As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
Watch out that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental principles of the world, and not according to Christ.
For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision, by the removal of the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ; when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.
And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it. (New Revised Standard Version)
On the television gameshow “Let’s Make a Deal,” selected members of the studio audience are offered something of value, and then given a choice of whether to keep it or exchange it for a different item.
The game’s drama is that the other item is hidden from the person until that choice is made. The participant does not know if the alternative item is of equal or greater value; or an item purposely chosen to be of little or no value.
The “deal” with Christianity is that Christians already have something of significant value. But they often lose it by going after something they aren’t even sure they actually want, or not.
Followers of Jesus have been given a valuable gift. And the Apostle Paul’s exhortation to the Church at Colossae was to go ahead and keep going with the prize you already possess.
Believers in Jesus have received him. Therefore, the believer is not to trade the words and ways of Jesus, and the redemption secured in Christ, for something else.
Instead, the Christian is to do their best to live into those words and ways, right now in daily life. Christians are invited to explore the vast spiritual resources of their gifted redemption.
Having been redeemed by the Cross of Christ, believers are deeply rooted in Jesus. They are on a firm foundation of faith. Christians possess a faith full of hope and love.
So then, believers are encouraged by the Apostle Paul to take everything they have been taught, and everything they have received, and run with it.
It doesn’t matter what is behind another door, or what is on the other side of the curtain; grab ahold of what you possess in Jesus Christ. Stop considering a better way to live, and start living the life that’s been given to you.
Allow gratitude and thanksgiving to arise within you, and to come forth out of you. Quit looking how much greener the grass is on the other side of the fence. That pasture isn’t really greener; and there is not really a better way.
Many people have become disillusioned with institutional religion. They’ve had it with church. So, some of them end up throwing out the baby with the bath water, entertaining all sorts of ideas and approaches other than the grace-filled Christianity they once received.
Unfortunately, there are plenty of spiritual charlatans who seek to bedazzle people with fine sounding words. But it’s all nothing but a bunch of pseudo-intellectual philosophical babble.
Yet, because the messenger appears confident and makes grand pronouncements, they let themselves be captured, and go with it. And there are others who become enamored with endless theological talk, that has neither any real effect on one’s daily life, nor eternal life.
The Apostle was warning the Colossian believers about getting lost in the myriad traditions and superstitions that have an absence of Christ in the middle of them.
The way of Jesus has Christ directly and purposefully at the core of one’s life. Anything less is to make a deal and see what is behind another door.
The way of Jesus has very little to do with a particular theological tradition about the end times, or a certain literal interpretive stance, or a liturgical or non-liturgical approach to the Christian life.
Everything of God is right, just, and good. And according to Christianity, it comes through the person and work of Jesus, through Christ’s words and ways as expressed in the New Testament Gospels.
It seems to me that the Apostle Paul would be aghast today at how many supposed Christian believers worship him and his epistles! Instead of giving their full adoration to Christ.
The last word doesn’t come from Paul, but from Jesus. Keep in mind that Paul worshiped Christ, and did not point people to himself as the be-all-end-all of any philosophical approach.
Everything the Christian needs is within the fullness of Jesus Christ.
All things are empty without Christ, including the vast universe. The power and authority of Christ extends over all things and all people everywhere. Paul was insistent on this in all of the churches he established.
Thus, Christians must enter into the fullness of their Lord Jesus.
You can spend a lifetime, even an eternity after death, trying to figure out how God works, but you will never get to the end of it. God’s arm has that long of a reach. The fullness of Jesus is that big and filling. The strength of the Spirit is that powerful.
The heart and center of Christianity has nothing to do with circumcision, modes of baptism, keeping long lists of laws, or maintaining multiple spiritual practices. Because the Christian is already in, and already united with Christ.
This is why Paul prayed for believers to explore and realize what they already have in Christ, so that, with the eyes of their heart enlightened, they may perceive what is the hope to which God has called them, the riches of God’s glorious inheritance among the saints, and the immeasurable greatness of divine power for those who believe. (Ephesians 1:18-19)
The Christian has been spiritually raised from the dead, just as Christ was physically raised from death to life. And believers will also be physically raised, as Jesus was, if they have the spiritual eyes to see it.
Think of all those times in the past when you were stuck, and living a dead-end existence. Remember how God made you alive in Christ. All of your guilt and shame forgiven. All the stuff that kept you down and out, all that kept you from God, was nailed to the Cross of Christ.
The malevolent forces of this world have been stripped of their power, and can be seen as the sham they actually are.
The Christian is delivered from sin, death, and hell. There is, therefore, no need for the believer to trade what they already have for whatever the heck is behind door number two.
It will not be nearly as valuable nor practical – not even close.
Being grounded in the person and work of Christ is where it’s at, my friend.
Watch out that nobody comes along and tries to sway you from Jesus. Don’t make any deals. You and I have Jesus. He is all we need.
Lord Jesus, you are worthy of our adoration, affection, and allegiance. Because of you, we don’t have to guess what God is like; there is no need to create our own image of God. Everything we need to know about God is revealed in and through you. Along with the Father and the Spirit, you have always existed in perfect relationship and unimaginable wonder.
Blessed Holy Trinity, the God whom I serve, may your divine dance of Father, Son, and Spirit pulsate within me, and flow out of me in a trust that you are enough. Then I will know that I, too, am enough as I avoid the false philosophies and promises of this world.
Almighty God, you fill the center of my being, so that I can let You be You, and so, be content and at peace, despite the alternative voices that chatter constantly around me. May your will be done, today and every day, to the glory of Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.
Rev. Tim Ehrhardt 