The Tenth Sunday after Pentecost
\nJuly 24, 2016
\nColossians 2:6-15<\/p>\n
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as LORD, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.\u00a0 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.\u00a0 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.\u00a0 In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.\u00a0 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ.\u00a0 He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.\u00a0 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.\u00a0 (NIV1984)<\/p>\n
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s just your interpretation.\u201d\u00a0 That is a statement that I have heard far too often from far too many people.\u00a0 Usually, I hear that statement from someone who doesn\u2019t want to hear what the Bible says because they don\u2019t like what the Bible says.\u00a0 And so in a desperate yet feeble attempt to try and convince themselves that they can go on believing whatever they think the Bible says, they cling to the watery hope that what you or I are sharing with them is just our \u201cinterpretation\u201d of what the Bible says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe God that I <\/strong>believe in would never<\/strong>\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 While I haven\u2019t heard that statement quite as often as, \u201cThat\u2019s just your interpretation,\u201d it is a statement that I have heard on more than a few occasions by more than a few people.\u00a0 Usually, I hear that statement when someone disagrees with God\u2019s perfect justice.\u00a0 \u201cThe God that I <\/strong>believe in would never<\/strong> send anyone to hell.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cThe God that I <\/strong>believe in would never <\/strong>say babies are born sinful.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cThe God that I <\/strong>believe in would never<\/strong> say that you have to believe in Jesus in order to be saved.\u201d\u00a0 The more open we are about our faith, the more often we talk about Jesus the more likely we are to hear opinions such as, \u201cThat\u2019s just your interpretation\u201d and \u201cThe God that I <\/strong>believe in would never<\/strong>\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n As we continue our study of Paul\u2019s letter to his brothers and sisters in Colosse we focus our attention on a very simple and a very practical truth:\u00a0 When Guarding Against False Teaching\u2014 Always Emphasize the Centrality of Christ!<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 There are two things that we want to see this morning.\u00a0 First, we want to see that Jesus is the center of everything we believe.\u00a0 Second, we want to see that Jesus is the center of everything God has done for us.<\/p>\n If you were here last Sunday then you will remember that I said that guarding against false teaching by emphasizing the supremacy of Christ will automatically lead us to guard against false teaching by emphasizing the centrality of Christ.\u00a0 If you were here last Sunday then you may also recall that I saw the transition from the supremacy of Christ to the centrality of Christ in the words of Colossians 1:28, \u201cWe proclaim him <\/em>(Christ), admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ<\/strong>.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 The key word here is the word which is translated as \u201cperfect.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 The word which Paul uses here in our text comes from the same family of words as the word that Jesus used when He said from the cross, \u201cIt is finished,\u201d<\/em> or \u201cIt is complete,\u201d<\/em> or \u201cI have reached my goal\u201d<\/em> (John 19:30).\u00a0 The only way for us to be \u201cperfect,\u201d<\/em> the only way for us to be \u201ccomplete,\u201d<\/em> the only way for us to \u201creach our goal\u201d<\/em> is to be \u201cin the sphere of Christ.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Paul expands on that very same truth here in our text for today as he points us to the centrality of Christ in everything we believe as well as the centrality of Christ in everything God has done for us.\u00a0 Every false teaching\u2014 without fail! \u2014 both detracts from the supremacy of Christ and removes Christ from the center of what is believed.\u00a0 Every false teaching\u2014 without fail! \u2014 both detracts from the supremacy of Christ and removes Christ from the center of what God has done for us.\u00a0 Therefore, the only way for our beliefs to be \u201ccomplete\u201d<\/em> and \u201cperfect,\u201d<\/em> the only way for everything that God has done for us to \u201creach its goal\u201d<\/em> and be \u201cfinished\u201d<\/em> is to have Christ as the center of it all!<\/p>\n Paul\u2019s emphasis on the centrality of Christ in everything we believe is brought out in the opening portion of our text.\u00a0 He writes, \u201cSo then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.\u00a0 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n You may have noticed that the picture that Paul paints for us here is very similar to Jesus\u2019 picture of the vine and the branches.\u00a0 (See John 15)\u00a0 As Christians we are like plants.\u00a0 Our faith, that is everything we believe, is \u201crooted\u201d<\/em> in Christ Jesus.\u00a0 Our faith, that is, everything we believe, is \u201cbuilt up\u201d<\/em> and \u201cstrengthened\u201d<\/em> by what we have been taught\u2014 \u201cthe word of God in its fullness\u201d<\/em> as Paul told us last week.\u00a0 (Colossians 1:25)<\/p>\n Unfortunately, there are those who want to take us, our children and our grandchildren \u201ccaptive.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Their goal is to enslave us by leading us to believe and accept false teachings, teachings that directly contradict the Truth as it is revealed to us in the Bible.\u00a0 Paul describes these false teachings as \u201chollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than<\/strong> on Christ.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Here we might think of the tremendous emphasis that the unbelieving world puts on science and logic.\u00a0 If something can\u2019t be proven on the basis of accepted scientific principles, if something does not \u201cfit\u201d into the parameters of what \u201cmakes sense\u201d to us\u2014 then the world says that it cannot be believed.\u00a0 The theory of Evolution then trumps the Biblical account of Creation.\u00a0 The virgin birth of the Christ-Child and the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ are dismissed as stories that were made up long after the \u201chistorical Jesus\u2019 was dead and gone.\u00a0 Over and over again Christ is removed from the center of what is being taught.\u00a0 Over and over again Christ is being replaced by \u201chollow and deceptive philosophy,\u201d<\/em> by \u201chuman tradition\u201d<\/em> and by \u201cthe basic principles of this world.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n By the grace of God we recognize the extreme danger inherent in removing Christ from the center of everything we believe.\u00a0 I say \u201cextreme danger\u201d because of what Paul goes on to tell us in verses nine and ten of our text.\u00a0 Look at what he says, \u201cFor in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 No matter how sincerely or how deeply a person believes and trusts in a false teaching it cannot and it will not change the reality that Jesus is the Lord\u2019s Christ, the eternal Son of God who came into this world to save us from our sins, the Almighty God who will one day return to this earth to judge all people on the basis of the Truth\u2014 which He has revealed to us right here in His holy Word.\u00a0 (See John 12:48)<\/p>\n The fact that \u201cin Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form\u201d<\/em> then leads us directly into the second point we need to take home with us from this text:\u00a0 Jesus is the center of everything God has done for <\/strong>us!\u00a0 While the list of wonderful things God has done for <\/strong>us is\u2014 thankfully! \u2014 extremely long, Paul highlights just two of those things here in our text.\u00a0 Look at verses eleven and twelve.\u00a0 In the Old Testament era the Lord God entered into a personal covenant relationship with His people through the Rite of Circumcision.\u00a0 In the New Testament era that same Lord God enters into a personal covenant relationship with us, His people, through the Sacrament of Holy Baptism.\u00a0 Some churches teach\u2014 falsely I might add\u2014 that Baptism is all about you<\/strong>.\u00a0 They teach that Baptism is a symbol of your <\/strong>dedication and your <\/strong>devotion to Jesus.\u00a0 However, both here in Colossians 2 and in Romans 6 Paul emphasizes the centrality of Christ in the Sacrament of Holy Baptism\u2014 just as Paul emphasizes the centrality of Christ in everything<\/strong> God has done for <\/strong>us!.\u00a0 Through Baptism we are buried with Christ<\/strong>.\u00a0 Through Baptism we are raised with Christ<\/strong>.\u00a0 Christ is so central to Baptism and to what God has done for <\/strong>us that without Christ the waters of Baptism remain just plain water.<\/p>\n Now look at verses thirteen through fifteen.\u00a0 When it comes to the centrality of Christ in everything God has done for <\/strong>us it doesn\u2019t get much clearer than this!\u00a0 We know from Scripture that death is the direct result of sin.\u00a0 (See Romans 6:23a)\u00a0 The only <\/strong>reason anyone <\/strong>dies is because of the reality and the power of sin.\u00a0 And yet, Paul assures us here that \u201cGod made you alive.<\/strong>\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 How did God do this?\u00a0 How did God make us poor, wretched, \u201cspiritually dead\u201d sinners \u201calive\u201d<\/em>?\u00a0 Paul puts in very simply, doesn\u2019t he.\u00a0 He says, \u201cGod made you alive with Christ<\/strong>\u201d<\/em>!\u00a0 God achieved this miraculous, mind-boggling, glorious reality by taking all of our sins, by taking all of the times that we have defiantly broken God\u2019s holy Law, by taking the all of the times that we have \u201cfallen short of the glory of God\u201d<\/em> (Romans 6:23) and nailing them to the cross on Calvary\u2019s hill.\u00a0 And then, once Christ had completely paid for all of our sins by dying in our place, once Christ removed the \u201cwages,\u201d<\/em> the penalty that we deserve to receive because of our sins\u2014 He raised Himself from the dead!\u00a0 Then He made a \u201cpublic spectacle\u201d<\/em> of Satan and all his minions by descending into hell to proclaim His victory\u2014 His victory over sin, over death and yes, over the devil himself!\u00a0 Then He physically rose from the dead on Easter Sunday to declare to the world that God\u2019s Plan of Salvation for sinful mankind, a Plan which from all of eternity has been centered 100% on Christ and Christ alone\u2014 is \u201cfinished\u201d<\/em>!\u00a0 It is \u201ccomplete\u201d<\/em>!\u00a0 Through faith in His<\/strong> Plan, through faith in what Christ has done for<\/strong> us God has made us \u201calive with Christ\u201d<\/em>! (Pointing to the cross)<\/p>\n The practical applications of emphasizing the centrality of Christ in everything we believe, the practical applications of emphasizing the centrality of Christ in everything God has done for <\/strong>us are limitless.\u00a0 Your family, your friends, your neighbors, your co-workers all know that you are a Christian. \u00a0They know this from the way that you talk, from the way that you conduct yourself, from the numerous times you have invited them to church. One day when a group of people is together they ask you what you think about the fact that same sex marriage is now legal in our country and that the State of California has now legalized doctor-assisted suicide.\u00a0 How do you respond?\u00a0 Your dear friend, someone you have known for many years, confides in you that their daughter or their granddaughter is pregnant and no matter how hard they try to convince her to have an abortion so that she does not \u201cruin\u201d her life, she stubbornly refuses.\u00a0 How do you respond?\u00a0 Your new neighbor asks you if you have been \u201cborn again.\u201d\u00a0 When they see a little confusion on your face they follow it up by asking, \u201cHave you made your decision to accept Jesus as the Lord of your life and then showed your love and devotion to Him by being immersed in the waters of Baptism?\u201d\u00a0 Again, how do you respond?\u00a0 Many people would tailor their response according to whatever the latest public opinion poll reveals.\u00a0 Many churches will tailor their response according to what makes sense to our sinful human minds.\u00a0 We need to make sure that our response is always centered on Christ\u2014 what Christ reveals to<\/strong> us here in His Word, what Christ has done for <\/strong>us on the cross of Calvary\u2019s hill.\u00a0 (Pointing to the cross)<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s just your interpretation.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cThe God that I <\/strong>believe in would never<\/strong>\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 Both of those opinions have led countless people as well as entire church bodies into believing and teaching things that directly contradict the Truth of God\u2019s holy Word.\u00a0 May the good Lord grant that as you and I continue to guard against false teaching in our hearts, in our minds and in our lives that we will always emphasize the centrality of Christ\u2014 both the centrality of Christ in everything we believe as well as the centrality of Christ in everything God has done for <\/strong>us!<\/p>\n To God be the glory!<\/p>\n Amen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Tenth Sunday after Pentecost July 24, 2016 Colossians 2:6-15 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as LORD, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.\u00a0 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=701"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":702,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701\/revisions\/702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}