Col 2, We Are Complete In Christ
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Alright, well so good to be with you on this Sunday morning enjoying the fellowship and love that we have with one another and of course with our Lord Jesus Christ.
This morning we are going to continue our study in the book of Colossians in Chapter 2. Last week Pastor Jeremey us told about the mystery that had been hidden from ages but is now delivered to us, which Christ in us, the hope glory. In biblical terms a mystery is something that was once concealed but is now revealed. That of course is the presence of Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus Christ, in each believer living within us.
So this morning let’s stand as we read God’s word;
1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face,
2 that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself,
3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
4 I say this so that no one will delude you with persuasive argument.
5 For even though I am absent in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ.
6 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,
7 having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.
Prayer
It is interesting just how soon we forget what life was like just a few years ago. Our modern technology allows us to talk and even see people on the other side of the world instantaneously. Our children and grand children can not relate to such world. But this technological age is but a blip in the history of man.
It is interesting that the gospel made it around the world without satellites and cellphones!
So here Paul is writing to people he has never met. People who have never seen his face. What Paul knew of them came through reports from one of his ministers, Epaphras.
Paul's writing to them included encouragements but also warnings and that is what this chapter is all about.
In verse 1, keep in mind Paul is writing from a Roman prison. Paul says;
1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face,
Paul is not depressed, moping in prison, wow is me, no, Paul is using his time to pray for the churches and to write what ends up being a large part of the NT from his prison cell.
Notice, Paul says he is having a great struggle on their behalf. The word struggle is the Greek word, ἀγῶνα, where we get our word agony or agonize. Have you noticed that your prayers of intercession are not easy. There is always a phone call, a text message, a knock at the door. But your prayers are effective.
16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.
When distractions come don’t be surprised. Your flesh and our adversary the devil hates it when you pray. Paul continues with what he is praying for;
2 that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself,
Now hopefully you will remember that the last time I shared with you we talked about the major heresy infiltrating the church at that time called Gnosticism.
The Gnostics sought to make others believe that the Gospel was not enough. That special knowledge was needed that conveniently could come only through their enlightened teaching which was hidden to the uninitiated.
It is interesting how special secret knowledge appeals to our flesh.
In verse two here, Paul wants them to be encouraged. The Greek word here means to add courage. Did you know it takes courage to stand against the flow of this world. I used to have a tee-shirt that had a picture of all kinds of fish moving in one direction with one lone Christian fish in the opposite direction. It said “against the flow.”
If you are a living breathing believer you know this feeling! As opposed to being discouraged Paul wants us to be encouraged. Paul also wants the Colossians to be knit together in love. The word knit means to coalesce or join together. Did you know our love for Jesus and one-another is the earmark or distinguishing features that identifies a living fellowship.
Paul wants that each of us would have a full assurance of understanding. Maybe like me you used to question your standing in Christ nearly every day. Maybe you went forward repeatedly for salvation at altar calls. Then one day God revealed to you He has done it all. What a great day that is.
Paul says this results in the true knowledge of the mystery, which is or rather who is Christ Jesus Himself.
The word here, in verse 2, used for knowledge is ἐπίγνωσις, meaning experiential knowledge. As you grow in Christ and know the scriptures full assurance becomes a reality.
In verse 3, Paul tells us that contrary to what the Gnostics want you to believe,
3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
On this verse William Barkley write;
The Letters to Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians The Marks of the Faithful Church (1) (Colossians 2:2–7)
All this wisdom, says Paul, is hidden in Christ. The word he uses for hidden is apokruphos. His very use of that word is a blow aimed at the Gnostics. Apokruphos means hidden from the common gaze, and therefore secret. We have seen that the Gnostics believed that a great mass of elaborate knowledge was necessary for salvation. That knowledge they set down in their books, which they called apokruphos because they were barred to ordinary people. By using this one word, Paul is saying: ‘You Gnostics have your wisdom hidden from ordinary people; we too have our knowledge, but it is not hidden in unintelligible books; it is hidden in Christ and therefore open to all men and women everywhere.’ The truth of Christianity is not a secret which is hidden but a secret which is revealed.
Paul continues,
4 I say this so that no one will delude you with persuasive argument.
How appropriate it is that we hear this today. There are many persuasive arguments that could lead one astray today. So much confusion coming at us in our schools, the media, and the politicians.
Did you know that our public schools are encouraging actually pushing children to explore that they may not be what the biology says they are. We have politicians telling us that we are racist for being being pro-america. Social media that calls the Bible hate speech.
The word delude here in verse 4, means to deceive by false reasoning.
We have the Holy Spirit who guides into all truth and the word of God. So if you are not sure about something and have a check in your spirit pay attention.
Paul continues with every Pastor and every Christian parents dream, “to see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ.”
That is people doing and acting like they are supposed to, solid in faith and practicing their faith.
Paul the says;
6 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,
7 having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.
Here Paul is exclaiming, its not complicated! You received Him by faith, simply believing and trusting in His finished work, so now continue on in that same faith.
We can only accomplish that if we are firmly rooted and growing in Him. Jesus said;
4 “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.
5 “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.
Much of the battle is won by simply hanging in there, continuing on, Jesus calls it abiding. As long as a branch is attached to the tree it can produce fruit. It may at times look dormant or even dead but as long as it is attached to the vine it is alive.
Paul is admonishing us to grow deep roots into the fertile soil of the Gospel and when draught and strong winds come you can withstand them.
Now Paul changes gears into what the persuasive words were;
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.
Each of us forms a world view through our beliefs and those beliefs dictate to each one of us how we live and what is important to us. If we believe in the Gospel Message, if we have surrendered to Jesus Christ and made Him Lord of our life we then will strive to live in manner pleasing to Him.
We can only do this by knowing the Word of God and the by the power of the Holy Spirit.
However, if we are taken captive by some heresy or false belief that is not according to Christ we are in danger of breaking off from the vine. We must check everything against Gods word.
For instance if someone was to tell you that Christ was to be returning next year at the feast of trumpets and perhaps could give several compelling reasons for saying that what would you think.
You may want to ask someone who knows the word better than you for their thoughts. If He or she knew the word;
6 So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”
7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority;
That means from the Greek verb tense that we are not to know, at any time, the times or seasons or epochs.So date setting no matter how sincere is folly.
Again look at verse 8;
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.
On this idea John wrote;
15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
17 The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.
So why wouldn’t you want to know Oprah’s the “secret” or learn of Depak Chopras philosophies of life. Because as Paul tells here in verse 9;
9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,
You see as opposed to what the Gnostics were telling the Colossians of that day, we have everything we need in Jesus. It’s all about Jesus and you can’t know Him well enough. You see friends He made us and He died for us and we have been bought by His blood. Amen.
Paul continues;
Colossians 2:10–15 (NASB95)
10 and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;
Think of it, you have been made complete. You didn’t make yourself complete. He did it! You say, I don’t feel completed yet? Well in God’s eyes you are.
11 and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ;
Removed our flesh.
12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.
Raised us up with Him
13 When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,
He made us alive together with Him.
14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
He cancelled our debts and nailed them to the cross.
15 When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.
He disarmed the spiritual evil powers, literally tore their power away.
Here Paul has listed for us some of the many things Christ has done for us.
Now Paul will bring this plane in for a landing,
16 Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day—
17 things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.
Wow these are two big verses. The first clause of Verse 16 is an imperative, don’t let anyone judge you!! All caps with an exclamation point. In regard to food (what you eat), what you drink, or religious observance. Even now there are some some who believe you should not eat Pork or Lobster or that we must observe the Sabbath Day.
Paul says the reason is that they are just shadows of the real thing. But the real thing is Jesus Christ. It would be like me hugging and kissing a picture of my wife when she is right here.
18 Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind,
19 and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.
So here Paul is referring to one side of the Gnostic heresy which was stoicism or self denial. As they viewed the body to be evil its appetites must then be suppressed. The also had another view that said since the body is evil it doesn’t matter what they do with it.
The point is once one gets so caught up in following these man made rules and regulations they lose contact with the “Head” who is Christ.
Paul closes with this;
20 If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as,
21 “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!”
22 (which all refer to things destined to perish with use)—in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men?
23 These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.
So in conclusion there are many things that can appear religious and pious but have nothing to do with your relationship to Christ. May it be our aim this week to put aside the shadows and embrace the true and living Jesus.
Amen.