(#006) Colossians 2 - In Union with Christ, Christians are Full of It

Class Outline:

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It only takes one thing to fill us up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome To 

BARAH MINISTRIES

a Christian Church

 

Rory Clark

Pastor-Teacher

 

Good Morning!  

 

Welcome to Barah Ministries…an intimate, local Christian Church with worldwide impact.  My name is Pastor Rory Clark.  Welcome to this Bible lesson!  Who is Jesus Christ?  At Barah Ministries we know this truth…that JESUS CHRIST IS GOD.  As believers in Christ, we affirm His Deity as it says in First Corinthians, Chapter 8, Verse 6…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 8:6a

…for us believers in Christ there is but one God…the Father…from whom all things come and we exist for His good pleasure…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 8:6b

…and there is but one Lord (God the Son)…(who took on human form in ) Jesus…the Christ (the Jewish Messiah)… by which Lord are all things created… and we exist through Him. 

 

Why does Barah Ministries exist?  At Barah Ministries, we introduce people to the Lord.  We make a difference by teaching the Word of God verse-by-verse from the Lord’s perspective and not from man’s perspective.  Barah Ministries is provided by God for the benefit of both unbelievers and believers.  We give unbelievers the gospel message…the good news concerning Jesus Christ’s salvation offer.  We teach believers in Christ the Word of God…the Bible…the inerrant Canon of Scripture…so those who study can have a deep, intimate, and personal relationship with the Lord.  

 

If you want to know the Lord, the Bible is your source of truth about Him.  In the Lord’s conversation with His Father on the night before He goes to the Cross, His prayer for His believers in John, Chapter 17, Verse 17 is…

 

JOHN 17:17

Sanctify them (set my believers apart) in the truth…Your word is truth.

  

At Barah Ministries we encourage believers to gather themselves together with other believers to study the Word of God instead of retreating from each other to do Biblical study alone or only online.  Being with like-minded people is immeasurably valuable.

 

Why study the Word of God?  Hebrews, Chapter 4, Verse 12 tells us…

 

HEBREWS 4:12a

For the word of God is alive…and the Word of God is powerful…and the Word of God has penetrating power that is sharper than any two-edged sword…

 

HEBREWS 4:12b

…and the Word of God is piercing…even dividing the soul and the spirit…it’s interwoven like the joints and the marrow…and it’s a critic of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

 

As you study the Word of God with us, we implore you to always compare what you learn about God, both at Barah Ministries and in the world, with what the Bible has to say.  

 

God’s enemy is Satan, whom God made ‘the ruler of this world.’  He is a deceiver who hates everyone in the world, including you and me.  In John, Chapter 12, Verse 31, the Lord says…

 

JOHN 12:31

“Now judgment is upon this world…now the ruler of this world (Satan) will be cast out (he will be dethroned from ruling planet earth at a future time).”

 

Satan’s strategy against the human race is religion, which is designed to make us either indifferent or antagonistic to God.  In Matthew, Chapter 23, Verse 15, the Lord castigates those who are religious…

 

MATTHEW 23:15

“Woe to you scribes and Pharisees…you hypocrites!  You travel around on sea and land to make one convert to your religion and when he becomes converted, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are!”

 

Religion deceives many into thinking they are saved when they might not be…and it works really well!  Billions of people are deceived.  Matthew, Chapter 24, Verse 24…

 

MATTHEW 24:24

For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect (believers in Christ).

 

Satan send liars to teach lies about a counterfeit Christ and a counterfeit gospel message designed to deceive the whole world, especially believers in Christ!  The Word of God is the truth…and it informs us about Satan’s insidious deceptions.  As believers in Christ, we are in union with Christ, and we have the victory over Satan through our Lord, who has overcome the world. 

 

TODAY'S BIBLE LESSON

In Union with Christ, Christians are Full of It

 

Colossians, Chapter 2, Verses 9 to 11 say…

 

COLOSSIANS 2:9

For in Jesus…the Christ…all the fullness of Deity lives in bodily form…

 

COLOSSIANS 2:10

…He is the head…over all rule…and over all authority…

 

COLOSSIANS 2:11

…and in union with Him, YOU HAVE BEEN MADE COMPLETE…

 

In other words, Christians…YOU’RE FULL OF IT!  All the fulness is resident in our Lord and Savior.  In Ephesians, a sister letter of Paul’s letter to the Colossians…in Chapter 3, Verse 19…Paul prays…

 

EPHESIANS 3:19

…(I [Paul] bow my knees before God the Father, and I pray that you may know)… the unconditional love of Christ…which surpasses knowledge…and that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God the Father.

 

Christians…Paul wants you to be FULL OF IT.  But full of what?  In today’s lesson, as we begin our verse-by-verse study of Paul’s letter to the church at first-century Colossae…we’ll learn what Christians are full of…

 

SONG INTRODUCTION

 

No creature can do a thing to get to heaven on his own.   Romans, Chapter 11, Verse 6 says…

 

ROMANS 11:6

But if salvation is by grace, and of course it is, it is no longer based on Your works…otherwise, grace is no longer grace.

 

God’s grace makes your salvation a free gift to you.  We learn this in the gospel message, the good news of the Lord’s salvation offer.  As the group MercyMe sings…that’s not just good news…it’s the BEST NEWS EVER

MUSIC AND REFLECTION

Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ

Enjoy the Singing of His Praises

 

BEST NEWS EVER

MercyMe

 

OPENING PRAYER

Let us pray...

 

We’re grateful, Heavenly Father, for the privilege of studying Your absolute truth...the Word of God…

 

Father, thank you for Christianity, the relationship You gift us with through Your Son…our Lord…Jesus…the Christ…thank you for the fullness that Your plan for mankind offers us…and thank you for our personal part of the plan…the path that You have created for each of us…so that we can make a contribution in this world that glorifies the Lord through the direction of God the Holy Spirit…

 

…show us how to use the fulness You have placed in us to make a difference, one person at a time, in this lost and dying world…

 

…we ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit…in Christ's name...Amen.

 

TODAY'S BIBLE LESSON

In Union with Christ, Christians are Full of It

 

Usually, when someone says we are full of it, that’s a time to be “offended.” When you’re a Christian and someone says you are full of it, it’s a time to celebrate.  John, Chapter 1, Verse 16 says it well…

 

JOHN 1:16

For of His fullness (“His” referring to the Word…God the Son…who became flesh as Jesus…the Christ) we believers in Christ have all received…and what we have received is grace upon grace (blessing after blessing…in Greek charis after charis).

 

Christians are full of blessing after blessing.

 

I hope the study of Paul’s letter to the Colossians has the same effect on you it is having on me.  My head is exploding with recollections and connections from our previous studies.  

 

Over the last ten years, we have studied Paul's letter to the Romans…a sixteen-chapter letter that is the foundational teaching on Biblical Christianity.  

 

We’ve studied Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian church….sixteen chapters that address the problems of sin that plague us when we become believers in Christ.  

 

Satan, the enemy of God wants to destroy everything that has anything to do with God …including us believers.  He will use any means necessary to ruin our experience of Christianity…to ruin our relationship with God.  He seeks to pervert it, to distort it, and to dismantle it so that our relationship with the Lord and His Word…so that our victory through Christ…is destroyed.  He is not successful.

 

Today, as we begin the verse-by-verse study of Paul’s letter to the Colossians, I’d like to remind you what you received at the moment of your salvation.  Second Corinthians, Chapter 9, Verse 15 describes it succinctly…

 

SECOND CORINTHIANS 9:15

Thanks be to God the Father for His indescribable gift!

 

 

This box…a plain green gift box for those of you who are listening and not watching…is representative of the gift of Christianity that God the Father gives you at the moment of your salvation.  It dawns on me at this very moment, that the reason my head feels like it is going to explode is that for about four weeks I have been trying to describe something indescribable.  Well now the pressure is off!

 

At the moment of your salvation, you were given a completely sufficient gift.  It is the gift of a relationship with the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  God is perfect…Deuteronomy, Chapter 32, Verse 4…

 

DEUTERONOMY 32:4

“The Rock! His work is perfect…for all His ways are just…a God of faithfulness and without injustice…righteous and upright is He.”

 

A perfect God…with a perfect plan for mankind…and a perfect personal plan for you…has given us a perfect and indescribable gift…a relationship with Christ.  Fulness.  It needs no additions.  It needs no deletions.  Simply?  It is perfect.

Someone said to me once, “Rory…you’re wealthy…but how much money is enough?”  Of course, I answered the question with a number, but I was lying.  Once you start making money, you want more-more-more.  And no matter how much more you get, it’s not enough.  You still want more.

 

Let me be clear on one thing.  There is nothing wrong with making money.  Many Christians swing the pendulum in the opposite direction of more-more-more to less-less-less.  They become allergic to money.  They adopt a lifestyle of asceticism, and in Paul’s letter to the Colossians we will learn that this is one of the things Satan infects us with…the urge to deny self… asceticism as a form of spirituality…as if we are somehow more pleasing to God when we are repelling money…as if living a life of scarcity is pleasing to God.  It is not.  We have an abundant God who wants us to enjoy the abundance He provides.  There is nothing wrong with being paid what the marketplace is willing to pay for your services.  

 

My experience of Christianity is in direct opposition to the more-more-more and the less-less-less lifestyles.  Christianity is enough.  Through the gift of Christianity…we Christians are full of it…Ephesians, Chapter 3, Verse 19…

 

EPHESIANS 3:19b

…(I [Paul] pray that you may)…be FILLED UP TO ALL THE FULLNESS OF GOD the Father.

 

Colossians, Chapter 2, Verse 11…

 

COLOSSIANS 2:11

…and in union with the Christ…YOU HAVE BEEN MADE COMPLETE…

 

Christians are full of it.  The gift of a relationship with Christ is enough!

We become spiritual…First Corinthians, Chapter 3, Verse 1…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 3:1a

And so I (Paul), brethren (fellow believers in Christ), could not speak to you (Corinthians believers) as I would speak to spiritual persons (those with the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit…believers in Christ) …

 

We are made holy and blameless…Ephesians, Chapter 1, Verse 4…

 

EPHESIANS 1:4

…God the Father chose us believers in Christ to be in union with Christ before the foundation of the world…that we would be holy and blameless…

 

We are victorious…First Corinthians, Chapter 15, Verse 57…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:57

…thanks be to God the Father…who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

We are saints…Romans, Chapter 1, Verse 7…

 

ROMANS 1:7a

…and this letter is written to all of you who are the beloved…the divinely loved ones of God the Father…you believers in Christ living in Rome, saints by calling, the set apart ones…

 

We have an indescribable gift that is simple and pure…Second Corinthians, Chapter 11, Verse 3…

 

SECOND CORINTHIANS 11:3

But I (Paul) am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.

 

What more do we need than to be spiritual, holy, blameless saints who have the victory through the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ?  We need nothing else.  In fulness…in completeness…we can be completely satisfied.

 

The enemy is having none of that idea.  He wants you to think that Christianity is not enough.  So he offers a gift as well.  A bigger, brighter, shinier box.  For those of you who are listening and not watching…it’s a big red box with a big white bow…a box about twice the size of the small green box.

 

When we return from the break, we’ll take the offering, and then we’ll see what’s in the red box.

 

 

FIVE MINUTE BREAK

NOBODY

Casting Crowns

 

TODAY'S BIBLE LESSON

In Union with Christ, Christians are Full of It

 

We are full of abundance!

 

When we GIVE, we present something voluntarily without any expectation of return compensation.  We can give our time…we can give our talent…we can give our treasure.  As our relationship with the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ grows, we learn to make giving our life’s work, without expecting anything in return.  Yet the Lord does not honor our desire to get nothing in return.  He always gives to us in abundance.  John, Chapter 10, Verse 10 says…

 

JOHN 10:10

The thief (Satan) comes only to steal and kill and destroy…I (the Lord Jesus Christ) came that believers in Christ may have the resurrection life…and I came so they might have the resurrection life abundantly.

 

As a result of the Lord’s generosity, we learn not to have a mindset of scarcity in the matter of giving.  As you give today…give without fear… give abundantly…knowing that with the Lord you will ALWAYS get abundance in return.  Receiving in return is NOT your motivation…it’s just a fact in union with the Lord.

 

Let’s welcome up Deacon Denny Goodall with one of his always inspiring offering messages.

 

THE OFFERING

Deacon Denny Goodall

 

OFFERING VERSE

 

FIRST JOHN 5:4

For whoever is born again through the agency of God the Father overcomes

the world…and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith (in Christ).

 

OFFERING VERSE

 

HEBREWS 10:23

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope (our absolute confidence in Christ) without wavering…for God the Father who has already made a promise to us is faithful…

 

OFFERING SONG

HAVEN’T SEEN IT YET

Danny Gokey

 

TODAY'S BIBLE LESSON

In Union with Christ, Christians are Full of It

 

What’s in Satan’s big red shiny box?

 

My first inclination is to say, “Who cares?” …but that would be doing you a disservice, because you do care.  You are deceived by the great deceiver, and you probably have never asked yourself how much is enough.  The Lord says in Psalm 46, Verse 10…

 

PSALM 46:10

“Cease striving and know that I am God…I will be exalted among the nations…I will be exalted in the earth.”

 

God is asking His believers in Christ to remember that He is enough for us.  It may not be apparent to everyone now, because His full power and authority has yet to be revealed…but here’s the truth…Philippians, Chapter 2, Verses 10 and 11…

 

PHILIPPIANS 2:10

…at the name of Jesus every knee will bow…of those who are in heaven and of those on earth and of those under the earth…

 

PHILIPPIANS 2:11 

….and every tongue will confess that Jesus…the Christ…is the Lord (God the Son in human form)…to the glory of God the Father.

 

We don’t believe the truth…so we accept the deception…and we strive.

 

In Paul’s letter to the Colossians, what we will learn is that the Lord is enough.  Chapter 1 describes the Lord and His work on our behalf.  It is the most romantic and beautiful description of our Lord that exists on this planet.  And this amazing God we have offers us a perfect gift… Christianity…represented by the plain green box.  In Colossians, Chapter 2, we learn that Satan sends in false teachers with false teaching to convince us that our perfect relationship needs to be enhanced…it either needs more…or our perfect relationship is too much…it needs less.  Satan claims that his gift, the big shiny red box is the solution to our problem.  Remember The Devil’s Advocate movie?  Satan said, “I’m a fan of man…the last great humanist!”

 

Satan says we need to do more to please God…we need to do more to be saved…we need to do more to have a great life.  The Lord tells us through Paul that He is enough.  Philippians. Chapter 4, Verses 11 to 13…

 

PHILIPPIANS 4:11

Not that I (Paul) speak from want…for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.

 

PHILIPPIANS 4:12 

I know how to get along with humble means…and I also know how to live in prosperity…in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry…both of having abundance and suffering need.

 

PHILIPPIANS 4:13 

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

 

Christians are full of it.  We are in union with Christ and we are full of His divine power.  Is there anything better than that?

 

GOD WANTS YOU!

Make the Most Important Decision of Your Life

 

You matter to God!  Second Peter, Chapter 3, Verse 9 says…

 

SECOND PETER 3:9

The Lord is not slow about His promise of salvation, as some accuse Him of...instead, He is patient toward unbelievers…not wishing for any to perish in the Lake of Fire…but for all to come to repentance (a voluntary change of mind about having a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ).

 

To God’s enemy, Satan…the ruler of this world, you don’t matter at all.  First Peter, Chapter 5, Verse 8 says…

 

FIRST PETER 5:8

Be of sober spirit…be on the alert! Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

 

You are the “someone” on Satan’s hit list.  Satan…the enemy of God dislikes you so much that he doesn’t want you to be saved.  He doesn’t want you to be with God in heaven when you close your eyes in this life.  He wants you to be with him in the Lake of Fire.  He wants you so badly that he sends false teachers to deceive you.  In Matthew, Chapter 7, Verse 15, the Lord Himself warns about this…

 

MATTHEW 7:15

“Beware of the false prophets…who come to you in sheep’s clothing…but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”

 

The bad news is that all of us are born in a state of unrighteousness.  We are born physically alive and spiritually dead as ungodly, unrighteous unbelievers.  It’s not our fault, but it is our circumstance.  In First Corinthians, Chapter 15, Verse 22, the bible says…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:22a

For all in union with Adam at physical birth (and that is every human being who comes to earth) are set to die the second death in the Lake of Fire…

 

This gospel message is your guide to the good news that rescues you from the kingdom of darkness you were born into, inviting you to be born again into the spiritual life available in God’s kingdom of light.  

 

Satan, the enemy of God…this very real being who is not a concept…uses false teachers to give you a false gospel message.  For example, if you’ve ever had Jehovah’s Witnesses come to your door, they are evangelizing to you.  If you've ever had members of the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter-day Saints come to your door, they are evangelizing to you.  Unfortunately, both of those groups are inviting you to believe in a false gospel message and a false god so you can share eternity with them in the Lake of Fire!  In Second Corinthians, Chapter 11, Verse 4, Paul warns…

 

SECOND CORINTHIANS 11:4

…(beware) if someone comes and preaches ANOTHER JESUS whom we have not preached …and of course they do…

 

Some people are inviting you to worship a counterfeit Christ!  Neither the Jehovah's Witnesses nor The Church of Jesus Christ and Latter-day Saints believe that Jesus Christ is God.  I have family members who are part of one of these religions, and despite my best evangelism efforts, my family members don't want to hear anything that God has to say to them through me.

 

Many parents in these religious organizations are leading their children to an eternity in the Lake of Fire.  If you want to assess whether or not you’re a good parent, just ask yourself a simple question…are you influencing your children to have a relationship with the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Sovereign God of the Universe? He is the ONLY WAY to get to heaven according to John, Chapter 14, Verse 6…

 

JOHN 14:6

Jesus said to the doubting apostle, Thomas, “I am the way (to salvation), and I am the truth (through the gospel message…the Word of God), and I am the resurrection life…and no one comes to God the Father (in heaven) but through believing in Me.”

 

If a gospel message makes it sound like you have to work to get to heaven, it’s a false gospel message.  Romans, Chapter 11, Verse 6 says we don’t have to work to be saved…

 

ROMANS 11:6

…if salvation is by grace (a free gift from God) … and of course it is…it is no longer on the basis of works…otherwise grace (as a free gift) is no longer grace (it is not free).

 

In fact, Romans, Chapter 4, Verse 4 says you CAN’T work for salvation…you can’t save yourself!

 

 ROMANS 4:4

Now to the one who works for salvation, his wage for his work is not credited to his account as a favor from the grace of God, but his wage is credited as what is due for the work.

 

Your hardest work is not perfect enough to earn you a spot in heaven.  

Do you want to get to heaven free of charge?  Acts, Chapter 16, Verse 31 says…

 

ACTS 16:31 

“Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and everyone in your household who also believes.”

 

John, Chapter 3, Verse 36 warns…

 

JOHN 3:36

“He who believes in the Son has the resurrection life right at that moment… but he who does not obey the command to believe in the Son will not see the resurrection life…instead the wrath of God (the Lake of Fire) abides on him.”

 

Who is this God who saves you?  The apostle Paul describes the Lord Jesus Christ…in First Corinthians, Chapter 15, Verses 3 and 4… 

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:3

For I (Paul) delivered to you as of primary importance the gospel message I also received from God…that it was Jesus Christ who died for our sins according to the Old Testament Scriptures…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:4 

…and that He was buried…and that He was raised from the dead on the third day…according to the Old Testament Scriptures…

 

John, Chapter 3, Verses 16 and 17 highlight Jesus’ mission…

 

JOHN 3:16

“For God the Father loved the world unconditionally…and He loved the world so much…that He gave His uniquely born Son (the God-man…the Lord Jesus Christ…to be crucified on a Cross) … so that WHOSOEVER believes in Him shall not perish, but has eternal life.”

 

JOHN 3:17

“For God the Father did not send God the Son (the Lord Jesus Christ) into the world to judge the world…but the Father sent the Son into the world that the world might be saved through Him.”

 

You can spend the eternal state with God’s enemy, Satan, in the Lake of Fire…OR…you can have the free gift of eternal life in God’s presence…and you can decide right this minute!  There’s no time to waste!  God wants you!

 

If you want to go to heaven when you close your eyes in this life, simply believe in the Lord Jesus Christ right now and you will be saved!  Take the Lord’s word for it concerning what it takes to be saved, and the resurrection life is yours free of charge!  Put your salvation in His very capable hands.

 

SONG INTRODUCTION

 

As He hung from a Cross to pay for the sins of the whole world, the Lord Jesus Christ won a strategic victory in John, Chapter 19, Verse 30…

 

JOHN 19:30

Therefore, when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished (tetelestai in Greek which means PAID IN FULL)!” And Jesus bowed His head and gave up His spirit (into the hands of God the Father).

 

The Lord’s redemptive work was finished once and for all time through the payment of His blood at the Cross.  Once the Lord does something, it can’t be undone!  Here’s June Murphy to sing about it in her song…YOU CAN’T UNDO THE CROSS.

 

MUSIC AND REFLECTION

Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ

Enjoy the Singing of His Praises

 

YOU CAN'T UNDO THE CROSS

June Murphy

 

 

MUSIC AND REFLECTION

Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ

Enjoy the Singing of His Praises

 

YOU CAN'T UNDO THE CROSS

June Murphy

 

CLOSING VERSES

 

         A Doxology of Praise to Our God

 

Let’s close with words of worship for our Almighty God. 

 

PROVERBS 3:5

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding…

 

PROVERBS 3:6

…in all your ways acknowledge the Lord…and He will direct your path straight.

 

PSALM 46:1

For God is our refuge and our strength…a very present help in times of trouble.

 

ISAIAH 40:13

Those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength…they will mount up with wings like eagles…they will run and not get tired…they will walk and not become weary.

 

CLOSING PRAYER

Let us pray...

 

Thanks for coming!

Thanks for watching!

Thanks for listening!

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