Colossians 2:8-19 (pt4) United with Christ: the Heart of the Gospel

0. Intro

• Back in December 2007 there is a report in the UK of a man called John Darwin
  • He drowned tragically in a canoe accident in 2002
  • Last December he was discovered living in Panama with his wife
  • Now in prison in England, being charged with numerous charges of fraud
• Dying is a very convenient was of getting out of all kinds of problems
  • Any prosecution against you will immediately be dropped
  • your debts get wiped out
  • your police record and driving record are wiped clean
  • you can no longer be called up for military service or any other kind of duty
  • no laws of the land even apply to you any more!
• Now being dead might not sound so good to you, but if you were immediately re-incarnated
  • as citizen of another country
  • maybe the heir of several billion dollars
  • that could solve a lot of problems, couldn’t it!
• (Actually the Bible does teach re-incarnation—only one time, but more of that in a minute)

1. Union with Christ

• Now let us look at the heart of Colossians 2:8-19

11. In him you were also circumcised
            with a circumcision made without hands,
            in stripping off the body of the flesh,
    in the circumcision of Christ,
    12. buried together with him in baptism,
    in whom you were also raised together with him
            through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.

13. And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh,
    he made alive together with him,
     
    forgiving us all trespasses,
14.         wiping out the record of debt against us with its decrees,
            that which was hostile to us, even this he has set aside,
    nailing it to the cross.

• Explain the verses
  • death pictured as circumcision
    • Even in the Old Testament, circumcision was a picture of dying and being born again
    • It was done on the “8th day”, the day after the Sabbath, the first day of a new week
      • picturing the start of a new creation
    • Israel were told that their hearts were to be circumcised
      • they were told this mean to have a new and living heart
  • bury—raised
    • death—life
    • “Together with him” Paul has actually coined new words here
  • when someone was crucified, they would nail a list of their crimes to the cross
    • Our crimes were nailed to Jesus’s cross
    • Not transferred to him, as a separate entity
      • but he put his arms around us and said “let’s do this together” and then he did it all
• The core message of the gospel is union with Christ
  • Once I used to teach the Gospel in terms of scales
  • I once made a pair of scales to teach this to children
  • In one side goes our sin (heavy stone) and the other goes our good works (no substance)
    • Then we take the righteousness of Jesus and it balances it out
• However much truth there is in this image, it is not how Paul presents the Gospel
  • Not a cold, legal transaction with scales,
  • but union with a living person
• Implications of being united with Jesus
  1. Our destinies are inseparably connected
     • Story of the sinking supertanker and the helicopter
     • we are totally secure
  2. We actually have died
     • and we have been raised something else

2. What this means for us

8. Beware lest anyone carry you off as spoil
           through philosophy and empty deceit,
           according to the tradition of men,
           according to the elementary principles of the world,
           and not according to Christ.
9. For in him dwells all the fullness of Deity bodily;
10. and you have been made full in him,
    who is the head of all rule and authority.

• Now, here we have a hint at what the problem was at this church
  • external rules and regulations
  • things they have to do, rituals, ceremonies, particularly from the Old Testament
  • many of these things were not wrong in and of themselves, they just belonged to a previous life
    • Sorting stuff out I found an old library card from when I lived in England
    • A tax form was sent to my old address, years after I had moved here—no longer relevant
• Look at Paul’s answer: it sounds like he is almost saying we are divine
  • He is not, of course, but we are a new kind of being
  • filled with the fullness of Christ, who is fully divine
• Then lets look at the last verses in the passage:

15. Having stripped rulers and authorities,
    he made a public display of them, triumphing over them in it.

• Jesus was “stripped on the cross”, yet HE was the one who was stripping THEM!
  • Imagery is of the Roman victory parade - captive soldiers were led in shame through the streets by the victorious Roman army

16. Therefore let no one judge you in food or in drink,
            or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths,
17. which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance [body] is of Christ.
18. Let no one disqualify you [from the prize],
            insisting on [false] humility and worship of angels,
            taking his stand on [visions] he has seen,
            puffed up without reason by his fleshly mind,
19. and not holding fast to the head,
            from whom all the body, nourished and knit together through the joints and ligaments,
            grows with a growth that is from God.

• A legalist is overly concerned about outward things.
  • especially the sort of things that we can make rules and regulations about. That is why it is called “legalism”
• I used to know a man many years ago who wouldn’t drink a cup of tea without giving thanks first.
  • He was looked up to as a great and godly man
  • but those close to him were aware of huge character issues in his life.
  • He wouldn’t allow his wife to have a TV or even a radio (worldly)
  • He was very concerned to be exactly right in the worship of God,
    • yet he was so critical of others that he did great deal of damage.
• What does it mean “false humility”?
  • A friend of mine from Scotland told me a story about a church on one of the small Scottish islands that was going to have a new minister.
  • An old deacon went to collect him from the mainland and row him accross to the island.
  • All the way across, the old deacon was going on about what a sinner he was and how aweful was his heart.
  • The minister got pretty fed up with this and saw right through it.
  • When they got out of the boat the other side he said
    • “I’ve been listening to what you’ve been saying, and from what you’ve been saying, you’re a bit of an old rogue”.
  • The old deacon was furious and snapped back “I’m just as good as you are”.
    • You see, it was delighting in false humility.
• Note that no one should never preach against legalism without warning of the opposite danger - lawlessness.
  • And this is Paul’s subject in the passage we will deal with next time.
• But here the emphasis is not being robbed of your joy

5. How do we Experience this unity?

• Primarily it is the work of the Holy Spirit to enable us to feel this
  • But we must give him the opportunity to do so
  • Constanly remind yourself of this passage
  • wear it like a bracelett
• Let us say it together:

11. In him I was also circumcised
            with a circumcision made without hands,
            in stripping off the body of the flesh,
    in the circumcision of Christ,
    12. I was buried together with him in baptism,
    in whom I was also raised together with him
            through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.

13. And me, being dead in my trespasses and the uncircumcision of my flesh,
    he made alive together with him,
     
    forgiving me all trespasses,
14.         wiping out the record of debt against me with its decrees,
            that which was hostile to me, even this he has set aside,
    nailing it to the cross.

9. For in him dwells all the fullness of Godhood bodily;
10. and I have been made full in him,

• Now break into pairs and say it over each other