Incomparable Christ

"⁸ See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. ⁹ For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, ¹⁰ and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; ¹¹ and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; ¹² having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. ¹³ When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, ¹⁴ having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. ¹⁵ When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him."

Colossians 2:8-15

 

Good Morning my beloved,

 

Welcome! Welcome to worship this Lord's Day!

 

When Jesus died on the cross at Calvary, it was both tragedy and triumph. It was tragedy, because it was despotism. They lied on Him; they abused Him; they misused Him. They wanted Him crucified openly, in public; and, they wanted to see Him die in agony, and pain, and blood, and anguish upon that cross. And, up there, on that cross, that would be exactly what had been done. You see, He was in our place.

 

And, whether we want to admit it or not, you and I were guilty of it; we were there! Our sins were the nails that put Jesus Christ on that cross, and our hardened hearts were the hammers that drove those nails in. He died because of our sin. Yes, He willingly died; but, had we not sinned, He never would have died. He would have had no need to die.

 

So, while on the one hand, it was tragedy, but was, on the other hand it was triumph. Now, there was someone else nailing some things that day. There was someone else who was nailing some things to that cross, and His name was Jesus.

Let us bow our heads.

Heavenly Father,

Father thank You for this truth in Your Word. We cannot fathom why You are holy, would desire us, who are wretched sinners in Your family. Yet in Your amazing grace, You sacrificed Your own Son, to atone for the sins of many. Lord, we are so grateful, so undeserving of such an act of love. Help us to not just hear these words, but cause them to penetrate our hearts and bind them there. That we might come to realize the precious gift we've been given. That we would walk worthy of such a gift.

Lord, we pray that You would touch the hearts of the lost, that today would be the day of repentance, that they would receive Christ's atonement for their sin. May it all be to Your glory.

In Jesus' name

Amen

Today's Message: Incomparable Christ

There’s more in this chapter that we’re going to read; but I will fill in some of the gaps for you. It was customary in Rome, when a man was adjudicated guilty, condemned for a crime, if he were put in prison, they would take something and nail it to the prison door. It was called a certificate of debt. On that certificate of debt would be written the crime that this man was guilty of, the number of years that he would stay in prison, or days, weeks, months, whatever. And, when he had fulfilled his duty to the law, his certificate of debt was marked paid in full. It was taken, given to the judge, who would have it notarized; and, he would carry it with him. And, if anybody were to accuse him of that crime again, he could pull out the certificate of debt, and say, "Yes, I may have been guilty, but I have paid in full."

And, if a man were guilty of a capital offense, they would take the offense that he’d done, and they would nail it to his cross above his head. That’s the reason that Pilate nailed above the head of the Lord Jesus, "Jesus Christ, the King of the Jews"—it was sarcasm. Here was a man who made Himself King; and, that’s why Pilate allowed Him to be crucified—because it was insurrection against Caesar; it was a crime worthy of death. Though we know from Scripture, he attempted to avoid becoming involved in religious leaders plans.

Open with me your Bibles to the second chapter of Colossians. I believe this is an amazing book in the Word of God concerning Christ. It contains a wonderful statement that I just love, it’s really bold. In fact, you might say in today’s vernacular, it’s over the top.

 

"In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." What an incredible truth! If we have Jesus, we have it all, we have everything. It's all summed up in Him.

 

I would like to encourage you to follow along with me as I read, Colossians 2:8-15.

 

"See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him."

 

I'm sure you are all familiar with the story of Jesus and Peter in Matthew 14:28-30. No need to turn there, I'll just quickly read it to you.

"Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!"

 

I believe that is how we need to approach our Christian walk. If we don’t keep walking, with our eyes fixed on the Lord, like Peter, we’ll start sinking. The way to keep walking is not to seek some deeper truth. The way to keep moving is to walk in faith in the Christ we have received. "Walk" indicates that our relationship with Christ is not to be stagnate but to be a growing relationship.

The familiar term walk refers to our daily conduct. In this context it emphasizes continuing to believing the truth about Christ, not allowing their faith in Christ’s deity and authority to waver. It was Christ who saved them so do not to forsake His Divine Authority for any human sophistry or chicanery.

In broader terms walking in Christ means living in union with Him. It means to maintain a lifestyle patterned after His. I John 2:6, the Apostle John writes, "the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked."

Some of you may be familiar with the name Jack Eckerd. In the 1950's, Eckerd he transformed his family's retail drugstore business into one of the leading self-service drugstore chains in the United States. By 1975, Forbes magazine estimated his personal wealth around $150 million. Eckerd gave his employees shares from his personal stock. By taking advantage of the stock option program offered by Eckerd, his employee’s benefited financially in the success of the new company. Mr. Eckerd sent a letter to his employees, expressing the hope that they would feel a moral obligation to give 10 percent of what they gained through their stock options to their church, charity, or to help someone else. Eckerd himself gave large sums of money to missions and charitable causes.

Not long after becoming a Christian, Eckerd walked through one of his stores and noticed pornographic magazines in the magazine racks. Although retired, Eckerd called the company president and urged him to get rid of the magazines. Management demurred, citing the substantial profits they stood to lose. Eckerd used his power as the largest stockholder, and his wishes prevailed. Pornographic materials were removed from all 1,700 stores, Questioned as to why he took such a stand, Eckerd said, "God wouldn't let me off the hook." Jack Eckerd made a decision to walk with God.

Beloved, I encourage you to ask God to help you walk with Him day by day. We put our faith into practice one step at a time. Allow what God works into our life to work it’s way out of our life. Walking in Christ is how we become Christ-like. Walking in Christ is focusing our thoughts on Him, on what He has done, what He is doing, and what He will do for us. We walk by depending completely on Him, obeying His commands, and putting His teaching into practice in our lives. As believers, we are to live by faith so they can become firmly established in their walk with Christ. We do that by drawing our life from Christ. 

In verse 8, Paul writes "See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ."

After exhorting believers to live in Christ, Paul condemns the heresy that was diverting them from Christ. It is bound to be significant that, in the only place where the Scriptures even mention philosophy; we are warned to beware of it! The concern is that no false teacher take believers captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy. The thought is here is not against all philosophy but against false philosophy. The philosophy at Colossae was empty, hollow and deceptive, and based on human tradition rather than on Christ. False philosophy is based upon the world’s basic principles. Such a philosophy is demonic and worldly, not godly or Christlike. Unless believers are careful, such philosophy may ensnare them, taking them "captive."

So, Paul warn believers to beware of the philosophy and psychology the world values, they're vain, empty and deceptive.

In relying upon their own reasoning and their own self-effort, rather than trusting in Christ who purchased the sinner with His own blood, false teachers feed you a line in order to get you to follow them, their philosophy instead of Christ and His Word. We who have trusted Christ for salvation have been assured not only of safe passage to heaven but everything we need to live for Him here and now. Christ has all we need. It's all part of the package. You live the Christian life the same way you began, by trusting Christ.

In verse 9, Paul again returns to the fullness of Christ’s deity and His total sufficiency. This declaration is the rock upon which all attempts to disprove Christ's deity are shattered. "for all the fullness to dwell in Him"

The Colossians do not need any other source or authority for their understanding and spiritual life. Christ is not just another philosopher, He is God. In fact, "for all the fullness to dwell in Him." Note the word "all." The glorified Jesus, His whole glorious total essence, is God. He alone is God incarnate; and all, all possible deity, the whole universe of deity, is found permanently in Him.

Christ is both fully God and truly man, I John 4:1-6. He is the full essence of God and man. Christ is God’s revelation of Himself and His will to man. If you don’t follow Him, you will be following someone else and end up at some other destination than your walk with Him would take you. Only in Christ can you have, can you find fullness in your life, apart from Him, is empty, void and meaningless.

Because Christ is who He says He is, verse 10 declares that we have been made complete in Him. "and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority."

Our fullness of life comes from Christ’s fullness. Christ is the fullness, "pleroma," of God, and we are filled with His fullness. In John 1:16, John wrote, "For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace." The perfect tense of the participle, pepleromenoi, having been made complete, indicates that the results of our having been filled are eternal. "Pepleromenoi" is a form of the verb "pleroo," from which the noun pleroma is derived.

As a result of the Fall, humanity is in a sad state of incompleteness. He is spiritually incomplete because He is totally out of fellowship with God. He is morally incomplete because he lives outside of God's will. He is mentally incomplete because he does not know ultimate truth. 

In II Peter 1:4, Peter says "For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust."

Believers are spiritually complete because they have fellowship with God. They are morally complete in that they recognize the authority of God's will. They are mentally complete because they know the truth about ultimate reality. 

In Christ you have found the source from where flows the streams of blessings that supplies your true needs. In Him you can grow to the fullness He has for you, if you will only walk with Him, but you must let Him lead. He must be the head.

Since He possesses all the fullness of Deity, Christ is the head over all rule and authority. He was not one of a series of lesser beings emanating from God, as the false teachers maintained. Rather, He is God Himself and thus the head over all.

He is over all spiritual and earthy powers, archçs, "ruler" and authorities, exousias, "ruling power." Obviously He is head over those who would talk the Colossians into living according to the world or their understanding instead of according to Christ. Christ is fully God forever!

Paul says in verse 11-12, "and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead."

Here Paul turn from the theological errors of the false teachers to their practical errors. Following Christ is a matter for your born again spirit not the flesh as verse 11 observes. The Christians in Colossae had no need to conform to Jewish traditions, rules and regulations, such as circumcision. Circumcision was only the outward demonstration that man was born sinful and needed cleansing. The cutting away of the male foreskin on the reproductive organ was a graphic way to demonstrate that man needed cleansing at the deepest level of his being.

They had been circumcised when they surrendered to Christ. This spiritual circumcision was done by Christ, not by man. It was in fact a crucifixion or putting off of the body or fleshly nature, a circumcision of the heart. Our sinful nature was decisively put off by Christ’s death and resurrection. What people were in Adam, sinful, fallen, and corrupt was destroyed by Christ. Now "in Christ," a believer is a new creation as Paul says in II Corinthians 5:17. And having a new Head, a believer has a new authority for his life—not the Law of Moses but the life of Jesus Christ.

For Christians, the physical rite of circumcision is unnecessary because we have already been circumcised with a circumcision made without hands. The object of the circumcision of Christ is the removal of the body of the flesh. The words putting off or removal indicate a "total breaking away from," which is from the noun "apekdysei, which occurs only here in the New Testament. 

This "putting off" of the old life occurs at the moment of salvation. The body of the flesh refers to the sinful, fallen human nature totally dominating believers before salvation. Christians have been cleansed of that sinful dominance and been given a new nature created in righteousness, having been circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, that is, not physical but spiritual.

In Romans 6:6, at salvation, "knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;"  Then, as a result, "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come," II Corinthians 5:17. 

 

Nowhere is it expressed any better than in the words of Paul in Philippians 3:3, when he wrote, "for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh," Believers have been freed from sin's dominance and judgment, though not yet from its presence.

In verse 12, Paul uses baptism as a way of illustrating the believers union with Christ and His work. "having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead."

Baptism delineates a believers' union with Christ. They have been buried with Him in baptism when, at their salvation, the spiritual union of the believer with Christ takes place. At the moment of salvation a believer is buried with Christ in baptism by the Spirit and is raised with Him to new life. This co-burial and co-resurrection is illustrated in baptism. 

In water baptism, immersion portrays burial with Christ, and coming out of the water depicts the resurrection by the power of God to live a new life. Water baptism symbolizes the believer's identification with Christ's death, burial, and resurrection.

In verse 13-14, "When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions"—that’s the law—"having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us;—pay attention now— and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross." 

I'd heard many Christians say, "Well, Jesus was nailed to the cross by the Romans." Essentially, that's true, He was, but Jesus Himself nailed the law to the cross. Now, I don’t want you to get confused here—but, while Jesus, the Son of God, was being crucified, He Himself was nailing something to that cross. 

Let me explain. The first was the condemnation of sin. Jesus nailed the condemnation of sin—the condemnation of sin was nailed to the cross. Look again at verse 13: "When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions." 

Your sin and mine was nailed to the cross. What does that mean? It means Jesus paid my debt; He took the punishment that I deserve. He has taken my sin, nailed it to the cross. And, therefore, it was buried, when Jesus was buried, in the grave of God’s forgetfulness. 

Mark these in your Bibles. 

Romans 8:1, "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8:33-34, "Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies, who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us." 

What Paul is saying is "Who is able to point an accusatory finger at us? Who is qualified to condemn us?" What Paul is not saying is, "Who will try?" There are plenty in this world who will try to condemn you, many of them claiming the name of Christ. In other words, the only One who could ever condemn us is God Himself, and God Himself has counted us righteous. He has justified us, and the verdict of the supreme court of the universes is never going to be reversed. 

Now, I want to make something clear here, that does not mean if you sin, God’s going to just overlook your sin. trust me, He’ll carry you behind the woodshed. You will deal with the consequences of that sin, you just won't be condemned for it. There IS a difference. Condemnation of sin was nailed to the cross. Not consequence!

The second thing Jesus nailed to the cross was the curse of the law was nailed to the cross. Let's look at verse 14 again for a moment. "having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross." 

The Law is good. God’s Law is without blemish, without fault. But the Law is a curse, if you try to live by the law in order to get to Heaven, you’re cursed. I mean, the wrath of God is upon you.

Galatians 3:13 says "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"

Also nailed to the cross, was the charms of this world. This world will try to charm you, and this world will try to entice you; and, this world is like a filthy harlot that would draw away your love from the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Bridegroom. When I say the world, I'm not talking about the planet, nor am I talking about the people. I'm talking about an ungodly system that’s against our Lord and His Christ. 

That's why I John 2:15-16 tell us, "Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world."

Listen carefully to what I'm about to say here, that doesn’t mean that because we love the world, the love of the Father’s not in us. It means we love the world, because the love of the Father is not in us. If we love the Father as we ought, this world would have no appeal to us.  What is the lust of the flesh? What is the lust of the eyes? That’s selfish possessions. What is the pride of life? That’s sensual pleasure, sinful pride and selfish pride. All of that is nailed to the cross with Jesus.

That's why Paul says in Galatians 6:14 "But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, —watch for it—through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."

Beloved, if this world has a pull on you, it’s because you’ve failed to glory in the cross. This world should have no more appeal to you than a crucified decaying corpse should have hanging on a cross. When Jesus died, He took a hammer, and He nailed my sin to the cross. He nailed the "certificate of debt consisting of decrees" against us to the cross. He nailed the lusts of this world to the cross.

Now, I’ll tell you what else He nailed to the cross: He nailed the corruption of the flesh. The corruption of the flesh. Just look, if you will, in verses 11-13 again, "and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions."

As a footnote, when the Bible says your flesh, it’s not talking about your body; it’s talking about that old sinful nature that you were born with. Your old sinful nature was nailed to the cross with Jesus.That's right!

Galatians 5:24 tells us "Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."

Now, I know this may sound harsh, but I am bound to the truth, if your flesh is still out of control, you may want to question whether or not, you have truly been "born again. Was the corruption of my flesh was nailed to the cross with Jesus?" I know many of you will say, "Of course it was. I'm a Christian!" But if you're flesh, your old sin nature still dominates you.... the lusts of this world still draw you in, you've got a serious issue!

Jesus also the control of the devil to the cross. Listen to verse 15, "When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him."

Did you see it? "When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities" What does he mean here? He’s talking about the power of Satan!

Look at Ephesians 6:12, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places."

Satan thought he was destroying Jesus on the cross, but Jesus was destroying the Satan! 

Turn with me to Hebrews chapter 2, verses 14 and 15. Hebrews 2:14-15. Read along with me.

"Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives."

"that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil."

John 12:31 says "Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out." 

Satan himself is nailed to that cross. His back is broken because of the cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Jesus destroyed him on the cross. It doesn’t mean he’s obliterated; it means he’s wiped out; finished. It means you don’t have to obey the devil anymore. 

In Revelation 12:11 "And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death"

Then Jesus nailed the conquest of death to the cross. That’s what baptism is all about. Remember in verse 12? Paul says "having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead."

In Closing...

Beloved, when Jesus nailed Satan to the cross, He also nailed death to the cross. They said, "Jesus is dying. Jesus is there, on the cross. Just look at Him—He’s dying." No, He lives! Sin, you’re dead. Law, you’re dead. Old world, you’re crucified. Flesh, you’re crucified. Satan, you’re defeated. And, death, you’re "O death where is your sting?" Your power has been annihilated by Jesus. 

All by Jesus finished work on the cross. That’s what He did on the cross. 

Isn’t that absolutely wonderful? Glory to God! 

Let's give Him some Praise!!!

Now, before we go, I'd like you do something.

I'd like you to write some things that you’d just like to nail to the cross. I mean, is there something, you'd like to say, "I’m finished with that! I’m confessing that sin, I’m putting it under the blood of Jesus; I’m not going to be intimidated by Satan any longer! I’m not going to give into the flesh. I'm not talking about willpower here, I'm talking about through the power of the cross.

Listen, if you’re embarrassed to write them down, then don't. God knows your heart.

Because if you are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, then you are justified by the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, because your sins were nailed to the cross. And, He has given you, now, a certificate of debt; and, on that certificate of debt is written, in the crimson blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, "Paid in full"—"Paid in full." 

 

May it be so....

 

And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;

the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;

The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.

Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen

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