SERMON SPOTLIGHT * 1/5/25
There is no other knowledge you must obtain, wisdom you must discover, or practices you must keep. Jesus is the supreme and sufficient Savior. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.
SERIES: Colossians: Alive in Christ
TEXT: Colossians 2:8-15
TITLE: As Good As It Gets
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet
BIG IDEA: Don’t be fooled; knowing Christ is as good as it gets.
POINTS:
1. Live alert to spiritual dangers
2. Live out of your union with Christ
3. Live free in the gospel
SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes are taken from the pastor’s notes.
”Today’s text warns us of another kind of mixology—a spiritual mixology. To this point in the letter, Paul has repeatedly emphasized the Colossian's completeness in Christ. To know Jesus by faith is to know all you need to know to belong to God. There is no other knowledge you must obtain, wisdom you must discover, or practices you must keep. Jesus is the supreme and sufficient Savior.”
“The claim of the gospel is that if you have faith in Jesus, then you are in union with Christ, and you lack absolutely nothing regarding your standing with God. So how do we live in the good of that?”
“Our text begins with a warning. Of course, the presence of a warning means the possibility of danger. In 8, Paul says—See to it that no one takes you captive. The word captive is vivid. The imagery is a kidnapping. A person being carried away over someone’s shoulder. Paul warns the Colossians to live alert so they are not carried away from their only hope, Christ. Paul explains what they are to be on the alert for.”
“As it does today, in the first century, philosophy covered a wide range of ideas and practices meant to give one a deeper understanding and fuller experience of life. Some of it helpful. Some of it useless. In this context, Paul is warning about systems of thought and methods of living, probably a mix of Jewish tradition (16-23) and pagan belief, that was being integrated with the gospel as gospel.”
“Paul says—Don’t be fooled; it’s just empty deceit. It’s vain, worthless, and void of true spiritual value. Like sinking sand, it has no firm basis. Here’s why: (8) It’s according to human tradition. It’s man-made. It’s preference, not truth. Remember 6-7—Build your life on what you received—Christ Jesus the Lord.”
“[Paul] tells us is to live alert to being carried away by worldviews and perspectives that promise greater purpose and fullness of life. WHY? Look at the end of 8—they are not according to Christ. They are not rooted in the gospel you heard from Epaphras (1:7). They are not centered on the one who is supreme over all creation and sufficient for salvation (1:15-20). You may not believe in mythical gods or follow the stars. But Paul’s warning is equally if not more important to us today. How many people blend Christianity with worldly philosophies?”
“The gospel is meant to be at the center of all our thinking and living.”
“Are you about to be kidnapped? Paul says—Beware of spiritual mixology. Be on the lookout for any ideas or teaching, no matter how plausible it may be, that promises greater blessing and spirituality apart from the gospel.”
“Paul spends the rest of the text showing the Colossians why all they need is Christ, emphasizing what God has done for them in Christ. In doing so, he shows any human and worldly philosophy to be ridiculous and empty, no matter how plausible they sound.”
“Paul counters the empty philosophies of the world to the fullness of God in Christ—read 9-10. The word dwelling should take us back to the OT, reminding us how God has revealed Himself throughout redemptive history. The God who once dwelled with His people on Mt. Zion, in the Tabernacle, then the Temple of Jerusalem, now dwells with His people in Jesus Christ. It’s the Christmas miracle of the Incarnation—Jesus was, is, and forever will be God in the flesh.”
“Jesus isn’t a shadow or virtual reality. Jesus is the wisdom, majesty, holiness, and glory of God made flesh who has been given all rule and authority. If Jesus is the fullness of God in every way—(10) you have been filled in him—then you have all the fullness of God you can ever possess in this life because in Christ God has given Himself to you. So, to have Christ is to lack absolutely nothing before God.”
“In this context, Paul uses circumcision to communicate the profound reality of their union with Christ. Look at 11 again—In him you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands (not physical but spiritual—a circumcision of the heart) by putting off the body of the flesh (that’s the spiritual circumcision—death of our old nature with its passions and desires according to Gal 5:24) by the circumcision of Christ. The circumcision of Christ being his death on the cross.”
“So the circumcision here is a graphic illustration of the death of Christ, in which we share through the miracle of regeneration where our old heart is stripped away (circumcised) in the spiritual death of the old man now made new by the Spirit. Notice the progression in 12—Having died in Christ, we were buried and raised with Christ, the spiritual reality demonstrated through baptism. Such is our union with Christ. We have spiritually died with Christ, were buried with Christ, and raised from the dead with Christ, so that, as it says in 13— we are made alive in Christ.”
“This is the glorious result of our union in Christ—full forgiveness. Notice Paul says we are forgiven of ALL our trespasses. The entire record of debt that stood against us was nailed to the cross with Christ.”
“Paul says the record of our debt was nailed to the cross with Christ. Picture a document that lists all the sins you ever committed. What a document that would be. What a lengthy document that would be. What a horrific document that would be. For every item on that document, you owe a debt to God. Impossible. But look at the precious words at the end of 14— This—that long horrific document of ALL your sin—he set aside, nailing it to the cross, effectively canceling it ALL.”
“The word canceling is a strong word. It means obliterate. The document with all your sins no longer exists. Your slate has been wiped clean before God. So that now, by faith, you are free to live life to the fullest. Free from the dominion of sin and free from the penalty of sin, you can seek a life of fullness that comes only by faith in Christ. Nothing else is needed, and no mixing is required because, through the death and resurrection of Jesus—read 15. Christ has won the battle. He has conquered sin, death, and evil. And because Christ has conquered, we have conquered and will conquer.”
QUOTES:
Kent Hughes - “Christ’s circumcision on the cross involved not the stripping away of a small piece of flesh, but the violent removal of his entire body in death.”
APPLICATION:
Where do you go to make sense out of life? As we turn the corner into the new year, some self-evaluation is good:
How much time do you spend on social media? Personal musings and sound bites aren’t a good place to find the purpose of life.
How discerning are you about the resources you read? Do you have a system to discern them
How often do you submit your thoughts to others? It’s easy to live in a bubble.
BIG ONE: How much time do you spend in God’s word?
See to it that in your honest desire to grow as a Christian, you aren’t taken captive by the things that diminish and distort Christ. You don’t need something new; you need something true, according to Jesus. Anything less will carry you away from God, and you lose.
Don’t be fooled; knowing Christ is as good as it gets.
SONGS FROM THIS SUNDAY:
Man Of Sorrows
It Was Finished Upon That Cross
We Receive
My Redeemers Love
NEXT WEEK’S PASSAGE:
Colossians 2:16-17
THE BOOK OF THE QUARTER:
