rest

Hebrews 4:1-11

The Israelites wandering around in the desert did not enter God's rest (at first) because they didn't believe God could give them the land He had promised . "the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith." v2 (see Numbers 13 and 14). We have heard the invitation from God to enter into His eternal rest, do we believe what He is saying? Do we believe that He has got something for us which is better than anything the world can offer? Do we believe that we enter His rest not by working to please Him but by "resting" in Jesus' completed work on the cross? Hear the message and believe it!

hard hearts

Hebrews 3:7-19

⁷So, as the Holy Spirit says: "Today, if you hear his voice, ⁸do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, ⁹where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did. ¹⁰That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, 'Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.' ¹¹So I declared on oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.' "  

¹²See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. ¹³But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. ¹⁴We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. ¹⁵As has just been said: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion."

 ¹⁶Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? ¹⁷And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? ¹⁸And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? ¹⁹So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.

It's easy to look down on the Israelites at the time of Moses. They were being led by a pillar of cloud and fire, they were having food provided miraculously on a daily basis and still the regularly grumbled, complained, questioned the goodness of God and, as it says repeatedly in this section of Hebrews, hardened their hearts. When we hear God's voice are we going to listen or harden our hearts? When we hear what He reveals about Himself in the Bible, are we going to listen or harden our hearts? When the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin are we going to repent or harden our hearts by justifying our behaviour? When we are challenged to forgive, confess, give, serve - whatever it might be - we have a choice to be obedient or not. And when we disobey, our heart is hardened a bit more, moving towards the sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from God (v12). As verse 13 says, let's encourage each other, so that our hearts wont be hardened. Today, if you hear His voice... listen!

the builder

Hebrews 3:1-6

¹Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. ²He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God's house. ³Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. ⁴For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. ⁵Moses was faithful as a servant in all God's house, testifying to what would be said in the future. ⁶But Christ is faithful as a son over God's house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.

 Moses was a faithful servant in God's house but Jesus is a faithful son over God's house. Jesus is worthy of greater honour than Moses (or anyone/anything else) in the same way that the builder of a house has greater honour than the house itself - it's a totally different category. Jesus is not just the best thing in the house. He is in a totally different category. He built the house! He's not just the best thing part of our lives - He is our life. He's doesn't just love us - He is love, He defines what love actually means. He isn't just a teacher telling us how to get ourselves right with God - He is the way we get right with God.

Therefore, we are told to fix our thoughts on Jesus (NIV), consider Him (ESV), take a long, hard look at Him (Message). We are his house (v6) - He built the thing, He owns it, He rules over it

movements

"A movement is marked by an attractive, clear, unifying vision for the future together with a strong set of values or beliefs. The content of the vision must be compelling and clear so that others can grasp it readily. It must not be so esoteric or difficult that only a handful of people can articulate it. Instead, it must be something that all members of the movement can understand and pass along to others. By contrast, "institutionalized" organizations are held together by rules, regulations, and procedures, not by a shared vision.
This unifying vision is so compelling that it takes pride of place. First, the vision leads to sacrificial commitment. Individuals put the vision ahead of their own interests and comfort. They are willing to work without high compensation, power, or perks. The satisfaction of realized goals is their main compensation. There is no more practical index of whether you have a movement or not. If the leader is making all the sacrifices, you don't."

Tim Keller, Movements

paradox

I am obsessed with running my own life, but it's only in dying to myself and receiving the life made possible through Jesus' death that I can really start to live. I can try to ignore my sin, justify it or try hard to stop it but it's only in accepting that it deserves death that I can really recieve the grace that deals with sin. I can try to become rich, in material or spiritual terms, but it's only in recognising my absolute (spiritual) poverty before God that I can recieved the eternal riches that He has for me.

" Let me find your light in my darkness,
your life in my death
your joy in my sorrow,
your grace in my sin
your riches in my poverty
your glory in my valley"
The Valley of Vision (language updated)

like us

Hebrews 2:10-18

 ¹⁰In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. ¹¹Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. ¹²He says,

   "I will declare your name to my brothers;

      in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises." ¹³And again,

   "I will put my trust in him." And again he says,

   "Here am I, and the children God has given me."

 ¹⁴Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— ¹⁵and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. ¹⁶For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants. ¹⁷For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. ¹⁸Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Jesus was God, but also man. If we fail to remember Jesus' humanity, we end up thinking of Him as a superman who died, but barely felt a thing because He was God. That is not what the Bible teaches. Jesus shared our humanity, he was made like His brothers (us) in every way, He suffered and He was tempted. Whatever situation we are in, the God of the universe knows exactly what it is like. Even though we rebel against God, Jesus didn't. While we enslave ourselves to sin and go chasing after idols, He didn't. While we give into temptation and choose something else over God, Jesus didn't. While we allow our suffering to lead us to become bitter towards God and others, Jesus didn't. So while we deserve death for all of those things and He didn't, He died to atone for all of that stuff, so that we can live. That's our merciful and faithful High Priest.

out of control

Hebrews 2:5-9

v8-9:
In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him. ⁹But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

Everything is under God's control but at the moment it doesn't look like it from our point of view. So how do we know everything is under His control? Because of Jesus - because He became a man and died on our behalf. That's done, so we know He's in control of everything else. See How can you believe God's in control, by Ben Parker for a more detailed look at this idea.

grace driven effort

“People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, and obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.”

DA Carson, For the Love of God

jesus is better

In Hebrews 1:4-14, Jesus is compared to angels. We are left in no doubt about who is superior in that comparison.

• Jesus is called God's Son, which has not been said about any angel (v5 For to which of the angels did God ever say, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father"? Or again, "I will be his Father, and he will be my Son"?)
• The angels are there to worship Jesus (v6 "...when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, "Let all God's angels worship him".)
• The angels are servants, while Jesus is the king sitting at God's right hand (v7-9, 13-14)
• Jesus is eternal and was involved in the work of creation, angels are created beings (v10-12)

It doesn't get any better than Jesus, the angels recognise that and worship Him. Whatever it is that we are pursuing: money, image, family, friends, sex, power, religion, status, comfort, control, angels... Jesus is better


It's all about Jesus from Jubilee Church on Vimeo.

impotent idols

Psalm 115

¹ Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory,
    for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!

 ²Why should the nations say,
    "Where is their God?"
³ Our God is in the heavens;
    he does all that he pleases.

 ⁴ Their idols are silver and gold,
    the work of human hands.
⁵ They have mouths, but do not speak;
   eyes, but do not see.
⁶ They have ears, but do not hear;
   noses, but do not smell.
⁷ They have hands, but do not feel;
   feet, but do not walk;
   and they do not make a sound in their throat.
⁸ Those who make them become like them;
   so do all who trust in them.

 ⁹O Israel, trust in the LORD!
   He is their help and their shield.
¹⁰ O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD!
   He is their help and their shield.
¹¹ You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD!
   He is their help and their shield.

Idols are pathetic, powerless, impotent . There's no point in having ears if you can't hear, there's no point having hands if you can feel anything with them. These idols can not do anything, God can do whatever he pleases! (v3)

v8 says that those who make or trust in idols become like them. If we're chasing the idol of money/possessions, we end up just like those pointless idols - we've got the stuff but we can't enjoy it because it didn't solve the problem we thought it was going to solve, it didn't make us happy. If we're pursuing the idol of image/reputation, we end up like the impotent idols - we have friends but we can't fully enjoy their friendship because we're so concerned with keeping it. We have people who love us but we can't enjoy deep relationships with them because we're not letting them see the real, unedited version of us. If we're worshipping the idol of the perfect family, we end up just like those powerless idols - we get married but it didn't solve all our problems and the marriage struggles. We've got the kids we wanted but can't enjoy life as a family because we're too concerned with controlling what they do.

Instead of trusting in these idols, we should trust in the Lord. A phrase which is repeated 3 times in this psalm. Why can we trust Him?

God is your help - what will help you in that difficult situation that you're in is not more money, more stuff,  the approval of others or getting a boyfriend. It's Jesus who was willing to suffer in our place, for our sins. -

God is your shield, your protection - what you need to feel more secure is not a better salary,  that person to accept your friend request on facebook or a wife. It's Jesus who completed His work on the cross - dealing with all your past, present and future sins. 

God is faithful and shows steadfast love - we might be worrying about the value of our house going down, a colleague gossiping about us behind our back or our kids going off the rails but we can be certain of God's position towards us which never changes - even while we were sinners Christ died for us. We did nothing to commend ourselves to Him (we were actually doing the opposite) but He paid the penalty so that we could be in relationship with Him. 

"Not to us, O Lord, but to Your Name be the glory"

Jesus in the psalms

"When you come to a lament psalm, you nearly automatically think of it in reference to suffering or feelings you have had. But remember what Jesus suffered. When you come to a psalm of refuge, remember that we “hide” in him and he covers our sins, shielding us from punishment, which ultimately is the only real danger. When you come to a psalm of wisdom, remember that the gospel is the only way to make sense of the ambiguities of life. You are a righteous sinner, living in the overlap of the ages."

Tim Keller, Praying with the psalms

why do we need Jesus?

Hebrews 1:1-3

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high

Jesus is not just a great historical character or a good teacher. At the start of the book of Hebrews we are told:

• If we want to know what God is like - we need Jesus: People look to all sorts of different places to find out what they think God is like - nature, astrology, religious teachers, drunk friends at the pub, parents, Oprah/Jeremy Kyle/Loose Women (depending on your preference!). The God of the universe is not some vague force that we can only guess about. He has spoken and revealed Himself through Jesus. Jesus radiates God's glory and he is the exact imprint of His nature. Jesus is not just a reflection of God's charcter, he is the exact imprint. To know what God is like, we need to look at Jesus.
 

• If we want to exist - we need Jesus: Although we like to think of ourselves as independant, we are not. Jesus holds the universe together and that includes us. Our bodies only made it through today without failing because he held them together. "I lie down and sleep, I wake again, because the Lord sustains me" Psalm 3:5
 

• If we want to be forgiven - we need Jesus: We devise many different methods of dealing with our sin - trying to work it off, making excuses, justifying it, convincing ourselves it doesn't matter becasue there's somebody doing something worse etc. But the only way we can be purified from sin is through Jesus' death and resurrection. Verse 3 says that after making purification for sin, he sat down at the right hand of the Father. the fact that He sat down shows that the work is completed. All your past, present and future sins have been atoned for.

drifting

We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance;
we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom;
we drift toward superstition and call it faith.
We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation;
we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism;
we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.
Taken from: D.A Carson, For the Love of God

matt chandler - hebrews 11

people

Colossians 4:7-18

7Tychicus will tell you all about my activities. He is a beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord. 8I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts, 9and with him Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you of everything that has taken place here.

 10 Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, and Mark the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you have received instructions— if he comes to you, welcome him), 11and Jesus who is called Justus. These are the only men of the circumcision among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me. 12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God. 13For I bear him witness that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hierapolis. 14 Luke the beloved physician greets you, as does Demas. 15Give my greetings to the brother at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house. 16And when this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea. 17And say to Archippus, "See that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord."

 18I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.

The letter to the Colossians ends with 11 verses of personal greetings and messages. These remind us that this isn’t some sort of theological document, it’s a letter between real people. The church isn’t some faceless organisation, it’s made up of real people with real relationships, it can get a bit messy and relationships might need restoring or people might need correcting or encouraging – just like it did in the early churches that Paul and others write to. The church is not a place we go to or an activity that we do. We are the church.

outsiders

Colossians 4:5-6

5 Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. 6Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

You may be the only representative of Jesus that somebody ever comes into contact with. Our relationships with non-Christians are a witness of God’s love, even if we’ve never mentioned the word Jesus to them. That’s why we need to be wise in those relationships, not that we’re trying to engineer everything around to talking about God ("oh, you’ve dyed your hair red? Did you know red is the colour of Jesus blood which was shed for your sins!"), but that we recognise that we are representing Him. That’s why our speech needs to be "gracious and seasoned with salt". We need to think before we speak. If we live in the counter cultural way described earlier in the book, then the things that we say about people will be a witness in itself. 

How do we answer difficult questions? Whether we know the answer or not, our speech should be gracious. We aren’t supposed to treat non-Christians as outsiders or projects but as friends. The word "outsiders" in verse 5 literally means “those without”. They are without Jesus, the fundamental things that makes our lives worthwhile. We need to pray and act in any way we can to show them Jesus' love.

opportunities

 Colossians 4:2-4

2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. 3At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— 4that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.

Paul was not some super professional Christian going round starting churches and dishing out advice, he knew he needed support and prayer for His ministry. He asks them to give him and his companions opportunities for spreading the gospel and that they would take those opportunities, speaking clearly. Do we pray for our leaders? Do we pray for people that seem to be successful in whatever they’re doing? Do we pray for each other and other churches, other Christians, that we would have opportunities for spreading the name of Jesus? Do we ever say we’ve got no prayer requests, that everything is going fine? We all need pray that God would give us opportunities to show and talk about God’s love and that He would help us take them! It’s a dangerous prayer, but if we don’t want to pray it, maybe we don't fully understand the depth of what God has done for us!

jesus at work

Colossians 3:22-4:1

22Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. 25For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.
 1Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.

Jesus is not peripheral to our life at work, He is or should be central to it. He should influence our attitude towards our employers and/or employees and to the job itself. Slaves are told to obey everything they are told to do and work hard, irrespective of the quality of character of their boss. This is because they are ultimately working for Jesus and we should aim to work hard, to the best of our ability for Him. People-pleasers perform “eye-service”, they are seen to do the right thing, or make everybody aware of what they have done. Jesus sees everything we do, we don’t need to brag about things we have done and we can’t cover up short cuts that we might have taken. We aren’t doing it to receive compliments and the hard work may well go unnoticed by your boss, but that doesn’t matter because we are serving Jesus.

If you are in charge of other people you need to lead like Jesus, not slacking off yourself or treating your employees badly, modelling your leadership on Jesus. Again, Jesus is our role models for all our attitudes at work with the employer or employee. Having this attitude at work is highly counter-cultural and wont happen by accident, we need to take deliberate steps to follow Him in the workplace.

family life

Colossians 3:18-21

18 Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them. 20Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. 21Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.

People tend to shy away from any talk of submission or the husband being the leader, but all of that comes from a misunderstanding of what leadership is. Jesus is our ultimate example of leadership and He said that it is not "lording it over people" but seeking to serve rather than be served (Matthew 20:25-28). The husband being the head of the family, doesn't mean telling the wife what to do, putting her down or keeping her in her place. It’s the exact opposite – supporting her, praying for and with her, doing everything possible to help her gifts flourish and to help her get closer to Jesus.

A wife submitting to her husband does not mean that she needs to have his dinner on the table every night, do all the washing up and not say anything if he's spending all his time at the pub, watching football or playing on computer games. It means that she does everything she can to support him, which includes challenging him if necessary. The husband being the head does not mean that he is always right and the wife is always wrong. It doesn’t mean that they are adversaries fighting their own corner and putting the other one down. They are both on the same team!

Similarly with parents and children, the children should respectfully obey their parents as they would to Jesus. Parents should aim to lead the children out of love, with the aim of  bringing the child closer to Jesus.  Loving your spouse and children well is far more important than any work, even in the church. Jesus is our ultimate role model for all relationships and His way of putting the needs of others first is massively counter-cultural.

everything

Colossians 3:17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Paul ends chapter 3 in the same way it started, by reminding the people who recieved this letter that everything is about Jesus. We have a tendancy to compartmentalise our lives when it comes to Jesus. A section for Jesus and a section for us. A couple of hours on a sunday and maybe a midweek evening where we're on our best behaviour and the rest doesn't matter so much. We're kidding ourselves if we think that's what life is like as a Christian. It’s all or nothing. Either Jesus is Lord or He isn't.  I can’t be patient at home but angry at work and think it doesn’t matter. I can't talk one way with my church friends and gossip with my non-christian firends and think that pleases God. Our lives are not divided. Jesus is in all of it, at home, at work, at church, at the pub, with family, with friends, with enemies. Whatever we do or say is in the name of Jesus. Any seemingly meaningless task needs to be done as if we are doing it for Jesus, because we are. Every seemingly meaningless conversation needs to be had as if Jesus is right there with you, because He is.

put on

Colossians 3:10-16

10and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

This is not a guilt trip by Paul trying to get the Colossians and us to just try harder and not sin. Putting off the old self and putting on the new self is down to being “renewed in knowledge after the image of it’s (our) creator”. It’s Jesus making us more like Him through us knowing more of Him (see part 1). It’s not about desperately trying to not lie so that Jesus will be impressed with us. Instead, it’s recognising our dependence on Him and that he walks with us, helping us to live a life not dominated by lying. 

We need to take these lists of what to "put off" and what to "put on" seriously, and allow the Holy Spirit to challenge us through them. But we shouldn't turn them into legalism or religion, thinking  “I’ve got to do this to be accepted by Jesus”. You are already accepted and forgiven. Paul explains it in v12, describing them/us as "God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved”. So as we are God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, we should ... This is a lot different from "to be God’s chosen ones, you need to do ...". We are loved by God. We’re not trying to do these things so that God will love us, we’re doing them because He loves us.

make a corpse out of it

Colossians 3:5-9

5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 

While we used to do the things listed in this passage, we should now, as Christians, put them away, put them to death. "Putting these things away" or "putting them to death" is strong language. The greek words used can be translated as "mortify" or "make a corpse of...". That doesn’t mean flirt but just don’t touch, it doesn’t mean lie as long as it’s not something really important that’s going to hurt someone, it doesn’t mean only take revenge on someone if they really deserve it, it doesn’t mean only gossiping about people when your with your best friend rather than with anyone who’ll listen. That's not making a corpse out of those things. Putting them to death means we’ve got to keep as far away as possible, not indulging them and then trying to stop before we go “too far”. If we’re doing that, we’ve already gone too far.

the whole thing

Colossians 3:1-4

1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on the earth 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life appears, then you will also appear with Him in glory.

Jesus didn’t just die, He was also resurrected. We have been raised with Him to now live a full and abundant life as He intends for us, not just aimlessly living our lives, pursuing that house, job, person as we were before. Setting our minds on things above rather than things on the earth is not ignoring the world around us and becoming super-spiritual hermits. It is living our lives recognising that Jesus is involved everywhere – at church, at work, at home, everywhere. Our life is not divided into secular and sacred chunks, everything is spiritual. We haven’t been saved for it to have a limited impact on what we do on a Sunday, our entire lives are hidden, enveloped in God (v3). Everything we do: work or rest, sleeping, talking – every conversation – has something to do with Jesus. Paul says here that Christ is our life – not just a part of it, not even the most important part – He is our life.

ticking the boxes

Colossians 2:20-23

20 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations – 21 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22(referring to things that all perish as they are used) – according to human precepts and teachings? 23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

Why are we so keen to build up banks of rules as Christians? Is it because it makes us appear good in comparison to someone else – the appearance of wisdom? Is it because it makes us feel like we are paying something back to God – self made religion? Is it because we think we need to be punished because we were sinners – asceticism and severity to the body? We are not good in comparison to anyone else, we cannot pay God back even a fraction of what we owe, and we don’t need to be punished. Jesus dealt with all of that on the cross.  Paul says these things are of “no value” in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. Has trying hard to follow lists of regulations ever resulted in someone overcoming sin? Did it make the Pharisees righteous? The only thing that can do that is Jesus.

It’s possible for me to say grace before every meal but not eat it with a thankful heart. It’s possible for me to not drink, use all the right words, not smoke, turn up to every meeting, not have a tattoo, and look like the model Christian – but be living a selfish life where I’m not surrendered to Jesus and I’m worshipping myself instead of Him. Do we want a church full of people who tick all of our boxes on what a Christian should look like? Instead, let's concentrate on the heart. Pray that that person would know more of God, not that they would dress a bit smarter for church on Sunday!

stay attached to the head

Colossians 2:18-19
18 Let no one disqualify you insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

This passage deals with some more ways that we might be looking to Jesus plus something else to help us. We don’t need Jesus plus self denial of pleasure or enjoyment in order to “transcend” this world (asceticism). We don’t need extra information from angels. Angels are created beings who aren’t there to be worshipped – they worship Jesus (see Revelation)! Why direct our worship to anything other than Jesus? Anything else is setting our sights too low. God given visions are good, but obsessing about them about visions and focussing on them rather than the Bible is not. Feelings and emotions (the sensuous mind) are involved in our relationship and our worship of God but they are only part of it. Getting emotional and “feeling” something during worship or prayer is not the ultimate goal. Knowing more of Jesus and becoming more like Him is the goal.

Jesus is the Head of the body (the church) and we need to be fixed firmly to Jesus in whatever we do, not disconnected from the Head, running off down our own paths with good intentions but replacing Him with something else, whatever that thing is (asceticism, angel worship, visions, the sensuous mind). The only way the church can grow, numerically and spiritually, is by getting its nourishment from Jesus. He holds the body together.

shadows

Colossians 2:16-17

14 Therefore, let no one pass judgement on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.

Tthe Old Testament is full of instructions about food and festivals (among other things). The people are told which animals and clean and unclean for food.  The new moon festival refers to the first day of the month when they were required to bring their sacrifices and burnt offerings to the Lord. The Sabbath was a day of rest when they weren’t allowed to do any work. 

All these things were set up by God but they were meant to put the attention on to Him, not to themselves become little "gods" to be served.  In Isaiah 1:13-14 God says:
"Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations— I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them."

The people were doing things that God had told them to do but He says that he hates them! It’s obviously possible to follow the rules but completely miss the point. Paul is drawing attention to the fact that all those things are just a shadow, the substance is Jesus.
                                                                                                   
Things that may have been designed to glorify Jesus can end up taking His place.Worship Jesus, not the shadow

nailed to the cross

Colossians 2:13-15

13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 bycanceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

We were all dead in our sins, then God made us alive. Dead things can’t just decide to become alive – God made us alive. Our sins have been forgiven and the “written code”, the laws, the regulations that  stand against us , were  all nailed to the cross. We are free from the law, we don’t have to follow any sort of protocol or procedure for Jesus to keep loving us. 

That “disarms” the devil, he can’t come to us and say “look what you’re doing, you’ve really crossed the line that time, God doesn’t like you anymore”. That tactic has been exposed and triumphed over by Jesus on the cross. 

When we recognise that, we want to follow Him and obey Him. We can do that in freedom, with no shame or guilt from sins that we commited yesterday or years ago - they were nailed to the cross

tradition

^{Colossians 2:8-10}

⁸See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. ⁹For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, ¹⁰and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.

Some human traditions and philosophies are directly opposed to Christianity, others aren't. Traditions, philosophies, ideas, routines and principles need to be evaluated in terms of how they help us to follow Jesus. Certain traditions may be helpful in our worship of God, but the focus is God, not the maintenance of the tradition.
We don’t want to miss out on God because we’re saying “come Holy Spirit and fit into this format which we feel most comfortable in”. Traditions and philosophy are there to serve us, not for us to serve them. They can help us to worship and follow Jesus but they can never become something that we worship and follow themselves – that’s idolatry.

Jesus didn't come to just give us the best philosophy or the best traditions or the best way of doing things. He wasn't just the best teacher or spiritual guru there has ever been. He was (and is) God - "For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body" v9 NLT. Everything is under His authority, everything is under His rule, anything else is secondary.

jesus plus

Colossians 2

1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face,2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ,3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.4 I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments.5 For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

6  Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him,7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

Paul "struggles" in prayer for the Colossians, and the focus of his prayer that they would continue to grow in understanding ad knowledge of Jesus. There's no bigger focus for Paul than seeing more of Jesus, because all the "treasures of wisdom and knowledge" are found in Him. Paul says this so that "no one may delude [them] with plausible arguments" (v4). It's not impossible, but it is unlikely that we would deluded by arguments that are not plausible or that sound ridiculous. The danger is from things that sound right, ideas that seem appealing, things that take the truth and twist it very slightly.

The "plausible" arguments that we face probably come down to Jesus plus something else. Jesus plus material prosperity is what will make you happy. Jesus plus certain moral behaviour will save you. Jesus plus karma is a sensible way to look at the world. Or maybe it's even Jesus minus something. Jesus as a good teacher minus the bits where He says He is God. Jesus minus the teachings we find challenging or don't like.

Paul is reminding the people that it is not Jesus plus anything. It's just Jesus. They recieved the news about who Jesus is and what He has done and that's not something that they move on from, it is how they continue to walk in Him, it's what they put their roots down into and how they become established in the faith (v6-7). Not Jesus plus. Just Jesus.

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