{Not a manuscript: a transcription from audio cassette}
Introduction
Well let’s take our Bibles again and turn with me to the book of Colossians. Colossians chapter 2, and believe it or not, we’re going to get through verse 10 this morning, (unless I have a heart attack or something!). Colossians chapter 2, let’s read together verses 8 through 10. The apostle Paul’s warning to the church at Colossae and to us as well:
"See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority".
Today’s Contemporary Churches: Entertaining
If you’ve ever visited London, or if you ever do visit London, you should have no problem spotting St. Paul’s Cathedral. It’s considered to be among the ten most beautiful buildings in the world and it dominates the city’s skyline. This big, venerable structure stands as a monument to its creator, astronomer and architect Sir Christopher Wren. And while St. Paul’s is his best-known achievement, there’s an interesting story connected with a lesser-known building that he also designed. Christopher Wren was given charge of designing the interior of the town hall in Windsor. This was just west of central London. And his plans called for large columns to support the high ceilings. When the construction was complete, the city fathers toured the building and expressed concern over one problem, and that was the pillars. You see, it wasn’t that they really had a problem with the pillars; but there weren’t enough of them. They wanted more pillars. So Wren had a solution, a solution that was as devilish as it was inspired. He did exactly what they wanted and he installed four new pillars and by it met their demands by doing so. Those extra pillars remain in Windsor Hall to this day. And they aren’t difficult to identify. You see, they stand out from the rest of the pillars, the original pillars. The four pillars that Wren added support no weight. In fact, they don’t even touch the ceiling. They’re fakes. Wren installed the pillars to serve one purpose, to look good. They’re an ornamental embellishment built to satisfy the eye. In terms of supporting the building, in terms of fortifying the structure, they’re about as useful as the paintings that hang on the walls.
That, my friends, describes what’s happening in many contemporary churches today in much of their worship. Lots of looking good, lots of ornamental embellishments, lots to satisfy the eye, but little substance, little true worship. This past week, Ben and Renee shared with me that they met with a couple that purchased their home out in the foothills. And they found out that this couple was looking for a church in the area. But when the discussion turned to what exactly they were looking for, they expressed that they were looking for a church where entertaining skits and music were a high priority. They came to find out they came from a church, a large church in the Chicago area, where that indeed was a very high priority.
Now that’s indicative of the church today. How do you gauge success? By numbers, how many people you can get in the door. It’s not gauged by Biblical knowledge. It’s not gauged by Biblical integrity and true growth in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. Well, many would claim that it is; but in reality it isn’t. It’s kind of like those four ornamental pillars. It looks like it on the outside, but in reality, worthless.
As I was thinking of this this week, I thought of the prophet Jeremiah. Do you realize that if the prophet Jeremiah was to be evaluated by today’s standards, he would be considered an abject failure. He didn’t generate numbers. He wasn’t very entertaining. He simply spoke the truth.
I love this quote by John MacArthur. It’s in the bulletin today:
"Worship services in many churches today are like a merry-go-round. You drop a token in the collection box. It’s good for a ride. There’s music. There’s lots of motion up and down. The ride is carefully timed and seldom varies in length. Lots of good feelings are generated. And it is the one ride you can be sure will never be the least bit threatening or challenging. But though you spend the whole time feeling as if you’re moving forward, you get off exactly where you got on."
That is so true. It’s the one ride you can be sure will never be the least bit threatening or challenging. You spend the whole time feeling like you’re going somewhere. But when you get out, you ended in exactly the same place you started. Going to church has become like going to a theater. Maybe that’s why so many churches nowadays are held in theaters. You come to be entertained and you usually leave amused, but nothing’s really changed. You get off where you got on. Lots of bells and whistles. No substance. Now what’s the message? What’s the message in all this. And I’ll admit it’s a subliminal message. Nobody’s going to admit to it. But it is a message. And it’s a message that God’s grace really isn’t sufficient, that God’s Word really isn’t sufficient, that Jesus Christ really isn’t sufficient. You want to build a church nowadays? What do you do? You certainly don’t do what we’re doing. This is what you do. You embellish the Word of God. You embellish the grace of God with human ingenuity, with sales and marketing techniques and entertainment. You make it appealing. You draw the masses. You build a church. It’s like adding a drop of water; you have two hundred people overnight. You want to build so-called Christians up in the faith. Here’s what you do. You embellish the all-sufficiency of Jesus Christ with mysticism, experientialism, humanistic psychology, maybe a deliverance ministry or two. And that’s how you "build people up". "Whatever you do, don’t just teach and practice the Bible. Don’t rely on Christ alone. That’s archaic. That’s not cutting edge. Listen, we want to be on the cutting edge of ministry." Folks, that’s not the cutting edge of ministry, that’s the cutting edge of compromise.
Paul’s Prayer for Christians in Ephesus
I love Paul’s instruction in Ephesians chapter 3. This is Paul’s prayer for the church; this is the Holy Spirit’s prayer, God’s prayer, Jesus Christ’s prayer for the church, for this church. Ephesians chapter 3 verse 14. Paul says :
"For this reason (and he’s referring to all he’s been talking about in verses 2 through 13), I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, (and this is what I pray) that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man; so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God".
Filled up to all the fullness of God! Verse 20,
"Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen."
That’s the church’s sufficiency. That’s the Christian’s sufficiency. It’s not self-sufficiency. It’s Christ’s sufficiency, sufficiency in Him alone. This is the true knowledge, the true "gnosis" (as we’ve been following our outline these past two weeks) of Jesus Christ, the true knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Know Your Enemy: Philosophy and Empty Deception
And we talked about how a true knowledge of Christ is going to result in some things. And that’s specifically taken out of these three verses. It results in knowing your enemy. And we spent quite a bit of time there the past two weeks just looking at this one verse, verse 8, Paul’s warning ,
"See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy (or so-called philosophy) and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ".
Don’t be taken captive by so-called philosophy, which masquerades itself as true wisdom, but which in reality is false wisdom; it’s empty deceit. It’s according to the tradition of men. It’s according to the elementary principles of the world. And most importantly, it’s not according to Christ. All that we do, all that we are, all that we teach, our lives as believers are to be according to Jesus Christ and Him alone.
So know your enemy. Know that deception exists. It’s real. You know what deception is like? It’s like a dream. If you open your eyes, you’ll see it for what it really is. Now Paul’s warning here, "blepete", is "see to it", "open your eyes", "keep them open always". Don’t be taken captive by anything that isn’t according to Christ. Listen, unbelievers can’t open their eyes. They’re blinded. They’re blinded by sin, they’re blinded by their depravity, they’re blinded by Satan. Believers, you have had your eyes opened. So there’s no reason to walk around with them closed. That’s the point. So the true knowledge, the true "gnosis" of Christ involves one thing, knowing your enemy.
Know Jesus Christ’s Deity: He is God
But also know His Deity. That’s our second point, know His Deity, and that’s the Deity of Jesus Christ. And here we move on finally to verse 9, "For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form". "For in Him". In whom? In Christ. And there’s a little interesting connective used here. It’s the Greek word, "hoti", usually translated "that", "for", or "because". Here I translated it "for". It’s probably translated that way in most of your translations. "hoti". Paul’s establishing a contrast here. What he said in verse 8, "See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. For ...". He’s building a transition here, because everything else that isn’t according to Christ pales in comparison to Jesus Christ. So here’s the comparison. "For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells". Now on what basis is Christ sufficient according to this verse? Because He’s a great prophet? Because He imparts some secret knowledge? Because He’s a great historical figure? What’s the basis? "For in Him, (what?) all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form". That’s the basis of His sufficiency, the fact that He’s God. If Jesus Christ isn’t God, He can’t be all-sufficient, can He? He can’t save you and He can’t empower you to live the Christian life. This is the basis of it all. Christ in you, the hope of glory, who He is. The one in whom all the fullness of Deity dwells.
There’s an interesting triplet of verses in John chapter 1. Some of them I’m sure you’re familiar with. John chapter 1 verse 12,
"But as many as received Him (that is, Christ), to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His Name".
How are you saved? How do you become a Christian? By receiving Jesus Christ in your life as Savior and Lord. If you do that, He gives you the right to become children of God. Verse 16 of John chapter 1 says, "For of His fullness, we have all received, and grace upon grace". Every believer in Christ has received the fullness of Christ and grace upon grace, that is, grace multiplied. But what’s the basis for all this? You want to know? John chapter 1 verse 1, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was (whom?) God". The Deity of Jesus Christ.
Paul puts it this way in Colossians chapter 2 verse 9, "In Him, all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form". That might remind you of another passage we looked at some weeks ago in chapter 1 verse 19, literally translated, "For He was well-pleased for all the fullness to dwell in Him." For God, God the Father, was well-pleased for all the fullness to dwell in Him (that is, God the Son, Jesus Christ). The same Greek word is used here, "fullness". It’s the Greek word, "pleroma". It’s usually translated "fullness". It can be understood in the sense of "completeness". It’s a word that was used in ancient literature of a "full" crew or a "full" cargo on a merchant ship. It has the idea again of "completeness". We could say, "All the completeness of Deity dwells in Jesus Christ".
And it’s kind of interesting how Paul uses several different catch words throughout this letter, all that directly relate to the Greek and Jewish errorists, those who were propagating the Colossian heresy that we’ve talked about. Words like "mystery", "knowledge", the word "complete" (teleos), and this word "fullness". These were words that these false teachers loved to throw around. They loved to use them. And Paul kind of turns them back on them.
It would be much like me writing against some of the contemporary errors of our day, especially errors in the church, and using their catch words, like "seeker", "full gospel", "prosperity", when in reality the only seeker is the one whom God sovereignly draws by the power of His Word, John 6:44. The only full gospel is the truth that Jesus Christ and His Word are all-sufficient, Second Peter 1:3. And the only prosperity is that which recognizes that Christian maturity is wrought through Christ’s power within, coupled with personal discipline and suffering, Philippians chapter 1 verse 29, chapter 2 verses 12 through 13. And that prosperity has nothing to do with health and wealth. In the same way, the only true "pleroma", the only true fullness is found where, in whom? In Jesus Christ.
Yes, the fullness of Deity (theotes), a word that’s only used here in the New Testament. This is an ontological word. What that means is, it has the idea of essential nature or essential being. The essential ontological nature of Jesus Christ is what? Deity. He is God. He is God. We looked at that in chapter 1 verse 15, "He is (the icon) the image of the invisible God". The invisible God has made Himself visible in the Person of whom? Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the creator of all things. He is the sustainer of all things. He is the head of the church. He reconciles all things to Himself. And He possess the fullness, the completeness of Deity. Now we could spend weeks, literally, just pouring through passages that teach and support the Deity of Jesus Christ, the fact that Jesus Christ is God. We could spend weeks there.
But I want you to look at one passage with me, and that’s Titus chapter 2 verse 13. There’s an interesting grammatical rule connected with this verse that I’d just love to share with you today. Titus chapter 2 verse 13, "looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus". Here’s a verse that supports the Deity of Jesus Christ, "the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus". Well gee, I wonder what Jehovah’s Witnesses do with this verse. Do you know what they do with it? They say, no, it’s "looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and our Savior, Christ Jesus". Two people here, not one. You see, because they would say that Jesus Christ isn’t God, a heresy that goes all the way back to the second century and particularly the fourth century. There’s a grammatical rule that comes into play in this verse. It’s called Sharp’s rule. Sharp’s rule applies when you have two nouns connected by the Greek conjunction "kai". The Greek conjunction "kai" is usually translated "and". In this verse, we have two nouns connected by "kai": "God kai Savior", "God and Savior". So Sharp’s rule is in effect here. Sharp’s rule says that if both nouns have the definite article in Greek, and that’s usually translated "the", but in Greek it’s quite often not translated, especially with proper names. So, literally here, it’s "our great the God and Savior", but usually again with proper names, the definite article is not translated. But if both nouns in the Greek have the definite article, they refer to different persons. But, if the first noun has a definite article and the second noun linked with that conjunction "kai" (and) does not have a definite article, they refer to two different people or things. Which do you think we have here? The latter. This is literally "our great (definite article) God and (no definite article) Savior". This is referring to the same person. Our great God is our great Savior. Our great God is Jesus Christ. So as Paul says, "For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells". And how does it dwell? In what way does it dwell, according to Colossians chapter 2 verse 10? In what fashion? Bodily, bodily. By the way, that word "dwells", it’s in the present tense. The implication here is that the Deity of Jesus Christ continues to dwell always and forever. From eternity past to eternity future, Jesus Christ is God. But ever since the incarnation of Christ, when Jesus Christ became man, the Deity of Christ dwells bodily.
A New Testament commentator of a generation ago, Marvin Vincent writes,
"The present tense ‘katoikei’ (and that’s the word ‘dwells’) is used to denote an eternal and essential characteristic of Christ’s being. The indwelling of the Divine fullness in Him is characteristic of Him as Christ, from all ages and to all ages. Hence the fullness of the Godhead dwelt in Him before His incarnation, when He was in the form of God (Philippians 2:6). The Word in the beginning was with God and was God (John 1:1). It dwelt in Him during His incarnation. It was the Word that became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth. And His glory which was beheld was the glory as of the only begotten of the Father (John 1:14). The fullness of the Godhead dwells in His glorified humanity in heaven. The fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him in a bodily way. This means that it dwells in Him as one having a human body. This could not be true in His pre-incarnate state when He was in the form of God. For the human body was taken on by Him in the fullness of time, when He became in the likeness of men (Philippians chapter 2 verse 7), when the Word became flesh. The fullness of the Godhead dwelt in His Person from His birth to His ascension. He carried His human body with Him into heaven, and in His glorified body now and ever dwells the fullness of the Godhead."
This was prophesied in the Old Testament, Isaiah 7:14, "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: (and what’s that sign?) a virgin will be with child and bear a Son, and she will call His name (what?) Immanuel", which means what? "God with us" (Matthew 1:23). This is where every cult that ever existed, that exists today, that every will exist is brought to the bar of God and condemned. The full Deity, the full humanity of Jesus Christ. He is fully, completely, perfectly God. He’s fully, completely, and perfectly Man. There’s no more crucial issue than this. Throughout history, this is the terminal issue where cultists have departed from the doctrine of God to doctrines of demons. A denial of Christ’s Deity, a denial of His humanity, or a denial of both.
In the first and second century, it was the dual heresies of Docetism and Gnosticism, which denied the humanity of Christ. They said Jesus Christ only appeared to be human. In the second century, it was Ebionism, which denied the Deity of Christ. In the fourth century, Arianism, a precursor to Jehovah’s Witnesses of today, which denied the Deity of Christ. In the fourth century, there was also what was called Apollonarianism, which affirmed Christ’s Deity, but denied His true humanity by saying that Christ had a human body and soul, but He had a Divine Logos rather than a human spirit. Then there was Nestorianism in the fifth century that said that Christ was schizophrenic; He was two people. Then there was Eutychianism in the fifth century that claimed that Christ was neither fully human or Divine, but a single mixed nature. We could go on and on, from Mormanism to Unitarianism. But this is where the cults depart from the truth of God’s Word, a truth that was held and esteemed by the apostles, by the defenders of the faith from the early times. Even in the early church, there was a hymn that Paul records in First Timothy 3:16, "by common confession, great is the mystery of godliness", talking about Christ here, "great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh was vindicated in the Spirit, beheld by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, and taken up in glory." "In Him, all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form".
The great song writer, Isaac Waats proclaimed,
"O for a sight, a blissful sight of our Almighty Father’s throne! There sits the Savior, crowned with light, clothed in a body like our own. Adoring saints around Him stand, and thrones and powers before Him fall; God shines gracious through the Man, and sheds sweet glories on them all."
Know His Deity, not only intellectually. But know what that means, His authority, His authority over all things and His authority over your life. It’s indispensable to a true knowledge of Jesus Christ. He is Lord. He is God, the fullness of the Godhead indwells Him completely. And if He’s your Lord and Savior, He’s your authority, He’s your Master. To be disobedient to Him is to be disobedient to the One in whom the fullness of Deity dwells.
Know Jesus Christ’s Sufficiency: He is our Strength
And because He is who He is, a true knowledge of Him will result in personally (our third point) knowing His sufficiency. Verse 10, "and in Him, you have been made complete". Now there’s two great truths here, two great truths that are muddied somewhat by most modern translations. But there’s two truths. The first truth is you are in Him. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you are in Christ. And because you are in Christ, and because He is complete, the second truth is, you have been made complete. Get that? Two wonderful truths.
Now catch this. The word here "complete", the word Paul uses, it’s a passive participle, but it’s from the verb pleroo (to fill, to fulfill, to be complete). This is a verb. Do you know where the noun form of this same word occurs? It’s on your outline. It’s in verse 9, "pleroma", "fullness". That’s the noun form of the verb "pleroo". One’s translated "fullness", the other is translated "complete". Now what’s the point? Let me ask you three questions. Of whom is "pleroma" (the word "fullness") used in verse 9? Who’s that used of? Jesus Christ. Of whom is "pleroo", closely-related word, one’s a noun, one’s a verb, of whom is "pleroo" ("complete") used in verse 10? The believer, right? Here’s the third question. Why are you complete? Because you are in Christ. Get that? You’re complete solely because Jesus Christ is complete, because of who He is, not because of who you are. Your completeness is directly linked to Christ. He is complete, and because you are in Him, you share in His completeness, you are complete also. And this is another perfect passive participle, rightly translated "having been made complete". It’s passive. It was an outside force that acted on you to make you complete. The outside force is God, who drew you to Himself. And when He did that, when you received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, you were made complete, because Christ is complete. Can you add anything to complete? No. Right? You’re complete.
Now let me tell how else this verb can be translated. And I’m talking about verse 10, "pleroo". It’s usually rendered "filled" or "fulfilled". And I thought about this a while. This could be translated as the Revised Standard translates it "you are fulfilled in Christ". It gives it a little different nuance. There’s a wonderful truth here. I think it would be very safe and exegetically correct to say that you are both fulfilled in Christ and complete in Christ. Did you get that? You’re fulfilled in Christ. You’re complete in Christ. Only in Christ is the fullness found (verse 9).
Knowing that He’s the basis of your completeness, your fulfillment, where then is the source of the only true fulfillment found? In Christ. Second Corinthians chapter 9 verse 8. And Paul is specifically talking here about giving. But I think there’s application here for what we’re talking about. Second Corinthians chapter 9 verse 8,
"And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed".
You have all sufficiency for everything in Jesus Christ. You have an abundance for every good deed. Now you say, "Well, yeah, but I’m weak. You don’t know my situation. I’m weak. I’m weary." Look at Second Corinthians chapter 12 verse 9. It’s good that you’re weak. It’s good to hear that you’re weary. Because according to Second Corinthians chapter 12 verse 9, "power is perfected in weakness". So Paul says, "Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me." When you’re weak, that’s when you’re strong. Why would any Christian trade self-esteem or self-sufficiency for Christ-esteem and Christ-sufficiency? That’s a trade you lose out on every time. You’re fulfilled in Christ. You are complete in Christ. That’s true. Let that sink into your head a moment. Your fulfillment is in Christ. You’re absolutely complete in Christ. Do you believe that? Do you believe it? If you do, if I do, let’s live it.
I said a few weeks ago that most of the problems we have in living the Christian life can be traced to one of two sources or things: ignorance and unbelief. Either we don’t know or we don’t care or both. I would like to think that for most Christians, the case is the former, not the latter. A sad thing is a Christian that doesn’t care. But I want to address that first one, ignorance. And I want to ask you, and I’m talking to Christians, who are you? Who in the world are you? Do you know who you are? Do you know who you are in Christ? Do you know that you are in Him, having been made complete. You can take away anything and everything the world has to offer and it can’t touch your completeness, it can’t touch your fulfillment, because that’s in Jesus Christ, not in anything the world has to offer. Quite often, if I’m counseling somebody, I use as my counseling manual the book of Ephesians. And several times I’ve asked people, "Read through the book of Ephesians. Read through it several times. Familiarize yourself with it." That’s my counseling manual.
I just want to touch on Ephesians 1 and 2. Listen to this. You want to know who you are in Christ? Chapter 1 verse 3, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us (he’s talking to believers) with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ". Number 1, you’ve been blessed with every spiritual blessing. This has already happened. You have it. Verse 4, "just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him." You’re chosen, you’re elect, before the foundation of the world, God chose you for salvation. Verse 5, "In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will". You’re predestined, to be adopted as a son, as a daughter, "to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved." This is what you have. "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us. In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things upon the earth. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ should be to the praise of His glory." Verse 13, "In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation--having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise". That’s why you can’t lose your salvation. You’re sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, "who is given as a pledge (the Greek ‘aribon’ has the idea of an earnest; it was used of an engagement ring) of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory."
Chapter 2, what were you? "you were dead in your trespasses and sins". What are you now? Verse 4, "But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ". Verse 6, "and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus". Look at chapter 1 verse 20. Who’s seated? Christ, seated at the Father’s right hand. Positionally, chapter 2 verse 6, you are seated with Christ at the Father’s right hand. That’s your position. That’s who you are as a believer in Jesus Christ.
So who are you? That’s just it in a nutshell. But who are you? There’s no such thing as an unfulfilled, incomplete Christian. No such thing. No such thing as an empty Christian. So if you’re truly a believer in Jesus Christ, don’t say "My life lacks fulfillment", "I’m not complete". Because if you’re in Him, your fulfillment is in Him and you are complete in Him". H. A. Ironside, a former pastor of the great Moody Memorial Church in Chicago, reflecting on these great truths, wrote, "This revelation floods our being with rapture, fills our cup of joy, and satisfies every demand of the intellect. We are filled full in Him." So get used to saying to yourself, "Lord Jesus, you are my fulfillment. I’m complete in You. No matter what I feel, I don’t need ... (fill in the blank) ... to be fulfilled or to be complete."
Know Jesus Christ’s Authority: He is our Lord
The fourth principle also flows out of the second. Because Jesus Christ is God, He is what? Again, verse 10, the second half of the verse, "He is the head over all rule and authority". The word "head" ("kephale") is used three times in Colossians. It’s used in chapter 1 verse 18, here in chapter 2 verse 19. It’s a word that’s used of a literal head, such as a person’s head (Matthew 5:36). But it can also refer to a symbolic head, such as the head of a family (Ephesians chapter 6 verse 23). But when it’s used that way, it has the predominant meaning of authority over. To be the head is to be the one in authority. And here it says that Jesus Christ is head over all rule and authority. Now what does that mean? What’s "rule and authority"? Rule and authority could refer to the angelic, created beings. It’s used that way in Ephesians chapter 3 verse 10, chapter 6 verse 12, and also in First Peter 3:22. Or rule and authority could simply refer to Christ’s supremacy over earthly authorities. Now I think it’s the former, not the latter. I believe Paul is referring here to angelic, created beings. It fits the entire context of his argument, it fits the nature of the Colossian heresy, with its reverence of so-called intermediaries who created on God’s behalf, and angelic beings. And the key here, what Paul was saying is that Jesus Christ is head, He’s the master, He’s the authority over all rule and authority, over every created being, both angelic and demonic. He is Lord of all.
That’s why I have such a problem with another (I believe) detractor of Christ’s sufficiency. And that’s this recent obsession with deliverance from demons, from Frank Peretti’s fictional books to Neil Anderson’s bondage breaker and its pseudo truth, to the wealth of seminars now available for Christians so that they can reach a higher plane of Christian living by being released from the power of demons. C. Peter Wagner, a proponent of these deliverance tools has written that "The Holy Spirit is saying something to churches through these books", and he’s talking about the fictional books written by Frank Peretti, "even though they’re fiction." And then he goes on to caution Christians about the danger of demons; he says, "If you don’t know what you are doing, and few have the necessary expertise, Satan will eat you for breakfast". Really? The believer in Jesus Christ, the overcomer, the one in whom the Godhead dwells, is going to be eaten for breakfast by Satan? "Well", someone might object, "what about I Peter 5:8? That says, ‘Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (to eat)’. See, Satan can eat you for breakfast." Well what does Peter suggest in the very next verse? Read a book? Go to a seminar? Pray some magical prayer. No. Do you know what Peter says? First Peter 5:9, "resist him, firm in your faith". Pretty simple. I couldn’t write much of a book with that. How about spiritual warfare according to James 4:7, "Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." You mean it’s that easy. Submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee? Listen, Jesus Christ is already triumphant over all the forces of wickedness (chapter 2, verse 15). It says He has disarmed them. Romans 8:37 and Paul writing of the believer, he says, "in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us". Now listen, ... (END OF TAPE).
