Rooted and Built up in Christ
Notes
Transcript
Rooted and Built up in Christ
Rooted and Built up in Christ
Introduction
We wrapped up our what is a disciple summer series last week. This week we are exploring more about how are lives should be different. This week we explore in this passage in Colossians what it means to be rooted and built up in Christ. Paul tells us that our lives should be different. Paul also shares how Christ is sufficient for being built up and made new. Lets dive in to the first part of this passage about being rooted and built up in Christ.
Rooted and Built up in Christ
Paul mentions in verses 6-7 this theme we will be going back to. Verse 6 says
6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him,
7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
The first step here is to mention it all begins with receiving Christ.
The original Greek word means "to receive, admit, acknowledge" - stepbible.org
We receive Christ, we acknowledge Christ, we admit Christ into our lives. In response to this, our response that it should be to follow Christ, to live as Christ expects us to.
We sometimes miss this part and think we only need to believe in Christ but to believe in Christ is to believe and let Christ into your life. We somehow try to hold onto our lives and keep Jesus at bay but this does not work.
We cannot be rooted and built up in Christ if we do not fully acknowledge Jesus as Lord of our lives. We cannot live our lives in Christ if we do not fully admit Christ into our lives. Our first and most important step is to fully receive Jesus into all areas of our lives, to fully admit Jesus as Lord over our entire life.
If we fail at this then we will always struggle to be built up in Christ and be able to resist or see through as Paul puts it, the empty philosophies and human tradition that teach you that you can be master and lord of your life, that you can control life and circumstances if you simply do these things.
Listen again to verse 8
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ.
As I was looking through different translations, I found one that expands on this text a bit but communicates what I believe Paul is getting at and we can relate easily to.
8 Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ.
The second half of this deals with not falling prey to other spiritual powers of this world who also preach a different gospel than Christ. While we as humans can come up with many ways to try and convince ourselves we are lord, there are also other forces at work that want you to pursue that path to your own destruction.
If we admit Christ into our life and allow Christ to be Lord, then we are built up and taught the error of the worldly ways, the error of our old life without Christ. We then are guarded against not just the human false wisdom but also against other spiritual forces that are aiming for our downfall.
Some of the false teachings or false wisdom that sneaks up on us is that nagging thought or doubt that tries to creep in that our salvation requires something of us too. Going down that path again takes you away from the principle that Christ is sufficient. As verse 9 states, Jesus Christ, God is fully sufficient and over all. Sometimes we confuse the triune God and think well we count on Christ for this part but does that really satisfy the Father yet it is the Diety of God that filled the human body Christ dwelt in. This is to say that there is no separate being. Father, Son, and Spirit are the One God. Christ is sufficient to be both Lord over all and sufficient for salvation for each of us who accept the gift of grace.
Human wisdom and every other religion out there says you have to do something to earn your eternal reward, you have to earn the approval of some diety who after you complete all the work required, may admit you into a reward. This is not at all gospel of Christ and to be taken or drawn away from this is to lose that foundation of being rooted or strengthen or strong in Christ.
Returned back to verse 7 again it is worth noting what we are meaning by this word rooted.
Verse 7:
Rooted - original word means implying that roots are healthy and strong so being rooted means being healthy and strong in Christ
Established - original word means - "to confirm; keep strong" (stepbible.org) - faith is confirmed and keeps us strong by being rooted in Christ
By following the teachings and wisdom of Christ we are strengthened by Christ. We are strong with Christ in us to not fall prey to the trap of trying to please God by our works. We rely on the sufficiency of Christ to be enough. By following this path, we receive that blessed assurance from the Holy Spirit that we are accepted by God, that we are forgiven and freed. This empowers us to keep on the right path by being wholly dependent on Christ to be Lord over our whole lives.
Verses 11-14 detail how Christ is Lord and the offer that comes of him being Lord over your life is the spiritual circumcision that removes the sinful nature that ruled in our old life. Before we were powerless to resist our sinful nature, with Christ as Lord, the Holy Spirit gifts us to be faithful. Christ cuts out the old dead self and gives new life. This is necessary because our old lives brought condemnation. Our old lives could not be reconciled with God. It is by this gift of Grace that we have been offered hope and new life.
By allowing Christ as Lord of our life, by acknowledging the sufficiency of Christ to redeem us, we resist and refute the false teachings that take us away from Jesus and what we know and are taught by Christ. Christ has defeated sin’s grasp on us. Christ has redeemed you. Christ has defeated all darkness of this world where it has no power over you. We must remain rooted and built up in Christ based on these facts and principles and let nothing deter or take you away from this grace of God freely offered.
Verses 16-19 are all about the things that try to take you away, even after you understand the basics of salvation. How often have you heard the phrase, it is not that simple. We hear that all the time. We say it a lot ourselves. However, we are talking about the things that get added on to the truth we know. How about how many time we should pray to God? How about how many times a year should I go to church? What about do I need to go to church? What about traditions? What about ceremonies? What about practices of the church itself?
I don’t say this to say question everything and everyone but I say this as a caution to not let anything take you away from what we already discussed. Do I believe you should pray every day? Absolutely if you want any hope of being rooted built up in Christ. Do I believe you should go to church as often as you can? Absolutely, if you want to remain connected to the body of Christ and be rooted and built up in Christ. Do I think you need to uphold church activities that build up the body of Christ? Absolutely!
I will give my speech again about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. If you have not done this already, please do. If you need help in doing this, come forward and don’t let another day go by wondering if God has gifted you. If you are unsure of your salvation, come forward and ask God for assurance. If you have not been baptized into the body of Christ, that is the Church Christ founded, and joined to the body of Christ, come forward and lets talk about what may be holding you back. If you feel shackled by sin and temptation, come forward and ask God to set you free from that sin and strengthen you against that temptation.
Let today be the day you come forward for any reason because you want to commit to being rooted and built up by Christ.