01-02-2020
Colossae used to be a major trading town. Between 0BC and 1AD, Colossae began to lose its prominence. Two other towns Laodicea and Hierapolis became more prominent.
Epaphras was a trader. He went to Ephesus and met Paul. He brought the message of the gospel to his hometown in Colossae. He started a church and the church grew.
Colossians was written during the first imprisonment of Paul.
Paul wrote the letter because there were things in the church that needed to be addressed. What he dealt with in the book of Colossians applies to us today.
Today Christianity has been so watered down. Our study of the Bible is not good enough. Our grasp of the Bible and our understanding of God are easily swayed by what's around us.
How we approach the Bible has a lot of effect on how we live our lives.
The Christians during the time in Colossae were into Greek thinking and Jewish culture. They started to adopt concept and ideas into Christianity.
Christianity is not a religion. It is a relationship between God and man. The concept of the deity was so mixed up that they started to emphasise gnosticism, ceremonialism, asceticism, angel worship, intellectualism and traditions, Jewish legalism teaching etc.
Gnosticism is the concept that God is mysterious. You need to be in this special position to gain this special knowledge. And once you gain this special knowledge, you are somebody. And then you can tell people you lift yourself up above everybody else because you have this special knowledge. That's gnosticism. All these things were creeping into the church.
Together with that you have, on the other hand, those who were very legalistic ie. those who think that they themselves who were the only true believes, that they were the ones who held to the truth of everything. They're very religiously inclined. When they come to worship God, they want to have religious paraphernalia--the incense, the candlestick, the cross and the whole works including the priests. They were very much into sacerdotalism where they would like to have that religious ambience to come to church.
Apart from the ceremonialists, you have the ascetics who wanted to keep things simple and believed that because Jesus has fulfilled the law, they did not need to follow the Old Testament anymore. To them, everybody is a worshipper and the Holy Spirit leads. They did not even want to celebrate Christmas and everybody else who celebrate Christmas is wrong and they're the pure ones. You have these kinds of competing things coming into the church. As a result of which, it has led to problems.
Is this relevant to us today? Very!
The influence of outside ideas into the church is called syncretism. To explain it easily, the word syncretism means rojak. Because you are bringing in other concepts from the outside and bringing into the Christian practice, you are making rojak of your Christian faith. You may believe in Christ but at the same time you believe in small, little things and it becomes a whole mix of a syncretism composite of what Christianity is all about. It is a problem because it leads to divisions; it leads to a sense of superiority; it leads to a distraction from what the church is supposed to do. That is why we chose this book to study at this point in time.
Syncreticism comes about because the people of God do not understand their God and what's God's plan for their lives.
Jesus is the supreme concept that you need to have. Your minds, thinking, and value systems must change.
The book of Colossians is extremely revelant to us today.
How many of us are easily swayed by Old Testament symbolism? In the desire of wanting to have a real experience of religion, very often we bring back Old Testament practices.
Matthew 5:17-20 New International Version (NIV)
The Fulfillment of the Law
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus is the fulfilment of the law.
We must depend on the Holy Spirit and not paraphernalia.
This is one of the greatest revelations that God has given to man. God has revealed to us that in time to come, everything that we see around us--the physical--will disappear. God will create a new heaven and a new earth. This is our hope.
Matthew 13:47-52 New International Version (NIV)
The Parable of the Net
47 “Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. 48 When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. 49 This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous 50 and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
51 “Have you understood all these things?” Jesus asked.
“Yes,” they replied.
52 He said to them, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”
Acts 17:24-31 New International Version (NIV)
24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’[a] As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’[b]
29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. 30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”
In the meantime, God is like a fisherman. He will separate the good and bad fish. The entire history of mankind is God sorting out the fish. The "good fishes" He will take into the new heaven and the new earth. There He will dwell in the midst of His people.
If God were to appear today, what do you think would happen to all of us? We will all drop dead. That's the problem.
If we understand our ultimate objective, then how should we live our lives?
The hope that the normal earthly man and Christians have is different. The earthly man hopes that by doing good, ultimately he will be blessed with riches, prosperity and longevity.
The hope that the Bible has is something that God has designed for us all.
If our hope in Christ of Revelation 21 is real, we will mortgage everything in life for the sake of our high calling. Then it makes sense why we must act in faith. We do what the Bible tells us to do because we understand that we have been saved. We do it out of our love for God. The first thing that is changed is our mind. (Romans 12:2, Matthew 5-7) The world wants to trumpet everything but God wants us to do in quietness, be it acts of faith, labour of love. Because of your hope, your acts of faith and labour of love are motivated by what you are convinced of, and not by the things of the world.
Communion is when we fellowship with God. We communicate with God and God communicates with us.
Churchianity is you come to church every Sunday or Saturday and that's it. You feel like you've paid your insurance premium for the week.
Christianity is not about church nor religion nor trying to do good nor being sincere.
Christianity is about your relationship with God on an every day basis. You have a real relationship.
True Christianity is maintaining that relationship that you talk to God on a daily basis and He talks to you on a daily basis.
Another way to develop that hope is through fellowship of growth (exercising the fellowship of the body of Christ). In this body, some are given the gift of teaching, some are given the gift of prophecy, some are given the gift of interpretation of tongues. And when we do it, we are engaging in the fellowship of growing. So that when I dispense the treasures of darkness (hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places) to you, you receive those treasures and begin to build up your understanding of faith as these treasures enlighten your heart.
Matthew 13:52 says "every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old." A teacher is a houseowner who goes into his house and takes out new treasure and old treasure for his guest.
Ephesians 1:18-23 New International Version (NIV)
18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
Colossians 1:9-14 New International Version (NIV)
9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,[a] 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you[b] to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
To know God's will, this is what Paul desires for us.
The general will of God has always been that we are His holy people dwelling in the kingdom of light. It means be obedient. Do what God says, you obey. Very often the general will of God will answer the specifics of your life. If we understand that the first priority in our lives is holiness, then everything else falls into place.
God gives revelation through communion and fellowship.
Proverbs 27:17 New International Version (NIV)
17 As iron sharpens iron,
so one person sharpens another.
The Charismatic churches today are a mile wide but an inch deep. We are so self-absorbed.
How, therefore, do we gain depth in the knowledge of God?
God's revelation is meant to be executed and obeyed. You need to come to God with humility, honesty and a desire to obey.
You can see other's fault except your own fault. You can condemn and criticise others, yet you cannot see yourself.
Self-absorption is we are so preoccupied with our own problems, desires and wants. It's always me, me and me. We always want to be catered to, then we feel good, failing to understand that it is in giving of ourselves that we know the power of God. Look at Gideon and David. The power of God comes when we do the will of God.
The highest hierarchy of Freemasonry deals with occult worship. They deal with devil worship. When we learn from God, we want to apply to everybody else but we are not honest enough to self-evaluate and see whether it applies to us. There is no humility, no honesty and no obedience. How then is God going to reveal and to give you what the Holy Spirit wants to teach you? Do you think the Holy Spirit wants to hold back knowledge from us? Never! The problem is not with God. The problem is us. With that kind of attitude, that explains why we are one inch deep.
Bearing fruit in every good work is, unfortunately, very absent in our church today. We are not prepared to put in the work. If we do not employ our minds to plan and our hands to work and our feet to walk, do you expect God to bless? The church needs to bear fruit with good work.
Are we stagnated or are we growing in the knowledge of God? Are you living off spiritual capital which is fast diminishing?
Are we strengthened with the power to endure with patience? Every genuinely born again Christian destined for the new heaven and the new earth will have to go through a life of suffering because the world we live in is very different.
The book of Colossians is all about creating holy people in the kingdom of light. Our lives are to be centred on the supremacy of Christ.
It is time for us to grow to maturity. It is time to not only receive God's blessings but also to be a blessing to others.
RELATED:
A Holy People in the Kingdom of Light (Colossians 1:1-14)
The Supremacy of Christ (Colossians 1:15-23)
How Should We Serve Christ (Colossians 1:24-2:5)
Completeness in Christ (Colossians 2:6-15)
Freedom in Christ (Colossians 2:16-23) The Attack on a Christ Centred Life
Mentality in Christ (Colossians 3:1-17)
Our Roles in Christ (Colossians 3:18-4:6)
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