Because of Jesus
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Introduction: God’s program is the summing up of all things in Christ. God’s program is simple. God’s agenda is bringing everything, everywhere, every how, under the tutelage, the authority, and the dominion of Jesus Christ. The problem that they faced then and the problem we face today is, the world wants to leave out Jesus! The key to this message today centers around one verse; Verse 8: If it’s not according to Christ it is fake, false, a lie! Everything that a Christian does should be centered on Jesus Christ and His work on the Cross! Let me give you a few examples of what this cult believed:
A belief that most people were ignorant of their origin and condition
an identification of sparks of divinity that are encapsulated in certain spiritual individuals
a faith in a docetic Redeemer, who was not truly human and did not die on the cross. Instead, the redeemer brought salvation in the form of a secret gnosis, or knowledge, that was communicated by Christ after his resurrection.
They believed in a salvation based not on faith but on special knowledge of one’s true condition
they beleived an interpretation of baptism and the Lord’s Supper as spiritual symbols of the secret knowledge.
So let’s read God’s word this morning and see how Paul tore down the cult’s accusations and false teaching and see how you like the believers in Colosse can be encouraged today:
8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:
11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:
12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
You Are Complete
You Are Complete
10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:
Verse 10
The cultists of the Gnostic belief had a system of thought that you were only saved if you had secrete knowledge. Without it you were considered less than.
You weren’t whole! That is the lie of every cult that has ever existed. They tell you that to belong you must be one of them. To be complete you must do what they do. This type of thinking is a lie! It is the vain deceit that Paul is speaking of.
“Complete” = full, fulfilled, to accomplish and perform fully what he came to do.
He is fully God in the flesh. He took his fleshly body to heaven when he ascended and when he comes back he will be the same. He is complete!
And in Him you were made completely full. Completely saved, completely sanctified, there is nothing else you need to do but trust in Him.
9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.
10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
9 that 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.
10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
There is no secret handshake, there is no secret password, there is no added works that can be done. Baptism doesn’t save you, praying over someone doesn’t save them, working your way to heaven can’t be done.
You are completely full of everything that God gives when you come to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior!
You may say “well my life sure doesn’t seem full” I say how’s your spiritual life going? Maybe you need to come to father and ask forgiveness maybe you need to confess to God and turn from the sin and the habits that destroy your relationship.
Maybe you need to give your life over to Jesus. You feel like something is missing in your life…it may very well be the Holy Spirit of God!
With Him you will never be whole, withouth Him you will never be complete, without Him you will always have a huge hole that nothing will ever satisfy as long as you live.
You Are Changed
You Are Changed
11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:
12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
:
I can’t stand snakes. I detest them. To me the only good snake is a dead snake. I don’t trust them. This year while camping my cousin killed a water moccasin only a few yards behind our camp and brought over by the fire. There wasn’t a chair left unturned. We all jumped up and ran. I trust this man with my life, but I don’t trust a snake, not even a dead one. I can’t trust something that completely shed his skin and remains the exact same.
In this verse Paul writes to tell us that this putting of the body of sins of the flesh is the same as casting off and throwing away never to return to again.
This passage is a very clear picture of someone who has undergone a complete spiritual change. The old way of circumcision was the way a person was recognized as a Jew. In this it shows that it was not a physical sign but a spiritual sign by the work of Jesus on the Cross.
It is clear that you are no longer who you once were. Unlike the snake who sheds his skin and remains a snake, you are no longer a child of the devil but a child of God. You are completely different.
The old you doesn’t exist anymore and being raised with Him means just like Him you were changed.
How does this happen? By faith! you have faith in the promises God has given, You have faith in the power of God. That He raised Jesus from the grave and that he can raise you to be the man or woman He wants you to be!
It isn’t some magical overnight change, it’s a change that reqires you to make the choices, do the right things, but the power that pushes that change and drives you to be able to make these choices and do what you never thought you could do before comes from God! He is the one who can make all things new! Which brings us to the next point...
You Are Alive
You Are Alive
13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
Col 2:
In a world that is full of rules and laws it is our duty as Christians to follow the laws that the ones that we elect put into action. Most of these laws are for our protection and well being. However, it seems that sometimes laws get passed that do not make sense and do nothing more than drag you down and make life harder.
This is exactly what this cult that was trying to infiltrate the church at Colosse was doing. They were trying to make them follow the laws of the Old Testament, making life for the new believers unbearable!
Being physically alive is so much different than being spiritually alive
Everyone here is physically alive but there may be some that are spiritually dead or even worse on spiritual life support
Jesus took your sin, he took your disobedience, he took your hate, your shame, and he nailed it to the cross with him so you can live! You are alive because of His death! You are alive because of His resurrection and you are alive because you have been forgiven!
So why do live like your spiritually dead? You have something that you should be shouting on the rooftops! You have the power of God, the Holy Spirit living inside you and this is worth living for! Don’t live your life to please someone who don’t love you, don’t try to impress someone who will never see you the way God sees you! You are alive to live for God!
Just like Lazurus you have been called out of that tomb and now you are alive!
You Are Victorious
You Are Victorious
15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
There is no better feeling than being on a winning team. Satan wants us to think that we have been defeated. He loves telling us that our life is going downhill with health issues, with financial problems, marital problems, children, work, he loves for us to feel defeated.
The truth is, no matter what this life throws at you if you know Jesus as Lord you are victorious! The victory belongs to Christ and being in Him you share in that victory.
There are those out there that say there is no afterlife, there is reincarnation, that life is just a cycle that continues on for all eternity. To me, that would make me feel defeated, knowing that it will never get better.
Paul says that Jesus has not only proved them wrong, but publicly embarrassed all who believed this by defeating Hell and the grave! He is victorious and so are you!
While this physical body that we are in will one day give out and return to the dirt, the spiritual body that we will have will be perfect and spend eternity worshipping God in Heaven!
At the end of the game we will be victorious, we are a part of the winning team and when life says that you are defeated, you can look it in the eye and say “yeah but it’s only temporary”!