Colossians 2:11-15

Introduction

Good morning, Mercy Hill, my name is Patrick if I haven’t met you yet. If you’re new, we are grateful that you are here. If you have your Bible, we are going to be in Colossians 2:11-15.

Information is powerful. Information truly changes everything. Without the proper information, you could find yourself in a strange predicament. There are literally entire wars that are waged to gain, to preserve, or to disrupt information.

For instance, the race to gain the power of nuclear weaponry was essentially an information war. In battle, there are attempts to disrupt or stop the flow of information and ability to communicate. Why? Because information is truly powerful. It can give you the edge, and without information or without the correct information, our ability to decide, to act, or to respond, is extremely limited.

Continuing our study of Colossians, I believe that Paul was trying to warn the church in Colossae of exactly this kind of warfare. Honestly, it’s a very similar kind of attack that we see in our world today. With fake news articles being a regular occurrence and social media being a platform that allows so many things to be misrepresented and disseminated at such a rapid rate, it can be difficult to know what is true.

In our passage today, I believe that we will see some things that Paul wanted to solidify in the Colossian church, that if we will truly understand and believe about Jesus, and our salvation, will help us to not be deceived and to stand firm in our faith in a world filled with misinformation, fake news, and outright attempts to deceive us from the enemy.

First before we read, I want to thank Pastor Brandon for allowing me to preach this morning and particularly I want to thank him for assigning me a passage of scripture that says the words circumcision or circumcised 4 times in 6 verses. I greatly appreciate it.

Colossians 2:8-15 – we’re going to start in v. 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. 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. 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. 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. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

- Context –

Pastor Mike shared last week that the church in Colossae was battling distractions, false teachings, and attempts to deceive them from what the truth is.

In Colossians 2:9-10, Paul shares that Jesus has the ultimate authority over all things and that we, as believers, are united with Christ and that he dwells within us, giving us access to that authority.

There are many parallels to this passage, one passage that sounds very similar is the great commission.

Matthew 28:18-20,

“18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

So, as a believer, the power and authority of Jesus that would turn the world upside down through the spread of the gospel, dwells within us and we are promised that his presence will never leave us, to the end of the age.

When you trust in the finished work of Jesus on the cross of Jesus, it literally changes everything. The power of God, through Christ Jesus, dwells within you, and empowers you for His mission.

The theological word for this is justification, I had a pastor growing up who explained it like this… When we are justified, it’s like God viewing me, just as if I’d never sinned. You are made right before a holy and righteous God. You are viewed through the lens of the sinless savior who died on your behalf.

Ultimately, this is our hope, it is only Jesus. We have nothing else to claim. This is what Paul wanted to remind the Colossians and I believe that this is the message that all believers need to know.

He is our hope for yesterday, today, and forever… our past, present, and future hope.

Today, I want to show you from this passage in Colossians the hope that we have in Jesus, past, present and future.

- Past -

Look with me v. 10-11.

10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. 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,

Paul is writing to a mixed audience. Some are Jews, some are gentiles, but they are ultimately believers… The problem is that a false teaching was beginning to infiltrate the church. The teaching was essentially that salvation required also the practice of following Jewish customs and laws. So, it was essentially the fallacy that Jesus wasn’t enough, it needed to be Jesus plus circumcision, or Jesus plus following the law… Paul wanted to make perfectly clear, our faith is founded solely on Jesus. Just as Pastor Mike reminded us last week, Jesus + anything = nothing.

Circumcision was essentially a practice of tradition for Jews to show that they belonged to God, but in this practice a piece of flesh is sacrificed, to show their faith in God. However, the way that Paul describes circumcision here, is something else entirely. It is an act of identification with Christ that goes much deeper than a simple piece of flesh, but to the whole body, to death.

Kent Hughes explained it like this,

“Normally, circumcision does not refer to death, but rather to the common rite of circumcising males on the eighth day by cutting away a small portion of flesh. But here it provides a gruesome metaphor for the Crucifixion. His circumcision on the Cross involved not the stripping away of a small piece of flesh, but the violent removal of his entire body in death[1]”

When we believe, we are united with Christ and able to be seen as righteous before a Holy God. But how does that happen? Well, we identify with him in and through his death, burial, and in his resurrection as Paul goes on to mention in v. 12.

You see, when you believe in Jesus, you are in some way being given credit for Christ’s righteousness through his perfect life, but also for the payment that was required through his death, burial and resurrection, so in that way you are claiming his life, his death, and his resurrection as your own. This is what gives us a righteous standing before God. It is only Jesus that gives us hope, because of what He has done.

Story –

I was saved at an early age. Thankfully, I was raised by two Christian parents, I had a loving Christian Grandmother who shared the gospel with me often from a young age, and I came to faith and was baptized at 7 years old.

When we were young, my dad worked most weekends delivering bread all over the state of Georgia, so my mom, doing the best she could with 4 boys, had us in church every Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night. If the doors were open, we were in church.

I went to Children’s church, RA’s, Sunday school, youth group, and every church function that we could attend. I went to youth camps, and youth rallies, mission trips.

At some of these events I heard testimonies from so many people that seemed so radical for me to comprehend. I had an assumption of salvation that every story of how God saved people was a radical one. Where someone was walking in absolute sin and in opposition to God, has an encounter with God and their life looks immediately different, a complete 180-degree turn.

And if I’m being honest, I struggled with this because my story looked nothing like it. It was not so dramatic and it was not as sound-bite worthy, but it was no less miraculous.

You see, growing up, I had thoughts like, “is this the only way that someone experiences the grace and mercy of God in salvation? Should I have been raised worse?”

Ultimately, what I wanted to know, “was my experience with salvation true?” Was it authentic?

Well look back in v. 10-12.

10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. 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 Paul say? Is my salvation dependent on me at all? No, it is “in Him,… in Him,” and “with him,… with him,” that my salvation rests.

Brothers and sisters, if you have believed in the finished work of Jesus on the cross, that he lived the perfect life, died in your place, and that He rose victoriously from the grave, then you have been saved!

And let me tell you, no matter your background, it is indeed a miracle… but there aren’t any traditions or elements of your story that make it more authentic.

Paul says in Romans 10,

9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

You are saved through belief, through faith, and in faith, we will respond in obedience to Him.

This doesn’t mean that there is no responsibility on your life, Paul mentioned this in v. 12,

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.

One way that we, as believers can physically identify with Christ is through the act of Baptism. In baptism, you are immersed in water, an unlivable environment representing the grave that our savior was placed in, and you are raised up, symbolizing the victory that our savior has had over the grave and in turn, you are declaring publicly your claim on what Christ has purchased for you and given to you.

One of my pastors once said it like this, when you are baptized, you are telling a story. The story of a sinless savior who took your place on the cross you deserved, who died and was buried in a grave reserved for you, and then who raised to life, and in power who conquered sin and death forever on your behalf.

Jesus is our past hope, because of what he has done, but he is our also our present hope.

- Present

Look with me in v. 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.

Our hope rests in Jesus and what he has done, but not just what he has done, but what He is currently doing in us. If you will trust in the finished work of Jesus presently, you can be sure now that you are in right standing with God. He has “made us alive together with him”, “forgiven us our trespasses”, and “cancelled the record of debt”. This is our current reality before a Holy and righteous God. Isn’t that freeing?

We have been given a clean slate… free from the chains of sin and death, but now what? How does someone who has owed an insurmountable debt live if it is “cancelled”?

Well, I believe it looks like gratitude.

- Car payment story

When I first started driving, I had a black single-cab 1995 Nissan pickup truck, it was a stick-shift, I called her Betsey (not sure why). I don’t even know how many miles were on that thing when the engine literally stopped working, but I got it for $500 from a friend’s parents who didn’t think it would last very long. I drove it for nearly 200,000 miles through high school & college. After Betsey finally bit the dust, I was a broke college student who needed a new vehicle, and I financed a 2000 Jeep Wrangler again (also a stick-shift), At the time I was driving from villa-rica to Alpharetta every day… 61 miles one way. I don’t know what you think of Atlanta traffic, but it is even worse in a stick-shift… this started nearly a decade and about 4 different vehicles where I constantly had a car payment… it was brutal. I felt trapped by something that was supposed to be helpful to me. But let me tell you, when I was finally able to pay it off… It was so freeing! Finally, I wasn’t having to put money each month toward a car payment just to be able to drive around. It changed so much for me, each time I got in my car, I knew, its mine. I don’t owe anyone anything, in some way, it gave my car a new purpose in our lives. It was now an asset and not a burden.

You see, when we are set free from our sins and our debt is wiped clean, we are free to live, we are free to serve King Jesus in gratitude and with joy.

Our lives are given a new purpose, a new mission. We are free to live lives that point those around us to exactly where our hope lies… to Jesus.

When Paul writes, in v. 14,

by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

He is telling the church at Colossae that they are no longer bound by their keeping or not keeping of the law, but that Jesus took our shortcomings, he took our debt, he took our sin, and he put it to death forever. He took on our punishment so that we might enjoy freedom in Him.

Our hope is in Jesus… Past, present, and future.

- Future

Look with me in v. 15.

15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

When Jesus rose from the grave, he not only was victorious over sin and death, but also over all of the power of the enemy as well.

Kent Hughes stated it like this:

Colossians and Philemon—The Supremacy of Christ "In Christ": Delivered from Bondage (vv. 13-15)

In the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, God the Father achieved a great victory over the evil powers of this world, making “a public spectacle of them.” He wants us to see that though they still exist, they are defeated. Satan’s demons have been sentenced to be in the train of God’s victory parade. Thus, we need no longer fear the outcome of our battle with evil. Christ has conquered! We have conquered! And we will conquer!

In view of all this, why look to anyone but Christ for fullness? Cultivate human relationships, but do not look for ultimate fulfillment in them because they will disappoint you. Energetically pursue your career, but do not imagine that you will find transcending fulfillment in it. In Christ we have everything.