Know Christ…

I just love the book of Colossians! When I was in college I went through a spiritual low. There was a time when doubt overwhelmed me to the point of great fear that there was no God. In the last two years of my college experience, the Lord began pulling me out of that pit and renewing my relationship. This is when I truly learned what it meant to “fall in love with Jesus.” I had a lot of knowledge but I didn’t “KNOW” Christ. I feel so blessed today being reminded of how wonderful he is to me. Colossians was one of the key books that encouraged me in my struggle. Maybe all of you have a personal testimony to share about the book of Colossians. If I don’t say wonderful words of wisdom and if I don’t give some inspiring insight, I still have been reminded of the importance of knowing him, not just knowing all the “right” ways to live or worship. This has been a roller-coaster of an issue for me because I have a perfectionism tendency. I want to get it perfect or I have failed. I believe many people struggle with this same thing. The Colossian church was struggling with trying to get it right too. So much religious knowledge was being spread around and mixed in that the people were being confused.

Here are some Key Verses:
Colossians 1:15-16, "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."

Colossians 2:8-10, "See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority."

Colossians 3:12-13, "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you."

Colossians 4:5-6, "Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone."

Paul was writing the Colossian church to try to expose and defeat the heresy arising in Colossea. A heresy is a deviation from the truth. There was a flawed view of Christ in which his deity was not accepted. Paul does a wonderful job of pointing us to the sufficiency of Christ. At the same time he reminds them of how they should treat others.
We need to remember that our actions do matter but are not our salvation. Legalism was/is also an issue. I think we all struggle with change and the Jews particularly struggled with giving up some of the Old Testament requirements like circumcision. We must hold on to the truth that Christ is sufficient for our salvation and sanctification. We must guard against things that can lead us astray by forms of legalism and heresy by knowing the gospel. The only way to know the gospel is to stay in the Word. There is no substitution. We must guard against anything that would diminish the importance of Christ. Anything or anyone who tries to make itself equal to the authority of the Word of God must be avoided. One of satan’s affective schemes is to mix lies in with the truth. Other religions cannot be combined with or added to Christianity. We cannot just take what we like and leave out what we don’t like or understand. His will is revealed in his word and we must get to know Him through his word.