How do you handle life? I mean, how do you manage life and the things of your life? How do you quantify life? How do you manuver through life?
Its interesting that almost nothing brings more confusion to life than death. Death is tragic. It is sometimes long and painful causing a person to be physically drained and broken until they have breathed their last. Then other times its quick and unexpected.
Some of you know that a friend of ours from College was recently taken home to be with the Lord, in an unexpected and seemingly senseless way. He was a generally healthy young man, but who had been having breathing problems sunday into monday. He decided to go to the hospital, and as his wife was at work and unable to take him, a friend came over to take him over to the hospital. But he apparently didn’t make it to the hospital before he stopped breathing. He was a very godly young man. A preacher, just made an elder at his church. He had led missions trips, was a leader on campus, worked on campus in both the College and Seminary, was a devoted husband, son, brother and friend. He wasn’t involved in some sin. He wasn’t pursuing the things of the world. There is no apparent reason why this had to happen. No one understands. Certainly his young wife, of 2 years, will spend years and perhaps the rest of her life dealing with the loss of her husband and friend. And many others who knew him are also mourning at his passing.
But for all of us, death often causes us to second guess ourselves about reality and the nature of life. Anthony was 25 years of age. We tend to think of death as something that happens when you get older or when you’re extremely ill. But he was 25. And relatively healthy. Death can be absolutely baffling for us to wrap our minds around. It can shock us. It can sicken us. It can sometimes paralyze us and drive some into deep depression and even into a hateful resentment of God. And all because life was brought to an abrupt end. It seems unfair, you may think that you don’t deserve it.
Why is death so shocking to us? Its a natural part of life. It happens to us all. We know that it has been this way since the fall of man. So why are we still so incredibly taken off guard by the death of someone we know and love? Part of it obviously is dealing with the pain of separation. Separation from a loved one for any length of time is often very difficult. And it is even more difficult when you know that you may never see them again. We don’t like to be apart from those who we love. We long for them when they have gone. We miss them dearly because of the joy and blessing that they are in our lives. And so we mourn. And so we call it our loss.
We feel robbed. We feel cheated. We feel that they were taken from us without our express
consent and our lives are now less fulfilled.
Now these are not wrong feelings of themselves. It is not wrong to feel that you have loss when a loved one has died. It is not wrong to feel that your life is less full when a loved one has gone on. And grieving of itself is certainly not wrong. We are even told to weep with those who weep and mourn with those who mourn. We are told to bear one another’s burdens. We are told to comfort those who are afflicted. Jesus wept over Lazurus. He also wept over Jerusalem because of its disbelief (Luke 19:41). We do grieve and we should grieve. We should feel that loss when we are separated from a loved one. But its more than that.
Death is shocking to us not just because we are made separate from a loved one but also because in death we are faced with a situation which is completely beyond our control. And most of us who are honest, don’t like not being in control. The feeling of helplessness is terrifying. We like to know when things are going to happen and why they are going to happen. We like to plan. We invent cleaver little slogans to remind us to plan. “Proper preparation prevents poor performance.” “When you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” And my new personal favorite, as sent down from a random executive at work “it wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark.” We plan and we strive to keep things in control and orderly. And whenever something is out of control or disorderly it disturbs us. And death is rarely orderly. For that matter life is rarely as orderly as we’d like it. But death is beyond our control and so it brings us great distress.
But I think that there is one more reason that death is so incredibly shocking to us. It is so because of how we generally understand life. After all, what is life? When does it begin? Does it begin at conception, does it begin when organs and limbs start to form on an embryo? Does it begin when a baby is born? When does life end for that matter? Does it end when the synapses cease firing in your brain and your heart stops beating? Does it end when you are no longer able to breathe, talk or make use of your limbs? Death is a part of life.
How do you handle death?
Ultimately the answer to that question is based on how you think about life. Knowing what true life is will determine how well you live that life and also how you are able to face death. All of us must wrestle with this. Time is promised to no man. If you would have asked 25 year old Anthony what he would be doing on Tuesday a week ago yesterday, he probably would not have said sitting at the feet of Jesus. Only the Father knows what time is appointed for the death of each of us. And there is an appointed time for each of us. Regardless of what our plans are. Death will come to each of us, whenever the Lord has decided, unless Christ returns first.
Perhaps you do well with handling death. Maybe you haven’t really experienced a close, personal death in your life. How do you handle the other issues of life in which you loose something, in which something is out of your control or beyond your comprehension? Life deals us wild cards in almost every hand. There are natural disasters, disease, all sorts of sicknesses, the loss of a job, a failing economy, international distress, sour relationships and various other disappointments abound.
This week alone, Pastor Charlie’s been to the hospital, Diane has been to the hospital. The past month or so, ittle Audrey has been in and out of the hospital. And lets not forget those who suffer from so many reoccurring ailments, who struggle to get out of bed daily, who may not even find rest when they lay their heads down at night. Those who are struggling financially to make ends meet. Those who are lonely, single parents, youth who are facing tremendous pressures from their peers. None of us are exempt from tragedy and difficulty. How do we approach these things? How do we respond? Its all the same basic question. How do you handle life?
Again, how you think about life will determine how you handle it. And how you think about life is determined by how you think about Christ.
In the first chapter of his book entitled “The knowledge of the Holy, A.W. Tozer said this concerning what we think about God:
“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. The history of mankind will probably show that no people has ever risen above its religion, and man’s spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God…were we to extract from any man a complete answer to the question, ‘what comes into your mind when you think about God?’ we might predict with certainty the spiritual future of that man…This is true not only of the individual [or the individual] Christian but also of the company of Christians that composes the Church. Always the most revealing thing about the Church is her idea of God, just as her most significant message is what she says about Him or leaves unsaid, for her silence is often more eloquent than her speech. She can never escape the self-disclosure of her witness concerning God…A right conception of God is basic not only to systematic theology but to practical Christian living as well. It is to worship what the foundation is to the temple; where it is inadequate or out of plumb the whole structure must sooner or later collapse. I believe there is scarcely an error in doctrine or a failure in applying Christian ethics that cannot be traced finally to imperfect and ignoble thoughts about God.”
When your thoughts about God and Christ are wrong, so your thoughts about life will be wrong. When your thoughts about life are wrong, then the way that you handle this life and the things of this life will be wrong. The title for this series is “The supremacy of Christ.” Christ is the Lord of life, the giver and sustainer of life, apart from whom there is no life. And therefore in order for us to better understand this life; we must go to its source. We must go to the giver of life in order to understand the nature of the life which He gives. Turn with me to Col 2:1-10 and we’ll also read 3:1-4.
In these passages, we are going to consider 3 main questions that Paul addresses in order to teach us how to properly handle the life that Christ gives. First he will answer for us why is it important to think rightly about Christ in 2:6-8. Second he’ll remind us of what we should be thinking about Christ in vs 9-10. And finally he’ll address for us what difference our understanding of the life that we have in Christ should in how we handle life? I’d like to address those first two questions tonight and cover the last on next week. At least thats the plan. 
By way of introduction, Paul probably wrote to the Colossians around AD 62 during his imprisonment at Rome. Colossae was a small town located about 100 miles east of Ephesus, whose ministry was most likely started by Epaphras. Paul was writing to the Colossians in order to combat certain heresies that were creeping into the church at that time.
There have been a number of attempts to understand the heresies that the Colossians dealt with, most of which has been summed up as being part Judaistic, part early gnostic or some combination of both. Now the Judaizers were those who would attempt to add to the work of Christ by holding to certain religious rituals or customs, thus Paul’s mention of circumcision, certain dietary practices and the observances of certain holy days throughout the course of the book. The early gnostic belief system that Paul combats here had to do with certain philosophical teachings, glorification of angelic beings and an emphasis on some sort of hidden knowledge which was necessary for salvation. The sum total of these heresies led to a diminishing of the importance of Christ in salvation and for practical living. Thus Paul’s major concern in writing to the Colossians was to correct that erroneous view and to encourage the believers to remain steadfast in their faith in Christ.
This concern of Paul’s for the Colossians places the relevance for this book square in our century and square in our laps. As the Church of God in an age and among a generation that fails to see the need for a creator God and a Savior, much less one who would die on the cross for sins that they believe they do not have; now more than ever we must remain steadfast in our proclamation of Jesus Christ as Lord. Furthermore that He is the Lord who alone is able to give life and to give it abundantly. Amen?
Lets look at our first question, “why is it important to think rightly about Christ?”
Look again at the text of Col 2, starting at v 6-10 which is where we will spend much of our time tonight.
Colossians 2:6-10
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;
Here we’ll notice two reasons why we must think rightly about Christ. First so that we may grow in Him in v 6-7. Second because of the abundance of false teaching contrary to Christ in v 8.
And third, so that we may not loose sight of the fullness of blessing that is found in Him in
vs 9-10.
We must think rightly about Christ so that we may grow in Him.
Generally this section is broken up a little differently than how I am going to be teaching it tonight. Vs 6-7 are usually taken along with vs 1-5 in which Paul is continuing a discussion about his ministry to the church universal and his prayer for the local church of Colossae. Vs 8-23 are generally put together to form their own section of Paul’s warning against heresy. Upon closer examination, however, it seems that vs 6-7 are meant to act as a transition between Paul’s ministry to the church and his specific exhortation to the Colossians to remain faithful to Christ and resist the false teaching.
Its interesting, the sections where Paul starts to talk about his ministry to the church may sometimes seem unimportant and trivial, but I am often personally encouraged when I read them because it runs contrary to the way in which ministry is spoken of by its ministers today. Too often, I believe, Pastors are complaining about the difficulty of ministry, the hardship of ministry and people. Certainly ministry is hard. Paul knew this. But his heart and his heartbeat was to do the will of God. And ministry to the church was God’s will for him. And regardless of the suffering that he had to endure, he looked at that suffering as a reason to rejoice. He could rejoice because God had chosen him to endure suffering on behalf of the church, even as the Lord of the church had endured suffering. 1:24 he says “I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do share on behalf of His body, which is the church , in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.” Now thats perspective, is it not? And thats the kind of perspective that I pray to have about ministry. That I would be willing to be afflicted for the body of Christ.
And you see that passion for ministry in 2:1-5, even in his desire for the Colossians and the Laodiceans, who he had not personally seen. He loved the church. He prayed often for the church, just as he does here for the Colossians, to know Christ, to love each other, and to not be drawn away by deceitful teaching and heresy.
And in verse 6 we see his desire for them to remain faithful to Christ, to whom they were wed. Listen again to the words, “therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.”
The “therefore” refers back to his previous discussion on his desire to see their “good discipline and stability of faith in Christ” and his love for his ministry to the body of Christ. He says, this is my ministry to the body. To encourage, to exhort, to correct, to preach the gospel, and I have not had the opportunity to personally see you, so I’m going to do it now. And here is my exhortation. “as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.”
You received him. You heard the gospel. He mentioned in 1:6 that the gospel had come to them, had bore fruit in them and was increasing, just as it was in the rest of the world. They had received the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It had bore fruit in their hearts of repentance from sins, of a love for Christ and His people. And therefore they should continue in it. It only make sense. There is no reason for them to abandon the very foundation of the gospel, which is Christ the Lord, after they had received it.
I guess that Paul had grown a lot more diplomatic in his speech since he wrote similar words to the Galatians. In Gal 1:6-8, he said:
Galatians 1:6-8
6 I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; 7 which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!
It didn’t make sense to Paul to abandon Christ as Lord of life after having believed in Him as Lord for life. A Lord is one whom you obey. He is one whom you listen to and whose authority you submit. He is the one to whom you look for guidance. Since He is Lord, which Paul is careful in saying here, that we have received “Christ Jesus the Lord”; then we must continue to see and obey Him as Lord throughout the rest of our lives. After all, we are “in Him.” Being “in Him” is a theme that Paul uses repeatedly throughout the next section of vs 8-23, and also in the rest of his letters. Believing in Christ is being united with Christ. One who is not united with Christ, identified with Christ, linked to Christ, obedient to Christ; who is The Lord cannot possibly call Him savior.
Many people want to call Him Savior, without reference to His Lordship over their lives. In Pauline theology, these two thoughts are inseparable. The Christ whom we call on as Savior is the Lord, and we are united with Him and therefore must necessarily obey and submit to Him.
Well, in verse 7, Paul uses four descriptive terms to talk about what our “walk in Him” ought to be. What should a growing, thriving faith in Christ the Lord look like?
The first two exhortations are that we are to be “rooted and built up” in Him. The word translated “rooted” is past tense and continual. Meaning that we have been rooted in Him through the Gospel and that our root will continue in Him. And what is translated “being built up” has the idea of a continuous action. So we were firmly rooted in Him and we should continually be built up in Him.
I am reminded of the description of a man who delights in the law of the Lord in Psalm 1. He is like a tree, it says, planted by the streams of water, who bears fruit in his season and whose leaf does not wither. We ought to take the same delight in Christ as Lord that this man does in the law of the Lord.
The next idea he gives for a proper “walk in Him” is that we are “established” or confirmed in our faith. The faith here most likely refers to our general trust and dependence on Christ as we walk in Him. And he adds here “just as you were taught” or instructed to remind us of how our faith is strengthened.
They were taught that Christ is Lord. And they should continue believing and living as though Christ is Lord. By the way, the first three words were all in the passive in order to demonstrate that a growing and thriving faith in Christ is given to us only in Christ and by Christ, as we are taught to trust in Him and Him alone with our lives. And not only is our faith strengthened by knowing Christ more deeply, through His word, but it will necessarily overflow into gratitude.
Genuine faith in Christ is characterized by gratitude that Paul says is “overflowing.” You get here the idea of a fountain which has reached its full and which is continually spilling over its sides. True trust and dependence on Christ, genuine faith in Christ, a vibrant and growing faith in Christ is not stagnant. And it does not happen apart from a growing understanding of who Christ is, through His word. And it will always produce gratitude and thankfulness in the heart. Not fear or insecurity. Are you thankful for who you are and what you have? Are you thankful above all else for your relationship to God through Jesus Christ?
A good measure of thankfulness is how often you give thanks to God and how much you are serving Him. I can tell that my two year old daughter is a sinner who has not quite comprehended what it is to be thankful because whenever I give her a plate of food, if she sees
something that I have that happens to be different, instead of enjoying what she has, she begins
asking about mine.
With regards to serving, for her, if she does what I ask her to do, each time she looks for a reward. Which, part of that is not understanding the nature of a “treat” as we call it sometimes
when we bless her with something because of sustained good behavior. She’ll say thank you
for it, but she’s only saying thank you because she is full and satisfied. And she often only obeys, not because she is thankful that we provide for her, but because she thinks that it will bring some benefit to her. Which is fine, because she is yet a child. We pray that her understanding will grow in that matter.
Are you fearful of life today? Do you have feelings of insecurity about life? Are you worried or over anxious about the present or the future? Then perhaps you have need of remembering that Jesus Christ, the one to whom you are wed, if you are indeed a Christian; is the LORD of life.
Consider the attitude that Paul had in Phil 3:
Philippians 3:1-21
NAU Philippians 3:1 Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you. 2 Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision; 3 for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh, 4 although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: 5 circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless. 7 But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, 9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; 11 in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. 13 Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you; 16 however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained. 17 Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. 18 For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, 19 whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things. 20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; 21 who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.
Knowing Christ, and thinking rightly about Christ is important for our growth and maturity in Christ. Paul said that he had counted all that he’d gained apart from Christ as rubbish, that he was forgetting what was behind and looking forward to what lay ahead for him in Christ. That we should join in following his example of pursuing and loving the knowledge of Christ. And that anyone who did not follow that example was an enemy of Christ. He said “their end is destruction, their god is their appetite, their glory is their shame and their mind is set on earthly things.”
Beloved let that not be said of us. Amen?!
This leads us right into our next observation, that thinking rightly about Christ is important not only so that we may grow in Christ but is also because of the abundance of false teaching which is contrary to Christ.
Look again at our passage in Colossians v 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.”
In both Phil 3 and here, Paul is cautioning the church against deceptive teaching that will cause the church to take its eyes off of the beauty and value of knowing Christ for the sake of that which is futile and passing.
He exhorts the believers here in Colossians “see to it that no one takes you captive.” In other translations it says “beware” or “be on your guard.” In other words, he is strongly cautioning them to pay careful attention to what they are allowing themselves to be exposed to. They are in danger of being “taken captive,” led astray, having the wool pulled over their eyes so to speak. Literally the idea here of the word translated being “taken captive” has to do with being looted, or plundered. It is as if he is saying “be on the look out and don’t allow yourselves to get robbed.”
If you’re walking down a dark street alone at night and you see some shady characters walking toward you, do you ignore them or naïvely think that if you continue and don’t make eye contact, they’ll leave you alone or do you make your way to the other side and go in the opposite direction. We’ll they were walking down a dark street. And all around them, shady characters abounded. The husband of a couple who has mentored us since before our marriage is former Military and also a former professor at our College. He would end every class by saying to us men, most of the time it was my Pastoral theology classes in which it was only men, but he would say “keep your head up, keep your nose clean and stay tough!,” with his southern accent. That was his way of encouraging us to be aware of ourselves and our surroundings.
Paul encouraged Timothy similarly in this way.
2 Timothy 2:15-26
15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. 16 But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, 17 and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some. 19 Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness.” 20 Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. 21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work. 22 Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. 23 But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels. 24 The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, 25 with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.
Think also about Paul’s exhortation to the Philippians which we just read. There he said pretty straightforwardly, “beware of the dogs, evil workers and the false circumcision.” Here he is no less concerned, except he is being a little more vague, possibly because of the uncertain identity of the false teachers.
Don’t allow yourself to be robbed of your benefit, your blessing in Christ; by paying attention to the philosophy and empty deception men. And he qualifies the philosophy and empty deception. He says that it is “after the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world and not according to Christ.” What did he mean by these?
Well, the traditions of men, most likely referred to some of the more Judaistic elements of the heresy. If you remember my introduction, some of the Judaizers had likely infiltrated the church with their traditions, ceremonies and festivals which added works and strict observances to the freedom which believers should have in Christ.
He speaks directly to this a couple of verses later in v 16 where he says “no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a sabbath day, things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.”
He refers to the elementary principles of this world and by this he is referring to the other elements of the heresy and the early gnostic beliefs, as I also mentioned in part in the introduction. The term translated “elementary principles” could either be with reference to a basic rudimentary set of teachings given by these false teachers or else a specific type of teaching that focused on the worship of angels. Commentators disagree as to which Paul is referring to.
Based on his later reference to the “elementary principles” in v 20, I’d have to agree with the former reference, though both thoughts could work. In other words it seems likely that Paul is talking about these basic teachings “do not handle, do not taste, and do not touch” v 21; which “have the appearance of wisdom…but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.” These elementary principles are based on a faulty view of creation, in which all of physical nature is viewed as evil. And so men would place various strict regulations and undergo various kinds of self mutilation in order to bring the flesh under control; when in fact none of those things were actually enough to keep them from sinning. Of course this eventually led to other faulty views in which it was claimed that Christ never actually came in the flesh, because of course flesh is evil and God could never dwell in human flesh, men were forbade from marrying, the physical resurrection of the body was denied and other sorts of heretical views.
The other way to look at the elementary principles had to do with this idea of “elemental spirits” which were thought to be spirits which ruled throughout the world, associated with various stars and planets, etc. Such as people who would practice astrology today. The idea of elemental spirits was also related to a faulty view of Christ in which it was assumed that God merely caused certain spirits or angels to be brought forth from himself, one in succession of another and decreasing in power and divinity until a certain point when a spirit was far enough removed from God so as to come down to dwell with humanity and walk among them. And this emanation was Christ. He was from God, but was not God strictly speaking. And was not fully divine and so was able to interact with sinful, fleshly humanity.
Understanding these first two elements of this philosophy and empty deceit, really puts the last element in place. Namely that this was not a teaching “according to Christ.” At least not the Christ that they had learned. It was worldly, it was fleshly, it was based on human tradition, basic principles, man’s own initiative and strength; not according to any work that Christ has done and certainly not according to who they know Christ to be.
They were in danger of loosing sight of who Christ is and what great benefit there is in truly knowing Him. All of these things they were being persuaded to pursue were of no value and of no benefit. The greatest benefit that they had was right there before them. The issue here is sufficiency. Is Christ completely sufficient for the life of a believer or do we need more than Him? What needs to be added to Christ so that your life might be made complete? What do you need to do in order to make up what He lacks?
Are you trusting Him today? Are you leaning on Him as fully sufficient to meet all of your needs or are you trusting in the world’s philosophies and theories in order to make your life complete? Are you falsely trusting in Him as savior for your sins, but sinfully neglecting to submit to His Lordship over you by living life how you want to live it? Just who is Lord of your life?
Again, in our passage, Paul is stressing to them the importance of thinking rightly about Christ. There is no growth apart from knowing Christ. Furthermore, wrong thoughts about Christ leave one vulnerable to being “cheated” or “robbed” by the “philosophy and empty deceit” of false teachers . And moreover, Christ is supreme. And we must be careful not to loose sight of the fullness of blessing that is found when we trust in the person of Christ and in Him alone.
THIS WE WILL GET TO NEXT WEEK.
We will answer our final two questions (what should we think about Christ? And what difference should that make in our lives?), we’ll hopefully spend most of our time on the last question, considering some of the specific philosophies that this world has taught which often causes believers to fall away from their trust in Christ as sufficient for their lives.
In closing, beloved, how do you handle life? How you handle life is based solely on how you think about Christ. For He is the source and sustainer of life, both all of created life and also the life that you may have by having a right relationship with God in Him. Consider Col 1:15-20:
Colossians 1:15-20
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities– all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. 18 He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. 19 For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, 20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. 21 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, 22 yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach– 23 if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.
Have you lost sight of who Christ is? Have you lost sight of who you are in Him? Do you find yourself struggling to handle various difficulties that this life throws at you? If you are struggling, and you know that you do not truly know Christ. Then you must repent. Turn from whatever philosophy and empty deceit you are following and turn your eyes upon Him. In Christ and in Christ alone will you find peace with God. And until you have found peace with God, you will in no way find peace on this earth.
Maybe you feel that you are handling things well. Perhaps you are not struggling with the things of this world. Perhaps you don’t know Christ and you feel that you don’t really need him. You feel that this message doesn’t apply to you at all. To you, I’ll say, beware. Be on guard. See to it that you do not continue in the trap and snare of the evil one being led astray by your own might, traditions, rules or your own way. Don’t allow yourself to be cheated out of the fullness that is found in Christ and in Christ alone. The Bible says that the end of the way that seems right to a man is death. There is no true life apart from Christ.
You Christian, remember. Remember that Christ is our life. Remember that there is no true grace apart from Him, no matter what man’s philosophy may tell you. Fix your eyes upon Him! Amen?
Let us pray.
