Latest revision as of 18:46, 31 July 2023

Theological Proposition/Focus: Jesus defeated sin, canceling our debt, disarming His enemies, and making alive those who were formerly hopeless.

Homiletical Proposition/Application: We need to remind ourselves of the fundamental truth of the Gospel, our debt has been canceled!

Introduction:

Memory Verse: Colossians 2:6

Image: Memory tricks - putting items to music

I don't know about you but one of the best ways I know to memorize something is to put it to music. Music is a powerful tool. Certainly, there are plenty of songs out there that have meaningless lyrics, but there are also some songs with deep truths embedded, truths worth memorizing.

Preview: Today we are going to look at Colossians 2:6-15 as we understand the significance of the fact that our sins are nailed to the cross

Setting the Stage:

The book of Colossians was written to Christians living in the small city of Colossae around 62 BC. At this point Paul was in prison in Rome and the church in Colossae was dealing with what we might call proto-gnosticism. A budding heresy that undermined Christ's supremacy and sufficiency. The church was in danger of losing it's focus and Paul writes what might be the most Christ-centered letter of all. Colossians 2 is all about the fullness that we have in Christ's sufficiency.

Body Read all of Colossians 2:6-15

The Christian should stand firm rooted, built-up, and established in the faith that Jesus's payment is sufficient. (2:6-8)

A universal problem: We each have sinned and will sin.

The Gospel fundamentally is the message that all have sinned but placing one's faith in Christ grants forgiveness.

Romans 3:23 tells us that "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,"

All means all and there really is no debate. Each of us here today has a past. We have all sinned. We have all fallen short of God's glory.

Romans 10:9-10 follows with an apt description of the Gospel

"If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved."

It is easy as ABC "wait wrong song..." Admit, Believe, Confess.

This is all it takes to be a Christian!

But does this means that the sin problem is eliminated? No

1 John 1:8-9 states "8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."

In reality, what we are seeing is that always

The solution: Christ, the Savior.

For those of you who have accepted Christ as your savior do you remember that feeling of freedom you had when you first made the decision? What I want to tell you right now is that feeling is still available to you.

Paul says, "just as you received Christ Jesus, continue to live your lives in him" (verse 6)

The power that freed you from the penalty from sin all those years ago is still available!

The reminder: the truth of the Gospel is both a past and present reality for the Christian.

Something that stands out is that reception of the Gospel is not just intellectual consent, no it is a present living, rooted, built-up and established.

Continuing to live in Christ involves

being rooted - the roots of a plant are the means by which a plant draws up the nourishment from the soil!

Our roots are in Christ in that we draw from Christ our nourishment. If you plan something soil without nourishment it will never grow strong.

Built up - strong soil is critical for a large plant to grow.

Anything less than Christ will result in poor growth!

The danger: Never forget that Christ is sufficient.

In verse 8 Paul moves from a call to remain firm in the faith to a warning against those who might forget that Christ is sufficient.

The idea of someone taking a Christian captive with empty deceit is a dramatic picture of someone who is trapped in empty philosophy (the "and" in "philosophy and empty deceit" is probably epexegetical - that is it adds clarification).

Gnosticism, which was in its early stages here denied the sufficiency of Christ instead suggesting that in addition to Christ one needed special knowledge to be saved from sin.

To this Paul reminds the church, don't be fooled, don't be taken captive, all you need is Christ!

Image: The Aviation Safety Reporting System.

Aviation Safety Reporting System, or ASRS, is a program that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) implemented with the help of NASA to allow voluntary confidential reporting of rule violations in the interest of improving aviation safety. The FAA offers limited immunity to an individual who reports safety events that do not result in an accident. What this means is that if someone violates a rule and files an ASRS report then they have a great deal of protection from enforcement action. In college, I took an aviation law class from a lawyer and what he told us was that if we ever had anything questionable then we should file the report. If the FAA came knocking then simply show them the report and they would move on. Now willful, or intentional, acts were different but in general a pilot who wisely uses the ASRS system is a pilot who will avoid being judged by the FAA.

There is a sense in which this is a picture of what Christ has done for us. The truth of the Gospel is that Christ's payment is sufficient for our sin. We should preach the gospel to ourselves, and remind ourselves of the Gospel.

Image: Nailed to the Cross by Rend Collective - Verse 1 and 2

When I stand accused by my regrets And the devil roars his empty threats I will preach the gospel to myself That I am not a man condemned For Jesus Christ is my defense

When my doubt and shame hang over me Like the arrows of the enemy I will run again to Calvary That rugged hill of hell's defeat My fortress and my victory

MTR: Take a minute, preach the Gospel to yourself. All you need is Christ.

The Christian is brought to fullness in the resurrected Christ. (2:9-12)

Let me ask you a question, "what does a full life look like?" Money, possessions, travel, family? The reality is that non of these things will completely satisfy you. None of these things will give you a full life. A full life comes from something more. Really a full life requires something bigger than life. A full life is only possible if it is granted by God. Depending on anything less than God himself is futile. The good news is that in Jesus we have God himself.

Christ is fully God and has full divine authority.

"all fullness" is repetitive and emphasizes totality.

Christ is not just a little bit divine.

We don't worship a demi-god or something that is close to God but not really God.

In fact, Christ is supreme over all created beings.

For the Christian, fullness is only possible through Christ.

Jesus is the one who brings about a full life!

Money will not satisfy.

Other people will disappoint.

Serving the God of the universe is the only thing that satisfies.

The Christian is called to identify with Christ.

Two images help us to understand the significance of what Christ accomplished on the cross.

Circumcision

Circumcision, the removal of a piece of flesh identified someone as part of God's community.

Now a spiritual circumcision has occurred, "What people were in Adam—sinful, fallen, and corrupt—was destroyed by Christ.^[1]"

Baptism

The imagery of baptism involves both burial and resurrection

Identification with Christ in baptism is an act of acknowledging the futility of life without Christ and the hope of full life in Christ.

The resurrection of Christ ensures our eternal hope.

The resurrection confirms God accepted Christ's payment (Romans 4:25).

He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

The resurrection guarantees our future resurrection (1 Cor. 15:20).

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

Image: Nailed to the Cross by Rend Collective - Verse 3

When I stand before the throne at last His blood will plead my innocence I will worship Him with holy hands And raise the song that never ends Of Jesus Christ, my righteousness

Image: Confidence based on a uniform

There is something about a uniform that commands respect. My youngest brother and I have always been close and so as he worked his way through the air-force I was able to experience the changes that occur with a uniform. I dropped my brother off at Basic Training in July and then on Memorial Day I had the opportunity to bring him home for the weekend. When he stepped out of his room in his full uniform I hardly recognized him. My little brother who always got hurt playing football in the backyard was now a full grown adult who commanded respect! What changed? Mostly his clothes. Gym shorts and a t-shirt were replaced with air-force blues.

Teaching at the university I would often have young instructors complain about classroom discipline issues. The first thing I always asked was, "what are you wearing when you teach?" How we are clothed often determines our confidence and how our confidence is received.

Thank goodness we are clothed in Christ's righteousness!

MTR: Take a second to imagine what it will be like to stand before the throne at last clothed in Christ's righteousness.

The debt of sin has been canceled never again to be counted against us having been nailed to the cross. (2:13-15)

Though once dead in sins, the Christian is made alive in Christ.

Verse 13 is all about contrast.

Dead in sins vs. made alive in Christ.

Dead refers to the absence of a relationship with God.

Made alive is thus a reference to having a relationship with God.

Each of us here was at one point completely without a relationship with God. But now, through Christ, we have a relationship with God. Where once we were dead, now we are alive.

Image: Who is your best friend? I told Adelyn that my best friend was Jesus.

A month ago Adelyn asked me a very good question. "Who is your best friend?" I responded "don't just dismiss my answer because it is not me just giving an answer I really mean what I am about to say, Jesus is my best friend." The one who has accepted Jesus as Savior has a relationship with God and that matters!

uncircumcised in the flesh vs. forgiven.

The gentiles to whom Paul was writing were uncircumcised, excluded from "God's people"

Now, they are forgiven, something even better than merely being "God's people," they are right with God.

All the debt accrued through sins has been canceled.

The participle ἐξαλείψας (having canceled) is a Greek word that means to destroy or obliterate.

The picture here in my mind is of someone who has placed far too many fireworks into something, lights the fuse, and makes that something cease to exist.

Our debt for sin is not just paid, it is obliterated.

our "legal indebtedness" is a reference to a certificate of debt in commerce law, an IOU.

The picture we have is of humans owing God a debt for sin in the form of an IOU. This IOU was figuratively nailed to the cross when Jesus was crucified obliterating the debt.

A little deeper:

The Mosaic law stood against us, we could never measure up (Romans 3:20; 4:15).

Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin. (Rom. 3:20)

because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression. (Rom. 4:15)

Therefore, the Mosaic law is in a sense a "record of debt"

Christ fulfilled the Mosaic law meeting all the demands of the law in his physical body

Christ was nailed to the cross.

The cross, an object of scorn and shame, has become the greatest victory imaginable.

Christ's victory was complete on the cross

On the cross, Christ was stripped of His body but in so doing he stripped his enemies of their power!

Literally, the power of sin was broken.

We should see this as victory over not just sin, but over all spiritual enemies.

The Greek word θριαμβεύσας (triumphing) refers to a triumphal procession. i.e. a traditional Roman victory parade in which captors are marched through the streets.

Understand that Satan, sin, demonic forces are defeated!

I think sometimes we lose track of this. Is Satan at work, yes, but he has been defeated and disarmed. Imagine sitting on the street as a victory parade passes by. The enemy combatants might boldly taunt you, they might shout phrases of discouragement as they are marched through the street, they might even threaten you, but they are disarmed and defeated. Their threats mean nothing. We need to realize that while the enemies might taunt us, might tempt us, might even lash out against us, the reality is that they have already been defeated.

Image: Nailed to the Cross by Rend Collective - Verse Chorus and Bridge

My sin is nailed to the cross My soul is healed by the scars The weight of guilt I bear no more Praise the Lord, praise the Lord My sin is nailed to the cross My soul is healed by the scars Now I'm alive forevermore Praise the Lord, praise the Lord It is finished, sin is vanquished Hallelujah, praise the Lord All the glory, all the honor To my Savior, Christ the Lord It is finished, sin is vanquished Hallelujah, praise the Lord All the glory, all the honor To my Savior, Christ the Lord

1. ↑ Norman L. Geisler, “Colossians,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 677.