Union With Christ
Colossians 2:10
And because you belong to Christ you are complete, having everything you
need. Christ is ruler over every other power and authority.
The New Testament book of Acts of the Apostles speaks
about how Christianity was founded and organized and the multiple problems the
young church faced. The community of believers began by faith in the risen
Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. As the church started growing dynamically,
they had to contend with opposition from three directions. Herod’s government
was afraid that the group might grow into a rallying point for rebels against
it. The Jews opposed the believers as heretics and the Roman government,
alarmed by their talk about a new King, started oppressing the group. Believers
were terrorized by the gruesome murder of Stephen and James and the
imprisonment and torture of the followers. The conversion of
A generation after Jesus, as Christianity spread over
mid-east it came in contact with belief systems prevalent in the region
dominated by Greek culture. Human nature being what is, many were attracted by
this “new religion”, not for its message of love or salvation through grace,
but for its novelty, and many syncretized belief systems were born. The primary
of them was Gnosticism. In most Gnostic
systems, the sufficient cause of salvation is the “knowledge of"
("acquaintance with") the divine. As Christianity developed and
became more popular, so did Gnosticism, and there was even a Christian Gnostic
sect that believed in Jesus’ divinity while rejecting His humanity. They
believed material was evil and an omnipotent, omniscient, benevolent God – God
of purity and holiness - cannot live in a corrupt human body. This was the kind
of heresy Paul fought against consistently and preached and wrote insisting on
Jesus’ humanity.
The young church in Colosse
was not immune to this trend. Soon believers in Gnosticism infiltrated into the
ranks and disturbed the young believers. In doing this they were denying that
Jesus came for everyone; that Jesus can be reached through faith and nothing
else: that Jesus reconciled man with God through His death on the cross: that
Jesus died in His human form. They told the people that commitment to Jesus was
not sufficient and a ‘’superior
knowledge’’ was necessary to know God and this is not available to everyone. St Paul
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The
main theme of the Letter to the Colossians was ‘Union
with Christ’.
Because our sins have been forgiven, and we have been
reconciled to God, we have a union with Christ that cannot be broken. In our
faith connection with Him, we identify with His death, burial and resurrection.
We should be in constant contact and communication with God. When we do, we
will be unified with Christ, and with one another. Through Christ, we, who were
dead in sins, and alive with Jesus. You should see yourselves as being dead to the
power of sin and alive for God through Christ Jesus (Romans 6:11). Christ's death was the death of our
sins; Christ's resurrection is the quickening of our souls.
Connection is vital. Remove
the leader and the followers are scattered. (I shall strike the shepherd and
the sheep will be scattered - Zechariah 13:7) Unplug the electrical apparatus
and it stops working. Connection is power, connection is life. (If you remain
in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done
for you – John 15:7) Jesus is the vine and we are branches, the branch cannot
do anything by itself. (Apart from Me you can do nothing – John 15:5)
1Corinth 12:12
For as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of that
one body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ.
Colossians 1:18 And He is the Head of the body, the church,
who is the Beginning, the First-born from the dead, that He may be pre-eminent
in all things.
Colossians 2:10
And you are complete in Him, who is the Head of all principality and
power…
Colossians 2:19 …and
not holding the Head, from whom all the body, having been supplied through the
joints and bands, and having been joined together, will grow with the growth of
God.
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* *
Our connection doesn’t stop
there. It connects us to one another, makes us part of a world-wide fellowship
of believers. Jesus reconciled us by His
death not only to God, but to each other by breaking the wall of hostility
Eph 2:14,15 He made us Jews
and you who are not Jews one people. We were separated by a wall of hate that
stood between us, but Christ broke down that wall. By giving his own body, Christ ended the law with its many commands
and rules. His purpose was to make the two groups become one in him. By doing
this he brought about peace among men.
Strong fellowship necessary
for our growth. It is through our fellowship we support each other, forgive each
other, help each other, bear each other’s burden, encourage each other and even
confess to each other.
Fellowship is good witness.
Through our fellowship we prove to
world we are Jesus’ disciples – (John 13:34,35)
No Christian is an
island ––
Mathew 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine
before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your
Father who is in heaven.
Rom 12:5 so we the many are one body in Christ, and
each one members of one another.
1Co 1:9 God is faithful. He has chosen you to share
life with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Rom 12:5 … we are many people, but in Christ we are
all one body. We are the parts of that body, and each part belongs to all the
others.
*
* *
John 15:9-11 As the Father
has loved Me, so have I loved you. Remain in My love. If you keep My
commandments, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s
commandments and remain in His love. I have told you these things so that
My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. When we are connected to
Christ we are in Him. We achieve this:
(1) By believing that
He is God’s Son - 1John 4:15 Anyone who says, "I
believe that Jesus is the Son of God," is a person who lives in God, and
God lives in that person.
(2) By receiving Him
as Saviour and Lord - John 1:12 But as
many as received Him, He gave to them authority to become the children of God,
to those who believe on His name…
(3) By doing what God
says - 1John 3:24 And he who keeps His commandment dwells in Him, and He in him. And by
this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit which He gave to us.
(4) By relating in
love to the community of believers, that is, Christ’s body - John 15:12. This is My commandment,
that you love one another as I have loved you.
* * *
Christ’s connection with the
Father, gives us life and power. Through Jesus we are connected to Father. We
receive the right that empowers us to call God, “abba Father”; we have a priceless
inheritance--an inheritance that is kept in heaven for us, pure and undefiled,
beyond the reach of change and decay. inheritance
that never fails, fades or perishes.
Life is not complete without
Jesus. A strange and often hard-to-identify inner vacuum gives most people an
inner sense of incompleteness. Christ fills that vacuum. As Jesus’ person is
fully divine, so we, united by faith to Jesus, find personal fulfilment in Him. You are complete through your union with
Christ.
When you know Christ, you
don’t need to seek God through other religions, cults, philosophies, schisms or
isms. Our traditions, our good deeds and our superstitions won’t take us to
God. You don’t need any superior wisdom than the wisdom of knowing Him.
Colossians 2.3 In Him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge..
Jesus said you must become like children
to possess the kingdom of God .
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You are complete in Jesus. ‘‘My
grace is sufficient for you’’, He asserted. Do we have to look beyond? ‘‘I am the way, truth and life”. “I am Resurrection
and life’’.
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