Colossians 2:6-23

CONTINUE TO LIVE IN CHRIST

Colossians 2:6-23 Lesson 5
Key Verses: 2:6,7 Shp Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF 8-2-09

"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, 7rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."
In the last passage, Paul reveals the mystery of God. The mystery of God is Christ himself. The mystery is that when Christ dwells in our hearts, we are encouraged in heart and united in love. In him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. The other part of the mystery is that God wants to save all people, even the Gentiles. When Gentiles accept the gospel, then they, too, are indwelt by Christ. They have the same hope to reign with Christ in the heavenly kingdom. To reveal this mystery was the purpose of Paul’s hard work and his suffering. But he rejoiced to participate in the remaining suffering of Christ to make this mystery known to a lost world. In lesson we will discover some of the practical responses to accepting the mystery of God. Paul also gives warns concerning what to avoid as they embark on their life of faith.
Part l: Full Life In Christ (6-15)
Paul leads us to some practical conclusions that stem from discovering the mystery of God. Look at verses 6-7, "So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, 7rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness." The Colossians had responded well to the Gospel message. In fact, it was a great response. Most seem to be unresponsive. But there are places where people respond well the message of the Gospel of Jesus. Recently, Dr Ben Toh, of West Loop UBF, went to the Philippines. There he led the people in a week long series of group Bible studies. There were about 40 attendants each day. They were excited about learning about the Word of God. Their response was fantastic. At the recent NIU-DuPage Summer conference many people responded well to the message of the Gospel. Payton, a middle school student, stated that before the conference she was an ardent atheist, but after the conference her defensive coat began to crack. She confessed that she was a questioning atheist. Jake, Augustine’s friend, stated, “I believe in God! I’m a Christian because of you Augi.” All attendants came nearer to Jesus through a good response to the mystery of God.
Part of responding well to the Gospel is receiving Jesus as Lord. Romans 10:9 reads, “That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” In America it is hard to understand what is means that Jesus is Lord. The closest thing to Lord, is our parents or our bosses or our teachers. But in the past, there were kings and lords of the land. To make it simple, to receive Jesus Christ as Lord, means that you see him for who he is, the King of kings, and Lord of lords…the Lord of heaven and earth. There was one Indian convert who accepted Jesus as his 102nd Lord. But Jesus is the Only Master and Lord. People who accept Jesus as their Savior, must accept him as their Lord. You cannot separate the two. He is worthy to be made the center of our lives. Paul is an example of one who accepted Jesus as Lord. He says in Romans 1:5 reads, “Through him and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.” To accept Jesus as Lord is imperative and a matter of life and death. Why? If we don’t accept Jesus as Lord, then something else will be our Lord and lead us to destruction, and most likely it will be your sinful nature, goaded on by the devil.
We received Christ Jesus by faith, and we must continue to live in him by faith. Look at verse 6b, “…continue to live in him.” The word “live” in Greek means to walk. The KJV says “To walk in him.” The RSV reads, “To continue in him.” When we receive Jesus as Savior and Lord, we begin a new life. We must take root in Christ and grow. It is a lifestyle. This is not a “one time event.” It is not just a matter of only thinking about Jesus and the Gospel. We must make it very practical and keep growing.

Verse 7 reveals more about continuing in Jesus; “rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness." These are four ways to continue to live in him.1. being rooted 2. built up 3. strengthened in the faith and 4. thankful.
First rooted. A tree has roots and a person who accepts Jesus as Lord is like a tree, but with spiritual roots. Psalm 1:2-3 reads, "But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.” Where do the roots of a tree grow? They grow down and outward, searching for the source of water. A tree may be getting it’s water from 50 feet away or more! One tree near the Bible house searches for water in the sewer pipes. Jesus is living water. (John 4:10) All we have to do is let our roots go down, searching out this living water. We can not ignore our roots, focusing only on our leaves, for the whole growth of the tree depends on the roots. We need to spread out roots, spend time mediating on God’s grace and studying his word. It is very simple.
Second, “Built up in him.” We learned a little about building the houses of our lives through Hannah Kim’s message at the 2009 DuPage/NIU SBC. She led us to Matthew 7:24-25, which reads, "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock." In this passage Jesus urges us to build the foundation of our lives and ministries on the word of God. To be built up in Jesus, literally means to hear God’s word and put it into practice. Jesus is building us up. When we are rooted in his word, he builds us up both individually and as a church. (Ephesians 2:19-20)

Third, “strengthened in the faith.” We need to be strengthened in Jesus. We need to be strong, spiritually to be good coworkers and glorify God. How does anyone get strengthened? Strength comes from exercising. Faith is like a muscle. It is not just being an armchair theologian. Faith is strengthened by putting our faith into practice. It means to practice what we have learned. The good news is that Jesus is more than willing to strengthen us when our hearts are in the right place. Without Jesus’ strength then we can do nothing at all.

Fourth, “overflowing with thankfulness.” Verse 7c reads, "…. and overflowing with thankfulness." God’s will for all Christians is to be thankful in al circumstances. (1 Thess 5:18) We have to be thankful, even for the hard tasks. Some may say, “Easier said than done.” Thankfulness is not a forced issue. It comes naturally when we are rooted in God’s grace. It is not just a theory. It is very practical. The only way to be thankful is to recognize God’s sovereignty in our lives. We need to confess, “Lord, you are the best. What is going on may be hurting me…it may be very difficult to endure, but I trust you.” Indeed, Jesus is working out his good purpose through all events.

Jesus wants us to be “overflowing” with thankfulness. This means that we should have enough thanksgiving to share with others. Are you overflowing with thanksgiving? Do you have enough to share? We could see this at the conference through the testimony of Msn Rebecca Yoon. She struggled so hard against boys in her life, competing with them, envying their privileged status, and fighting them with rocks. Her son was born with a cleft palate and her mission field was the very difficult, Lagos Nigeria, where electricity and water service are irregular and corruption was rife. She stated that she was trained by “boys and the whip of life.” But she could find God’s good purpose in her life and she was able to thank God for all his Fatherly training. She is overflowing with thanksgiving, even to us in America, and wants to return to her mission field, Yabatec University, in Lagos Nigeria, where they are renovating an 18 room former maternity ward. From within those walls, thanksgiving to God will be overflow to countless young Nigerian students who are born again by the word of God.

Part ll: Stay Away From Hollow Philosophies.
Paul gives believers of all time a warning. Look at verse 8, " 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.”
Hollow and deceptive philosophies are philosophies that are empty and lead us away from repentance and faith in Jesus. They depend on the principles of the world. They promise us fulfillment when, really, there is nothing there, only disappointment. When peoples’ hearts are taken captive by such as these, then they are deprived of faith. People are so “taken captive” that they are not willing to give Jesus a chance. So many of our youth become prisoners of fatalism, captured by their own sinful desires when the deceptive philosophies, they listen to, teach them to indulge their sinful natures and follow their natural feelings.
There are other philosophies that people live with, “The Yin and the Yang”, which says that you always take the way of moderation. “Live and let live”, which means that you don’t bother anyone. “Akuna matt Atta”, which is a problem free philosophy, “Don’t worry, be happy!” Educational philosophy operates under the premise is that human nature is good. If we provide a good environment then students will grow good. But this is not true. We have the best school environments in the USA. But they do not always produce “super” students. (In some third world countries, students are poor and study in bombed out hulks of buildings. Many become scholars.) This philosophy ignores the reality of the sinful nature in people. It is a hollow and deceptive philosophy. All other philosophies, other than the gospel, lead us to emptiness and meaninglessness and death. Only Jesus and his Gospel leads us to meaning, purpose and life eternal.

There is an obvious alternative to the hollow and deceptive philosophies of our culture. Look at verses 9-12, “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. 11In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature,[a] not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, 12having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead." Jesus is not hollow and deceptive, for all the fullness of God lives in him and he dwells in us. Christ is all we need for salvation and life now and forever. He delivers the true life that he promises to deliver. (John 1:4) Before meeting Jesus, we were dead in sin and held prisoners by Satan. But God made us alive with Christ. He circumcised our hearts by cutting away our sinful nature. He did this by his death and resurrection, using the tools of repentance and faith. In our baptism we are buried with Jesus when we repent, and, by faith in God who raised Jesus from the dead, we are united with him in life. We should never loose the confidence that all we need is in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Is Jesus enough for you? Lets think a little more about verse 9… “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form” Some may accept Jesus but they are still hopeless. Their children are still fatherless. They are depressed. They are still lonely. So many of us feel that Jesus is not enough. But Jesus is entirely enough. The fullness of God is in Christ. He is the way, and the truth and the life. (John 14:6) Come to Jesus and seek first his kingdom and his righteousness (Mtt 6:33) and discover that Jesus is indeed enough for each one of you.
So many people have discovered this. Their lives bear witness to the all sufficient, saving grace of Jesus. Look at verse 13, "When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature,[b] God made you[c] alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,” (refer to Ephesians 2:1-3) Before meeting Jesus we were all dead in our sins. There is no growth in death, only decay. We did not respond to Christ’s loving prodding. We were lifeless. But when we received Jesus’ forgiveness and his truth, the sinful nature was cut away from our hearts. We were made alive in Christ. We responded to the grace of God. Now we have joy and hope and life. We have strength to get up and walk spiritually. We can grow and grow in Christ.
Jesus gives us complete victory in our lives. Verses 14-15 read, “having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. 15And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.[d]" Triumph means complete victory! Making a public spectacle of them harkens back to ancient Rome, where triumphant Roman Generals paraded defeated generals and their armies through the streets to show their complete victory over their enemies. God sets us free from the power of death by disarming our enemies. Our enemy Satan uses the law to condemn us and make us despair. God forgives our sins. Jesus made the law obsolete by his death on the cross. Christ is like a triumphant general who won a great battle and parades his captives, disarmed and helpless, through the streets. I don’t know about you, but I want to live a victorious life of faith. I want to have complete victory over my sinful nature and walk with Jesus with my head held high. Sure we will fall into our weaknesses and our sins. But these do not hammer us down or defeat us. We triumph over them through the faith and the cross.
Part lll: Empty Heresies (16-23)
For all believers there is always a temptation to abandon Jesus for some empty heresy. First it is easier to get caught up in religious practice rather than living by faith in Christ. Look at verses 16-17. “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.” It is good to celebrate certain days, like Easter and Christmas and go to church on Sunday. But here people were gauging their spirituality on celebrating certain holy days and judging others who were not, thinking themselves more spiritual. Some of us may even try to find God through all kinds of rituals, keeping certain festivals and rituals, forgetting that these are mere shadows, the reality of which is found in Christ. Paul was telling the new believers to stand their ground and not be pushed back into a “religious” mindset by Jewish converts who still held onto certain aspects of Judaism. Why is it always easier to be “religious” rather than practitioners of Gospel faith?
Another heresy that they had to guard their hearts against was the worship of angels. Look at verse 18. “Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions.” People tend to get all excited about angels and seeing all kinds of supernatural appearances of spiritual beings. People gather in the thousands at the mere rumor of such sightings. For some people it seems that it is easier to be “angel” focused that “Jesus centered”? Why? It is because one can acquire a false sense of spirituality without repentance. When we face the Jesus of the Bible we are forced to make some decisions and repent of our sins. But not so when we think about angels. Worship of these distract us from Jesus. They comfort us without challenging us.
What is wrong with all of this? Look at verse 19. Paul says that such a person has “…has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow." As Christians, we need to be Christ centered. But when we get proud by holding onto a false sense of spirituality, we loose connection with the head, Jesus. We immediately loose all the life that God has so graciously bestowed upon us. But we can only grow and bear good fruit when we maintain a strong and healthy connection with Christ, the Head.
There is a temptation to become like ascetics. Verse 23 reads, "Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence." Ascetics are those who punish their bodies, thinking that they are performing some penance and in this way pleasing God. But they are following their own ideas. They are not following Biblical teachings. Such actions can make people proud, thinking that they are very spiritual. But in reality these harsh treatments do nothing to stop sensual desires that wage war in our hearts. They are essentially trying to control their sinful feelings without coming to Jesus. Sure, we repent and struggle spiritually, but we are not punishing ourselves. The truth is that life in Jesus is joyful. Life in Christ is life giving. Jesus died to make us holy. Jesus died to save us from sin. He rose to give us power to stop sinning and live a holy life. We are free to love God, to obey him and to do what pleases him. We can never make our lives holy.
In this passage we learn that life in Christ is more than just being an arm chair theologian. It is more than just living by the rules and traditions of men. It is more than subjecting our bodies to harsh treatment. It is even more than avoiding heresies. It is all about Jesus and knowing him and making him known. “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, 7rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness." (6,7) Let us come to Jesus with repentance and faith and put deep roots down into the grace and truth of God. Let us be built up in Jesus, as individuals and as a church. Let us be overflowing with thanksgiving to those around us. Let us find true life in Christ and lead others to true life in him.