In Him We Are Complete {Colossians 2}
10:30 PM
Today Paul continues to express his concern for the Church at Colosse
and Laodicea. They were people who had
embraced the Christian Faith, but were vulnerable to the teachings of traditions among the Jews and the Greek philosophers.
So Paul encourages them to keep
focused on the truths of the Gospel, and not be engaged in external rules and rituals;
to be “knit together by strong ties of love” (2:2) in their Christian walk,
because he knew that discouraged, downcast Christians are easy prey for
the world, the flesh, and Satan. This same situation is actually happening in
many of our Churches today; many believers are being distracted by “modern”
philosophies and cults that are only deceiving them in their Christian walk!
“Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord,
walk in [union with] Him [reflecting His character in the things you do and
say—living lives that lead others away from sin], 7 having
been deeply rooted [in Him] and now being continually built
up in Him and [becoming increasingly more] established [e]in your faith, just as you were taught, and
overflowing in it with gratitude.”
This is a
wonderful truth for Christian living: therefore just as
you received Jesus, walk in Him in the same way. As
Christians, we walk, but we are also rooted, and we are
also built up, BUT we need to remain (abide) in Jesus: “4 Remain in Me, and I [will remain] in you. Just as no branch
can bear fruit by itself without remaining in the vine, neither can
you [bear fruit, producing evidence of your faith] unless you remain
in Me…. “-5…The one who remains in Me and I in him bears much
fruit, for [otherwise] apart from Me [that
is, cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing.”
(John 15:4-5)
This summer I had the
blessing to visit my momma who had been hospitalized and had the privilege to
encourage her in her walk with our Lord. You see, she lives by herself and does
not attend Church. She has an issue with her sight, so she does not read her
Bible. She is a very vulnerable Christian. Most of the time she finds herself
focusing on her loneliness, her past,
her health issues, etc. Some of us focus only on the things we lack of, and
forget to focus on Jesus’ Saving Grace. We lose sight of ALL the blessings He
conquered for us on the cross!
While I was visiting
mom, I also had the opportunity to meet with a very dear friend of mine (from
Jr. High School); she was going through trials and had just received a doctor’s
prescription for depression! We prayed and cried together. She finally
confessed she was bitter against God: Why wouldn’t He help them out of this
situation? As I previously did with my mother, I encouraged her to abide in
Jesus and His Word. To focus on His blood shed on the cross for us, not on the
circumstances, and to live a life of
gratitude FOR IN HIM WE HAVE EVERYTHING!! AND APART FROM Him we have
nothing!!
Paul continues with
these wonderful insights: 1” And in Him you have been made complete
[achieving spiritual stature through Christ], and He is the head over all rule
and authority [of every angelic and earthly power].” (2:10 AMP)
M. Henry explains it
this way: “To be complete, is to be furnished with all things necessary for
salvation. By this one word "complete," is shown that we have in
Christ whatever is required. "In him," not when we look to Christ, as
though he were distant from us, but we are in him, when, by the power of the
Spirit, we have faith wrought in our hearts by the Spirit, and we are united to
our Head. The circumcision of the heart, the crucifixion of the flesh, the
death and burial to sin and to the world, and the resurrection to newness of
life, set forth in baptism, and by faith wrought in our hearts, prove that our
sins are forgiven, and that we are fully delivered from the curse of the law.
Through Christ, we, who were dead in sins, are quickened. Christ’s death was
the death of our sins; Christ’s resurrection is the quickening of our souls.”
And you are complete in Him: This can only be true because Jesus is truly God. If
He were not God, we couldn't be complete in Him. The completeness of
Jesus and our connection with Him through His Holy Spirit, shows other
philosophies and traditions are unnecessary.
The second part of this verse reads:
“and He is the head over all rule and authority [of every angelic and earthly
power].
Jesus is the Head of all principality and
power: In many New
Testament passages, principality and power describes ranks of angelic
beings, either faithful or fallen angelic beings (Ro. 8:38, Eph.1:21, 3:10, 6:12). Therefore, Paul here declares Jesus' authority over
all spirit beings. Against the believer, what weapons do demonic
spirits therefore now have? They are disarmed, except for their ability
to deceive and to create fear.
Are you going through difficult situations, feeling lonely or depressed?
Let me close with a sweet reminder: “For I am convinced [and continue to be convinced—beyond any
doubt] that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things
present and threatening, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor
height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us
from the [unlimited] love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Ro.
(8:38) Amen!!
Blessings my sisters!
Mari
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