Colossians 08
Colossians Series #08
Alive From The Dead (Col 2:11-15)
By Bill Denton
Introduction
A. Illustration
One of the best-loved stories in the Bible is that of the Prodigal Son. The youngest son of a wealthy father, took his inheritance and left home for a far land. There he wasted everything, and was left with nothing. A famine hit, he had to take a job nobody else wanted just to survive. He finally came to his senses and returned home, hoping that his father would allow him to work as a servant. But the father saw him coming a long way off, ran to meet him, and threw his arms around him. Later he would explain to the young man's embittered brother, "Your brother was dead and is now alive!"
1. Death is surely a terrible thing, perhaps the most feared thing about human existence
a. it is the greatest unknown we face
b. it is so permanent
c. it separates us from everything that is life
2. There are more ways to die than to die physically
a. sin produces a spiritual death that separates us from God
b. sin separates us from friends, family, and others we love and cherish
c. spiritual death may produce or lead to physical death, but spiritual death
also produces consequences far greater than physical death
3. The basic message of the Bible is that God makes is possible for us to overcome
death
a. physical death is defeated because the grave will never hold God's people
b. but the greater conquest is over spiritual death, and conquest that makes it
possible for us to live even though we had died
B. For this reason, it is amazing that Christians would ever think they needed something other
than Jesus Christ or that we need something more than Jesus
1. It's entirely possible that Christians can get so tied up in popular philosophies,
religious teachings, etc., that we forget what God has done
2. In today's text (Col 2:11-15), Paul reminds us in a simple, straightforward way
exactly what God has done for us in Jesus Christ
3. Paul probably used some of the ideas that were being tauted as important additions
or replacements to Jesus, and shows the utter finality of Jesus' work in us
I. A Little Matter Of Circumcision 2:11
A. We know from other biblical passages that one of the problems early Christians faced was
the idea that followers of Christ must also practice the Jewish faith
1. One of the things that the Judaizers insisted upon was keeping the practice of
circumcision
a. under the Law of Moses, it had become the sign of the covenant between God
and his people
b. some thought the very act itself made a man right with God
c. others saw it as more symbolic, insisting that God was much more interested
in a man's heart than with a piece of flesh
d. but the act of circumcision had become so important, many Jews could not
understand how God could not demand that the practice continue
2. Obviously, Paul argued against the practice of circumcision as necessary and saw a
greater, more effective action consistent with the broader view of the Old Testament
a. Exodus 6:12 -- 12But Moses spoke before the Lord, saying, “Behold, the sons
of Israel have not listened to me; how then will Pharaoh listen to me, for I am
unskilled in speech?” NASB95
1) "unskilled in speech" = uncircumcised of lips
2) Moses was using the idea of circumcision to describe his inability to
speak the way God wanted him to speak
b. Leviticus 26:41 -- 41 . . .or if their uncircumcised heart becomes
humbled so that they then make amends for their iniquity, NASB95
1) "uncircumcised heart" = a heart marked by iniquity
2) the opposite would be a heart turned from wickedness to righteousness
c. Jeremiah 6:10 -- 10To whom shall I speak and give warning That they may
hear? Behold, their ears are closed And they cannot listen. Behold, the word
of the Lord has become a reproach to them; They have no delight in it.
NASB95
1) "their ears are closed" = their ears are uncircumcised
2) the uncircumcised ear would not listen; the circumcised ear did listen;
but circumcision was never a matter of cutting ears, so there is a much
broader application to the meaning of circumcision
B. This makes Paul's statement so powerful - in Christ a circumcision was performed
1. Not with human hands; no priest did this -- this was something only God could do
2. This is a whole-man circumcision, not just a piece of flesh -- the whole old man
3. What God always desired in a man is now done in Christ
II. A Little Matter Of Baptism 2:12
A. We get too caught up in forcing the necessity of baptism; we would do much better to get
caught up in the meaning of baptism
1. Col 2:12 simply reads as a natural extension of 2:11 (read the text!)
2. Paul makes a vital statement about baptism here
a. buried with Him in baptism
1) Romans 6:4-7 -- 4Therefore we have been buried with Him through
baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through
the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 5For if
we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death,
certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6knowing
this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of
sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to
sin; 7for he who has died is freed from sin. NASB95
2) it is not the immersion in the water alone that is important, it is
making the connection with Jesus Christ
3) baptism gets its power from Jesus death, burial and resurrection
b. baptism is meant to be an act of faith in God
1) "you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of
God, who raised Him from the dead"
2) baptism is an act of faith in what God did through His Son
3) Jesus died, was buried and was raised by the power of God -- have
faith in that, and your baptism now becomes meaningful
B. If we put the emphasis on the meaning of baptism it would help us all
1. It's entirely possible we have people who have been baptized who do not understand
its meaning or what it symbolizes
2. It's also possible that there are people who resist baptism because they feel we're
forcing them into an act they don't understand
3. Here's Paul's point: In Jesus Christ, there is a circumcision that takes place, one that
is divinely performed, that cuts away entirely the old man of sin and leaves us new;
you see that displayed in baptism, when you put your faith in the death, burial and
resurrection of Jesus Christ - there you are buried with him and raised with him
III. The Grand Implication Of Faith In Jesus Christ 2:13-15
A. You were dead in your transgressions and uncircumcision of your flesh
1. Get the picture
2. Dead in sin; uncircumcised in flesh -- few ways are better to describe the human
condition before salvation
B. He made you alive
1. Together with him (relates back to baptism where we are buried with Him and
raised with Him
2. Alive has everything to do with having our sins forgiven
3. For Paul, the questions about whether we need something other than Jesus or in
addition to Jesus are answered simply and directly
a. our problem is that we're dead in our sins - Jesus handles the sin problem
b. when the sin problem is dealt with, we are no longer dead but alive
c. we're dead, then we're alive -- what more could you need?
C. The certificate of debt has been canceled
1. The Greek word used here means almost exactly what we mean by "IOU"
a. this isn't a reference to the Law of Moses, it's a reference to the great list of
sins that mount up in our lives and stand as a debt we cannot pay
b. the Law of Moses, the prophets, even the Gentile's law written upon the heart
testified to the debt of sin
2. Jesus took that list and nailed it to the cross, he made the only sacrifice by which all
those sins could be forgiven
a. if your faith is in the death of Jesus, then your sins were nailed to that cross
b. if your faith is in the resurrection of Jesus, then you rose to life with him
Conclusion
A. Do you understand what Jesus has done for you in his death and resurrection
B. Do you understand how thoroughly, how completely, he has dealt with your sins?
C. Do you understand what your baptism declares and how it ties you Jesus Christ?