Messages with tag - Authority

Where do you find a definition of love from which to set standards, expectations and goals? Does scripture clearly define love? Attributes of love are introduced throughout scripture in concepts including submission, authority, grace, mercy, faithfulness, forgiveness and a multitude of others. Love is ultimately exemplified at the cross. While emotion and affection can be a part of love, they are more the result than the motivator. God sets the standard for love, so to understand love we must know God. For a believer, love for one another is a reflection of God’s love for us which is based on His integrity and righteousness. The Holy Spirit is our only means of approaching the love God wants His body to exhibit toward one another and to perpetuate the stability of His divine institutions.

Note that the class series (Romans) on the video is incorrect.

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.

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.

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?”

Living the Christian life is based on our position in Christ. Distractions from this truth abound, but it is only being in Christ that offers the daily life impact resulting in God’s promised riches in Christ. We may admit that Christ is the answer to our final destiny, but everyday problems are sometimes given over to man’s solutions. The problems in Colossi are no different than what we encounter today. Man’s solution begins with autonomy from God, which is the foundation for the downward spiral into a maze of humanistic answers that position man farther and farther from the truth. All of life’s problems can be traced back to sin. Christ solved the sin problem and “in Him” we are given all we need for solutions in life through application of His Word. What remains is for us is to engage our volition to learn and apply these solutions against a tide of cultural and political trends that run counter to God’s Truth. Pastor Dean explains in depth what it means to be “in Christ.”