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?

Colossians Part III: Paul's Labour for the Church

Reading

Colossians  1:24-2:5

Introduction

Let me ask you, why are you a Christian?  Why do you come to church?  Is it because of the warmth you feel in being surrounded by your brothers and sisters in Christ?  Is it because of the security you feel in coming near to God?  If you are not yet a Christian, is it these things that draw your interest in the Christian faith? 

How would you feel if I told you that being a Christian is hard work; that sometimes it's a real struggle; that suffering for what you believe at some point in your life is guaranteed?  Yes, there is the warmth, the love, the fellowship, the security, but there is also a lot of hard work to be done and total commitment is called for.  The benefits are out of this world but the cost can be all-consuming!

In today's passage, Paul tells us just how hard he has to work in his ministry and leaves us with a lot of encouragement for those who fear to get involved because of the cost, or to those who are already involved and are finding the job to be tough.

In keeping with tradition, this three-point sermon has points that all begin with 'S’ — except for the first which begins with 'C' — and the third which begins with 'O'!  We will look at

• Paul's Commission
• his Struggles, and
• his Objectives.

Commission

Paul was a man who knew what he was about, and he wants the Colossians to understand why he's qualified to instruct them.  He had very clearly in his mind what God expected of him, and twice in  chapter one he refers to himself as a servant of the gospel.  But it wasn't always like that…

We first meet Paul in the book of Acts consenting to the death of Stephen, the first Christian martyr, and we're told he “began to destroy the church.”  Then we see him on the way to Damascus to imprison Christians but instead he encounters the Lord Jesus Christ for himself and discovers that what the Christians were preaching was all true!

Three days later in Damascus, a man called Ananias came to see him with a message from God.  God told Ananias, “This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel.  I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”

God called the chief persecutor of the church to promote the gospel among the Gentiles.  No-one is beyond God's usefulness.  You may feel that you've been too big a sinner to be of any valuable service.  But if God can use someone like Paul then he can use you just as easily. 

We soon see Paul preaching Christ to the Jews in Damascus and immediately paying the price for it.  He has to escape for his life by being lowered down the city walls in a basket.  He experiences such opposition from the Jews that, before long, he is taking the gospel message to the Gentiles.

What a message he had!  “… God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (verse 27). 

As we know, Paul was a Jew, and he was writing to Gentiles.  If Paul was writing to counter the arguments of Jewish opponents, his words here would have set the sparks flying: those who the Jews considered worse than dogs have a share in Messiah, without further qualification!

“Christ in you, the hope of glory” is a statement charged with life-transforming power. 

Paul told us about Christ earlier in the letter.  He's the one in whom we have redemption and forgiveness; he's the image of the invisible God, the creator of all things, the sustainer of all things; He's the one who rose from the dead and in whom God's fullness dwells.  He's the one who reconciles us with God, and brings us peace. 

This wonderful, supreme person is who Paul says is “in you.”  He's not remote but made known personally to us.  God’s mystery is revealed.  Jesus is with us—here and now, and wherever we are!

It's significant that the word ‘you’ here is in the plural (Geordies would say, “Christ in yous,” and Southern Baptists would say, “Christ in yawl”.  The presence of Christ isn't just for the individual but for the gathered church.  We could read this as, “Christ among you.” 

Some say you can be a Christian without going to church.  It's true that we don't cease to be Christians away from church; and some Christians are physically unable to attend church.  But people who say this usually mean that they don't need church.  How wrong they are!  Christians don't go to church.  Christians gathered together are the church. 

God’s plan is for a body of people who are united.  Christ himself is the uniting bond between us.  When we gather together, Christ is among us, enabling us to serve more powerfully than we could on our own, and to receive grace and help that we just can't find on our own. 

We have a log-burner at home.  I've noticed that if the logs are too far apart they cool off and go out.  If they're too close together, not enough air gets in among them to feed the flames.  It's important to get the logs in the right relationship to each other so they keep each other warm and get enough air to burn well. 

Like my logs, we need each other.  We need to relate together in community to encourage each other in our faith, and to allow space for the Holy Spirit to work so that we can truly discover and demonstrate Christ among us.  Together, we can discover Christ in ways that may otherwise elude us. 

Of course, Christ in us isn't only a collective thing.  We are individually parts of the body of Christ.  As the blood in our veins carries life to each part of our body, so the Spirit of God brings life to each of us individually.  So we can each say, “Christ in me.”

Paul gives us further cause for rejoicing.  The benefit of Christ is not only here and now.  Paul wrote, “Christ in you, the hope of glory”.  We've heard before that to hope is to look forward with eager expectation.  If we have Christ, we have heaven!

Struggles

Paul's message was exciting but, for him, that wasn't the whole story.  Paul was warned of suffering in his ministry.  He's not been alone.  The writer to the Hebrews reminds us of a great catalogue of saints who suffered hardship and torture for their faith.  Many have suffered in modern times under communist rule, and some still do in China.  Christian converts in Islamic states live in fear of their lives, and only recently we've seen news reports of churches in Indonesia being attacked by Islamic suicide bombers.  Others endure hardship in their places of ministry, sharing the poverty of those they're seeking to win for Christ.

Suffering

Paul had some interesting things to say about the adversity he endured.  He says,  “Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.”

Has Paul gone mad?  Rejoicing in suffering?  He's saying that all his suffering has been worth while because salvation has come to the Colossian believers through his ministry to the Gentiles.  People have been rescued from the dominion of darkness, and the troubles he endures are nothing set against that.  Besides, Christ is Paul’s hope of glory too, and he keeps his destiny in view.

Then there's the question of exactly who is suffering here, and why.  His statement is quite puzzling, but Paul doesn't imply any lack in the redemptive work of Christ.  He's really talking about the suffering he was warned would be a consequence of his work.

When Paul first encountered Christ he heard the Lord say, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”  Paul was persecuting Christians.  He discovered that to persecute a Christian is to persecute Christ.  As long as Paul worked he would endure the afflictions of Christ.  And Christ would be with him in and through it all.

Remember that this dark world has rejected the light of Christ.  If we walk in the light of Christ, the world will reject us too.  We will share Christ’s afflictions.  Paul shows us that we don't suffer alone and that we can count on Christ and his strength being present with us.

Hard Work

As well as facing adversity, Paul had hard work to do!  He tells the Colossians that he “strenuously contends” and that he wants them  "to know how much [he was] contending for [them] … and for all who [had] not met [him] personally."  Paul wants the Colossians to know how important they are to him. 

Paul worked hard.  He invested his energy and his time in the service of the gospel.  He also found secular work to support himself so he wouldn't be a burden to the church.  Any of us who works full time and has commitments to church life knows how challenging this can be.

We can imagine him wrestling in prayer against principalities and powers to win ground for the gospel, and I can't imagine that Paul would have sent Epaphras to Colossae and not supported him in fervent prayer.  Whatever hardship Paul endured, it was for all the gentiles who had in some way been influenced, even indirectly, by his ministry.

Some hold back from involvement in church life; we're just too busy.  But there's plenty of work to be done.  We have to accept that sometimes it's going to be hard work, sometimes demanding, and sometimes downright discouraging.  Serving Christ is no guarantee we'll avoid adversity or hard work.  It may even lead us into persecution.  If Christ suffered, so shall we.  But that's only one side of the coin.

Supply

What kept Paul going?  How did he cope with the load?  Paul tells us what his source of strength was: "To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me," (1:29).  God’s dynamo, which we considered on a previous occasion, was empowering Paul to do the job.  He was equipped for his commission.  We too can count on God's supply to do the work he calls us to.

The work that God gives us isn't always natural to us.  It can make demands on us for which we have no natural resources.  We have to rely on the strength he gives to get things done.  There's no shortage of supply!

Objectives

Paul writes, "I have become [the church's] servant ... to present to you the word of God in its fullness..."  (1:25). His first aim was to declare the whole Gospel, his second was to see God's people became all that they should be.  

Paul's message was Christ.  "He is the one we proclaim,” Paul writes, “admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ."  (1:28)

The Greek here repeats “everyone”: admonishing everyone, teaching everyone, presenting everyone fully mature.  Every believer is called to and is capable of Christian maturity.

To admonish someone means to put them in mind of something, and Paul's intent is to correct or prevent faulty thinking, such as the Colossians were being subjected to.

His teaching was to enable progress, growth and change.  We need to learn in order to grow: Jesus says, in John's gospel, “… you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
 
The wisdom he's talking about is the wisdom that comes from the Spirit, which we heard about in chapter 1, not something based in human wisdom or thought.

Spiritual maturity has many benefits.  Paul writes, “My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (2:2-3)

It's in being united together in community that we find encouragement, discover together a greater understanding of all we have in Christ, and find a more intimate personal relationship with Christ who is among us.

The Colossians were being challenged about what they believed.  Paul writes, "I tell you this that no-one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments," (2:4).  Growing in maturity was the third remedy to that challenge. 

In the age we live in, with all its distractions and contrary opinions of how we should behave, knowing what we believe and why we believe it is crucial for us.  Everything we need to grow is available to us in the Christ who is among us.

Are we growing?

Summary

• Commission
• No-one is beyond God's usefulness.
• Struggles
• Adversity and hard work can be expected.
• Christ is with us.
• God's supply of energy is available to those he calls.
• Objectives
• Our maturity
• That we should be encouraged in heart,
• love one another, and
• discover the fullness of Christ in us the hope of glory.