No Adulteration . . . in Jesus

No Adulteration . . .  in Jesus.    Colossians 1.15-23

Good Morning! 

Pray with me:  O God, and author of Scripture, this part of Paul’s letter that we have been studying is packed with such powerful theology, and the right ordering of things in we who confess your name.  Please convey it’s meaning to our hearts and minds this day.  Amen.

Do you remember when you came to know Christ … when all things were new?  Do you remember what it felt like to have a new beginning, being cleansed of your sin?  Do you remember the feeling that came upon you with the knowledge that you would never, ever be alone again?  Do you remember the peace that settled upon you, when you devoted yourself to Jesus?  Burdens rolled away, fears were quieted, worries quelled, because the very God of the Universe had made himself real to you!  Remember?  Truly, the conversion experience is an unparalleled one. But in Colosse, the newness was wearing off for some folks, and the influence of false teachers was adulterating their living out of Christianity.  You see, they were confused about their physical bodies, thinking that their physical lives were separate from their spiritual lives, which lead to confusion and false teaching about how they should live -- the influence of the Gnostics.  While they followed Jesus’ teaching, the Colossian believers were also trying to include Greek philosophy and Eastern mysticism.  They were practicing angel worship, thinking of the angels as advocates before the Father.  And finally, Jewish legalism was seeping in again—rules and regulations were beginning to define their practice of faith.  From prison, in great concern, it was Paul’s highest desire to set things straight for the young Christians, and so he wrote clearly and simply:

“Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. 
    

He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything…

Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. 


He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead.
  So he is first in everything.

For God in all his fullness
was pleased to live in Christ,

and through him God reconciled
everything to himself… by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.

This includes you who were once far away from God.  He has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body.  As a result, he has brought you into his own presence,                                                        and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.       But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it.”  From Colossians 1.15-23

What a treatise!  So thorough, so deep – Jesus, God of very God; Creator and Reconciler.  Because of the cross, we can be holy and pure again--through Jesus only, not plus anything else, and not diluted by anyone else.  Beware of other add-ins or add-ons.  Sift everything by the Scripture.   Test it and check it for yourself . . . be wise.  Because, like the Colossians, we live in an age when false teaching is sliding into the church.  Take care that there be no adulteration . . . remain in Jesus.

Christine