Colossians 2: 9 - 10 speaks so much truth into my life yesterday and today. Paul says, "For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, (10) and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority." Jesus is God in the flesh. I, as a believer, have all fullness..... everything I need in Him! He has smashed every rule and authority and become my only hope.
Paul is speaking to the Colossian church about philosophers in Colossae who were spreading false doctrine. While the word "fullness" has such heavy implications to the believer, my ESV Study Bible tells me that Paul was actually using this term to kind of "poke" at these philosophers, using a term from their jargon to mock their parallel philosophy, rooted in evil and darkness. The question is: Where do I gain my fullness? If Christ allows my union with Him, and He provides the crushing blow to all rules and authorities, why do I seek pleasure, comfort, and joy in things other than Jesus Christ and Him crucified? Why do my remedies for worldly anxiety or depression trump the all-sufficient Savior?
Charles Spurgeon frequently suffered terrible bouts with "depression." He and I have that in common. Spurgeon applied the all-sufficient balm of the gospel to his life as his sole remedy. Is it double minded (James 1) to embrace contemporary methods for treating anxiety and depression? Is this a parallel teaching rooted in darkness like in Colossians 2: 9-10? When is Christ Jesus enough? Paul says here that Jesus is God manifest in body, and we are filled with Him!
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Thank you John for reminding us of our biggest problem...finding satisfaction in lesser pleasures instead of feasting on the ultimate pleasure of Christ and Him crucified. Our hearts are an idol factory and the only remedy is the Gospel. The truth of the Gospel tell us what we already know...our hearts are desperately sick, but then it tells us the solution. Therefore, since we are justified by Christ we have peace with god through our Lord Jesus Christ. May we look to the cross with full confidence that what transpired there is not only sufficient but liberates us to look at our failures and shortcomings with the cross in view. We live in the shodow of the cross. We can know that there is future grace and we are able to fight sin realizing that it has already been covered by the blood of Jesus.
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