THE SUBSTANCE OF THE GOSPEL: JESUS CHRIST COLOSSIANS 2:6-10 DAN BROOKS, PASTOR SUNDAY MORNING, MAY 15, 2016 INTRODUCTION: Fill in this blank: If I could, I would. What s missing from your life at the moment? What would make feel complete? When I was in my mid-twenties an unhealthy relationship with an unhealthy guy sent me packing off to the corner of New Mexico to find myself. In a new age, self-discovery kind of world a hubbub of a town filled with people in transition I was graced to meet many powerful healers, gurus, shamans, and teachers. I became a workshop junkie. I went on Shamanic power journeys to spiritual centers around the world, chanted with Indian gurus, and became a certified yoga instructor and Reiki master. I got rolfed, (and got more intense body-work by thick-boned Maoris) and rebirthed with conscious breath work. I studied parapsychology and quantum dynamics, did past-life regressions, memorized mantras, unraveled koans, and collected crystals and tarot cards. I went on vision quests in the desert, called leading psychics, mapped my astrological chart, figured out my Enneagram number, dreamed lucidly for nights in an upright chair, and drew down the moon in Wiccan circles. I had psychic surgeries, soft-tissue chiropractic work, drank herbal tinctures and elixirs, bought every kind of healing essential oil, collected a library of self-help books, and did inner-child work, gestalt dialogues, and did loads of homework with several life coaches. I know. It s crazy, huh? I was a perpetual seeker. Because of an innate sense that there was something wrong with me and a belief I picked up as a child that I was bad, I constantly looked outside of myself to find respite, feel loved, and to know my worth. Even though my unhealthy relationship was dysfunctional, that man gave me a gift that I wouldn t discover for years. There was something he always said to me that would have saved me from grasping to know myself for so many years, if only I could have really heard it and made it my own. Whether he meant it or not, he would say: What s not to love about you? If I could only for one minute stop and realize this truth, I could have found my peace, and not from a man or spiritual teacher or seminar. I would have been freed from a need to find something outside of me. I would have come to know my own heart. 1 Is this you? Does any of that sound familiar to you? Are you a perpetual seeker? Do you live with that same innate sense that something is wrong inside of you? There are many followers of Jesus who experience the same restlessness, who make Christian power journeys moving from one church to the next, from one favorite author to the next, from one guru to another. They scour blogs and websites for something more. Some also drink herbal tinctures and go on special diets, buy every kind of healing essential oil and collect a library full of self-help books. While there is nothing wrong with taking care of your body, all of that is sometimes evidence of a spiritual hunger or pain or void. 1 Lynn Newman, tinybuddha.com/blog/6-questions-that-will-make-you-fee-peaceful-and-complete/
P a g e 2 I. Jesus Christ is the center of life (2:6-8). A. We center all of life in Christ. 1. As you received Christ Jesus the Lord: a. This takes them back to when they were first evangelized by Epaphras (1:7). b. you received Him as your Lord! 2. Walk in Him: a metaphor for living life or conducting your life, live out your life as those who are in Christ. 3. We are rooted and built up in him by God. 4. Through vv. 9-15 Paul writes 6 x s of what the believer experiences in Christ. 5. In Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily 6. You have been filled in Him 7. In Him also you were circumcised 8. Buried with Him in baptism 9. Raised with Him through faith 10. Made alive together with Him B. We sometimes experience challenges to our faith. 1. The crisis of faith at Colossae occurred within 5-10 years of the planting of this church by Epaphras. 2. All of these prepositional phrases referring to the believer s relationship to Jesus are essential correctives to a false teaching that was coming into Colossae. 3. Paul describes it as not according to Christ. 4. Col 2:8See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. 5. Such teaching draws people away from Christ and into relationship with either... a. Human tradition / human thinking (e.g., Oprah Winfrey, Joel Osteen) b. Elemental spirits or spiritual powers of the world (e.g., New Age & Eastern mysticism, to dark arts like the syncretistic VooDoo of places like Haiti where there is a mixture of Catholic doctrine and worship of demons) 6. Note vv. 16-19 The teacher raised questions and made suggestions along the lines of: a. Food & drink b. A festival, a new moon, a Sabbath c. Asceticism (austerity and self-denial) d. Worship of angels e. Visions 7. Point: The temptation is to think that Jesus Christ is less than sufficient for life, to think that we need more, a deeper experience, a fuller knowledge. 8. Q: What does Paul call this? a. Shadows (2:17) b. Self-made religion (2:23) C. We order all of life according to Christ. 1. The life you live is not loosely connected to Jesus Christ, it is ordered and arranged according to Christ. 2. The troubles and struggles of daily living obscure the realities of our relationship with Jesus. 3. The sin and failure of daily living further dims our eyes as we try to see Jesus. 4. Sometimes the simplicity of life according to Jesus seems less than fulfilling and we begin to believe that there must be something more.
P a g e 3 5. And the door opens to a guru like this guy at Colossae who comes in selling a higher life or deeper spirituality if you ll just plunk down the money or the time and follow his advice. II. JESUS CHRIST COMPLETES THE BELIEVER S LIFE. (2:9-10) 9 For [because] in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. A. We are made complete by Christ who is full deity. 1. What is the fullness? a. Fullness: (πλήρωμα) 1) With reference to the earth πλήρωμα refers to the totality of the earth. 2) Ps 24:1The earth is the Lord s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein 3) With reference to time πλήρωμα indicates that a set period has been brought to completion. 4) Ga 4:4But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son. 5) With reference to God πλήρωμα refers to all that makes Him what He is. All that God is, all His perfections, all His attributes, all His works, all His glory, everything that makes Him God, dwells in the bodily form of Jesus Christ. 6) And Paul even adds a little adjective which we translate whole (πᾶν) so that there can be no doubt as to the deity of Jesus Christ. b. What makes God to be God? 1) Incommunicable Attributes (He is wholly other ) a) Independence b) Unchangeableness c) Eternity d) Omnipresence e) Omnipotence f) Omniscience g) Unity (God is not divided into parts) 2) Communicable Attributes a) Holiness & spiritual b) Knowledge & wisdom c) Truthful & faithful d) Goodness & peace e) Love & mercy f) Patience & grace g) Righteousness & justice h) Jealousy & wrath 2. The whole fullness of deity dwells bodily in Christ! a. That s why Paul describes Jesus in chapter 1 as the incomparable, imperial, incarnate Christ who indwells His people. b. All that makes God to be God resides permanently in Jesus. 3. So what? B. We are made complete in Christ who is supreme over all. 10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. 1. You all (2PP) 2. In Him: (ἐν αὐτῷ)
P a g e 4 3. Have been filled: (πεπληρωμένοι) a. You have been made complete (NASB95) b. You have been brought to fullness (NIV) c. Notice: it is a passive verb. 1) You didn t do the filling. Paul is not taking credit for the filling. 2) What s implied? That God has done this filling. 4. How should we understand the terms rule and authority? a. Rule: (ἀρχῆς) b. Authority: (ἐξουσίας) c. Context determines meaning. 1) 1:16For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities all things were created through him and for him. 2) 2:15He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. d. Cross-referencing will help to determine meaning 1) Ro 8:38 39 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 2) 1 Co 15:24 25 24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 5. Christ s imperial position. a. Head: (κεφαλὴ) the head, chief, one to whom others are subordinate. 2 b. Point: Whatever spiritual powers the Colossians were enamored with and tempted to dabble in, in order that they might find some extra spiritual kick or reach some super level of spirituality, are actually inferior and subordinate to Jesus Christ. c. They think that their lives as followers of Jesus might be lacking something. That makes them susceptible to false teaching and human precepts, self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body. C. Application: 1. Because we are ignorant of the Person and Work of Jesus Christ, we believe we have to add things to the gospel. a. We add our good works. b. We add our religious zeal. c. We add our sacrifice. d. We add our forms of worship & service. 2. But... a. You are not complete because you read your Bible and pray every day. b. You are not complete because you join an NGO, move to Nepal, and care for the poor. c. You are not complete because you never use bad words or speak in harsh tones. d. You are not complete because you learn to sing on pitch or skillfully play an instrument. e. You are not complete because you pay your bills on time or meet the company deadlines or raise money for the United Way. f. You are not complete because you live a morally upright life or serve in full-time ministry. 2 Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000).
P a g e 5 III. 3. The only completeness that you will ever know is the completeness Paul is writing of in this letter, the completeness that is found in Jesus Christ. 4. This is why we say that Christ is the Substance of the Gospel! 5. The thrill of all the benefits and blessings of saving grace will be in proportion to how much we reflect on the completeness of Christ and our completeness in Him. 3 6. If you are filled with Christ then there s not really any room for man-made tradition or the elemental spirits of the world or self-made religion or asceticism or severity to the body or anything else. D. Summary: The gospel is the good news of what God the Father is doing through God the Son, by the power and ministry of God the Spirit to bring you to completion. E. Over the next 11 weeks we re going to see that it is God who chooses, who calls, who draws, who regenerates, who converts, who justifies, God who forgives, who redeems, who reconciles, who adopts, who baptizes, who sanctifies, who keeps, and who glorifies His people as He perfectly conforms them to the image of Jesus Christ His beloved Son. F. If you are genuine believer, a follower of Jesus Christ, you are complete in Him! Application: A. How does your life compare to the saints at Colossae? 1. In what ways do you struggle to be fulfilled? 2. What are some examples of extra-biblical teaching that we use to be fulfilled? 3. What are some of the methods we use in order to be fulfilled? B. How is Jesus Christ superior to those teaching and methods? 1. Identify one divine attribute of Christ that stands out to you today. Meditate on that attribute. 2. If Jesus is perfectly (the attribute you are meditating on) and you are made complete in Him, how does His (the attribute you are meditating on) shape your identity? 3. How else does this particular attribute of Christ affect your life and world? 3 Michael Barrett, Complete In Him, Ambassador-Emerald, 5-6.