Restoring God's design (Colossians 3:18–4:1)

In the previous lesson, we studied how we are called to put on our new nature. Called to have new priorities in our life, and that these should be reflected in our actions and attitudes. This time in Colossians 3 we will focus on restoring God’s design.

Let us remember that Paul writes to the Colossians, exhorting them not to be deceived by those who tell them that they have to comply with some rites or abstain from some particular things. He’s also reminding them of the great sacrifice that we have received in Christ and how in response to that sacrifice we die to our delights and live to do everything as for the Lord.

In chapter 3 verses from 18 to 25, we will see specific examples of how those of us who have risen with Christ should behave in the different areas and roles of our lives. Clothing ourselves with tender compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience (Colossians 3:12) will lead us to be able to fulfill these roles according to God’s design and doing everything for His Glory.

Before diving into the passage; I want to mention some details: Paul does not mention all the possible cases in human relationships, he mentions categories and in each of those categories there has certainly been, and we continue to see and experience, the abuse of authority.

However, being new creatures, we can no longer continue to live as the world does, governed by our delights. We have already died to them, we have risen to a new life, we have a new goal that is the restoration of God’s design.

Gloria Furman comments in the book Raised Together, “We cannot live against the future of our hope.” In our new life as resurrected in Christ, we must live as close as possible to God’s first design, and this is what Paul is referring to in this section.

We see a group of people and an exhortation to exercise their roles in ways that honor the Lord. We could go into more details of each of these roles, but we will only take a brief look at them.