Message
Passions of a Godly Life
Fullness in Christ
Colossians 2:8-14
06-02-19
Review
We have been looking at different aspects of the passions of a godly life. Many Christians today find their spiritual lives dry and unfulfilling. Their faith feels like a dead ritual that we somehow need to fulfill by certain actions we do, like going to church or having our devotions. We only do them because . . . well, that is what we are told that we should do, but we find it dry, lifeless, and ritualistic. That is not the life Christ intends for any believer to have. Our life in Him should be passionate and full of life every single day.
We found in Colossians 2:6-7 that our life, or our walk as it says, our daily activities, are to be done in faith. We live each and every moment of our day in a walk of faith. It is a walk that is rooted deeply in Christ, a faith that is built up continually in Christ, and one that has become established, not wavering in my belief in Him. It is a faith that is “abounding” or overflowing in our lives with thanksgiving. That doesn’t sound dead and lifeless does it?
Then we found in Colossians 4:2-4 that part of that abounding life in Christ includes a passionate prayer life. A prayer life that is steadfast, or more concisely, continually devoted to a lifestyle of communication with the Father. It is something we cherish, and we are watchful over this communication with God giving it our strictest attention. It is what we do in thanksgiving. It is never dead or lifeless.
Last week we were in Colossians 1:24-29 where we found that suffering is a part of a passionate life in Christ. People who suffer and even die for the cause of Christ have cause for rejoicing. Why? Because as we suffer for the sake of the gospel message, we fill something that is lacking. What is that? It is our conformity to the Savior. As we live for Christ, proclaim Christ, and at times suffer for it, our passion for this godly life becomes more and more intense. As this passion grows, we become more like our Savior and fill what is lacking. Faith, prayer, and suffering are all a part of the passions of a godly life. If we see our spiritual life as dead and lifeless, we need to seek out why it is because that should concern us deeply. Where do we stand with our faith? What does our prayer life look like? Do we suffer persecution because of a passion for the Lord?
Today, I want to prepare us for two things. First, we will be preparing our hearts for Communion. One of those things that can become dead and lifeless if we let it. Second, we will be preparing the hearts of camp staff for ministry this summer by commissioning them for passionate ministry to young people. I want to begin by reading Colossians 2:8-14.
Colossians 2:8-14
See 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.
For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.
In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.
And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
Fullness with Passion (Colossians 2:8-14)
We will talk about the fullness of Christ in just a moment but notice that I began with verse 8, which tells us that there is something that creates a great hindrance to fullness of Christ and actually fosters a dead and lifeless Christianity. What is that? We need to be vigilant concerning the philosophies of this world. Thus, the first aspect of having the fullness of Christ is vigilance against the world’s philosophies.
~ Vigilance (v. 8)
See 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.
This is something that was not just a problem in the church at Colossae, but it is so prevalent in the church today, that it is one of the major causes of lifeless Christianity. The teachings of the world may be somewhat different today than they were in the days of the Apostle Paul, but the end result is the same, we are robbed. We are to “See to it” or be vigilant that we are not “taken captive” or robbed. In other words, there is something that robs us of a passionate life with the fullness of Christ. What is it that we need to vigilantly watch out for? We are to watch for the philosophies that are empty, that are according to human traditions, that are according to the elemental spirits of the world. We are to watch for philosophies that are not according to Christ because they will rob you of your passion for life in Christ.
The word philosophy often scares us because we think it is something we can’t understand. Philosophy is simply the love of wisdom. For the church at Colossae, they faced heretical teachings that were promoted under the guise of wisdom. An academic pursuit of God that lead them to make theories about God that were not only false, but were empty, meaningless, and deceitful. Which is exactly what Satan, the great deceiver loves to see take place because it leaves believers without passion.
Now, we could spend the whole message today on this verse and maybe someday we will, but all you have to do is think about this for a moment. What are the philosophies, traditions, or spirits of this world that can take us captive?
~ evolution and deep time versus young earth and 7-day creation
~ born as homosexual or wrong gender versus perfectly created
~ marriage based on love of anyone versus a covenant between a man and a woman.
These are just a few general teachings that say human wisdom is much higher that God’s wisdom and His design. When philosophies such as these are accepted into the church and blended with our belief in God, they rob of us our life in Christ, cause us to doubt the Word of God, and we longer live passionately for our Lord and Savior. We need to be vigilant in making sure that we are not taken captive by the teachings of this world as they will rob us and leave us empty. So, a passionate life is marked with vigilance.
~ Filling (vv.9-10)
For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.
Jesus Christ possesses the fullness of the divine nature and attributes, simply stated, He is God. For most of us this is not a problem, it is something we talked about not too longer ago in our series on “Who is Jesus.” However, for the heretics in Colossae and many today, Jesus is not fully God. He was just a man, maybe a good man, but a man all the same. But over and over, Scripture tells us that Jesus is fully God and fully man. This is the only way God can take the death penalty for us. God who cannot die, became a man so He could die for you and me (Philippians 2:5-11).
But what is even more remarkable is that those who are disciples of Christ, are filled with Him. Man, this gets exciting. Jesus’ fulness, all that His is, fills us! His righteousness, His peace, His love, His grace and mercy, His comfort and joy, and all that He is fills us. “Believers are complete in Christ, both positionally by the imputed perfect righteousness of Christ and the complete sufficiency of all heavenly resources for spiritual maturity” (John MacArthur). If we are filled with the fullness of Christ and growing in that fullness, then you will be overflowing with Christ. We have everything we need to grow in a passionate walk with the Lord. Talk about a life of passion! Wow!
If that doesn’t shake loose your passion, nothing will. Jesus Christ is fully God and we have his fullness in us as believers. We are filled with all that Jesus is. Everything we need to live for Him is available to us today. Those of you who are camp staff, remember this. There will be days you feel so physically drained, so emotionally spent, and lacking any spiritual power; but you have the fullness of Christ! When it is possible, you need get alone with the Father and get recharged. Allow the fullness of Christ to empower you, refresh you, and fill you!
~ Distinctiveness (vv. 11-12)
In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.
Now you may be wondering, “what is all this about circumcision and what does it have to do with our life being filled with godly passion.” Circumcision for the Jewish person is a sign of a life committed to God. It was an outward identity of an inward reality. It symbolized the removal of the barrier so that there could be true intimacy with God. You must agree that living passionately for the Lord involves a close and intimate relationship with God, right? But we cannot have that kind of relationship with the removal of a barrier between us and God. God is holy, we are sinners and as such cannot have a relationship with Him with sacrifice.
Jesus became our sacrifice, removing the barrier between us and God. Thus, because of Jesus’ sacrifice for sin, He is our spiritual circumcision, a circumcision that is not made with hands as an outward symbol, but an inward circumcision. The inward reality of an intimate relationship with God the Father is possible because Jesus removed the barrier of sin. When we stand before the Father, we can come to Him confidently because we have a new identity. We are identified as having died, been buried, and rose again. Because of our acceptance of Jesus Christ, we are identified with His sacrifice.
Do you get that? Because of who we are in Christ, we can have a close relationship with the Father. If you have accepted the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, when God the Father looks at you, He sees the distinctiveness of Christ’s sacrifice and His righteousness. Not our righteousness, because they are like filthy rags, but Christ righteousness. Hallelujah! Because of our life in Christ, the barrier is removed, and we not only have access to the Father, but we can have a relationship with God. You can talk to your Creator!!! What is dead and lifeless about that?
~ New Life (vv.13-14)
And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
This is the conclusion of the matter. We are dead in our sins with the barrier still there between us and God, the uncircumcision of the flesh. Because of sin, we have no possibility of spiritual life on our own. We will be separated from God for eternity paying for sin against Him. But praise God, He takes the initiative to make us alive together with Him through His Son Jesus Christ.
I love these verses. The record of the debt that stood against us with its demands of eternal punishment have been canceled. When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, that sin record is set aside and nailed to the cross of Jesus. Often, the list of the crimes of a crucified criminal was nailed to the cross with that criminal to declare the violations he was being punished for. For Believers, their sins are nailed to Jesus’ cross, thus He paid the penalty of our sins and satisfied the legal demands of sin against a holy God.
Jesus bore our sin upon the cross of Calvary. His sacrifice gives us new life. We are alive in Christ spiritually. We are free from the record against us. Now life takes on new meaning and we begin to live passionately for Jesus and in a close relationship with the Father.
Conclusion
How can any believer find their walk with God dead and lifeless? The barrier has been removed! We are identified with the death of Christ! We are brought from death to life! You have the fullness of Christ in you!
Well, obviously, this certainly prepares our hearts for the communion we are about to take . . . as it symbolizes our identity in His death. His payment for the penalty of sin. But this also prepares us to live passionately for Him. We will be commissioning the camp staff a little later, but this applies not only to each of them as they serve at Miracle this summer, but to you and me as we live each day.
When we are vigilant about watching that we are not robbed by the world’s philosophies . . . and we get a grasp on what it means to be filled with the fullness of Christ . . . and we understand our distinctiveness of having the barrier removed between us and God . . . and that the record of our debt of sin has be cancelled and we have new life in Him . . . How can our walk of faith be anything but filled with passion for living for Him?
This morning as we prepare for communion, I want each of us to take a moment to search our hearts. If you say you are saved, that you believe in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, how is your walk of faith in Him? Is it alive and vibrant, or dry and lifeless? Where do we stand with our faith? What does our prayer life look like? Do we suffer persecution because of a passion we have for the Lord? Does the fullness of Christ burst forth from our lives in our daily living?
Maybe you have not been watchful or vigilant concerning the teachings of this world or allowing sin to prevail in your life. Maybe you are not even sure about your salvation. This morning we would love to help you, take God’s Word, and show you how you can have this life. Will you make that move this morning while we pray?
If you are a believer and you have known sin that you have been harboring in your heart, take time this morning before we take the elements of the communion table to confess it to God and repent.
Open Communion
Self - Examination
Jesus says, remember how much I love you!
[23] . . . “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
Jesus says, remember My love demonstrated in My sacrifice!
[25] . . . “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
[26] For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
1 Corinthians 11:23-26