Tethered to Christ

Introduction

A number of years ago, Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse, an American theologian and pastor told of a story that he and his friends would do when they were teenagers to see how easily people could be fooled or persuaded. He and his friends would stand on a busy street corner somewhat spread apart and look directly into the sky at nothing.

They would then start pointing up in the sky where one would say, loudly for passerby’s to hear, “It is not!” Another friend would argue back, “It is so!” This would go one for several minutes and as people began to walk by they would then stop and begin to stare up into the sky at nothing but looking for something which would cause these teenagers to stop, stare, point and argue.

Eventually, a large number of people would be crowded on that street corner looking up into the sky. Dr. Barnhouse would say that his friends would one by one begin to slip away from the crowd and then watch and laugh at them from across the street seeing how long people would continue to stop and stare up at nothing in the sky; thinking there is something of value to look at but the teens knowing there is nothing.

Years later, Dr. Barnhouse said of this prank, “That little incident is a good illustration of all the earth-born religions. People talk about having faith; they tell you to look in a direction where there is absolutely nothing. Some people are so desperately in need of seeing something that they will look till they are almost blind, yet they never catch a glimpse of anything real.[1]

This is what the Apostle Paul has been warning the Colossians of throughout this letter. We today are continuing to live in a world where people are standing on a street corner, pointing up into the sky at nothing and saying, “there it is” but what they are pointing to is empty and meaningless. But the passion of their plea and maybe even the forcefulness of their argument is compelling many to stop and stare and even Christ-followers are being persuaded to take their eyes off of Christ to look into the vast space of nothing thinking they’ll see something.

And so Paul warns the church and us today who are hearing his words,

Verses 8 and 9,

Colossians 2:8-9, 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.

And so, just as a balloon will float away to be carried by the wind if it is not tethered to a weight or anchor, Christ-followers must be firmly tethered to a foundation or else we run the risk of drifting into and being led astray by false teaching, worldly philosophies, man-made religion.

Our text today, Colossians 2:6-15 reveals to us that anchor, that foundation, that source of life that is abounding and filled with joy and hope.

If you’re here today or watching online and feeling as if you are just staring into the sky looking at nothing but hoping it’s something, feeling lost, feeling like you’re wandering or drifting, believing that there is something that can give your life hope and meaning then today is good news for you. What we’ll see in this text today is that we don’t have to look into the vast domain of nothing hoping to see something, but instead, we can look to Christ and actually find in him what our hearts and souls have been longing for.

And to the church, to those of us who do believe, let’s look to this text today to be reminded of the hope and sufficiency of Christ.

Let’s look and see four new realities that Christ himself gives us.

Reality number 1:

Christ our foundation.

Look at verses 6 and 7 again.

Colossians 2:6-7, Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

Over the past five years many residents in the state of Connecticut began noticing cracks in their home’s foundation. As experts began to examine these foundations to see what was going on they discovered that a certain mineral called pyrrhotite was present. What’s significant and troublesome about this is that this material, when it is exposed to oxygen and water causes a reaction which converts into other compounds which take up more space which is why these concrete foundations are beginning to crack.

What makes things worse now is that they’ve traced this contaminant to a specific quarry that was used to make these concrete foundations in homes all across the state from the years 1983 to 2000. As many as 34,000 homes could be affected and the only solution or fix is to literally lift the home off of the foundation and pour a new one.

We all understand the importance of a firm and strong foundation. Without it, everything resting upon it crumbles.

So, what does it mean to be “rooted and built up in him”? I would argue that it’s obedience to Christ.

In Matthew 7 Jesus compares and contrasts a wise man and a foolish man. What’s the difference between the two?

Listen to what Jesus says.

Matthew 7:24-27, “Everyone then who hears these words of mind and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the fain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

What is the one difference between the wise man and the foolish man?

The wise man heard the words of Jesus and obeyed them, and the foolish man heard the words of Jesus and disobeyed them.

How are we then rooted and built up in him so that when the storms come our way, when false teaching seeks to pull us away from Christ, that we still stand? It’s by hearing the words of Jesus and obeying them, doing them.

It’s also through consistently remembering where our right standing before God is found. And so, this is a continual calling to resting in and believing the gospel. To be reminded daily that we are free and forgiven through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus alone.

What are set free from? We’re set free from the enslavement of the law. The burden of having to perform in such a way that would merit favor and acceptance with God. Jesus has freed us from that not by doing away with the law, not by abolishing it, but by fulfilling it and obeying it perfectly on our behalf. We’re then set free to now obey without fear of judgment, free to obey out of delight for what Christ has accomplished for us in his death and resurrection.

I think that’s why Paul says at the end of verse 7 that we’re to “abound in thanksgiving.”

Reality number 2:

Christ our glory.

Jump down to verses 9 and 10.

Colossians 2:9-10, For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.

When we look at Jesus, we see that Jesus is more than just God-like, he is more than just imaging characteristics of God, but, as one commentator says,

“The essence of God, undivided and in its whole fullness, dwells in Christ in His exalted state, so that He is the essential and adequate image of God.”[2]

Though creation reveals the work and grandeur of God, it’s Christ who reveals the face of God, the full glory and beauty of God. It’s in Jesus that the fullness of deity dwells. There is no other temple, there is no other person or thing that we turn to for hope and salvation. It’s Christ alone.

Do we realize that we are, every human being is always worshipping? We are always looking to something to make sense of our lives. Something to bring hope and meaning to our existence. Whether human beings realize it or not, we are religious beings looking to one idol after the next to bow down to.

It’s here, in Christ where fullness of deity dwells. Again, there is no other temple we need turn to for deliverance. There’s no other Savior who can free us and forgive us. It’s in Jesus that the fullness of deity dwells.

But Paul also says that we, “have been filled in him.” We are filled with his fullness.

Think of it this way.

If you were to stand on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean with a small jar, you could dip your jar into that body of water and instantly your jar would be filled, in fact, it would be overflowing. The ocean can always fill that jar to its fullness, but we’d never be able to fill the ocean with the fullness of what can fit inside that jar.

And so, we, when we dip our lives into the fullness of Christ, he instantly fills us with his presence, his fullness, his glory. We do not become divine of course, but we become his righteousness. And so, it’s through faith in Christ that we become before God, holy and blameless (Eph. 1). It’s through faith in Christ alone that we become “In Christ.” It’s through abiding in Christ that we continually grow in grace, grow in our love for him, grow in our desire and pursuit of him.

Christ is infinite and so there is never a threat of reaching the end of what can be seen and worshipped of him. There is no trial or struggle you could ever face where he is not sufficient to meet the needs of your heart and soul. There is no pain you can experience where he is not enough. There is no end to his greatness and as we abide in him, he continually fills us with his glory and presence.

Since this is true why would we ever seek to run to anything else to make sense of our lives. In him, the fullness of deity dwells.

Reality number 3:

Christ our new life.

See this in verses 11 through 13.

Colossians 2:11-13, 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, 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. 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.

The act of circumcision was a sign that was given to Abraham all the way back in Genesis 17. It was a sign of the covenant that God was making with Abraham, primarily that through Abraham God was going to make him the Father of a multitude of nations.

And so, I think we all know what circumcision is, it’s the cutting away of flesh.

Well, Paul here is showing the Colossian believers that through faith in Christ, God has cut away a heart that was dead in sin and through Christ’s death, burial and resurrection has given us a new life, a new heart to believe and behold the glory and beauty of Jesus.

He said that we have been “circumcised with a circumcision made without hands.” Meaning that right acceptance before God does not come through any work of man. There is nothing we can do, it is solely the work of God. And this is necessary because apart from the work of God in our lives we are dead in our sins.

Ephesians 2:1-6a, And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience – among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved – and raised us up with him.

Before the intervening work of God in our lives, we were dead in our sins. Our flesh was enslaved to it. Our hearts did not desire him and so God, through Christ removed our cold, dead and stony hearts and gave us new life through the life and power of the risen and resurrected Jesus.

We were buried with him, Paul says. Which means that when Jesus died, our old lives, lost and dead in sin died with him and when God raised Jesus from the dead and gave him life again so as well, through faith in Christ we have been raised to walk and live a new life.

Romans 6:1-4, 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 Paul’s saying here is that because our old selves our dead, our lives that were once under the reign, rule and condemnation of sin is no more because through faith in the risen and alive Jesus we have been given a new heart, the old has been cut away, we now live a new life that’s free from the burden and enslavement of sin and condemnation. We’re now united with Jesus in his life.

And so, we no longer need to live in such a way where we think sin owns us. It doesn’t. We can now walk in victory and freedom because Christ has conquered the grave, because God has made us alive, because we are now through faith in Christ, fully forgiven and we are united in him.

How is this good news true?

Reality number 4:

Christ our hope.

Let’s finish this out. Verses 14 and 15.

Colossians 2:14-15, By cancelling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

Herein is the hope of the gospel.

We had a debt that stood against us. A debt no one is able to pay back. It was the debt of sinful rebellion against a holy God. It was a debt demanding retribution. And every day that debt was demanding payment.

And what has God done? He’s cancelled the debt. But it wasn’t just forgotten. The holiness of God demands justice. It can’t be just swept under the rug. It has to be dealt with. And so how did a holy and just God cancel the debt legally?

He nailed it to the cross. The payment was made by Jesus and when Jesus hung on that cross he bore the sin and debt of humanity and when he said from that cross, “It is finished,” he was saying as well, “the debt has been paid in full.”

This is our hope. And through Christ, God has disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame. He has triumphed over them.

Meaning this, that there is now no accusation of unpaid sin that can come your way where Christ does not say with complete authority, “paid in full.”

And so, it’s because of Christ that temptation and sin has lost its power.

It’s because of Christ that the condemnation of sin has been trampled over.

It’s because of Christ that the enemies of darkness no longer reign.

It’s because of Christ that no accusation hurled against us can stand.

It’s because of Christ that we can now live and walk in a life of joy and freedom.

It’s because of Christ that we stand secure.

It’s because of Christ that we are fully forgiven.

It’s because of Christ that we know a better day is coming where all sin, brokenness and darkness will be fully erased from this world where we will live with him surrounded by his glory forever and ever.

Let’s rest, live and walk in this hope.

[1]Hughes, R. K. (1989). Colossians and Philemon: the supremacy of Christ (pp. 66–68). Westchester, IL: Crossway Books. [2]Hughes, R. K. (1989). Colossians and Philemon: the supremacy of Christ (p. 72). Westchester, IL: Crossway Books.