Colossians Series - Spiritual Fullness in Christ

                                             Spiritual Fullness In Christ

Salvation Is Just The Beginning

Col. 2:6-9

I was in a Bible study in the book of Hebrews with some other men. The subject of abundance came up in context to God’s oath and promises. “Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath…” 

Abundance in God didn’t mean a lot of material prosperity and material wealth. It has to do with the fullness of God in Christ, in the spiritual riches of his glory: “He (God) would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us…” Eph.3:16-20

Salvation is the beginning of our journey with Christ. Paul in writing to the church in Colossae, stressed the importance of the fullness in the Spirit in the Lordship of Christ. Many have come to faith in Christ by receiving him as Savior, which is the beginning point in our spiritual life and relationship with Him, but we must grow in order to walk in His way. Look at verse 6 - “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him,”

 In John 10, Jesus talked about the scheme of the enemy, but more importantly, He said, “I have come to give life, and that more abundant.” The fullness of God’s spiritual riches is what God wants us to be abundant in. When you see a new believer, you should see the hunger

and thirst for more of God, not more of this world’s abundance. Jesus’ words in John 15:5, “Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” This rings true in Paul’s admonition to continue to live your lives in Christ as Lord.” Abundance is in ‘producing more fruit’ and this can only be done in living and growing in Christ.

Application - I have seen many who have claimed Jesus to be their Savior, but it seems to end there. There is more to a life saved by Christ. The real life in Christ is to continually grow and desire understanding of God's will and purpose for our lives, to know Jesus and His Word. God's desire is to give even more in abundance, the fullness of His glory. The real abundance in life is when God continually infills you with his Holy Spirit’s power, and the desire to “be filled with the fullness of the Holy Spirit.” (Ephesians 5:18) There is a freshness and newness of life everyday in the power of the Holy Spirit, and it is ours in fullness if we ask and seek him. See Matt. 6:33 

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Paul continues with his exhorting of a full spiritual life in verse 7 “rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” Paul understood the need of being rooted in Christ. In Paul earlier life in the flesh, he was rooted in the laws of man’s understanding of God. It wasn’t until he was born again, born of the Spirit, did the seeds of God’s word begin to grow, and boy did he grow. This reminds me of the parable of the sower, (Matt. 13:1-13) it wasn’t until the seed fell onto the plowed soil that a harvest (growing with fullness) happened. 

Next Paul desires that the church be built up, and he wasn’t talking about edifices. He knew that the church must grow in the strength of the Lord. It is here where every believer understood in order to grow and withstand the storms, trials, and tribulations, they needed the strength of being built up in the Holy Spirit, and strengthened in their faith by the Word of God, and in the overflowing of giving thanks to God in all things.

Application -  I keep hearing or reading articles on healthy churches, there is some value in organization, but when it comes to health in the body of Christ (the true church) it is about the growth spiritually in the believers. I remember a song in the 80’s by Amy Grant “Fat Baby” - I know a man

Maybe you know him, too

You never can tell

He might even be you

He knelt at the altar

And that was the end

He's saved and that's all

That matters to him

His spiritual tummy

It can't take too much

One day a week

He gets his spiritual lunch

On Sunday he puts on

His spiritual best

And gives his language

A spiritual rest...I've always wondered

If he'll grow up someday

He's momma's boy

And he likes it that way

If you happen to see him

Tell him I said

He'll never grow

If he never gets fed.

I will let the song speak for itself. The church today is in the last days before Christ’s coming. I, like Paul, want to see the church, the body of Christ, filled with the power of the Holy Spirit so that it can take it stand against the onslaught of the enemy’s plans to ‘kill, steal, and destroy’ the church. If we truly want to be a healthy church, then we must be built up in the strength of the Holy Spirit, sound in the Word of God and give thanks to God continually, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus. (1 Thes. 5:16-18) “Rejoice always,  pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Next, Paul warns against the deception of the enemy, and Paul was taught by the Holy Spirit about living in the last days. The church would be tempted, entrapped by false teaching, false prophecies, controversial philosophies that have their roots in the enemy and the teachings of the world. “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ. V.8”

Paul was rightly concerned about the schemes of the enemy of God. Jesus had told a parable about the wheat and the tares. The bad seed of the tares in this case are the people who have given themselves to the hollow and deceptive humanistic philosophies and have grown up around the church. These philosophies (man’s ability to earn salvation, man’s innate goodness, the inclusiveness of other religions, and the tolerance of sinful lifestyles, among others) were evident in much of the gentile world, and were being accepted by new as well as older believers. The true wheat of the parable are the true believers who are rooted and grounded in Christ, the Word of God, and filled with the Holy Spirit. Paul knew that the only way that the church would grow healthy, was to be like the true wheat.

Application - If the enemy was poisoning the fields of the harvest in Paul’s day, just think of the amount of tares in the field of harvest today. We are told to be tolerant of every form of false human philosophies and even demonic ones as well. The word ‘tolerance’ has it root in selfishness. “You have to tolerate all forms of gender equality, it is the law, or you will be held accountable for ‘hate crimes’.” This is a tare. God’s love, agape love, says to love others even though they don’t love you. Love is not acceptance or tolerance of their lifestyle choices, it is the act of loving them because they are sinners in need of salvation. Just like us, we were all born in sin, and live in sin, but it is not till we recognize this sinfulness and ask for forgiveness and confess it to the only one who can forgive it, Jesus Christ. (Rom. 10:9-10; 1 Jn.1:9) He will then cleanse us (by the blood he shed for all mankind) and give us new life (2 Cor. 5:17).

Now this leads us to the last of Paul’s exhortations in this lesson. Jesus is God. He came in the fullness of God, born of the Holy Spirit, lived a life without sin, was filled and led by the Holy Spirit, He fulfilled all the prophecies concerning him in the Scripture, and He rose from the grave victorious over sin and death. And in all of this, in Christ we have been brought into the body of Christ. He is the head and we are the body. He is Lord and we are his servants. “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.” v.9-10 

Paul continually reminded the church of its origin. It is always in Christ Jesus. When Jesus was ready to go to the Father in Heaven, He promised to give us His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, to infill us with power, to guide us in the truth, and to strengthen us to maturity. The fullness in Christ truly means that He is Lord, He has sent his Spirit to be in us, to seal us, to keep us, and to teach us so we may grow in knowledge and grace. (2 Pet.3:18) “Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. All glory to him, both now and forever! Amen.”

Application - “God is good all the time.” As we live in these last days, I pray that we don’t seek after the abundance of this world, but seek the fullness of God in Christ Jesus. Who gave us His Holy Spirit, to strengthen us, so that we do not fall or give into the evil and humanistic philosophies of this world. God has given us everything we need to stand firm in the truth. He has promised us an abundance of His spiritual riches from Heaven, so that we can be firmly rooted in His Word, and giving abundant thanks in every circumstance for truly this is God’s will for his Church, the body of Christ.

Again, I have posted other lessons on my Blog, pmdinhisservice.blogspot.com I also again post the ABC’s of salvation, if you have not received Christ, please today is the day of salvation. If you know someone who would be blessed with this lesson, please share it.

A - Admit that you are a sinner. This is where that godly sorrow leads to genuine repentance for sinning against a righteous God and there is a change of heart, we change our mind and God changes our hearts and regenerates us from the inside out. Romans 3:10 - As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one." Romans 3:23 - For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (We are all born sinners which is why we must be born spiritually in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven). Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. The bad news is that the wages of sin is death, in other words our sin means that we have been given a death sentence, we have the death penalty hanging over our heads, that's the bad news. But here's the good news: The good news is that the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Ephesians 2:8-9 - For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.

 B - Believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and that God raised Jesus from the dead. This is trusting with all of your heart that Jesus Christ is who he said he was. Romans 10:9-10 - That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 8

C - Call upon the name of the Lord. Every single person who ever lived since Adam will bend their knee and confess with their mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, the Lord of lords and the King of kings. Romans 14:11 - For it is written: "As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God." Don't wait until later — do this now. Romans 10:13 - For "whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." "O God, I am a sinner. I'm sorry for my sin. I want to turn from my sin. I believe Jesus Christ is Your Son; I believe that He died on the cross for my sin and that He was buried and You raised Him to life. I have decided to place my faith in Jesus Christ as my Savior, trusting only in His shed blood as sufficient to save my soul and to take me to heaven. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for saving me. Amen."

Until next week, “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.” In His Service, Mike Davis