Colossians 2:8-10: In Christ you Have it All
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. 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.
All that work, all that effort, for nothing! Do you have a favorite commercial? One that I saw recently and maybe will see again pictures this man coming out to his car parked on the street. It's the morning after a major snow storm and his car his completely covered in snow and the plow and pushed all the road snow and ice up against his car and all he has to clean off his car his sleeve. And so he gets to work and he's not really dressed right for this whole situation and he has to chip away at the ice on his windshield with his credit card, and finally he's done. And he takes a step back and presses the button that unlocks the car and turns on the lights - and do you know what happens next? All that work, all that effort, for nothing! The whole time, he was working on the wrong car. He presses the button and the car one spot over makes the noise and the lights turn on. And he can't believe it! He presses the button again and again and the car he has spent all that time on shows no signs of life. And the car one spot over, still covered with all that snow and ice, makes all the noises to show that he had been working on the wrong car all that time.
Have you ever felt like that? I hope you never have the experience that man had - but have you ever put forth a lot of effort, tried really hard, and in the end, it was all for nothing.
There are many people in this world, and maybe you know some of them, or maybe you're one of them yourself - people who are working very hard at life, very busy, exhausted, trying very hard at their jobs and personal life and school life and health and everything else - trying very hard. And yet, as time goes on they start to realize, something is not right. Something is missing. I'm not feeling the joy and satisfaction and contentment from all that I'm doing. I'm still empty. I think I've been dusting off the wrong car all this time.
How do I get rid of this empty and tired feeling in my life? Do I need to try harder? Does God have an answer for this? Is there a way to feel complete? A way to feel content? Or do I have to spend my whole life always so busy, and always so empty? Let's see what God wants to teach us here in these verses from the book of Colossians.
Now a little background… the people to whom these words were written lived in a city called Colossi. Back in those days they were being told that they were lacking something. They were missing something in life. "The things you believe about God and about Jesus are outdated," they were told. "Not relevant. If you really want to be happy, if you really want to be content and find joy and peace in your life, we have some things to teach you. There's so much more - you're missing it." And so the Christians were starting to abandon their faith in Jesus. They were looking for something bigger, better, something that felt more modern, more exciting - but the philosophy being shared with them was hollow and deceptive, the Apostle Paul writes.
Can you see the hollow and deceptive philosophy of today? Have you ever felt the pull? A man is a Christian all his life. But then he graduates from college, he gets a job. He's surrounded by people who don't have the same Christian upbringing that he had. He feels like he's missing something, the things they all talk about, they things they all do on the weekends. "I'm missing something," he says. And so he starts to experiment. Whatever feels good to you, whatever makes you happy at the moment, just trust in yourself, whatever you feel - that's the philosophy of all of his coworkers, and so he tries it too. Trust in youself! And that young ma slowly starts down this path that lands him in a world far far away from God. He has been taken captive by human tradition and the basic principles of the world, and all of it is hollow and deceptive.
Why do so many people in their 20's and 30's feel lost? All that school, I'm on my second or third job, I'm on every social networking website under the sun, and I still haven't found what I'm looking for. Why do so many people in their 40's and 50's still feel like something is missing - I have the job, family, house, 2 cars - the American dream - but something is missing! You're in your 60's, your 70's, you have the nice retirement, but it's all so empty and unsatisfying? Why? The hollow and deceptive philosophy of the world…
Famous writer - you have it all? "Wish someone would tell me that there is nothing at the top." Boris Becker wins two Wimbledons and after all that worldly success and fame and fortune, said he struggles with suicidal thoughts. The hollow and deceptive philosophy of the world.
A famous writer once said, "What else does this craving, this helplessness, proclaim… nothing helps, since this infinite abyss… can only be filled with God himself." (Pascal "Penguin edition of Pensees" 148/428).
Look at what the Apostle Paul says, "But in Christ, all the fullness of the deity lives in bodily form." What you need is not a philosophy, what you need is a Savior from sin. In Christ, you reach the ultimate destination everyone is trying to find - you reach God himself - all the fullness of the deity lives in him. In Jesus, you find perfect love, perfect peace, perfect joy, perfect contentment - you find all those things not in a philosophy, and not in a lifestyle, you find those things in a person. In Christ, all the fullness of the deity lives I bodily form. Jesus once said, "Whoever has seen me as seen the Father." What a statement!
Only in Christ, can you see the full truth about God and about yourself, and that's what you've been searching for all your life. In Jesus you learn about that thing inside of you called sin that affects everything you think and say and do in a negative way. That's why you have the problems that you have. That's why the world has the problems that it has. You can only learn that in Jesus. He teaches you that this sin has ultimately separated you from a holy and perfect God. This is why you always feel discontent, not at home, not at rest - you've been separated from the God who made you.
And so why does Jesus on bodily form - if he is God in the flesh, why would he do that? God becomes the God-man Jesus, to be your substitute. He becomes what you and I could never be, no matter how hard we try - he lives the perfect life with all the perfect choices and perfect conversations and perfect thoughts and words. He lives this perfect life, as your substitute. Maybe you think the reason you don't feel content in your life is because you haven't been perfect enough. You need to be more perfect! No. Not possible. Jesus becomes your substitute - he is perfect for you. And you place your trust in him, and you stop trusting in yourself, and you start to feel less exhausted in your life.
And then Jesus, the God-man, dies on the cross. Now why would he do that? That's why he took on that bodily form, so that he could die? Why? He does that as your substitute, to pay for all of your sins. Maybe you think the reason you don't feel content in your life is because you haven't fully paid for your sins yet. You just need to make up for a few more of those mistakes in your life! You need to keep trying harder to atone for all those bad things you've said and done. No. Not possible. Jesus becomes your substitute. He becomes the one who atones for your sins. He hangs on that cross and takes all the punishment of God the Father that really should have been placed on you - Jesus takes it all for you. All the fullness of the deity in bodily form dies on the cross for you. That is a big death, big enough to pay for all of you sin. And so you place your trust in Jesus, and you stop trusting in yourself. And you start to feel less exhausted and more at peace in your life.
Do you know what the basic principle of this world is? It's so common! And it's so hollow and deceptive. It's this - trust in yourself! But in Christ, all the fullness of the deity lives in bodily form. And so you trust in him instead. You trust in his perfect life for you. You trust in his innocent death on the cross for you. And as you trust in him more and more and in yourself less and less, that feeling of emptiness and discontent and confusion slowly starts to fade away.
The Apostle Paul goes on to say, "And you have been given fullness in Christ." In other words, you are made complete in Christ. In Jesus, you are a complete person. Completely perfect, because Jesus is your substitute. Completely forgiven, because Jesus paid for all of your sins. You are completely connected to God, with a future in heaven that is more satisfying and fulfilling than anything this world could possibly offer to you. In Christ, you have been made complete.
The next time your car is buried by snow, make sure it's your car you're digging out, and not someone else's. It's no fun digging out the wrong car. The next time you feel like something is missing in your life, the next time you feel empty, don’t look to the world with all of it's empty traditions and philosophies to fill you up. That's the wrong car. Focus on Christ. All the fullness of God lives in him. And he is the one, the only one, who can take away your emptiness and make you complete. Amen.
