I came across a YouTube video this week, in which a young boy encounters a sheep stuck headfirst in a long narrow trench. Take a look (show video: “Sheep gets stuck in trench”).
The boy uses his hands and a belt around the leg of the sheep to rescue the trapped sheep.
Immediately on being set free, the sheep takes a few stumbling steps, and then a couple of joyful leaps… only to land headfirst back in the same trench further down the road (Deloached, “Sheep gets stuck in trench,” April 20, 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLZW-kWr1F4; www.PreachingToday.com).
That describes a lot of people. Jesus rescues them only to see them jump into the same ditch further down the road. In one of the comments, Tim Walker wrote, “Me and Jesus on a regular basis!” Perhaps, you could say the same thing. Jesus rescues you from one problem only to see you jump headfirst into the same problem, or another one, down the road.
Thankfully, Jesus rescues people from their sin time and time again, but you don’t have to live that way. In fact, you can avoid jumping into ditches altogether. If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Colossians 2, Colossians 2, where you can discover how to stay out of the ditch.
Colossians 2:6-7 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving (ESV).
You received Christ by faith. Keep on living the same way—by faith. Literally, “continue walking around” the same way you started your journey with Christ—by faith. If you want to stay out of the ditches in life live in grateful dependence upon Christ from the beginning to the end of your life with Him.
You have been rooted in Christ (vs.7)—an agricultural term. You are right now being built up in Christ—an architectural term And as a result, you are being established, or strengthened, in the faith. You see, when Christ is the root and foundation of your life, then you become strong through your dependence on Him. Not only that, you overflow with thankfulness.
So from beginning to end, live in grateful dependence upon Christ, not in your own efforts. Walk around every day, strengthened by your faith in Christ.
In his book, Faith That Endures, Ronald Boyd-MacMillan tells the story of a number of conversations he has had with Wang Mingdao, one of China's most famous pastors of the last century. The first time he met this famous—and persecuted—Chinese pastor, the pastor asked him, “Young man, how do you walk with God?”
MacMillan listed off a set of disciplines such as Bible study and prayer, to which the Chinese pastor mischievously retorted, “Wrong answer. To walk with God, you must go at walking pace.”
MacMillan says, “The words of Wang Mingdao touched me to the core. How can I talk about the Christian life as walking with God when I so often live it at a sprint? … Jesus is inviting me to walk WITH him. Too often, I find myself running FOR him. There's a difference! (Ronald Boyd-MacMillan, Faith That Endures, Revell, 2006, p. 307; www.PreachingToday.com).
When you do a hundred things FOR Jesus, trying to please Him, that’s when you run headlong into a ditch. Instead, slow down a little and just walk WITH Jesus. He’ll keep you out of the ditches.
Live your life in daily dependence upon Christ, and stay away from the notion of frantically depending on yourself to better yourself.
Colossians 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ (ESV).
The “elemental spirits of the world” are a reference to the angels and planets that false teachers in ancient Greece said influenced people’s lives. It was a form of Greek philosophy mixed with ancient astrology that false teachers used to control people. But Paul says don’t live your life by the stars, and don’t live your life by their human traditions. Instead, live your life in dependence upon Christ.
David Neff, former editor-in-chief of Christianity Today, talked about receiving a promotional Email from L. L. Bean. The subject line said, “Double Coupon Dollars: Our Gift to You.”
Neff said, “The old sales trick worked. The promise of something free compelled me to open the e-mail. But the first words I read from the e-mail itself gave me a different message: ‘EARN Double Coupon Dollars.’ Wait,” Neff said. “Didn't the subject line say it was a gift? Now they want me to ‘EARN’ their gift?” (www.PreachingToday.com)
I’m afraid that’s the way some preachers operate. They SAY salvation is God’s free gift, but when you get involved, you find that there are a lot of things you have to do to EARN their acceptance. Maybe you have to give up something for lent, or attend special services, or do any number of things that come from human tradition and not necessarily the Bible.
It’s the classic “bait and switch” technique. They may tell you that “salvation is free,” but to become a part of the “in-group,” you have to EARN it. In Paul’s day, some preachers were saying you have to be circumcised, eat only certain foods, and worship on Saturday to become super-spiritual and one of the elite.
Well, the Bible says, “Stay away from that stuff.” Avoid letting anybody capture you “by philosophy and empty deceit” (vs.8), or by their empty and false ideas. Human, religious traditions never deliver what they promise, and they cannot make you a better person; only Christ can! So, if you want to avoid the ditches…
LIVE YOUR LIFE IN GRATEFUL DEPENDENCE UPON HIM, not on any human scheme.
Continue your life with Christ as you started it, by faith in Him. There is no bait and switch here. Just walk around in thankful reliance upon Jesus. And…
APPRECIATE YOUR COMPLETENESS IN HIM.
Understand and value your fullness in Christ, who is fully God. Show gratitude, because in Christ you have everything you need.
Colossians 2:9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily… (ESV)
Jesus is fully God in a human body! The false teachers in Paul’s day taught that Jesus was just an angel who only appeared to have a body. But that’s not the case at all. The Bible is very clear here. Jesus is fully God living in a literal, physical body.
Colossians 2:l0 …and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority (ESV).
Why would you go anywhere else to become fully alive? You have your fullness in Christ. Or as Kenneth Wuest, a Greek scholar, put it in his very literal Expanded Translation, “And you were in Him, having been completely filled full, with the present result that you are in a state of fullness.” What more could you want? What more do you need? When you have Christ, you have everything you need! So appreciate what you already have in Jesus!
I remember when our kids were little that sometimes they seemed to enjoy the box more than the toy in the box. Do you know what I mean? You buy them what you think is the perfect gift for their birthday or for Christmas, but when you give them the gift, they tear open the package, fiddle around with the toy a little, and end up playing with the box, especially if it’s a big box.
I think that’s a little of what some of God’s people do with God’s perfect gift of His Son. They fiddle with Christ a little at the beginning. But so often they end up playing with the trappings of Christianity, rather than enjoying their relationship with Christ Himself. Please, don’t let that happen to you. Continue to live your life in grateful dependence upon Christ, appreciating HIM, and all you have in Him.
Specifically, appreciate the purity you have in Christ. Treasure what Christ has done in removing the power of sin from your life. Value the freedom from sin you can have when you know Christ.
Colossians 2:11-12 In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead (ESV).
False teachers taught these Gentiles believers in Colossae that they had to be circumcised like Jews in order to reach the highest levels of spirituality. But Paul tells them, in Christ, they have already been circumcised, not physically, but spiritually, in a circumcision of the heart done by God Himself when Christ died and rose again.
You see, when you put our faith in Christ, Romans 6 says we were “baptized into His death.” Therefore, we were “buried with him through [that] baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead… we too may have a new life” (Romans 6:3-4).
In other words, you are so identified with Christ as a believer that you died when He died; you were buried when He was buried; and you arose when He arose from the grave. That’s the baptism Paul is talking about here in Colossians 2, not an immersion into water, but our immersion into Christ Himself, and that immersion sets you free from the power of sin and death, making it possible for you to live a whole new life!
That’s because Christ cut away the hold that sin had on your heart when you came to know Him. He put off the “flesh” verse 11 says. In other words, He took away sin’s control on your life. This is TRUE circumcision, a circumcision of the heart that God always looked for in His people (Deuteronomy 10:16; Jeremiah 4:4). For God is not concerned about the cutting off of physical flesh. He wants the rebellion cut from your heart, and that’s exactly what Jesus does for you when you trust Him with your life. He cuts away the rebellion, the inward pressure to sin.
The Piano is a film about a 19-century single mother named Ada. Motivated by the promise of an arranged marriage, Ada (Holly Hunter) moves with her young daughter from Scotland to the New Zealand outback. Ada is mute, unable to speak since childhood. She lives in an emotional prison of shame and anger. Ada's sole source of pleasure is her piano, which she brought with her from Scotland.
In New Zealand she marries a Kiwi farmer who turns out to be abusive. A mysterious man by the name of George (Harvey Keitel) arranges to take her away from the abusive marriage along with her daughter and her cherished piano. As they row from shore towards an awaiting ship, the weight of the piano begins to sink the dinghy. In that moment, Ada suddenly gains insight into her life. She realizes that her piano is a symbol of her shame and regret. Ada signals to push the piano out of the boat.
“What did she say?” George asks the girl Flora.
“She says, throw the piano overboard,” Flora replies.
Convinced that the piano can be saved, George counters, “It's quite safe. They are managing.”
More determined, Flora speaks on her mute mother's behalf. “She says throw it overboard. She doesn't want it. She says it's spoiled.”
Finally, George gives in to Ada's request. But as the piano splashes into the sea, a rope tied to the piano encircles Ada's boot. Ada is pulled into the sea and sinks with the piano
Eventually, Ada kicks and frees her foot from the boot, and then frantically swims back to the surface. When her head breaks the water, she gasps her first breath as a free woman, released from the bondage of shame (The Piano, Miramax Films, 1993, 01:49:54 to 01:53:00, written and directed by Jane Campion; www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLUrEgC-Dd4).
Jesus can do the same for you. He can release you from the bondage of your shame. Just trust Him with your life and let Him circumcise your heart (to use the language of Col 2). Let Him cut away the sin and shame that is weighing you down. Then, as a believer in Christ, appreciate the purity you have in Him.
More than that, appreciate the pardon you have in Christ, as well. Treasure His forgiveness of ALL your sins. Value the cancellation of ALL your moral debts in Christ.
Colossians 2:13-14 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses [i.e., all our false steps], by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross (ESV).
The Law said, “Obey and you will be blessed; disobey and you will be cursed.” Well, since none of us could keep God’s Law, we were all cursed, condemned to die. But Jesus died in our place, nailing the record of our wrongs on the cross upon which He died.
In the First Century, when the Romans nailed a criminal to a cross, they also nailed a plaque with the charges against that criminal on that same cross. That way everybody could see what the poor soul had done to deserve such punishment.
Here it says that the charges against us were nailed on Christ’s cross. In other words, Christ was dying not for His own crimes, but for yours and mine. God punished Jesus for the things WE had done, for OUR false steps. So God can forgive us of ALL our sins, because Jesus paid for them all, and the law can never, ever condemn us again, because God cancelled the record of debt against us forever!
In June of 2013, 29-year-old NSA contractor, Edward Snowden, fled to Hong Kong, where he where he presented journalists with drives containing thousands of classified NSA documents. After that, he sought asylum in Ecuador, but was detained in Moscow and now resides there with his wife and child. People initially viewed Snowden’s acts as treasonable, but recent polls show that many have come to appreciate his leak due to the legal reforms it inspired.
Snowden disclosed that virtually every digital communication made by US citizens—including text messages, Skype calls, emails, Facebook posts, phone calls, Google searches, credit card pur-chases, or the like—is part of what he calls a permanent record. Snowden brought to the attention of the American public that there was little in their lives that they might reasonably regard as private.
This permanent record of their movements, purchases, internet activity, and virtually all forms of communication and digital interaction with other people will likely never disappear, at least not in our lifetime. It will always be there for the NSA and the CIA to see and make use of if they so choose. It is frighten¬ing, to say the least (Sam Storms, A Dozen Things God Did with Your Sin, Crossway, 2022, pp. 134-136; Edward Snowden, Permanent Record, Metropolitan Books, 2019; Chege Karomo, “Where is Edward Snowden now in 2022? He resides in Russia with his wife and child,” The Netline, January 19, 2022; www.PreachingToday. com).
However, the record that God keeps is even more frightening. For God has a permanent record not only of my wicked acts, but also of my wicked thoughts, fantasies, and failures.
Here’s the good news! God erases that record for anyone who puts their trust in Christ. He nails it to the cross, transferring the record of your sins (and mine) to Jesus, so He can never hold anything in that record against us again.
As far as God is concerned, you are innocent of any wrongdoing. Even better, you are pure and righteous in His sight, for God not only transferred the record of your wrongs to Christ; He transferred the record of Christ’s righteousness to you!
So, as a believer in Christ, appreciate the pardon you have in Him, and don’t let the guilt of your past keep you from serving Christ.
I like the way John Piper put it in his book, Bloodlines. He said, “If you wait till you are beyond criticism to pursue your dream, you will never do it. You won't marry or stay married. You won't decide to have children or raise them. You won't take your first job or keep it. You won't go into missions or stay there… Few things paralyze people more than their own imperfections. And there are always people around to remind you of your flaws and suggest you can't move forward until you're better” (John Piper, Bloodlines, Crossway, 2011, p. 109; www.PreachingToday.com).
Please, If you’re a believer in Christ, ignore those who say such things to you and disregard your critics, because God has fully and completely pardoned you in Christ. Just pursue the dreams He has placed on your heart, and prove your critics wrong.
Appreciate the purity you have in Christ. Appreciate the pardon you have in Christ.
And finally, appreciate the power you have in Christ. Treasure what Christ has done in the disarming spiritual forces, who want to see you fall into that ditch again. Value the victory He won for you on the cross over Satan and all His forces.
Colossians 2:15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him (ESV).
Jesus stripped Satan’s forces bare when He died on the cross, exposing them all to public shame. The Greek word for “disarm” literally means “to undress,” and that’s exactly what Jesus did to all the powers and authorities of hell. He undressed them of all their power and then paraded them in shameful defeat before the citizens of heaven.
This is what victorious Roman generals did in Paul’s day. When they returned home victorious from war, they paraded the vanquished warriors through the city streets, stripped of all their armor, all their wealth, and all their power. They were made a public spectacle, paraded in disgrace for all to see. Well, that’s what Jesus did to Satan and his demons on the cross. He stripped them bare and shamefully exposed them in disgraceful defeat.
In his book, Creatures of Habit, Pastor Steve Poe writes of his grade school days, when he and his friends walked to and from school each day past a house with a very large dog. It was tethered to a long chain in the backyard, but it scared them when it came running after them with a menacing bark. The chain stopped the dog, but they always worried that the dog would break loose and attack them. Pastor Steve said, “I would start worrying about that dog blocks before I ever reached the house.”
Then one day the owner of the dog was in the yard and saw what was going on. The next day, as they walked by the house, the man was once again outside, only this time he had the dog on a leash. When he saw Steve and his friends, he began to motion for them to come over. They didn't know if they were in trouble or if the man was going to let his dog bite them, but either way they were not walking over to him.
Then he started walking over to them. The entire time the man kept saying, “You don't need to be afraid of my dog.” Then he knelt down and pulled back the dog's upper lip to reveal he had no teeth! The man said, “Even if this dog were to ever get loose and try to bite you, it wouldn't hurt.” They all started to laugh, and they were never afraid of that dog again (Steve Poe, Creatures of Habit, Nelson Books, 2021, pp. 87-88; www.PreachingToday. com).
My dear friends, you too can laugh at the devil, because he has no teeth. Jesus disarmed him on the cross 2,000 years ago! Oh, Satan still has his bark, but there is no bite, so don’t let him victimize you any longer. Instead, keep on trusting Christ and enjoy the victory He won for you on the cross.
If you want to stay out of the ditches in life, live your life in grateful dependence upon Christ, and appreciate your completeness in Him. Appreciate the purity, pardon, and power that comes from your faith in Him. For when Jesus is all you got, Jesus is all you need.
