Colossians Part IV: Spiritual Fullness in Christ

Reading

Luke 6:46-49
Colossians 2:6-15

Introduction

Kenneth E Bailey, in his excellent book, Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes, writes 'It has been my privilege to teach short courses for the Lutheran Church of Latvia.  While I was at the Luther Academy in Riga, I observed the interviewing of new students for the academy.  I asked the interviewing committee what kind of questions they asked the applicants.  They told me, “The most important question is, 'When were you baptised?'”  And I asked, “Why is the date of baptism such an important question?”  They answered, “If they were baptised during the period of Soviet rule, they risked their lives and compromised their futures by being baptised.  But if they were baptised after liberation from the Soviets, we have many further questions to ask them about why they want to become pastors.”'

To be a disciple of Jesus under communist rule was a costly, even a dangerous, thing.

At the time of the early church, when new believers were baptised they declared Jesus as Lord.  Under Roman rule, where Caesar alone was absolute Lord, such a statement was considered treasonous and could even result in your execution. 

• To be baptised was to proclaim Jesus as Lord and to take citizenship in a new kingdom that was not of this world.
• To be baptised was to put away the old, self-gratifying, pleasure-seeking way of living, and to become a new creation set apart for the glory of God.
• To be baptised was to recognise that, through the cross and resurrection of Christ, personal shame, guilt, and the sinful nature that leads to those things were dealt a fatal blow.

In the passage we are looking at today, Paul reminds the Colossians that they've received Christ as Lord, and he exhorts them to live out their lives with Christ as Lord.   He counteracts the pressures of Jewish influencers who sought to impose Jewish practices on them.

I'm going to look at the text in a different order from what Paul wrote.  I look at what he's written under three headings:

• Christ is Enough
• The Cross makes all the Difference, and
• Jesus is Lord.

Christ is Enough 2:8-12

For the Jew, circumcision was symbolic of the covenant between God and Abraham and all who were descended from him.  The law of Moses prescribed how to live, but then they also had the Talmud, a record of rabbinic traditions and interpretations of them, which effectively set up fences around the mosaic law to keep you far enough from the commandments to stop you breaking them.

It seems that Jewish influencers were trying to convince the Colossian converts who had been baptised that they needed something more: to be circumcised and to adopt Jewish customs. 

But Paul says an emphatic “No!”  He tells the Colossians that their baptism is far more effective than anything circumcision could achieve for the reasons I've already mentioned. 

Paul, of course, had been a devout Jew.  He was a Pharisee, well versed in Jewish tradition and law.  But he'd discovered that none of that could bring him peace with God.  In fact, in Philippians, he described it all as garbage, or dung, in comparison to what he'd found in Christ!  The Colossians didn't need circumcision and weren't to be misled by anyone who tried to tell them otherwise. 

Prior to this point, Paul has gone to great lengths to remind the Colossians just who Christ is and what he'd done for them and of all that was available to them in him.  Everything they needed they already had in Christ.

If you've been baptised, I wonder what your baptism means to you?  If you were baptised as an infant, it could be argued that the person you are now wasn't actually there at the time; you were unformed and unable to answer for yourself so others made promises on your behalf. 

So what about your confirmation, the process by which you consciously ratified the promises made on your behalf?  Was this for you a declaration that Jesus is your Lord, a recognition that in Christ you've put an end to the old ways of living and set your course to live out the new?  As Paul expresses it here, by baptism we are cut off from our old nature by dying to it with Christ, and are resurrected with Christ to enjoy the life of a new nature in the kingdom of God.  We were included in Christ when he died, and we were included in Christ when he rose from the dead!

Of course, the acts of baptism or confirmation in themselves don't make anyone a Christian.  These are only outward signs of inward grace.  It's possible to be a Christian without being baptised and its possible to be baptised without being a Christian.  What makes us Christians is turning from our own ways, trusting in Christ for forgiveness and reconciliation, and setting out to follow Jesus as a life-long disciples.  In fact, while God expects and looks for those things, we don't earn salvation by doing those them.  Salvation is God's free gift of grace.

Having found Christ, Paul makes clear that we need nothing more: “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness.  He is the head over every power and authority.”  That being the case, what more could we possibly find elsewhere?

Christ is everything we need to make us right with God.  Everything we need for meaning and purpose can be found in Christ.

The Cross makes all the Difference 2:13-15

All that Paul wrote to the Colossians about Christ and their relationship to God is just as true for us today.  We gentiles were without hope, we had no relationship with God.  We were as good as dead because of our sins.  But Paul tells us that, even while we were in that state, God made us alive with Christ.  There was nothing we could do, so God graciously forgave our sins.

Paul introduces a metaphor here.  He talks in verse 14 about a written bond, which was a record of indebtedness, a kind of IOU.  Our sinfulness resulted in our owing a great debt to God, which we couldn't afford to pay.  Furthermore, this IOU was backed by the legal demands of God's law.  Paul tells us that God has done away with the IOU, and therefore our debt, by nailing it to the cross.  Christ's death was full and sufficient payment for all our sins.

In his gospel, John records the last words of Jesus from the cross as, “It is finished.”  The Greek word behind that is tetelestai, which means, it is accomplished and will always remain accomplished.  Christ achieved what he came to do, and what he achieved can never be undone. 

Paul likes his metaphors!  Now he introduces another one!  When the Romans conquered anyone, they would have a procession into Rome, trailing their captives along to exhibit their triumph.  At the cross, God disarmed and defeated his and our spiritual enemies, and made a public spectacle of them.  Satan thought he had won at the crucifixion.  In fact, Christ achieved everything he came to do!  What Satan thought his final victory turned out to be his utter defeat!  The cross portrays to the world God's triumph!

What does it mean for us?  Well, do you remember that verse back in chapter one?  “… he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son…”  At the cross, the penalty of sin is paid, the power of sin is broken!  Because of the cross, Satan has no grounds for accusation against us.  We do not have to carry a burden of guilt!  We do not have to be ruled by sinful behaviour!

If we have Christ, then we have everything we need.  Nothing can be added to what he has done for us and nothing can ever be taken away.  If we have Christ, then our sins are forgiven, and we have no charge to answer!

Jesus is Lord 2:6-7

“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”

Lordship is something of an alien concept to us in our culture, because we don't really have lords like those at the time of the early church.  Lords today are people with land and money (although not enough to keep their stately homes from falling into disrepair) or they've been elevated to the peerage for political reasons.  They attract little deference from the person in the street, many of whom think lords are a pointless anachronism.  For the most part, they're of no consequence to us.

But back in the day, lords had real authority that commanded respect (or fear) and demanded allegiance and obedience.  Jesus indicated something of the nature of his lordship in our first reading: “'Why do you call me, “Lord, Lord,” and do not do what I say?...'” (Luke 6:46-49). 

The Colossian believers would have declared Christ as Lord at their baptism with full understanding of what a Lord was, and now Paul encourages them to live out their lives under the Lordship of Christ: they were his to command. 

Apparently, to become one of the Knights Templar you had to be baptised as a Christian before you could go off to the crusades.  They were baptised by full immersion but kept their sword hand and their sword above the water so that they could still use it as they saw fit in battle.  Effectively, they were saying, “Jesus, I'm all yours—except for this …”

But if he isn't Lord of all is he truly Lord at all?

I wonder, what might you be holding above the water?  What things do we refuse to relinquish to Jesus?  Time?  Money?  Service?  Obedience?  This is not to say that there aren't struggles to face as we live out our lives with Jesus as Lord.  We can find ourselves wrestling with God because something precious to us has come to be an issue in our relationship with him.  It doesn't have to be something sinful; just something that we think more important to us than he is, something that challenges our commitment to him as Lord.

Paul gives the Colossians some pointers on how to live with Jesus as Lord.

In the New Living Translation, verse 7 is written as “Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him.  Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.”

Paul drops in a couple of metaphors which he doesn't explore fully.  He kind of leaves them for us to think about.  So let's do that …

Imagine you are a tree.  If you are to survive hot summers and cold winters and be fruitful, then you need good roots.  Apparently, a tree has as many roots underground as it has branches above.  That shows how significant roots are.  A tree draws nourishment and water through its root system.  Roots give the tree stability in the face of howling gales.  Without good roots it withers and dies for lack of water, is puny and unfruitful for lack of nutrients, or is flattened by the storm. 

Think of the parable of the sower.  For the plant to grow and be fruitful, it needs to be rooted in good soil.  If we are to be strong in the face of the pressures of this world and have fruitful lives then we need to put down roots into Jesus.  All the fullness of the Deity lives in Jesus, and we can find in him all the sustenance we need to keep ourselves alive to God and strong in faith. 

Think on about this when you get home: what kind of things can you do to put down roots into Jesus?  You could read over Colossians again to get some ideas about that.

Now imagine you're a house.  A house needs firm foundations if the building is to be well-established and strong against the elements.  Jesus taught us that it was living out his teaching that made for good foundations and a robust building.

Paul has given us a strange collision of metaphors to think about here, but strong roots and firm foundations lead to strength of faith and thankfulness. 

We can't be lackadaisical or willy-nilly about this.  We need to put down roots.  We need to make good foundations.  Jesus must be Lord of our lives.  It's his will we're here to do.  But there's nothing tyrannical about the Lord Jesus.  His instruction is for our good.  He wants us to develop strong faith, and in following him there's plenty of cause for thankfulness.

Summary

So, today, we've considered

• Christ is Enough
• We've thought a bit about baptism, and what it implies, and that as Christians we need nothing and no one more than Christ to make us right with God.
• The Cross makes all the Difference
• We've thought about how Christ discharged our debt in full, and took away all grounds of accusation.
• Jesus is Lord
• We've pretended to be trees and houses, and thought about the significance of growing roots into Jesus and building our foundations on him so that we can go on living with him as Lord to become strong in faith and full of thankfulness.

Is Jesus you Lord?  Do you know your sins are forgiven?  Are you trusting in Christ alone for salvation?