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Grace-based biblical teaching and sermons with Pastor Jason White. Messages that focus on Life in Christ and practical application as New Covenant believers.
So today we are going to be starting chapter 2 of Colossians, and so I thought it might be good for us to just review a few of the things we’ve seen so far to make sure we are all on the same page and have the context for what we’ll be looking at today and over the next several weeks.
When we began this series, we did a brief introduction, and I showed you this MAP of where Colossae was (modern-day Turkey)…
And we talked about how at one time there was this major highway that connected Ephesus and Colossae and how a lot of very different kinds of people traveled through there and even settled down there. And as a result of having all of these different backgrounds, religious affiliations, and different philosophical viewpoints, this became a very pluralistic city.
And with the church planted in the middle of all of these ideas, there was the temptation to be distracted and deceived by some of these teachings.
On top of that, there were false teachers that had arisen among the Colossian believers who were tempting them with this promise of a deeper salvation, an enhanced freedom, a more enlightened knowledge, and a heightened power in their lives that went even beyond Christ.
And so we said that they were teaching a JESUS PLUS GOSPEL. Jesus + following these rules… Jesus + having these kinds of experiences… Jesus plus other gods. Jesus plus ____________ = Everything.
And this is why Paul was writing this letter…to combat this false teaching and show them the superiority and sufficiency of Christ!
And so Paul begins this letter with a brief introduction (v. 1-2), but even there we see the way that Paul addresses the church: as saints. Not as sinners saved by grace, but as saints who sometimes sin (and there’s a big difference between the two. We live out of what we believe: sinners sin & saints do saintly things)
After the brief introduction, Paul then says that he always gives thanks to God for them, and here’s why…because of…
5 the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel.
Paul references the “true message of the gospel,” over and above whatever other “truths” they are hearing out there, and he notes that it’s that gospel that is producing faith and love in them and through them…
And then Paul actually shares what he has been praying for them…
10 … bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Bear fruit…grow in the knowledge of God…and be strengthened by Him…all while giving thanks to the Father who has qualified…has rescued…and in who we have redemption…and complete forgiveness. He is reminding them of all that God has accomplished through Jesus’ finished work on the cross! And then he goes into this description of Jesus to show his superiority:
15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
God is spirit but if you’ve seen Jesus then you’ve seen God, because He is the exact representation of the Father. And IN HIM, THROUGH HIM, and FOR HIM all things have been created. He is superior to all people, all things, and all other so-called gods.
And this God who sits high and enthroned above all things has reconciled you to Him through the cross…and that is NO SMALL DEAL because you were considered enemies of his…
21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22 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
It’s incredible to see what God has done…the love He has shown to reconcile you to Him… and to see how far you’ve come from where you were to where He’s brought you now (from enemies to those who are holy, without blemish, and free from accusation). Wow!
And so that is why Paul said in the last part of the chapter (and what we looked at last week) that he rejoices in what he is suffering for them…
24 Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you…25 … to present to you the word of God in its fullness…27 which is Christ in you, the hope of glory…28 He is the one we proclaim… 29 To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.
So this is where we left off…with Paul saying that his suffering is worth it in order that they may know Christ in them the hope of glory…
And even though we are starting a new chapter, what Paul goes into next is closely related to what he has just been talking about as you can see here in this opening verse…
I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally.
Paul is saying that he is agonizing for them and the church at Laodicea (show map). It’s only about 12 miles from Colossae, and Paul is concerned for them as well (agonizing over them)…
He knows that there were these false doctrines that could take their eyes off of Jesus and everything that had in him, and he didn’t want them to be deceived and fall for those lies.
Paul knows the sufficiency of Christ and all that these believers have in their union and relationship with Him, and so Paul is agonizing over them and as he said in 1:29…working so hard with Christ’s energy in him and through him to make sure that they keep their eyes on Christ and all that they have in Him! Verse 2…
2 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, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Okay so here presents his purpose with 3 progressive statements introduced with these phrases, “My goal is,” “so that,” and “in order that.”
MY GOAL
Paul says his goal in “proclaiming Christ in you the hope of glory” is that “they may be encouraged in heart and united in love.”
Now the way the Greek actually reads here is “that you may be encouraged by your having been knit together in love.” (aorist tense, passive voice)
Gentiles been knit together in love by Christ in you, the hope of glory. Their spiritual union w/Him as the Head and them as His Body means that they are united in His love, knit together.
And I think that Paul is bringing this idea of being knit together in love and being encouraged by that and these truths that Paul is teaching about Christ in them and through them because false teaching always divides. It always separates people…leads to isolation.
Which is exactly what Satan wants because he knows that the Christian life is a body, that we have a corporate identity and experience ENCOURAGEMENT AND LIFE IN CHRIST TOGETHER.
And so Paul wants them to be encouraged by the truth of their fullness in Christ and to experience His love through them together as a community.
And he wants the same for us. And we would be wise to lean in and really listen to this because Satan is doing a huge work in this area of the church. I see the data all over the place, and as a matter of fact, I received an email from a leader who talks about this all the time just this week:
Hi Jason,
It's no secret that the number of people who attend church is declining at an alarming rate.
Even churches that are growing are noticing that many of their attenders show up sporadically (not regularly) to in-person services.
The majority of people who 'call your church home' are away on any given Sunday.
A lot of us have just kind of become indifferent to worshiping together and doing life together, and Satan is convincing us that it’s no big deal.
And we are not talking about checking a box, we are talking about this being a part of our corporate identity, and the way God uses it for encouragement in our lives, and the way that He uses us to keep our eyes on Christ and off of the false teaching that can deceive us and rob us of the life and joy we experience in Christ…not to mention the things He is doing through us to impact our community.
So, Paul says “this is my goal, SO THAT…”
SO THAT
so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding
Notice “full” and “complete.” These words have been used a lot already…
We’ve been saying that the false teachers were promoting a “Jesus Plus” Gospel…they would have full and complete understanding when they see the other things necessary besides Jesus.
But once again, Paul points them to once again back to Jesus and the full riches that are experienced when they understand the complete truth of Jesus plus nothing.
Some translations say “assurance of understanding.” He wants them and us to have the full assurance of our salvation and all that we need in Christ.
Sometimes people will tell me that they’ve been doubting their salvation and most of the time it’s because of some sin in their life that they’ve committed or maybe that keeps coming up from time to time.
They think that it is Jesus plus their behavior that will give them everything (eternal life), but it’s just Jesus. It’s His finished work on the cross that saves, and Paul wants us to experience the full, abundant life and riches found in Christ and in Christ alone, which is what he points to next
IN ORDER THAT
in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
This is the ultimate purpose that the other 2 phrases (goals) were leading to, that they’ll know Christ in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Again, the false teachers are proclaiming that it’s Jesus plus this kind of wisdom or knowledge that you need, but Paul says, “Nope, it’s just Jesus.”
“In Him are ALL the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
And a lot of us know this, but it’s so easy to fall for the trap of looking for something more!
How many of us look past Jesus and for something more out in the world?
How many of us look for a system or the steps we need to follow to have more knowledge or wisdom to bring us something more?
Even Christian literature is full of systems, programs, steps we need to follow in order to find the treasure we feel like we’re missing…
We know Jesus, but we are looking for more…
BUT just as Paul says here, He is the treasure! The riches are found in Him!
And a lot of us are looking for it when we’ve already got it! We’re out on a treasure hunt, not knowing that we are already sitting on the treasure!
Let’s quit chasing more than Jesus and begin to realize all that we have in Him! That’s why Paul says what he does next in verse 4…
4 I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments.
The arguments are going to sound good sometimes. Satan is a master deceiver. He will even use sermons & influence people to share a Jesus plus gospel but make it sound right, so much so that it can even sometimes become what is popular and seems right to most Christians…
So Paul says, I’m trying to show you how much you have in Christ. If I show you who He is and all that has happened to you in Him, you’ll be able to recognize the fine-sounding arguments
So, Paul shows us who Jesus truly is in v. 15-20 and shows us what has happened to us in Him
been rescued from the dominion of darkness, brought into His Kingdom…
were enemies but are now holy, without blemish, and free from accusation…
that you have Christ IN YOU, the hope of glory
and that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are found in Him…
When you begin to see that and keep your eyes truly fixed on Him, then you’ll be able to recognize the “fine-sounding arguments” as lies and renew your mind to the truth of Jesus plus nothing = everything!
5 For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how disciplined you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.
Paul says even though I am not with you physically, I am in this with you…we’re in this together
And what delights him most is that the false teaching has not affected them yet. He says I delight to see how disciplined you are to keep your faith in Christ and in Christ alone…not in Jesus plus whatever these other false teachers are promoting.
Now again notice that Paul is not talking about the size of their faith. He is talking about the object of their faith!
We are not to look at this and say, “It’s about me having a bigger faith. I need to get more disciplined and grow my faith by doing religious things.”
NO, Paul is bragging about them in that the object of their faith hasn’t changed. Their faith isn’t in Jesus and their emotional spiritual experiences that they feel like they have to have to encounter God.
It’s not their faith in Jesus AND all of the rules/disciplines they are following.
NO the object of their faith is Christ and Christ alone.
It is not the size of your faith but the size of the object of your faith… and Jesus is the One who is before all things and in whom all things hold together. He is the one in whom the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are found.
A little faith in a God who holds all things together is sufficient.
So, what stood out today to you from this passage? What did God bring you here today to say to you through this text?
Are you falling for fine-sounding arguments that life is about more than Jesus?
That you are missing something in Him and are in search of a treasure that you already have?
Or what about your corporate identity that you have in Christ?
Maybe He had something to say to you about that when we looked at how Paul said his goal that we are encouraged in heart through the way we’ve been knit together in love…
The treasures we have in Christ, we hold TOGETHER as His body…
And He uses us together to encourage each other to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and all that we have in Him…
Have you found yourself pulling away? Showing up less and less… not being open and transparent with others…
Maybe that is what Jesus is speaking to you about today…to open your eyes to how Satan works to get you in isolation to keep you from the encouragement and support…the love and truth that you can only experience in Christ and in our union together with Him.
And so maybe He’s leading you to get plugged back into corporate worship and life together with others in biblical community…
Or maybe He brought you here today to show you your need for Jesus and to receive His free gift of salvation by putting your faith in Him. If so, I’ll give you a chance to do that right now.