Colossians Lesson 5
Roots
Steve W. Reeves
INTRODUCTION:
A. In
January of 2017 a powerful winter storm in California uprooted one of the giant
Sequoia trees through which a tunnel had
been carved over one hundred years ago.
It is estimated that the tree may have been
over one thousand years old but its roots
could not support it against the storm. (Source:
NPR News, January 9, 2017)
B. God
wants each of us to have deep spiritual roots.
1. Spiritual roots provide stability
against the storms, currents and pressures of the
world.
2. Spiritual roots enable us to receive
nourishment from the word of God. The
Psalmist alluded to this in Psalm 1:2-3
when he describes the righteous man with
these words, “But his delight is in the
law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates
day and night. 3 He will
be like a tree firmly planted
by streams of water, which
yields its fruit in its season and its
leaf does not wither.”
3. Our spiritual roots are intertwined with
the roots of others to provide a network of
support. The church is not a building
with crowded pews filled with lonely people
but a living, vibrant body where each
member gives and receives support to one
another.
C.
Paul’s passionate plea for the Christians at Colossae was that they might be
firmly
rooted and established in Christ
(Colossians 2:6).
1. According to 2:1 Paul struggled in
behalf of the Christians at Colossae and
Laodicea. The word “struggle” is a
military term meaning “to contend.” He was
praying for them.
a. P.D. Wilmoth used to say, “Prayer is
a battleground.”
b. Although Paul had never met these
people and they had never seen his face he
prayed for them. Although he was a
prisoner his prayer was for others, not
himself.
2. Their great need of being firmly rooted
and established in Christ is our great need.
a. Some of these early Christians were
being seduced by false teachers who,
according to verse 8 were “taking them
captive through philosophy and empty
deception, according to the
tradition of men, according to the elementary
principles of the world, rather than
according to Christ.”
b. Their problem was the same as many
people today, a failure to recognize the
supremacy and sufficiency of Jesus
for eternal life.
1.) Some of them were teaching that
they needed “special knowledge” (the
Gnostics) or they needed to hold
on to the old law of the Jewish religion (Wm.
Barclay suggests there were over
11,000 Jewish men in the Lycos valley
where Colossae and Laodicea were
located).
2.) Today we have people who want to
add everything imaginable to the Gospel
of Jesus. What does the sacrificial
atonement of Jesus lack? DoesJesus not
have the power to save and transform
life? Notice verses 9-10 – “For in Him all
the fullness of Deity dwells in
bodily form, 10 and in Him you have been made
complete, and He is the head over all
rule and authority.”
3.) The problem is not that we need more
than Jesus. It is that we often settle for
less than Jesus by filling our lives
with things that are trivial and superficial.
D. Paul’s
plea was that they be firmly rooted and established in Christ (vs. 6). His goal
is found in verse 4, “I say this so that no
one will delude you with persuasive
arguments.”
A closer look at verses 2-3 provides us with specific strategies for
deepening your spiritual roots.
I. ENCOURAGED HEARTS
A. In verse 2 Paul prayed that their hearts
might be encouraged.
1. Interestingly, the word from which we
get “encouraged” is the same word used in
John 16 to describe the Holy Spirit.
“Parakalethosin” means, “beside of,” of
“called alongside.”
2. A Boy Scout troop was hiking through
the woods when they came upon an
abandoned section of railroad
tracks. They took turns trying to walk along the
rails without falling but eventually
all of them fell off except two. These two stood
on the rails and held their arms out
to support one another. By walking alongside
one another they walked the entire
section of tracks.
B. Encouragement is to the soul what water
is to a draught stricken plant. It refreshes
and nourishes.
1. I am sure the Christians in Colossae
who were still babes in Christ needed to be
encouraged due to the challenges
they were facing.
2. You and I need encouragement because
of the draining experiences we face in
the world around us. When the writer
of Hebrews addressed Christians who were
becoming discouraged he urged them,
“Exhort one another daily, while it is
called Today; lest any of you be
hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For
we are made partakers of Christ, if
we hold the beginning of our confidence
steadfast unto the end” (Hebrews
3;13-14).
II. LOVING RELATIONSHIPS
A. Paul’s desire was for these people to be
“knit together in love.”
1. In verse 19 this same term, “knit
together,” is used to describe the relationship
we are to have with one another in
the body of Christ (church). “From whom
the
entire body, being supplied and held
together by the joints and ligaments, grows
with a growth which is from God.”
2. Notice the similarity between
Colossians 2 and Ephesians 4:15-16 – “But
speaking the truth in love, we are
to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the
head, even Christ, 16 from
whom the whole body, being fitted and held together
by what every joint supplies,
according to the proper working of each individual
part, causes the growth of the body
for the building up of itself in love.”
B. There are several passages of Scripture
that use the phrase, “knit together.”
1.
1 Samuel 18:1 – Concerning the friendship between David and Jonathan we
read, “the soul of Jonathan was knit
to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him
as himself.”
2. The Psalmist said, “For you created
my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s
womb” (Psalm 139:13 NIV and KJV, NASB
uses the word, “wove”).
C. Love is the glue that binds us together
in relationships.
1. Dr. Richard J. Krejcir wrote an
article in Church Leadership entitled, “Why is
Friendship So Important?” He asks, “What
is the key that makes one person
successful in life and another not,
even though both have the same level of
intelligence, education, and
upbringing? The key is the ability to make friends!
Networking relationships will move a
person over the top as compared to the
person who does not make friends
well!” (Source:
R. J. Krejcir Ph.D.,Schaeffer
Institute of Church Leadership).
2. Dr. John Ellis of the Center for
Church growth in Houston, Texas, states that
when a person becomes a Christian or
places membership in a local church
unless they develop at least 5-6 close
friends within six months the likelihood of
them remaining faithful drops
dramatically.
3. We need loving relationships. In his
book, Learning to Love, Willard Tate tells of
watching a documentary about
chickens. At the hatchery the baby chicks were
carried down a conveyor belt where
they were sorted by size. Those that did not
measure up were carried off into a
crusher. One little chick did not make the cut.
Just as it got to the end of the
conveyor belt it turned and began running the
opposite direction as if was saying,
“Please take me.” Finally, it was carried off
into the crusher. Tate observed,
that people are looking for others who will take
them. This is where the church must
step up to the plate to provide loving
relationships.
4. We are not knit together by our likes
/ dislikes. We are not knit together because
we have the same tastes, educational
experience, professions or background.
We are knit together in love.
III. KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
A. Paul prayed for the Christians to
attain, “all the wealth that comes from the full
assurance of understanding, resulting in
a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is,
Christ Himself” (vs. 2).
B. When the Bible uses the term “knowing
Christ,” it is not talking about merely
knowing the facts about Jesus. It is
talking about knowing Him through a personal
relationship.
1. That relationship begins through our
response of faith and obedience to Christ as
we put our trust in Him, turn away
from sin (repentance),,confess our faith and
are buried with Him in baptism
(2:12).
2. Like any relationship our knowledge
and understanding of Christ must be
cultivated every day. Have you ever
known someone to with whom you were
once close but over time have
drifted apart? ? Meeting them is
awkward. You’re not sure what to
say. I believe many people are that way with
Jesus. They met Him at one point in
their life but have grown apart because they
haven’t kept up the relationship. Jesus
didn’t move, they did!
C. The most important knowledge and
understanding you will ever have is your
knowledge of and with Jesus Christ. Why
is this so? Notice verse 3 – “In whom
are hidden all the treasures of wisdom
and knowledge.”
1. Everything we need spiritually is
available to us through Christ.
2. A ship was grounded off the coast of
Brazil. They went for days without fresh
water. Finally another ship
approached and asked about their needs. “We need
water,” came the reply. “Lower your
buckets,” instructed the other ship. You see,
they were at a spot where the Amazon
emptied into the Atlantic providing fresh
water for miles into the ocean. It
was there the entire time. Jesus is waiting for us
to call upon Him.
CONCLUSION:
A. If
Paul were alive today and were praying for your congregation for what would he
pray? I am convinced he would pray for the
same things he desired for the
Colossians. He would want us to know that
our sufficiency is in Christ.
B. An
art collector had an extremely valuable collection. After his death an auction
was
held. The first painting to be auctioned
was an unfamiliar portrait of a young man. I
sold for only a few dollars. Suddenly the
auctioneer said, “Auction concluded.
According to the will whoever bought this
portrait which was of the man’s son, gets
everthing else. Whoever gets the son, gets
it all.”
C.
Everything you need to put down deep spiritual roots is in Christ. Salvation,
sufficiency and sufficiency. May we assist
you in coming to Him as we conclude?
