Find Satisfaction in 2026

Introduction

Take God’s Word, and turn to Colossians 1.

It’s a little book towards the back of the Bible that is saturated with powerful truth.

The Apostle Paul wrote this letter to the church at Colossae. This church was faithful, they were fruitful, and they were filled with the grace and knowledge of Jesus.

Now, today, we are going to be in chapter 1, but in chapter 2 of this letter, Paul is refuting some heresies that are being taught by men trying to destroy the work of God there in the Colossian church.

In Col 2:8, Paul refutes what is known as Humanism

Humanism teaches that man is the center and only necessary source of guidance for thinking, actions, and life.

We are eaten up with humanism today.

An example of humanism would be,

“You do you and I’ll do me.”

“Follow your heart.”

“Do what makes you happy.”

The humanist places experiences, pleasure, and passion above everything else in life, and leaves no room for the wholesome things that God wants us to produce.

2. In Col 2:11-17, Paul refutes what we know as Legalism.

Legalism is the belief that certain laws must be obeyed in order to establish and maintain a relationship with God.

However, this violates the definition of both mercy and grace.

Justice means to get what you deserve.

Mercy means not getting what you deserve.

Grace means getting what you don’t deserve.

If it was up to us to earn the favor of God, we could never do it.

So, life is not all about pleasure, but it’s not all about rules either.

3. In Col 2:18-19, Paul refutes Mysticism

I can’t define it so I’ll explain it.

The Mystic says that truth isn’t important, that God isn’t a God of order or instruction, and that we can feel our way through the world.

What the Christian mystic will do is they will use a lot of words that means absolutely nothing. They will always attempt to evoke emotion or try to appear spiritual by using churchy language.

The problem with the mystic is they do not understand that there is no separation between what is spiritual and what is practical.

The longer I have lived, the more I have realized that the most spiritual things for me to do are the most practical things for me to do.

For example, the most spiritual thing I can do is pray…and it is also the most practical. Because when I pray, I am asking God to impact my life in a practical way…or I am asking God how I can impact the world in a practical way.

Another example would be for me to say that as a father, I have a spiritual responsibility to teach my children about God, His salvation, and His word…and what that means is that I teach them and I show them how to follow God by reading the Bible, serving the church, and living in obedience to Him.

So, there is no difference between the spiritual and the practical. The most practical thing you can do is be spiritual…and the most spiritual thing you can do is be practical.

4. In Col 2:20-23, Paul refutes what is know as Asceticism

Asceticism means deliberately employing hardship or self-denial as a means toward spiritual or moral development.

Their take on life is that all fun is bad and sinful. That’s obviously not true.

What do humanism, legalism, mysticism, and asceticism all have in common? They are all false teachings on how to find satisfaction and purpose in life.

As the New Year approaches, what I want for you is to find satisfaction in your life.

And what I want to tell you this morning, is if you want to be satisfied in 2026, Make Jesus the focus of your life. To do that…there are three things you must understand.

I. Understand the Freedom that Jesus Has Given You

John 8:36 NKJV

Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

The Bible says that Jesus did not come into the world to condemn the world or to enslave the world, but that He came to set the world free.

Now, because of His death, burial, and ressurection, there are certain freedoms that you have been given.

A. Freedom from the Power of Darkness

Colossians 1:13 NKJV

He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,

1. What is the Power of darkness?

The power of darkness is the realm and influence of satan and of sin on the world.

And because you were born into sin, it means that you are helpless against acting impulsively and living contrary to how God has asked us to live.

As the Scripture says,

Isaiah 53:6 NKJV

All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way;

That is, satan doesn’t have to trick us or trap us because we were born that way. We were born with a natural desire and a natural tendency to lust, steal, kill, and to be selfish.

That word, “power” in v. 13 means authority.

That, without Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit, darkness has authority over our life. Our flesh, our nature, our desires has the authority in our life.

That is why, when accept the gift of salvation, we are internally washed by His Holy Spirit. This is the word regeneration.

Because we are slaves to the power of darkness, that is, the authority of satan and of our own bodies, we must be set free from that bondage.

Jesus has given us freedom from our mortal bodies, our fleshly desires, and from our enslavement to the power and authority of all darkness.

2. How Did Jesus Free Us?

He freed us by His death.

Colossians 1:14 NKJV

in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

Underline that word redemption.

This shows us that Jesus was our ransom. A ransom is the price paid to redeem someone from bondage or captivity.

Mark 10:45 NKJV

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

We are born into the bondage of death, sin, and the flesh…but because of the death of Jesus, we can be set free.

Write this verse down next to v. 14

Hebrews 9:22 NKJV

And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.

That is, by the blood that Jesus shed on the cross, He purchased us back from death and the grave. He paid our debt of slavery so that the chains of darkness would be broken and we could walk as free men upon this earth and into His kingdom.

And because the blood bought Christian is now free from the power of darkness, that means that we are now free to walk in victory…

B. Freed from darkness to walk in victory

Romans 6:4 NKJV

Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

When Jesus saves a person, when He imparts His Holy Spirit to them, they are washed, they are regenerated, and they become a new creation. They are not the same that they were before!

At one time, people were enslaved to their passions, their worries, their fears, and their failures, but now…as a person that has been washed by the blood of Jesus Christ, you are a person that has been granted victory!

The only time a Christian suffers defeat is when they willingly walk back into bondage. Every Christian has the power to control themselves because Jesus has paid their ransom, and He has freed them from the domain of darkness.

Look back in Colossians 1 and you will see the new nature that God has given to the believer.

1. He has made every believer worthy.

Colossians 1:10 NKJV

that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;

When you were unable previously to gain victory over your circumstances and your worries, God has made you worthy of all of His spiritual blessings.

He’s only done this by His grace.

Because God has imparted His Holy Spirit to you, you are worthy to walk along side God in all of His doings and in all of His work.

In fact, God wants you to join Him as a fellow heir with Jesus Christ! This means that God sees you just like He sees Jesus.

No matter your sin, no matter your back slidedness, no matter your failures, God sees you as worthy.

You have gone from being a slave to being a prince!

Not only has He made every believer worthy…

2. He has made every believer strong.

Colossians 1:11 NKJV

strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy;

Look there at that word “strengthened”. It is the Greek word δυναμόω (dune-ah-moe). It is a verb that means “empowered”. The root word is where we get our English word “dynamic”.

Now what does it mean to be a dynamic person?

To be a dynamic person means to be energetic or to continuously take effective action.

Now, for the believer, God has called us to be continuously effective in our lives.

This doesn’t mean you won’t have bad days. This doesn’t mean that you will always feel good. What it means to be continuously effective is to have an attitude of joy.

Look there again at v. 11…we are strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power (that is His glorious power He imparted to us by His Holy Spirit) for all patience and longsuffering with joy.

The Joy of the Lord is Your Strength

Nehemiah 8:10 NKJV

Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

The way that God makes every believer strong enough to endure trials and tribulations is by equipping every believer with joy.

Now, God has given us freedom to walk in victory. And He has done this by equipping us with His strong, dynamic, joy.

Joy is different from happiness

Your happiness depends on what happens. Your joy depends on who you belong to.

If you are in bondage to sin and death, you have no joy. If you are free in Jesus, then you have every reason for joy.

Now, Jesus taught on joy, and He uses this illustration:

John 16:21–22 NKJV

A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.

Jesus was telling His disciples, “I am going to die, and your world is going to fall apart, but I am going to raise again, and then you will always have joy because you will always belong to Me.”

Even in the most difficult circumstances of life, the believer can have strength because of the victory that Jesus has won over all evil and all darkness.

That’s what it means to be dynamic…that’s what it means to have joy…that’s what it means to be strengthened in the Lord…trusting that He has already conquered whatever darkness is trying to steal your joy.

Not only has He made every believer worthy, and every believer strong…

3. He has Made Every Believer Qualified

Colossians 1:12 NKJV

giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.

This qualification is referring to the position you have in Jesus in the Heavenly places. It is not speaking of your Christian character.

One of the most beautiful things about God’s grace is that He sees you as He sees His beloved Son. He sees you as qualified for Heaven.

He sees you as the object of His grace and of His mercy.

Now, you might think that everything that I have said up to this point is for someone else, but the Bible says in this verse that if you are a child of God then you have been freed from darkness, and that you have been given the freedom to walk in victory.

That God has declared you worthy, that He has declared you strong, and that He has declared you qualified.

You might be thinking, “I don’t feel worthy, strong, or qualified.” Well, friend, the Christian life isn’t based on feelings. It’s based on God’s truth and God’s promises.

If you are a child of light, then walk as a child of light, stay away from sin because you have been freed from it…and understand that God says you are worthy, strong, and qualified.

Jesus has given every believe freedom from darkness, so that they will walk in victory…and exercise that victory by living in obedience to His perfect will.

C. Exercise your Freedom to Walk in Obedience

Christian victory is like a muscle. If you exercise the authority you have over sin and darkness every day, you will be strong. If you fail to exercise, if you fail to perform the function that God has assigned you, then you will be weak and believe you have no power.

All the while, the only thing that you need to do is begin to exercise the freedom that has already been given to you by God.

Colossians 1:9 NKJV

For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;

In v. 4-8, Paul writes that He has he has heard of their love and their devotion to the work of God.

Then Paul says in v. 9, “For this reason.” v. 4-8 is the reason that Paul is referencing. Then Paul says, “we also do not cease to pray for you” This means that they are praying for Paul and now he is saying that he is praying for them.

But I want you to notice the nature of the prayer that Paul is speaking of…

Underline or circle the words, “to ask” right there in v. 9.

Doing vs. Giving in the prayer life

Typically when we pray to God, we are asking God to do something.

We pray and treat God like a genie in a bottle, demanding what we want from Him and giving Him instruction on what He should be doing.

“God, will you change my circumstance?”

“God, will you fix my problems?”

“God, will you heal…”

“God, will you start…”

“God, why won’t You…”

you name it, we always want God to do something.

But what Paul is doing is something that is far more powerful.

The Greek word translated “to ask” is a specific word for prayer showing that Paul is asking for something to be given not for something to be done.

And what is it that Paul is asking?

v.9 says that Paul is asking that God give the knowledge of His will to the church there at Colossae. And not only is he asking it, he is asking that it be given to them in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. That is, he is asking that they begin to understand the will of God in a supernatural way and then are able to perform it.

Why do so many of our prayers go unanswered?

Because we are always praying for God to do something, but never asking for God to give us something to do.

James 4:3 NKJV

You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.

When we pray, we pray selfishly because we pray from our perspective. We pray based on what we want to happen.

But, from now on, when you pray, instead of giving God your list of demands, I want you to pray and ask God to give you His list of demands.

If you want to find satisfaction in 2026, the first thing you’ll need to do is understand the Freedom that Jesus has given You: Freedom from darkness, to walk in victory, and to exercise obedience to Him.

So, not only must you understand the Freedom that Jesus gives you…

II. Understand the Position that Jesus Holds

The reason why we pray to God and demand things, the reason that we treat Jesus like He is a fictional character, is because we don’t understand Who He is…we don’t understand the position that He holds.

A. On the Highest Throne

Colossians 1:15 NKJV

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

This verse speaks of Jesus in several ways.

It speaks of His divine nature.

It says that He is the image of God…

Many think that we are created in the image of God, but we are not in the image of God until we are saved and redeemed by the blood of Jesus. The reason we are not in the image of God is because we were born into sin.

Jesus was born of a virgin, His Father is God, and therefore, He is in His likeness, because in Him there is no sin and there is no darkness.

It speaks of His divine status.

It says that He is the firstborn.

This means that Jesus is the first of many that will experience the glorification. That is, He is the first one to be in Heaven experiencing the perfection of a glorified body.

Every Christian’s goal is to be like Christ.

He is the firstborn, and God wants to conform us into the image of His Son, Jesus

Romans 8:29 NKJV

For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.

That is, the person who has trusted in the name of Jesus is predestined to be made into the image of Jesus. Not only does it speak of His divine nature and His divine status…

It speaks of His divine authority

That Jesus is the firstborn over all creation.

Isaiah 66:1 NKJV

Thus says the Lord: “Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool.

There is nothing that exists that exists without the Lord Jesus.

Colossians 1:16 NKJV

For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.

That is, all things, even you, were created to bring Him glory…not to make demands and not to just sit and to soak, but to work, and to exercise your freedom by working for the Master.

The position that Jesus sits in is the highest throne as the image and firstborn of God…the earth is His footstool…this makes Him preeminent in the life of the church.

B. Preeminent in the Body (the Church).

Colossians 1:18 NKJV

And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

Look at that word preeminence…

Preeminence is be placed first, foremost, and in the place of highest significance.

So, to find satisfaction in 2026…make Jesus preeminent in your life…

The reason that we get so out of shape is because we do not give Jesus the place of highest significance in our life. We do not place Him first, we do not make Him foremost…He is an afterthought, He is a Sunday morning energy drink, but He is certainly not preeminent in your life.

You are a Christian…you say you belong to the church…the Bible says that Jesus is the head of the church and that He must have preeminence.

His seat is on the highest throne…His preeminence deserves your attention…and His redemption is for your perfection.

C. He is the Author and Finisher of Our Faith.

Colossians 1:19–22 NKJV

For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight—

Through the death of Jesus you were given life…and because of His all sufficient payment you can now be presented blameless and holy to God.

Hebrews 12:2 NKJV

looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

And Jesus, went up to that throne of God, and He is preparing a place for us in glory.

He is the author of our faith…and He is the finisher of our faith.

Philippians 1:6 NKJV

being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

Find your satisfaction in knowing that Jesus is at the right hand of God, and He has promised that He will bring you to completion.

To find satisfaction…1. understand the Freedom that Jesus has given you…freedom from the power of darkness so that you can walk in victory and obedience. 2. Understand the position that Jesus holds as the firstborn image of God that is over all creation, preeminent and deserving of praise, the One Who is faithful to you in every season…3. Understand the Riches that Jesus offers.

3. Understand the riches that Jesus Offers

Colossians 1:27 NKJV

To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

If you are a believer…Jesus lives in you today…and all the blessings of Heaven are readily available to you.

And yet, the Bible says that Jesus is our hope of glory…that we should live every day in eager expectation and with strong confidence that God will raise us from the dead.

This eager expectation…this strong confidence… is what is going to sustain the joy and the satisfaction of Jesus when your life begins to unravel.

You must know that you know that you know, that Jesus is bringing you to completion, that He loves you, and that He is bringing you closer to home, each and every day.

Conclusion

If you don’t know that, would you like to? I can help…

The Bible says,

“if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Do you want to do that today? Then pray like this….

“Dear God,

I know that you loved me enough to die on a cross. I know that you paid my ransom. I want you to free me from the power of darkness. I confess you as Lord and believe that you rose from the dead. Save me, change me, I’m Yours. Amen.”

What about you Christian?

Jesus died on the cross to save you from bondage…why are you crippled by fear, worry, or anything else? Come lay it down today and give Jesus the preeminence in your life.

Find satisfaction this new year by praying and asking God to show you His perfect will…and then simply follow Him. That’s the formula, that’s the solution. Will you submit to Him this year?