Encouraged and United

My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love...

Colossians 2:2

Here are two goals the Apostle Paul had for the church at Colossae, and they are excellent goals for us to strive for in our own churches as well.

The first goal is that they may be “encouraged in heart.” It’s so easy for believers to become discouraged since the very current of the world pulls against us. In the original language this word for ‘encourage’ means “to call to one’s side.” All of us need people who will come alongside us to strengthen and encourage us when times are tough. All of us need that strength and encouragement that come from knowing we aren’t alone. Be that for someone in your church. Find someone to come alongside and encourage. Find someone to help as you walk the road of faith together.

Paul’s second goal is that they would be “united in love.” Several Bible translations say “knit together in love.” I like that, because that’s how relationships happen in the church. Now I’m no expert when it comes to knitting, but I do know that you don’t just pile yarn up in a basket and expect it to turn into a sweater. It takes intentionality. You have to knit that yarn together with a certain stitch that makes a pattern and binds it all together. 

Most of the time, relationships are the same. Close Christian friendships don’t just happen automatically. You can’t just sit people down in the same pew and expect them to become best friends. It takes intentionality. Somebody, has to be intentional. Somebody has to start a conversation, or invite the other person over to lunch, or plan a game night, or something in order for your lives to intertwine.

Far too many people visit and even regularly attend churches for months and then leave simply because this never happened. The preaching was good. The music was good. They liked the people. But they never plugged in. They never got knit into any kind of community there. They had no relationships at the church. So, the next time life pulled on them, there was nothing holding them in place and they left. That shouldn't happen in our churches. 

So, knit yourself to other believers. Link up. Connect. If you’re new to a church, don’t just hang around the edges and wait for someone else to make the first move. Plug in, build relationships, take that risk. And if you’ve been at your church for a long time and don’t need new friends… reach out anyway. You may not need them, but they may need you. 

Rooted and Built Up in Him

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him...

Colossians 2:6-7a

There was a danger that the believers in Colossae would be moved off Jesus and move on to some other teaching. So, God commands them to continue to live in Jesus just as they had received Him. You see, there is no teaching, no doctrine, no wisdom that goes beyond Christ. He is all in all! We receive Him in salvation and then… we continue living in Him for the rest of our lives!

And verse seven explains what this looks like using two metaphors. The first comes from plants. It’s the word “rooted.” When you got saved you were rooted in Christ like a plant in soil. You grow in Him and your growth comes from Him. And your connection to Him is what keeps you standing.

Have you ever tried to pull a bush or a tree up by its roots? It’s very difficult. In fact, if the roots are alive and if they have any depth in the soil at all, then it's nearly impossible. That’s what your connection to Jesus should be like. You should be rooted in Him! Like roots that delve always deeper into life-giving soil, you should dig down deeper into Jesus continuously seeking a deeper understanding of who He is and a stronger personal relationship with Him. He is the source of all your firmness and all your spiritual life. If the enemy uproots you from Him… you will not stand. You'll die spiritually just like a plant that’s been pulled up out of the soil and left sitting on top of the ground

The second metaphor comes from the world of construction. Verse 7 says we are in the process of being “built up” in Jesus. Looking at the original language, the image here is of a building that is being built from the ground up layer upon layer.* And how is this building being built in Jesus? The only conclusion I can come to is that Jesus is the very foundation that this building is being built upon.

Now, I don’t know much about construction, but as the father of three children, I have quite a bit of experience building block towers. And even I know that as long as you build on a solid foundation and as long as each layer stays in line, directly above the last layer, the tower or the building will be stable. But if the foundation you are building on isn’t stable OR if the layers begin to move off center from that foundation to one side or the other, then the tower will begin to lean and eventually it will topple.

That’s exactly what you and I are like. We are being built up in Jesus, layer upon layer. And as long as we stay centered on that solid foundation we will stand, but if we begin to get off center… if we begin to be moved off Jesus… it will spell disaster for us. We will not stand. We will topple.

So, keep yourself rooted to and centered on Jesus! Refuse to be moved off Him! Keep your doctrine, your beliefs, and your life always in line with what you know to be true about Him. Dig down deeper and deeper into your relationship with Him. And don’t allow anyone to pull you away from Jesus, or your faith will become as dead as an uprooted plant and as unstable as a leaning tower.

*Vincent, Marvin Richardson. Word Studies in the New Testament. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1887.

Every Believer's Past

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.

Colossians 1:21

This verse reveals the past of every single believer. If you are a Christian then there was a time when you were alienated from God... cut off from relationship with Him... banned from His presence... estranged from the One who created you. The Word Biblical Commentary explains it this way. It says you were “continuously and persistently out of harmony with God.”*

Why? What caused this alienation? Did God turn on you? No. You turned on Him! Colossians 1:21 says that you were "an enemy in your mind because of your evil behavior." There was a time when you were consciously, openly and actively hostile towards God and His rule over your life. And it in your mind. Corrupt thinking led to evil, wicked, immoral behavior.** You thought you knew better than the Creator of the universe. You didn’t want to obey His commands or submit to His rules, so… you didn’t. You lived how you wanted to live and you did what you wanted to do.

Romans 8:7 says “The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.” That perfectly describes what you were like before Christ.

If you are a Christian, then this is your past. This is who you were. Many Christians think that since they weren’t a criminal or a drug addict before they got saved, that they really weren’t all that bad. Don’t fall into that error. No matter how young you were when you got saved, and no matter how “good” you were by the world’s standards… your thinking was corrupt, your heart was wicked, and your behavior was evil. You rebelled and made yourself an enemy of God. And because of your rebellion, you were alienated from your Creator.

If you are a Christian and you still live like this, then that’s a problem! If you are a Christian and you are still hostile towards the Lord, you are still rebelling against Him, you are still openly disobeying His commands… then SOMETHING IS WRONG!!! That’s your past. We don’t live like that anymore now that we have been reconciled through Christ.

* O’Brien, Peter T. Colossians, Philemon. Word Biblical Commentary 44. David A. Hubbard and Glenn W. Barker eds. (Thomas Nelson: Nashville) 1982, p66

** Köstenberger, Andreas J. “Colossians.” In CSB Study Bible: Notes, edited by Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax, 1891–99. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017.

The Image of the Invisible God

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

Colossians 1:15

God the Father is invisible. He is a spirit who can’t be seen by mortal flesh. As John 1:18 explains… “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.” 

Jesus took on flesh and made God known in ways that we can see and understand. That’s what Colossians 1:15 means when it says that He is the visible image of the invisible God. As Hebrews 1:3 says, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being...”

Jesus embodies (pun intended) all that God is and always has been. And Jesus took on flesh and brought that down to earth so that we could know God more fully. Jesus Himself explained it this way in John 14:9. He said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.”

In other words, it’s in Christ that we see God most clearly. Jesus is the greatest revelation of who God is. If you want to know God… look at Jesus! If you want to know the Father, study the Son!

This is why the enemy spends so much time trying to confuse people about who Jesus is and what He stood for and what He did and didn’t teach. If the devil can confuse us about who Jesus is, then he can confuse us about who God is.

So, study Jesus! Not through movies or music or TV shows or social media clips. Study the Bible, God’s perfect record of Jesus’ life and teaching. The enemy is going to try to confuse you about who Jesus is. Don’t let him! Take the time to get to know Jesus and you will get to know the Father.