Rooted And Raised In Christ Series

Rooted and Raised in Christ… Praise to God!

Pastor Glenn Newton

February 28th, 2010

COL 2:6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

COL 2:8 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.

COL 2:9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. 11 In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.

COL 2:13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 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. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

My wife is the tree planting queen. She gets this honest from her Dad, Jim. Wherever we have lived, we have planted trees and lots of them. I’m sure we have planted around 100 trees on our 3 acres in the four years we have lived there, maybe more. I know we planted over 50 in one day. I enjoy planting trees, watching them grow, we feel like we are leaving something valuable for those who will follow us.

Do you know what I really don’t like? Transplanting trees from one place to another, do you know the reason? Roots. If the tree has any age to it at all, it’s root system has began to take hold, to grow, to reach deeper into the soil, making it very difficult to pull it up, dig it up, without lots of effort. Roots are good for the tree, roots are bad for those who would like to uproot that tree.

A couple points I want to make sure we understand this morning, the Scripture is clear, it is pointed right at us, there is no way to misunderstand what God is saying to us this morning…isn’t that the way you like it?

1. If you are going to make it as a Christian, you must be “rooted” in Christ. V. 6,7

COL 2:6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Paul is writing this letter to the church in Colosse, don’t forget….. He’s in a fight for their souls, there are those around these young Christians who are trying to steer them off course, there are those maybe even in the church if you read the context of this letter, who are teaching falsely about who Christ is and what He did. So Paul is direct and to the point, he feels like this group of believers are being threatened, and they need to be reminded of the truth.

Make no mistake today, in 2010, Satan has not given up on the tactic of trying to bring division to the church through heresy or false teaching. So this is for all of us, be on alert…why? 1 Peter 5:8,9 says, 1PE 5:8 “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”

So how are we “rooted” in Christ? Good question. Your going to like the answer.

When we come to that place in our lives where we understand that we are a sinner and we need a savior, do you remember that time in your life? When we come to that place where we recognize that my life is out of control and I need God more than I need anything else….When we repent of our sin, put our faith in God, believing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, when we willfully put our faith in God….Something dramatic happens in our life.

God, in His mercy and grace, in an instant of time, He cleanses us, He removes that heart that is diseased by sin and selfishness and He puts into us a New Heart, a heart that beats for Him. He roots within us, Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit. So when we are saved from our sins, we are like that tree, God plants within us His Spirit, the very Spirit of Jesus Christ, and as this new relationship begins to grow, those roots begin to take hold of our hearts…and as we continue to grow, those roots continue to find new areas to take hold of.