Rooted
Colossians 2:6-7
Rooted
Colossians 2:6-7
Main Idea: The deeper we are rooted in Christ, the more we will bear fruit and abound in thanksgiving together.
I. Rooted in Christ
Paul exhorts us that the way forward in the Christian life is not to leave behind or move past the gospel, but instead to press further up and further in to the good news of Jesus (cf. Gal. 3:2-3). Just as the Christian life begins by receiving grace and mercy through faith and repentance, we must continue down the same path holding fast to “Christ Jesus the Lord.”
“In our Christian life we never ‘get beyond the gospel’ to something more advanced. The gospel is not the first step in a stairway of truths; rather, it is more like the hub in a wheel of truth. The gospel is not just the ABCs but the A to Z of Christianity. The gospel is not the minimum required doctrine necessary to enter the kingdom but the way we make all progress in the kingdom. We are not justified by the gospel and then sanctified by obedience; rather the gospel is the way we grow (Gal. 3:1–3) and are renewed (Col. 1:6). It is the solution to each problem, the key to each closed door, the power to take us through every barrier (Rom. 1:16–17).”
~ Tim Keller, “The Centrality of the Gospel”
Paul gives three pictures of how we “walk” or "continue living” in Christ:
Rooted in him, like a tree that is nourished, vibrant, and healthy (cf. Ps. 1; Jer. 17:5-8; Jn. 15:4-5)
Built up in him, like a structure laid on the solid foundation of Christ (Eph. 2:20-22)
Established in the faith, steadfast and immovable in the gospel we have been taught
II. Rooted Together
All of the “you’s” in this passage and throughout this letter are in the second-person plural. The Christian life is not a “solo” project; in order to grow up into maturity we must be rooted deeply together as brothers and sisters in Christ in the household of faith.
Colossians 2:1–3: 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, 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, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
“The way to get assured understanding about the mystery of God, namely, Jesus Christ the treasure chest of wisdom, is to have your heart knit together in love with other believers. The deepest and most certain insights into the character of God and the wisdom of God come into heads that are attached to loving hearts.”
~ John Piper, “Guard Yourself with Gratitude”
“One cannot explain the explosive dynamite of the early church apart from the fact that they practiced two things simultaneously: orthodoxy of doctrine and orthodoxy of community in the midst of the visible church, a community which the world could see. By the grace of God the church must be known simultaneously for its purity of doctrine and the reality of its community. Our churches have so often been only preaching points with very little emphasis on community, but the exhibition of the love of God in practice is beautiful and must be there.”
~ Francis Schaeffer, The Church Before the Watching World
III. Rooted to Bear Lasting Fruit
Our “abounding in thanksgiving” should extend to every area of our lives and our faith, including:
Growing Knowledge
Colossians 1:9-10, 12: ... we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God… giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.
Wholehearted Worship
Colossians 3:16: Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
Persistent Prayer
Colossians 4:2: Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.
Joyful Witness (cf. 1 Pet. 3:15)
Colossians 4:5–6: Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
Cheerful Generosity
2 Corinthians 9:6–8, 11, 15: The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work… You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God… Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!
“In the Christian way, giving is never a matter of a tit-for-tat relationship with the Almighty. You can never out-give God. He has given his own dear Son. There’s a profound sense in which the last thing God wants you to do is give money, even generously, if you withhold your heart ... All of our response to him is first and foremost out of the overflow of recognizing his indescribable gift. We give out of gratitude. We serve out of gratitude. We pray out of gratitude. We walk by faith out of gratitude. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!” ~ D.A. Carson, “Laughing All the Way from the Bank”
The Forgiveness of Sins
Colossians 1:13-14 | The forgiveness we experience in Christ compels us to be a forgiving people.
THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS
Colossians 1:13-14
Main Idea: The forgiveness we experience in Christ compels us to be a forgiving people.
Outline
I. Our Need of Forgiveness
II.The Forgiver
III. Our Response
Colossians 1:13-14
13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
I. Our Need of Forgiveness
John 8:12
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life
II. The Forgiver
III. Our Response
Our response is two-fold:
Receive Forgiveness
Extend Forgiveness
Receive Forgiveness
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. - 1 John 1:9
Psalm 51,
1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!
3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.
14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
18 Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem;
19 then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.
Extend Forgiveness
Col. 3:12-17
12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,
13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Was Crucified, Died, and Buried
Colossians 2:11-15 | Jesus finished work on the cross brings us complete salvation, complete forgiveness, and complete victory.
Main Idea: Jesus finished work on the cross brings us complete salvation, complete forgiveness, and complete victory.
I. Complete Salvation (Colossians 2:11-12)
And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. (Deuteronomy 30:6)
We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. (Romans 6:4-5)
II. Complete Forgiveness (Colossians 2:13-14)
“Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love.” Micah 7:18
“So when the devil throws your sins in your face and declares that you deserve death and hell, tell him this: "I admit that I deserve death and hell, what of it? For I know One who suffered and made satisfaction on my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God, and where He is there I shall be also!” ~ Martin Luther
III. Complete Victory (Colossians 2:15)
“saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” (Revelation 5:12)
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20
Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord
Colossians 1:15-20 | Jesus Christ is the divine, eternal, preeminent Son who became man for us and for our salvation.
Colossians 1:15-20
Jesus Christ is the divine, eternal, preeminent Son who became man for us and for our salvation.
I. Jesus is the Son
1. Jesus is Creator
“It was his overflowing love for the Son that motivated the Father to create, and creation is his gift to his Son. The Father makes his Son the inheritor, the ‘heir of all things.’ And so the Son is not only the motivating origin of creation: he is its goal. The Son is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end of creation.” ~ Michael Reeves
2. Jesus is the Heir of All Things
Hebrews 1:1–3: Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.
Abraham Kuyper: “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!”
II. Jesus is the Christ
John 1:14: And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Philippians 2:9–11: Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
III. Jesus is Our Lord