Recieve and Walk
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Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him,
rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.
For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,
and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.
In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ,
having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.
And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,
by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
Colossians
Pray
RECEIVE CHRIST JESUS
RECEIVE CHRIST JESUS
Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him,
Whats the therefore there for?
= Jesus, and Paul’s ministry
This verse is a hinge verse for the entire book of Colossians
Paul wrote about the preeminence of Christ who is Lord over Creation and Reconciliation, and that is reinforced here with this title that he has given Jesus. Christ Jesus the Lord.
Who is it that Paul is reminding the Colossians that they have already received? Paul says that it is Christ Jesus the Lord, but who is this Christ Jesus the Lord. This phrase Christ Jesus the Lord breaks down into two very descriptive words who who Jesus is… He is...
Who is it that Paul is reminding the Colossians that they have already received? Paul says that it is Christ Jesus the Lord, but who is this Christ Jesus the Lord. This phrase Christ Jesus the Lord breaks down into two very descriptive words who who Jesus is… He is...
Christ
Lord
Christ = Messiah
If you are Gods it is because Jesus saved you, Jesus was the messiah that was sent to this world to reconcile a broken humanity, and we owe everything to Him.
What does the rest of this section of scripture say about who Jesus is and what he has done?
And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,
by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
we were dead, completely unable to save ourselves. Our sins had rendered us lifeless and unable to breath life back into our own bones, and yet God made us alive…Alive in Christ! How did he do this?
He took the record of debt that stood agains us
Ian McNaughton says “There is no salvation by balancing the records. There is only salvation by cancelling records.”
‘There is no salvation by balancing the records. There is only salvation by cancelling records’.14
Literally the title of debtor, Jesus took that title off of us and nailed it to the Cross
Some of us continue to feel the identity of indebtedness, and we think we can pay God back by feeling guilty for long periods of time, but this can’t be done, because we can’t pay God back! Our response to God’s generous grace toward us should be Open hearts of Thanksgiving!
God forgave ALL of our sin, because he gives us a new identity.
wondering about if all of our sins are forgiven forever more, or if we need to continue to ask for forgiveness.
We say were sorry with the full assurance that God will forgive us over and over because he already forgave us completely in Christ Jesus the Lord!
I love this truth that the record of our debt has been completely whipped away and the Bible tells us that our account isn’t even at zero, because Jesus gave us all of the identity as Children of God which means that we have been given more through Jesus than if all of the richest people got together in the world and they all gave us every penny that they owned. We have the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF JESUS AND ARE COHEIRS WITH HIM!!!
So now all of our sins are taken care of! What a beautiful thing!
This is the Christ who we have recieved.
When Jesus gave us the new identity of Christian (little Christ) He is now the Lord over our lives and He disarmed the accusative powers of the enemy.
Colossians is combating a Jewish mysticism that said that people should pray to angels, but Christians pray to no one except God Himself because Jesus is Lord over all of those things, and he gave us direct access to the Father. Jesus is able to give us direct access because he is Lord over everything. (were still in the “Therefore” section… only one word in!) He is the Lord over all creation, and all things were made through Him and for Him… Jesus created everything in heaven and on earth and everything is subject to him.
We have also learned that Jesus is the Lord over all things… (were still in the “Therefore” section… only one word in!) He is the Lord over all creation, and all things were made through Him and for Him… Jesus created everything in heaven and on earth and everything is subject to him.
receiving Him and His gospel is such a big deal, because you are not just receiving an idea, you are receiving the actual person, and that person is the one who nailed the record of debt to the cross so that you and I might live completely alive in the Joy of God.
So Its a pretty big deal that we receive Jesus into our lives, though we were dead in our trespasses, by receiving Jesus we are made alive, but if we receive him and then forget about Him were like Jay Lenno… he collects cars, but he doesn’t drive all of them so they just sit there. Jesus can’t be like the fleeting pleasures of a new collectors item, we don’t receive Him and walk away, we Receive and WALK IN...
Its a big deal for people to recieve Jesus, amen? We are called into something incredible and life changing, we should be so thankful that he has chosen to use us!
So this verse tells us to receive Jesus which is the starting point in our faith, then we are to CONTINUE to walk IN HIM.
WALK IN JESUS
WALK IN JESUS
We recieved Jesus into our lives, but do we ever actually graduate from that place of dependance on Him? No! We never graduate from the Gospel!!
Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
But what does it look like to walk in Jesus? ROOTED AND BUILT UP.
Rooted
We are rooted deep into the gospel
we dig our hands deep into the gospel
we explore all of the ways the gospel speaks to our lives
Parenting
Work
Marriage
Friendship
Enemies
Entertainment
We consider Christ in everything
“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen—not only because I see it but because by it I see everything else.”- C.S. Lewis
I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen—not only because I see it but because by it I see everything else.
We now see all things through our rooted-ness in the Gospel of Jesus Christ
C.S. Lewis
This keeps us from believing the philosophy of our day. Paul says in Verse 8
This keeps us from believing the philosophy of our day. Paul says in Verse 8
See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.
Colossians 2:8
They forgot the gospel!
So what is it that they were believing?
The book of Colossians is combating a Jewish mysticism that said that people should pray to angels, and above all else fear demons but Christianity is different… we pray to no one except God Himself because Jesus is Lord over all things, and he gave us direct access to the Father. He is the Lord over all creation, and all things were made through Him and for Him… Jesus created everything in heaven and on earth and everything is subject to him. So Paul tells the Colossian believers not to look to angels or demons or this false teaching because in this false teaching there is not a deeper access to God.
What is the false teaching or the philosophy of our day?
Take a look at the headlines and see the themes that come up…
Christianity is bigotry and oppressive
Morality is relative
Easy Pleasure is everything
“The Internet is canceled thanks to Ted Cruz’s Zodiac Killer Joke” This is TIME MAGAZINE … not The ONION...
Then I got pulled into about a 45 minute Ted Cruz Meme binging
Even that, its quick easy, funny pleasure. Thats what a Meme is!
Jesus free’s us from seeking temporary pleasures for lasting Joy... this comes when we root ourselves deep in Jesus digging down into the depths of the gospel because those depths are crying out to the depths of our hearts to find rest in Him.
We don’t graduate from the Gospel, we grow in the gospel. Think of the Gospel as rich soil… and we are like a plant… in order for the plant to grow strong it must dig its roots down deep into the rich soil, and Jesus is the most substantial, richest, nutritious soul that we could root ourselves down into. And just like a plant, the more we are rooted in the richness of Christ, the more we will be built up in Christ...
Built up
Walking in Jesus: Rooted and Built up (Putting off + Putting on new nature)
Walking in Jesus is rooting ourselves in Him, and being built up in Him which involves us putting off our old selves, and building up our new nature that Jesus bought for us on the Cross.
The technical term for this is Sanctification, which is the process by which we become more like Jesus.
But doesn’t Verse 9&10 say that we have already been filled?
For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.
Why do we need to be built up if were already filled?
Thats a good question...WE ARE ROOTED IN WHAT WE ALREADY KNOW (which is that were justified by Christ), AND WERE BUILT UP IN WHAT WE ALREADY HAVE (which is fullness in Christ)!!! THE PROCESS OF BECOMING LIKE JESUS IS THE PROCESS OF BECOMING MORE OF WHO GOD HAS ALREADY DECLARED US TO BE!
So what does it look like to put off our old selves?
Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
We will get deeper into this verse in the coming weeks, but putting off our old self is extremely important in the christian life… There are few things that cause you as much pain as your past does. But how do we put off the old self? Matt Chandler says “Continuing to say ‘I don’t live there anymore’”
I grew up my whole life in Waterford, every time I wanted to go home and I was on the 408 I would take the exit for Alafaya, but when I moved across the street from here I had to change the exit that I got off of… because I no longer lived in Waterford.
We no longer live in sin… we’ve died to sin…alive in Christ Jesus...
Every time you come up against your sin patterns, continue to remember that because of Jesus you no longer are a slave to the sin that held you so closely.
The imagery that this section of scripture talks about circumcision, and without going into uncomfortable detail about it, you just need to know that it was a symbol or a marking that someone belonged to God in the Old Testament, the mark today is Baptism, when we are put under the water, it is symbolic that we have died with Christ and we let go of our old self and when we come out of the water it is symbolic that we have risen to life just like Christ did when God rose Him from the grave!
We kill our sin because it was buried with Jesus, and is no longer an indicator of our identity.
So we walk in Jesus by putting off the old self and the old practices by saying that we don’t live there anymore, and we put on the new self by embracing and appreciating where we now live.
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
Romans
Here are some of the ways that were built up through embracing our new identity as “sons of God”
Setting your mind on the truth of God’s word is one of the ways that we are built up.
Were no longer orphans, we have a family, we have a father, remind yourself of this truth, it will help you to walk in the newness of life.
We are built up by setting our minds on things above through
Reading God’s word,
Praying out of a place of relationship,
Meditating on God’s truths,
participating in the mission of God
All of this while in community with other believers.
Today we’ve looked at what it means to Receive Jesus, what it means to walk in Him by being rooted and built up, those things are results of faith being established in us. But I want us to notice something that could be pretty easy to miss. Paul uses very passive language in … He says that they have recieved something, and that they are established in a faith that they were taught
Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
I want us to see that...
ESTABLISHED FAITH ESTABLISHES FAITH
ESTABLISHED FAITH ESTABLISHES FAITH
Once the truth of the gospel has taken root in our heart, and we begin to grow in Jesus there is another step that comes naturally. It is sharing our faith. Paul was teaching his faith to the people in Colossae and they were receiving it.
Jesus is using us, to help others receive him, and that is such an honor because in and of our own selves, we couldn’t do this, but He sent His spirit to remind us of all things and to empower us to share the amazing work that God has done through Jesus Christ.
Because the gospel is true, you don’t need to wait around until your’e a super christian to share your faith, Jesus calls everyone to this work!
Take a look around… Those are empty seats… We have work to do, not for our glory but for the glory of God…
We do what we do for those who are yet to come, we’re called to be exceedingly generous with the message of the Cross, and if you want to see how you can engage in what God is calling us to do, come to our vision meeting after service in the fisher room.