“ALIVE IN CHRIST” Colossians 2:6-15
FBCF – 7/28/24
Jon Daniels
INTRO – What does it mean to be a Christian? Being a Christian is more than just praying a prayer at some point in your life. It’s more than a one-time decision. It’s more than filling out a card at the end of a church service.
The word “Christian” literally means, “little Christ” & is used 3 times in the NT:
- Acts 11:26 – Barnabas & Saul when to Antioch – “For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.”
- Acts 26:28 – Paul witnessing to King Agrippa – “And Agrippa said to Paul, ‘In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?’”
- 1 Peter 4:16 – Peter talking about suffering – “Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.”
- Was actually used in some instances as a derogatory insult. (https://www.gotquestions.org/meaning-of-Christian.html)
But I would submit to you that it is misused & misunderstood many times today. Lots of people & groups get lumped under the umbrella term of “Christian.”
- Jehovah’s Witnesses & Mormons both considered by many to be “Christians.” And yet both of them teach, follow, & spread false teachings & heresy, leading many people astray.
- Some denominations & churches that are still considered “Christian” have watered down the Gospel so much & perverted the teachings of the Bible so much that they should stop calling themselves Christians.
- America is called & considered to be a “Christian nation.” And while we may have been founded on many Christian principles, we are a long way from being a Christian nation as we continue to systematically dismantle many bedrock Biblical precepts that our nation was founded upon. We continue to move farther & farther away from our foundation as we, as a nation, celebrate every form of immorality & depravity that our sinful minds can come up with.
o This Christian nation has officially dedicated an entire month each year to celebrate the lesbian, gay, bisexual, & transgender community.
o …officially legalized same-sex marriage.
o …officially aborted approx. 64 million babies since 1973.
o …officially the world’s leading producer of pornography.
So then, what DOES it mean to be a Christian? It means that you have come to a place in your life where you realize that you are a sinner who is lost & headed to hell – that Jesus Christ is the one & only Son of God & the one & only Savior of the world - & you make a conscious commitment to believe in Jesus, turn away from your sin & yourself, & trust Him ALONE to save you. In that instant, everything in your life changes.
- 2 Corinthians 5:17 says you become a new creation, the old is gone, the new has come.
- Luke 15:24 says you were lost but now you are found.
- Romans 5:10 says you were an enemy of God but now you are a friend of God.
- And as we will see in our passage for today, you were dead but now you are alive in Christ Jesus.
EXPLANATION – Colossians 2:6-15 – Theme of Colossians: The Superiority of Christ
APPLICATION – When you are alive in Christ, it will be evident & obvious.
Evidence of being alive in Christ:
WE FOCUS ON HIM – v. 6-7 – “…just as you received Him…” – There’s that moment of new birth (John 3:3), that moment of calling on the name of the Lord (Romans 10:13), that moment of receiving & accepting Christ as your Savior & Lord.
- Some of you need to have that moment right now!
Notice that Paul didn’t say, “As you received Christ, now walk in your own strength & ingenuity & abilities.” He said, “as you received Christ Jesus the Lord [Boss, Master], so walk in HIM [continue to live your lives in Him – NIV].”
- CEV – “You have accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord. Now keep on following Him.”
- HE becomes the focus of your entire life. Every aspect of your life is impacted by your relationship w/ Him. When we are alive in Christ, we will stay focused on Him, from the moment of our profession of faith in Him to the end of our lives.
o Bill Jones funeral – 95 yrs old – saved in 1952
- David Jeremiah – “People come to faith w/ empty hands & nothing to offer. But at the foot of the cross, they receive the gift of Christ Jesus as Lord, & this motivates their daily choices & direction (how they live).”
You stay focused on Him by:
- Driving your roots down deep into Him
- Building up your life on Him
- Establishing Him as the foundation for your life
- 1919 – Samuel Stone wrote hymn that says, “The church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ, her Lord.”
- 2024 – Austin Davis, Chandler Moore, Cody Carnes wrote modern hymn that says, “Christ is my firm foundation, The rock on which I stand.”
WE ARE FILLED IN HIM – v. 8-10 – There are a lot of competing & captivating philosophies & teachings out there. If we are not staying focused on Christ as our foundation, driving our roots deep into Him & His Word, we will be carried off as a captive to these manmade, man-centered belief systems.
Instead of being filled w/ those dead manmade beliefs, we are filled w/ the living Christ. Christ-followers, think about what that truly means for you!
Remember at end of “Wizard of Oz,” Dorothy & her companions made the surprising discovery that the great Oz was actually an old man behind a curtain. Found out that he wasn’t all he cracked up to be.
That will never happen when it comes to Christ. We need never fear that He will never be less than what the W of G says He is. Paul wrote that the “whole fullness of deity dwells” in Christ. That means “the sum total of all that God is; all of His being & attributes.” Jesus Christ is the fullness of God – the completeness of God; the total quantity of God. He is fully God, fully eternal, fully powerful, fully loving – He is God! And He – ALL of Him– DWELLS IN US – which means:
- We are complete in Him
- We are eternally secure in Him
- We have everything we need to live for Him
WE HAVE FAITH IN HIM – v. 11-12 – The false teachers – Judaizers – taught that salvation was faith in Jesus PLUS conforming to the OT Mosaic Law. Circumcision was especially promoted as necessary for salvation.
- Modern-day group known as “Hebrew Roots” teaches this same thing, putting followers of Christ back under the bondage of the OT Law.
- “Just as making the final payment on a home fulfills that contract and ends one’s obligation to it, so also Christ has made the final payment and has fulfilled the law, bringing it to an end for us all.” (https://www.gotquestions.org/Hebrew-roots.html)
We are saved by faith in Jesus plus NOTHING! We don’t put our faith in a physical operation to make us right w/ God. We don’t put our faith in religious rituals or the Mosaic Law to make us right w/ God. We don’t get saved by trusting in Jesus, then stay saved by working real hard in our own strength. We are saved by faith – We walk by faith - & we will die in faith, trusting in Jesus to take us home to be w/ Him forever.
When Jesus died & rose again, He won the complete & final victory over sin so, through Him alone, we could be made right w/ God. The Law can never make us right w/ God. Only Jesus can. So, we place our faith “in the powerful working of God, who raised Jesus from the dead.” Our faith is in HIM & what HE has done, not in ourselves & anything we do to try to make ourselves right w/ God. Since we are in Christ & have the fullness of Him in us, what more do we need? Answer? Nothing!
- “There is nothing, indeed, which God will not do for a man who dares to step out upon what seems to be the mist; though as he puts down his foot, he finds a rock beneath him.” (F.B. Meyer)
- That rock that you find when you step out in faith is JESUS!
WE ARE FORGIVEN BY HIM – v. 13-15 – six powerful words at the end of v.13 – “…having forgiven us all our trespasses…” – sins, wrongdoings, violations, evildoings, transgressions, misconduct, iniquities, every sinful thought, desire, motive, action, attitude, agenda. We had this HUGE insurmountable sin debt stacked up on our account. No way we could pay it off on our own. So, what did He do? He shed His own blood for us – Paid our debt for us – stamped “CANCELLED” on the pages of our sin ledger - & nailed it to the cross – “It is finished!”
And v. 15 tells us that every ruler or authority – earthly or spiritual – who tries to stand against Him & tries to convince us that we are not truly forgiven by Him has been utterly, completely, & permanently defeated & shamed. This is JESUS we’re talking about here! And one day, every one of those rulers & authorities will bow their knees & confess that JESUS CHRIST LORD to the glory of God the Father!
CONCLUSION – So, Christ-follower, you are ALIVE IN CHRIST! So live that living life!
- Stay focused on Him!
- Stay filled in Him!
- Keep “faithing” Him!
- Remember you are forgiven by Him!
