we're going to pick up where we left off last time in Colossians chapter 2 we'll be looking at verses 11 through 15 but i'm going to begin our reading for context purposes at verse 8 if you're using the pew bible in front of you i believe you can find that on page 1169 Colossians 2 Colossians 2 beginning in our reading at verse 8 See 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 for in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily and you have been filled in him who is the head of all rule and authority in him also you were circumcised with the circumcision made without hands by putting off the body of the flesh by the circumcision of christ having been buried with him in baptism in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God who raised him from the dead. 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 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in him well maybe you notice paul kind of fell in love with the phrase in him in these few passages he says it over and over and over in christ and what paul is doing with this phrase in christ It's really Paul's way of speaking of our union with Christ. All the many blessings that we share in Christ. We are united to Christ by faith and because of that union we receive the benefits of Christ. And really the crux of the text here, the hinge of the text is really found in verse 10. And you have been filled in him. Filled in Christ. I think Paul here is talking about a fulfilled life. The filled life is the life that is in Christ. You see, people today make much of the idea of having a fulfilled life. One psychologist says that in fact the fulfilled life is beginning to replace the pursuit of the happy life. And so she titles an article of hers, Be Happy by Forgetting About Being Happy but Pursuing Fulfillment. Now it's indeed true that we were made for so much more than this sinful unfulfilled life but how we pursue that fulfillment makes a world of difference are we pursuing fulfillment if we are how are we going about that pursuit because the truth is we too as christians can make many of the same mistakes in this regard as those out in the world we too often look for the the next big thing in our life to fulfill our lives to give us a sense of fulfillment and why why when we already have everything that we need in jesus christ we've been filled in christ now maybe we struggle to appreciate what it is that we have in Jesus Christ. That's where the Colossian Christians were. They struggled to appreciate what they had in Christ. And so Paul writes this to them to explain to them that they already have been filled in Christ. They have the fulfilled life. That's what Paul tells them here in verses 9 and 10. Don't be deceived. Don't be captive to man-made philosophy or religion. You have everything in christ you've been filled in him i mean think about it that's a huge statement a huge statement one that we as christians should meditate upon regularly shouldn't just gloss over something like that as we maybe can often do this is a text a truth that we should visit over and over in our minds because it really does shape our desires our thoughts our pursuits this can be encouraging to us realizing we indeed have been filled in christ see let me ask you why have you come here tonight why have we gathered here together have we come simply out of a sense of duty or a sense of tradition. If that's the case, friend, I tell you, give up on duty. Give up on tradition. Take Christ. Hear what Paul says here that you can have in Christ. Your life can be filled. You can have that fulfilled life. Well, maybe you're here tonight and you are indeed trusting in Christ. And you're looking to be reminded of that fulfillment that you have in him. If that's the case, let me ask you a different question. What is it that may be hindering you from finding your complete satisfaction in Jesus Christ? What is it? Is it ignorance? Are you simply lacking knowledge of what you have in Christ? If that's the case, Paul's going to tell us in this text what we have in Christ. Is it doubt? Maybe you doubt that Christ is sufficient for your sins. i assure you christ is more than enough maybe it's sin itself in all of its various forms and expressions brother and sister christ is still greater still greater see we indeed do have the fulfilled life if we're a christian we're united to christ and we have been filled in him now as i said that's the exact opposite of what many in colossae were believing that was the opposite of what many of the false teachers in colossae were teaching the christians there they were being told that they still lacked fulfillment christ was just the beginning the start of what could be a great and fulfilled life but they needed more than christ they needed to to follow certain philosophies they need to follow certain practices of self-denial they were even being told that they needed to be circumcised that's why paul here brings up this entire issue here and he will go on to tell us that these christians have all that they need in Christ. We indeed have the filled life, the fulfilled life. And he'll tell us this really in two ways, two ways. The first is Paul talks of participation. The Christian has participated in Christ and in being united to him, he participates in all the blessings and benefits of Christ. And then secondly, he speaks of our liberation, the liberation that the Christian has experienced and truly has in christ well let's look to our first point participation paul speaks of our participation in verses 11 to 12 and he speaks of three ways that the christian participates in christ we've participated in his death we've participated in his burial and we've participated in his resurrection paul says in verse 11 in him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands by putting off the body of flesh by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God. First way that Christians participate in Christ is in his death. Paul says here that Christians have been circumcised in Christ by a circumcision without hands, having been buried with him through baptism. Now, this is probably a familiar text to us, right? This is a text that we use to show that baptism is indeed the fulfillment of circumcision. We get that. Therefore, circumcision as a sacrament, a sign and seal of the covenant, is no longer necessary. It's been replaced by the new covenant sign and seal, baptism. but we need to look a little closer here to see how what paul says here fits in what he says about having a field life in christ paul does indeed say that we have been circumcised in christ and paul says here three things about this circumcision he says it's not physical it's not a circumcision made by hands it's a putting off of the body of flesh and then finally it's a circumcision of christ put these three things together and what exactly is paul saying here he's saying that we have participated in the death of christ we share in that death now how does paul say that Well, he uses the idea of circumcision as something of a metaphor to refer to death. He speaks of the circumcision of Christ, the cutting off of Christ, of Christ being cut off from the land of the living at the cross. Paul is saying that the Christian has participated in that cutting off or that death of Christ. and all those who are united to christ therefore share in that death of christ you see what is circumcision we all know what circumcision is right it's the cutting away of flesh but that act that act was understood to contain more meaning than simply the act itself circumcision was the sign and seal of the old covenant a sign and seal that reminded the people that they needed much more than simply physical circumcision their hearts needed to be circumcised they needed the body of flesh as paul calls it needed to be cut off that's how deuteronomy 30 speaks and the lord your god will circumcise your heart in the heart of your offspring so that you will love the lord your god with all your heart and with all your soul see every person born into this world is sinful and needs their hearts circumcised they need that sinful flesh that enslaving nature to sin cut off cut away again paul's using circumcision here as a metaphor for death and in so doing he's saying in christ's death in the circumcision that christ experienced on the cross and that circumcision we have died to our old selves in the death of christ we have died the old is gone dead and with it our enslavement to sin see he's saying that we've participated we share in that death we're united to christ we share in the benefits of christ and from a biblical perspective this is an undeniable reality for the christian and paul is saying because of this participation in christ our old selves our enslavement to sin is gone it's over it's dead to impress this reality all the more paul speaks also of the burial of christ he speaks of christians also participating in the burial of Christ. In verse 12 he says, having been buried with him in baptism. Baptism is the sign and seal of the cleansing that we receive from Christ. But just as with circumcision, there's more meaning here. Baptism also signifies death. Listen to what Jesus says in Luke 12 50. I have a baptism to be baptized with and how great is my distress until it is accomplished. And Paul says in Romans do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ were baptized into his death we were buried therefore with him by baptism into death Christ died and was buried now now that might seem like an obvious truth to us today but that wasn't such an obvious truth in the first century you see that truth that Christ was buried was drawn upon to testify to the fact that Christ indeed had died. He was dead and buried. The burial of Christ was testimony to the fact that Christ did die. It wasn't a hoax. He didn't just seem dead. He wasn't just plain dead. He wasn't just trying to trick people. No, he was dead and buried you don't bury something that isn't dead and so now paul draws upon the burial of christ to say our bondage to sin our old selves have truly died they too have been buried if the burial of christ testifies to the fact that he died then the burial that we participate and share in Christ's burial testifies to the fact that our old man, our old nature, is dead. See, Paul wants to impress this truth upon his readers. He doesn't want them to miss this truth because he realizes that their confidence, their strength, the vitality of their Christian walk hinges upon this truth. Paul ultimately wants to get to the fact that we have also been raised with Christ, but you can't raise something anew without something first dying and being buried. You know how the same goes out with the old in with the new. You can't bring the new in without the old already being taken out. And that truth is absolutely the case when it comes to our Christian lives. Our old selves have been died and buried, never to be raised again. Our old selves are gone, done. What has been raised is newness in Christ. The second half of verse 12 says, You were also raised with Him through faith in the powerful working of God who raised Him from the dead. Here Paul speaks more of participation in Christ, more sharing in His work and His benefits. Just as we have died with Him, been buried with Him, so we too have been raised to newness of life in Christ. This too is a beautiful, encouraging truth for Christianity and for Christians. Christ lived and died so that in Him we may die to ourselves and live in newness of life unto Him. See, this indeed is the life that is filled, the fullness of life, the fulfilled life is the life that is in Christ. To be true, to be honest, nothing in our lives can compare to what we've been given in Christ. Nothing, nothing that we could achieve in this life, nothing that we can gain in this life. No possession, no desire being fulfilled, no person, no identity, no religion. Give us Christ, him crucified and resurrected. So we have indeed died, been buried, and raised in newness of life in Christ. Our old nature, the flesh, has been cut off, cut away, buried with him. This is the first reason why Paul says here that we have been filled in Christ. The second reason the Christian life is the fulfilled life is because of the liberation that Paul speaks of. The liberation we have in Christ. With our participation in Christ, we have newness of life. And what this means is that we are free in Christ. Liberated in Christ. Free not to do whatever we want to do. That would be going back to the way we formerly lived, going back to the old way that we lived. No, we are free now to live for Christ. We've been liberated from the bondage to sin, and now we can live freely for Him. Paul says in verse 13, And you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him. The participation that we share in Christ leads to this freedom that we now enjoy as Christians. And as I said, we were all once spiritually dead, in need of circumcision, circumcision of our flesh, in need of dying and being reborn anew. In Christ we've received that. Again, Christ died so that our deadness to God would be raised anew raised to life and this amounts to freedom liberation liberation that we now get to enjoy and experience as those who walk the christian walk see brothers and sisters this would have been so significant for the christians in colossi just as it should be significant for us here tonight what paul says here is similar to what he says in galatians 2 20 i've been crucified with christ it is no longer i who live but christ who lives in me there in galatians 2 20 paul says that we've been crucified with christ participants in his death and therefore participate and share in his life the life we now live is controlled by christ who dwells in us who dwells in us now if you've ever been serious about killing sin if you've ever been serious about the mortification of sin i'm sure you've probably committed to memory passages like galatians 2 20 and you've brought those passages to mind often you've chewed on them you've wrestled with them and you've continued to remind yourself that it is no longer you who lives but Christ that lives in you well along with Galatians 2 20 you can add this text here Colossians 2 11 through 15. You've died in Christ. You've been buried in Christ. You've been raised to newness of Christ, and you have freedom to live a life for Him. Christian, you indeed have been freed in Christ. We have freedom in Jesus Christ. This is what it means to have a filled life. This is the fulfilled life now we might not focus enough on the freedom that we have in christ but this is a great reality you see we're people who probably tend to focus more on our failures in our christian life than on the freedom that we have in christ we probably tend to be reminded of the times where we struggle and fall to sin and temptation the times that we find ourselves losing control and lashing out on a friend or a family member even our own children or spouse the times when we give in to pressure and deceive people into thinking more highly of us than they ought to the times when we give in to lust and desire and covet that which is not ours those are the times that we find ourselves remembering right what we don't remember what often doesn't come to mind is the times when temptation comes knocking and yet in freedom we're able to deny sin in freedom and in strength and the power that we have in Jesus Christ, we're able to deny sin and turn from it and walk in obedience and faith in Jesus Christ. Those are moments of encouragement. Those are reality for us as Christians. We are no longer enslaved to sin. We don't have to say yes to sin. Maybe there's times that we feel that's the case. Brothers and sisters, do not give in to your feelings. Trust God's Word. Look to God's Word. Remember this reality that you are indeed free in Jesus Christ. It is no longer you who lives, but it is He who lives in you. This reality would have been something of a great impression upon the Colossian Christians. Christians who themselves desired to be free from the tug of indwelling sin. Paul would have known this. Every true Christian desires to be free from the tug of indwelling sin. Paul knows this and he also would have known how that desire to be free from that tug would have made the Christians at Colossae vulnerable. Vulnerable to the promises of man-made religion that the teachers there, the false teachers, were circulating there. Promises like, submit to circumcision. It will free you from the tug of indwelling sin. Promises like, submit to the practices of denying yourself various pleasures. This will rid you of the tug of indwelling sin. to those promises paul says these things have an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion but they have no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh and that's the thing man-made religion man-made rules always has an appearance of wisdom sadly i know this firsthand i know this firsthand i know how the promises of man-made religion can have an influence on vulnerable christians who want to deny their flesh when i first became a christian i had some close christian friends who were zealous for righteous living they desired to be free from the tug of indwelling sin they hated their sin and they hated the fact that they continued to struggle with it and they hated the fact that they continued to find themselves falling to that sin the promise of freedom came in the form of the eastern orthodox church and its practices they met a man who was eastern orthodox and he promised them freedom from their struggles and sadly they bought it one even moved out of state he moved to a monastery and became a monk all in an effort to rid himself of that tug of indwelling sin now we all know that desire to be free from the tug and the pull of sin of the sinful flesh but friend man-made religion and its practices have only an appearance of wisdom no value in stopping the flesh where does our freedom come it comes from christ it comes in christ we've been freed in our participation with christ in his death in his burial in his resurrection we've been freed to newness of life and that's why paul says here and not only here but in other places like romans 6 do you not know that all of us who were baptized into christ was baptized into his death we were buried therefore with him by baptism into death in order that just as christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the father we too might walk in newness of life newness of life that newness of life is the equivalent of What Paul calls here the fullness of life. The filled life. Christian, your life is the filled life. In Christ you have the fulfillment of life. You are alive in Christ. There is a strength in you. There is a power in you. The same power that resurrected Jesus from the dead is operating in you by the Spirit. Paul not only says here that we've been liberated from the bondage of sin, but he further encourages his readers by saying that they've also been liberated from the consequence of sin. Notice the last part of verse 13 and following. He says, having forgiven us all our trespasses by canceling the record of death that stood against us with its legal demands, this he set aside, nailing it to the cross. This is a beautiful passage, really. beautiful passage tells us the good news of being liberated from the consequence of sin the wrath and judgment of god children i often ask the question in a profession of faith class what is the gospel how would you summarize the gospel for me here in this text here we have a great summary of what the gospel is in christ our sins have been forgiven and christ the record of what we owe god for the wrongs that we have done has been nailed to the cross doubt with see this is the fulfilled life the filled life is the forgiven life the life to which god cancels the debt of the sinner, the life for which Christ took upon himself the consequences of the sin of the sinner. What a beautiful passage this is. What a beautiful picture it really paints for us. Think about this. Apart from Christ, there is a record of sin that would stand against us. We use IOUs in our house. I don't know if you guys use IOUs. I think I got that maybe from my father. But there are times where I find that my kids have more cash on hand than I have on hand. And so I borrow some cash from my kids and I got to write them up a little IOU. This passage tells us God keeps an IOU of the record of our wrongs. He keeps a record of the wrongs of those who are outside of Christ. Think about that. Think of the terror. Think of the horror. What a terrifying thought. Imagine the length of such a letter that has all of, or a list that has all of the record of your sins. Every thought, every desire, every action God has there at hand when you stand before Him at His judgment seat. Now think, as those who are in Christ, that record has been nailed to the cross. dealt with, gone, erased, canceled. Not because there was anything worthy in and of ourselves. Canceled not because God could excuse sin. Canceled because Christ took the punishment of those sins upon the cross. He died and erased that debt. It was nailed to the cross, done and over with. One of my favorite songs is it is well with my soul. And one of my favorite parts of that song is when it says my sin not in part but the whole is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Oh my soul. It's no secret where that song got that part from, right? Where that hymn comes from. It comes from a text like this. text which speaks to the fulfilled life that the christian has well the last thing that paul points out here and it's too would have been such an encouragement to the christians at colossi is that the christian life is the fulfilled life because of the liberation that the christian has in being released from the bondage to the rulers and authorities of this evil age paul says in verse 15 Christ disarmed the rulers and authorities put them to open shame by triumphing over them in him I've mentioned before that this phrase rulers and authorities in the book of Colossians as well as in the book of Ephesians refers to spiritual rulers and authorities Satan and his demons Paul's already wrenching this phrase rulers and authorities twice in this book He first mentions it in chapter 1, verse 6, when speaking of all things being created by Christ, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. And then he mentions it again in verse 10, which we read already this evening, when he speaks of us being filled in Christ, who is the head over all rule and authority. Here in the text before us, Paul says that Christ has disarmed these rulers and authorities. He's put them to shame by triumphing over them. Now this would have been so encouraging to these Christians at Colossae. See, at the time in the first century, it was common to think that demonic forces were involved in every area of life. And therefore, these first century Christians would have felt like they were at the mercy of these rulers and authorities. Now we're modern folks, right? We certainly acknowledge the existence of spiritual forces, but we're more likely to disregard their influence in the world. We're much more prone to think that presidents and prime ministers, senators and governors, congressmen and women, or even mobs today, groups today, they're the ones that exercise influence and power. They're the ones that we stand at their mercy. but let me remind you brothers and sisters in christ who is it that's pulling the strings behind such mobs such presidents and prime ministers and senates it's the same rulers and authorities that paul speaks of here the same rulers and authorities who pulled the strings of the religious jewish rulers and authorities and crucified the lord of glory but little did they know it was christ who was making a spectacle of them at the cross christ disarmed their powers at the christ at the cross christ put them to shame at the cross christ triumphed over these powers and just as we participate in the life death and resurrection and newness of life in christ we also share in his triumph don't we these rulers dominions and powers now because of christ have absolutely no power authority rule or dominion over us we've been liberated from such bondage we are free so yeah maybe a president and a senate and a house of representatives can ruin our economy but what they can't do is take away what we have in christ nobody can nothing can separate us from christ there is only one king of kings only one lord of lord the king jesus christ and as he tells us he possesses all authority in heaven and on earth christian this is our joy this is our strength this is our confidence our lives are in the hands of our gracious lord and savior who has already given his life up for us this is our lives this is the the filled life this is the fulfilled life in him we share in all the benefits that christ has earned by grace out of grace alone not because we could earn anything not because we deserve anything because of who god is because he loves us cares about us and because of this newness of life that we receive in him we've been liberated from the bondage of sin and death from the consequence of our sin and from any powers that be today. Christian, let me ask you again. Why would you seek fulfillment in anything outside of Christ? We indeed have all that we need in Him. Let's pray. Lord, we thank You for such an encouraging passage as this. And we pray that by Your Spirit, Lord, who right now works in the heart of each of Your people. We pray, Lord, that You would strengthen us to grow to appreciate all that we have in Christ. You have indeed filled us in Him. Continue, Lord, to remind us of the strength and the power that we have to walk in this Christian life out of newness of life for You, for Christ. We pray this all in His name. Amen.