CONTENTS
- Come to Jesus Daily devotional
- Monday – What is fullness?
- Tuesday – You are circumcised, buried, raised with Christ
- Wednesday – Jesus disarmed your enemies
- Thursday – Come out of the shadows
- Friday – Living in true freedom
- Community Group/Family Study
- Outline of the ‘Come to Jesus Daily’ devotional method
You can listen to the message at: Link for audio content
For more information visit: www.communitychurchputney.com
1. COME TO JESUS DAILY DEVOTIONAL
These daily devotionals follow the ‘Come to Jesus daily’ devotional method (See the last page of this for a fuller outline)
This week’s devotional is based on Paul’s words from Colossians 2:8-23
MONDAY – WHAT IS FULLNESS IN CHRIST? (2:8-10)
We all want a ‘full’ or ‘complete’ life. These words will conjure different visions: for you, the full life may be a domestic vision of family and children; it may be an adventurous life of skydiving and travel… We can all be taken captive and pursue what is actually a hollow life. For Christians, the centre-point of the complete life is, or should become, the person of Christ. Paul writes,
‘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. 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.’ (Colossians 2:8-10)
What is fullness in Christ?
‘Fullness’ could also be translated ‘complete’. Fullness means a number of things including:
- Having Christ! Knowing the true and living God. This is the most important element. (2:9)
- In Christ, we are made spiritually alive (regeneration). Consequently, we have a new heart by the Spirit, from which our life of love and obedience flow. (2:11-12)
- Our sins are forgiven and removed through Christ (2:14)
- Dark spiritual forces have no power over us (2:15)
Live in the fullness
Amazingly, this is not something that we are to pursue, it is our possession already - ‘in Christ you have been brought to fullness’!
There’s more that could be said, but the point is, why go back to your old life or religion when Jesus is and offers such fullness? As Paul tells them, ‘See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy’.
MEDITATION ON COLOSSIANS 2:8-10
1. GC (GOSPEL-CENTRED) – What does the text say about Jesus and salvation through Him?
Anyone who is a Christian has been ‘brought to fullness’ in Christ. Our faith in Him (in His death and resurrection for sin) has made us ‘complete’. Whatever one thinks that they need, it is all found in Jesus. Through the cross we are reconciled to the one who is ‘head over every power and authority’ - God is on our side, we are in His family. In Christ we have also died and have risen to new life; the gospel is not just that Christ died and rose again, it also includes the fact that you and I have died and rose again in Him. We have new life and a new heart for God.
2. UP – What does it say about God – His worth, character, attributes, will, promises…?
“Lord, you desire to be central in our lives. You say, ‘For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form…He is the head over every power and authority’. You say that "I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols” (Isaiah 42:8). May I never ‘lose connection with the head’ - with you Lord. Keep filling my heart with greater and a greater appreciation and trust in you.”
3. IN – What does it teach about you and God’s people?
Paul encourages us, ‘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.’ We and our friends are vulnerable to distraction from Jesus. This verse speaks of two ways: teaching that is not based on the bible and demonic forces tempting us away from Him. Take a moment to pray for yourself, friends, Community Group etc. that they would stay true to Jesus.
4. OUT – What does the text say about non-believers and God’s mission?
Our faithfulness to Christ will cause us to live in the ‘fullness’ that is ours in Him. Our lives will overflow with joy and hope. Let’s remember that a healthy relationship with Christ is good for us and it’s also good for our non-believing friends, and that’s why dark spiritual forces would want to discourage and distract you.
TUESDAY – YOU ARE CIRCUMCISED, BURIED, RAISED WITH CHRIST (2:11-12)
Peer pressure, loving status, guilt… will make us all behave in all sorts of peculiar ways! The Colossians were being pushed to keep various religious rules, derived from different religious or spiritual philosophies. they were being urged to undergo circumcision (the cutting away of the male foreskin). Circumcision was a physical sign that the Jews belonged to God, and, so it was being taught, for this church (mainly non-Jews) that to belong to God, they should undergo this rite. Paul counters this,
‘In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.’ (Colossians 2:11-12)
Spiritual circumcision by Christ
Paul says ‘in Him you were also circumcised…by Christ’! Circumcision involved cutting away flesh, but ‘spiritual circumcision’ – that done by Christ, is the cutting away of our old life.
Your baptism points to your new life
Paul then adds that The ‘cutting away of our old life’ was achieved through our burial and resurrection as symbolised in baptism.
Live in the fullness
You have fullness in Christ. You don’t need to undergo religious hardships to make yourself a new person. Jesus has made you new - your old self has been buried and you are raised as shown in your baptism.
If you have not been baptised, do so, declaring that your old self is gone and your new self has come.
MEDITATION ON COLOSSIANS 2:11-12
1. GC (GOSPEL-CENTRED) – What does the text say about Jesus and salvation through Him?
“I have been made new in Jesus. His death and resurrection are my death and resurrection. Unlike circumcision (a sign of being a part of God’s people) which was done by human hands, my salvation from first to last is your work, Father.”
2. UP – What does it say about God – His worth, character, attributes, will, promises…?
It’s God’s will that we are baptised as a symbol of our death and resurrection in Jesus. If you are a Christian, it’s helpful to remember your baptism and remember the deeper spiritual reality that it points to.
3. IN – What does it teach about you and God’s people?
This text has two approaches to encourage our brothers and sisters. Firstly, to those who are falling back into sin, remind them that their 'whole self ruled by the flesh was put off…’ Their old sinful life is gone so why would they go back to it? Secondly, those who are feeling weak, remind them that they are strong, they ‘were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God’.
4. OUT – What does the text say about non-believers and God’s mission?
Pray for your list of non-believing friends, that they would be ‘raised him from the dead.’
WEDNESDAY – JESUS HAS DISARMED YOUR ENEMIES (2:13-15)
‘Enemies’ come in all sorts of forms: fear of sickness, loss of income, the future of our children, death, war, spiders… These can all have great power over us. On top of this, there can also be the fear of the supernatural: God, gods, spirits… do they hate me, are they working against me, what will they do to me when I die, how can I appease them and make them work for my good…? How does one ‘disarm’ these kinds of enemies? Paul writes,
‘When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having cancelled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.’ (Colossians 2:13-15)
Who are our true enemies?
Paul speaks of two great enemies: the ‘Charge of our legal indebtedness’ (the list of our sins that will send us to hell) and ‘powers and authorities’ (demonic spiritual forces). Whether one realises it or not these are against us and are our biggest problems!
Jesus has disarmed our enemies
Jesus has dealt with both enemies! Our sins (‘our legal indebtedness’) have been ‘nailed to the cross’. Secondly, demonic spirits (‘powers and authorities’) because of the cross, have lost any basis to accuse and condemn us. The following text expresses well Jesus’ victory and how we are to live in our freedom,
‘For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.’ (Revelation 12:10-11)
MEDITATION ON COLOSSIANS 2:13-15
1. GC (GOSPEL-CENTRED) – What does the text say about Jesus and salvation through Him?
“You say ‘He forgave us all our sins’. ‘All’ sin - past present and future have been dealt with; as you say, ‘having cancelled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us.’ My list of sins against you stood over me and condemned me before you. I had no means of cleaning away such indelible stains! But you have saved me. you have obliterated the memory of my sin, as you say, ‘he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.’ I praise you for such freedom in you”
2. UP – What does it say about God – His worth, character, attributes, will, promises…?
“You are the Saviour: ‘When you were dead in your sins…God made you alive with Christ.’ You did it, and when I was in sin and powerless!”
3. IN – What does it teach about you and God’s people?
“Father, you have ‘disarmed the powers and authorities’. Demonic powers have no power over me. They may accuse me and try to make me feel rejected and fearful. But I can and will stand strong in Jesus’ power”
4. OUT – What does the text say about non-believers and God’s mission?
Our friends are dominated by ‘the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient’ (Eph. 2:2). I know that through my prayers, and my obedience to what you say, my friends can experience freedom from slavery.
THURSDAY – COME OUT OF THE SHADOWS (2:16-19)
Shadows may fool you into thinking they are the real thing, but they are not. You may jump out from under the piano’s shadow, but not the piano after it lands on you! The Colossian church were in danger of following shadows rather than the real thing - Jesus. Paul says,
‘Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.’ (Colossians 2:16-19)
What are shadows?
Here, ’Shadows’ refer to aspects of the Old Testament that point to (prefigure) Jesus; these include Jewish laws on food, drink and use of days. Hebrews says it well, ‘The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming – not the realities themselves.’ (Heb. 10:1).
Come out of the shadows to live in fullness
In Jesus, we have fullness (see Monday’s notes ). We don’t need to keep laws on food, drink and use of days or do sacrificial duties (asceticism) for a complete relationship with God. Paul says ‘do not let anyone judge you’ in regard to these things; another way to say it is, ‘don’t let anyone condemn you through failure to keep the rules’!
He also adds ‘do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you.’ Again, we can take ‘disqualify’ as ‘condemn - in other words, don’t let people tell you that you are not saved (condemn you) because you have not had their prescribed kind of spiritual experience.
We need to stop basing our relationship with God on good works, performance, or experiences - which is to live in the shadows; We need to come out into the fullness of salvation by grace alone that is offered to us through Jesus alone.
MEDITATION ON COLOSSIANS 2:16-19
1. GC (GOSPEL-CENTRED) – What does the text say about Jesus and salvation through Him?
As in this text, people can make us feel condemned (rejected by God) because we don’t live up to their rules or have not had the same spiritual experiences. Often they don’t mean to affect us in this way but it reveals a weakness in ourselves - we are not secure in the gospel and love of God, and we need to be or we will easily fall into misery, people pleasing or legalism (seeking to earn salvation).
2. UP – What does it say about God – His worth, character, attributes, will, promises…?
It’s not obvious to every Christian that the only person to be worshipped is God. We don’t trust or worship saints, Mary, angels, icons, … As Paul says elsewhere, ‘For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus.’ (1 Tim. 2:5)
3. IN – What does it teach about you and God’s people?
Let’s look out for legalism in ourselves and church family. It’s not that traditions or routines or discipline are wrong; the problem comes, as it easily does, when we make our salvation and God’s favour dependent on them, rather than entirely on the cross. Paul put it very sternly,
‘But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.’ (Gal. 4:9-11)
4. OUT – What does the text say about non-believers and God’s mission?
How and why does a church grow? Growth is dependent upon Jesus and remaining connected to Him, as Paul reminds us, ‘They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.’ (Colossians 2:19)
FRIDAY – FRIDAY – LIVING IN TRUE FREEDOM (2:20-23)
The art of living the Christian life is to know your new identity now that you are a Christian and to live in the light of that. Paul writes,
‘Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.’ (Colossians 2:20-23)
The Colossian problem was not a desire to sin but to be holy but in the wrong way! They felt that to be friends with God one had to add to Jesus’ salvation by including ‘rules, do not handle, do not taste’ and ‘harsh treatment of the body’. Paul says, if one wants to improve as a Christian these things, ‘indeed have an appearance of wisdom’. But, In fact, all efforts to be a better Christian that are not centred on Jesus, ‘lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.’
Living in true freedom
How, then, does one grow and improve as Christians? It begins by knowing what Jesus has done for us:
- 'In Christ you have been brought to fullness’ - God is in you, you are forgiven, loved etc. (2:9)
- ‘In him you were also circumcised…not performed by human hands.’ – Your old sinful nature has been removed and you have a renewed heart (2:11)
- ‘You have been 'buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him.’ – Your old life is buried, you have resurrection life in you. (2:12)
- ‘He forgave us all our sins’ - In Christ, your sin is completely dealt with, without our works, but by our faith in Him alone. (2:13)
It’s not that we no longer need to put effort into being better (holy); in the next chapter Paul will urge us to ‘Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.’ (3:5). The difference is that Christians move forward from a place of ‘fullness’ – having new life, forgiveness, love and security; we move forward from a place of inner desire and love born of the Spirit; we move forward prayerfully depending on the Spirit; and we move forward not toward things ‘based on merely human commands and teachings,’ but toward what God reveals in His word and in the way God reveals in His word.
Finally, anyone who knows their failings and has a desire to grow must rely on Jesus and receive His grace through His church community. Let’s take warning from what Paul says,
‘They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.’ (Colossians 2:19)
A living faith and relationship with Jesus, and devotion to a church community provides the Spirit’s power for true spiritual freedom.
I’ve not included a meditation for this day because I think that there is enough to be thinking about in the notes already provided.
By all means, feel free to do your own meditation on Colossians 2:20-23 (see the last page for help).
2. COMMUNITY GROUP/FAMILY STUDY
‘Live in the fullness’
Read Colossians 2:8-23
Introduction
Opener – ask the group to share “What things do you believe give a full or complete life?”
We all want a ‘full’ or ‘complete’ life. We will define the ‘best life’ in different ways. Without Jesus, however, we are all being taken captive to pursue what is a hollow life. For Christians the way to a complete life is, or should become, knowing Jesus. As Paul says,
‘For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness (made complete). He is the head over every power and authority.’ (2:9)
This is a complex passage and we will only focus on certain elements. Use the study notes (available on the website also) if you want to go deeper.
Discuss together
- What do you think it means to say that Jesus gives a full and complete life? (See Monday’s notes if you need help)
- Jesus gives you a full relationship with God, what aspects of your relationship with God do you struggle to accept and why? (for example - He’s with you, He forgives you…)
- In verses 8, 10 & 15, Paul speaks of dark spiritual forces that seek to steal our fullness; how do they do this and how should we respond?
- 2:16 & 18 – People can make us feel condemned (rejected by God) because we don’t live up to their rules or have not had the same spiritual experiences. How can and how should we deal with feelings of condemnation?
3. THE ‘COME TO JESUS DAILY’ DEVOTIONAL METHOD
This structure can be used to aid you in your devotions.
Begin by thanking God for salvation/the gospel (GC); Worship Him (UP); Pray for Christian friends and yourself (IN); Pray for your non-believing friends (OUT). As you go along, God will remind you of Bible texts; turn to these, and pray/worship out of them.
This structure can also be used for Bible meditation. As you read, pray that God would speak. As He highlights something in the text, use the following questions to help you meditate, worship and pray out of the Bible:
1. GC (Gospel–Centred) What does the text say about Jesus?
- What does the text say about Jesus and salvation through Him, and how will you now worship and pray in response?
2. UP – What does it say about God?
- What does it say about God – His worth, character, attributes, will, promises…how will you worship and pray in response?
3. IN – What does it teach about you and God’s people?
- What does is it say to or about you?
- What does it teach about God’s people – how He thinks of them, how we are to treat them?
- Is there anyone that you particularly want to pray for?
- Pray for members of your Community Group, church, etc.
4. OUT – What does the text say about non-believers?
- What does it say about non-believers and God’s mission?
- What does this inspire you to pray or do in response for non-believers or problems in the world more generally?
- In this section make a commitment to pray through a list of non-believing friends that God has put into your life.
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