Build your life on Jesus

Colossians 2:6-7

And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.

New Living Translation

There are many times when my husband Keith and I could finish each other's sentences. We've spent so much time together, we know how the other thinks. He has taught me to love Star Trek, and I've helped him learn to enjoy having cats in the house. (He still prefers dogs, but I'm working on it!)

Many years ago when we were first married, we came from separate lives. After a few years, our different backgrounds merged into a new creation, a life that is a blend of the best of both of us.

This is a result of spending many hours together, talking about everything, sharing dreams and fears, and experiencing new things together. Our love for and devotion to each other has grown stronger as a result.

This is similar to how our relationship with Jesus grows. Coming to know Jesus is an awesome thing, but it is only a beginning. We need to spend time with Him in prayer, reading His word, and thinking about Him. As we spend time with Him, He reveals Himself more and more. And the result is a deeper, stronger relationship with Him.

The goal is that we will grow so devoted to Jesus that we will have Him as the foundation of our life. We will do what pleases Him, not what pleases ourselves. We will avoid doing things that we know will displease Him. All we do, we will do with Him in mind.

And the better we know Him, the more we will trust Him. We will have a better understanding of all He has done for us, and all He is going to do. The result will be a deepening of thankfulness, joy, and peace.

Surely all this is worth spending time in prayer and Bible reading!

Jesus is all we need!

Colossians 2:1-5

I want you to know how much I have agonized for you and for the church at Laodicea, and for many other believers who have never met me personally. 2 I want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God’s mysterious plan, which is Christ himself. 3 In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

4 I am telling you this so no one will deceive you with well-crafted arguments. 5 For though I am far away from you, my heart is with you. And I rejoice that you are living as you should and that your faith in Christ is strong.

New Living Translation

One of the problems plaguing the early church was gnosticism. This belief taught in part that there was some special, secret knowledge required to be saved. This meant that only the elite, those who were "enlightened", were saved.

In this passage, Paul is clearly stating that the "mysterious plan," the secret knowledge needed to be saved is in fact Jesus Himself. If you know Him, you are saved. It is that simple. You don't have to know some secret fact or special formula. You don't have to have some strange insight. You just need to know Jesus. In Him lie all wisdom and knowledge.

Knowing Jesus is not some weird, unattainable concept. Who He is was revealed in Scripture. If when you hear about Him and what He did, you believe it and accept it, then you are saved.

Paul warned the people in his day not to be fooled by well-crafted arguments. We should heed the same warning today. Mysticism, spiritism, and all of the false religions of today won't save us. It is as simple today as it was in the days of the early church. Believe in Jesus, and follow Him. Don't look for some secret knowledge, just look for Jesus. He is all that any of us needs.

Colossians 1:24-29

24 I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am participating in the sufferings of Christ that continue for his body, the church. 25 God has given me the responsibility of serving his church by proclaiming his entire message to you. 26 This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to God’s people. 27 For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.

28 So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ. 29 That’s why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me.

New Living Translation

There was a problem in the early church in the city of Colosse. There was a false doctrine similar to gnosticism that was being taught. In a nutshell, this is a believe that there is a secret knowledge required to be saved. Only a few "special" enlightened people will be able to find this knowledge.

Paul wrote this letter to the Colossians in large part to set the people straight. In doing so, he uses some of the same language the Gnostic's were using.

In verse 26, he says that the message of salvation was kept secret for centuries. But now it has been revealed to His own holy people. What Paul is saying is not that this was a secret message that can only be figured out by an elite few. Instead it was hidden until Christ came. After He came, the message is being boldly told, in its entirety, to anyone willing to listen and accept it.

And just what is this message, that Paul is suffering so much for in order to make sure it is known? It is that Christ lives in all who will believe that Jesus is indeed God, and that He died for our sins in order to save us. This is what Paul said earlier in this chapter. The truth is, if you believe, it does not matter who you are, you are saved and you have the Holy Spirit given to you.

You don't have to be smart, or gifted. You don't have to be a preacher, or a prophet. You don't have to be a certain race, or sex. You don't have to look any special way, or have a specific lifestyle, other than submission to the lordship of Jesus.

There is no secret password, no magical initiation, nothing that has to be done in order to earn the salvation offered by Christ. Simply believe. Then live like it, through the power of His Spirit within you.

Colossians 1:21b-23

You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it.

New Living Translation

Through Jesus's death, we were reconciled with God. All our sins were forgiven, and now we are blameless. We can stand before Him without a single fault.

Paul states clearly in other passages that believing in this - the essence of the Gospel - is how we are saved. In this passage, He warns us that we have to continue to believe it. We have to stand firm in this belief. He warns us not to drift away from this assurance. It isn't enough to believe it in the moment of our salvation. We have to live our lives on a daily basis with the assurance of this complete release from sin.

Why did Paul have to give such a warning? In my own experience, it is because I am still aware of all my faults. I do stupid, selfish things sometimes. It is so hard to see all my failures, and still believe that I am holy and blameless, and I can stand before Jesus without a single fault.

I need to remember the reality of the situation. First of all, Jesus knew long before I was saved not only the sins I had already committed, but also the ones I would commit right up to the end of my life. They are all completely forgiven. They may be present and active in some way to me, but to Jesus even the sins not yet acted out are already covered by His blood.

There is also a part of this that is hard for me to fully grasp, yet it is the source of my hope. The concept of entire sanctification is the promise that not only did Jesus forgive my sins, but He is also changing me from the inside out. He isn't just forgiving what I do, or will do. He is also fulfilling the promise given in the Old Testament that He will write His laws on our hearts.

What this means is that instead of abandoning myself to my sins and not caring, I can't do something wrong without feeling miserable. He is changing how I think, how I feel. And little by little I'm giving up sins because they just are not worth it anymore. I'd rather please Jesus than please myself.

Looking back over the past few years, I can see amazing evidence of this transformation. Jesus is so faithful and amazing!

Colossians 1:15-20

15 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.

He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,

16 for through him God created everything

in the heavenly realms and on earth.

He made the things we can see

and the things we can’t see—

such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.

Everything was created through him and for him.

17 He existed before anything else,

and he holds all creation together.

18 Christ is also the head of the church,

which is his body.

He is the beginning,

supreme over all who rise from the dead.

So he is first in everything.

19 For God in all his fullness

was pleased to live in Christ,

20 and through him God reconciled

everything to himself.

He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth

by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.

New Living Translation

This passage is generally understood to be a hymn of the early church. It includes some very important statements of what the early church members, and we, believe about Jesus.

First, it is clear that they believed Jesus was divine. Critics of Christianity claim that Jesus never said He was God, and the early church never believed this. They are wrong. Jesus clearly said He was God, and from this hymn it is clear that Paul believed so as well.

Is. 44:24 says: "The Lord, your Redeemer and Creator, says: 'I am the Lord, who made all things. I alone stretched out the heavens. By myself I made the earth and everything in it.'"

If Isaiah says that God created the world by Himself, and Colossians says that He did it through Jesus, than Jesus must be God Himself!

This passage also says that Jesus is the head of the church, first to be resurrected, first in everything. The biblical concept of "head" is not ruler or boss, as we would think. Instead it means the first, the leader, the one who shows the way. Of course Jesus is also our ruler, our Lord. But the point being made here is that Jesus is the first to raise from the dead, and the One who provides reconciliation for all sinners with God. He is the source of our salvation, and the very source of our life.

Colossians 1:9-14

9 So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10 Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.

11 We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, 12 always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. 13 For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, 14 who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.

New Living Translation

In this passage Paul outlines how he is praying for the people in the church. It is a good guideline for us, as we pray for others.

1. Thank God for them.

2. Ask that God will give them complete understanding, not just the parts that come easily to them. That they will have spiritual wisdom, not just human wisdom that accepts the parts of the gospel they like.

3. That they will live to honor and please the Lord, doing good all the time, and be kind to each other.

4. That God will strengthen them with His power so they will have the patience and endurance needed to face life’s challenges.

5. That they will be filled with real joy, not dependant on circumstances, but on God.

6. That they will be truly thankful for all God has done for them.

Colossians 1:6

6 This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace.

New Living Translation

Hearing the Good News about Jesus is not like hearing other news. It isn't some story that makes us feel good, but is soon forgotten. Instead, it's purpose is to change our lives.

If we truly believe the message of Jesus - that He is God, He loves us, He died to pay for our sins so we can be completely forgiven, and that He rose from the dead, providing for us the promise of resurrection and eternal life as well - then we will never be the same.

It makes me so sad when people are "converted", but then continue to live their lives as if nothing has changed. That indicates to me that they took this incredible message of love and grace, and turned it into nothing but a story and a "fire insurance policy."

I wonder if sometimes this is the fault of the church. We stress the truth of forgiveness and the promise of escaping Hell and going to Heaven. In the process, we lose sight of the real power of this message.

Jesus didn't die just to get us out of Hell. That is a wonderful gift, and I don't want to diminish it. But He died for much more than that. He died and rose again in order to set us free from sin.

The promise of salvation comes not just from confession, but from repentance. What that means is we don't just admit we behaved badly. I've seen many people make such a confession with an attitude of resentment. It is as if they are upset about being caught, but have no intention of really changing. Or perhaps they are going to change - they intend to make sure they don't get caught again!

Repentance means that we agree completely that we have behaved badly, that our attitudes are messed up, and that at our core we are self-centered and sinful. It means that we have decided deep down that we don't want to live with this sin. Not only do we want to be forgiven, but we want to be changed.

Once we repent, the power of the Good News is unleashed! The Holy Spirit goes to work, changing our desires, our dreams, our very thoughts. It doesn't all happen overnight, but the process should begin immediately. And over time, we should see progress as God is changing us from the inside out.