Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness—the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. 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.
He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.
I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. My goal 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 disciplined you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives 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 elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.
For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.
When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. (Colossians 1:24-2:15 NIV)
We all like mysteries. There’s something about suspense that excites us. You don’t want to know how the book ends until the last page. When you watch a movie, you don’t want the director to start by saying, “I just want to give you a heads up: He doesn’t get the girl, the mother dies, and the plane crashes…” No! We want tension. If you’re going to watch the Super Bowl, you don’t want to know that the final score is going to be 27-21 Bengals. No! We all like mysteries.
Except in one area of life. Do you know what I’m thinking of? Love. We don’t like mysteries in love. Have you ever been in a relationship where you don’t know if the other person loves you? Isn’t that awful? Sure, when you start dating someone for the first time, it’s exciting. But it’s also an incredibly anxious time. “Does she love me? I need to know!” Mysteries aren’t fun when your heart is involved. Sadly, that doesn’t stop with dating. Spouses wonder: “Does he still love me? Why doesn’t he say so? Why doesn’t she show it?” Children wonder: “Does dad love me? Does mom?” Parents wonder: “After all that I’ve done, why doesn’t it seem like my children even care?” We all like mysteries, but not when it comes to knowing whether you’re loved. Agree?
Now take that to a bigger scale. If it hurts to wonder whether another person loves you, here’s the worst mystery of all: Does God love you? Do you ever wonder that? Our relationships with other people often color our relationship with God. “If she doesn’t love me, what chance in the world is there that God loves me?” There’s nothing worse than a mystery about God’s love. I bet you’ve felt it. The doubts. “Maybe God doesn’t love me. I mean, look at what’s happening in my life. Look at how much worse my life is than everybody’s else’s. Does God really love me?”
That was a real question on people’s minds 2000 years ago: “Does God love people like us?” Do you know who asked that? The Gentiles. Know what that means? A Gentile is anyone who isn’t a Jew. Anyone who isn’t a descendent of Israel. Most of us are Gentiles. Here’s why Gentiles had doubts about God’s love: Long ago, God chose the nation of Israel to be his people. He promised that the Savior would come from Israel. He sent his prophets to Israel. He had the Old Testament written in Hebrew for the Israelites. They were God’s chosen people. So there was this question, this mystery, in the minds of Gentiles: Does God care about people like us too?
Now, we need to emphasize that the Bible never says God’s love is only for the Jews. That’s not the Bible’s message at all. The God who created all people loves all people. There was never any doubt in the Bible itself. But people don’t always know what the Bible says, right? Think about it. When Jesus came, Jesus was born in Israel. Jesus lived in Israel. Jesus’ twelve disciples were from Israel. Jesus died in Israel. Jesus rose in Israel. Hum… Can you see why this doubt was on the Gentiles’ minds? “It’s great that the Savior came. It’s great that he died and rose like God promised. But that doesn’t answer the big question: “Did he come for me? Does God love me?”
Do you know who always takes advantage of that thought? The devil! From the moment he tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden, the devil has been trying to get human beings to doubt God’s love. Remember what he said to Eve? “Did God really say?” (Genesis 3:1). He hasn’t stopped. “Do you really think God loves you? You’re too far gone. You’re from the wrong race or culture or language. You don’t deserve it. You’ve sinned too much. Maybe God could love those people over there. They have their act together. But you? Come on. There’s no way.” Do you hear those lies? We like mysteries, but not when it comes to love. Not when it comes to God.
So the apostle Paul put an end to that mystery. God sent Paul around the world to present “the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. 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.” It’s a mystery no more! Jesus came to save people who aren’t from Israel. Jesus lives in the hearts of people who aren’t from Israel. Jesus gives people who aren’t from Israel hope of glory in heaven through faith in him. “Does Jesus love us too?” the Colossians asked. What was the answer? “Yes! Christ is in you too!”
That’s the message Paul got to share. He wanted the Colossians to “know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Remember how much the people in Colossae loved knowledge? Paul says, “All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” are found in Christ. Like, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). Like, “to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). Like, Jesus is the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). There’s no mystery. Christ came for you! No matter who you are: Christ loves you!
Got it? Then watch out! The moment you believe in God’s love for you in Jesus, watch out! Why? The devil’s going to try to rip that away from you. Paul writes, “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human traditions and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.” The devil wants to take you captive. Not physically. Spiritually. There are false ideas that are trying to drag you off into slavery. How? By focusing you on human traditions rather than on Christ. By focusing you on human rules rather than on God’s grace. Watch out! False beliefs hold on to you like chains.
Especially this one: “To be close to God, you need to follow the rules. You need to do the right things.” That doesn’t sound so bad, does it? This is how the world works: If you do the right things, it will work out. We Christians so easily buy into it. “If we had more Christian laws… If we just get people to do the right thing… If we just clean up our act… If we actually followed the rules, we’d get closer to God.” Does that make sense? Of course it does! That’s the basic principle of this world: “Just do the right thing. Just follow these steps, and you’ll be all set.”
And Paul says, “No, no, no.” That’s “hollow and deceptive philosophy.” How do we get close to God? Not by following rules. How? By Christ! “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness.” The truth is, it’s not about how we get close to God. It’s all about how God came close to us. And how did God come close to us? In Jesus. God became a human being. How much closer could he get? Jesus came to fill the Jesus-sized hole in your heart like nothing else can. You can put sports in there. You can put work in there. You can put money in there. You can put family in there. But it will just bounce around. None of those things can fill you. You need the fullness of Christ! You need Christ in you.
Paul gives an example of why rules don’t work: Circumcision. The false teachers were saying that Christians still needed to be circumcised. According to them, they needed to cut off a piece of flesh to be closer to God. But here’s the thing: Our greatest problem isn’t on the outside. Our real problem is on the inside. It’s our sinful hearts. If you cut off a piece of your body, does that make you holy? No! If you stop eating a certain food, does that make you holy? No! We don’t just need to change a thing or two on the outside. We need to be reborn. We need to die and rise again with a new heart. Rules don’t do any good when our whole being needs to be reborn.
How? We need to be changed from the inside out. We need to die and rise again. How? In baptism. Really? In that little thing we saw this morning? A little water. A little Word. What good is that going to do? Listen: “Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.” How was our whole sinful flesh buried? In baptism. How were we reborn with Christ? In baptism. Following rules might make us look good on the outside. In baptism, God changes us on the inside.
That’s not a popular teaching these days. Many Christian churches say, “Baptism is an outward sign of our commitment to Christ. So you better not baptize babies. That baby can’t commit to anything!” Exactly! That’s the point! You don’t get close to God by your commitment. By your action. By your strength. That is hollow and deceptive philosophy from the devil himself. You can only get close to God through Christ. And in his wisdom, Christ says that he comes close to us in baptism, in which we do nothing, but God does everything from the inside out. Baptism isn’t an outward sign. It is an inward means of grace in which God gives us new life and faith.
It has to be that way. Know why? “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ.” Why does baptism have to be God’s work in us? Because we were dead. We were dead without Jesus. What can dead people do? Nothing. This is why it doesn’t work for you or me to accept Christ or make a commitment to Christ on our own. The last time I checked, dead people can’t make themselves alive. If we were going to be alive, who had to do it? God. That’s what he did. He made you alive in Christ. You were buried with Christ in baptism, in which you were also raised with Christ through faith in the working of God.
What work did God do? “He forgave us all our sins, having cancelled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.” This is such a cool picture. It’s as if all your sins were written on a bank note. Your debt to God. And what did God do with it? He nailed it to Jesus’ cross. When Jesus died, he yelled, “It is finished.” “Paid in full!” Which sins? All our sins. Past sins. Present sins. Future sins. Nailed to the cross. You are forgiven! No more guilt. No more regret. How do you know it’s for you? In your baptism, you died and rose with Christ. It’s not a mystery: It’s Christ in you.
“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. Let God’s love for you in Christ color your relationships, not the other way around. Christ fills you full enough to give. Christ frees you to love without always getting love in return. Christ has forgiven you so that you can forgive. Knowing this: Jesus loves you. There is no mystery. Look at the cross. Look at the tomb. Look at the water. Christ in you. You are never alone.
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