Colossians 2:1-10: Freedom In The Gospel

I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.
For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.

Introduction: The Power of Deceit
As we finish chapter 1 and look back, we need to step back and see what Paul has already accomplished. First, he helped the Colossians see that they are a part of what God is doing worldwide with the gospel. Second, he recognized how the mini-religions were trying to “adopt” and “adapt” Jesus to fit their ideas but extracted Jesus from that mess by showing his unique characteristics.

If you think back on the three main characteristics of the mini-religions that were common throughout this area of Turkey, you will remember that they were:

1. The spirit is good and flesh is bad (therefore Jesus isn’t really God ‘cause God can’t come in the flesh). But Paul said that Jesus was unique, both creator God and savior man. There was no other path to forgiveness except through what he did.
2. Special knowledge is reserved for the chosen (you need special connections to talk to God). But Paul said that the mysteries have been revealed already: "To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." (Colossians 1:27) God is the God of everyone (not just Jews) and has come to dwell in each one of his followers.
3. Respectability comes from tying into an ancient religion. Paul hasn’t delved into this one yet, but he will later in chapter 2.

But first, Paul is going to spend some time building up the believers and telling them to watch out for the power of deceit. What was it that made these mini-religions attractive to the people in Colossae and Laodicea? Why did they seem to thrive like weeds? Here in these verses, Paul identifies a few ideas:

1. They made you feel special. They promised insider knowledge of the spiritual that no-one else knew. Like those “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” seminars or those “Secrets Of the Wall Street Day Traders”. Spiritual pride and all of its divisive consequences. Paul doesn’t come out and say this directly, but you can see it in his emphasis in these verses: unity and full knowledge in Christ.
2. They are well-presented. Paul calls them “fine-sounding” and “hollow” Good first impression. They spoke well. They were persuasive. They had their PowerPoints together, with integrated multi-media. They were confident and bold in their assertions rather than cautious. They were the easy-listening station.
3. They are unifying. They brought together different streams of religious thoughts and showed how they all seemed to fit together. Rather than excluding anyone, they welcomed you and what Paul calls your “human tradition” No one’s religion or background was ever wrong, just not fully informed.
4. They made sense. Paul mentions how they drew from the “basic principles of this world” They explained what you already knew; how everything your Mom taught you was right and now you knew why it was right in a spiritual sense. That meant they were culturally-sensitive, not designed to rock the boat; rather give you another oar in the water.
   

The attraction of this deceit was so strong that Paul spends these next verses to stick to what they know and build each other up.

We Know God Best When We Work Together
Look at the start of chapter 2.

I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea,
and for all who have not met me personally. My purpose is that they may be
encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of
complete understanding—Colossians 2:1-2a

Paul says: Let’s be together in this. In chapter 1, Paul talked about how happy he was, how thankful he was when he heard about the Colossians’ faith taking off and trusting God and helping the other believers. Now Paul returns the favor, to encourage them, and see that he is working towards the same goal. He isn’t holding anything back, working for them.

He describes effort here as a struggle. That same word for agony. In 1st Timothy 6:12, Paul says “Fight the good fight of faith.” Same word. Paul says, I am fighting the good fight for you. We’re in this together. He says it again in verse 5, where he says, “For though I am absent from you in body, I am with you in spirit…”

The Declaration of Independence concludes with these famous words: “And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.” John Hancock, whose name can be seen so prominently at the bottom, said later, “we must be unanimous. There must be no pulling different ways; we must all hang together.” To which Benjamin Franklin replied, “Yes, we must all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.”

There was interdependence between the founding Fathers of our country for a common purpose. Likewise, for the cause of the gospel, need to band together or we will surely hang separately.

That’s exactly what Paul is saying. In verse 2, Paul says that our encouragement and unity are the keys (“so that”) to fully understanding God. In verse 5, Paul says he is delighted in “how orderly you are” Glad to see there are no fistfights in service last week! So much of what God wants to give us cannot be found alone.

God’s purpose in all this was to use the church to display his wisdom in its
rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. –
Ephesians 3:10 (NLT)

Full knowledge of God only comes together with other believers because God has given it different bits (the “rich variety”) to different people, in the same way he has given out different gifts. But without unity in love; without orderliness, that can’t come together and we miss our chance at really understanding God.

Jesus said,

…I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of
them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be
in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. – John
17:20-21

Unity is hard work. But it gives us a glimpse of God.

We Know God Best Over Time
You can always tell a newbie. There is a combination of excitement and naiveté which is unmistakable. Full of confidence, they plunge into their tasks, undaunted by warnings and unfazed by how little they really know. We, older, wiser and, sometimes, more cynical, simultaneously laugh at their folly and envy their sense of wonder.

As a long-time computer programmer in a fairly specialized field, I’ve seen many newbies start out. There are certain mistakes you can help them avoid, but there are certain lessons which can only be learned from time and experience. Maybe failure is the teacher. Maybe it is watching others excel. Maybe it is that “Aha!” moment when it all comes together.

Parenting is like that, too. Some lessons are caught, others are taught. It is the age old equation:
time + truth = wisdom.

Paul knows that. That’s why he says, in verse 6:

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him,
rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and
overflowing with thankfulness. – Colossians 2:6

Look how many times Paul connects how we begin in Christ with how we continue in Christ. You received Christ (past tense), now continue (present tense). You were rooted (past tense) now be built up (present tense), you were taught (past tense) now overflow with thankfulness (present tense).

It is one thing to know the truth. Verse 2 says that “complete understanding” is out there. Verse 10 says we can have all the fullness of Christ. Wonderful. However, “Truth, to be understood, must be lived.”[1] There is a richness to the truth, called wisdom, which only comes when you try it out; when you go out on faith based on what God says; when you really surrender to that truth; and do what he says: that’s what gives the gospel a richness.

In my job, there are certain patterns; certain tools; certain paths; certain designs which I’ve learned, by experience, are going to get my job done. There are other paths which have warning signs and caution tape and flares and red lights around them because they are dead ends. I learned by experience. Am I inflexible? I guess I am, but that’s ok, because there’s always a fresh supply of newbies to test the dead ends out again. But that experience lets me focus on bigger goals and larger tasks rather re-testing the quicksand.

The best years of your life with God are ahead of you, if you continue. But sometimes we try and short-cut the process, because are impatient or we don’t like the cost of having to live out a truth in real life. Many religions and self-help books offer the equivalent of spiritual get-rich schemes; get the power and the peace without the pain. If you hear that, run far, far away.

time + truth = wisdom

We Know God Best Through Christ
Did you see where God tucked away all of his best secrets?

…in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are
hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. – Colossians 2:2b-3

Paul says: all the best top-secret stuff is with Jesus. Stick close to him and you’ll get it all. Sometimes we miss it, because we’re not listening. Sometimes because we’re not asking (James 1:5). Sometimes we still have to learn what God has already taught us. But if Jesus was really God in the flesh, then we ought to be paying attention to him. That is the beginning of wisdom.
It is not the only source of wisdom. But it is the only foundation for wisdom. At the core, it is not what you know but who you trust.

Sociologists often break down our convictions into three categories[2]:

1. Public convictions are convictions I want other people to think I believe, even though I really may not believe them. Steven Colbert calls truthiness the degree to which something sounds true, even though it may not be true, allowing people with his or her sincerity. (Herod)
2. Private convictions are convictions that I sincerely think I believe, but it turns out they may be fickle. (Peter)
3. Core convictions are revealed by our daily actions, but what we actually do. At our core, we have a set of values—a set of assumptions-we cal l that your worldview. These assumptions control what you will pay attention to, what you will ignore and how you organize your mental world.

So your starting point is important:

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy,
which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather
than on Christ. – Colossians 2:8

If you start at the wrong place-the wrong assumptions- you end up with the wrong conclusions. These believers had an accumulated body of wise sayings (the “tradition”) and a world view (“basic principles”). On the surface they appeared reliable. The world offers its own set of “secrets” (Revelation 2:24) But Paul calls them hollow: looking respectable but, in the end, unsatisfying. You aren’t missing anything.

John Ortberg, in his book Faith and Doubt, challenged us that if we really wrote out our core convictions, it might look something more like[3]:

• I believe that a lie is a bad thing, but it might be necessary for me to avoid pain. (“A lie is an abomination unto the Lord and a very present help in time of trouble.”)
• I believe that it pays to be nicest to people who are wealthy, attractive, smart, athletic, successful or important.
• I believe that I have the right to pass judgment on others.
• I believe that I have the right to gossip about people.
• I believe that I had better be looking out for number one.
• I believe that things have not gone as well for me as they should, so I deserve a little treat: another doughnut, another drink, another pill, another fantasy…
• I believe that thirty thousand children dying of preventable diseases every day in our world are not worth risky my affluence for.

When we are born again, God begins the process of re-directing us, changing our core convictions, our heart assumptions. It takes time because we have lived our life without him. But Jesus said that, through this process, we glimpse what God has for us:

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by
the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's
will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. – Romans 12:2

Conclusion: You Are Not Missing Anything
Video games are filled with puzzles and hidden rooms and secrets. DVDs are filled with “Easter Eggs”: secret features that you can find if you know the right menu items to select. Books and articles are filled with cheat codes and walk-throughs, meant to let you get ahead in the game, finding all of the items at the exact right time, so that you won’t have to struggle. But with God, the game plan is already revealed. Anyone who tells you different is selling something. You have enough to do exactly what God wants you to do today.

Lurking in the back of our minds, prompted by our own insecurities is the lie: you are still missing something. The spiritual ad campaign, sponsored by Satan, says: if you only had x, you would really know the power. And like all ads, it is designed to foster discontent in our hearts. Hell is just the garden of Eden mixed with discontent.

But Paul says:

For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have
been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. –
Colossians 2:9-10

God has given us everything necessary: the Spirit is the seed, the church is his garden, the fruit is your life, showing forth the greatness of God.

[1] Experience, The Secret of Time, Charlie Peacock (1999)
[2] Faith and Doubt, John Ortberg (2008), p. 43
[3] Faith and Doubt, John Ortberg(2008), p. 48