CAPITAL BIBLE CHURCH July 28, Colossians Series: Journey to Spiritual Maturity. Jesus is All I Need. Colossians 2:9 15

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1 CAPITAL BIBLE CHURCH July 28, 2013 SERMON NOTES PASTOR BILL HAKEN Colossians Series: Journey to Spiritual Maturity Jesus is All I Need Colossians 2:9 15 Intro: Lots of false gurus and messiahs in world today. (slide?) The Bible predicts and warns us that in the last days MANY false prophets and Christs shall arise and DECEIVE MANY. (Matthew 24:11). Jesus went on to say this later in the same chapter: If any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. (Matthew 24:23-25) Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many Antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. (1 John 2:18) it also says: Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves (Matthew 7:15), and tells us to: Watch out that you are not deceived.do not follow them. (Luke 21:8) Never before has there been so many men claiming to be the Messiah. This fulfillment of ancient prophecy spoken by Jesus Himself is more solid proof of the Bible s precision accuracy, reliability and credibility as the Word of the living God and an indication that we are now surely living in the end-times. Yesterday it was Jim Jones and David Koresh, of Waco, today it s Australian Jesus a.k.a. AJ Miller and his wife Mary, Siberian Christ Sergei Torop, an ex-policeman who believes he s the literal reincarnation of Jesus Christ. Meanwhile in Miami, Florida, a pastor called Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda can t make up his mind if he s Jesus, or the Antichrist, as he claims to be both! These are just SOME of the many false prophets and messiahs popping up all over the world right now! Not only are we seeing this rise of false messiahs across the world, but there is also a massive deception occurring in the Church, a falling away, as the Bible puts it, into doctrines of devils, teaching that appeals to itching ears, but is contrary to the Word of God.

2 Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons. (2 Timothy 4:1) For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 2 Timothy 4:3 God wants us to know that Jesus is all I need. Why did Jesus come? Paul gives us these 4 truths about Jesus: 1. Jesus is all we need to know about God (2:9) Colossians 2: 9 For in Christ the fullness of God lives in a human body, Fullness means the sum total. Jesus Christ was the totality of everything God can be in flesh and blood. John 1:1 In the beginning the Word already existed. He was with God, and he was God. 14 So the Word became human and lived here on earth among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father. All that God wants us to know about Himself is revealed in Jesus Christ. Everything God could show us through flesh and blood was revealed in Jesus Christ. Jesus is every bit God, but this does not mean that the infinite God was contained in bodily form. Like the metaphor of the ocean; Stand in front of a vast, seemingly endless ocean. Now, completely fill a pint jar with ocean water. You now have all of the ocean that can be put into the jar, even though the ocean still seems infinite. In the same way, though God can never be fully contained in a human body, everything God could be in human flesh He was in Jesus Christ. All our finite minds can understand about God is revealed in Jesus Christ. He is God with skin on His face, spelling Himself out in a language we can understand. Hebrews 1:1 In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets many times and in many different ways.

3 2 But now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he made the universe and everything in it. 3 The Son reflects God s own glory, and everything about him represents God exactly. He sustains the universe by the mighty power of his command. After he died to cleanse us from the stain of sin, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God of heaven. 2. Jesus is all we need for salvation (2:10 12) Colossians 2:10a and you are complete through your union with Christ, Who is the Lord over every ruler and authority in the universe. When we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, we are made complete (word meant outfitted like a ship for a voyage). It does not mean we are everything yet God wants us to be, and will make us to be, but that we have been given everything in Christ that we need for the voyage of life. End of the verse means Jesus has authority over all the forces that exist in the universe Illustration of the 7 Sons of Sceva in Acts 19:14, demon or evil spirit said back to them Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you? The next verses about circumcision Paul put in because some of the Jews as they became Christians were telling Gentile believers they had to be circumcised to be a Christian. Much like people today say you have to be baptized to be a Christian. Colossians 2:11 Also in Christ you had a different kind of circumcision, a circumcision not done by hands. It was through Christ s circumcision, that is, his death, that you were made free from the power of your sinful self. 12 When you were baptized, you were buried with Christ, and you were raised up with him through your faith in God s power that was shown when he raised Christ from the dead. Physical baptism in the NT was like physical circumcision in the OT it identifies you as a child of God through faith in Christ. Just like there are two kinds of baptism, physical and spiritual, there are two kinds of circumcision, physical and spiritual. 1 Corinthians 12:13 By one Spirit you were all baptized into one body, the body of Christ.

4 The same power that raised Jesus from the dead saves us and changes us. We don t need to add circumcision, baptism, good deeds or anything else to it. Jesus is all we need for salvation! Ephesians 2:8, 9 I mean that you have been saved by grace through believing. You did not save yourselves; it was a gift from God. It was not the result of your own efforts, so you cannot brag about it. 3. Jesus is all we need for forgiveness (2:13 14) Colossians 2:13 You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ. He forgave all our sins. Mankind is naturally, spiritually dead! Ephesians 2:1-3 Once you were dead, doomed forever because of your many sins. 2 You used to live just like the rest of the world, full of sin, obeying Satan, the mighty prince of the power of the air. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passions and desires of our evil nature. We were born with an evil nature, and we were under God s anger just like everyone else. When you are spiritually dead, the Bible does not interest you, and spiritual things don t interest you! Dead people can t respond to spiritual stimuli. That s why Paul said here that God makes us alive. Ephesians 2:4,5 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so very much, that even while we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God s special favor that you have been saved!) Colossians 2:14 He canceled the record that contained the charges against us. He took it and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ s cross. Christ paid our sin debt in Bible times when you had a debt, you signed a paper that admitted you owed the debt. When it was paid, the paper was wiped off, the debt was wiped out. 4. Jesus is all we need for victory (2:15) Colossians 2: 15 He disarmed the rulers of darkness and demonic forces, and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it. Jesus disarmed Satan (literally stripping him ) and the fallen angels (the rulers and authorities), and made a public display of them.

5 The idea here is like that of a triumphant Roman general, parading his defeated captives through the streets of Rome. Christ s victory on the cross halted the demons in their attempts to stop His redemptive work and stripped Satan of his powers. 1 Corinthians 15:57 How we thank God, who gives us victory over sin and death through Jesus Christ our Lord! Hebrews 2:14 Because God s children are human beings made of flesh and blood Jesus also became flesh and blood by being born in human form. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the Devil, who had the power of death. 15 Only in this way could he deliver those who have lived all their lives as slaves to the fear of dying. To worship such defeated and humiliated beings would be the height of folly. The cross is the answer to the false teachers insistence on worshiping angelic beings. Through the Lord Jesus and His work on the cross (cf. Eph. 1:20-23; 3:10), God canceled the believer s debt, defeating Satan and his fallen angels. That is why Paul can affirm in Romans 8:37-39, No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. 38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can t, and life can t. The angels can t, and the demons can t. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can t keep God s love away. 39 Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Ephesians 6:12 says that we still wrestle against the forces of evil, but they cannot be victorious. Christ, the crucified, risen Lord of all, reigns supreme in the universe. To be united with Him is to be free from Satan s dominion. The death of Christ brings transformation, pardon, and victory. That adds up to complete salvation with complete forgiveness and triumph. No wonder Paul said, Galatians 6:14 As for me, God forbid that I should boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world died long ago, and the world s interest in me is also long dead.