Powerful Pictures of the Gospel
Listen Up To The One In Charge • Sermon • Submitted
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Introduction
Text:
Main Idea:
Look at the Picture of Forgiveness (vs. 13-15)
Introduction
My favorite class in High School was Art. I loved every aspect of Art class. From drawing to sculpture to perspective to painting, I loved it all! Unfortunately, I don’t do much Art these days, but I do truly appreciate the skill and the craft good artists bring to their work. I especially love a good, realistic painting...
Did you know Paul was an artist? His canvas was the page and his medium? Words.
And in , Paul paints some beautiful pictures of the gospel.
What is the Biblical Solution?
While the gospel message is simple, it does, like a diamond, have a multifaceted beauty!
We must not forget what
Main Textual Idea: :1-2
Main Idea: Look at the Stunning Pictures of the Gospel Paul Paints!
Paints
All three pictures painted by the Gospel help us to get the fullest picture of God’s redemptive plan.
Remember what was going on in Colossae! The pre-Gnostic heresy had come to town and was teaching that their message would add to the gospel and make them more spiritual if they were more Jewish. If they were circumcised they would be closer to God. If they had special diets and observed special holy days, then they would become part of the “spiritual elite” in the church.
Paul makes it abundantly clear in this letter that the Christian is not only not subject to the Old Testament legal system, but it is of no spiritual value to them. Christ and christ alone is more than sufficient every spiritual need of the believer...
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.
Why? Because we are a part of Christ! He is the head...
18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
And we who are true Christians are part of His body...
12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
And because we drink of the One Spirit and because we are connected to the head, we need to add nothing else to make us more connected.
So Paul paints three interesting pictures for his readers that help clarify specific aspects of the gospel. In fact, each portrait he paints shows us three crucial components of the gospel all the while dispelling the idea that more could be added to Christ, the head of all things!
The three pictures are...
Transition:
Look at the Mysterious Picture of Circumcision
Look at the Somber Picture of Baptism
Look at the Powerful Picture of Life
1. Look at the Mysterious Picture of Circumcision (vs. 11)
1. Look at the Complex Picture of Circumcision (vs. 11)
Lead in…To be completely honest, the idea of circumcision is an uncomfortable topic to say the least. Why would God choose to identify the Jewish male in such a strange way? Many reasons. But Paul addressess this issuse because the false teachers were compelling gentile Christians to consider the opperation so they could be considered “more spiritual”. So in his brilliant way, Paul takes their heretical position on circumcision and turns it into a beautiful picture. Take a look at the text with me...
11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy;
Text -
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,
Circumcision is a complex concept that raises important questions. What is circumcision? Why is it so important? What does it represent? If we can answer these well, we can understand the deeper significance of what Paul is teaching us here.
What is circumcision? John MacArthur in his comments in Genesis when God commanded Abram to be circumcised...
Why is circumcision so important?
What does circumcision represent?
“Circumcision (cutting away the male foreskin) was not entirely new in this period of history, but the special religious and theocratic significance then applied to it was entirely new, thus identifying the circumcised as belonging to the physical and ethnical lineage of Abraham (cf. ; ). Without divine revelation, the rite would not have had this distinctive significance, thus it remained a theocratic distinctive of Israel (cf. v. 13). There was a health benefit, since disease could be kept in the folds of the foreskin, so that removing it prevented that. Historically, Jewish women have had the lowest rate of cervical cancer. But the symbolism had to do with the need to cut away sin and be cleansed. It was the male organ which most clearly demonstrated the depth of depravity because it carried the seed that produced depraved sinners. Thus, circumcision symbolized the need for a profoundly deep cleansing to reverse the effects of depravity.”
Circumcision (cutting away the male foreskin) was not entirely new in this period of history, but the special religious and theocratic significance then applied to it was entirely new, thus identifying the circumcised as belonging to the physical and ethnical lineage of Abraham (cf. ; ). Without divine revelation, the rite would not have had this distinctive significance, thus it remained a theocratic distinctive of Israel (cf. v. 13). There was a health benefit, since disease could be kept in the folds of the foreskin, so that removing it prevented that. Historically, Jewish women have had the lowest rate of cervical cancer. But the symbolism had to do with the need to cut away sin and be cleansed. It was the male organ which most clearly demonstrated the depth of depravity because it carried the seed that produced depraved sinners. Thus, circumcision symbolized the need for a profoundly deep cleansing to reverse the effects of depravity.
John MacArthur Jr., ed., The MacArthur Study Bible, electronic ed. (Nashville, TN: Word Pub., 1997), 38.
No other religion does this as far as we know. was by faith before this physical act.
So, there were many reasons why God introduced circumcision. But understand, even when God commanded Abramam to perform this act, it was not a saving act for Abram had already believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.
And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
It wasn’t for two more chaptes, when Abraham was 99 years old, that as a sign of his covenant with God, he and his male descendants were to be circumcised.
And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”
And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”
And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”
And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant.
So, for the Jewish people you can understand that circumcision was a very important act. This was a big deal. And for the Jew in the time of Paul, you can understand why letting this and other aspects of the Law were so hard to let go!
7
In Colossae, a predominantly gentile area, you can also understand that by participating in such a historical practice, rooted in Jewish tradition would give the idea that it held some spiritual significance. But Paul is careful to point out in this letter and in other writings that is brings no value whatsoever.
In , Paul is chiding the Jews in Rome for suggesting that they were in some way superior to the gentiles. He even challenges their adherence to circumstance...
For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.
And this is what he is saying in Colossians as well. Look back with me at verse 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 told the believers at Colossae that regardless if they had been physically circumcised, they, at the point of their salvation, had been “circumcised with a circumcision made without hands…”
What does this mean? Well, Paul clarifies what this means in the latter part of verse 11.
“by putting off the body of the flesh…”
When Paul uses the term, “flesh” he means the sinful nature we all have. Physcial circumcision was a picture of the removal of the sinful flesh that came through Adam because we are all concieved in Adam’s sin.
Paul is saying the physical circumcision has no spiritual benefit. However, spiritually speaking, the “circumcision made without hands” is significant because in Christ we are dead to sin and we are to count ourselves so.
So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
And it is though our relationship with Christ that we have our old nature removed and we walk in the newness of life...
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
And this truth is “Stunning” to say the least.
But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.
And although it is a strange picture, once you understand that the “circumcision of Christ” is a spiritual / heart matter (:29), you will have a whole new appreciation for what Christ did on the cross for you!
But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.
Illustration - Something on the old nature, the flesh...
Argumentation - The mysterious picture the gospel paints of circumcision is the picture of death. But, the raw truth is, without the death of Christ, no amount of circumcisions could pay for entrance into eternal life.
There is one death that does make a difference...
The death of Christ!
“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 gruesom 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. The Colossians, now “in him” as believers, spiritually shared in the circumcision, this death. Their “sinful nature” was cut away; they died to their former way of life.” (PW Col/Phm)
He died because we were dead. His death made it possible for all of us to truly live!
Application - Why do you suppose Paul bring this to their attention?
This facet of the gospel is the aspect of putting off the flesh. Death
Review - Look at the Stunning Picture of the Gospel Paul Paints
1. Look at the Mysterious Picture of Circumcision
2. Look at the Somber Picture of Baptism (vs. 12a)
Lead in…Perhaps one of my favorite picture Paul paints out of the three is this one of baptism. Baptism is so much more than getting people wet! There is great spiritual significance in the picture as well.
Paul, however has a brief and somber comment here regarding baptism. One that should cause great reflection. Look at what Paul says...
12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.
Text -
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.
Paul offers another picture for another facet of the gospel! And this perspective is Baptism.
Paul uses the phrase “buried with him in baptism...”
The Christians in Colossae needed to be reminded that not only was their old nature (their flesh) dead, but it was buried as well.
Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
The believer is also baptized by the Holy Spirit of God...
For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
We are bapti
So what does it mean to be “baptized into His death?”
Well there are two meanings for the word baptism. One of those meanings is to dip, immerse, submerge...
Another meaning is “To be identified with”
Let me give you an example from another of Paul’s letters...
and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,
For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,
The children of Israel “were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea…” In other words they were identified with Moses.
Believers are baptized or identified into not only Jesus death, but also His burial!
This is where water baptism helps make this identification so clear.
Death = go under the water
Burial = water covers
Resurrected unto new life = come up from the water (more on this in the next verse)
Why was Jesus baptized? explain...
Saul - the first King who was anointed by Samuel - The Holy Spirit came upon him and he prophesied (). Saul sinned and the Holy Spirit left him and went to the next King...
David - Samuel anointed David and it wouldn’t be until years later that he would become king. After David was King, he too sinned in a very grievous way by having adulterous sex with Bathsheba and having her husband killed so he could have her as his wife.
Unlike Saul, David truly repents and writes , a humble psalm of repentance. And in this Psalm he says these words...
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
God’s omnipotence is on display in the salvation of each individual.
“in the powerful working of God...”
God raised Jesus from the dead. Why is this so important for the Colossians to know and understand. This is at the very core of our faith. If we get this wrong, we get teath
“who raised Him from the dead.”
“take not your Holy Spirit from me.” He isn’t praying that he could keep his salvation. He is praying that God would not remove the Theocratic anointing from him. He humbly asked God if he could remain king, unlike his predecessor, Saul.
Fast forward to the time of Jesus’ baptism. Do you remember what happened?
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
I hope you can see what happens in this text. Just like Saul, and David, the Spirit of God came upon Jesus and anointed Him KING!
This episode is the inauguration of Jesus’ Kingdom. The Long awaited King has Just been anointed as he sets out on his arduous journey.
Why was Jesus baptized? To IDENTIFY Him as KING!
And just as the the children of Isreal were “baptized” (identified) with Moses, so those of us who are “buried with him in baptism” are IDENTIFIED with Jesus in His death and burial.
20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
If we are in Christ, we are IDENTIFIED with Christ!
20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
Illustration - Wayne Thompson’s funeral yesterday. After the funeral, his casket was lowered into the earth! Six feet under, as it were. And from a human perspective it is rather somber.
Illustration -
19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
“Ashes to ashes and dust to dust.”
And this is what we have to look forward to...
says, “Ashes to ashes and dust to dust.”
We live, we die and we are buried.
This is our inevitable future - but for God.
You see, God did something amazing. He did something no other god of all the other religions do. Our God took on our circumstance. Our God took on our flesh. Our God took on our death and He won!
55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
1 Cor
And because my friend, Wayne Thompson had placed his faith in Jesus Christ many years ago, because he handed his soul over to the only one who could adequately care for his soul, because Jesus didn’t stay in the grave, neither will my friend, Wayne!
And just as Jesus died on the cross that day two thousand years ago and was buried,
Because Wayne identified with Jesus in His death and burial, there is a glorious reality that awaits him! And you too, if by faith you trust Christ with your eternal soul...
Argumentation - The emphasis of this picture of baptism? Burial. The gospel paints the picture of burial...
Application - Have you entrusted your eternal soul with the ONLY one that can keep it safe for you?
Yes, the picture Paul paints of the burial of baptism is somber, but remember! It is always darkest before the dawn.
Review - Look at the Stunning Picture of the Gospel Paul Paints
1. Look at the Mysterious Picture of Circumcision (Death)
2. Look at the Somber Picture of Baptism (Burial)
3. Look at the Powerful Picture of Life (vs. 12b-15)
Lead in…In the same sentence as the death and burial, we Paul lays out the beautiful hope all Christians celebrate. Take a look...
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.
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.
Text -
13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
Yes, we died with Him! Yes, we were buried with Him! But we do not remain buried! Because He was raised, we too are raised to new life in Christ!
How does this take place? Paul gives us a two-fold answer. We are raised...
Through faith -
In the powerful working of God (who raised Jesus from the dead) -
Remember what Paul says in ?
4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
Or, look at
11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
Verse 13 makes a startling statement!
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,
In other words, your sins rendered you incapable to have a right relationship with God. You were dead to him with no hope of relating to him.
The Bible Knowledge Commentary 2:13–14
Death means separation, not annihilation. Even the unsaved still bear the image of God (Gen. 9:6; James 3:9), but they are separated from God. Cut off from spiritual life, they still have human life.
Separated because of our “trespasses” (sins). Separated because we submit to the flesh and its desires.
But God didn’t leave us in this impossible and eternal state!
God provided a way for you to live! How? FORGIVENESS!
God’s omnipotence is on display in the salvation of each individual.
God Canceled your record of debt (a handwritten legal note that prove you were “overdrawn” with God) that we legally owed Him!!
God Canceled your record of debt - You owed Him a ton!
“in the powerful working of God...”
I love how the NIV puts is...
“who raised Him from the dead.”
God
14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.
God raised Jesus from the dead. Why is this so important for the Colossians to know and understand. This is at the very core of our faith. If we get this wrong, we get teath
You were legally condemned before God and He had every right to punish you in an eternal Hell because you broke His law over and over! You had no way of pleading your case before Him. You are guilty of breaking every one of His Ten Commandments over and over throughout your lifetime. By the way, I am just as guilty!
How did He fix this for us?
Well, He couldn’t just let it go, someone had to bear the punishment for your sin and wrongdoing.
“He has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.”
Who was nailed to the cross? Jesus Christ, the God of the universe!
But as Paul says “you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumsances of your flesh…”
24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
God made you alive -
Philip Bliss wrote these beautiful words in 1875 that express so clearly what Jesus accomplished for us...
“Man of Sorrows!” what a name
For the Son of God, who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned He stood;
Sealed my pardon with His blood.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
And do you know what is so amazing? Satan, the “powers and authorities” of this world actually thought that as the Son of God hung on the cross, they had won! They thought they had thwarted God’s plan by killing the Christ.
What they failed to realize is that by the killing of the Christ, they were the ones that were beaten! Because on that day, their fate was sealed. Jesus’ death would lead to His burial and ultimately His resurrection. He was the firstfruits of the resurrection which means those who die IN CHRIST will be raised as well!
15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
This is what the Roman army would do when it conquered their enemies. They would parade them in front of everyone proving their defeat! Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection proved the defeat of Satan that day!
Jesus didn’t bring death, Satan did.
S
Jesus came to die so you can live!
The gospel paints a beautiful picture of LIFE!
Argumentation -
The Colossians were tempted to go backward in their understanding of God’s message of freedom. They were listening to doctrines of demons that brought death. Paul warned them not to listen and He reminded them to remember what Jesus accomplished on the cross to give them life abundant!
Application - What is it that you cling to that gives you the hope of eternal life? If it is anything other than Christ, you are following a false Gospel that gives false hope and will NEVER GIVE LIFE!
Only JESUS GIVE LIFE!
Review - Look at the Stunning Picture of the Gospel Paul Paints
1. Look at the Mysterious Picture of Circumcision (Death)
2. Look at the Somber Picture of Baptism (Burial)
3. Look at the Powerful Picture of Life (Resurrection)
Conclusion (Visualization)
This is the glorious picture!
1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
Now, what will you do with these amazing and beautiful portraits? Honestly they are more beautiful than any art museum has ever had on display.
Action they should take
But what does an art museum do with beautiful art? They proudly put it on display!
Would you do this with the gospel? Display its beauty for all to see. And know doubt others will come to appreciate God’s art because you shared it with them.
Connection Group Reflection Questions
Pictures are worth a thousand words and so Paul paints three for us. What are these pictures and why is it important to see each one clearly?
Why do you think Paul brings us circumcision? What is the significance of this?
Why is baptism such a powerful picture? What can we learn from this?
Everyone is looking for a fulfilling life. God’s offer of life is the best one ever. According to verses 13-15, why is this true?
Out of the three gospel pictures Paul paints, which one is your favorite?