Peter Cheyne
Four weeks ago we looked at a passage in Colossians 1 that talked about Jesus being the centre of everything and supreme over everything. I want to do a little jump now to some verse in Colossians 2. READ Colossians 2:6-15
Verses 6-7 say ‘Don’t give up now. Having made a start, keep going. Having received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in Him.”
Verse 8 says, “Don’t be pulled off course by wrong thinking.”
Verse 9-15 give us reasons for keeping on. They start with the word “for”. Do not give up because...
Vince Lombardi has famously said that winners never quit and quitter never win, Nancy Lopez has said, “A competitor will find a way to win. Competitors take bad breaks and use them to drive themselves just that much harder. Quitters take bad breaks and use them as reasons to give up."
Vv 6-7: The Colossian Christians have made a start. They have received Jesus as Lord. They have said that Jesus is their Master. They will be followers. They have dedicated their lives to serving Him.
But Paul says, “Great start! Now continue”. Our conversion; our becoming Christians is just a start. A baptism is just a start. Paul says, “Continue to live in Jesus.” The Bible often talks about us being “in Christ”. It means that somehow, in some spiritual reality, we are all incorporated into Jesus. We become united with Him. He envelopes us. I am not sure I can explain it better. But when we are baptised we are baptised into Jesus Christ. We live in a relationship with Him that is so intimate that we are in Him.
So Paul is saying, “Continue to live in Him. Don’t live independently of Him. Don’t wander off on your own independent journey. Don’t forget Him or turn your back on Him. Continue to live in Him.”
We could all ask ourselves how much our lives are lived in Him. Are you continuing to live each day in an intimate, organic relationship with Jesus? Is Jesus the context of your every day?
Paul describes living in Jesus. It means our roots go down. We more and more take an unshakable stand deeply rooted in Jesus and that is where we get our feeding and nourishment. Deeply rooted in Jesus.
As our roots go down, we are built up. Living in Jesus means growing up; becoming stronger; becoming more mature.
It means becoming stronger in our faith. Our faith can refer to what we believe. Growing in our faith means having greater understanding of God’s word and God’s ways. But our faith can also mean how much we trust Jesus and so being strengthened in our faith means we trust Him more and so we obey Him more and step out when He asks us to even when that is scary for us. Continuing to live our lives in Jesus means He becomes Lord of our lives more and more and we become more and more obedient.
Are you continuing to live in Him? Is your faith stronger than it was a year ago?
It also means overflowing with thankfulness. Jesus died for us and we have been forgiven by a gracious God. We talked before about God rescuing us out of the Kingdom of darkness and placing us in the Kingdom of Jesus. When we realise what an incredible thing has happened the moment we placed our faith in Jesus, then we have a never-ending reason to overflow with thankfulness. When we know how lost we were, and how saved we are now, then we will be thankful.
But it is not only our conversion. The more we grow up; the more we step out in faith, the more we will see God at work and then have so many more reasons for giving thanks. Continuing to live In Jesus means that the last week has given us more reasons to overflow with thankfulness. Has it?
So Paul says, “You have received Jesus as Lord, now live in Him, roots going down, you growing up, stronger in your faith and overflowing with thanks.”
v.8 – don’t be pulled off course by wrong thinking. There are many other ideas and philosophies that are contrary to the Christian faith and that can capture our minds. Paul describes them as “hollow and deceptive” They are worthless, yet they can be attractive. Paul also says that they depend on human tradition and (NIV “basic principles” but TNIV “elemental spiritual forces”) spiritual forces rather than on Christ - human ideas but also demonic deception. Human ideas are not worth a tin of fish compared with God’s truth and demonic deceptions are deceptions. They are wrong and will trap us.
What would be examples? There are all sorts of false religions – human ideas and demonic deceptions. There are pseudo-Christians ideas like Mormonism or Jehovah’s Witnesses. Compare them with what the Bible teaches and they are just wrong. Human ideas – Joseph Smith’s ideas in the case of Mormonism – and demonic deception.
But there are much more subtle examples like the love of money – the belief that money is more important than faithfulness to Jesus. A human idea and a demonic deception – hollow and deceptive.
Keep going. Don’t get pulled off course. Now the reasons – vv. 9-15.
Because Jesus is fully God. The fullness of God dwelt in Him. So why would we turn to human ideas and demonic deceptions when the alternative is God. God versus the demonic. Choose God. Choose God as the focus of your whole life.
Because in Christ we have been brought to fullness. What does that mean? Does it mean that we are made more complete – more completely human – when we are in Christ? Does it mean that we become more of who we are meant to be when we are in Christ? Whatever it means, the Bible says that in Him we have been brought to fullness. Would we risk that by now giving up?
The third reason for keeping on, keeping on is that Jesus is head over every power and authority. We can either choose the head or we can choose the underlings. Choose the head. Continue to live in Jesus.
The fourth reason is that Jesus has set us free. We have already been told that we have been rescued from the dominion of darkness into the Kingdom of Jesus. But here Paul tells us that when we were baptised our old sinful nature died – or, using the image Paul uses here of circumcision – our old sinful nature was put off. In baptism we were buried with Jesus and raised to new life. The old sinful us died and we were made alive in Christ. We are new people in Christ. So why would we not want to continue living this new life in Christ – the life of freedom – the life in which sin no longer has power over us?
Jesus has forgiven all sin and cancelled the charges against us. We are no longer under accusation. Yes, we have done things wrong but they are now forgiven and cancelled. Plus, Jesus has defeat the powers of darkness. They have been disarmed. Jesus has led the triumphal procession in which the demons have been paraded publicly as the defeated foe. Jesus is the victor. The powers of darkness have been made a public spectacle. Through Jesus’ death on the cross the past is forgiven and sin has no power over us.
It is perhaps not quite so apparent here but in Romans 6 which deals with this same topic, Paul says that we have died to sin and been raised to a new life in which sin has no power over us. We are no longer slaves to sin or to the powers and authorities.
Are you tempted to give up, or even to deviate – because being a Christian is hard or because, for example, money or sin is more attractive? If all that is said here about Jesus and what He has done, is true, we have every reason to persevere – to live each day in Him – in close, organic relationship with Him – and for Him. To give up on Jesus is to give up on your forgiveness and your fullness and your victory and freedom and your eternity. Just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in Him. What does it mean for you to continue living your life in Jesus – roots going down, you growing up, stronger in your faith, overflowing with thankfulness. What do you need to do to continue living in Christ?
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