What is Your Relationship to God Based Upon?
Intro:
1. God wants a close personal relationship with you.
a. Adam & Eve walked with God in the cool of the day (Gen 3:8-9).
b. Then they rebelled & ate the forbidden fruit (Gen 3:6).
c. You & I have followed after their example (Rom 3:10-12 & 23).
5. God had to expel them from His presence (Gen 3:23).
a. God provided a way for us to return (Jn 3:16-17).
b. When we respond by faith, He will restore us (Col 1:22).
8. Once you are restored, you can begin building that relationship again.
Colossians 2:8-19
I. v8, 16-18 - Extremes on Which Not to Base Your Relationship
A. v8 - Modernism & Liberalism.
1. In that day - was seen in some socially minded Gentile Christians.
2. In our day - such an emphasis on helping needy people that you focus less on the Word of God.
a. Teach that only some of the Bible contains the Word of God.
b. Teach that an idea must be logical & fit in with scientific thinking to be true.
c. Teach that all scripture must be interpreted in the light of current scholarly thinking.
d. Teach that if you believe any religion strong enough you will get to heaven.
e. Teach that what’s really important is social action; helping mankind better himself.
f. Teach that faith is what you do, not what you believe. (This is only half true!)
3. The warning.
a. Philosophy - the principles of this world - is “hollow & deceptive”.
b. Takes you captive (συλαγωγέω) = carries you off as spoil. ILL: The Romans made slaves of their captives.
B. v16-18 - Legalism.
1. In that day - was seen in the Jewish Christians.
2. In our day - such concentration on the Word of God that you focus less on ministry to people in need.
a. Teach that since the Bible is inspired, every principle in it is a command to be obeyed or you lose your salvation.
b. Teach that their interpretation of a Bible passage is always the correct one. If you see it differently, you’re wrong!
c. Teach a judgmental emphasis on little things - they major in minors!
d. Teach that faith is what you believe intellectually, not what you do. (This is only half true!)
3. The warning.
a. v16-17 - The commands of the Law were only a shadow leading up to Christ.
b. Lord Jesus canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. - v14.
c. v18 - Judgmentalism makes you a disqualifier (καταβραβεύω) = lit. an umpire who is against the players of the game.
d. v18 - You can become puffed up (φυσιόω) = inflated with hot air.
e. Rom 12:3 - For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.
II. v9-15, 19 - The Reality on Which to Base Your Relationship
A. v9-10 - Lord Jesus is God!
1. Fullness (πλήρωμα) = to cram full. God was crammed into Jesus’ physical body.
2. v10 - God has also crammed into you (same word) His Holy Spirit. The promise is in Acts 2:38 Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
B. Christian baptism is like Jewish circumcision.
1. Circumcision was the sign of God’s covenant relationship with the Jewish nation.
a. Every Jewish male child was circumcised to identify personally with that covenant.
b. Circumcision initiated him into the Jewish faith
2. v11 - Baptism is called:
a. A putting off of the sinful nature - (KJV) a putting off of the flesh!
b. It was not done by the hands of men but by Christ.
3. The result of baptism is like the result of circumcision.
a. v12 - Where circumcision officially identified a person with the Law, the act of baptism officially identifies you with the Lord Jesus & His redemptive story.
b. v13 - Before your baptism, you were considered uncircumcised, dead in sins & unforgiven.
c. v13 - When God circumcised you through your baptism, He made you alive & forgave your sins.
d. v14 - Whereas circumcision officially identifies a person with the written code (the law), it was nailed to the cross in relationship to you after you are baptized.
4. So - baptism is your circumcision - it gives you a new relationship with God!
a. Before your baptism you were:
(1) A body of flesh (“sinful nature”) - v11.
(2) Dead in your sins - v13.
(3) In bondage to the legal demands of the written code - v14.
b. v12 - When you were buried with Christ:
(1) You experienced a circumcision made without hands - v11.
(2) You experienced a putting off of the body of flesh - v11.
(3) You experienced the circumcision of Christ - v11.
(4) The legal demands of the written code were nailed to His cross - v14.
(5) The spiritual principalities & authorities which were against you were disarmed - v15.
c. v12 - When you were raised with Him through faith:
(1) He made you alive with Him - v13.
(2) Your sins were forgiven - v13.
Your relationship to God is based upon who the Lord Jesus is & what He did for you on the cross. Identifying with Him in baptism, like the Jews identified with the Law in circumcision, through your faith, makes you a new child of God!
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