Well, good morning, church.
Turn with me in your Bibles to Colossians chapter 2.
If you're looking in one of the few Bibles, it is page 984.
We're continuing through this little but dense and powerful letter of the Apostle Paul,
written to what was probably a small church in a relatively insignificant city,
but it's a letter that has resounded through the ages and that has been passed on ever since then
and has strengthened generations of Christians in their faith in Christ.
So, let me read Colossians 2.
We are reading verses 6 to 15 this morning.
Hear now God's Word.
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.
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.
For in Him, the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,
and you have been filled in Him,
who is the head of all rule and authority.
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.
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 by canceling the record of debt
that stood against us with its legal demands,
this He set aside, nailing it to the cross.
He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame
by triumphing over them in Him.
About five years ago, the movie Twelve Years a Slave came out.
It tells the true story of an African-American man named Solomon Northup,
who grew up in upstate New York in the early 1800s.
He was an educated businessman.
He owned a 50-acre farm.
He was a talented musician.
And he was a devoted husband and father.
But one day, in 1841, two men who were coming through town
invited him to go along with them to New York City
as part of a traveling circus.
They said they needed a violinist and wanted him.
Work was scarce at the time.
They promised him some good money.
He always wanted to see the city, so he went.
But when they got there, they didn't put on any shows.
They instead asked him to go further south.
The circus was still in Washington, D.C.
They said, come with us down there.
And then once you get there, the circus will be ready to go north
because it's getting towards summertime
and the weather's growing warmer.
They paid him some money for the time he had given them already.
They promised him more money.
They flattered him, and he went along with them.
Two days after he arrived in Washington, D.C.,
he was poisoned, beaten, chained,
and shipped to Louisiana to be sold as a slave.
The two men who had seemed so generous and kind,
who had flattered him and fed him,
who had paid him and promised so much to him,
had kidnapped him and sold him into captivity.
In the passage we're looking at today,
the Apostle Paul is concerned that what happened to Solomon North
physically would not happen to us spiritually.
Verse 8, see to it that no one takes you captive.
That word can mean kidnap or carry off as a prisoner of war.
Paul is warning the Christians in Colossae against empty philosophies,
against deceitful promises that only result in spiritual bondage.
And Paul is saying, just as much as you would keep your distance
from someone who wanted to deceive you and kidnap you
and enslave you physically,
you should also keep your distance from anything
which would lead you into spiritual bondage and powerlessness.
And just as there are very real dangers to our bodies
in this fallen world, Paul says,
there are also very real dangers to our souls.
And we should not be naive or unaware
or living in denial of them.
But Paul's strategy in these verses
is not to list all the spiritual dangers that we can face
and describe them and elaborate on them
and give us specific instructions for how to face them all.
There's some of that in other parts of the New Testament.
But in this passage, Paul points us to three things we can count on,
three things which will help us,
that can protect us from being taken in
by deceitful promises, by empty words.
Paul points us to the foundation we have in Christ,
to the fullness we have in Christ,
and to the freedom we have in Christ.
Foundation, fullness, freedom.
We're going to look at each of these themes one by one.
So first, the foundation we have in Christ.
This is verses six to seven.
Therefore, as you receive Christ Jesus the Lord,
so walk in Him.
Now, this verse is really the hinge
on which the whole book of Colossians turns.
The whole book of Colossians, in a nutshell, is verse six.
As you receive Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.
In the beginning of the letter,
Paul gave thanks for how the Colossians had received Christ.
This is chapter one, verses three to eight.
He said, the gospel has come to you.
You heard it and understood the grace of God in truth.
And then Paul went on to pray that they would walk in Him.
That they would walk in a manner worthy of the Lord,
bearing fruit in every good work, verse 10 of chapter one.
And then in chapter one, verses 15 to 23,
Paul reminded the Colossians of who is Christ Jesus the Lord.
He was not, He is the firstborn over all creation,
the one in whom all things hold together,
and the one who made peace through His blood
that He shed on the cross.
Broadly speaking, all of Colossians that we've looked at so far
focuses on the first half of verse six.
As you receive Christ Jesus the Lord.
And the second half of Colossians that we're starting to jump into
from chapter two, verse eight, to chapter four, verse six,
the rest of chapter four is closing greetings,
but is about walking in Christ.
It gives specific warnings and instructions
about how to live with Christ Jesus as our Lord.
Martin Luther said,
the life of a Christian is a life of daily repentance and faith.
That's actually, that's how you become a Christian
in the first place, right?
By repenting, that means turning from sin
and faith, trusting in Jesus.
And that's also how you grow as a Christian,
is every day turning away from sin
and trusting in Christ and living out of that trust.
So chapter two of Colossians gives us three warnings.
Verse eight,
see to it that no one takes you captive.
Verse 16,
therefore let no one pass judgment on you.
Verse 18,
let no one disqualify you.
Then in chapter three,
we'll see some more positive instructions.
Seek the things that are above.
Chapter three, verse one.
Chapter five,
put to death what is earthly in you.
Verse 12,
put on as God's chosen ones,
holy and beloved,
really the qualities of Christ.
And he goes into a long list there.
Compassion,
kindness,
patience,
and love.
And so on.
So we could zoom out from verse six
and see the whole of the book,
but if we zoom back in
to verse seven,
Paul gives us four pictures
of what it looks like
to walk in Christ.
Or as we might say,
to build on the foundation
that we have in Christ.
First picture,
rooted like a tree.
This verb is in the perfect tense,
which often indicates
the ongoing result
of a completed action
in the past.
In other words,
what that means is that
by receiving Christ,
we have already been
rooted in Christ.
We read,
our first reading
was John chapter 15,
where Jesus said,
I am the vine,
you are the branches.
Right?
You're already connected
to Jesus
in a life-giving way
if you're one of His disciples,
if you're one of His followers.
We've already been rooted.
So the New American Standard
translates,
walk in Him having been
firmly rooted.
Now the rest of the verbs
in this sentence
are in the present tense,
which simply indicates
an ongoing process.
Being built up,
being established,
abounding in thanksgiving.
But rooted is sort of
the beginning of that,
having been rooted.
But there's an ongoing result
of having been rooted in Christ
is that our roots
are to grow ever deeper
in Him.
We've been connected
to Christ
and we're meant to be,
to grow down
into Christ
more and more.
One verse
in the Bible
that goes with this image
is Jeremiah 17.
It said,
Blessed is the man
who trusts in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord.
He is like a tree
planted by water
that sends out
its roots by the stream.
It does not fear
when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green.
It is not anxious
in the year of drought,
for it does not cease
to bear fruit.
That's the picture
of someone
who has received Christ
and who is walking in Him,
whose roots are growing deeper
every day.
But the second metaphor
is sort of a contrast.
We're not just growing deeper,
we're also growing up.
We're being built up
like a house.
Most often in the New Testament,
the metaphor of a house
or a temple
is used to describe
the church.
Not only the individual Christian,
but the community
of God's people.
So Ephesians 2.20,
Ephesians and Colossians,
Ephesians sort of expands
on a lot of the things
that are in Colossians.
So often some of the,
many of the ideas
that are in Colossians,
you'll find a parallel
in Ephesians,
partly because Paul
was probably writing
these letters
around the same time.
He was writing to churches
that were closely located
to each other.
Anyway,
we could go into more
of a relationship
between Colossians and Ephesians,
but we won't do that now.
But Ephesians 2.20
says this,
you are members
of the household of God
built on the foundation
of the apostles and prophets,
Christ Jesus himself
being the chief cornerstone
in whom the whole structure
being joined together
grows into a holy temple
in the Lord.
You also
are being built together
into a dwelling place
for God by the Spirit.
You see,
being a Christian
isn't just a private endeavor.
It's not just
sort of quietly growing
our roots down
deeper into Christ.
It's also a public project
that we're engaged in together,
a community project
that we're being built up
to be a display
of God's glory
to the world.
Now,
I hope that many of you
will stay after church
to hear our presentation
of the proposed building project,
but that's not
an appropriate application
of this verse.
The primary application
of this verse
is that we would be
looking for ways
to build each other up
in faith and hope and love.
And honestly,
the building project
will only
bring glory to God
if we're constantly
building one another up
spiritually
and building
on the foundation of Christ
and building each other up
in the truth
and in the grace of Jesus.
All right,
third metaphor,
right?
We've seen rooted like a tree,
built up like a house,
established in the faith
just as you were taught.
Now,
that word established
was often used
to describe legal contracts
or judicial verdicts.
Established,
confirmed,
settled,
verified,
proven valid.
All of those
would be similar ideas.
Paul wanted his hearers
to have a confident assurance
that the Christian faith,
which they had been taught,
is true and reliable
so that they wouldn't
easily be swayed.
Again,
he expresses the same idea
in Ephesians 4,
14 to 15.
He says,
so that we may no longer
be like little children
tossed to and fro
by the waves
and carried about
by every wind of doctrine,
by human cunning,
by craftiness
and deceitful schemes.
Rather,
speaking the truth in love,
we are to grow up
in every way into Christ.
So let me ask you
this question.
Practically,
are you seeking to grow
in your understanding
of the foundations
of your faith
in Christ
so that you won't
be quickly swayed
when someone else
expresses a different opinion?
In the Middle Ages,
the Christian philosopher
Anselm
began his most famous treatise
with the concept
of faith-seeking understanding.
He said,
on the one hand,
you can't insist
on understanding everything
before you believe anything.
That's not how
human life works.
Every one of us
came out of the womb
and the only way
we stayed alive
was by trusting someone
who we didn't fully understand,
by latching onto
the breast
or the bottle
and trusting
that what came out of there
would nourish us
instead of kill us.
It's the only reason
you are alive today.
It's because you trusted,
you lived by faith,
without much understanding.
But of course,
as you grow up,
the natural process
of growing up
involves growing
in understanding
and eventually
learning not only
to eat solid food
but also to cook
your own food
and to cook food
for somebody else.
And so that's meant
to be a picture
of the progress
of a growing Christian,
right?
As a new Christian,
sometimes you just
got to start by drinking
in the Word of God
as it's being fed to you,
as someone else
is explaining
and distilling it for you
and trusting
that God is there
and God is real
and God is wiser
than any of us
and that He loves us
no matter what we feel.
But you know,
growing Christians
don't just stop there.
They don't just stop
with believing something
that they don't
really understand.
Anselm said this,
he said,
I do not endeavor,
O Lord,
to penetrate
your transcendence
for in no way
do I compare
my understanding
with that.
But I long
to understand
in some degree
your truth
which my heart
believes and loves.
So are you seeking
to grow
in your understanding
of the God
that you have come
to trust and believe in?
You're seeking
to grow
in your understanding
of God's ways
and God's will.
Are you dealing
with the hard questions
that other people
ask you
or you ask yourself
rather than avoiding
them out of fear?
Are you getting
to know the Bible
better
so that you're not
just able to receive
someone else's teaching
from it but that you
can pick up the Bible
and read it
and benefit from it?
You can cook a meal
for yourself
as well as coming
to church each Sunday
and receiving the Word
as it's fed to you.
Are you growing
in discernment
so that you can listen
to different people
teaching the Bible
and you can compare it
with what it actually says
and be able to say,
hmm,
there's a difference here.
I need to
eat the meat
and not the bones.
I need to
grow in discernment.
So rooted like a tree,
built up like a house,
established like
a legal contract,
forth,
abounding in thanksgiving.
That word abounding
could refer to
something that was
overflowing like a fountain
or it could refer
to a surplus,
an unexpectedly large
profit from a business.
All right,
a whole bunch of leftovers
from a feast.
Paul says,
we have received
Christ Jesus the Lord
and so our expressions
of thankfulness to God
should be overflowing
and abounding.
Seven times
in this short little book
of Colossians,
Paul emphasizes
the importance
of thanksgiving.
Chapter 1,
verse 3,
we always thank God
when we pray for you.
Chapter 1,
verse 12,
with joy giving thanks
to the Father,
here abounding
in thanksgiving.
315,
and be thankful.
316,
with thankfulness
in your hearts to God.
317,
giving thanks to God
the Father through Him.
42,
being watchful in prayer
with thanksgiving.
Seven times
Paul's reminding us
of the importance
of thanksgiving.
Now,
there's a lot
that could be said
about thanksgiving.
But in the context
of this sermon
where Paul's warning them
against spiritual dangers
that could take them captive,
a heart that is abounding
in thanksgiving
is a safeguard
against all kinds
of things,
all kinds of negative
thought patterns
that can quickly
take us captive.
It's a safeguard
against envy.
It's a safeguard
against jealousy.
It's a safeguard
against self-pity.
It's a safeguard
against entitlement.
It's a safeguard
against arrogance.
It's a safeguard
against discontentment
and grumbling.
Thankfulness drives
all those ugly things away.
And thankfulness
doesn't let them gain
a destructive foothold
in our soul.
That's why so many
of the Psalms begin
with the psalmist
speaking to himself
and saying,
praise the Lord,
O my soul.
And all that is within me,
praise his holy name.
Praise the Lord,
O my soul,
and forget not
all his benefits.
So being rooted down
and builded up,
being established securely
and abounding freely
with thanksgiving,
that's what it looks like
to build on the foundation
of Christ,
to be strong and secure
in our attachment
to the foundation
that we're building on.
But that's the first point.
But the second thing,
which we see in verses 9 to 12,
is that we not only have
a solid foundation in Christ,
we also have
a wonderful fullness
in Christ.
Verse 9,
That's a profound verse.
And you know,
you can't really get
any clearer than that
if you want to say
Jesus is fully God.
All the fullness of deity
dwells in him.
There's no ambiguity there.
Jesus isn't sort of filled
with some divinity.
He isn't just deeply
connected to God.
He isn't just a human being
who achieved closeness to God.
All the fullness of deity
dwells in him.
There's nothing missing.
And by the way,
this was not just Paul's idea.
Some people want to say
this was just Paul's idea.
But Jesus said,
Matthew 11, 27,
All things have been handed over
to be by my Father.
And no one knows the Son
except the Father.
And no one knows the Father
except the Son.
And anyone to whom
the Son chooses
to reveal him.
Jesus, again,
very clear,
saying he has this intimate
and close
and unique relationship
with God the Father.
Over and over
throughout the Gospels,
Jesus claims to be and do
what, according to the Scriptures,
only God can be and do.
And so you have to wrestle
with that
and ask the question,
is he telling the truth
or not?
And if he's not telling the truth,
then he's not a wise man
and he's not a prophet
you should trust
and he's not a teacher
you should follow.
Because you shouldn't follow
someone who claims
to have the fullness of deity
dwelling in him
and claims to have
an exclusive and unique
connection to God
if it ain't true.
So it's really one way
or the other.
But Christians believe
that Jesus is fully God.
Christians believe
that if you want to know God,
you need look no further
than the face of Jesus Christ.
Jesus is God's presence
and his very self.
Again, this is one
of the main differences
between Christianity
and every other religion
in the world.
Some religions
and philosophies
would say that
the fullness of deity
is inherently unapproachable.
That humanity
and deity
are like oil and water.
They don't,
they cannot mix,
they cannot inhabit
the same space.
But if God
is truly omnipotent
and beyond our comprehension,
wouldn't that be limiting
God's power
to say that he can't
fully inhabit
one of his creatures?
that he couldn't
become a human being?
How can you say
that God can't do that
because that's impossible?
Isn't nothing impossible
for God
if God is truly transcendent
and wise
beyond our understanding?
Now, other religions
go the opposite way
and they say
God is everything
and everything is God.
They would have no problem
with verse 9,
in him all the fullness
of deity dwells,
but they would say
sure,
all the fullness
of deity dwells
in you and me too
or like drops
in the ocean.
But if God
is everything
and everything
is God,
it becomes very hard
to make any ultimate
distinctions
between good
and evil
or even between
a human being
and a piece of dirt.
Isn't that important
to make such distinctions?
Christians.
So, Christianity says
that God is fundamentally
different than us,
that we cannot approach
God on our own
because of our sin,
our corruption,
but in his mercy
and wisdom,
God has made a way.
God chose to enter
into our space
and our world
and our flesh
in the person
of Jesus Christ
so that we might know him,
so that we might be
reconciled to God,
the Father through him,
so that we might
be filled
with the presence of God.
That's the amazing
message of Christianity,
that yes,
there is that
amazing transcendent God
who's not just
in and out
of each one of us,
and yet we can
connect with him.
We can be reconciled
with him,
and we can even have
God dwelling in us
through his spirit.
Verse 10 goes on,
not only is Christ,
not only does the whole
fullness of deity
dwell in Christ,
Paul goes on to say,
you have been filled
in him.
You see,
some people were coming
to the Colossians,
and they were saying,
okay,
you believe in Christ,
that's fine.
Maybe he's even necessary,
but he's not sufficient.
In order to really thrive
and really flourish,
you need something
more than Christ,
something other than Christ,
something outside of Christ.
Next week,
we'll get into more
of the details
of what exactly
they were offering
and why it would have
seemed so attractive,
but here the details
are not that important.
Paul wants to remind them
that all that they need
is found in Christ.
Paul says,
live out of the fullness
that is in Christ
and that's been given
to you
as you've been united
with Christ
through faith.
Don't be taken captive
by an empty
and deceptive philosophy.
Now, Paul is not demonizing
the discipline of philosophy
in general,
nor is Paul rejecting
logical argument
and reasoning.
If you translate
the Greek of verse 8 literally,
it says,
see that no one
takes you captive
by the philosophy
and empty deceit.
Paul's warning
against the specific philosophy
being taught in Colossae,
which he describes
in the rest of the verse.
So, if you're considering
being a philosophy major,
this verse is not saying
that it is a sin
to do that.
At the same time,
philosophy will never save you.
As one of my philosophy
professors once said,
philosophers say
they love wisdom,
but most of the time
they just love arguments.
A little bit more seriously,
like many other
academic disciplines,
philosophy is perhaps
most useful
when we're humbled by it.
In other words,
when we allow it to show us
how much we don't know,
how much is out there
in the world
that is beyond
our limited comprehension.
How limited our reason
can be
and how far it gets us.
But getting back
to the text,
verses 11 to 12
show us
in some rather graphic imagery
what it means
that we have been filled
in Christ.
Again,
continuing with this
fullness theme.
Now, 11 and 12,
I think,
are the most dense verses
in this passage.
This whole passage,
8 through 15,
is one long sentence
in the Greek.
So, Paul is just
piling metaphor upon metaphor,
image upon image,
to paint, again,
this powerful picture.
He's using this rhetorical style
to sort of paint a picture
of the fullness
and later on the freedom
that we have in Christ.
But 11 and 12
are pretty dense,
so let me go phrase by phrase.
In him,
you are also circumcised.
Now,
where does this image
of circumcision come from?
It comes from the Old Testament.
The Old Testament,
God required
the male descendants
of Abraham
to be physically circumcised
as a sign
that they belong
to God's covenant people.
So, circumcision represented
cutting off
or putting away
everything that displeases God
and dedicating oneself
fully to God
for the task ahead.
But verse 11
is not talking about
physical act of circumcision.
It continues,
in him you are circumcised
with a circumcision
made without hands.
When the Bible talks
about something
made without hands,
it's talking about
something that's done
by God
and not by human beings.
In other words,
you were circumcised
by God.
That is spiritually cleansed
and set apart.
Paul's drawing on
an Old Testament idea
which is sometimes expressed
as circumcision
of the heart.
God spiritually,
not just a physical act
that sort of symbolically
represented something,
but God spiritually
cleansing His people
and setting them apart
for His service.
Going on,
by putting off
the body of the flesh.
Now, if you look down
at verse 13,
it says,
you were dead
in the uncircumcision
of your flesh
and God made you alive.
And if you look down
at chapter 3, verse 9,
the same verb
put off appears.
You have put off
the old self
with its practices
and have put on
the new self.
So, the image is
when we come to Christ,
it's like we're wearing
a full-body suit
that is dirty
and stinky
and stained
and we've worn it forever
and it's never been washed.
And God strips it off of us.
He removes our uncleanness
and our inherited corruption.
And He does it,
this verse goes on,
by the circumcision of Christ.
Now, that phrase
could mean one of two things.
It could mean
the spiritual circumcision
that Christ Himself performs,
right?
Christ is the one
who removes
our inherited corruption
and sort of cleanses us spiritually.
But more likely,
I think this phrase,
the circumcision of Christ,
actually refers
to the crucifixion of Christ.
Christ,
circumcision was both
an act of devotion to God
and a bloody mess.
And I think Paul's using
this metaphor
to remind us
of the greatest act
of devotion to God,
which was also a bloody mess,
the death of Jesus on the cross.
Through and through
the death of Christ on the cross,
our uncleanness,
our corruption
can be removed
and stripped off of us.
One other reason
I think Paul's referring
to Christ's death
on the cross here
is that the next phrase
refers to His burial,
having been buried with Him
in baptism.
Christian baptism means
we've been identified
with the death
and burial
and resurrection of Jesus.
In other words,
it's a sign
that we've experienced
what verse 11 describes,
the circumcision of the heart.
Christ died for our sins.
He was buried.
On the third day,
God raised Him from the dead.
And now,
if we have faith in Christ,
we can say,
my old self died with Him
on that cross.
Christ took my stinky,
dirty, stained bodysuit.
He took all of my sin
on Himself.
And our sins were then
buried with Him in the grave,
and through faith in Him,
we've been raised to new life.
That's what baptism celebrates,
that we've become
a new creation in Christ
by His mercy and grace
because of the death
and burial
and resurrection of Jesus.
Not only has God
stripped off
our stinky,
dirty, stained clothes,
He's washed us clean,
and He's given us
a whole new wardrobe.
He's given us
the righteousness of Christ.
He's raised us up
with His mighty power,
the same power
that raised Jesus Christ
from the dead.
And so Paul says,
the fullness of deity
dwells in Christ,
and in Him you have fullness.
Fullness of cleansing.
Fullness of all of your sins
being removed.
Fullness of regeneration
of a new life in Christ.
Paul says,
what more do you need?
You can't get any more
cleansed than that.
You can't get any more
empowered from something else.
No.
You just need to go
deeper into Christ.
Don't need to run away
anywhere else.
There's nothing else
you're missing.
There's nothing else
that any other philosophy
or religion can give you
that you cannot find
in Christ.
So that's the second point.
Paul says,
live into the fullness
of Christ.
Third,
verse 13 to 15,
the freedom we have
in Christ.
Foundation,
fullness,
freedom.
In these last three verses,
Paul points us to the freedom
we have in Christ
because of His work
on the cross.
Freedom from the guilt
of sin.
It's verse 13 and 14.
And freedom from the powers
of darkness.
That's verse 15.
And if you think about
what kinds of things
can spiritually take us captive,
those have to be
at the top of the list.
Right?
Guilt and shame
and the powers of darkness.
Guilt and shame
can enslave us.
Look at the imagery
Paul uses in 13 and 14,
the record of debt
that stood against us.
Verse 14,
that word can mean
an IOU,
signed by one's own hand,
or a legal bond.
Some people even think
that Paul was referring
to a common idea
in his day
that there was
a heavenly register
of deeds
in which a record
of your wrongdoings
was kept.
And there's a list
in the presence of God.
You see,
this is something
we can't simply overlook
or ignore.
It's something
that doesn't go away
just because we forget about it
or choose not to think about it
or live in denial of it.
As God's image bearers,
we owe Him full obedience
and none of us
have come anywhere near that.
If we measure ourselves
up against the standard
of God's holy law,
we have all transgressed.
We owe God a debt.
There's no way
we can pay it off.
Even if I did not sin
for an entire year,
guess what?
I would simply be doing
my duty to God
because He made me
in His image
and that's what I owe Him.
I owe Him everything.
So there's no way
you can pay anything back
because obedience to God
is not paying God back
for our sins.
It's simply
what we owe Him already.
We're in a hole.
We have no way out.
And some of you
know very well
what that feels like.
The fear
that grips us,
the sense of hopelessness
that overwhelms us
when we think of the debt
that we owe to God
and the record
of our past sins.
The vain attempts
to cleanse ourselves
and hide our shameful failures
from others.
The anger and despair
that fills us
when the futility
of those efforts
is exposed
and the underlying feeling
of worthlessness
that haunts us.
But verse 14
is wonderful news.
He forgave us
all our trespasses.
Not just some of them
but all of them.
Sometimes I've asked people
who are struggling
with receiving
God's forgiveness,
did Jesus Christ
die on the cross
for some of your sins
or for all of your sins?
And they almost always say
oh well
like all.
Right?
Because you realize
that it would be
it doesn't make any sense
to say some.
Are you living that way?
Or do you think
there's something
that you've done in the past
that there is no way
that God could forgive?
He forgave us
all our trespasses.
trespasses.
He canceled
the record of debt.
He didn't just reduce it.
He didn't just refinance it.
He erased it.
He wiped it away.
He set it aside.
That's actually
an interesting phrase
that literally means
he took it out of the middle.
In an ancient courtroom
the record of debt
along with other
signed statements
would be placed
right in the middle
of the courtroom.
But now what Paul is saying
is the list of accusations
that stood in the middle
has been nailed
to the cross of Christ.
Jesus paid it all.
We can know forgiveness
and freedom
from enslaving guilt
and shame.
There's freedom
from the guilt of sin
in Jesus Christ.
Verse 15 tells us
there's also freedom
from the powers of darkness.
God disarmed
the rulers
and authorities
and put them
to open shame
by triumphing over them
in Christ.
You might say
what exactly does that mean?
Who are these rulers
and authorities?
Well verse 1
chapter 1 verse 16
says that the rulers
and authorities
in heaven
and on earth
have been created
by Christ
were created
through Christ
and for Christ.
And in chapter 2 verse 10
which we read
we read that Christ
is the head
of all rule
and authority.
In other words
no authority
stands above
the eternal
son of God.
There is no one
that can overrule
or override
what Jesus
decrees.
But it's also evident
from verse 15
and elsewhere in scripture
that these rulers
and authorities
that Paul is speaking of
in both heaven
and on earth
have rebelled against
the rightful authority
of Christ.
So Ephesians 6
speaks of
rulers and authorities
cosmic powers
over this present darkness
spiritual forces
of evil
in the heavenly places.
Paul may also
be referring
to earthly rulers
and authorities
that is power structures
in this world
that have become
bent and twisted
toward carrying out
Satan's evil designs.
What he's saying here
is that on the cross
God triumphed
over all
the evil
powers.
Think about
what happened
when Jesus
was nailed
to the cross.
He was condemned
to die
by the rulers
and authorities
of Rome
and of Israel.
Their power
was bent
toward accomplishing
the evil designs
of Satan himself.
But paradoxically
when it seemed
that the powers
had triumphed
over Jesus
Jesus was actually
triumphing
over the powers.
And T. Wright
put it this way
these powers
stripped him
naked
held him up
to public contempt
and celebrated
a triumph over him.
But in verse 15
Paul declares
that on the cross
God was stripping
them naked
disarming them.
It's the same word
as put off
in verse 11.
God was holding
them up
to public contempt
put them
to open shame
and leading
them in his own
triumphal
possession
in Christ.
The crucified
Messiah was in fact
their rightful
Lord.
The cross
therefore
becomes the
source of hope
for all
who are held
captive
under the rule
of powers
which are hostile
to God
enslaved
in fear
and suspicion.
Christ breaks
the last hold
that the powers
had over his people
by dying
on their behalf.
he now welcomes
us into
God's new
family.
What that means
is that the cross
of Jesus
gives hope
to all of God's
people who are
oppressed by
hostile rulers
and authorities
whether those
are spiritual
powers,
demons,
or corrupt
human authorities.
They will not
have the last
word.
Christ has
triumphed
and he will
have the last
word.
Are there demons
that are afflicting
you?
We don't always
talk a lot
about demons
in some
of the churches
in the West
but they're
real.
Are there demons
that are afflicting
you?
Are there addictions
that threaten
to overcome
you?
Do you believe
that your future
is determined
by curses
or spells
or other words
that people
have spoken
over your life
in the past?
Verse 15
says,
none of these
hostile rulers
and authorities
can stand
before the
triumphing
power of the
crucified
and risen
Lord Jesus.
They are enemies
but they are
defeated enemies
so stand firm
in the name
of Jesus Christ
and do not
believe their
lies.
Verse 15
also gives hope
to Christians
who are persecuted
and oppressed
by earthly rulers
and authorities
who are carrying
out Satan's
evil designs.
no matter
how strong
and how unyielding
they may seem
they do not
have the final
word.
Christ triumphed
through his cross
and he leads us
in triumphal
procession
even when we
suffer injustice
as Jesus
himself did.
And just as
Christ was raised
from the dead
we can be
confident
that all God's
people
will one day
be vindicated.
for 12 years
Solomon Northup
was a slave
and his story
is one of
perseverance
and endurance.
It doesn't come
out in the movie
but if you read
the book
it's also evident
that he was
sustained by his
faith in Christ.
But 12 years
after he was
kidnapped and
sold into slavery
he was working
in the fields
of Louisiana
one morning
he saw two
men approaching
neither of whom
he recognized
one was an
attorney from
his home
state of New
York.
He wrote this
as my eyes
rested on his
countenance
a world of
images thronged
my brain
a multitude
of well-known
faces
my wife
Ann's
and the dear
children's
and my old
dead fathers
all the scenes
and associations
of childhood
and youth
all the friends
of other
and happier
days
until at last
the perfect
memory of the
man recurred
to me
and throwing
up my hands
towards heaven
I exclaimed
in a voice
louder than
I could utter
in a less
exciting moment
Henry B.
Northup
thank God
in an instant
I comprehended
the nature
of his business
and felt
that the hour
of my deliverance
was at hand
I seized
my old
acquaintance
by both hands
I could not
speak
I could not
refrain from
tears
throw down
that sack
Northup said
your cotton
picking days
are over
he was
finally
vindicated
he became
an abolitionist
he lived the rest
of his life
as a free man
now his
vindication
wasn't complete
because those
who had kidnapped
and enslaved him
were prosecuted
but were let
off
without anyone
being punished
there was not
full justice
and of course
there wasn't
full justice
for many other
people
who remained
in slavery
their whole
lives
but the promise
for every
Christian
is that
however
incompletely
it may happen
in this world
or however
much it may
happen in this
world
that the day
of your
vindication
will one
day come
that the powers
and authorities
will not
have the last
word
Paul says
see to it
that no one
takes you
captive
do not
be hopeless
build on the
foundation
you have in
Christ
live in the
fullness
revel in the
fullness
that you have
in Christ
and stand
firm in the
freedom you
have in Christ
and know
that he is
the Lord
who will one
day be
completely
victorious
and we will
stand with him
let us pray
father we pray
that you would
help us to
to build on
the foundation
of Christ
to be rooted
down and built
up
to be
established
and abounding
in thanksgiving
we pray that we
would know the
fullness that is
in Christ
and that we
would go deeper
and deeper
into the
fullness
that you have
given to us
and we pray
that we would
stand firm in
the freedom
that you have
purchased for us
the freedom
from guilt
and shame
the freedom
from the powers
and authorities
which threaten
us
we pray
that
we would
walk
in Christ
just as we
have received
Christ
the Lord
we pray this
in his name
amen
joy
and
Lord
say
just لل
любой
egal
His name on fact
and the
God
and the
man
have
seen