Centered in Jesus, the All in All - Part 3
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Colossians 2:9-10 .
9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,
10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.
Who is this Jesus we are to be centered in and captivated by?
He is Emmanuel - God with us (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23). John 1:1, 14 speaks of this as well.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
There is no one greater or more worthy to captivate us with his grace - Jesus, the All in All.
May we be centered on and captivated by Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, reminding us of the hymn, “Holy, Holy, Holy”:
Holy, holy, holy! merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!
What does it mean to be filled in Jesus?
It means to be filled with the fullness of God through the presence of the Spirit in our inner being. This is what Paul prays for in Ephesians 3:14-21.
14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,
15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,
16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,
21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Who does the filling?
The Holy Spirit does the filling - the third person of the Trinity. He fills us completely so we are equipped to know and love the Trinity.
We are centered on and captivated by Jesus, for in him we have access to the fullness of God acting in our lives - past, present and future -equipping us to walk through life with God.
Who is this Jesus we are to be centered on and captivated by?
He is “the head of all rule and authority”. “Head” speaks of source and control. All rule and authority is in subjection to his authority. He is the Lord of lords and Kings of kings. “All” means all, so it includes spiritual and physical authorities. All are under his authority.
We are centered on and captivated by Jesus, for he has all authority and he is using that authority to conform us to his image (Romans 8:28-29).
Colossians 2:11-12 .
11 In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ,
12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.
What does circumcision have to do with being centered in and captivated by Jesus?
Genesis 17:11-12 sheds light on why Paul is using circumcision as an illustration of God’s work of rebirth in our lives.
11 You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.
12 He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring,
For the Jews, circumcision was sign of what?
It was a sign of the covenant between them and God. In Acts 15 we read about the debate about whether Gentile Christians needed to be circumcised to be in God’s family. The conclusion of that church meeting was that physical circumcision was unnecessary, since they are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus.
Moses, however, in Deuteronomy 10:11-16 will speak of a spiritual circumcision, for physical circumcision did nothing for the state of their souls. In Deuteronomy 30:6 Moses prophesies the promise of Yahweh circumcising the hearts of his people.
6 And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.
Paul is building off this promise of Christ bringing spiritual circumcision, and the stark imagery of physical circumcision.
That is why he said it is a “circumcision made without hands”. It is also why he said “putting off the body of flesh” - speaking of our fallen nature - by the circumcision of Christ. No one wants to carry around with them a foreskin; that is gross!
Christ has cut away our fallen nature. May we not pick it up again.
We are centered in and captivated by Jesus, for he has circumcised our hearts to love God so that we will live.
How has he done this?
Paul said in verse 12 that he has done this by joining us with Jesus’ death and resurrection through faith in the powerful working of God who raised Jesus from the dead.
This is an inward work of God which we express through the rite of baptism. One of baptism’s functions is be the outward sign of God’s inward work of the circumcision of the heart.
Colossians 2:13-14 .
13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,
14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
Paul continues his analogy of circumcision by reminding us that we were all uncircumcised and not part of the covenant of God.
But God, being great in mercy, has made us alive with Jesus - Amen!
He has forgiven all our trespasses - Hallelujah!
How did he do this?
He did it through taking our sin, our debt to the cross, and nailing it there as he was nailed.
Church, we are forever forgiven, forever loved.
Verse 14 reminds me of verse 3 of the hymn, “It Is Well With My Soul”.
My sin—oh, the bliss of this glorious thought—
My sin, not in part, but the whole,
Is nailed to His Cross, and I bear it no more;
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
Colossians 2:15 .
15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
Church, any hold, any claim on you has been broken. They have lost. Christ has triumphed over them through the cross and resurrection. We have victory being united with him.
We are centered in and captivated by Jesus, for in him we find forgiveness and victory in our lives.
Oh, victory in Jesus, my Savior forever
He sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood
He loved me 'ere I knew Him and all my love is due Him
He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood