Colossians #3

LISTEN TO THE VOICE OF TRUTH

There are competing voices in every aspect of life (environment, politics, and faith). Which voice do we listen to? You might choose the voice that best fits your core values and belief systems. But even then we may be setting the course of our lives on a subjective, emotional response that only seems right but is in fact leading you astray.

            The story is told of a man who used to stop by a clock shop every morning and stare at one particular clock in the window. One morning the owner of the store came out (sensing a chance for a sale) and remarked that he had seen the man stop there every day to look at that "beautiful" clock. The stranger replied, "I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that I stop here every day because my watch is not very accurate. Every morning I synchronize my watch with this clock. You see, I am the time keeper at the factory and I am the one charged to blow the whistle at 4:00 to signal quitting time." The shopkeeper began laughing. He said, "I must admit that this clock is not very accurate either. Every day I set it by the 4:00 whistle at the factory."

            Obviously, when neither of these clocks is a dependable standard, the standard will become more and more corrupted. This is exactly what is happening in our world. People are determining their standard of right and wrong (and their view of God) by the prevailing view of public opinion. And Public Opinion is determined by the prevailing standard of right and wrong! Is it any wonder, then, that our society drifts deeper and deeper into the mire of perversity? There is no standard of truth! There is no fear of God before their eyes!

            The Christians at Colossae were listening to the voices that so confidently declared that the gospel they believed was too simple. Those voices invited the believers to discover the deeper mysteries of faith beyond Christ and the gospel. Paul’s response was to bring them back to the simple truth that secured their faith and gave them hope in a hopeless world.

1. Truth: You are not what you once were

Having established that Christ is the image of the invisible God, the Creator, the Sustainer of all things, the Supreme and utterly effective Savior of the world, Paul turns to the Colossians themselves. He recalls their former situation: Who were they? What was their status before God?

            Paul describes their pre-Christian condition (and ours) in three jarring expressions. These expressions sound a lot like Eph. 2:1-3 and remind us that all of us were once lost and worse “objects of wrath.”

            The first expression in this letter is this: “Once you were alienated from God…” In the Greek, the word “alienated” means “to be separated as a stranger, to be shut out from.” There is quite a difference between being an alien and being alienated. Every foreigner in Canada is considered an alien, unless they become a citizen of Canada, renouncing their allegiance to their former country and being subject to Canadian law and life. But if a Canadian were to reject Canada and become a citizen of Iran, for instance, that person would be alienated from us, especially if that person fought against the country that gave him or her birth.

            Sin alienates us from God. While we live in our sin, we are shut out from relationship with God. Isaiah states this quite bluntly, “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear” (Is. 59:2).

            The second expression builds on the first: “… (you) were enemies in your minds…” To be in a state of alienation from God breeds hostility. We hate God because we perceive that God opposes us. Our rebellion rejects His authority, our unrighteousness hates His righteousness, our inferiority hates His supremacy – we want our way, not His way.

            I have spoken about syncretism recently and it fits here. Christians try to straddle the line between faith and the world and it is a difficult and impossible task. We try to be friends with the world in order to attract the world to our faith. But our faith becomes worldly. As James wrote, friendship with the world is hostility towards God (Js. 4:4).

            And the third expression is a product of the first two: “evil behavior.” What we think we are apt to do. Alienation from God conjures hostility towards God and thus we act out in rebellion. But to cover up this behavior we justify our actions. “Sin” is old fashioned and politically incorrect. This attitude leads to Denial (“I didn’t do anything wrong”), Diversion (“Everyone does it”), Repression (avoiding value judgments), Rationalization (“It’s not really stealing”), and Renaming (It’s not sin, it’s a syndrome or disorder).

            Thankfully, Paul opened with “once” indicating that this is a past condition of those who now believe in Jesus. We do, however, need to be reminded of what we have been saved from. Believers must never forget their sinful nature. G.K. Chesterton wrote in response to a question in the London Times. The question: “What’s wrong with the world?” Chesterton replied, “I am. Yours truly, G.K. Chesterton.”

2. Truth: You are reconciled to God

That was then, this is now. When Epaphras came preaching Christ, their status changed when the Colossians believed. Praise God, Paul notes this change with the words “But now.” The drama of those two words cannot be over-expressed.

            “But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation - ”

            The message of reconciliation has both a cosmic and a personal aspect to it. We tend to think of reconciliation as only about us and God, but in v. 20 God is shown to send Christ to reconcile to himself all things. That means that all of Creation has a serious problem. All of Creation suffers from the effects of sin and longs for restoration (Rom. 8:20-21). Creation groans for its liberation from frustration.

            The personal aspect certainly appeals more to us. We see this illustrated in Adam’s sin in Genesis 3:8 when God came looking for him. What did Adam do? He hid. This is a picture of man’s relationship to God – he hides from God. Light has come into the world when Jesus arrived, but people hated the light and hid in darkness because they were evil (John 3:19-20).

            To be reconciled to God is to be changed from one thing to another. We were messed up, broken, unfixable – we had to be completely changed. This was only possible through the physical, bodily death of Jesus. “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God…” (1 Pet. 3:18).

            False teachers in Colossae claimed to have knowledge of a mystery and offered to share this mystery with them. It was said to be a door to greater spiritual awareness. Mystery religions were prevalent in those days. You see that Paul takes that word “mystery” and redefines it in vv. 26-27. Here is the true mystery revealed: While we were enemies of God, Christ, God’s Son died for us. The mystery of the gospel is not just that we are made acceptable to God, it is that God wanted us at all. The mystery of the gospel that Paul was a faithful steward of was that those who were once enemies of God are now called His friends. The mystery goes deeper in that God makes these friends His children – we are now family. That is truly a mystery.

            With this new status we are presented as holy in His sight, no blemish, with none who can accuse us and win. Corrie Ten Boom used to say, “Jesus takes your sin, past, present, and future, dumps it in the ocean and puts up a sign that reads ‘No Fishing.’”

            Contained in the mystery is this fantastic statement “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (27). His literal presence in our lives is the promise of hope; hope is that quality that despite the trials and travails of this life, there is something better in store. Christ is in you, the hope of glory.

3. Truth: You need to continue in your Faith

Since there are so many voices competing for our attention and allegiance, we can at times feel like a tiny row boat tossed about on a stormy sea. Paul’s “if” in v. 23 can seem like a point of doubt but it is really a reminder to stay the course.

            Consider the “if”: We are reconciled, holy in God’s sight, free from blemish and accusation – “if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel” (23).

            The word “if” takes away the safety of living as you please while enjoying the grace of God. This response to our reconciliation with God takes for granted the cost that Christ incurred for our sakes. So the “if” implies that there is a condition or a consequent course of action that is appropriate regarding the gift. The writer of Hebrews employs the “if” in discussing our participation in Christ when he writes, “We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly to the end the confidence we had at first” (Heb. 3:14).

            To put such a condition on our salvation is not unusual or illogical. Consider an illustration from marriage. Let’s say a man marries a woman and has an elaborate wedding ceremony. Following the ceremony, however, he never sees the young woman again. He wears the ring, tells people he’s married, and enjoys the status of a married individual. So a relationship with the woman never develops: he doesn’t put in the work of nurturing the relationship, to “love and obey, in sickness and in health” never enters his mind. What kind of marriage is this?

            This is where the “if” enters the picture. If you invest yourself in the marriage, if you sacrifice for your spouse, if you endure hardships together, if you spend your whole life serving your spouse, then you will reap the joys of marriage.

            There are people who acknowledge Christ, even attending church services, showing themselves to be disciples, but they have no real relationship with Christ. Sadly, one day, Christ will say, “I never knew you.”

            The message of reconciliation lands squarely on the fact that we are reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. Our faith has a doctrinal element to it: We believe in the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Christ for the sins of the world. But, and this is the “if” element of faith, it also has an element of commitment and obedience to follow Him. When you really believe something it will affect how you live. (More of this in ch. 3).

            This is why Paul is so adamant about his ministry to the Colossians. His ministry, and the ministry of all pastors including myself, is two-fold.

            On the one hand, Paul knows that God has called him “to present to you the word of God in its fullness” (25). I know that you know this but it bears repeating. The word of God, the scriptures, that Paul taught everywhere he went was the OT, the prophets like Isaiah, from which he revealed the person of Jesus Christ. The NT would come later. The Bible that early believers read was primarily the OT. That is why we preach the whole word of God in our church. We believe and affirm that the Bible is true from beginning to end.

            On the other hand, Paul had a deep desire to proclaim this word of God “so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ” (28). We know that we will not be perfect in this life. But we also know that the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives through the word of God is to perfect us in the meantime. This is a process that spans our lifetimes and beyond. We participate in this process by learning to obey Christ.

            That is the significance of “if.” Don’t let anyone rob you of the faith and hope that you have in Christ. Live it standing firm in your belief. We must never be moved from the gospel by other voices.

This is a simple truth. You know this truth. Yet, as the hymnist once wrote, “prone to wander, Lord I feel it.” So you let me remind you once again of this standard on which we build our lives.

            If we forget what we once were, we ignore or deny the sinful nature that had us enslaved to sin. The church cannot allow “sin” to be renamed or considered passé in today’s culture of tolerance and acceptance of each individual’s choice. To do so is to water down the gospel and make it irrelevant. If we allow that to happen, the church becomes irrelevant and many will close their doors.

            The acknowledgement of that sinful past makes the message of reconciliation that much more poignant. Paul declared, “For if, when were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life” (Rom. 5:10). The message of reconciliation loses its power if sin is of no mortal consequence. But we see that it is of spiritual and physical consequence, and thus we worship God more vibrantly because we know we have been truly saved.

            Then, having seen the power of God’s love through Jesus Christ’s bodily death and how it brings us to Him, we surely must respond with gratitude, living our lives with the holiness and purity that Christ won for us.

            Listen to the voice of truth. This is the message of reconciliation. This is our message.

                                                            AMEN