Watch & listen to every sermon on your favorite podcast software:
Information about this sermon:
Preacher: Pastor David Ball
Scripture: Colossians 2:1-23
Paul continues the theme of the supremacy of Christ in Chapter 2 of Colossians, only the theme becomes even more personal. Not only is Jesus supreme over eternity, creation, and the church, but Jesus is also supreme over our lives. Paul calls us to walk in Jesus just as we received him, not as worthy recipients but as needy beggars. The irony is that we come as needy beggars; we are freely given the grace that we so desperately need and the security of having our lives ruled and governed by the supremacy of Jesus.
Transcript
So for those who might be uh guests of ours this morning we are in the midst of a series on Paul’s letter uh to the Colossians and I thought maybe it’s a good idea as I begin this sermon to go back just briefly uh to remind you what this letter uh was all about uh one of the major issues that’s going on in the church at ksai is an issue of insecurity a group of folks known as the the gnostics or the know-it-alls uh had come in and had told the uh the the Believers there in the church at colosi that uh that the gospel that they had been preached it wasn’t enough uh that they needed to understand the deeper knowledge the deeper wisdom that only the gnostics possessed and they needed to follow all these special regulations and rules uh in order to truly be enlightened and to know the truth we got a little squeak there there we go uh and so the col the people of ksai were were insecure and so Paul was greatly concerned about them on hearing and being faced with these gnostics that they uh were going to be uh enamored by them and they were going to begin to to believe what they were teaching and so Paul had gotten news from apais about what was going on and he wrote this letter back to them uh but insecurity for the people of ksai wasn’t a new thing they were already kind of a second rate City between two other major cities they had one time had been the the major sheep producer uh in all of the region but now these other cities had grown up and they were kind of a lesser than uh and so they were already a bit of an insecure people uh and so Paul’s concerned and he sees this as a real danger not only to their life with Christ but to their mission in the world their insecurity was going to do one of two things uh it was either going to make them uh weak and fearful timid and and believing that they could possibly share with anybody else or know enough because these nostics know it all uh and so that they they they don’t know as much as they know and so they were they were they could be timid in Sharing Christ with their Community but the other side of insecurity is a prideful arrogance has to cover up for ourselves right and make it everyone needs to know that we know it all and that uh we’re the smartest person in the room uh you know that’s never the people who are truly are the smartest people in the room who truly do know it all don’t need everyone else to know that uh and so if you feel the need then you know that’s coming out of your own SEC insecurity that it’s not coming out of your own uh security and so Paul uh writes this letter and we’ve been through Colossians chapter 1 which is all about the supremacy of Christ in chapter one that Jesus Paul said is supreme in all of eternity he’s Supreme in all of creation and then he is supreme over his church and in chapter two Paul continues to talk about the supremacy of Christ only he takes it to an even more personal level that Jesus isn’t just Supreme over everything out here he’s Supreme Over You and Me Paul makes it incredible ibly M much more personal here uh in Chapter 2 how Jesus is Supreme Over Our Lives to produce in Us in his Supremacy confidence security and a gratitude that flows out of us into good works for the kingdom and for the glory of God in the world that that’s how it works but we’re going to walk through this uh together to to be able to see how Paul’s making this argument because he’s very careful in how he does it uh verses one so if you want to open up your uh Bibles to Colossians chapter 2 uh or you can follow along in your in your bulletin uh I’ll work us through uh a few of these verses in particularly but verses 1 through five are really finishing up uh the supremacy of Christ from chapter one and in fact it was supposed to be in last week’s reading but we kind of blew that uh and uh so so I’m going to leave that part alone because it was supposed to be uh last week but but verse 6 and 7 really begin the this new thought of where I’m going uh this morning therefore Paul says meaning in light of Jesus’s Supremacy and all of eternity and in all of creation and over the church hear this hear this as you received Christ Jesus the Lord so walk in him as you received Christ Jesus the Lord so walk in him now the scriptures use this this imagery all the time Old Testament New Testament uh this idea of walking with the Lord uh it’s this idea of the way One conducts their life the one the way that one orders their life your manner of Life uh and in the Greco Roman World they used it as well uh the philosophers talked about walking in the pursuit of wisdom that that was a noble life walking in the the pursuit of wisdom uh in the Jewish tradition it was living your life in obedience to the law and the pursuit of righteousness that was to walk with the Lord your God Paul uses this same imagery often throughout all of his letters and in all of his works just to to name a few of them because it could go on and on and on he says walk in the newness of life he says do not walk in accordance to the flesh but according to the spirit walk by faith not by sight walk in step with the spirit walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called our Trail life troop that’s their motto walk worthy right uh the one actually from Colossians 1 walk in love Paul says walk as a child of the light and it goes on and on and on he uses this imagery as the way we’re to live our lives is to walk in Christ and so he’s encouraging the Colossians to live their lives in Christ to conduct their lives in Christ well what does that mean how are they to do that which obviously has the implication of how are we to do it right uh how are we to do that what does Paul have in mind here well this is what he said you might see it behind me yes you do um as you received Christ the lord so walk in him as you received that’s how they’re to walk in Christ that’s how they’re to conduct their lives that’s how they’re to order their lives walk in the way that you received them well what does that mean because it begs the question how did they receive Christ because acts doesn’t have a narrative about this uh we can’t go back to the book of Acts to see what happened at colosi to see how they came about uh receiving Jesus apris we know is the one who proclaimed the gospel to them but that we weren’t told the full story of how that all went down uh but Paul isn’t talking about the physical process by which they received he’s not talking about that at all he’s talking about who they were before they received who were you when you were presented this gospel who were you how did you receive it what was their condition spiritually and that’s an answer that we can discover and in fact we do discover uh by inference if you look at verses uh 8 to uh 8 to 15 I’m not going to read them each each verse but if you read those and the things that he’s talking about are our assurances in Christ and what we’ve received from Christ then you can re you can go ahead by inference and say the opposite means what their lives were like before they received Christ but before we look into that let’s talk about gift giving in in the ancient Roman
world in the in the ancient Roman World gift giving always came with strings attached it always came with obligation there were no free gifts given in fact uh gifts were a way to cement social bonds to gain favor to Express gratitude but receiving a gift often put one in a reciprocal obligation to return the favor somehow some way uh either through another gift or a service that’s now required of you uh the system was known as the patronage right so even uh were gifts were means for by which the patron uh those of higher status would gain loyalty from their clients who were of lower status right so you give a gift and you’re like oh boy what am I going to have to do now what is this obligating me to that’s what GI gifts in the ancient Roman world were uh were all about they were obligations something a gift had to be given or a service had to be rendered in return so why is the gospel so radical it’s so radical because it grows against this this Roman idea of giftgiving and that it truly is a free gift from the supreme god who needs absolutely nothing and requires nothing in
return so how does Paul describe the spiritual state of the Colossians when they received Jesus again I’m not going to read it all you can go back and read it but by inference here’s what we can know that they were spiritually empty they were bankrupt they were dead in their transgressions they were guilty of their sins they were actually in debt to God because of their rebellion and they were spiritually oppressed by the evil forces of this world that’s what we can infer that’s the state of who they were when they received the good news when they received the gospel when they received this gift that was given to them uh which tells us that they received Jesus not as upstanding morally sound uh innocent or worthy people that wasn’t their state when they received the Gospel of Jesus when he was presented to them another way of saying it is they received Jesus this is needy Beggars who are desperate who are absolutely desperate for the grace of God to come and to save them to rescue them from theirselves you know Augustine of Hippo who’s also just St Augustine I know there were some folks I talked to are in town visiting who went to St Augustine uh this Sunday but uh Augustine that’s he has a whole sermon where he said we are Beggars that’s who we are that’s who the Colossians were they were Beggars that’s how they received that’s how we are we are Beggars that’s how we receive Christ when we when we come before God as Beggars what we receive then if you read 8 through 15 we we receive the fullness of Christ we are made alive in Christ we receive forgiveness our record of debt is cancelled we’re set free from the spiritual forces of evil that’s so Paul’s proclaiming is ours in Christ and Paul said to the Colossians as you received Christ Jesus the Lord as needy Beggars so continue to walk in Him Live Your Life that way meaning walk as a beggar who has received everything that you need from the king not from your own work but by a free gift of God and his son Jesus Christ not because you earned it but because in his Mercy he freely gave it all to you because you are his beloved child he loves you that much in Jesus you are full in every way that Jesus is full that’s what Paul is proclaiming here to them in their insecurity he’s saying you have no reason to be insecure you have been made full in Christ you’re alive in Christ just as Jesus conquered death and Rose from the grave you have been raised to new and unending life with him you’re forgiven the record of your debt has been cancelled it’s been nailed to the cross in Jesus you’re free you’re free this is the free gift of God in Jesus but it’s a Grace that cost him everything and then in verse seven Paul urged them and us to walk walk in Jesus this way rooted in him built up in him established or strengthened in faith and abounding in Thanksgiving that’s the call of what as you reive Christ so walk in him rooted built up established and abounding and I know what you’re thinking here’s the catch right here’s the catch I knew there was a catch get aren’t given freely there’s always some obligation uh there’s always uh some string that’s attached to this gift when it’s given uh just like there was in the Roman world just like when your neighbor comes over unexpectedly at Christmas and gives you a you know a a a pumpkin pie or something and you’re like oh crap I don’t have anything for them I’ve now got to do something uh and I mean you probably want to but you’re you know but you’re also weren’t ready and it’s an obligation you got to do it it’s a social nicity
uh because at a casual glance that’s kind of how this sounds it’s kind of how this sounds that uh I have I’ve got to work to stay rooted I have to try harder every day to build my myself up uh I have to uh just find more faith in order to strengthen myself to be able to handle this situation that’s the way it kind of sounds it kind of sounds like a bait and switch this this as you received as a beggar but now work really hard to be rooted and built up and established and abounding now I rarely weigh into the Waters of talking about Greek grammar uh for uh for a number of reasons one it probably bores you um partly uh it sounds pretentious and maybe off-putting to some of you but also it’s partly because I spent most of my high school English grammar class is practicing my signature um and I got really good at it I did it’s it’s something that continues to pay off today um but actually here it’s kind of important it really is important um because the Greek grammar it completely impacts how we understand what Paul is saying to them uh in this moment in Greek grammar are verbs either active middle or it’s passive uh uh I know your eyes just rolled but stay with me uh this is important uh active meaning that the action is done or performed by the subject if any of you are Greek grammar people and you come correct me later I’ll receive it um I I truthfully I’ve forgotten most of my Greek grammar years ago uh but this one was incredibly powerful when I was reading more into it uh so an active verb it means that the the um the action is done or performed by the subject uh passive meaning that the the subject is being acted upon right uh I think you get that that makes sense these verbs rooted built up and established they’re all in the passive they’re all in the passive which means a more maybe clear to us it’s not incorrect the way it was translated I’m not saying that uh but understanding what it means uh and maybe a more literal to the original Greek and what Paul was intending was as you received Christ the lord so walk in him having been rooted and built up in him and having been established or strengthened in the faith you see why this is so important why I felt the need to to bring this up this morning what Paul is saying is that the rooting the building up the establishing or the strengthening it’s the work of Jesus not you or me which is in keeping with the rest of what Paul’s been talking about this is just a continuation of what he’s been teaching all along uh about the supremacy of Christ that Jesus is supreme in eternity that he’s Supreme in creation that he’s Supreme Over the church and that Jesus now is supreme over you and me he created you another way of saying it he created you he sustains you you we talked about sustaining a couple weeks ago but if you thought about I read about this this week uh and this is kind of an off to the side comment uh but what that really means is that you know your molecules would live literally fall apart if Jesus wasn’t here you would not exist so he created you he sustains you he saves you he Roots you he builds you up he strengthens you in the faith it’s his work as we received Christ Paul said as needy Beggars so we are to continue to walk in him as Beggars who have been given everything and continue to be completely dependent upon Jesus for everything for all godliness for all righteousness it’s not even a work of our own but the free gift of God’s grace in Jesus you know John Calvin uh the great reformer uh and said this for this is the true knowledge of Christ when we are not only convinced he is the author of our salvation but also Embrace him with such heartfelt confidence that we rely on him entirely that’s the supremacy of Christ for you and for me for some of you you might say that but that just leads to to lawlessness that just leads to uh irresponsible Freedom that we just go out and abuse it if we don’t have to work at it and to receive it then it’s just a a license to send more right I know we can think that but Paul added one key piece to verse seven and that piece is the fruit that God’s grace working in our lives produces it produces lives that are abounding or overflowing in Thanksgiving and here’s the first verb in this sequence right the the the others were passive this one’s active this one is the action of the subject this is the one that is comes out of us meaning that the action is performed by us having received the grace of God walking in his continued work of rooting and building us up and in in his work of strengthening Us in faith it gives birth to Hearts of
Thanksgiving it’s out of hearts that are abounding or or overflowing with Thanksgiving that we are moved then to good works that’s what motivates us that’s what moves us not to to root ourselves correctly and to uh build ourselves up rightly and to uh establish or strengthen ourselves more in faith those things are what move in us to move us to Thanksgiving and gratitude and that we act out of it it’s what Jesus said himself in John 7 verses 37 to 38 on the last day of the feast the great day Jesus stood up and cried out if anyone thirst let him come and drink come to me and drink whoever believes in me as the scripture has said out of his heart will flow rivers of Living Water that’s the heart of thankfulness for the free gift of God’s Great do it work Grace which is at work in us and working its way out that’s why Paul wrote things like this in 2 Corinthians 9:7 each one should give what he has decided in his heart not reluctantly or under compulsion for God loves a cheerful Giver cheerfulness or or joyfulness as that can also be be translated is What flows out of a heart of gratitude and Thanksgiving and that’s what God’s looking for that’s what God wants that’s what he Longs for from us serving others other people it flows out of our hearts as they’re thankful the free gift of God’s grace produces an overflowing of thankfulness and gratitude that willingly now longs to serve the will and the desires of the king our justification our sanctification our righteousness are never earned by our own good works but our good works flow out of thankful Hearts like a fountain for Jesus’s justifying and S sanctifying work of righteousness in our own lives in our own Hearts it works Inside Out friends where do we find the security to continue on this mission of Walking In Jesus ordering Our Lives after him following where he leads proclaiming him to a lost world on Mission by walking in Christ as we received him as needy Beggars who are completely dependent on the supremacy of Jesus who is at work in US rooting our lives in him building us up in him strengthening Our Lives more and more in
faith you might have heard it before but this quote that many people have said evangelism is just one beggar telling another beggar where to find
bread that’s what we’re called to as followers of Christ friends may his work in us his Supremacy Over Our Lives May it overflow in our hearts and it bear the true fruit of humility and good works that this world so desperately needs for the glory of God Amen
