Intro: Have ever been told that you weren’t good enough; maybe by someone at work or school? Maybe by a friend or loved one. Maybe you simply felt that way as you compared yourself to others or even to the standard of God’s word?
Typically, in a sermon you would experience these types of probing questions followed by a 30-40-minute build-up to some type of life-altering answer.
I suppose we do that to keep you intrigued enough to allow the fullness of what God has to say to sink into your heart, but today I’m going to let you in on God’s life-altering truth early.
The answer to the incessant voices of comparison and competition you hear is to know God as your qualifier and your approver. It is the same answer we have been echoing week after week since June.
(Colossians 2:6-10 NASB) "6 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude. 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. 9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, 10 and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;"
Whenever we read the word therefore we ought to determine what it’s there for.
Let us consider Paul is not sitting in some lavish climate controlled office with an orthopedic chair typing this from his MacBook.
In this case, Paul is imprisoned in Rome desiring to visit Colosse to encourage stability in the faith of believers.
Paul has plenty of reasons to sulk; plenty of reasons to be depressed or discouraged. Instead Paul leans on his identity in Christ and says, “be gracious.”
“Regardless of what you are facing today, or any day, honor and obey Christ because He has made you complete. Rejoice and give Him praise.”
As a Christian, you might not have too much trouble believing the first part of today's scripture, but believing the second part - that you have been brought to fullness in Christ - may be more of a struggle.
But verse 9 and the verses leading up to it about Jesus cannot be true unless verse 10 about you is true as well.
In essence, Paul says, "Let me tell you how full and complete Jesus is." Then in the same breath, he says, "And let me tell you how full and complete you are." He doesn't pause. He doesn't qualify his statement.
In the context of the perfection of Christ, he makes a declaration of fullness over you.
Christ has absolute supremacy and sole sufficiency. (vv. 9-10)
(Colossians 2:9-10 NASB) "9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, 10 and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;"
Satan is the ruler of this world and he wants to remind you of your sinful past.
(John 14:26-27, 30 NASB) "26 "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. 27 "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. ... 30 "I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me;"
(2 Corinthians 4:3-4 NASB) "3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."
(John 12:31 NASB) "31 "Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out."
Satan wants to point out your sin today. He wants to create fear in your heart. He wants to manipulate you like a puppet. And he wants you to make excuses that separate you from God; such as blaming your sinful nature, the hand that life dealt you, or how others have treated you in order to unqualified you.
However, we are the Bride of Christ and therefore we are complete because of Christ. We might not yet be perfect. We might wrestle with our humanity, but God has brought us together thru His son, thru the cross and sealed us with the Holy Spirit into a Holy Union.
It is with this in mind that Paul wrote:
(Romans 8:33-39 NASB) "33 Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; 34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 Just as it is written, “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED." 37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
For this reason, we have to remember that there are no victims in Christ, only victors. Victims don’t walk in victory. Peter declared it a privilege to suffer for Christ, so did Paul.
(2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NASB) 16 Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. 17 For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, 18 while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal."
Jesus made a proclamation we can always hang our hat on the fulfills Isaiah 61:1:
(Luke 4:18-21 NASB) "18 "THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, 19 TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD." 20 And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.""
The fact that Jesus came to set us free indicates that we are hopelessly enslaved without Him. Bottom line is, just as Satan tempted Jesus in the desert with all this world has to offer, so has he tempted us. And he’s convinced many of it’s better than what God has to offer and we are fools to believe otherwise. We are fools to believe there is anything better than what the world is willing to give us.
Folks, for too long we have been asked to buy into and accept too many lies about who we are and the measure of our worth. It’s time to stop beating ourselves up and harming others with our words and actions and go after the author of lies. It’s time take up our identity in Christ and put on the full armor of God. It’s time to…
(No slide for next verse)
(Ephesians 6:14-17 NASB) "14 Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, 15 and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; 16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."
(Colossians 2:13-15 NASB) "13 When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, 14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him."
Illustration:
"A legend tells of a liberated slave who went to see President Lincoln and assured him that he would not accept his freedom as a gift, that he proposed to pay for it. He threw a silver dollar on the President’s desk. The kindly Mr. Lincoln tried to show the man that he could not pay for his liberty, that the fact that he thought he could indicated that he did not fully appreciate the priceless gift. When the freed man insisted, the president took him to the window and showed him the row of soldiers’ graves across the river in Arlington. He asked him how his money could pay back the lives that had been given that he might live in freedom. When the man asked what he might do, he was assured that he must walk the world with gratitude and live like a freeman.
We have to make a choice not to be victims, but to be victors; not to be imprisoned by opinions, lies, and our own sin, but to walk in the victory of the cross.
We have to take responsibility for who we are, the choices we make, and who we will become, not allowing ourselves to be defined by someone else, or something else.
Experiencing God is always a choice. When we passionately pursue His presence, He passionately and generously pours out His Spirit. Life with God is victory. He is what makes us good. Our past mistakes do not disqualify us and our future efforts to be good will never qualify us. We need Jesus. Our hope and future is fixed squarely on His shoulders.
Pride will not accept this truth and it robs us of our identity.
It’s tempting to buy into a lie or accept a false truth for the sake of peace. It’s tempting to be passive and not defend your faith with love and with truth. It’s tempting to be someone else if it eases the conscience of those around you, averts dissension, or creates opportunities that seem to cater to the desires of your heart. But temptation only leads to dried up wells with dry bones in them.
(1 Corinthians 10:13 NASB) "13 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it."
Sometimes the only way to escape temptation is to cry out to Jesus in the moment you are cornered and to pray in the spirit (tongues) if you are able.
In this life we will all battle emotions, loss, and discomfort. We will have moments when we will need to lean on one another and maybe even mourn. That’s not wrong, nor is it sin. But such moments should always enhance our faith and not diminish it; bring us closer to God, not drive us further away.
When I what I feel becomes more important than what is real, then that is pride because I just became the center of my own universe and God desires to be the center of my universe. He desires this because He knows me better than I know myself and He will always love me more than I could ever love myself.
His love is perfect in every way and we are to humble ourselves and trust Him fully, be fully His (love Him with all of our heart, soul, and mind). And in return we experience a freedom and a joy that this world has never known and will never be able to give us. Both our present and our future are secure in His love by His grace and mercy.
(Jeremiah 29:11-13 NASB) "11 'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. 12 'Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 'You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart."
This proclamation was made during a time of captivity under the mighty hand of the Babylonians during a dark bleak time in Israel’s history. Their whole identity was at stake. They did not feel like Israel. They felt like hopelessly defeated slaves.
Closing:
There may be areas in your life that have caused you to feel hopelessly defeated; areas where you have been enslaved for years. You may have forgotten who you are or stopped striving to become the person God has promised you to be. Satan may have used the world system, be it politics, peers, media, family, school or even religion, to convince you that you aren’t qualified for anything greater than mediocrity.
Your life is just chance. That’s the lie that you’ve been sold. It’s the lie we’ve all been sold and battle daily in at least one, if not more, avenue of our lives.
God wants to speak a different reality over your life. He wants you to know and believe that the fullness of Christ has been given to you. It is finished. It is accomplished. And nothing can change that.
You have everything God has in Christ. You are full of love, joy, affirmation, blessing, and strength, so there is no need for comparison and no place for competition.
This is the deathblow to the spirit of insecurity that can rule your life apart from Christ. This is the freedom you have in Christ; the security you have when God is your qualifier. In terms of your worth, you have nothing to prove. Jesus proved your worth when He died so that you may live.
In one of his meetings, D.L. Moody was explaining to his audience the truth that we cannot bring about spiritual changes in our lives by our own strength. He demonstrated the principal like this: “Tell me,” he said to his audience, “how can I get the air out of the tumbler I have in my hand?” One man said, “Suck it out with a pump.” But Moody replied, “That would create a vacuum and shatter it.” Finally after many suggestions, he picked up a pitcher and quietly filled the glass with water. “There,” he said, “all the air is now removed.” He then explained that victory for the child of God does not come by working hard to eliminate sinful habits, but rather by allowing Christ to take full possession.
This sermon is expounds upon and is adapted from the Unqualified devotional found on You Version
