Archives For Bible – Colossians

Jesus is Enough Life

April 9, 2013 — Leave a comment

Second Sunday in Easter: Col. 3:1-11

What is life? What does it mean to be alive?

On the one hand we might define it purely physically, biologically: a heart beat, lungs breathing, a certain level of brain wave activity. When God created Adam, He breathed life into him, and he became a living being.

But one of the claims that we make as Christians is that life is more than just breathing. Life is more than a heartbeat. It includes those things, but it’s not limited to those things.

There could be ways of taking a sermon series called “Jesus is Enough” in an overly simplistic way. Some people say that Jesus is enough and so they don’t go to the doctor. Others may say they believe that Jesus is enough and it becomes the equivalent of little sticker on their Bible. But when we say that Jesus is enough we don’t mean that this is a small thing, like something that might fit in your pocket. Jesus created the world. Jesus rules all things. In Jesus are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Jesus is enough because everything worth anything is found in Him. When we talk about Jesus, we’re talking about the one who invented life, the one in whom all life exits: or as Paul puts it, not only are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge “hid” in Christ, now so is our life (Col. 3:3).

What does that mean? What does it mean to have your life hidden in Christ? Continue Reading…

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Jesus is Enough Freedom: Col. 2:16-23

February 25, 2013 — Leave a comment

Introduction

We said last week that forgiveness is the foundation of our resistance to all lies, half truths, and empty philosophies. This is because guilt is what makes us vulnerable. Guilt is what makes us captive to every tyranny. It doesn’t allow us to see clearly.  But the flip side of this truth is therefore that forgiveness is what sets men free. It gives us eyes to see.

Summary of the Text: Paul’s “therefore” is directly related to the fact of forgiveness just unpacked (2:13-15). Other peoples’ opinions are powerful, but Paul says when it comes to food and drink and holidays and feasts, we must not be bound (2:16). This is fundamentally because all the regulations of the Old Covenant were shadows of Jesus who is the reality (2:17). If we are held captive by those who are into fasting, worshiping angels, or mystical visions we will lose our reward in Jesus because His power is made manifest in simple weakness not our fleshly schemes (2:18, cf. 1 Cor. 1:25-31). The central problem is that these traditions fail to cling to Jesus, our Head, which is where we receive our nourishment, find unity, and grow up into Him (2:19). This freedom has everything to do with having already died (cf. 2:11-13) because if they have already died with Christ then it makes no sense to live as though they haven’t (2:20). On one level, the Jewish laws make no sense after Jesus has brought us into His new world, and on another level, those kinds of traditions don’t make any sense when we have already died (2:21-22, cf. Acts 17:30-31). What makes these kinds of things attractive is the fact that they have an appearance of wisdom, humility, neglect of the body, but they are actually worthless when it comes to restraining our flesh (2:23). And this is because when we find our safety and security in made up rules, we’re actually indulging our fleshly minds (2:18), instead of restraining the flesh.   Continue Reading…

In Bible - Colossians, Church Calendar, History - Reformation, Jesus is Enough, Lent, Politics, Sermon Outlines, TRC, Wisdom
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Paid in Full

February 20, 2013 — Leave a comment

In my sermon this last week, I said that God’s approval of us is not based on our performance but based solely on Jesus and what He has done for us. A reasonable question might be: But what about the fact that the Bible somewhat frequently describes God’s disapproval based on people’s performances? Don’t people reap what they sow? Didn’t Jesus say that men will be judged for their every idle word?

And the answer to these questions is yes. But everything hinges on whether you’ve already been judged or not.

In other words, if one day you get a bill in the mail out of nowhere and it turns out there was some major accounting failure, and now you owe hundreds of millions of dollars in back payments, well, unless you have a nice stash of cash somewhere, you’re sunk.

And just to keep things interesting, what if you knew that even if you worked 80 hour work weeks your entire life and only spent the bare minimum necessary to live, you’d still never be able to pay the debt? You’d still be sunk by millions.

But what if you already knew about the bill before it came? And what if you knew the debt was already paid? Well then, when the bill showed up, it would come more like a scheduled visit to the dentist. You don’t really look forward to those sorts of appointments and they aren’t usually fun, but they’re bearable and expected.

And here’s what I mean. For those who know Jesus, they already know that they have sinned and will sin again, and that Jesus freely suffered and bled for those sins already. They know that bills have piled up, and they know that there are still more bills in the mail. We may not know the exact breakdown of the bills, but we know what the total was. The wages of sin is death. The total debt owed was a perfect, sinless life, impossible for any sinner to pay. But the news that changed our lives was the news that Jesus has paid our debts in full. Continue Reading…

In Bible - Colossians, Evangelism, Grace, Jesus is Enough, Lent, TRC, Wisdom
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Jesus is Enough Forgiveness: Col. 2:8-15

February 18, 2013 — Leave a comment

Introduction

Today we continue Paul’s letter to the Colossians, particularly looking at Paul’s warning to be on guard against empty philosophies and traditions. Instead, Paul urges us to rest secure in the fortress of forgiveness because Jesus is enough forgiveness.

Summary of the Text: Paul has already alluded to the possibility of “enticing words” (2:4), but now he’s zeroing in on his point. The Colossians have received Christ and all of his treasure (2:3, 6), but Paul warns them about being robbed of those riches through philosophy, empty lies, traditions of men, and the basic elements of the world (2:8). Instead of those things, they ought to be taken captive completely by Christ (2:8, cf. 2 Cor. 10:5, Rom. 6:16ff). While Paul is less direct in Colossians (than say Galatians), he knows that the Judaizing heresy is in the air (e.g. Col. 2:11, 16). But this concern could include all sorts of political, social, religious pressures exerted from any direction: the “traditions of men” and the “rudiments of the world” (2:8). And Paul gives basically three reasons why they are safe in Jesus. First, Paul reiterates that Jesus is God and rules over all the powers (2:9-10). They are not missing any information, lacking any crucial practice, or vulnerable to their attacks. Second, Paul insists that the fundamental practice Jesus commanded to identify with Him was baptism (cf. Mt. 28:18-20), and if they have been baptized, they have been joined to the fulfillment of the Jewish sign of circumcision (2:11-12). Finally, Paul explains that the fundamental reason they can be confident that Jesus is enough is because they have been forgiven all their sins (2:13-15). And this forgiveness has accomplished three things: it raised them from the dead, destroyed the condemnation of the law, and disarmed the principalities and powers (2:13-15). Continue Reading…

In Bible - Colossians, Bible - Hebrews, Jesus is Enough, Sermon Outlines, TRC, Wisdom
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Jesus is Enough Wisdom: Col. 2:1-7

February 11, 2013 — Leave a comment

Introduction

Paul writes the Colossians to assure them that Jesus is enough grace, power, glory, and today we consider the fact that Jesus is enough wisdom. Because Jesus is the very image of the invisible God (1:15), He is the perfect, complete Word of the Father to us. Jesus is our understanding, our wisdom.

Summary of the Text: Paul wants the Colossians and the Laodiceans (the closest neighboring church) to know that he is laboring mightily for the gospel (1:29-2:1). Paul’s “conflict” or “struggle” is his carrying out of the mission of God through preaching Jesus, warning all men, teaching all men with wisdom, as well as his suffering (1:24-25, 28-29, cf. Phil. 1:30, 1 Tim. 6:12, Heb. 12:1). Paul understands that his race/struggle is perhaps even more valuable to those who have never met him (2:1). If they have heard of Paul, if they know about his ministry of proclaiming Jesus, Paul wants them to know he isn’t living it up, relaxing in luxury. He’s out in the fray. He’s leading the charge. He’s at the head of the infantry, and this is so that their hearts may be comforted (2:2). Paul explains that he hopes this knowledge will drive them to love one another even more, and that it will drive them to draw on the “riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God” (2:2). As they understand more fully who Jesus is, it will equip them more fully to be involved in what Jesus does. Paul just finished saying that he is rejoicing in his suffering because it is another way that Jesus is being proclaimed, the mystery hid from ages and from generations is now manifest in the gospel (1:26). This is the riches of God’s glory even among the gentiles: Christ in them (1:27).

But it’s not just what’s in them. It’s what’s in Christ: “In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (2:3). And Paul is underlining this point because he knows that there are other words on offer. There are other men with different messages, with “enticing words” (2:4). But Paul wants to encourage them, though he is absent from them, and he rejoices in their military formation and courage in Christ (2:5). So the central exhortation is for them to walk the way they were born. Continue the same way they started (2:6). It was the message of the death and resurrection of Jesus that turned them from enemies into friends, and Paul urges them to hold fast to that word, grow up into that word. It wasn’t a particular experience. It wasn’t a feeling. It isn’t an elitist club. It was the message of truth that Jesus is Lord of All and has begun to bring peace to all things through the blood of His cross (1:20). And the telltale sign that this grace has taken root and is flourishing is overflowing thankfulness (2:7). Continue Reading…

In Bible - 1 Kings, Bible - Colossians, Bible - Exodus, Jesus is Enough, Sermon Outlines, TRC, Wisdom
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Jesus is Enough Glory: Col. 1:21-29

February 4, 2013 — Leave a comment

Introduction
Paul has assured the Colossians that Jesus is enough grace, Jesus is enough power, and this week we consider the fact that Jesus is enough glory.

Summary of the Text:
Paul turns to address the Colossians directly following his exaltation of Jesus (1:15-20). He reminds them that they have experienced the power of Jesus in their lives because they were previously “aliens” and “enemies” (1:21). This most easily refers to the fact that some of the Colossians were previously gentile pagans (cf. Eph. 2:12), but it might also refer to some of them previously being Jews who had rejected Jesus (like Paul himself) (cf. Rom. 11:28, Phil. 3:18). The power of God has reconciled both kinds of aliens and enemies through the cross of Jesus, and this is a central piece of the glory of the gospel (cf. 1:27). The result of this reconciliation is that the Colossians are “holy,” “without blemish,” and “blameless” (1:22).

We noted last week that at least part of the imagery in this section is borrowed from the Exodus when God “sanctified” the firstborn of Israel in the Passover, claiming Israel as holy people (Num. 8:17-18). Israel was sanctified and called to be God’s priestly people through the Passover where blood was shed to protect Israel while God’s judgment fell on Egypt. Jesus is the new Passover lamb. He is the “firstborn” (1:15,18) who was struck by the angel of death so that His blood may cover our houses and free us from every pharaoh, every Egypt, to serve His Father as “firstborn sons.” Can you guess what that might mean for us? Continue Reading…

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Jesus is Enough Power: Col. 1:9-20

January 29, 2013 — Leave a comment

Introduction
Paul is writing the Colossians, a new church in Asia Minor, to encourage them in their new faith in Jesus. He writes to assure them that for all their needs, Jesus is enough.

Summary of the Text:
Following his initial doxology (1:3-8), Paul continues to explain what else he has been praying for (1:9). He has specifically been praying that the Colossians would a) know God’s will (1:9) b) walk worthy of the Lord (1:10) c) increase in knowledge of God (1:10) d) be strong enough to be patient and joyful (1:11) and e) be a really thankful people (1:12). This thankfulness is rooted in the fact that they have received the ability to receive the inheritance of saints (1:12), been delivered from the power of darkness (1:13), transferred into the Kingdom of the Beloved Son (1:13), and have been redeemed and forgiven (1:14). At this point, Paul breaks out into high poetry, perhaps quoting a well known hymn about Jesus (or writing one on the spot), acclaiming Him as the image of God, the firstborn, the creator, the sustainer, the fullness of God, and the reconciler of all things (1:15-20). This poem is carefully constructed in basically two stanzas. The first stanza describes the preexistence and preeminence of the Son in all things since the beginning (1:15-17). The second stanza describes the preeminence and power of the Son through the Church since the re-beginning of all things at the resurrection (1:18-20). There are a number of key terms and titles that Paul gives to Jesus, but the adjectives go a long way to making Paul’s point: all things, all things, all things, all fullness, and all things.

The Firstborn & Beginning
The word “firstborn” is a loaded word going deep into Israelite history. Israel was God’s firstborn (Ex. 4:22), and this was not merely a relational fact but rather a statement of purpose for the future. Israel was to become God’s chosen means of communicating and enacting God’s presence and mission in the world. Firstborn sons received a double portion of inheritance from their fathers because they were the beginning of their strength (e.g. Dt. 21:7, Gen. 25). When God delivered Israel from Egypt, He sanctified them to Himself as His firstborn (Ex. 13:1ff), and the Levites became the specific representatives of this holy calling, keeping the tabernacle and receiving the inheritance of tithes and offerings (Num. 3:12-13ff, 8:17-18, 18:21-26). In other words, Israel was given the authority and means by which they were to present and proclaim the truth of God: the words of God and the sacrifices of God. That was their job. It was what they were for. When applied to Jesus, Paul is insisting not only that Jesus represents what Israel was always meant to be, but that He is the original representative of the truth of God, the perfect Icon/Image of the invisible God (1:15). That’s what He’s for. This authority and power to order and rule the world rests not least upon the fact that He made it all (1:16-17). Paul insists that this authority that Jesus has by right, He has begun to establish in fact through His resurrection from the dead (1:18, cf. Heb. 2:8). But given what we have seen, the fact that Jesus is the “firstborn” from the dead indicates that Jesus is the “head” of this new creation, the new beginning. Paul is piling up words and piling up images: Jesus is the head, rosh (in Hebrew), which is related to the word for beginning (resheet), and just to make it clear, the arxe – the beginning, the pinnacle, the source (e.g. Jn. 1:1). Jesus is the New Adam, and we are Adams and Eves in Him. The world (all of existence) that Jesus made and has ruled on behalf of the Father by right, He is in the process of reconciling to the Father through the blood of His cross – proving His power for all to see (1:20). The cross is our Tree of Life, our source of God’s glorious power. Continue Reading…

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Jesus is Enough

January 25, 2013 — Leave a comment

One of the key themes in Paul’s letters to the fledgling churches of the first century is the insistence that Jesus is enough. In Jesus, they have been granted all that is needed. Everything that the Old Covenant foreshadowed is found in Jesus. Everything that the pagan nations ached for and groped toward, has now been revealed in Jesus. All goodness, all pleasure, all wisdom, all blessing is found in Jesus because Jesus is God’s Eternal Son. Jesus is the Executor of God’s estate. He runs the whole show. He has access to everything, and therefore in Him, we have access to everything.

One of the greatest threats to the early church’s grasp of this came specifically from the Jews, the nearest relatives of the Christian Church. The book of Acts clearly shows that the Jews were the center of the persecution of the first Christians (witness Saul/Paul), and in every city Paul proclaims the gospel to the Jews first and then when they have had enough, Paul turns to the Gentiles and this tends to enrage the Jews and before long they have stirred up mobs and riots and chased the apostles out of town. Surely other pagans had their own axes to grind, but the pressure is coming in its most virolent forms from the synagogues.

This pressure included direct political/physical threat and force (beatings, imprisonment, trials), but it also included multiple layers of social force and threat below this: threat of excommunication from the synagogues, being cut off from friends, family, and inheritance, as well as enduring the frowns, the disappointment, the implicit and explicit signs of betrayal, disappointment, let down. And these pressures and tensions aren’t usually just theological or abstract. God made the world such that battles are usually pitched in particular places, on particular dirt. There is usually much more going on than what can be seen in a particular flash of conflict, but the location and occasion for the conflict are relavent. Continue Reading…

In Bible - Colossians, Bible - Galatians, Creation, Culture, Education, ethics, Food, Grace, Jesus is Enough, Pastoral Theology, Politics, Wisdom
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Jesus is Enough Grace: Col. 1:1-8

January 23, 2013 — Leave a comment

The letter to the Colossians is written to encourage new Christians in their faith. Paul writes specifically to assure the Colossians that the Jesus they met when they first heard and believed the gospel is everything they need for salvation. Jesus is enough.

Summary of the Text:
Paul writes as an official emissary of King Jesus, which is to say he exercises this office “by the will of God” (1:1). Paul was called directly by Jesus from heaven to preach the gospel to all men, including gentiles (Acts 9:1-20ff). Paul is addressing the Colossian Christians with his assistant Timothy, his “brother,” and he addresses those in Colosse as “saints” and “faithful brothers” in Christ (1:2). Even though the Colossians have only been Christians a short time, they are already “holy” and “faithful” in Christ. They even have the same status as Timothy (“brother”) because they are “in Christ.” Even though Paul has never met them, and they live in a little country town in Asia Minor, they are important family members. Paul greets them with “grace” and “peace” which his trademark apostolic greeting (e.g. Eph. 1:2, Phil. 1:2), combining an adaption of the usual Greek greeting with the usual Hebrew greeting (1:2), probably meant to emphasize the unity of Jew and Gentile in Jesus. Paul starts with thanksgiving (as usual), but Paul is also already teaching (1:3). Grace always produces gratitude. Paul hasn’t met the Christians in Colosse directly, but he has heard that they have trusted in Jesus and how they already love all the other believers (1:4). This kind of love isn’t based on common interests or similar personalities but on the hope stored up in heaven for them, which was declared to them: the gospel (1:5). The center of this hope is Jesus who is now in heaven reigning over all things. And this same gospel has been proclaimed in all the world and has produced the same kind of fruit as is now showing up in Colosse (1:6). This grace of God has this same kind of effect everywhere when people hear and believe just as Epaphras, their pastor, one of Paul’s fellow servants, has already told the Colossians (1:7). And it is Epaphras who has relayed to Paul and Timothy and the other brothers that the Colossians have begun to love one another in the same way, as only the Spirit can do (1:8). Continue Reading…

In Bible - Colossians, Grace, Jesus is Enough, Sermon Outlines, TRC
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Assurances of Salvation

June 6, 2012 — 1 Comment

Pastor Jim Wilson has a great little booklet entitled Assurances of Salvation, available here in Kindle format and available here for free download, along with a few other goodies.

The booklet lists 8 ways to have assurance of salvation but begins with the recommendation to read 1 John which is written “so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 Jn. 5:13).

Pastor Wilson continues with the following assurances:

1. The Holy Spirit seals, guarantees, and assures us (1 Jn. 4:13, Rom. 8:16-17, Eph. 1:13-14, 2 Cor. 5:5, 1 Cor. 2:11-16).
2.  Change of Character: read the lists of the works of the flesh and the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5:19-25. Which list characterizes you? Jesus saves out of the first list into the second.
3. Confessing Jesus as Lord (1 Cor. 12:3, Rom. 10:9-10, Lk. 6:45).
4. Obedience: People who are saved obey Jesus (1 Jn. 3:6, 3:9-10, 5:18, 2:3).
5. Discipline: If you are getting away with disobedience, you are not a child of God. If you are being disciplined, pay attention and repent (Heb. 12:5-11). Continue Reading…

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