men have authority over them.

Here comes Paul and takes Christian ethics to a new level that was not well received-

He says it is based upon a personal relationship and that all relationships are in the Lord.

The whole Christian life is lived in Christ.

Jesus Christ is an ever present part of a believer’s life.

Parent-child relationship- that as the Heavenly Father treats us, we are to treat our children.

That Jesus, our master loves us that we are to love those that God has entrusted to us.

Now as we get the background and we get what Paul is trying to culturally change, let’s go back to Colossians 3:18-19