Foundation, Fullness, & Freedom in Christ

Well, good morning, church.

Turn with me in your Bibles to Colossians chapter 2.

Colossians 2 · chapter mention

If you're looking in one of the few Bibles, it is page 984.

We're continuing through this little but dense and powerful letter of the Apostle Paul,

written to what was probably a small church in a relatively insignificant city,

but it's a letter that has resounded through the ages and that has been passed on ever since then

and has strengthened generations of Christians in their faith in Christ.

So, let me read Colossians 2.

We are reading verses 6 to 15 this morning.

Hear now God's Word.

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.

About five years ago, the movie Twelve Years a Slave came out.

It tells the true story of an African-American man named Solomon Northup,

who grew up in upstate New York in the early 1800s.

He was an educated businessman.

He owned a 50-acre farm.

He was a talented musician.

And he was a devoted husband and father.

But one day, in 1841, two men who were coming through town

invited him to go along with them to New York City

as part of a traveling circus.

They said they needed a violinist and wanted him.

Work was scarce at the time.

They promised him some good money.

He always wanted to see the city, so he went.

But when they got there, they didn't put on any shows.

They instead asked him to go further south.

The circus was still in Washington, D.C.

They said, come with us down there.

And then once you get there, the circus will be ready to go north

because it's getting towards summertime

and the weather's growing warmer.

They paid him some money for the time he had given them already.

They promised him more money.

They flattered him, and he went along with them.

Two days after he arrived in Washington, D.C.,

he was poisoned, beaten, chained,

and shipped to Louisiana to be sold as a slave.

The two men who had seemed so generous and kind,

who had flattered him and fed him,

who had paid him and promised so much to him,

had kidnapped him and sold him into captivity.

In the passage we're looking at today,

the Apostle Paul is concerned that what happened to Solomon North

physically would not happen to us spiritually.

Verse 8, see to it that no one takes you captive.

That word can mean kidnap or carry off as a prisoner of war.

Paul is warning the Christians in Colossae against empty philosophies,

against deceitful promises that only result in spiritual bondage.

And Paul is saying, just as much as you would keep your distance

from someone who wanted to deceive you and kidnap you

and enslave you physically,

you should also keep your distance from anything

which would lead you into spiritual bondage and powerlessness.

And just as there are very real dangers to our bodies

in this fallen world, Paul says,

there are also very real dangers to our souls.

And we should not be naive or unaware

or living in denial of them.

But Paul's strategy in these verses

is not to list all the spiritual dangers that we can face

and describe them and elaborate on them

and give us specific instructions for how to face them all.

There's some of that in other parts of the New Testament.

But in this passage, Paul points us to three things we can count on,

three things which will help us,

that can protect us from being taken in

by deceitful promises, by empty words.

Paul points us to the foundation we have in Christ,

to the fullness we have in Christ,

and to the freedom we have in Christ.

Foundation, fullness, freedom.

We're going to look at each of these themes one by one.

So first, the foundation we have in Christ.

This is verses six to seven.

Therefore, as you receive Christ Jesus the Lord,

so walk in Him.

Now, this verse is really the hinge

on which the whole book of Colossians turns.

The whole book of Colossians, in a nutshell, is verse six.

As you receive Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.

In the beginning of the letter,

Paul gave thanks for how the Colossians had received Christ.

This is chapter one, verses three to eight.

He said, the gospel has come to you.

You heard it and understood the grace of God in truth.

And then Paul went on to pray that they would walk in Him.

That they would walk in a manner worthy of the Lord,

bearing fruit in every good work, verse 10 of chapter one.

And then in chapter one, verses 15 to 23,

Paul reminded the Colossians of who is Christ Jesus the Lord.

He was not, He is the firstborn over all creation,

the one in whom all things hold together,

and the one who made peace through His blood

that He shed on the cross.

Broadly speaking, all of Colossians that we've looked at so far

focuses on the first half of verse six.

As you receive Christ Jesus the Lord.

And the second half of Colossians that we're starting to jump into

from chapter two, verse eight, to chapter four, verse six,

the rest of chapter four is closing greetings,

but is about walking in Christ.

It gives specific warnings and instructions

about how to live with Christ Jesus as our Lord.

Martin Luther said,

the life of a Christian is a life of daily repentance and faith.

That's actually, that's how you become a Christian

in the first place, right?

By repenting, that means turning from sin

and faith, trusting in Jesus.

And that's also how you grow as a Christian,

is every day turning away from sin

and trusting in Christ and living out of that trust.

So chapter two of Colossians gives us three warnings.

Verse eight,

see to it that no one takes you captive.

Verse 16,

therefore let no one pass judgment on you.

Verse 18,

let no one disqualify you.

Then in chapter three,

we'll see some more positive instructions.

Seek the things that are above.

Chapter three, verse one.

Chapter five,

put to death what is earthly in you.

Verse 12,

put on as God's chosen ones,

holy and beloved,

really the qualities of Christ.

And he goes into a long list there.

Compassion,

kindness,

patience,

and love.

And so on.

So we could zoom out from verse six

and see the whole of the book,

but if we zoom back in

to verse seven,

Paul gives us four pictures

of what it looks like

to walk in Christ.

Or as we might say,

to build on the foundation

that we have in Christ.

First picture,

rooted like a tree.

This verb is in the perfect tense,

which often indicates

the ongoing result

of a completed action

in the past.

In other words,

what that means is that

by receiving Christ,

we have already been

rooted in Christ.

We read,

our first reading

was John chapter 15,

John 15 · chapter mention

where Jesus said,

I am the vine,

you are the branches.

Right?

You're already connected

to Jesus

in a life-giving way

if you're one of His disciples,

if you're one of His followers.

We've already been rooted.

So the New American Standard

translates,

walk in Him having been

firmly rooted.

Now the rest of the verbs

in this sentence

are in the present tense,

which simply indicates

an ongoing process.

Being built up,

being established,

abounding in thanksgiving.

But rooted is sort of

the beginning of that,

having been rooted.

But there's an ongoing result

of having been rooted in Christ

is that our roots

are to grow ever deeper

in Him.

We've been connected

to Christ

and we're meant to be,

to grow down

into Christ

more and more.

One verse

in the Bible

that goes with this image

is Jeremiah 17.

It said,

Blessed is the man

who trusts in the Lord,

whose trust is the Lord.

He is like a tree

planted by water

that sends out

its roots by the stream.

It does not fear

when heat comes,

for its leaves remain green.

It is not anxious

in the year of drought,

for it does not cease

to bear fruit.

That's the picture

of someone

who has received Christ

and who is walking in Him,

whose roots are growing deeper

every day.

But the second metaphor

is sort of a contrast.

We're not just growing deeper,

we're also growing up.

We're being built up

like a house.

Most often in the New Testament,

the metaphor of a house

or a temple

is used to describe

the church.

Not only the individual Christian,

but the community

of God's people.

So Ephesians 2.20,

Ephesians and Colossians,

Ephesians sort of expands

on a lot of the things

that are in Colossians.

So often some of the,

many of the ideas

that are in Colossians,

you'll find a parallel

in Ephesians,

partly because Paul

was probably writing

these letters

around the same time.

He was writing to churches

that were closely located

to each other.

Anyway,

we could go into more

of a relationship

between Colossians and Ephesians,

but we won't do that now.

But Ephesians 2.20

says this,

you are members

of the household of God

built on the foundation

of the apostles and prophets,

Christ Jesus himself

being the chief cornerstone

in whom the whole structure

being joined together

grows into a holy temple

in the Lord.

You also

are being built together

into a dwelling place

for God by the Spirit.

You see,

being a Christian

isn't just a private endeavor.

It's not just

sort of quietly growing

our roots down

deeper into Christ.

It's also a public project

that we're engaged in together,

a community project

that we're being built up

to be a display

of God's glory

to the world.

Now,

I hope that many of you

will stay after church

to hear our presentation

of the proposed building project,

but that's not

an appropriate application

of this verse.

The primary application

of this verse

is that we would be

looking for ways

to build each other up

in faith and hope and love.

And honestly,

the building project

will only

bring glory to God

if we're constantly

building one another up

spiritually

and building

on the foundation of Christ

and building each other up

in the truth

and in the grace of Jesus.

All right,

third metaphor,

right?

We've seen rooted like a tree,

built up like a house,

established in the faith

just as you were taught.

Now,

that word established

was often used

to describe legal contracts

or judicial verdicts.

Established,

confirmed,

settled,

verified,

proven valid.

All of those

would be similar ideas.

Paul wanted his hearers

to have a confident assurance

that the Christian faith,

which they had been taught,

is true and reliable

so that they wouldn't

easily be swayed.

Again,

he expresses the same idea

in Ephesians 4,

14 to 15.

He says,

so that we may no longer

be like little children

tossed to and fro

by the waves

and carried about

by every wind of doctrine,

by human cunning,

by craftiness

and deceitful schemes.

Rather,

speaking the truth in love,

we are to grow up

in every way into Christ.

So let me ask you

this question.

Practically,

are you seeking to grow

in your understanding

of the foundations

of your faith

in Christ

so that you won't

be quickly swayed

when someone else

expresses a different opinion?

In the Middle Ages,

the Christian philosopher

Anselm

began his most famous treatise

with the concept

of faith-seeking understanding.

He said,

on the one hand,

you can't insist

on understanding everything

before you believe anything.

That's not how

human life works.

Every one of us

came out of the womb

and the only way

we stayed alive

was by trusting someone

who we didn't fully understand,

by latching onto

the breast

or the bottle

and trusting

that what came out of there

would nourish us

instead of kill us.

It's the only reason

you are alive today.

It's because you trusted,

you lived by faith,

without much understanding.

But of course,

as you grow up,

the natural process

of growing up

involves growing

in understanding

and eventually

learning not only

to eat solid food

but also to cook

your own food

and to cook food

for somebody else.

And so that's meant

to be a picture

of the progress

of a growing Christian,

right?

As a new Christian,

sometimes you just

got to start by drinking

in the Word of God

as it's being fed to you,

as someone else

is explaining

and distilling it for you

and trusting

that God is there

and God is real

and God is wiser

than any of us

and that He loves us

no matter what we feel.

But you know,

growing Christians

don't just stop there.

They don't just stop

with believing something

that they don't

really understand.

Anselm said this,

he said,

I do not endeavor,

O Lord,

to penetrate

your transcendence

for in no way

do I compare

my understanding

with that.

But I long

to understand

in some degree

your truth

which my heart

believes and loves.

So are you seeking

to grow

in your understanding

of the God

that you have come

to trust and believe in?

You're seeking

to grow

in your understanding

of God's ways

and God's will.

Are you dealing

with the hard questions

that other people

ask you

or you ask yourself

rather than avoiding

them out of fear?

Are you getting

to know the Bible

better

so that you're not

just able to receive

someone else's teaching

from it but that you

can pick up the Bible

and read it

and benefit from it?

You can cook a meal

for yourself

as well as coming

to church each Sunday

and receiving the Word

as it's fed to you.

Are you growing

in discernment

so that you can listen

to different people

teaching the Bible

and you can compare it

with what it actually says

and be able to say,

hmm,

there's a difference here.

I need to

eat the meat

and not the bones.

I need to

grow in discernment.

So rooted like a tree,

built up like a house,

established like

a legal contract,

forth,

abounding in thanksgiving.

That word abounding

could refer to

something that was

overflowing like a fountain

or it could refer

to a surplus,

an unexpectedly large

profit from a business.

All right,

a whole bunch of leftovers

from a feast.

Paul says,

we have received

Christ Jesus the Lord

and so our expressions

of thankfulness to God

should be overflowing

and abounding.

Seven times

in this short little book

of Colossians,

Paul emphasizes

the importance

of thanksgiving.

Chapter 1,

verse 3,

we always thank God

when we pray for you.

Chapter 1,

verse 12,

with joy giving thanks

to the Father,

here abounding

in thanksgiving.

315,

and be thankful.

316,

with thankfulness

in your hearts to God.

317,

giving thanks to God

the Father through Him.

42,

being watchful in prayer

with thanksgiving.

Seven times

Paul's reminding us

of the importance

of thanksgiving.

Now,

there's a lot

that could be said

about thanksgiving.

But in the context

of this sermon

where Paul's warning them

against spiritual dangers

that could take them captive,

a heart that is abounding

in thanksgiving

is a safeguard

against all kinds

of things,

all kinds of negative

thought patterns

that can quickly

take us captive.

It's a safeguard

against envy.

It's a safeguard

against jealousy.

It's a safeguard

against self-pity.

It's a safeguard

against entitlement.

It's a safeguard

against arrogance.

It's a safeguard

against discontentment

and grumbling.

Thankfulness drives

all those ugly things away.

And thankfulness

doesn't let them gain

a destructive foothold

in our soul.

That's why so many

of the Psalms begin

with the psalmist

speaking to himself

and saying,

praise the Lord,

O my soul.

And all that is within me,

praise his holy name.

Praise the Lord,

O my soul,

and forget not

all his benefits.

So being rooted down

and builded up,

being established securely

and abounding freely

with thanksgiving,

that's what it looks like

to build on the foundation

of Christ,

to be strong and secure

in our attachment

to the foundation

that we're building on.

But that's the first point.

But the second thing,

which we see in verses 9 to 12,

is that we not only have

a solid foundation in Christ,

we also have

a wonderful fullness

in Christ.

Verse 9,

That's a profound verse.

And you know,

you can't really get

any clearer than that

if you want to say

Jesus is fully God.

All the fullness of deity

dwells in him.

There's no ambiguity there.

Jesus isn't sort of filled

with some divinity.

He isn't just deeply

connected to God.

He isn't just a human being

who achieved closeness to God.

All the fullness of deity

dwells in him.

There's nothing missing.

And by the way,

this was not just Paul's idea.

Some people want to say

this was just Paul's idea.

But Jesus said,

Matthew 11, 27,

All things have been handed over

to be by my Father.

And no one knows the Son

except the Father.

And no one knows the Father

except the Son.

And anyone to whom

the Son chooses

to reveal him.

Jesus, again,

very clear,

saying he has this intimate

and close

and unique relationship

with God the Father.

Over and over

throughout the Gospels,

Jesus claims to be and do

what, according to the Scriptures,

only God can be and do.

And so you have to wrestle

with that

and ask the question,

is he telling the truth

or not?

And if he's not telling the truth,

then he's not a wise man

and he's not a prophet

you should trust

and he's not a teacher

you should follow.

Because you shouldn't follow

someone who claims

to have the fullness of deity

dwelling in him

and claims to have

an exclusive and unique

connection to God

if it ain't true.

So it's really one way

or the other.

But Christians believe

that Jesus is fully God.

Christians believe

that if you want to know God,

you need look no further

than the face of Jesus Christ.

Jesus is God's presence

and his very self.

Again, this is one

of the main differences

between Christianity

and every other religion

in the world.

Some religions

and philosophies

would say that

the fullness of deity

is inherently unapproachable.

That humanity

and deity

are like oil and water.

They don't,

they cannot mix,

they cannot inhabit

the same space.

But if God

is truly omnipotent

and beyond our comprehension,

wouldn't that be limiting

God's power

to say that he can't

fully inhabit

one of his creatures?

that he couldn't

become a human being?

How can you say

that God can't do that

because that's impossible?

Isn't nothing impossible

for God

if God is truly transcendent

and wise

beyond our understanding?

Now, other religions

go the opposite way

and they say

God is everything

and everything is God.

They would have no problem

with verse 9,

in him all the fullness

of deity dwells,

but they would say

sure,

all the fullness

of deity dwells

in you and me too

or like drops

in the ocean.

But if God

is everything

and everything

is God,

it becomes very hard

to make any ultimate

distinctions

between good

and evil

or even between

a human being

and a piece of dirt.

Isn't that important

to make such distinctions?

Christians.

So, Christianity says

that God is fundamentally

different than us,

that we cannot approach

God on our own

because of our sin,

our corruption,

but in his mercy

and wisdom,

God has made a way.

God chose to enter

into our space

and our world

and our flesh

in the person

of Jesus Christ

so that we might know him,

so that we might be

reconciled to God,

the Father through him,

so that we might

be filled

with the presence of God.

That's the amazing

message of Christianity,

that yes,

there is that

amazing transcendent God

who's not just

in and out

of each one of us,

and yet we can

connect with him.

We can be reconciled

with him,

and we can even have

God dwelling in us

through his spirit.

Verse 10 goes on,

not only is Christ,

not only does the whole

fullness of deity

dwell in Christ,

Paul goes on to say,

you have been filled

in him.

You see,

some people were coming

to the Colossians,

and they were saying,

okay,

you believe in Christ,

that's fine.

Maybe he's even necessary,

but he's not sufficient.

In order to really thrive

and really flourish,

you need something

more than Christ,

something other than Christ,

something outside of Christ.

Next week,

we'll get into more

of the details

of what exactly

they were offering

and why it would have

seemed so attractive,

but here the details

are not that important.

Paul wants to remind them

that all that they need

is found in Christ.

Paul says,

live out of the fullness

that is in Christ

and that's been given

to you

as you've been united

with Christ

through faith.

Don't be taken captive

by an empty

and deceptive philosophy.

Now, Paul is not demonizing

the discipline of philosophy

in general,

nor is Paul rejecting

logical argument

and reasoning.

If you translate

the Greek of verse 8 literally,

it says,

see that no one

takes you captive

by the philosophy

and empty deceit.

Paul's warning

against the specific philosophy

being taught in Colossae,

which he describes

in the rest of the verse.

So, if you're considering

being a philosophy major,

this verse is not saying

that it is a sin

to do that.

At the same time,

philosophy will never save you.

As one of my philosophy

professors once said,

philosophers say

they love wisdom,

but most of the time

they just love arguments.

A little bit more seriously,

like many other

academic disciplines,

philosophy is perhaps

most useful

when we're humbled by it.

In other words,

when we allow it to show us

how much we don't know,

how much is out there

in the world

that is beyond

our limited comprehension.

How limited our reason

can be

and how far it gets us.

But getting back

to the text,

verses 11 to 12

show us

in some rather graphic imagery

what it means

that we have been filled

in Christ.

Again,

continuing with this

fullness theme.

Now, 11 and 12,

I think,

are the most dense verses

in this passage.

This whole passage,

8 through 15,

is one long sentence

in the Greek.

So, Paul is just

piling metaphor upon metaphor,

image upon image,

to paint, again,

this powerful picture.

He's using this rhetorical style

to sort of paint a picture

of the fullness

and later on the freedom

that we have in Christ.

But 11 and 12

are pretty dense,

so let me go phrase by phrase.

In him,

you are also circumcised.

Now,

where does this image

of circumcision come from?

It comes from the Old Testament.

The Old Testament,

God required

the male descendants

of Abraham

to be physically circumcised

as a sign

that they belong

to God's covenant people.

So, circumcision represented

cutting off

or putting away

everything that displeases God

and dedicating oneself

fully to God

for the task ahead.

But verse 11

is not talking about

physical act of circumcision.

It continues,

in him you are circumcised

with a circumcision

made without hands.

When the Bible talks

about something

made without hands,

it's talking about

something that's done

by God

and not by human beings.

In other words,

you were circumcised

by God.

That is spiritually cleansed

and set apart.

Paul's drawing on

an Old Testament idea

which is sometimes expressed

as circumcision

of the heart.

God spiritually,

not just a physical act

that sort of symbolically

represented something,

but God spiritually

cleansing His people

and setting them apart

for His service.

Going on,

by putting off

the body of the flesh.

Now, if you look down

at verse 13,

it says,

you were dead

in the uncircumcision

of your flesh

and God made you alive.

And if you look down

at chapter 3, verse 9,

the same verb

put off appears.

You have put off

the old self

with its practices

and have put on

the new self.

So, the image is

when we come to Christ,

it's like we're wearing

a full-body suit

that is dirty

and stinky

and stained

and we've worn it forever

and it's never been washed.

And God strips it off of us.

He removes our uncleanness

and our inherited corruption.

And He does it,

this verse goes on,

by the circumcision of Christ.

Now, that phrase

could mean one of two things.

It could mean

the spiritual circumcision

that Christ Himself performs,

right?

Christ is the one

who removes

our inherited corruption

and sort of cleanses us spiritually.

But more likely,

I think this phrase,

the circumcision of Christ,

actually refers

to the crucifixion of Christ.

Christ,

circumcision was both

an act of devotion to God

and a bloody mess.

And I think Paul's using

this metaphor

to remind us

of the greatest act

of devotion to God,

which was also a bloody mess,

the death of Jesus on the cross.

Through and through

the death of Christ on the cross,

our uncleanness,

our corruption

can be removed

and stripped off of us.

One other reason

I think Paul's referring

to Christ's death

on the cross here

is that the next phrase

refers to His burial,

having been buried with Him

in baptism.

Christian baptism means

we've been identified

with the death

and burial

and resurrection of Jesus.

In other words,

it's a sign

that we've experienced

what verse 11 describes,

the circumcision of the heart.

Christ died for our sins.

He was buried.

On the third day,

God raised Him from the dead.

And now,

if we have faith in Christ,

we can say,

my old self died with Him

on that cross.

Christ took my stinky,

dirty, stained bodysuit.

He took all of my sin

on Himself.

And our sins were then

buried with Him in the grave,

and through faith in Him,

we've been raised to new life.

That's what baptism celebrates,

that we've become

a new creation in Christ

by His mercy and grace

because of the death

and burial

and resurrection of Jesus.

Not only has God

stripped off

our stinky,

dirty, stained clothes,

He's washed us clean,

and He's given us

a whole new wardrobe.

He's given us

the righteousness of Christ.

He's raised us up

with His mighty power,

the same power

that raised Jesus Christ

from the dead.

And so Paul says,

the fullness of deity

dwells in Christ,

and in Him you have fullness.

Fullness of cleansing.

Fullness of all of your sins

being removed.

Fullness of regeneration

of a new life in Christ.

Paul says,

what more do you need?

You can't get any more

cleansed than that.

You can't get any more

empowered from something else.

No.

You just need to go

deeper into Christ.

Don't need to run away

anywhere else.

There's nothing else

you're missing.

There's nothing else

that any other philosophy

or religion can give you

that you cannot find

in Christ.

So that's the second point.

Paul says,

live into the fullness

of Christ.

Third,

verse 13 to 15,

the freedom we have

in Christ.

Foundation,

fullness,

freedom.

In these last three verses,

Paul points us to the freedom

we have in Christ

because of His work

on the cross.

Freedom from the guilt

of sin.

It's verse 13 and 14.

And freedom from the powers

of darkness.

That's verse 15.

And if you think about

what kinds of things

can spiritually take us captive,

those have to be

at the top of the list.

Right?

Guilt and shame

and the powers of darkness.

Guilt and shame

can enslave us.

Look at the imagery

Paul uses in 13 and 14,

the record of debt

that stood against us.

Verse 14,

that word can mean

an IOU,

signed by one's own hand,

or a legal bond.

Some people even think

that Paul was referring

to a common idea

in his day

that there was

a heavenly register

of deeds

in which a record

of your wrongdoings

was kept.

And there's a list

in the presence of God.

You see,

this is something

we can't simply overlook

or ignore.

It's something

that doesn't go away

just because we forget about it

or choose not to think about it

or live in denial of it.

As God's image bearers,

we owe Him full obedience

and none of us

have come anywhere near that.

If we measure ourselves

up against the standard

of God's holy law,

we have all transgressed.

We owe God a debt.

There's no way

we can pay it off.

Even if I did not sin

for an entire year,

guess what?

I would simply be doing

my duty to God

because He made me

in His image

and that's what I owe Him.

I owe Him everything.

So there's no way

you can pay anything back

because obedience to God

is not paying God back

for our sins.

It's simply

what we owe Him already.

We're in a hole.

We have no way out.

And some of you

know very well

what that feels like.

The fear

that grips us,

the sense of hopelessness

that overwhelms us

when we think of the debt

that we owe to God

and the record

of our past sins.

The vain attempts

to cleanse ourselves

and hide our shameful failures

from others.

The anger and despair

that fills us

when the futility

of those efforts

is exposed

and the underlying feeling

of worthlessness

that haunts us.

But verse 14

is wonderful news.

He forgave us

all our trespasses.

Not just some of them

but all of them.

Sometimes I've asked people

who are struggling

with receiving

God's forgiveness,

did Jesus Christ

die on the cross

for some of your sins

or for all of your sins?

And they almost always say

oh well

like all.

Right?

Because you realize

that it would be

it doesn't make any sense

to say some.

Are you living that way?

Or do you think

there's something

that you've done in the past

that there is no way

that God could forgive?

He forgave us

all our trespasses.

trespasses.

He canceled

the record of debt.

He didn't just reduce it.

He didn't just refinance it.

He erased it.

He wiped it away.

He set it aside.

That's actually

an interesting phrase

that literally means

he took it out of the middle.

In an ancient courtroom

the record of debt

along with other

signed statements

would be placed

right in the middle

of the courtroom.

But now what Paul is saying

is the list of accusations

that stood in the middle

has been nailed

to the cross of Christ.

Jesus paid it all.

We can know forgiveness

and freedom

from enslaving guilt

and shame.

There's freedom

from the guilt of sin

in Jesus Christ.

Verse 15 tells us

there's also freedom

from the powers of darkness.

God disarmed

the rulers

and authorities

and put them

to open shame

by triumphing over them

in Christ.

You might say

what exactly does that mean?

Who are these rulers

and authorities?

Well verse 1

chapter 1 verse 16

says that the rulers

and authorities

in heaven

and on earth

have been created

by Christ

were created

through Christ

and for Christ.

And in chapter 2 verse 10

which we read

we read that Christ

is the head

of all rule

and authority.

In other words

no authority

stands above

the eternal

son of God.

There is no one

that can overrule

or override

what Jesus

decrees.

But it's also evident

from verse 15

and elsewhere in scripture

that these rulers

and authorities

that Paul is speaking of

in both heaven

and on earth

have rebelled against

the rightful authority

of Christ.

So Ephesians 6

speaks of

rulers and authorities

cosmic powers

over this present darkness

spiritual forces

of evil

in the heavenly places.

Paul may also

be referring

to earthly rulers

and authorities

that is power structures

in this world

that have become

bent and twisted

toward carrying out

Satan's evil designs.

What he's saying here

is that on the cross

God triumphed

over all

the evil

powers.

Think about

what happened

when Jesus

was nailed

to the cross.

He was condemned

to die

by the rulers

and authorities

of Rome

and of Israel.

Their power

was bent

toward accomplishing

the evil designs

of Satan himself.

But paradoxically

when it seemed

that the powers

had triumphed

over Jesus

Jesus was actually

triumphing

over the powers.

And T. Wright

put it this way

these powers

stripped him

naked

held him up

to public contempt

and celebrated

a triumph over him.

But in verse 15

Paul declares

that on the cross

God was stripping

them naked

disarming them.

It's the same word

as put off

in verse 11.

God was holding

them up

to public contempt

put them

to open shame

and leading

them in his own

triumphal

possession

in Christ.

The crucified

Messiah was in fact

their rightful

Lord.

The cross

therefore

becomes the

source of hope

for all

who are held

captive

under the rule

of powers

which are hostile

to God

enslaved

in fear

and suspicion.

Christ breaks

the last hold

that the powers

had over his people

by dying

on their behalf.

he now welcomes

us into

God's new

family.

What that means

is that the cross

of Jesus

gives hope

to all of God's

people who are

oppressed by

hostile rulers

and authorities

whether those

are spiritual

powers,

demons,

or corrupt

human authorities.

They will not

have the last

word.

Christ has

triumphed

and he will

have the last

word.

Are there demons

that are afflicting

you?

We don't always

talk a lot

about demons

in some

of the churches

in the West

but they're

real.

Are there demons

that are afflicting

you?

Are there addictions

that threaten

to overcome

you?

Do you believe

that your future

is determined

by curses

or spells

or other words

that people

have spoken

over your life

in the past?

Verse 15

says,

none of these

hostile rulers

and authorities

can stand

before the

triumphing

power of the

crucified

and risen

Lord Jesus.

They are enemies

but they are

defeated enemies

so stand firm

in the name

of Jesus Christ

and do not

believe their

lies.

Verse 15

also gives hope

to Christians

who are persecuted

and oppressed

by earthly rulers

and authorities

who are carrying

out Satan's

evil designs.

no matter

how strong

and how unyielding

they may seem

they do not

have the final

word.

Christ triumphed

through his cross

and he leads us

in triumphal

procession

even when we

suffer injustice

as Jesus

himself did.

And just as

Christ was raised

from the dead

we can be

confident

that all God's

people

will one day

be vindicated.

for 12 years

Solomon Northup

was a slave

and his story

is one of

perseverance

and endurance.

It doesn't come

out in the movie

but if you read

the book

it's also evident

that he was

sustained by his

faith in Christ.

But 12 years

after he was

kidnapped and

sold into slavery

he was working

in the fields

of Louisiana

one morning

he saw two

men approaching

neither of whom

he recognized

one was an

attorney from

his home

state of New

York.

He wrote this

as my eyes

rested on his

countenance

a world of

images thronged

my brain

a multitude

of well-known

faces

my wife

Ann's

and the dear

children's

and my old

dead fathers

all the scenes

and associations

of childhood

and youth

all the friends

of other

and happier

days

until at last

the perfect

memory of the

man recurred

to me

and throwing

up my hands

towards heaven

I exclaimed

in a voice

louder than

I could utter

in a less

exciting moment

Henry B.

Northup

thank God

thank God

in an instant

I comprehended

the nature

of his business

and felt

that the hour

of my deliverance

was at hand

I seized

my old

acquaintance

by both hands

I could not

speak

I could not

refrain from

tears

throw down

that sack

Northup said

your cotton

picking days

are over

he was

finally

vindicated

he became

an abolitionist

he lived the rest

of his life

as a free man

now his

vindication

wasn't complete

because those

who had kidnapped

and enslaved him

were prosecuted

but were let

off

without anyone

being punished

there was not

full justice

and of course

there wasn't

full justice

for many other

people

who remained

in slavery

their whole

lives

but the promise

for every

Christian

is that

however

incompletely

it may happen

in this world

or however

much it may

happen in this

world

that the day

of your

vindication

will one

day come

that the powers

and authorities

will not

have the last

word

Paul says

see to it

that no one

takes you

captive

do not

be hopeless

build on the

foundation

you have in

Christ

live in the

fullness

revel in the

fullness

that you have

in Christ

and stand

firm in the

freedom you

have in Christ

and know

that he is

the Lord

who will one

day be

completely

victorious

and we will

stand with him

let us pray

father we pray

that you would

help us to

to build on

the foundation

of Christ

to be rooted

down and built

up

to be

established

and abounding

in thanksgiving

we pray that we

would know the

fullness that is

in Christ

and that we

would go deeper

and deeper

into the

fullness

that you have

given to us

and we pray

that we would

stand firm in

the freedom

that you have

purchased for us

the freedom

from guilt

and shame

the freedom

from the powers

and authorities

which threaten

us

we pray

that

we would

walk

in Christ

just as we

have received

Christ

the Lord

we pray this

in his name

amen

joy

and

Lord

say

just لل

любой

egal

His name on fact

and the

God

and the

man

have

seen