Truth That Changes Lives

JP Jones: The very nature of God is that he's infinite, and we're finite. So there are things about God we will just never understand. That doesn't mean they're not true.

Greg: Thank you for joining us on Truth That Changes Lives. Pastor JP Jones is the senior pastor of Crossline Community Church in Laguna Hills, California, and a professor in Biblical Studies at Biola University. Today on Truth That Changes Lives, Pastor JP will be giving us a message from a series entitled "All About Jesus." Let's listen in as JP gives us Part 5 of "The Reconciler."

JP Jones: If you have your Bibles, would you open to Colossians chapter 2? We're continuing in this study that it's all about Jesus. In Colossians 2, verses 8 through 10, the Apostle Paul writes these words: "See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and on the basic principles of the world, rather than on Christ. For in Christ, all the fullness of the deity lives in bodily form, and you've been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority."

This passage fits into the overall context of the book of Colossians—that it's all about Jesus. Paul's writing to a church that has been influenced by secular philosophy and by a religious viewpoint that has distorted the truth about Jesus. And the truth matters. Truth sets us free. In fact, Jesus said in John chapter 8, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." Now, the converse is also in play.

If you don't know the truth and instead believe something that's false, rather than being set free, it's putting you in bondage. You know, it's possible this morning that many of us have come here today; we've come sincerely to be worshipers, but we're holding on to some ideas that aren't true. We may think they're true. We may be sincere in our belief about them. But if they're not true, rather than setting us free, they're holding us in bondage. It's the truth that sets us free.

The truth about Jesus Christ will set us free. And so, the Apostle Paul is sharing the truth about Jesus and how Jesus Christ changes lives and Jesus Christ is the center of the universe. Jesus Christ is the head of the church. Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and man. Jesus Christ is, in fact, the unique God-man. And so, in Colossians 2, verses 8 through 10, Paul tells us some things that are true about Jesus.

He tells us some things that are true about us because of our relationship with Jesus, and then he commands us to an action based upon what's true. So, in looking at this passage, I'm going to reverse the order. First of all, I'm going to look at what's true, and then I'm going to look at what the command is based upon what's true. The first assertion of truth that Paul gives us is this: In Christ, all the fullness of the deity lives in bodily form.

This is one of those great statements in the Bible about the deity of Jesus Christ. There are many of these statements. It's a very comprehensive doctrine—the deity of Jesus, the fact that Jesus is the unique God-man. This was important to the Colossians because they had embraced a worldview known as Gnosticism. And the Gnostic view held that there was a great distinction between the spirit world and the physical world. And everything that was spiritual was good, and everything that was physical was evil.

Therefore, they couldn't understand, based upon their philosophy, that Jesus could be fully God, because the physical person of Jesus was affected by their view that everything physical was evil. So, they had a theology that was false, based upon a false worldview and assumption. And so, Paul's correcting that because he understands that the truth about Jesus matters. The truth about Jesus is the whole issue of salvation.

So, he says, "In Christ dwells the fullness of God in bodily form." Jesus is the unique God-man—not just a religious teacher, not just an ascended spiritual master, not just a martyr for a cause. Jesus Christ is the unique God-man. And the terms that he uses are important terms for us to understand. He says in Christ is all the fullness of the deity. The word there is *pleroma*. It's a technical term. It means the condition of being completely full, that which makes something complete.

So, when we think about all that makes God, God, that was in Jesus. And he uses the word in the NIV; it says "in Christ the fullness of deity lives in bodily form." In the King James Version, it says "the fullness of the Godhead." It's the Greek word *theotetos*. *Theos* is the Greek word for God. *Theotetos* is the actual essence of God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the very nature of God, Godness.

In Christ, all the fullness of deity lives in bodily form. He had said a similar type of thing in Colossians chapter 1, verse 19, when he says it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in him. Christ is the unique God-man, fully God and fully man. You say, "I just can't get my hands around that." Well, welcome to the club. But don't falsely think that just because you can't understand something, that means it isn't true.

I mean, there's a whole range of things that I don't understand on a purely human form. I don't know how I can walk into my house, pick up the remote control, push a button, and the TV comes on. I don't understand that. Like I don't understand why I never get to do that because it's always my wife and daughter who do it. But that's a whole other issue. Because I don't understand the electrical principles behind television doesn't mean television doesn't work.

Now, that's purely on a human level because there are some people who do understand that stuff. But it illustrates the fact that there are things that we don't understand, but that doesn't mean they're not true. How much more the case when we're talking about God? Because the very nature of God is that he's infinite, and we're finite. So, there are things about God we will just never understand. That doesn't mean they're not true.

In fact, the Bible tells us that in Deuteronomy 29, where it says the secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and our sons, that we might obey all the words of this law. So, there are some things that are secret; there are some things that are revealed. There are some secrets that are revealed, but they're revealed to us as secrets, if you're still tracking with me. Good job.

In other words, there are some things that have never been revealed at all, so we don't know anything about them. There are some things that are revealed, and we know all that we need to know about them. And there are some things that are revealed to us, but they're revealed to us as secrets. The nature of God is one of those things. The Bible tells us there's one God who eternally exists as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Now, there are aspects of that that are secret to us, but that has been revealed to us.

Paul is revealing to us the nature of Jesus in that he's fully God and fully man. This has been something that historically Christians have wrestled with because we can get things wrong easier than we can get things right. And in the early church, they wrestled with this because there was a guy named Arius who taught that Jesus was a creation, like an angel—the highest of angels. And he taught that, and there were people who believed that, and then churches were started based upon that belief, but that's a false belief.

And there was a guy named Athanasius who said, "No, the Bible teaches that Jesus is the unique God-man." And a conflict arose between these two guys. They got together and hashed it out based upon the scriptures, and there was an overwhelming consensus that what the Bible teaches is that Jesus is the unique God-man. And this guy Athanasius wrote his thoughts down, and it's a creed that Christians have kind of used as a doctrinal teaching to help understand the very nature of Jesus. This is back in the third and fourth century.

This is from the Athanasian Creed: "The one true faith is this: that we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity, neither confounding the persons nor dividing the essence. For there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit. But the Godhead of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is all one, the glory equal, the majesty coeternal. So that in all things, as we have said, the unity in the Trinity, the Trinity in the unity is to be worshiped."

"He therefore that will be saved, let him thus think of the Trinity. Furthermore, it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also believe faithfully the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the right faith is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man. God of the essence of the Father, begotten before the worlds, and man of the essence of his mother, born in the world—perfect God and perfect man." Wow.

It's important that we believe the truth, because the truth sets us free. So, Paul tells us the truth about Jesus. The truth about Jesus is in Christ dwells the fullness of deity in bodily form. Jesus is the unique God-man. And he also says that Christ is the head over every power and authority. Now, this is a theme that he's come to already in Colossians 1. He's going to repeat it again in Colossians 2.

It's important because it positions Jesus in his rightful place as Lord. He's the head of every human authority; he's the head of every angelic authority; he's the head of every demonic authority. Christ is superior and has absolute authority. In Colossians 1:15 through 17, Paul wrote these words: "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together."

By his very nature essence as God, Jesus is superior over all things, and Jesus has authority over all things. Because he is God, all things are in subjection to him, which includes all powers and authorities. Further on in the book of Colossians—we'll look at this passage next week—in Colossians 2:14 and 15, Paul says this: that Jesus canceled out the written code with its regulations that was against us, that stood opposed to us. He took it away by nailing it to his cross, and he disarmed the powers and authorities. He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

So, when Jesus died on the cross, he not only paid the penalty for our sin, he defeated and triumphed over all authority and power, over all demonic opposition. So, by virtue of his essence, he's God, and by virtue of his work, he died on the cross to destroy the works of the devil. Jesus has all authority over every power and principality. And we've discussed this in the past—that in the New Testament, those terms are used to describe angelic rule.

That's not only a great theological truth, it's really practical, because every spiritual opposition that you would encounter—that you may be encountering right now—you know, the Bible says in Ephesians chapter 6 that our struggle isn't against flesh and blood. Husbands and wives, you may think your struggle is against each other. You may think your struggle is against your kids. You may think your struggle is against your neighbor. You may think your struggle is against your boss. You may think your struggle is against the person who works for you.

Bible says it's not against flesh and blood. It is against the spiritual forces, authorities, and powers of darkness. There's a spiritual battle going on, and we are in the midst of it. We live in the midst of this spiritual battle. But the scripture says that Jesus has all authority. Jesus has sovereign rule over every authority, every principality. Jesus Christ has victory. Why? Because he's God, and because he has already triumphed over every authority and power by his death on the cross.

So, in Christ, we have victory. Through Christ, we can triumph over the spiritual opposition that's coming at us. So, men and women, rather than fighting against each other, you need to come together on your knees in prayer and realize we're one in Christ. Let's in prayer claim our identity in Jesus and claim the victory we have over this spiritual opposition that's coming at us. See, there's a difference between power and authority.

I don't have the power to win the spiritual battle, but I do have the authority. See, power is what I got in myself—whatever physical strength, whatever intellectual strength, whatever willpower I might muster. But authority is delegated power. Jesus has absolute authority, and he delegates that to me because of my union with him. See, in Ephesians chapter 1, it says that Christ was raised and seated at the right hand of the Father above all rule and authority and power and dominion, above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

So, Jesus now is seated at the right hand of the Father in absolute authority. Everything's been made subject to Jesus. That's the end of Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 2, carrying on the same thought: We were dead in trespasses and sins in which we formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air who's now at work in the sons of disobedience. We were like the rest—children of wrath.

But God, in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, he made us alive together with Christ. He raised us up with Christ. He seated us with Christ. So, we are right now, because of our spiritual position in Jesus Christ, seated with Jesus Christ. At the end of Ephesians 1, where is Christ seated? At the right hand of the Father. What is true of Christ's seating? He's seated above all rule and authority and power and dominion, above every name that's named, not only in this age but in the age to come.

Where are we? We are seated with Christ. So, in Christ, we have the spiritual authority of Jesus over what? All rule, authority, power, and dominion. The truth of Jesus's authority, you see, impacts me and you and impacts our marriages, impacts our families, impacts our church. We don't have to be losers, because we're united to the winner. This was pretty important for the Colossians to understand. Truth sets us free.

So, Paul's given us some truth. He says in Christ dwells the fullness of God in bodily form, and Christ is superior and has authority over all rule and authority. You need to know what's true about Jesus. But then Paul says something about us believers. He says in Colossians 2:10, "We have been given fullness in Christ." You can't miss the connection. In Christ is the fullness of God in bodily form, the *pleroma*, the completeness.

We have been given fullness in Christ. Just as in Christ is the fullness of God, because we are in Christ, we are filled up with Christ. It's the verb *pleroo*, to fill or to make full. Ephesians 5:18 says commanding us, "we are to be filled with the Holy Spirit." This is in a construction in the Greek text that's called a passive construction, so it would be translated that "in him having been filled full, we have the present result of being full."

See, our position in Christ is that we have, present tense, Christ's fullness. That's our birthright as believers in Jesus. It's our spiritual position. Being a Christian is not just having a biblical theology, and being a Christian is not just having the willpower to kind of live a new life and be changed in behavior. Fundamentally, being a Christian is becoming a brand-new person on the inside and having a whole new spiritual identity because you've been united to Jesus Christ.

It's having a personal relationship with Christ and having that personal relationship with Christ means Christ is in you. Well, is that true for you, you see? Being here obviously indicates you have a spiritual interest, but there has to be that transaction of surrender, of crossing the line, of truly embracing Jesus Christ, so that Christ transforms us from the inside out. Paul says to the Colossians because they put their faith in Jesus Christ, because they trusted in Christ alone for their salvation, he says to them, "You have been given fullness in Christ."

That is the birthright of every Christian. So, every person who has received Jesus Christ has the fullness of Christ. That's the spiritual position. It may not be our practice, though. It may not be how we actually live, because we may be ignorant of it, or we may be in rebellion to it, or we may be struggling with the implications of it. That's why Paul in Ephesians chapter 1 prays for believers, and over again in Ephesians chapter 3, he prays for believers, and he prays this very concept of fullness.

This is what Paul prayed in Ephesians 3:16 through 19: "I pray that out of his glorious riches, God may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—so that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."

Well, why do you have to pray for something that's already true? See, that's the difference between position and practice. What's already true? We have the fullness of Christ if we're believers in Jesus. But what Paul prays for is that that would become the dynamic of how we actually live, that out of the fullness of Christ, we'd approach life, we'd do relationships, we'd glorify God, we'd live our lives in union with what is already true about us. It's been said that the secret of the Christian life is just becoming who you already are, living out of that birthright of that new identity in Jesus.

See, truth matters. So, Paul lays out these three truths in this passage. The first two are about Christ: In Christ dwells the fullness of God in bodily form. In Christ is above and superior and has authority to all rule and authority. And the third truth has to do with us: We've been given fullness in Christ. But Paul says because these things are true, there is an application. So, there's a command.

It's in verse 8: "See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world, rather than on Christ." "See to it" is the first part that's the imperative. It's interesting; it's the verb to see, *blepo*. That's kind of an interesting word, isn't it? It's kind of a fun word to say. *Blepo*. Just means to see, but it's not used in its literal sense; it's used in its kind of metaphorical sense. Take action, take guard, be aware. Be on the alert so that nothing takes you captive rather than Jesus.

So that no philosophy, no psychology, no theology captivates you if it's not according to Christ. See, the command is make sure in every part of your thinking, you're loyal to Christ, you're focused on Christ, you're abiding in Christ, you're surrendered to Christ. Christ is to be the center of everything in our lives. Christ is to be the focus of our worship. Christ is to be the center of our thinking. Christ is to occupy our attention.

Christ is to influence the way we think about our careers. Christ is to be the standard by which we understand marriage. Christ is to be the center for how we understand parenting. Christ is to be the very center of everything in our lives, and every way we think about everything in our lives. And the command is interesting because it's "see to it that you're not taken captive." This is a word that's only used one time in the New Testament—this is the only time it's used. So, our understanding of it has to come from outside of biblical literature.

And the way this word is used in Greek literature is describing the way a robber would come in and steal something and then take it away. So, we're to be very careful that we don't let ideas steal our joy in Christ, steal our faith in Christ, steal our allegiance to Christ. Ideas. See, the spiritual battle, you know where it is waged most intensely? Right here.

Greg: What a great message for all of us today. Pastor JP provides us with great insight. That is why we'd like to make it available to you on CD. Just get in touch and mention today's date. We'll send it your way for just $5. Or if you'd like to support this ministry, you can write us at Truth That Changes Lives, 23331 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Hills, California, 92653. Or give us a call at 949-916-0250. That's 949-916-0250. For your gift of $25 or more, we will send you a signed copy of JP's new book, *Facing Goliath*. Please join us every Sunday at 9:00 or 11:00 a.m. at Crossline Church in Laguna Hills. The address is 23331 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Hills, California, 92653. Or check us out on the web at crosslinechurch.com. We're going to get to the address and phone number again in a moment, but before we do that, Pastor JP, do you have any insight from today's message?

JP Jones: Thanks, Greg. We're in this series talking about the fact that it's all about Jesus. Salvation is in Jesus Christ. Life transformation is in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father but through him. And in our passage in Colossians chapter 2, we see that Jesus Christ is the fullest expression of God in bodily form. In fact, Jesus is the unique God-man, and Paul exhorts us in this passage not to be taken captive by any way of thinking, by any opinion or philosophy, by any worldview that isn't centered in Christ and doesn't fully represent the truth about Christ.

You see, we live in a fallen world system, and the evil one attacks us through temptation, accusation, and deception. In fact, deception is probably the greatest tool of Satan because when we're deceived, we don't really know it. And so, we're bombarded all the time by messages from the media, from our political leaders, from the educational system, from the very world that we live in; we're bombarded by messages which dilute and distort the truth about Jesus Christ.

And we're told in scripture in Colossians 2 not to be taken captive by any philosophy, any way of thinking that isn't fully rooted in Jesus Christ. Would you check your thoughts today? Would you look at your attitude today? Would you look at your perspective today? Would you look at what you're putting your faith in today and ask yourself: Is it true to Jesus? Is it built on Jesus? Is it loyal to Jesus? Does it exalt Jesus? Because any way of thinking that isn't true to Jesus Christ is a distortion, and we're told in scripture not to be taken captive, but instead to build our lives fully on Jesus Christ. May God give you the grace to follow Christ with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. In Jesus' name, amen.

Greg: We want to help you in your relationship with Christ. Please get in touch with us at Truth That Changes Lives, 23331 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Hills, California, 92653. Or call us at 949-916-0250. On the internet, you'll find us at crosslinechurch.com. We hope to see you at one of our services every Sunday at our new campus in Laguna Hills. For more information and directions, please go to crosslinechurch.com. Please join us next time on Truth That Changes Lives.