COLOSSIANS 2:1-7
1I 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. 2 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, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. 5 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.
Spiritual Fullness in Christ
6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
COLOSSIANS 2:1-7 DO I WANT TO BE ROOTED AND BUILT UP IN CHRIST?
Springford Baptist Church: July 24, 2022.
Do you like to look after plants and flowers?
Especially in this hot, dry weather, flowers and plants growing outdoors need tending. I have been kept busy watering my flowers and ensuring that they remain healthy.
As much as I care for my flowers, I think about what we see described here as Paul caring for the Christian believers to whom he was writing. He really did want them to be healthy in their faith.
Seeds of faith had been planted and for those who had received Christ Jesus as Lord, Paul’s longing is for them to, “continue to live your lives in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith…” (Colossians 2:6b,7)
Paul is well aware of the dangers of false teaching that would damage and threaten the growth of these new Christians. Just as tender young plants need special care so that their roots can go down deep and be established, the same is true for Christian believers.
The key is for those who place their faith in Christ Jesus to want to be rooted and built up in Him.
Parents and grandparents know that whatever you hope for your children and grandchildren, they will make their own decisions. Ultimately each Christian believer including you and I will need to ask the question,
“DO I WANT TO BE ROOTED AND BUILT UP IN CHRIST”? This question is the focus of our message today. We can receive solid teaching from God’s Word about what is true, but we will need to decide what we will do with it. HOW WILL KNOWING GOD CHANGE MY LIFE?
We will need to decide if we really do want to be rooted and built up in Christ and what will be necessary for that to happen.
Paul wanted this letter that he wrote to Christians in Colosse to also be read in Laodicea. What he writes here is relevant for any Christian believers who do desire to be rooted and built up in Christ.
Paul states his purpose,” 2 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, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Colossians 2:2,3)
This will be necessary if their roots of faith are to go down deep and to be strong and resilient. Paul emphasizes that it is in Christ that are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. We know don’t we that hidden treasures require effort in order to be discovered.
Recently, we were at the beach at Port Dover and there was someone walking along the shore with a metal detector. He was determined to find any treasures that might be hidden in the sand.
How determined are we to discover the treasures of wisdom and knowledge that are hidden in Christ and that will ensure that we are “rooted and built up in Him”?
Paul did not want these Christian believers to whom he is writing to be deceived by “fine sounding arguments”. In the early church there was a false teaching that did threaten their growth in Christ. It was known as Gnosticism and was a heresy that emphasized special knowledge as the means of salvation, not faith in Christ.
We can know that anything that takes us away from depending on Jesus Christ as our one and only means of salvation is false and not to be trusted.
Again we ask, “DO I WANT TO BE ROOTED AND BUILT UP IN CHRIST”?
As much as Paul prayed for and longed for these Christian believers to hold on to their faith in Christ and to be rooted and built up in Him, it was a decision that they had to make themselves and to follow through with actions that would ensure it was so.
Each of us must make decisions every day that will determine whether we will be rooted and built up in Christ.
There is more involved than just the desire to be strong and consistent in our faith. We discover and are reminded of the key to being rooted and built up in Christ in verse 6 of Colossians 2, “continue to live your lives in Him”.
Our focus is to be on Jesus Christ in every part of the living of our lives.
We can choose to remain in Him in every thought and decision and inclination. This involves our roots of faith going deep into the soil of Who Jesus is.
Roots that are planted in shallow soil cannot support a plant when there is a dry spell and the plant becomes parched.
Roots that are planted in shallow soil cannot support a plant when strong winds of adversity blow against it.
Roots that are planted in shallow soil can easily get overtaken by weeds that become stronger and take over a tender plant .
Wherever we are in our faith journey with Jesus, it is no less important to be rooted and built up in Him. We can never become casual about our faith in Jesus and assume that we do not need tending and care.
Paul concludes these thoughts urging these Christians to be, “strengthened in the faith as you were taught and overflowing with thankfulness.” (Colossians 2:7)
Recognition of all that Jesus Christ has done for us and is doing for us in strengthening our faith in Him will absolutely result in an overflowing of thankfulness that is directed towards Jesus.
We will accurately conclude, “It is all about Jesus and all for Jesus. I could never live my life without Him!”