Introduction
This sermon is an introduction for the next several Sundays as we go through the book of Colossians. The theme of the book is the sufficiency of Christ for all things.
This is one of four Prison Epistles written by Paul from Rome about AD 60-62. (The others are Ephesians, Philippians, Philemon.) Paul did not establish this church or even go there, as far as we know. The church was proably founded by Epaphras (1:7), and it may have been an outgrowth of the great revival in Ephesus, recorded in Acts 19.
Acts 19 begins with immature believers being filled with the Holy Spirit. Then the gospel was rejected by the local Jewish leaders, but many Gentiles came to faith. One of the greatest evidences of revival is in Acts 19:18-20: A lot of people who had been trapped the occult and other Satanic activity burned their magic books and other paraphenalia, amounting to 50,000 pieces of silver. We don’t know what that was worth in our currency, but it must have been a staggering amount, to say the least. From this we learn that when revival takes hold of a community, it takes hold of peoples’ lives, and they gladly give up whatever isn’t in keeping with the faith.
Another outgrowth ot revival is that it spreads, and this is perhaps how the Colossian church was founded. But the very existence of the book of Colossians shows how easy it it to get off track in a short time. Here was a church founded during Paul’s ministry, and he had time and occasion to write them and address a flaw in their fellowship.
Paul wrote to the Colossians to correct false teaching which mixed other elements with the finished work of Christ. Now, just as then, we need to be aware of false teaching which mixes other elements with the finished work of Christ.
Why do we need this book and the lessons it gives? In my study, I ran across a couple of paragraphs by Warren Wiersbe, and I can’t improve on it. Wiersbe says,
“The church today desperately needs the message of Colossians. We live in a day when religious toleration is interpreted to mean “one religion is just as good as another.” Some people try to take the best from various religious systems and manufacture their own private religion. To many people, Jesus Christ is only one of several great religious teachers, with no more authority than they. He may be prominent, but He is definitely not preeminent.
“This is an age of “syncretism” [the combination of different forms of belief or practice]. People are trying to harmonize and unite many different schools of thought and come up with a superior religion. Our evangelical churches are in danger of diluting the faith in their loving attempt to understand the beliefs of others. Mysticism, legalism, Eastern religions, asceticism, and man-made philosophies are secretly creeping into churches. They are not denying Christ, but they are dethroning Him and robbing Him of His rightful place of preeminence.” (The Bible Exposition Commentary).
As we said, Colossians’ theme is the sufficiency of Christ for all things. In future weeks, we’ll take the book section by section and break it down. But today, I’d like to take the entire book and point out dimensions of the believer’s life in Christ. I usually make my own outlines for a sermon, but this time I chose to use the excellent outline (and only the outline) by Norman Geisler, writing in the Bible Knowledge Commentary.
The first dimension of our life in Christ is this:
1. We have deeper life in Christ (1:1-2:7).
This is a doctrinal section. Doctrine has to do with what we believe. A group of Christians in England quite some time ago had a saying that went something like this: It doesn’t matter what you belive, it’s how you behave. Now if they were speaking against hypocrisy, saying one thing but doing another, I guess I could agree with them.
But one thing I’ve learned over the years is that what we do is greatly influenced by what we believe. The folks in Colossae were doing all kinds of things (mostly ceremonial) that they didn’t have to do because they had wrong beliefs about who Jesus is and what He had accomplished.
Just who is this Jesus? Many people would say nice things about Jesus but stop short of saying He is God. Paul wan’t about to let that happen if he could help it. There in the first chapter he leaves no doubt as to exactly Jesus is. Jesus is the…
1. Source of wisdom (1:9-10)
2. Source of strength (1:11-12)
3. Source of deliverance (1:13-14)
4. Creator of the universe (1:15-17)
5. Head of the church (1:18)
Incidentally, Ephesians and Colossians are very similar books. However, Ephesians emphasizes the church as the body of Christ while Colossians emphasizes: Christ as the head of the body.)
6. Fullness of God (1:19-20)
7. Believer’s refuge (1:21-22)
The depth of life in Christ comes partly from our devotion to Him, giving Him all that we are, all that we do, and all that we have. But have you ever considered that the real depth of life in Christ comes from who He is? The essence of who Christ is spans all knowledge, all power, all time, all things.
The believer has a life rooted deeply in who Christ is and what He’s done. We are saved by trusting Him having made the full payment for our sin. Then we give Him all that we are, hopefully resulting in the next dimension of life:
2. We have higher life in Christ (2:8-23)
This is what Geisler calls the polemical section of the letter. Polemical is a five-dollar word for argumentative. By “argumentative” we don’t mean being nasty or disagreeable, but rather fleshing out what we know to be true and exposing the error of opposing opinions and views.
The message here is that we can live above the world in which we live now. The hymnwriter, Johnson Oatman, Jr. put it this way: “I want to live above the world, Though Satan’s darts at me are hurled; For faith has caught the joyful sound, The song of saints on higher ground.”
Someone has said, “It’s hard to fly with the eagles when you’re around so many turkeys.” Well these Colossian believers were being held back by some turkeys. Paul warns them not to be taken captive by philosophy and empty deceit, both of which can sound so much more impressive than they really are.
The word philosophy combines the Greek words philos and sophos, meaning love of knowledge. By the way, isn’t that just about all of us? We want to know things, we crave information. In my lifetime, the amount of information available to us in a few seconds has increased exponentially. Thanks to modern technology, people can get news from around dthe world while it is happening. In previous generations, the same kind of news took days, weeks, or even months to make its way to people.
Some years ago I went to the Museum of Westward Expansion, located at the base of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri. One of the signs there made a great impression on me, and I wrote it out and tucked it away. This is the sign, a quote from Henry Adams, who wrote in 1907: "At the rate of progress since 1800, every American who lived into the year 2000 would know how to control unlimited power...to him the nineteenth centrury would stand on the same plane as the fourth -- equally childlike -- and he would only wonder how both of them, knowing so little, and so weak in force, should have done so much."
We all want to be wise, we all want to know. Incidentally, the English word sophomore also comes from two Greek words: sophos means wise, and moros means foolish. In other words, a sophomore is a wise fool! Proof once again that a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.
Now the “knowledge” Paul was warning against was likely an early form of Gnosticism. Gnosticism taught that we are saved by a secret knowledge not widely available. It also taught that all matter is evil. They reasoned that since the spiritual is good and the material world was evil, God couldn’t have actually come in the flesh. Therefore, Jesus was either a phantom figure or was part of a long chain of emanations from God to man.
Today our culture does something like this. Most people will say nice things about Christ, but then immediately point to other things, sometimes evil things, as the answer to life’s problems. Oprah Winfrey does this. Sometimes her words and actions seem so, well, Christian. Then she’ll go out and promote a book like Rhonda Byrne’s The Secret.
This book is the old snake oil that says the meaning of life and secret of success are locked up inside of you, just waiting to be released by the positive energy that will flow around you when you say and think certain things. Folks, this may sound good, but it is directly opposite of what the Bible teaches. The only good we’re capable of having comes from a relationship with Jesus!
The source of this relationship leading to a higher life is shown in 2:13-15. Paul talks about that “record of debt” that stood against us. In the ancient world, when the criminal was convicted, the record of his crime was written down, attached to him, then nailed on the door of the prison. When he had served his time, paid the fine, whatever, the paper was taken back to the authorities and destroyed.
Likewise, the written record of our sins and violations of written law was transferred to Christ, nailed to the cross, and cancelled out, or paid off. There is nothing more that we need to do to be forgiven, Jesus did it all. As the hymnwriter John Grape put it, “Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow. Not only do we have a deeper life and a higher life in Christ, but there is a third dimension:
3. We have inner life in Christ (3:1-17)
This is a spiritual section, cutting to the heart of who you really are. Sometimes we may be talking about someone and say smething like, “Golf is his life.” Of course that first word can be just about any hobby, name of a person, a sport, whatever. But the point is, a person’s life is usually summed up by what they value and cherish most. “Christ is his life” should be spoken of the Christian, who takes it as a compliment. Phil. 1:21 puts it this way: For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Christ is the very core of our lives, from which everything else comes. But Paul tells us in no uncertain terms that Christ can’t really be “in” us until certain things are “out.” 3:5 says “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” I’ve always been struck by that last line about idolatry. I don’t know anyone who literally bows down to an idol, do you?
But think about it, an idol is any object, person, or behavior that takes precedence over God. So when we read in the Bible that God wants us to be sexually pure and then go look at porn or indulge in an unwholesome relationship, we’re saying that what we want takes precedent over what God wants. How can that be anything but idolatry?
Where in the text can we see that this is talking about an inner life? Well, in the first 17 verses of chapter three, Paul uses the word “in” five times in reference to “you” or “your.” God is saying that your life is hidden with Christ in God, so we should put to death what is earthly in us. In verse 15 we’re told to let the peace of God rule in our hearts. Incidentally, the Greek word for rule is the same one used in other writings for referee. In other words, it says to let Christ make the call.
Now we know what a referee is and what he does. In baseball, he decides what pitch is a strike and which is a ball. Another umpire watches the bases and declares the runner safe or out. Most of the time, his job is fairly easy because the right call is obvious. But sometimes it’s awfully close, but he has to make the call quickly. He can’t say, “Let me get back to you” or “I need to sleep on it.”
In the same way, there are times when people say or do things to us or around us and we have to respond in some way. In those situations, Paul is saying to let Christ and who He is make the call. He tells us to have Jesus at the center of who we are and how we think so the call, the right call, can be made quickly.
Part of doing this involves helping each other along in this direction. Immediately after telling us in verse 15 to let Christ referee our lives, he tells us in verse 16 to admonish and teach one another. How can we do this? By “singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” We need to remember that Paul was writing to a church, not an individual. He’s saying, “Look, don’t try this on your own, you need each other.”
Paul may or may not have written Hebrews, which has a very similar line of thought in 10:24-25: “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near (ESV).”
When things are right on the inside, they will be right on the outside. This brings us to the last dimension of life in Christ:
4. We have outer life in Christ (3:18—4:18)
This is a practical section of the book, where the rubber meets the road, as some would say. Here we see that ou life in Christ and faith are to be reflected in the way we live with our spouse, children, work, and in the community. There is no secular life and spiritual life. It’s all life.
The section begins by telling wives to submit to their husbands. Notice that he isn’t telling women to submit to men, but wives to their own husbands. Why are wives to submit? Is it because they aren’t as smart or resourceful as their husbands? No way! When it comes to smarts and know how, I know a lot of wives who can run circles around their husbands. (In that regard, your pastor’s family might be a good example.)
Wives submitting to their husbands isn’t a matter of worth, but but of role. In 1 Tim. 2:13-14 Paul points to the order in creation: For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor (ESV). In 1 Cor 11:3 Paul draws a parallel between husband and wife and God and Christ: But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God (ESV).
When Jesus walked the earth, He displayed submission to His heavenly Father. Yet is there anyone among us who would say that the God the Father is somehow smarter or better than God the Son? For reasons that go past our understanding, the Trinity has order and structure, and it is displayed in how the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit relate to one another. God has chosen to display that part of His glory through the marriages of His children. That may not be the only reason for wives to submit, but it’s probably the best.
To husbands Paul says to love their wives. Norman Geisler puts it this way, Husbands are to “exercise loving leadership, not dictatorial dominion.” The fact of a submissive wife should probably scare a man a little bit. In Ephesians 5 Paul says that husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her. Guys, are you ready and willing to die to protect your wife and family? Here’s a harder question: Are you willing to put aside what you want for what she needs on a daily basis? The fact is, wives wouldn’t have much trouble doing what God wants them to do if husbands did what God wants them to do.
Paul goes on to address children, slaves and masters. Now we don’t have slaves and masters today, but we do have employees and bosses. We’ll go into greater detail on these verses in a later sermon. For now let’s just say that the reality of Christ in us will be shown by the way we live in relation to other people.
The final area we’ll address this morning is the way we talk. The Bible says that our speech should always be gracious, seasoned with salt (4:6). In the ancient world, salt was valuable, and served at least two purposes as nothing else could do. First it was a purifying agent. In those centuries before refrigeration, salt was used to keep meat fresh beyond a few hours or days. The salt would penetrate the flesh and prevent decay. Salt was also used then for helping wounds to heal.
In the same way, our words are to be redemptive, building people up instead of tearing them down. Beyond that, they should be pure words. It disturbe me when I hear Christians use the same words as Eddie Murphy does in and R-rated movie. Talking like that does absolutely nothing to promote the gospel. In fact, that kind of worldly living hinders the gospel.
Conclusion
As we end this sermon and begin this series through Colossians, I would ask that you pray for me, specifically in my daily study of the Word. Preaching through a Bible book requires systematic, consistent study, the kind that doesn’ tcome naturally to me!
I would also as that you read Colossians, or sections of it, devotionally. Perhaps insights or questions will come to your mind as you do. If you would, please share some of those questions or insights with me in person, by phone, email, whatever. One of my favorite seminary professors, the late L. Russ Bush, once said, “The mind of Christ is in the body of Christ.” Thank you in advance for your prayers and help.
As we end this sermon and begin this series, the question is, are you trusting Christ for life on all levels? The first step is trusting Him for salvation.
