Christ, Our All in All
Notes
Transcript
Colossians 2:8-15
Colossians 2:8-15
Intro/Context:
Last week we discussed the transition of Paul’s heart out-pouring to his theological equipping of the believers at Colossae. We saw Paul make the 3 points before the theological training that the Colossians should
1. Continue in Christ-who is our creator, savior, and sustainer
2. Continue in Faith-that is trusting in the Lord as creator, savior, and sustainer
3. Continue in Thanks-as thanks is a key fruit for those who have been saved by the blood of Jesus.
and we too should heed that encouragement. As we will see today, Christ is the basis for our theological equipping to handle the false teachings of the world.
I want to take us back to the first night at the beach trip when we were first discussing the reason for Paul writing this letter and I gave three issues that Paul is directly addressing.
Be vigilant against false teaching.
Treasure Christ above all.
Reject additions to the Gospel.
We see these first two come to life here in v. 8-15.
Paul on multiple occasions mentions to guard your mind against false teachings (v. 4 and v. 8). Then we see illustrated out in v. 9-15 that we should treasure Christ. Christ is all that we need to be fulfilled in this world and when we understand that truly, we will treasure him appropriately.
The sum of all these is maturity. As we grow in understanding in our theology, in our love for Christ, we mature as Christians and that is Paul’s ultimate goal in writing this letter.
Read Colossians 2:8-15
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. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. 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, 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. 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, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
As we dig into the beginning this theological teaching from Paul we’ll notice 3 things that Paul really wants to communicate in these 8 verses:
Christ is the foundation of our wisdom and knowledge.
v. 8 - “see to it” can also be translated as “be careful” this is a word of caution to the Colossians. It implies a sense of preparedness to respond appropriately.
Prepared Mentally (takes you captive) because the “elemental spirits of the world” want to deceive you (empty deceit = foolishness) and wise sounding words (philosophies and human traditions).
Paul uses the same word “captive” in 2 Cor. 10:5
We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,
We also see this idea of preparedness and battle-readiness in Ephesians 6:12
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
Part of growing and maturing in Christ is understanding that we have to (and should desire to) be active in training our mind to resist sin (James 4:7) , to resist the things of the world (Romans 12:2), to learn correct theology, to not just listen to what we want to listen to (2 Timothy 4:3-4).
If all we ever want to hear from our teaching is feel good men-centered garbage then we will never mature as believers. The reality of each of our lives is that it is not about us. It was never about us. It is all about Christ and glorifying Him.
That should not be depressing! That should be an awesome realization because when we look at some of these other bad and in some cases heretical theologies it places us, man, at the center of it and when we place ourselves at the center of our theological beliefs, we will always be left unsatisfied and wanting more.
Man-Centered Gospel - reduces the gospel down to helpful, feel-good messages focused on making people feel better about themselves rather than teaching about the true sovereignty of God and how to worship and glorify the Lord.
It fails to make men God-centred in their thoughts and God-fearing in their hearts because this is not primarily what it is trying to do. One way of stating the difference between it and the old gospel is to say that it is too exclusively concerned to be ‘helpful’ to man—to bring peace, comfort, happiness, satisfaction—and too little concerned to glorify God.
J. I. Packer
Prosperity Gospel - If I give and serve and do these XYZ things, God will bless me with money and happiness.
Christian Nationalism/Anti-Nationalism - The President of the Country is our savior or the anti-christ.
New Age Christianity - Combines witchcraft practices (astrology, spells, crystals, etc) with Christianity..offers multiple paths to God…”find your truth”
The ultimate thing we have to be concerned with is does whatever I am believing, learning, and living line up with Christ?
Since we know that Jesus is the Word of God we know we can answer this question by understanding better the Bible. All of it, the parts that are hard mentally and emotionally to read and the parts that are encouraging and uplifting to read.
Paul gives us the ultimate theological filter at the end of v. 8 with that phrase “according to Christ.” He is our foundation for Spiritual wisdom and knowledge.
Christ is God as we have discussed many times while studying Colossians. v. 9 is a direct reflection of 1:15-20. But Paul adds something here is v. 10 we have been filled with him and have the same authority over our mind and emotion and actions as Christ does as the “head of all rule and authority”.
The ESV Study Bible says that v. 9 and 10 is the main theme of Colossians: “The divine ‘fullness’ is in Christ, and believers are ‘filled in him.’ Hence they have everything they need in Christ.”
So again I reiterate, the ultimate thing we have to be concerned with is does whatever I am believing, learning, and living line up with Christ? Since he is all that I need.
Christ is the foundation of our new life.
If you have an inquisitive mind, you may be asking yourself, “why are we so easily captivated by foolish theology?” and/or “How do I have this ‘authority’ that Christ has?”
I don’t mean this to be an insult to anyone specific because I am looping myself in this too…but people are not smart. We are dumb. Our minds are easily captured by the newest and coolest thing that plays on our emotions. Because of that pesky sin that worked its way into our being through Adam, we are separated from God and given this “note of indebtedness” (this is the literal Roman image that Paul uses with that terminology). That separation creates a God-sized void that we are always trying to fill and then the world, Satan, and his demons tell us that our sin defines us and that’s all God will ever see and we are trapped under this weight of guilt and shame.
Paul, anticipating these questions, gives us a foundation for answering those two questions. the first answer is answered with v. 11-14 and showing how God has filled the void in our lives.
Sin created a debt that needed to be paid..a debt that we can not pay. This separates us from God.
v. 11 put off the body of flesh - I believe what Paul is illustrating here is that Christ actually comes in and reshapes our desires from a desire to sin (dead in trespasses) to a desire to live holy and righteous (alive in Christ).
v. 13 dead in your trespasses and uncircumcision of your flesh - desiring sin..apart from Christ, that is who we are.
v. 14 record of debt that stood against us
God pays that debt for us through Christ
v. 11 by the circumcision of Christ - Christ removes the desire for sin and replaces it with a desire for holiness and righteousness.
v. 12 buried in baptism…and raised in with him through faith…by the working of God.
v. 13 God made alive together in Christ
v. 14 …all of it.
All through 11-14 we see Paul point to Christ as the ultimate reconciliator and the foundation for a new life. The work of Christ didn’t just save us from the penalty of sin that is death, it gave us a new life to seek out how to glorify and honor Christ.
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 should treasure Christ, living in unshakable joy and know that we have opportunity and ability to invest in a relationship with God through Christ.
Christ is the foundation of our victory.
Paul answers the second question of authority with v. 15.
The main weapon that the enemy, Satan and his minions, have against man is the sting of spiritual death. Apart from Christ that is our reality. But when Christ saved us from that sting of death, Satan lost all of his power over us.
Disarm is the same Greek word as “put off” in v. 11 and the “rulers and authorities” are again referencing the spiritual demonic powers that wage war against us.
The cross provides the perfect sacrifice needed to redeem God’s people, and the resurrection provides the defeat of death that we needed to stand with Christ in victory.
God put their enemies to open shame…they cannot hide their defeat because the cross and resurrection is that monumental.
The cross publicly reveals the failure of the demonic powers to thwart God’s plan of salvation through Christ (see 1 Cor. 2:6–8). 11 Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2297.
They have no hold over the Christian because when Christ rose from the dead, he defeated the sting of death:
“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Satan and his demons know they are defeated in eternity but they are going to do everything in their power to steal, kill, and destroy. So we have to be on guard not to let him distract us from Christ.
Conclusion:
In Colossians 3:1 Paul says essentially, if you are now alive in Christ, why are you still living like a dead man? The essence of maturity in Christ is that we begin to look more and more like him. That is why Paul in his letters says, “Imitate me as I imitate Christ.” What we have studied in this message is a step toward maturity should you apply it to your life. After I pray, you are going to break into your groups and discuss how you can apply these points.
