God’s Wisdom and Knowledge

1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. 5 For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

Lets pray together this morning:

That we honor God

Hearts are humbled and postured to hear what the Spirit may be saying to us

Thankful for glorious salvation offered to us

Paul - The Author of Colossians

I want to just really quick give us all a little refresher on who Paul was, because I think it’s important to this morning’s text

Before Paul has a miraculous intervention with Jesus, he was a Pharisee , which for the sake of time this morning gives us these 4 insights for the text;

He had memorized the first 5 books of the Bible (Torah/Law)

He had a very high regard for the Written Law and the Oral Traditions (Talmud/Mishna = Oral Law)

His idea of the Messiah was not Jesus… Jesus was a blasphemous teacher that blatantly lived contrary to the Law, as the Pharisees understood the Law

Paul was a member of the Sanhedrin and even makes it clear that his mission was to do whatever he could do to oppose the name of Jesus!

Acts 26:9-11

Acts 26:9–11 ESV

9 “I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. 11 And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities.

This is the same guy that God is using to write the letter to the church in Colossae

It’s the same guy who is currently sitting in a Roman prison for preaching the message of the same Jesus he made a mission to denounce!

Remember Paul was on the way to persecute more Christians’ Paul was met by the Glory of the risen Jesus!

God says this about Paul to Ananias,

Acts 9:15 (ESV)

15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.

And then

Acts 9:20–21 (ESV)

20 And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”

21 And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?”

I realize this may seem like a lot of build up, but it all is for this purpose here, look at verse 2:1

Colossians 2:1-5

Colossians 2:1–5 (ESV)

1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face,

2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ,

3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

4 I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments.

5 For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

2:1) Paul’s New Struggle

The work that Paul is dedicating himself to now is completely different than his work/struggle before encountering Jesus

Paul’s heart and desire was preaching the Gospel and teaching the church, and just a reminder, these are believer’s he hadn't even met

What I love is that Paul is currently in a prison cell but what is his struggle?

It’s not for his own well being, but the well being of the church!

Paul’s concern was directed to a church that he had only heard the testimony of and his desire was to strengthen their faith and equip them with truth

2:2-3) Struggle For What?

Paul’s work has a purpose behind it though, it isn’t aimless!

Verse 2 gives us 3 main outcomes that Paul is hoping to see for the church

Be encouraged

Hearts knit together in love

Have all the riches that assurance brings from the knowledge of God’s mystery (Christ)

i. Be encouraged (Simple Gospel)

Church not only is it Paul’s desire this morning, not just mine, but it is God’s desire that we are encouraged by the truth of the Gospel!

The Gospel message is not a burden that we have to carry throughout life with angst and discomfort!

No, the Gospel the reconciling of sinners like you and I who have revolted against God for our entire lives

Who have fought God for His position and yet he stretches out His hand and offers us freedom from the curse of our sin!

The church was hearing a twisted Gospel message that misrepresented Jesus and his reconciliation for us

And messages that told them, even the non-jews (gentiles), that they should now start to adhere to the law

Paul ‘s encouragement is not just about making them feel good by sending them a letter

It is about repositioning their understanding of the Gospel so that they are free from the lies and unnecessary burdens placed on them by people who did not know the true Gospel!

A Gospel that saves both Jew and Gentile and redeems the world to God!

ii. Unified (by the Gospel) together in love (Love for One Another)

I want you to take a look around you this morning

When you woke up this morning and decided to come to church here this morning how many of you thought about the people you were excited to see when you got here?

I hope you all feel this way in some way or another

Paul writes that he works for the church the way he so that the church is unified!

The thing that unifies us this morning is the Gospel!

If you are a believer here this morning you are a part of something larger than yourself!

You are a part of a church that is global, multi-generational, ethnically and culturally diverse

And what makes you a part of that is the Gospel message that brings us together in Christ!

The Holy Spirit that lives in us all that ties us together!

God wants His church to be unified in the Gospel by love so that we have power!

We have some wise people in the congregation today, and how does the old saying go, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together”

Paul knows that a body that is divided and does not show love for each other is a body that will be ineffective and destructive!

We are all the body and what unifies us is the Gospel

There is power in that

And it takes our effort to participate in the body

Being involved in each other’s lives

Taking time to meet with other Christians and encouraging each other

Our church has focused very internationally on being a church that is rooted in the word of God as our foundation

This gives us direction and stability

But let us not forget that a body that is fractured or disfigured is not a Biblical body!

We are a unit, we are called to love each other and walk in unity under the power of the Gospel

iii. The Richness of Assurance in Christ!

This last part of Paul’s desire’s for the church connects with the first point

It is all about a complete or full realization of just how complete our justification is in Christ!

Paul uses the word riches here, which can also be understood as abundance!

Do you know what it feels like to have an abundance of anything?

You see what happens when you have an abundance of anything, is that you start to have a sense of security which in turn creates confidence

If you aren't living paycheck to paycheck anymore, than in your abundance you are totally fine throwing a few extra things in the shopping cart

But for folks who are on a tight budget, that same confidence doesn't exist

Some people are doing what I call “2 fish 5 loaves shopping”, which is when you know you have more mouths to feed than you can afford so you are praying the grocery cart math doesn’t make that card decline!

When we lack abundance, fear and uncertainty make their home with us!

But abundance is when we have more than we could ever need! It leaves no place for questioning!

What Paul is teaching us is that when it comes to our salvation we can be abundantly confident that the work is compete in Christ alone!

Contrary to what the church in Colossae had been hearing from false teachers

God does not require us to follow the Jewish Laws, or to harm ourselves or to seek out some special knowledge from folks who only desire to rule over us by teaching that higher spirituality is only attainable by a 10 step program that is laid out in their new book!

Through Christ the work of our salvation is complete and Paul wants the church, including us all to have that confidence!

To be abundantly confident that in Christ alone we are saved!

Your salvation is not being dangled in front of you as a trick or to provide you with false confidence

But it is complete in the power of Jesus whom Paul already made clear His supremacy!

In Christ is all wisdom and knowledge, this again is coming from Paul, who was extremely well studied and only upon meeting Jesus did he understand the purpose of the text which he thought he understood clearly before!

And if you feel you cant trust Jesus with your salvation, what makes you think you can trust yourself? Amen!

2:4-5) The Purpose in the Teaching

COLOSSIANS SERIES RECAP

Remember Paul is writing to the church in Colossae (being ministered to by Epaphras, a disciple of Paul) from prison

Paul lays out the true Gospel that they had heard before, making it clear that sinners are reconciled to God by Jesus alone

Paul uses an original church hymn that speaks to Jesus’ supremacy, making it clear that Jesus’s preeminence was not to be mistaken

To close out chapter 1, Paul writes that his ministry is about revealing the mystery of God, which is Christ, to everyone and to disciple believers

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