Colossians 2:1-15
Notes
Transcript
Alive in Christ...
Alive in Christ...
Good morning my friends, i hope you are doing well this morning!
We’ve had a great week, Upward basketball has been exciting and special, what a joy to seethe kids play, to see the coaches but more than all that for me, is to watch how God raises up people to help.
Nathan and Morgan have been incredible leaders in making sure the program continued. So many people I could thank, Debbie, Jeff, Gary, Emily and many, many more who made sure each week went off without a hitch.
Our church is so blessed my friends to be able to do this important ministry, I say thank you to everyone who helped!
We have three focuses through out the rest of this year now. The youth sports camp, VBS and the Sunday school relaunch. I put them in that order since that is how they will take place as the year goes on.
I would ask ask you to join me and our deacons as we pray for each for these important events in our church.
Today we come back to the book of Colossians, and with it we open chapter 2.
Here opening this chapter, we find Paul encouraging those believers as they live in relationship to Christ Jesus.
So this morning, lets begin today with this thought...
1. Paul encourages those believers that - All Truth is in Christ...
The church at Colossae is doing well, they were a growing church, but we know that when things are good, the devil would oppose them, and opposition to the early church always came through those promoting, teaching false truths.
Paul wanted to come to them, he longed to see them. But He was prohibited being in prison, so until he could go personally, he could teach them through letters.
Lets look at the first 5 verses Col 2:1-5
1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. 5 For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.
There are several important thoughts for us to consider here, so lets look at them…
A. First, Paul struggled because he wanted to see the brothers and sisters in Colossae. Paul wanted to visit with them, fellowship and work among them. He wasn’t being selfish or anything of the sort.
He was excited for them, they were strong and growing, but remember His office. He is the apostle whom God brought to this area. And by this time, some apostles have already been put to death for their faith. Paul had a responsibility to serve and care for them.
B. Also, Paul wanted to wanted to encourage those at Colossae. He knew he could best do this face to face.
Look at what he says in verse 2 “. ..that their hearts might be encouraged, being knit together in love....”
In their face to face meting, a stronger bond could be forged, but the truth here is that they are continually instructed on the proper way to live, and act not only in relations to Jesus but also toward each other.
The idea of being “knit together” is to combined or united in love. All believers must be united in the work and cause for Christ, this is the way the church glorifies the Lord.
These believers were to be knit, woven together in love. Not man’s love but that agape love, God’s love provides the basis for unity and it is Jesus and its his life giving love through His cross.
But being together is also important for another reason. The church would need to be united or knit together if they would stand in difficult times.
Remember there are many in the church who are teaching only some had access to the mystery of Christ’s teaching.
These Gnostics were teaching there was a secret knowledge you had to know in order to see or know Jesus, in order to be saved and included in the kingdom of God.
But it is false...
When you start diving into the idea of secrets, special truths, it gets peoples attention, and for some reason many thought, ohhhh, that seems right… and suddenly they are caught in the net of lies from these groups.
But there is nothing more false in all the world. The truth of God has been placed out in the open for all to see in Christ. Lets go back again to the text, verses 2-3 Col 2:2-3
2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Paul tells them plainly the mystery is Christ. All real wisdom, knowledge and truth is not found in some secret place, for a select few.
No, Christ is the perfect storehouse of real knowledge, and all the fullness, all the joy, all the hope, all the grace all the love of the Father is seen uniquely in the Son, Jesus.
If you want to know all that God is, you can only do so through the Son. And to know the Father, you will know the Son..
Christ is the key to all that the Father has…
Paul makes sure these believers know this so that no one is caught off guard. Look again at verses 4-5… Col 2:4-5
4 I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. 5 For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.
So what is Paul saying here...
C. Paul wanted no one to be led astray… There is an important word here. Paul says “...I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments...”
Delude is the important word here… it means to “cleverly deceive., or enticing words ” It is scheming, wickedness that was meant to disguise these lies as the truth to led people in the wrong direction.
What they said sounded good, even reasonable but their teaching was not of God nor His word.
Paul wanted to make sure these believers knew there was one truth and noting else.
It is like the word of God.. it is the singular truth of God, no additions or subtractions.
We read this, preach this and study this - so that we know all that the God the Father as given us. To add something to this, well it is wrong.
All truth is in this word, the Word is God and God is the word. John 1:1
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Paul wanted them to know that in Christ they would have everything they needed.
Still today their are groups that are teaching families to focus on meditation (not prayer), focus on defining your own truth, focusing on what you think about God instead of what the Word of God tells us about the Father..
There is one truth, we need to learn it, pray it, memorize it and it will guide us correctly. It will tell us about the Son and what the Son came to do and reveal.
Now this brings me to a second thought..
2. Paul encourages People to Walk in the Truth....
This is important, if you define your life by the truth of the Word of God, you are enabled to walk well in this world. Namely you will know who the Son is and will walk and live according to His ways.
Lets look at our text this morning.. verses 6-7 Col 2:6-7
6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
So there is that important word, “Therefore” Because of the correct truth you have received, because you have received Christ, we compel you, urge you to walk in Christ..
What does this mean, let’s dive deep....
Understand Paul is talking about like the old saying, “This is where the rubber hits the road so to speak.
Listen to this thought....
Their life in Christ was the model for their present lives… One of the key words here is the simple word “AS”… now I know what you are thinking..really? How??? It draws the relationship between receiving Christ and continuing in Him.
Your life in Christ is your guide for the rest of your life. You have received Christ as Lord. The Lordship of His office changes us… for one, consider your salvation.
You were lost, but now found. You were dead in your trespasses and sins, and when you called upon the name of the Lord in repentance, He saved you. Your sins were forgiven and you were changed, you were given a new life.
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
With this new life we are called to walk in a manner worthy of this new life. Just as Jesus walked we are also called to walk the same way.
we are called to love like Jesus, talk like Jesus, Show compassion and Mercy like Jesus and so on..
We have a new life in Him so we are to imitate HIm with this life.
But Paul carries on the thought in verse 7… look back to that verse Col 2:7
7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
What does this mean?
There are two pictures being made here. One is from agriculture. Paul calls for us to be “rooted.” We are to plant our selves, allowing our roots to grow down deeply in Christ.
The word rooted means to be established.. having a solid anchor. But it is not in this world, its not in man or a religion.. it is in Jesus. We are to hold fast to Him who is the author and redeemer of our faith.
The second word, Built up is a construction term, it means to establish a firm foundation so that your structure will stand, have a solid support as it is built and used for living.
Bringing these terms together we are reminded that we have a firm basis for its faith and had built well upon it.
So Paul calls for the church, for believers to be rooted, built up and now established or strengthened in the faith.
And look at what he says.. Just as you were taught.
Paul and the other Apostles taught the truth of God’s word concerning Jesus and all that God has done through His death, burial and resurrection.
The OT pointed and prepared the way for the Messiah and now He has come… They were to abide in Him, in doing that they would bear good fruits in accordance with their life in Christ.
They were to continue in that...
And lastly He says “...abounding in thanksgiving...” at the end verse 7.
Thanksgiving is the visible representation of a lie that is in Christ. Faith reveals the attitude of gratitude we should have… We have been saved, forgiven and now we are thankful for all that we have received in Christ.
This is best seen in new believers, Their lives have been changed, it is fresh on their heart and they are overwhelmed by faith, by the presence of Christ in their life…so thankful they would charge hell with a squirt gun..
What about us older Christians?… Is the sacrifice of His life to ensure that we have life still fresh on our minds and thus impacts the way we live.. or have we lost sight of it..
It is easy to lose sight of our life in Him and easy to be led astray if we are not careful.. the solution is that we must examine our hearts carefully each day and make sure we are living in way that strengthen our faith, abiding in Him and Him in us
We must strive like never before to live holy, to walk humble and serve the Lord were he leads us for his glory and the blessings of His church.
Now this brings us to our last thought..
3. Paul Encouraged the Church to Avoid Being Robbed...
The final call here for today is the call to avoid being robbed?
In today's society, there is a constant worry of being careful to ensure we are not hijacked electronically, that our financial information, and other personal information isn’t manipulated in a way that harms us.
But do we worry about our spiritual life as well.. Here in verse 8, Paul gives another exhortation for living..
Look at verse 8 Col 2:8
8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.
Paul saw the influx of improper teaching and heresy as a planned organized attack against Christianity.
This false teaching was able to ensnare people, trap them and carry them away, and this wasn’t the teaching of one person, this was an attack of by those who served darkness, it is spiritual warfare, and they wanted to disrupt and stop the church.
So Paul issues a strong statement here, See to it, make sure friends, guard your heart and mind. so that you are not carried away.
Paul says make sure no one takes you captive… The devil seeks to take away your freedom, take away your faith and leave you empty and dead, unable to serve and unable to live by faith..
And look at the means.. mentions a few distinct ways darkness fights against the church.
A. Paul says first by Philosophy and Empty deceit… What does this mean…it was that which had no meaning, it was devoid of the truth, it had no substance to it. It was spiritually useless.
B. Paul says it was according to human tradition… Human tradition has nothing to do with Spiritual teaching. Listen, there is nothing wrong with tradition, but when it takes the place of true worship, it has taken the place of God and that is wrong.
Listen Paul was steeped in moral and ethical traditions and some of those were not bad, But when they construe or misleads the word of God then an error occurs and we are wrong. If it does not produce Christlikeness, then there is an error in this teaching
C. Paul also condemns this because it according to the elemental spirits of this world.
This teaching was not the work of the Holy Spirit but over the pagan spirits and darkness of this world. These spirits were able to exhibit their influence over the world and its activities.
These elemental spirits are the demons that seek to rule over and control life and pull it away from God.
These spirits tell people all the time they can control their life and destiny… One such way we hear people talking about manifesting things in their life. People are relaying on the universe to bring about an outcome to their life.
The Bible does not all for us to manifest but to pray and call upon the sovereign God to work and help our lives according to his will and purpose for our life.
Which would we rather be in control of our lives, Us or God.
Well I can tell you I make a mess of my life, But he brings order, peace and help.
D. Finally, none of these are the ways of Christ… The last thing Paul says here is this “…not according to Christ..”
True life, true wisdom, true help and hope is found in Christ and nothing else, so such way do we want to live...
According to the ways of this world, the place you were before coming to Christ.
Or would you rather live in a way that follows the ways of God and thus glorifies His name..
There is life in Christ..and nothing else...
Life here and life in the here after....
My friends, everything we need, all teaching and instruction is found in Christ Jesus. We are commanded to walk in Him and carefully consider any teaching that comes our way so that we are not robbed and led astray.
Invitation
This morning,,, I would ask you to evaluate your walk, your life with the Lord, if there is something that is not right, ask him for forgiveness and ask the Lord to help you regain what was lost.
This morning if you are here and your are struggling, maybe in your faith, your walk or even what you beleive, come this morning and let me pray for you..
Maybe you have another need, come this morning
And most certainly, if you are here today and you know you have never asked Jesus to save you, to forgive your sins, would you like to do that today… come and find peace, hope and forgivness my friends.
Lets pray