Colossians 2:1-7
A number of years ago Norman Cousins wrote an editorial …. in which he reported a conversation he had on a trip in India. He was talking with a Hindu priest named Satis Prasad. The man said he wanted to come to our country to work as a missionary among the Americans. Cousins assumed that he meant that he wanted to convert Americans to the Hindu religion, but when asked, Satis Prasad said, "Oh no, I would like to convert them to the Christian religion. Christianity cannot survive in the abstract. It needs not membership, but believers. The people of your country may claim they believe in Christianity, but from what I read at this distance, Christianity is more a custom than anything else. I would ask that either you accept the teachings of Jesus in your everyday life and in your affairs as a nation, or stop invoking His name as a sanction for everything you do. I want to help save Christianity for the Christian."
One of the great tragedies of today’s society is the lack of commitment to anything.
One of the greatest needs of the church is for mature Christians who are committed to growing in the Lord.
Here in Colossians 2:1-7, the Lord shows us what a mature and committed servant of God looks like.
Paul writes in Col. 2:1 ……..
“I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally.”
Paul says “I am struggling for you”.
Paul wanted these people to know the depth of his love and concern for them.
He had a real pastor’s heart for other believers.
Even mature Christians need leaders who struggle in prayer and concern for them.
Having mature leadership is one of the best ways for God’s people to attain further maturity.
A half-hearted, half-committed pastor-leader will probably produce half-hearted, half-committed people.
As Paul uses the word “struggle” here, he means that he is striving, agonizing, …and wrestling in prayer for other believers….that they might grow and mature in the Lord.
It is the picture of an athlete exerting every ounce of energy he has in the struggle of the contest.
Prayer is not easy….. it is work,…in fact it is demanding and difficult work.
If you take prayer seriously, you know from experience that it is a struggle.
When you are serious about praying, you’ll find that your thoughts will sometimes wander.
You’ll find that your thoughts will struggle against your desire to be obedient in prayer. Your old nature will stick up its ugly head.
You will imagine things….while trying to concentrate on praying.
Pride will try to come into your prayers so that something other than God is exalted.
Your work schedule will seem to usurp your prayer schedule.
Your desire for leisure time will seem to interfere with your prayer time.
But we have the Spirit of God within us…we have a new nature within us…consequently we have the power within us to overcome any such distractions and the influences of the evil one.
We will have victory over such things as we persevere in a life of commitment to the Lord.
In fact, that is the will of the Lord for us.
Many Christians and churches remain immature in the Lord because they fail to labor and agonize in prayer for each other.
The Lord reveals Himself to those who constantly seek His face in prayer.
Prayer….that close communion and fellowship with the Lord…. is one of the primary ways in which God blesses His people.
Matthew 7:7
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
Matthew 26:41
"Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."
Luke 18:1
“Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.”
2 Chron. 7:14
“ if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
Jeremiah 29:13
“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart”
Indeed, Paul’s struggling for God’s people shows us the depth of his love for them.
As he loved them, he had good things in mind for them.
Previously, in Col. 1:28, Paul said he wanted to “present everyone perfect in Christ.” That’s why he struggled for them in prayer.
As he struggled toward that end, Paul wrote of 4 things within today’s text that he wanted for God’s people at Colosse
First, Paul wanted the Colossians to be strong in Heart.
Col. 2:2a… “My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart…”
This is not a mere reference to a person’s emotions.
Often, when the Bible uses the word “heart” it is simply referring to the person’s “inner self”.
Paul refers here to having an inner strength that comes from knowing the Lord.
Ephes. 3:16
“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,”
When Paul says he wants them to be encouraged in heart, he means that he wanted them to be mature people with hearts that are strong, confident, and assured.
He wanted them to have the kind of strength that enables a person to withstand trials, temptations, and false teaching.
He wanted them to have the kind of strength that comforts and builds assurance and confidence in life, both now and eternally.
The human heart aches for such strength, for that kind of confidence, assurance, and comfort.
Strong hearts don’t come from religion, ceremony, ritual, laws, or rules and regulations. Where then,…… does an encouraged, strengthened heart come from?
It comes from love.
Paul wanted the Colossians to be strong in Heart.
But Secondly, Paul wanted the Colossians to be united together in love.
Col. 2:2
“My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love”,
Strong and encouraged hearts get that way by being united with other believing hearts in love.
Have you ever felt lonely,…..like nobody cared?
Have you experienced neglect?
Have you ever felt like you just don’t fit in….like others just ignore you?
When we feel emotions like that,….. we seldom feel strong, confident, or assured.
In fact, just the opposite is true: we feel weak, unacceptable, and incapable.
Such insecurity either causes us to withdraw or it causes us to react with a phony superior attitude as we try to hide our insecurity.
We have all felt or seen such reactions.
The point is this: the answer to a strong, confident, assured heart… is love….being joined together with others in love.
Wasn’t that a command of Jesus to the church….to love each other….to build one another up…to build love among ourselves….and to build love among all people?….. not neglecting, overlooking, or ignoring a single person.
When Christian hearts are bound together in love, the heart of each individual believer is going to be strengthened, encouraged, assured, and comforted.
Love produces unity….. Love confirms us…. Love reinforces us…... Love welds us together.
When we’re welded together we are one together.
The result is that we are stronger together…better able to resist false teaching and the schemes of the devil. (a cord of 3 strands is not easily broken)
1 Cor. 1:10
“I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.”
Philip. 1:27
“Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel”
Philip. 2:3-8
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. [4] Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. [5] Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: [6] Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, [7] but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. [8] And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death---even death on a cross!”
The love that the Lord wants us to have for one another is based in humility.
Love isn’t just some warm fuzzy feeling.
Love is action….. 1 John tells us that.
Love sacrifices for others.
It sees others as better than ourselves.
Love is willing to meet other’s needs first.
When we give and receive love on those terms, the emotions that accompany love will surely follow.
Paul wanted the Colossians to be strong in Heart.
He wanted them to be united together in love.
And third, Paul wanted the Colossians to have a complete understanding.
Col. 2:2-5
“My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, [3] in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. [4] I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. [5] For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is”.
Paul wanted all believers to have the full riches of that complete understanding.
These words were written so that we also might experience the fullness of God’s storehouse of grace…..the treasures of the blessings in Christ that are available and accessible to every true believer.
Paul wanted every Christian to experience the God who really exists….the God who is interested in the affairs of His people.
He wanted men everywhere to know….. that they can know God in a personal way through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul wanted the Colossians…. and men everywhere… to know that eternity exists and that Heaven is a reality.
He wanted men in every age to know and understand the “mystery of God.”
“Mystery” means a secret, ….a secret of God that He has now revealed.
What is the great secret of God that has now been revealed?
Verse 2 simply says: “the mystery of God...namely, Christ.”
1 Tim. 3:16
“Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory”.
Jesus is the mystery of God.
It is Jesus Christ that reveals God to men.
When people look at Jesus, they see God.
When people come to know Jesus, they come to know God personally.
To know Jesus is…as verse 3 says, ..to know “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
He alone is sufficient….He alone is the source of all spiritual knowledge.
Paul writes these things to the Colossians because there were Gnostic false teachers among them with the fine sounding arguments that he mentions in verse 4.
A couple of thousand years have passed, but it is the same today….there are still lots of false teachers with fine sounding arguments among us.
We must have settled convictions about Jesus’ deity and sufficiency to guard against them.
Coming to saving faith isn’t the end, it’s just the beginning of a life lived for Christ.
God gives us His Holy Spirit and the Spirit gives us assurance that we truly know God and are adopted as His sons and daughters.
We know with absolute assurance that what we believe about our Lord is accurate because His Spirit has instilled that confidence and understanding within our hearts.
Even though the believers of the Colossian church were being attacked by false teaching, they were responding in victory.
They were holding their order and standing firm.
Paul was pleased and he wanted them to know and understand that.
So he says in verse 5…….. “I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.”
Mature people persevere….they maintain their discipline….their order and steadfastness.
1 Cor. 15:58
“Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain”.
Paul wanted the Colossians to be strong in heart.
He wanted them to be united together in love.
He wanted them to have a complete understanding.
Fourth, he wanted the Colossians to live for the Lord
Col. 2:6-7
“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, [7] rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”
Are you perfect?............ I’m not perfect.
Some people may act like it, but they aren’t perfect either.
I don’t think any Christian is…..not on this side of eternity.
Salvation isn’t about being perfect in this age.
Salvation is about receiving a person,… and that person is Jesus Christ.
He leads us and guides us in the direction of perfection, but we will not have it until we reach Heaven.
As for now, we are covered by Christ’s perfection…even though we fall short on our own.
Thankfully, God sees Christ’s perfection when He looks at us.
Paul wrote in 2 Cor. 5:7
“We live by faith, not by sight.”
How are you living today?
1 John 2:6
“Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.”
Do you claim to live in Him?....Are you doing your very best to walk as He did?
Ephes. 4:1
“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.”
Are you living your life in a way that is worthy of His holy calling?
Look at Col. 2:6…. “just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him.”
Where are we supposed to live this Christian life?
Do we just live it in church on Sunday morning?
No, we must live it out in public…..We live it at school……We live it at work.
We live it at the post office and the grocery store.
But we must also live it in private…where few others see us.
We live it at home…..We live it before our family.
Wherever we are living at any given moment in time,… we who know Christ ought to be living in Christ.
God grant that you and I might be joined to the Savior in our daily living.
There are some wonderful word pictures here in verse 6.
Verse 6 says we are to be “rooted” in Jesus……
Now, picture a majestic tree within your mind.
The believer is to be like a towering tree that has its roots deeply planted in the ground. Jesus is the ground that gives us strength against wind and storms.
A few years ago, I cut down a very large maple tree on our property.
Its branches reached high toward heaven……
As we are rooted in Jesus, we ought to be reaching toward heaven.
The branches of that big tree reached outward a great deal as well.
Likewise, as we are rooted in Jesus, we ought to be reaching outward to others.
The roots of that big maple reached down deeply into the ground.
Similarly, we need to be deepening our roots in the Lord…….for it is He who nourishes and sustains us.
Verse 6 also says that we are to be “built up in Him”.
That brings to my mind the picture of a house being built.
A house requires a strong foundation.
Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:20 that Jesus is the cornerstone of our foundation of faith.
He is the only sure foundation in this world.
Having received Christ, we are to live in Him., with our faith resting upon Him.
A mature believer is a person who has built his entire life upon Jesus.
What’s your life built upon this morning?
2 Tim. 2:19
“Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: ‘The Lord knows those who are his,’ and, ‘Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.’ ”
Yes, coming to Christ is only the beginning.
As we receive Him as Lord…..as we live in Him,… we are rooted in Him and built up in Him.
Consequently, we receive the strengthening of the faith that He wants us to have as we persevere in Him.
And the blessings we receive from a life lived for our Lord will surely return to Him in the form of our praise and adoration to Him……..
In fact, verse 7 says we ought to be “overflowing with thankfulness.”
1 Thes. 5:18
“give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
These things we have looked at today are pictures of spiritual growth.
If your spiritual roots are deep in Christ, you won’t want any other soil. If Jesus is your sure foundation, you have no need to move. If you are reading and growing in God’s Word, you won’t be led astray by false doctrine.
If your heart is overflowing with thanksgiving, you will never consider turning from the fullness you have in Jesus.
People….,
Seek such security. Come to Christly committment.
Be grounded.
Be growing.
Be grateful.
