MESSAGE

FROM THE

WORD

THE SUFFICIENCY OF JESUS

Colossians 2:8-15

SERIES:  Colossians                                                                                          Message # 13

            After years of trying to remove God from the Soviet Union, Soviet dictator Vladimir Lenin concluded that “Man is incurably religious”.  That seems to be historically accurate.  While there have been atheists, there has never been a successful movement to implement it in a culture.  That is not to say that the result is godliness.  Whether it was worshipping Ra in Egypt, Baal in Assyria, the gods in Greece or Rome, or self during the enlightenment, man has always sought to worship.  Unfortunately, it has not always been the worship of Jehovah.  This was the big problem in the Old Testament.  As long as the Jews worshipped Jehovah, they were blessed.  However, they would sometimes fall into idolatry and pay a severe price as God had to bring judgment on the nation.

            When Jesus came, He claimed to be God in the flesh and proved it by coming out of the grave after the crucifixion.  We read,                     JOHN 20:26-29              At the end of the first century, the accusation of the Jews and the Romans was that Christians worshipped Jesus as a God. 

            As we come to our study in Colossians, we arrive at one of the most critical issues in the Bible.  We live in a culture that is debating the role of Jesus and the Bible.  Should we have a cross in the city emblem, should we open meetings in prayer, should the Ten Commandments be posted are all issues over which many are debating today.  The argument for banning those ideas is that we live in a free country and should not favor one religion over another.  That sounds so tolerant, but it is not practiced.  No one can offer virgin maidens for sacrifice because that is what the Aztecs did.  Many Moslems practice honor killing and that is outlawed in our nation.  What role does Jesus and the Bible play in our culture?  We will not answer that today, but we will answer the question, “what role does Jesus play in the plan of God”?  We read                   COLOSSIANS 2:13-15                  The answer is that Jesus is the unique and only one who can accomplish all that the Father wants done.  The entire plan of God is carried out in the person of Jesus Christ. 

            This is greatly criticized in our society today.  Who do we think we are that we can say that only Jesus is good enough to make us right with God?  That is a fair and legitimate question that deserves a fair and honest answer.  Why do we believe that only Jesus can make us right in the eyes of the Father?  The answer rests in the first seven words of verse 13.  We read, “WHEN YOU WERE DEAD IN YOUR TRANSGRESSIONS…”  Paul put it this way in                     EPHESIANS 2:1                    What does it mean to be “DEAD IN YOUR SINS…”?  It simply means that in our own ability we have no means to come into God’s presence.  People don’t believe that, so we create all kinds of alternatives to get right with God.  We saw those in our last message.  None of those alternatives God accepts.  The only means God accepts is His own plan.  It began in the Garden of Eden when God sacrificed an animal to cover the sins of that first couple.  It continued into the Jewish culture and saw its implementation in the sacrificial system.  It finalized itself in the death of Jesus on the cross as He became the sacrifice for the ages and the sins of all time were placed on Him.  Paul explains it this way,                 II CORINTHIANS 5:21                               Jesus did not take on sins, He became sin.  It is in becoming sin and bringing about the forgiveness of sins that separates Jesus from every other religious leader.  If we had a contest over which religious leader had the greatest moral instruction, greatest influence on the world, or lived the best life, there could be arguments made for all different kinds of individuals.  However, when you ask the question, “who has taken away the sins of the world by offering Himself as a perfect sacrifice” the list grows pretty small.  In fact, it is a group of one.  Religious leaders have come and gone over the centuries.  Only one died and came back to life.  As we look at this passage this morning, we will see why Jesus is the only one who is sufficient to bring the human race into a personal relationship with God.

            Before we see what He has done, it is critical that we understand why He is able to do what He has done.  What is it about this Jesus Christ that makes Him unique from any other spiritual leader?  We read,               COLOSSIANS 2:9           Jesus is not a prophet, a teacher, or a moral example.  Jesus is God in the flesh.  When we look at what He has done, we must see it in the context of who He is and what He has done.

            FIRST, HE HAS FORGIVEN OUR SINS.  This is a very interesting verse.  Throughout the New Testament, there are five different words that convey the idea of sin.  1) Hamartia means to miss the mark.  It was a term taken from the field of archery and had to do with one who did there best and just fell short.  Do you ever feel like that?  You do all you can and just come up a little short of God’s standards.  2) Parabasis has as its root the crossing of a line.  It is the little boy who defies his mother when she tells him not to step over the line.  God has set boundaries and we do all we can to step over those boundaries.  3) Anomia has to do with lawlessness.  This is gang warfare.  When a riot takes place and everyone is on their own, this is the term.  It has to do with the person who says I will do anything I can get away with.  4) Paraptoma means a slip or a fall.  If anomia is a willful act, paraptoma is the accidental slip.  5) Opheilema has to do with a debt.  It is an IOU that we pick up when you sin against another.  When Jesus told us to pray “FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS…” this is the word He used.  When we sin it is as if we add to our debt to God that we owe. 

            The word used in Colossians 2:13 is “paraptoma”, the accidental sins we commit on a daily basis.  The choice of this word in verse 13 is not that critical because all five of the words used for sin are forgiven by God when we come to Him in repentance.

            The problem most of us have is that we don’t feel we are that bad of a sinner.  We realize we are not perfect, but most of our sins are of the minor variety.  As I was studying through the Lord’s Prayer and Jesus’ phrase, “FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS AS WE FORGIVE OUR DEBTORS…” this concept struck me and the light bulb suddenly went on.  We read                 LUKE 7:36-47             I have to be honest, for the longest time I did not like this passage.  I always read it with the idea that what was being taught was the more sins you committed the more you would love God.  Then the light bulb went on.  Jesus is not stating that this woman loved God because she sinned more.  If the number of sins committed indicated how much love we had for God, Satan would truly love God a lot.  The issue wasn’t that she sinned more, but that she was more aware of her sin.  What was Simon’s attitude toward his own sin?  It was not “I am a wicked sinner in need of repentance”.  It was, “I am better than her”.  That individual will not love God too deeply because he will not feel God has forgiven him all that much. 

            This is why there is a gulf on the part of so many people today who describe themselves as believers.  If we remove sin from the salvation process and simply talk to people about how much God loves them, there will be far less love and gratitude on the part of the individual.  Jesus has made their life a little better, but it isn’t that big a deal.  On the other hand, if one understands the terrible nature of sin and understands the terrible consequences of sin, the response is far greater. 

            If you believe your sin is not that bad and God forgives it why are you all that grateful?  His act is not all that generous.  Let me give you an illustration.  Let’s pretend that an archeologist uncovers a pouch containing several documents that came over on the Santa Maria with Christopher Columbus.  In that pouch is a genealogical record which proves that the heir to that pouch is you.  It is estimated that the contents of the pouch are valued at five million dollars.  At that moment, someone calls you on the phone and offers you ten million for the contents.  Without looking beyond that moment, you sign the contract and become an instant millionaire.  As the pouch is looked through, an IOU is discovered which states that your relative borrowed one dollar at a rate 0f 4% and the rightful heir of that contract is the original possessor of the pouch, not the purchaser.  Even though you sold the pouch, you are responsible for the IOU.  You go to the bank to draw out a cashiers check and discover that the one dollar IOU has now grown to be a debt of $50,000,000.  Even with your inheritance of ten million dollars, you now owe five million dollars and it is due tomorrow.  Because of compound interest, that dollar has increased in value fifteen million times over.  If the IOU had stated the debt was $ 1 interest free and someone paid the debt, how grateful would you be?  A dollar is no big deal and you would act accordingly.  However, $5,000,000 is more than you have and you would be very grateful for someone to pay that off.

            Most of us act as if we have a one dollar debt to God for the sins we have committed.  Let me just demonstrate our debt this way.  Let’s pretend that we sin one time a day.  I think most of us would think that was a pretty good day.  That would be about 28,000 sins over the course of a normal life span.  What if you met someone who only sinned once a week?  That would only be 4000 sins over the course of a lifetime.  You then went on and found a really holy person and they only sinned once a month.  That is about one thousand sins over a lifetime.  That person would be really special.  As you go through the day, you meet someone and they tell you there insurance is being cancelled and they are really angry.  You discover that they have had an average of one accident per month, every month, for the past ten years.  That is 120 accidents over the past decade.  They cry on your shoulder and wonder why such a good driver is being persecuted by their insurance company.  How would you respond?

            Most of us would look that person in the eye and say, “You really are not a good driver.  One accident a month is a terrible record”.  Why do we believe that one sin a month is so good?  The reason for our believing that is because everyone else is so bad.  If we went to court and had one thousand drunk driving arrests, we would be in jail.

            When we suddenly realize the serious condition we are in, our response is different.  Jesus gave a parable about this.  We read   LUKE 18:9-17            As much as we hate to admit it, most of us probably act like the Pharisee.  “Lord, I am a sinner, but I am glad I am not a major sinner like most people are”.  It is when we come to realize what a desperate situation we are truly in that we turn to God and cry out, “Father, forgive me a sinner”.  There is no excuse, exceptions, and rationalization.  There is just an admission of guilt and a falling on our face for mercy knowing that we deserve far worse.

            The question has to be asked, “how important was this in the ministry of Jesus”?  Right after His baptism, Jesus began His public ministry.  We read           MATTHEW 4:17       The very first word out of the mouth of Jesus as He began His ministry was “REPENT”.  Jesus finished His ministry by spending 40 days with the disciples after His resurrection.  Just before He returned to Heaven He met with His followers one last time.  We read,               LUKE 24:44-49             The first word out of the mouth of Jesus was to call people away from their sin.  The last word He said dealt with the calling of people away from their sin.  The church was born, Peter preached and we read                        ACTS 2:38            What does this tell us about the ministry of the church?  Part of its mission is to call people from their sin to repentance.  The way we do that makes all the difference in the world.  If we act like the Pharisee in Luke 18 and tell people they are wicked sinners and need to be righteous like us, we will turn people off before we ever tell them of a Savior who loves them deeply. 

            How should we deal with those caught in sin?  We have a great example of this in John’s gospel.  We read            JOHN 8:1-10              After everyone had left, Jesus could have pummeled her with rocks.  He could have berated her.  He could have let her go, but followed her around and reminded her of the sins for which she was forgiven.  He didn’t.  He called her to repent, but did so in humility and gentleness.  Paul shared this same principle.  We read                 II TIMOTHY 2:24-26            Did you notice the goal of confrontation?  It is not “I’m better, you’re a wretch”, or “grovel in the dirt you worm”.  It is the desire for them to repent and come to forgiveness.

            There are many examples of this seen in the media.  Whether it was during the Terri Schaivo tragedy, a funeral for a well known homosexual, or the picketing of abortion doctors, many of those participating in these events seem to have far more hatred for the sinner than they do a desire to see them repent.  It is not the task of the believer to shame, mock or hate the sinner into the Kingdom of God.  It is our task to love them for Jesus’ sake and to care them into the Kingdom of God.  This is why Paul wrote         ROMANS 13:21            We do not fight fire with fire, but with love.  How does sin and forgiveness affect us?  This is an important question to ask.

            First, it affects our relationship with ourselves.  We read          PSALM 32:1-4         Guilt and self-condemnation is a powerful force.  It leads to irrational behavior, suicide, drugs and a host of other pathologies.  One of the great acts of love is to forgive yourself of the deeds you have done it the past.

            Second, it affects our relationship with God.  We read            PSALM 32:5-7; 1 JOHN 1:9        We cannot come into God’s presence with guilt in our heart.  Forgiveness allows us to enter His presence with a clean slate.  We read          EPHESIANS 4:32             God has forgiven you.  Accept that and behave accordingly.

            Third, it affects our relationship with others.  Solomon wrote               PROV. 28:1          Guilt destroys relationships.  How many families have been destroyed because of the sin of one member?  On the other side, how many families have been restored because of the forgiving heart of one member to another who did not deserve it? 

            SECOND, HE HAS CANCELLED OUR DEBT.  If there is a word picture that is important for our world today, it is this word.  Paul writes,                 VERSE 14             It was a common practice at this time for criminals to have a list of their crimes written on a tablet and paraded in front of the world to see.  You will remember that when Jesus was executed, Pilate had nailed to the top of His cross the crimes for which He was being executed.  Nathaniel Hawthorne addressed this concept when he wrote his classic novel The Scarlet Letter.  A woman was accused of adultery and was branded with a Big letter A so that all would be reminded of her sin. 

            Bring this into our world today.  How would you like to come to church every week with a chalk board hanging around your neck?  Written on the chalk board was a list of all the dumb things you had done that past week.  For some of us, it would be a big chalk board.  That is the idea.  All of our sins are being written down on a ledger and we are accountable for them.  However, Jesus comes and cancels the debt. 

            At the time of Christ, there were two ways a debt could be shone as being cancelled.  In one instance, the debt could have a line drawn through it and signed by the proper authorities.  The problem with this is that the debt is still visible to everyone.  It would be like appearing in a court and having a witness accuse the defendant of a terrible, unproven act and having the judge state, “the jury should disregard that last statement”.  You know they don’t, because you didn’t. 

            Another way a debt is cancelled is by having the slate wiped clean.  The ink used at this time did not bite into the surface, so the owner could wipe the writing off of the surface and reuse it.  This is the concept Paul is referring to in our passage.  When you come to Christ for forgiveness, God takes your sin and He washes it away.  He not only washes the sin away, He washes the evidence of the sin away.  This is why the Psalmist could write                PSALM 103:8-12             I am so grateful that when God cancelled our debt, He didn’t just draw a line through it, but He wiped the slate clean.

            I want you to notice something about this forgiveness.  When was the last time you committed some sin but did it with no one around?  Paul writes that our sin involved, “DECREES AGAINST US…”  What are these decrees?  They could be the Ten Commandments, human laws, personal convictions, or a host of other ways in which you see things as right or wrong.  Whatever they are, they are held against us.  John wrote,                   REVELATION 12:10            Do you know what the devil does with his time?  He stands before God and accuses you of being a sinner.  We are guilty as charged, but let off, because of the next verse.  We read            REVELATION 12:11            I love that phrase, “THEY OVERCAME HIM…”  We overcome our

sin and those who accuse us because of the blood of Christ.

                                    WHAT CAN WASH AWAY MY SIN

                                    NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD OF JESUS

            Those accusations are “HOSTILE AGAINST US…” but the blood of Christ releases us from the penalty.  This is why Jesus is sufficient, while other religious leaders are not.

            THIRD, HE HAS NAILED OUR SINS TO THE CROSS.  I mentioned earlier that the Romans had a policy of writing out the accusations of the one who was being crucified and nailing that list to their cross.  When the person died, the debt of sin was paid off.  In essence, you paid the penalty for your own sins with your life.  The problem with this, is that forgiveness under the law came when you were dead and could not make anything out of your forgiveness.

            Here is the beautiful picture of forgiveness.  When Jesus died, every sin you ever committed was nailed to His cross.  I do not know exactly how this all took place, but I trust God who said this is what occurred.  Let me give you a possible explanation.  We read                     ROMANS 6                When we turn our life over to Christ, we are baptized into Him.  In other words, we are totally absorbed into the person of Jesus Christ.  We died to Him that we might live with Him.  In some mystical way, we died with Christ on the cross, had our sins nailed to the cross and came to life with His resurrection.  When He came out of the tomb, we came out with Him.  The result of this is that our sins have been paid in full, but we are still alive.

            This is why in our church, there is no crucifix.  A crucifix is a cross on which Jesus is still hanging.  The predominate group that features this is the Catholic Church.  This is also one of the reasons for the mass.  It is in the mass where Catholics believe that Jesus is crucified over and over again for the sins of the people.  Jesus must die again and again to bring forgiveness for that week.  We read            HEBREWS 9:1-14          Did you notice that phrase, “ONCE FOR ALL”?  There is no more important phrase in the world than that phrase.  When Jesus died on the cross, He nailed your sin to His cross and brought about forgiveness once and for all.

            Many of you have had the privilege of paying off your mortgage.  You would seem very strange if you showed up at the bank the month after you burned the mortgage, which is French for “death note”, and pleading with the banker to accept another payment.  The debt is paid off, accept that and enjoy it.  The song writer wrote,

MY SIN, O THE BLISS OF THAT GLORIOUS THOUGHT

MY SIN, NOT IN PART BUT THE WHOLE

IS NAILED TO THE CROSS AND I BARE IT NO MORE

PRAISE THE LORD, PRAISE THE LORD O MY SOUL

            When you turned your life over to Christ, which is pictured in your baptism, every sin you have or will commit was nailed to His cross and forgiven.  There is nothing you can do to be more forgiven.  The only expectation God has of you is to die to your desires and become a slave to the will of God.

            FOURTH, HE HAS DISARMED EVIL FORCES.  The time of Christ was a very fearful time as people tried to overcome the fear of angry spirits and the influence of evil gods.  Into that world came Jesus who continued to say, “FEAR NOT…”  The reason we need not fear is because Jesus has disarmed those evil powers.  This may be a little confusing, because we look around our world and we see the influence of evil and wonder how they are disarmed.

            Let me illustrate it with this story.  In the late 1800’s a thief in China acquired a gun, got onto a train and proceeded to rob all of the passengers.  When one passenger resisted, the thief shot him.  Since guns were rare in China, fear spread among passengers on other trains.  Several times the bandit got onto a train, pulled out his gun and everyone turned over their valuables.  The thief was finally captured and jailed, however he escaped and was able to grab his gun as he ran from the jail.  Because the police had removed the bullets from the gun when the thief was arrested, the gun could not be used to kill anyone, but the thief played a hunch.  He figured that no one would know the gun was not loaded and would fear just at the sight of the gun.  He was right.  He jumped on a train, threatened to shoot one of the passengers, and demanded everyone’s valuables.  However, one passenger refused to budge.  The thief approached the passenger and threatened to shoot him.  The man stood up, reached into his pocket, pulled out the bullets for the gun and took the thief into custody.  The thief had been disarmed before, but because of fear, he still had power.

            How did Jesus disarm evil forces?  We read               HEBREWS 2:14, 15; 1 COR. 15:55-58           The biggest bullet in the evil one’s arsenal is death.  Jesus disarmed evil forces by negating the fear of death.  No longer is death a mystery.  Jesus came out of the grave and promised us that we would do the same thing.  We can face death, because it leads to life.

            FIFTH, HE HAS TRIUMPHED OVER EVERYTHING.  The last picture the world had of Jesus was of Him hanging on a cross in humiliation.  God is not going to let that picture stand.  There will come a day when Jesus will return and set the record straight.  We read       REVELATION 19:11-21          Every enemy of God will be defeated.  Then           PHILIPPIANS 2:9-11            This will be a day that we all long for.  All evil will be dealt with.  The wrath of God will have been satisfied, all rebellion will be put down and He will reign over the entire universe.

            There is a beautiful picture in this passage.  Many of you can remember when our troops came home during the first Gulf War how they were greeted as heroes.  Some communities even had parades in their honor.  The Romans were even more elaborate.  When a war took place, the Romans would send out their armies, being led by a famous general.  When the battle was won, the Romans did not execute the leaders of the vanquished army.  Instead, they would bring the army back to Rome for a ticker tape parade.  At the front of the parade was the conquering general.  Right behind him would be the vanquished leaders, chained to the general’s chariot and stripped naked in shame.  The picture was pretty clear, Rome did not want to just defeat an enemy, they wanted to humiliate them.

            The enemies of God sought to humiliate the Son of God by working through the Romans and religious leaders in nailing Jesus to the cross.  However, it was the cross that God used to smash His enemies.  Jesus went from the crucified criminal to conquering general.  The picture is that Jesus is marching into Heaven as the mighty warrior and all of His enemies are chained to His chariot in defeat and humiliation. 

            FINALLY, HE MADE US ALIVE.  You will remember that we mentioned earlier that we were dead in our sin.  Paul writes    VERSE 13         “HE MADE YOU ALIVE…”  What an incredible verse that is.  We were dead and Jesus came and breathed into us the breath of life.  Just as God breathed into Adam and Eve the breath of physical life, so Jesus has breathed into us the breath of eternal life.

            This is why He could say              JOHN      10:10             Judaism and then its extension, Christianity are consumed with life.  This is why Jesus died on the cross, to give us life.