15.05.11 AM Sermon Christ and the Christian Experience # 1
Fullness in Christ (Col 2:6-15) Founded on Christ (Col 2:6-7)
This morning we continue in our series in Paul’s letter to the Colossians.
So far we have considered Christ and the Christian Gospel, looking at the church of Christ, the person of Christ and the gospel of Christ.
This morning we begin a new section of our series - looking at Christ and the Christian experience.
This morning, in particular we begin to consider the experience of Fullness in Christ.
It has been said that the central theme to Colossians is to be found in chapter 2 verse 9 and 10 :
“For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form and you have been given fullness in Christ.”
Paul, in chapter 2, after a length introduction, is turning to the substance of his letter.
He sets out for the Colossians the foundation for Christian experience and a comprehensive guide to Christian living.
He starts at the beginning, by reminding them that they are founded on Christ.
He challenges anything that would take away from the freedom they have received through Christ.
He gets them to look carefully at the fullness that there is in Christ.
He speaks of the forgiveness that flows from Christ.
So, this morning we look at the Christian life – and the fact that it is Founded on Christ
I want to speak about the basis the Colossians have (v6), the challenge they face (v6-7) and the spirit they needed (v7).
1. The basis they have.
Things have gone wrong at Colosse, but Paul does not doubt that the members of the church are genuine Christians - He makes the point by using the simplest and earliest definition of what it is to be a Christian.
They “received Christ Jesus as Lord.” - This something that these people have done - the tense that Paul uses means that he refers to it as a past and completed act.
To name Christ Jesus as Lord means to recognise him as the authority in our lives.
To acknowledge him as the boss.
“Lord” was a title that would have been used and understood in Paul’s day, not only meaning a human master, but one used especially by the Jewish people for God – a substitute for the sacred name of Yahweh.
Paul uses it a total of 230 times in his letters as a title for Jesus Christ.
He says in his letter to the Colossians that this Lord Jesus Christ is not only the one who is to be our master, to whom we owe our allegiance, but also the one who demonstrates himself to be supreme over all.
His relationship with Almighty God, his role in creation, his position in the church, his significance for the future is without comparison. He is unique and without peers or parallel.
Paul makes clear that no other power that the Christian faces, whether the power of oppressive governments, economic forces, natural disasters, demonic beings or that great enemy death, is supreme, for Jesus is the Lord over all.
We are therefore to regard and acknowledge this Lord Jesus is to be Lord of all, else he is not Lord at all.
We are to live to serve him as king.
Some seek the Lord Jesus but only in an adversary capacity – they listen to his advice of commands, intending to then choose to obey or go their own way.
Some seek the Lord but give up when the going gets tough, and follow an easier master.
Some seek the Lord but do not want to follow him, particularly when he calls them to carry their cross daily.
However, it is clear in scripture that a person cannot confess Christ as Lord and also submit to other gods or spiritual masters – to Jesus alongside others they regard of equal or greater value.
When we call Jesus Lord, we need to do so realising that he has this as a supreme title.
Jesus tells the parables of the pearl of great price, or the buried treasure – to illustrate the point that when you have found him as Lord, then all else finds its proper lower place.
If we regard Jesus as Lord then we set our lives, and all that is contained therein at his complete disposal.
The Colossians had once understood all this, but were now at risk of compromising on it.
It’s also worth point out that the way Paul phrases it is that they received Jesus as Lord.
The word Paul uses here for received is a word which implies that the believer receives Jesus as Lord along with others – as a tradition that many are a part of.
It is not the passive acquiring of a personal relationship with Jesus, but the active entering into a tradition concerning him.
We’re not in this alone, but we join countless others belonging to the same tradition, or the same story.
The word ‘received’ Paul uses, therefore rules out the idea that the Christian exists as an isolated believer.
The follower of Christ is part of church whether we like it or not, whether we find it easy or not.
Furthermore, it rules out the idea that being a Christian is a matter of opinion, or that we have the ability to pick and choose what suits us about the Christian faith.
The Christian is the one who has entered into a tradition where the body of belief is already formed and now is being handed on to us.
The tradition, the story of Christ Jesus as Lord, needs to form us, rather than us form the tradition.
2. The challenge they face.
Since the believer has a strong and solid foundation that is Christ Jesus as Lord, the challenge they face is to build on it.
Some were saying to the Colossians that the foundation they laid in Christ was all right but the house they need to build on top was to be constructed of different materials.
They were saying that the message of the gospel was OK for beginners, as an elementary starting point, but now they needed to supplement it with other religious ideas and practices.
But Paul makes it clear that all you need you will find in Christ, so “continue to live in him”.
Nothing else is necessary.
Yes, you need to make progress, but it is progress within the relationship you already have with Jesus as Lord, not progress away from him to something or someone else.
Paul uses three metaphors to emphasise his point :
First there is an agricultural one - rooted.
Second there is an architectural one - built up.
Third a commercial one - strengthened.
a. rooted.
The believer, the one who has received Christ Jesus as Lord has roots already – roots in Christ.
So, firstly, you don’t need to uproot and plant yourself somewhere else.
Secondly, your roots need to go deeper into Christ – deepen as disciples.
Our roots in Christ need to go deeper so that when the winds of erroneous and false teaching come, or the pressure of persecution, or the trials of temptation, or the distraction of discouragement - we can stand firm and not be swayed or uprooted.
The message is don’t uproot yourself and seek somewhere else in the spiritual garden of life – for this will lead only to death. Rather, remain tightly entwined around Christ, let your roots plumb the depths of the soil of the authentic and vintage gospel which can save you. Don’t be content with the shallow footing you have, but mature in your faith, deepen in your discipleship.
Paul is a great one for missing his metaphors so he moves from roots and trees to foundations and buildings.
b. built up
As the agricultural root metaphor looked backward to how they received Christ as Lord, the architectural building metaphor looks forwards.
The foundations are secure because Christ Jesus is secure, so there is every reason to build confidently on him.
A strong building can be erected by keeping close to Him and growing in knowledge of their faith.
Growing in their knowing Christ.
Let yourself grow – deeper and higher.
Then Paul switches to a commercial metaphor, somewhat hidden by the word we have translated as
c. strengthened
It is actually a word from the marketplace - Paul is talking about the receipt, the confirmation that goods have been bought or that property has been sold.
Now, he says, the transaction has taken place. You have given yourself to Jesus who has bought you with a price.
Now confirm the transaction by affirming your faith in him.
Confirm it by having a firmer, not a lesser grasp on him.
Don’t try and fill your minds with other ideas or think you’ll find greater satisfaction through other rituals.
There’s nothing wrong with him or the original and authentic faith as you were taught it.
The true gospel of Jesus will satisfy your deepest longing and defeat your greatest enemy.
Paul is asking, “What’s wrong with your hold on him? Strengthen your grip. Get a grip!”
3. The spirit they needed.
I wonder if the Christians at Colosse were a particularly grumpy lot, because Paul seems to continually stress the need for the Colossians to be thankful. Six times he reminds them to be thankful.
Here Paul encourages them not simply to be thankful, but to be overflowing with thankfulness.
Hymn : “Count your blessings, name them one by one;
Count your blessings, se what God has done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one;
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.”
We are to be a people who cultivate thankfulness.
Paul’s intention is to encourage the church at Colosse not to condemn it.
He wants them to lift their eyes up, their hearts up, their hands up in thanksgiving.
Derek Tidball observes in his commentary on this letter to the Colossians that many preachers deflate their congregations by telling them that they “don’t believe enough, pray enough, give enough, witness enough, do enough, attend enough and it’s all their fault. But that’s not Paul’s intention. So he balances his exhortation to grow with a hint that whatever is currently deficient in their spiritual growth as yet, still they have so much for which to be thankful.”
Cultivating thankfulness encourages us away from unhelpful self-critical introspection to move towards recalling our experience of the grace of God, and towards a liberated and joyful attitude to life and to church.
“God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say "thank you?"” (William A. Ward)
May we cultivate an attitude of gratitude.
Questions to Ponder
Sun 15th May 2011.
Read Colossians 2:6-7
1. The Christian has “received Christ Jesus as Lord.” What are the implications of this truth for our daily lives and our life as a church? Have you yet received Christ Jesus as Lord? If not, what are you waiting for, what is stopping you?
2. Why do we not just receive Christ Jesus as Lord and stop there? Why do we need to continue to live in him? Indeed, is there such a thing as ‘receiving’ yet not ‘continuing’?
2. How does remembering that the individual follower of Christ is part of the bigger story (the received tradition) of Christ and his church help combat the temptation towards individualism, isolationalism and consumerism (pic & mix church)?
3. How are you ensuring that you are (i) rooted in Christ (ii) built up in Christ and (iii) strengthened in the faith as you were taught? How does ‘church’ as a whole and in particular ‘fellowship groups’ help towards these goals?
4. How can we as a church cultivate a spirit of thankfulness? Why not take the opportunity to express your thanksgiving to God.