Dr Bruce Winter visited our church this past Sunday (4/11/07), & he gave an excellent sermon, on Colossians 1:24 to 2:5. He started by referring to Turkey, which at once were thriving with churches, but then the people became cultural Christians. Dr Winter then referred to the passage in Colossians. Paul, the author, thought that one must not be deluded with arguments that sound so good. Paul had been worried that the Christians would be like Peter Pan (a child who never grew up).
Dr Winter made 3 points about the passage in Colossians:
# A Christian person is possessed by Christ.
# That Christian person must be mature in Christ.
# That Christian person must be united in Christ.
#1: Possessed in Christ
Paul was given the word of God. We are privileged to have the word of God. God wants us to understand what He has done for us. Paul wanted us to know what happened to the Christians. Refer v.26 - Christ is in you. God has come to dwell in your life. Our lives will go on forever. We are possessed people (i.e. possessed in Christ). We have a great future that lies ahead of us. There is a home already for us. Jesus said He will go to prepare a place for us & He will come again. We are now people who are possessed by Christ.
#2: Mature in Christ
We must grow in Christ. This is not a quick fix. Refer v.28 & v.29. There are 3 aspects of maturity:
Firstly, continual proclamation of who Jesus Christ is. He designed everything, the creator, the enlightener, the sustainer of the universe. Christ must be continually proclaimed to Christians. We are here for Him; He prepared a place for us. We need to focus on Him. We are here for Him, & not the other way round. We need to be continually reminded that Christ is not here for us; we are here for Him.
Secondly, warn Christians of the dangers of certain things. God has put in place His word. It is not an easy task. We live in a world which says "greed is good". The Bible teaches us different things. Our society tells us to indulge. God is a shepherd from us; every gift is from God. Christian maturity also involves in warning us of the dangers that lie ahead.
Thirdly, we need information to live our lives. We need to be taught; we need to read up instructions to understand how we are to live. God has given us a manual on how to do just that. To become a mature Christian, we have to learn & be taught from the Bible.
Recapping the 3 aspects: the greatness of Christ, the dangers that lie ahead, the wisdom we need to live our lives.
Paul wanted everyone that we may present everyone to be mature in Christ. It would be sad if we have a body of an adult but the mind of a child.
#3: United in Christ
In 21st century, Christians can be polite & nice & smile but be different when you look underneath. It is easy for Christians to just be polite. Paul was concerned that there should be unity in the church - we should be united in Christ. Christians always chose to meet in homes. It is wonderful to come & share fellowship but bad when family members fight. We are to be united in Christ. We will love to come & meet up with our brothers & sisters. In Asian culture, family is important. When we become Christians, it is easy to transfer that cultural mentality into the church (family does matter).
Dr Winter then concluded by saying that if we are like all those 3 points, we can stand up to all the challenges in life.
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