A Shadow of Things to Come

Introduction/Recap

Last week we began looking at some of the false teachings that Paul had to head off at the church at Colossae. We looked mostly at Gnosticism, which taught that people needed “secret knowledge” in order to be saved. These false teachers twisted Scripture around to support their pagan views and denied the gospel. But the gospel is enough for us!

Today, we’re going to look at the other side of the false teaching that threatened the church at Colossae—legalism. Now, before we dive into this, let me ask you a question. Do you know why we worship on Sundays? Do we still observe the Sabbath? If not, what justification could you give to someone who says “you believe that the other nine commandments are binding, why don’t you observe the Sabbath?” If someone said to you, “You Christians say you believe the Bible, but you don’t obey all the commands in it! There are all kinds of commands in the Old Testament that you guys don’t follow!” How would you respond?

Well, fortunately, the Bible addresses these questions and we don’t have to wonder.

Now, throughout Christian denominations, there are lots of ways of answering these questions. In fact, you can almost entirely explain the divisions of denominations based upon how they interpret the Old Testament in light of the New Testament. I’m not going to go into all the various ways of interpreting it, we’re just going to look this morning at what I believe is the most biblical way of interpreting it, which is in line with how Baptists have historically interpreted the Scriptures.

Turn with me in your Bibles to...

Col 2:16–23 ESV

16 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. 18 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. 20 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— 21 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22 (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? 23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

Prayer for Illumination

Transition:

Our key verse this morning is Colossians 2:17 “17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.” (By the way, this would be an excellent memory verse!)

I. The Law foreshadowed the coming of the Messiah (vv. 16-17)

The Judaizers

There were some Jewish Christians who taught that Gentile (non-Jewish) believers needed to practice the Old Testament Law of Moses in order to be saved. This included a number of practices like male circumcision, abstinence from certain foods (Lev. 11), participation in yearly festivals (Lev. 23), special offerings each month (Num. 28), and Sabbath day observance (Ex. 20:8-11).

Circumcision

Paul refers to circumcision in Col. 2:11-13

Genesis 17:9–10 ESV

9 And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.

Food and drink (daily rituals)

Summarize passage

Leviticus 11:2–8 ESV

2 “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, These are the living things that you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth. 3 Whatever parts the hoof and is cloven-footed and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat. 4 Nevertheless, among those that chew the cud or part the hoof, you shall not eat these: The camel, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. 5 And the rock badger, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. 6 And the hare, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. 7 And the pig, because it parts the hoof and is cloven-footed but does not chew the cud, is unclean to you. 8 You shall not eat any of their flesh, and you shall not touch their carcasses; they are unclean to you.

Festivals (Lev. 23) (yearly rituals)

Passover (Feast of Unleavened Bread)

Feast of Firstfruits (Harvest)

Feast of Weeks

Feast of Trumpets

Day of Atonement

Feast of Booths

New Moon (monthly rituals)

Summarize passage

Numbers 28:11–15 ESV

11 “At the beginnings of your months, you shall offer a burnt offering to the Lord: two bulls from the herd, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without blemish; 12 also three tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with oil, for each bull, and two tenths of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with oil, for the one ram; 13 and a tenth of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering for every lamb; for a burnt offering with a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the Lord. 14 Their drink offerings shall be half a hin of wine for a bull, a third of a hin for a ram, and a quarter of a hin for a lamb. This is the burnt offering of each month throughout the months of the year. 15 Also one male goat for a sin offering to the Lord; it shall be offered besides the regular burnt offering and its drink offering.

Sabbaths (weekly ritual)

Summarize passage

Exodus 20:8–11 ESV

8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Purpose of Old Testament Laws (v. 17)

Foreshadowing: “an indication of something that will happen in the future, often used as a literary device to hint at or allude to future plot developments.” (Dictionary.com)

1. The Law showed us our need for a savior.

Hebrews 10:1–4 ESV

1 For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. 2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? 3 But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

Romans 5:20 ESV

20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,

Part of the reason for all these laws in the Old Testament was to demonstrate to us that mankind could never achieve the holiness and sinless perfection that would be required to justify ourselves before a holy, sinless God.

Forget about the big stuff like avoiding adultery and idolatry, we can’t even keep ourselves away from bacon! God tells Adam and Eve, “You’ve got this enormous, magnificent garden and you can eat anything you want except the fruit from this one tree.” And what is it that they want? They want THAT fruit. The forbidden fruit.

If I tell you that being a good Christian requires that, whatever you do, you DO NOT think about pink elephants—thinking about pink elephants is bad—what are you thinking about? PINK ELEPHANTS!

Our sinful, fallen nature is such that if you tell us something is forbidden, we just want it all the more.

And so God gave the law to show us simultaneously our depravity as well as his holiness.

When you read in Leviticus all the laws about clean and unclean foods it reminds us that we stand impure before a pure God.

When you read in Leviticus that the maimed and disabled are not allowed in the temple it reminds us that there is no deformity or disability in God; he is perfect.

When you read in Leviticus that a woman in her cycle was unclean it’s not that God sees women as lesser, it’s a reminder of the curse of the fall—that women would have pain in childbearing because of sin.

When you read in Leviticus that the seventh day was to be kept holy as a day of rest and refreshment in God it’s a reminder that we are utterly dependent upon him! We need sleep and rest because we are creatures, but he never does because he is the Creator. He instituted the Sabbath not out of his own need but to remind us of our need for him.

Transition: So then, shouldn’t we keep the Sabbath? Are we supposed to be following the Law? No, because the Law served another purpose—to point us to Christ.

2. The Law points to a day when it would be fulfilled in Christ.

This is where the foreshadowing comes in. Yes, the Law reminds us of our brokenness and dependence upon God. But, by giving us the Law, God also demonstrated his care and love for humanity. God could have left us without a way to know him or have a relationship with him. So, if 1) God cares for humanity, but 2) the Law was given to show us a need that we can’t possibly meet, what does that imply? That 3) God himself would one day meet our needs.

If the Law shows us that we’re sinners AND that God loves us, then it also points towards a Savior.

If the Law shows us that we’re unclean AND that God loves us, then it also points towards a day when we would be made clean.

If the Law tells us that animal sacrifices are never enough to cover our sin AND that God loves us, then it points to a day when a permanent sacrifice would be made for us.

If the Law shows us that we need rest AND that God loves us, then it points to a day when God would give us true, lasting rest.

The law shows us how dark our situation was so that when the Gospel comes we can appreciate the light.

Because it is fulfilled in Christ, the Old Covenant must be interpreted and applied through the lens of Christ.

Christ fulfilled the Law’s requirement for sacrifices.

Hebrews 10:5–18 ESV

5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; 6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. 7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’ ” 8 When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), 9 then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. 10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. 15 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, 16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,” 17 then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” 18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

Everything that had to do with the sacrificial system was done away with after Christ’s death and resurrection.

It’s no coincidence that in A.D. 70, the temple was destroyed, making animal sacrifices impossible! It’s never been rebuilt since!

And doesn’t need to be rebuilt, since the perfect sacrifice has been made once and for all! Those who are waiting for a rebuilt temple as a sign of the end-times have misunderstood the prophecies about the new temple. These prophecies are fulfilled in Christ and his Church.

There is no more need for a temple, for sacrifices, or for a holy place...

Christ fulfilled the Law’s requirements for sacrifices, for a temple, for the presence of God among his people.

This is literally the entire point of the book of Hebrews.

It’s no coincidence that churches like the Seventh Day Adventists miss the significance of the Sabbath and think they still have to follow it today, and they’re simultaneously convinced that the Temple will one day be rebuilt as a sign of the end times. They’ve completely missed the point.

Ok, so that explains why we don’t do animal sacrifices anymore. But what about the Sabbath?

Christ fulfilled the Law’s requirement for Sabbath.

The OT itself foretold of a day when God’s people would permanently enter into his rest, his Sabbath (in Ps. 95:7-11, quoted in Hebrews 3:7-14

Hebrews 3:7–14 ESV

7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness, 9 where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years. 10 Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways.’ 11 As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’ ” 12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.

Hebrews 4:1–3 ESV

1 Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. 2 For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. 3 For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest,’ ” although his works were finished from the foundation of the world.

When the Psalmist says “rest” in v. 11, is he talking about a literal Sabbath? No, clearly not!

We see that unbelief keeps us from experiencing God’s rest (Heb. 3:12) and that belief in Christ is the key to entering God’s rest (Heb. 4:3)

Hebrews 4:9–10 ESV

9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.

And here is the key. We enter into God’s Sabbath rest through faith in Christ. The full, true meaning of the Old Testament shadow of Sabbath is revealed in Christ: we can rest from our works and trust in his work.

For a New Testament believer, we observe the Sabbath by resting from our works and placing our faith in Christ’s work, not by keeping a particular day free from physical labor or by following a bunch of Sabbath rules. Those were only the shadow of the true, spiritual reality found in Christ, which is this: You don’t have to be good enough. Christ has made you holy because of what he did on the cross. And that gives true rest.

When we read the Old Testament, we need to remember that we are reading someone else’s mail. The Old Testament goes by another name, the “Old Covenant.” It was a covenant, a contract, between God and his people Israel. As such, we are not its primary audience. It still has a message for us today, but we have to interpret it through the lens of Christ’s accomplished work on the cross.

Did you ever have one of those “red reveal” pictures as a kid that looked like just a mess of red lines? But then, when you put on those red plastic glasses, you could see the hidden blue picture in it? That’s what the Old Testament is for a Christian. There’s a message in there for us, and it all points to Christ, and the only way you can understand the message and apply it to your life is to read it through the lens of Christ.

II. Legalism cannot save (vv. 18-23)

Legalism and Mysticism are powerless against sin.

Legalism: Valuing precise ritual obedience to the Law more than the intention of the Law or the people to whom it was given.

Pharisees were the perfect example of this. The Pharisees realized that Israel had fallen under judgement for forsaking God’s Law in the Old Testament. They realized that the tendency of mankind is to push the boundaries. So, they decided to erect more boundaries. The Law, for example, forbids working on the Sabbath, but it doesn’t give much detail. So, the Pharisees asked, “What constitutes work?” and attempted to make laws to cover every conceivable scenario.

The rabbis therefore specify and discuss thirty-nine forbidden activities (m. Šabb. 7:2). While knot-tying is unlawful, certain knots, like those which can be untied with one hand, are allowed. A bucket may be tied over a well on the Sabbath, but only with a belt, not with a rope (m. Šabb. 15:1–2)!

Mark L. Strauss, Four Portraits, One Jesus: A Survey of Jesus and the Gospels (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2007), 133.

They wanted to build a fence around the Law. If you followed their laws, they reasoned, you’d never be in danger of breaking God’s Law.

The problem is, as we multiply laws and focus on the minutia and following the rules, we loose sight of and even contradict the original intent of the Law. The law of the Sabbath, for example, was designed by God for the good of mankind, to provide rest and a time for spiritual and physical renewal. But the Pharisees, with all their extra laws and regulations, made it a burden. And, their obsession with following the rules was greater than their love for people, to the point that they were enraged at Jesus for healing on the Sabbath because he had done what they considered to be “work.”

Mysticism: Belief that relationship with God is evidenced by supernatural spiritual encounters and obtained by meditation or severe self-denial.

We see this today in people who “go on in detail about visions” and always seem to have a special “word from the Lord.” Some take it so far as to actually base their religion not upon God’s Word but upon these mystical experiences and visions (i.e., Mormons)

These have “an appearance of wisdom”

But, as we have already seen, the purpose of the Law is to reveal our inability to keep it. So, attempting to justify yourself or obtain sanctification through obedience to the Law is futile.

It seems logical that asceticism, self-denial, and extreme adherence to the rules would be rewarded. But...

The source of these false teachings is demonic. (v. 20)

We see here again the stoichea, ‘elemental spirits’ that we saw in Colossians 2:8 “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.”

This word refers to pagan, demonic spirits

What is the link between legalism and demons? (Read Jesus’ words to the Pharisees!) If Satan can get us to trust in ourselves or our own spirituality, he can instill a self-righteousness in us that cannot save. It is a denial of the gospel.

Romans 3:20 ESV

20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Galatians 2:16 ESV

16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

Only Christ can save.

If you’re struggling with addiction, the solution is not more rules and fences. Yes, you may need to put up some fences, but that won’t fix the problem. What you need is a fresh vision of the Gospel.

If you’re an alcoholic, or a porn-addict, or struggling with substance abuse, you might be tempted to tell yourself “Don’t handle, don’t taste, don’t touch.” But that won’t help in the long run.

If you’re finding yourself crushed under a load of “do’s” and “do-not’s,” remember that this is not what Christ came for.

Christ did not come to burden you with a list of do’s and don’ts. He came to free you from that. You need to experience the forgiveness of a savior who loves you and gave himself up for you. You need to be filled with the Holy Spirit who indwells every believer and empowers them to stand up against temptations. You need to enter into God’s Sabbath rest.