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Paul
never went to Colossae. He went to Laodicea and sent Epaphras
to Colossae. It was a ‘daughter’ church but it was just as important for Paul
as the big churches. He writes a letter to this young church and sends it by Tychicus and Onesimus along with
other letters not least of all one to Philemon who was Onesimus’s
owner. His letter is very positive and encouraging. But there are warnings in
this letter.
The
danger to ‘faithful brethren’, rooted and grounded in Christ, lies not so much
in false teaching from outside the boundaries of the Christian church; No, the
danger for the enthusiastic young convert comes from error within the churches,
teaching that is largely, even emphatically,
Christian, but which has been influenced more than it knows by the spirit of
the age.
7 themes to counter errors
in thinking.
1. Fulness the teachers offered a ‘spiritual’, ‘Fullness of
life’ ‘not previously experienced. ‘Fullness of life’(2:10)
may well have been one of their slogans. This emphasis on ‘fullness’ is
pervasive in the letter, and obviously important Eg
you need to be connected to the apostles by some means to be truly Christian.
Or you must be part of an independent church with similar practices to us to be
a true Christian. You must have a second spiritual event in your life a second
blessing. You must speak in tongues to be a proper charismatic Christian.
2. Freedom
Secondly, people spoke of a new spiritual ‘freedom’ which those who followed
them would enjoy. They may have offered ‘deliverance’ of some kind, since Paul
repeatedly reminds the Colossians of the deliverance that is already theirs in
Christ (e.g. 1:13; 2:15). The apostle is at his most startling when he accuses these
preachers of ‘liberty’ of actually trying to capture believers for what would
turn out to be a new ‘slavery’ (2:8, 18, 20ff.)
3. Authority
Thirdly, people appear to have claimed particular
insight into the powers of evil, and to be able to give believers special
protection from them. It is noticeable how Paul designates Christ as the only
one with full authority over such powers (e.g. 2:10, 15), a triumph in which
all who are ‘in Christ’ share. The letter to the Colossians leaves little room
for privileges that belong only to a spiritual élite.
4. Regulations
Fourthly, people were known for their impressive
asceticism: fasting, for instance, seems to have been highly commended if not
commanded (as against Paul for whom fasting was, in the only references we
have, largely involuntary). At the same time, like all ‘perfectionist’ theories
ever since, this teaching had a poor record in combating self-indulgence, not
least in terms of religious vanity (2:18, 23; cf. 3:5–8).
5. Knowledge
People also offered a further initiation into a deeper ‘knowledge’ of God, and
a greater experience of his power. Paul is at his most effective in countering
such claims (2:8–15), and in distinguishing between what is already ours in
Christ, and what we must yet seek (1:9–14). What is remarkable about this
letter is the word 'all'
6. Superior
Further, people were inclined to be superior to, even critical of, ‘ordinary’
believers. But their offers of spectacular advance were, to Paul, merely steps
back into the shadows (2:16–17). Here, as in other letters (e.g. 2 Corinthians)
the apostle is concerned lest the ‘hope’ and confidence of those ‘in Christ’
should be denied either by ‘superlative apostles’ or by Christians claiming a
more complete initiation into the secrets of God.
7. Unity
Finally, people were, unhappily, divisive in their
influence. Disruption in the fellowship must be part of the cost of listening
to them. It would be no exaggeration to say that the whole Colossian letter is
a plea for Christian unity (e.g. 2:1–5; 3:9–17).
Against
this Paul speaks about relationships. Primarily with Jesus,
but also in the home. He encourages love, compassion and details all the
relationships husband/ wife; parent/ child; slave/ master. I know the last does
not apply in your home but it gives insight into our spirituality in
employment. How the bosses and the bossed around should be.
So
the letter follows the usual pattern of letters of the day, who it's from, who
it is to, greeting, thanksgiving,
content, messages to/ from friends, final greeting. Remember letters
were highly valued, pretty expensive to send, written by scribe, read out in
church and often copied and sent on to other churches.
So
today's chapter works out like this:
FromPaul v1
To Colossian Church v2
Greeting v3
Thanksgiving v4-8
Content v9 to 4:6
Our
bit of the content starts with an impassioned prayer for them to fully
understand Jesus. V9-14
This moves on to a declaration of the nature of Jesus v15-20
and then how we fit
into this glorious statement. V21-23.
For
the rest of the letter you must come back next week and the weeks after!
I
watched a programme about fungi the
other day. They can be the largest living organisms spreading out miles. But
what we know is the fruiting head the mushroom. It is easy to think the
mushroom is the plant. The same is true of the church. What you see this
morning is the church getting together to celebrate. But the church of Jesus
Christ is much, much more than that. If you are a child of God, you are
‘church’ wherever you are, whatever you are doing. That is what is meant by the
body of Christ. It is not what we together do in assembly that makes church, it is the combination of all our lives that
demonstrates Jesus to the world.
So
church is not buildings, or form of worship, or meetings, it is people living
out Jesus. Meeting together is very important because we are encouraged and
taught how to think and act. The real life of the church is in the home and the
workplace.
So
what matters about the church? What is the big issue? What has Paul heard about
from Colossae that he is excited about?
Read Colossians 1:1-23
What
has Paul heard about from Colossae that he is excited about?
Faith and love. It's there twice in
verse 3-4. Why? If you read Psalms regularly as I do you will hear those two
resonating through the Psalms.
Ps 117 for example.
READ Psalm 117
They
are two characteristics of God. God is known for his love and faithfulness. So
when Paul hears of it in Colossae he is rejoicing. The church is doing what it
should be doing. Being known for its love and faith just as God is known for
his love and faithfulness. Jesus was explicit on this matter. In John 13:34-35
he says
34 “A new command I give
you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By
this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
So how about you? Are you known for your faith and love? Does the
presence of Jesus demonstrate itself in your life or is your faith just a
religious thing, a matter of following the rules? Secondly are you looking for
it in your church family? When you are praying for the church, going through
the list, Jean faithfully produces bimonthly, do you thank God for the love and
faith you see expressed in the fellowship? You see, what matters is not that we
are a nice happy family but that we are living out the love of God to each
other and the world around us. What matters is not your theological correctness
but your faith that Jesus is your Saviour and that anything he asks you to do
is better than anything else in your life.
Having
rejoiced in their faith and love , Paul is moved to
pray. For the church. This is not meant as a pattern
for prayer but what a great guide to praying for one another. What matters is
not just our health or our family or our circumstances - what matters is
·
Knowing God’s will
·
To live lives worthy of the calling and please him
·
Bearing fruit
·
Strengthened by his power
·
Joyfully giving thanks
So
next week, pick up your prayer Diary , Start with Ali end with Julie and pray
that each person will know God’s will; live lives worthy of the calling and
please him; bear fruit; be strengthened by his power; joyfully give thanks. Who
knows how transformed this church will be if you did just that!
Knowing
the will of God is not so much about
where to go and what to do as how to love, How to bring God's peace into a
situation, How to enjoy God and live in the Spirit. Guidance is more about how
to think. We sometimes forget that God wants to change us into his image and we
think of him as a manager, organising his staff to be an effective force.so we
see guidance purely about finding the right course, or career, spouse, mission.
But he has a bigger plan. He wants us to live lives worthy of the calling
and please him; to bear the fruit of love, joy peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness gentleness, self-control. And you will not do that
without the power of the Holy Spirit coursing through your inner being.
So homework for this week is to pray for
others to have these and let Jesus transform you as you pray for others.
Paul
is so full of this that he moves from praying for the church to exalting in
Jesus. As we pray for one another we come to the understanding that its all about Jesus, he qualifies
us; he rescues us, he brings us into the kingdom. It is in him we have
redemption, the forgiveness of sins. The
important point here is that when you asked Jesus to be your Lord and Saviour
ALL these things are yours by grace. They are not for the Leadership or the
clergy or the super-saintly, they are for you, whether you have been a Christian
a week or half a century. They are not based on your performance as an F1
Qualifier or your ability to be good, they are not the end product of a
lifetime journey you have a share in the inheritance; you have been rescued;
you have been brought out of darkness into the light; you have redemption; you
have forgiveness of sins. Why? Because of who Jesus is
and what he has done.
There is not time this
morning to meditate on all the glory of this passage, maybe we can spend some
time this evening enjoying our creator and redeemer all the more as we meet
about the communion table.
For now lets just pick out some key points.
Creator
Authority
Fullness
Redemption
Reconciliation
Creator.
But first let us consider the enormity of the opening statement. Jesus was
before creation – first-born over all creation means he was before time itself
existed. He was active in creation. When Genesis 1 says that “God said”, It was Jesus who was saying “Let there be light” and there
was light. But this goes beyond Genesis. He is the creator of all powers and
authorities both in the physical political world and in the spiritual
world. And he holds it all together. This
makes Jesus a superman beyond our imagination. And this is not a comic story, this is the real man, Jesus. When you pray for
healing, you are asking the creator to do a repair job on his creation. Jesus
himself said if you have faith you can say to this mountain move and it
will. But that is only in the physical
world. In the spiritual world he has the victory over Satan, over sin, over
death. He is the victor and one day he will complete his triumph by ending
death itself.
Authority.
That said,
Paul steps straight into Jesus being the head of the church. Get it? He is not
only the creator of the world, he is the creator of
the church. The church is the new creation. When you came to Jesus in
repentance and faith you received new eternal life. The universe as we know it will
one day disappear, but the kingdom of God, the church, is eternal. And Jesus is
the head of it. Not any church leader, Jesus is the head of the church. If we are to be the church of Jesus Christ,
we had better accept his overall leadership and make sure our leadership is
leading as he wants us to be lead. Authority rests, not in church leadership,
but in Jesus. But just as you think,
OK so I can ignore the Leadership of this
church, can I remind you that Jesus uses other Christians, especially
recognised leadership to tell you what he wants and if you ignore God-given
advice or teaching from Jesus-Centred Leadership you are rejecting the Boss,
Jesus.
At the heart of this is the
foundation of our faith. That Jesus died for our sins, that he rose again and
he has sent his Holy Spirit on the church. We are receivers of grace, receivers
of forgiveness, and we should stay that way, receivers of the Spirit to live
such lives that please our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Fullness. You have everything you need to live a life worthy of the gospel of
Jesus Christ. And everything you need for salvation and eternal life dwells in
him. Not in a programme or a course or a book or even the Bible alone. The
fullness dwells in Jesus. If you want a rich life of real blessing then you
must hunger and thirst for righteousness- for Jesus himself - to walk with you
each step of the day whether you are conscious of him or not.
Redemption is
both a Christian word and an everyday word. When you get a voucher from Sainsburys, you take it back and claim the reduction. The
person at the cash till redeems it. They place the value that Sainsbury has
given it. No one else values that piece of paper. And so with
Jesus. He alone loves you so much that he laid down his life for you. In
his death you are delivered from the penalty of your sins, you are redeemed,
your sins are forgiven.
If you remember last week, Oli was speaking on
Psalm 103. I hope you read through it again, just for the encouragement and
healing it brings. But he also spoke about being redeemed and your sins being
forgiven. Redemption is about deliverance from slavery in both Old and New
Testaments. I can do no more than repeat: live in the light of your sins being
forgiven, Jesus is your redeemer, enjoy being redeemed!
Reconciliation. But there is more , Jesus is
the peace maker. He reconciles us to God. He steps down into our world to reach
out to us and God and by his death and resurrection bring the two enemies
together. UN, ACAS, Relate and many other organisations try to emulate the work
of Jesus and that is good. But it can only work when there is a willingness of
both parties in a dispute to resolve issues. God reaches out to us through
Jesus, seeking to reconcile us to himself. Jesus gives his life to resolve the
sin problem. But we have to be willing to receive the salvation Jesus offers.
You can reject the offer and live without a relationship with God on a road
that leads to eternal separation from God, which we call Hell. Or you can
accept the reconciliation that comes through Jesus, and enter into the joy of
his salvation, the presence of the Holy Spirit and the hope of eternal life
with Him, which we call heaven.
And that is the whole point.
Creation is all about Jesus. Life is all about Jesus. Without him we are in the
dark, blundering from one problem to another. With Jesus our lives while still
facing problems and troubles are entirely different because we face them from
the strongest life foundation.