But the bible doesnt say we have to do that. part4

Even though my illustrations from the Sunday before brought all the art critics out. I have already warned, If you come to visit Legacy and plan to share, bring a thick hide, and let me add, bring your own dry erase marker, or the Dry Marker Pharisee’s will give you grief …”If this man was really from God, he would put the lid back on the marker.” Then there’s always Marc …”I don’t even think he’s saved”….

Still slow roasting ” but the bible doesn’t say we have to do that”

So last week the word was preeminence as in “prote yoo o” (that’s how you say it, not how you spell it) from the greek,4409, to be first (in rank or influence) You know that you have thought a lot about something when you dream about it. I dreamt about this Saturday night and Sunday night, actually woke up Sat because of a noise and after Beth( my lovely helpmeet) said “what is that?” and the first thing I thought of was how do I give God preeminence over this? I was excited and thankful. Now this week I don’t feel competent to open a bag of potato chips. We wrestle not with flesh and blood…

Prote-yoo-o to be first( in rank or influence) How about the first influence in a situation? or basic starting point? First in rank? What has preeminence in what we do, or are doing? What or Who should have that place of preeminence in our thinking, and descision making processes?

On the marker board Sunday I drew a slope and a car being pulled by gravity downhill. Point being you don’t even have to really DRIVE the car or give it gas because gravity will just pull it along.

Now the gravity was for the culture , society, what everyone around us is doing, ( maybe even what other Christians around us are doing) mans traditions. The bible puts it like this…

And you he made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins in which you once walked according to the course of this world according to the prince of the power of the air the spirit …eph2:1,2 And, you were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver and Gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers1pet1:18 you just kind of get pulled along.

But we are commanded to be part of a new creation, we should… be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding: that you may walk worthy of the Lord fully pleasing him, and then you will be ,fruitful in every good work col1:9,10

…Filled with the knowledge of his will… over what kinds of things? Spiritual stuff? We are told what kinds of things in verse 16 …all things that were created that are in heaven and that are on earth… now God knowing that we are a bunch of scribes and lawyers and are always gonna be probing, looking for neutral areas, and wondering “ if this is binding on us”, so He eliminates any loopholes next … visable and invisible, whether dominions or principalities or powers ( all forms of govt) All things were created through him and for Him…
And in verse 18 that in all things he may have Preeminence. Prote- yoo- o to be first (in rank or influence)

Now we cannot take pride in this. It is only by his grace that because we are trying to give God preeminence, that we have turned the car around and are starting to drive against the grain, we have purpose, we can be deliberate. We need to carefully, graciously ask our critics to show from the word how God is made Preeminent in what they are doing.

Or else it is just.. according to the course of this world… conduct received by tradition from your fathers ?

This word preeminence is only used once in the New Testament. As I thought over this I started to wonder why God didnt stress it more in the NT? Seem’s important God. You should’ve stressed this more. Then it hit me, ( I am so Sloooow) and I looked back in the concordance at the word Lord. About 800 times in the NT alone. 2962 supremacy: supreme in authority,ie controller. Ouch . Nothing like Gods authority,supremacy and preeminence being hidden right out in the open. What happened to the word Lord. When did it shrink? In the wash? We cannot blame the pagans for this happening.

So if we start with the presupposition that he really is Lord, we then look to glorify him by bringing every area of life into his dominion, into subservience to his ways … be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding: that you may walk worthy of the Lord fully pleasing him, this is the opposite side of the coin that says “is this binding on us” and “the bible doesn’t say we have to do that”. If we are to be fully pleasing him it will only come about with a spirit that is convinced, that there is always a way to submit to him. That he really is Lord.