Colossians 2:8-10

Colossians 2:8-10  See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.   For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.  In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.

As Paul continues his strong warning to the church to avoid deceptions based upon anything except the total sufficiency of Christ's finished work, he expands the revelation of Jesus Christ as the complete representation of God on Earth, just as Jesus taught when He walked this earth.  When we studied John, we saw Jesus tell his disciples He was the way and the truth and the life.  Doubting, Philip asked him to show them the Father and that would be enough.  Jesus explained, “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time?  Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.  How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?  Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?  The words I say to you are not just my own.  Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.  Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves."  (See John 14:3-14)  Paul accepted the Christ who called him from darkness into light as the fullness of the Deity, exactly as He said.  His death and resurrection proved his words.  Paul also knew all who trust in Jesus must live by faith.  As believers, we inherit Christ's fulness; therefore, WE ARE COMPLETE, LACKING NOTHING TO PLEASE GOD.  THROUGH FAITH IN CHRIST'S PERFECT SACRIFICE FOR SIN, we are spiritually circumcised: our fleshly selves--the old human nature--has been cut off and cast aside by the atoning death of Christ.  We died with him and rose again in newness of life as a new creation.  This death of the old nature and rebirth with Christ allows us to be identified with him.  Since we are buried with Christ, we declare the old rebellious nature powerless to defeat us.  Whenever sin raises its ugly head in our lives, we do not accept guilt, shame, and condemnation.  Instead, we praise God because we are alive in Christ, dead to our former way of living.  Christ in us is our hope of glory.  We know the Holy Spirit will perfect us as we identify with Christ and become more sensitive to God's still small voice by yielding control to the Spirit's leading.  

Paul explains this miraculous process of dying with Christ and rising with him as a new creature to the church in Rome.   He proclaims, if we have died to sin through Christ, then we have been

 baptized into his death.  We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. 

  Free in our Savior, if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.  For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.  The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.  Paul declares new creatures in Christ do not continue in sin that grace may abound.  Instead, they count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.   He rightly concludes: sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.  (See Romans 6:1-14)   As we learn who we are in Christ and who Christ is in us through the power of the Holy Spirit, we begin to function more consistently and joyfully in the body of Christ where God calls us to minister and to serve him.  Likewise, we become more in tune with God's will, his perfect plan.  As the things of Earth lose their appeal, we become less likely to wander, more apt to listen and to obey.  We see a harvest of the fruit of the Spirit as we live by the Spirit and keep in step with the Spirit rather than engaging in the unprofitable works of the flesh, producing bitter fruit that leads us into distractions, temptations, and the fruitless works of this world.  (See Galatians 5)  

Paul empathically warns the Colossians, See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of men.  He points believers toward victory in Jesus, reminding them of their hope in their risen Lord.  He says, avoid manmade traditions and vain philosophies, requiring people to win favor with God by works or sacrifices of the flesh.  Those false philosophies represent the foolish imaginations of arrogant humans, trying to please God through their own efforts and abilities.  This is the same recalcitrant spirit that caused Adam and Eve to fall.  The serpent did not have to do anything except plant a doubt and they faltered.  “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”  Such a small temptation caused them to fall: they ate of the tree of knowledge because the deceiver promised, “You will not surely die.  For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”  (See Genesis 2:1-4)  Throughout  time, many false prophets and clever philosophers have created new ideas, creative teachings, or alternative religions to unlock the mysteries of the universe or to reach God by their intellect and powers of perception; but Christ came to cast aside and to do away with humankind's futile efforts to find truth and manmade religion's ineffective attempts to know the creator of the universe.  

Through the power of his sacrifice, Christ places himself as the only mediator between God and man.  When Thomas asked Jesus how the disciples could know the way to the Father, Christ categorically exclaimed, “I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.  If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well.  From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”  (John 14: 6-7)  Any effort to please God except through Jesus will fail miserably.  As natural lawbreakers, we all fail outside of Christ.  We cannot honor the religious laws and traditions we set up ourselves without breaking or skewing them.  God does not accept imperfections of any kind in his presence without judgment.  On the Mountain of Transfiguration, Jesus alone was the righteous, perfect One: He alone pleases God.  Hidden IN HIM by faith, we are righteous, for He is righteous.  Jesus Christ's DNA flows through each and every believer; you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority: we are his for eternity and nothing can take us from his hand.  Jesus said, Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.  (John 10:7)  As his child, you are complete in him, lacking nothing: no special works, no continual sacrifices, no secret codes are required.  See to it that no one takes you captive!  Stand fast in your freedom and rejoice!  

 

Colossians 2:9-7

Colossians 2:9-7  I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally.  My purpose 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.  I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments.  For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.  So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. 

When Paul wrote his pastoral letters, he desired these nascent churches to comprehend fully the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.  He struggled for their growth in Christ, for these believers' roots to grow deep in the faith they had accepted when they received Christ Jesus as Lord.  His holy aim and firm resolve was that these new Christians might not waver but remain well-grounded in understanding by faith they were founded IN CHRIST as new creatures, collectively known as the body of Christ.  Because of his former life, Paul understood the dangers of religion outside of the power of the cross and the cleansing blood of Jesus.  He knew how easily the flesh becomes subtly distracted and begins mixing law with grace by returning to old patterns and worldly methods, trying to build a relationship with God based on works instead of God's unmerited favor.  He desired to affirm these babies in Christ because if they began to turn from the truth of Christ's work in them, they might leave the purity of the new covenant, the gospel of faith in Christ alone and look for security in religious ceremonies, sacred days, and righteous works based on human efforts.  He wanted them to know beyond any doubt the grace and mercy given to them through Christ remained powerful enough to save their souls for all eternity.  He was a loving spiritual father with a passion for these dearly beloved brothers and sisters, even those he had not met personally.  Yet he did not want to come across as a righteous judge.  We see this love in his first letter to the church at Thessalonica: You are witnesses, and God also, how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe; as you know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father does his own children, that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.  (1 Thessalonians 2:10-12)

Paul's heart welled up within him with a vision for this church, this people of God gathered together in Colosse in Jesus' name.  He encouraged these beginners in Christ to be united in love, to develop a oneness in attitude, purpose, and action for the benefit of the community of Christ.  He wanted these new Christians to understand their position, purpose, and privilege as members of the living body of Christ.  They weren't outside of Christ praying for his blessing or for some type of special visitation from God that might set them apart for some future service.  No, Paul cried out with a missionary zeal to these converts, describing what he saw with spiritual eyes for the Colossian church as he told them not be led astray by any fine-sounding arguments.  He wanted them to know they were IN CHRIST, FILLED WITH HIS HOLY SPIRIT.  Paul struggled in prayer for them because he knew the wolves of dissension lay in wait to scatter the flock and to devour the weak ones.  He knew the evil one, the deceiver, would try to lead some astray if they did not understand and walk in their position in Christ.  He knew these Gentile believers came directly out of complete darkness into the light.  Paul understood the powers of evil would not easily release their hold on the newly saved.  Peter was writing to Christians when he encouraged the church:  Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.  (1Peter 5:8-9)  Paul wanted these believers to know he was contending for them, believing for their spiritual success through the wondrous power of the cross.  He was saying even though he was absent from them, he was there in the spirit, confident in who Christ was in them, seeing them strong in the faith.  Therefore, he encourages them to serve Christ in his body, the church, strengthened in the faith as they had learned to do, overflowing with thankfulness.  

Today, many people gather on Sunday mornings as observers of events planned to please God and to comfort people, and others take part as casual participants in spiritual exercises that do not translate into their everyday walking about lives.  Modern-day christianity in some instances has adopted the philosophy that sitting in a pew, singing a few songs, and listening to an engaging sermon is the epitome of worship.  We who are IN CHRIST were not meant to sit in some building, worshipping Christ, independent of each other.  As surely as we are in that building, we are IN CHRIST, AN INTEGRAL LIVING PART OF HIS BODY, CALLED TO FUNCTION, CALLED TO SERVE, TO LIVE OUT THAT CALLING.  We are the pancreas, the colon, the little toe of a body.  When the body works as it should, the Bible says, we grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.  (Ephesians 4:15-16)   If we view ourselves as merely sitting with a group of people, going through the exercise of worship, our attitude is completely wrong.  We are not students of a historical Christ, what He did a long time ago.  We are not bemoaning what He has not done.  We are not spectators of the paid performers who are the church staff: we are his body, necessary to each other.  If we don't function IN CHRIST as Paul instructs, we will not have the joy, peace, and love that will cure the ills of the world.  Paul commended the Colossians for their orderliness and firmness of faith as they functioned for the benefit Christ.  When the body of Christ squeezes itself into that building to sing, worship, listen, testify and provide for each member as we ought, then the body is rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith.  May the Spirit grow our roots down deep in you, Lord!  

Colossians 1:24-29

Colossians 1:24-29  Now I rejoice in what was suffered 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.  I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness — the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints.  To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.  We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.   To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me. 

The fullness of the gospel, the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, remains God's redemption plan through his Son, Jesus, sent to die and to rise again for a lost people.  As Paul wrote: If we have been united with him [Christ] like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.  For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.  (Romans 6:5-7)  Following this transformation, we are forever known as the NEWBORN, children of the living God.  As human beings, we are born in the flesh into a world of sin.  Outside of Christ, people live unto themselves, serve their own needs.  Yet a time comes when all must pay the penalty for sin, the sin of Adam: rebellion against God.  With our sins before us as cards placed on a table, they do not line up in our favor: we lose.  But for all who know the Lord, Jesus is the trump card.  As King of Kings, He trumped all the cards that condemned us with his sacrifice at the cross.  Jesus foretold the efficacious power of his blood at the last supper when he drank from the cup, saying, This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.  (Matthew 26:28)  His words were not understood then, but the New Testament church went forth to change the world because Christ's atoning sacrifice wiped away every condemning sin forever as He cleared the table of every shred of damning evidence, fulfilling God's requirements for sin.  The writer of Hebrews describes the priests offering sacrifices exactly as God had ordained because without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.  Yet when Jesus became our high priest, He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.  After He arose from the dead, his work was finished for all time.  Jesus Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence.  Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. . .Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people.  (See Hebrews 9:12-28)  He who knew no sin bore our sin that He might rise victoriously over sin and death so we might live with him.  THE MYSTERY: HE IN US; WE IN HIM.  This is the great plan: redemption, freedom, adoption, eternal life with Father God.  

Now, we who are born again through Christ are vitally essential to everything He does on this earth.  Through us He changes lives permanently for all eternity.  As new creatures in Christ encapsulated by him and his mission, we are his bond-slaves, created in his image with the Holy Spirit directing our lives.  Under the direction of the Holy Spirit, we willingly submit to our Lord and not to our flesh.  Out of love, we desire to function in the body of Christ.  Paul wrote all his letters to churches or believers, yet he spoke of many failings common to the flesh.  He told the Galatians: You, my brothers, were called to be free.  But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.  The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.  (Galatians 5:13-15)  Obviously, some of them struggled in those areas to the point he thought they were using their freedom as license to serve their flesh, and he feared they might destroy each other in the process.  For a believer, keeping in step with the Spirit while walking in the sun/Son is our inheritance.  The light of heaven shines in our hearts.  The warmth of the Spirit not only abides in our souls but rests upon our faces.  Because the Son is not only in our hearts but within our total being, life changes: everything is more vivid.  Paul told the Corinthian church the god of this age blinds minds so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.  He said he was not preaching himself.  He wanted them to know the same God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” because this same God made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.  (See 2 Corinthians 4:4-6)  Everyone has a last day on Earth when our loved ones either receive the news of our death or they gather around us, counting the breaths until we expire.  Then, we will no longer feel the warmth of sun on this side of the veil separating us from our eternal home.  But Praise the Lord, we will never know a moment outside of the warmth of the Son's loving presence, the light of heaven.  

My friend, today is the day of faith: God always works in the now.  We know faith pleases God fully.  Enjoy this day while you still have life and breath, the ability to walk in the sunlight and the privilege to live life fully by faith in the resurrection power of the Son of God who gave himself for you.  Realize with joy that today is the day of the Lord.  Today is the day you can do something on this side of the veil.  If you are wasting your time complaining, arguing, criticizing, faultfinding, worrying, daydreaming, procrastinating, fixing others, working for things of no eternal value, ignoring God's voice, feeling sorry for yourself, comparing your life with someone else's, looking for recognition, holding a grudge, waiting for an apology, lying in bed, watching TV, sitting around doing nothing, why not try something different?  Do something new that is entirely for someone else's benefit--bless someone else, expecting nothing in return.  You will rejoice in the Lord.  Do not let the enemy of your soul who is a liar and a thief take away the sun/Son, the warmth of heaven in your life.  Lift up your head, look around you and see the meadow rich before you in velvet green, full of opportunities.  This is your time to live IN CHRIST by faith.  This is YOUR TIME to be an ambassador for Christ.  This is your time to enjoy every breath you take, as one born of God serving him in fulness of joy.  Jesus says, I have given them the glory that you gave me (SONSHIP), that they may be one as we are one: I IN THEM AND YOU IN ME.  (John I7:22-23)  Paul knew who he was IN CHRIST.  Even though he experienced many difficulties in his life, he never quit running across that meadow, seeking the lost, testifying of Christ, remaining in the sun/Son, pressing on with his eyes on Jesus, using every breath for Christ, rejoicing in the hope and joy set before him.  Therefore he could say, We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.  To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.  Likewise, by faith we can dedicate our energy to revealing Christ and his good works to the world that many might come into perfection as sons and daughters of the Most High.   

   

Colossians 1:21-23

Colossians 1:21-23  Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.  But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation — if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.  This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant. 

As a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God (Romans 1:1), Paul constantly proclaimed the Good News to all who would hear.  Rather than tearing down the church by merely listing their faults,  Paul focussed more on the total sufficiency of Christ and the completeness of God's grace gifts to bring a lost creation into relationship with him through his beloved Son.  In today's verses, he tells the Colossians, even though they were alienated from God and were enemies of their creator, God conceived an amazing eternal plan: creating children of God, making them righteous, holy in his sight, by the blood of his only begotten Son.  Paul emphasizes their new position in and through Jesus Christ: born again, made perfect, without blemish--holy before the Abba Father's eyes.  Through him [Jesus Christ] all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  (John 1:3)  Jesus created children of God, a new creation from a fallen race.  Paul will not preach any other gospel or allow any false doctrine to share the spotlight.  He says this is the gospel that you have heard.  To satisfy the wrath of God on all sin and unrighteousness, Jesus willingly suffered agony and shame, endured the cross, and went to the grave dependent upon the Holy Spirit to raise him victoriously to eternal life.  Now, ALL who have faith in Christ's death and resurrection receive the reward of eternal life as adopted members of his family.  As joint heirs with Christ, we also receive power from on high that we might be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  We put on the full armor of God that through Christ we might defeat the devil’s schemes.  (See Ephesians 6)  When Paul wrote his encouragements, exhortations, and corrections to the various churches, he believed in them so confidently, he could pen the words while under house arrest, in chains, or facing death.  He gave Timothy sound advice when he told him to keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist. . ..  (2 Timothy 4:5)

Paul's saw the church of the living God joyfully going forward by power of the Spirit, sacrificially doing the work of the Lord.  Therefore, he reminds the Colossians they were once alienated from God. . .enemies.  Since the fall of mankind, an innate spirit of rebellion, the desire to rule, to reign, and to replace God as the highest authority in creation has motivated humans.  In the Old Testament account of people trying to build a great tower, when God surveyed what they were doing, He knew the intent of their hearts.  He knew they wanted to usurp his power and authority, so he separated them.  The LORD said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.  Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”  (Genesis 11:6-7)   Clearly, God believed separation was necessary to prevent these people from carrying out their evil desire to be gods, to know what God knows, perhaps even create life.  In our age, through the universal language of the computer, people have broken through barriers thought impossible only a few years ago.  Computers provide almost instantaneous access to retrieve all the information ever printed on any subject in seconds and minutes.  Within a brief period, we can electronically contact and connect the brightest minds in the world to discuss a problem or to explore and to expand the boundaries of knowledge in any area.  Consequently, mankind is handling the basic elements of life, reality, and the universe to a degree that boggles an average person's understanding and intellect.  What is consciousness?  What causes aging, sickness, death?   We have found new particles traveling faster than light, undermining our previous understanding of time.  Some believe we are close to the frontiers of time travel and parallel universes--knocking on heaven's door.  Fallen man wants to know what God knows--to be as He is  Who needs a righteous God if we can be as He is on our own?  Some religions claim after death we will reach the metaphysical heights of ruling as gods with our own universe and planets.  As Isaiah proclaimed long ago, We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.  (Isaiah 53:6)  Individually and collectively human beings have wandered far from God, each turning toward the way of the world for our answers, rejecting God's supremacy and his salvation plan.  The Bible says, There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.  (Proverbs 16:25)

Paul asks these new converts, "Have you forgotten you were born far from God: you are enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior?"  Paul often contrasts flesh and spirit.  Writing to Timothy, he says, Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness. . .Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.  Then he warns of the last days when people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power.  (2 Timothy 2:19 & 22, & 3:2-5)   We all see the enemies of God.  We encounter hateful, spiteful, rude, unthankful, lying, untrustworthy, and faithless people.  Sadly, we see those traits in ourselves when we stray from the Lord, go our way.  Rebellion against God leads to death, now and in the life to come.  Jesus is the Way.  We say it again: the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all!  God loves sinners!  Jesus is the Good Shepherd: He loves and cares for his sheep.  He bore the penalty to ransom us from sin and death to live eternally with him.  He hides and protects us inside himself as the ever-flowing fountain of his blood cleanses us.  Jesus made us holy in God's eyes: he has reconciled you (us) by Christ’s physical body through death to present you (us) holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation.  Since Jesus perpetually washes away our sins, God no longer has a case against us.  WE ARE PERFECT FOREVER BECAUSE HE IS PERFECT.  God sees us as He sees his son, with great pleasure.  What angel could have thought of such a great redemption plan: The unredeemable created anew at the hands of Jesus the Creator!  He not only died so we could live, He gives us his robe of righteousness.  We have freedom, protection, right standing with Father God forever.  As blood-bought children of the Most-high God, we come boldly to the throne of grace, knowing we have a  glorious inheritance through Christ our Lord.  Hold fast to the TRUTH dear ones.  Rejoice in your salvation.  Let your light shine: loving, forgiving, comforting, encouraging, serving, and growing where God has planted you to bring forth a harvest of the fruit of the Spirit.  God has bountifully blessed you with grace gifts.  May we share his hope, love, peace, joy, and salvation plan today.  Precious partakers of this meal, be established and firm, continuing in the faith as servants of the Lord, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.