Colossians 2.11ff teaches us that Jewish customs from the old system are no longer valid. Our relationship with Jesus was initiated in a totally different way. No flint knives were necessary — he made us his special people by freeing us from the power of our sinful selves. Rather than going through a painful procedure, we go through the painless act of immersion. Immersion buries us with Jesus and allows us to access the same resurrection he did. Our faith in God’s power makes that possible.
Notice the emphasis in Col 2.11-15 on the passive nature of our forgiveness! Judaism was all about doing stuff for the purpose of being forgiven of bad actions. The whole purpose of the old law was to show us that we’re incapable of working off our existential debt. We are completely powerless by ourselves.
Verse 11 — not done by human hands, you were made free, this is circumcision Christ does
Verse 12 — you were baptized, you were buried with Christ, you were raised up, God raised Christ
Verse 13 — you were spiritually dead, you were not free from the power of your sinful self, God gave you new life together with Christ, he forgave all of our sins
Verse 14 — we broke God’s laws, we owed a debt, God forgave that debt, God nailed that debt to the cross
Verse 15 — God defeated the ancient ruling powers of earth through the cross, they are now defeated and powerless prisoners
God was and is responsible for our status. We can’t dig ourselves out of any sin-debt, but he can and does forgive. God’s grace through Jesus’s sacrifice is how we’re immortal!
This past week we had some miserable cold days here in Kentucky. In fact, with windchill just the other night I saw negative 10 on the thermometer! There is such a huge contrast between summer and winter. The world goes from green to brown.
Trees go from grown out to bare. And the temperature goes from hot to cold. Those are two very different things, hot and cold. But if you mix them together, you get lukewarm water. There are some Christians in scripture who are called lukewarm and trust me, it isn’t a compliment.
The first few chapters of Revelation are addressed to 7 different churches. Each congregation had some problems they needed to take care of, and in chapter 3:14-22 we read of the church in Laodicea. The letter to the church at Laodicea is the harshest out of the 7 churches in Asia Minor. In fact, from the very beginning we read that this church is spiritually dead.
V. 14-15, “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this: 15 ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot.”
Jesus knew what they had been doing as a church, He knew their deeds. Notice that He says they are neither “cold nor hot.” This church was lukewarm. Because of their lukewarm faith, they are condemned. Revelation 3:16, “So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.”
Hot water can purify, sanitize, and can be used to bathe. Cold water is refreshing and good for drinking. Lukewarm water can do none of these things. It is useless! The church at Laodicea understood this analogy better than anyone. To the north several miles was Hierapolis which was a city known for its hot springs. You could bathe in hot water, it was good for aches and pains, you could disinfect and clean with it. To the south of Laodicea was Colossae. It was known for having cool, clean water that was refreshing and perfect for drinking. Laodicea however drew its water from a spring 6 miles away, and by the time it flowed through the aqueduct to their city the water was disgustingly lukewarm. Certain historians described the water there as “nauseating to drink.”
And this was God’s reaction to the church there. Not good for anything. Not cool enough to drink, not warm enough to bathe. God’s response, He spewed them out of His mouth. The church made Him sick.
A lukewarm church, an attitude that was manifested by their deeds. Vs. 17, “Because you say, ‘I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,’ and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.”
Laodicea was known for its wealth. Apparently this attitude found its way into the church. They felt as though they needed nothing! They were convinced they had it all. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. Jesus says, “little do you know that you’re wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked.”
If Christ isn’t in our life, we have wasted our time. No amount of wealth can give us what we truly need; forgiveness. If we have become lukewarm, God has no need for us. Let’s be genuine in our faith, let’s be excited to work in God’s Kingdom!
Laodicea was given a chance to answer the knocking savior (20), and we are too.
October 2, 2006, was a terrible day for several families among the Amish in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. A deranged man, Charlie Roberts, took an Amish schoolhouse hostage and tragically killed five girls. It was also a terrible day for Charlie’s very religious family members who lived near the Amish. The Roberts were absolutely shattered by their son’s and husband’s actions. Friends and church members came to comfort them. But the first visitor they had was Henry. Why is that remarkable? He was the father of one of the victims! He went to the Roberts’ home and consoled this shooter’s grieving parents and wife. The entire Amish community sent a clear message that they forgave Charlie and showed them love and mercy.
Charlie’s family used words like redemption and restoration to describe what the Amish did as an illustration of what God did. Paul writes to a church while in prison for preaching Christ (Col. 1:19-23). Try to imagine the emotions those Amish families went through on their way to consoling the family of the man who took their children and permanently changed their lives. Then try to imagine a perfect, all-powerful and all-knowing God, whose perfectly innocent Son died because of us. What kind of people were we? Paul says we were enemies, separated from Him by our evil thoughts and actions. We may not have been a Charlie Roberts, but our sin separated us from God (Isa. 59:2). But we weren’t just related to a sinner; We were the sinner.
But God did not sit back and wait for us to grovel and beg. He had a plan before the first person ever sinned. Paul discusses this plan in Romans 5:6-10. God reached out to us and justified and reconciled us. Paul begins that discussion in verse one by saying, “We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. That is what Paul says to the church in Colosse. And he spells out the price of peace, “The blood of the cross of Christ.” What does this gift show us?
It shows us how much He wants a relationship with us (Col. 1:18-21). The Father held back nothing to heal the fracture our sin caused in our relationship. What steps did He take? God became flesh (19-20), He experienced the pain and suffering we rightfully deserved (20; 2 Cor. 5:21), then He gave us the roadmap home through the gospel (23). It’s absolutely true that the response of the Amish reflected God’s response to our spiritual crimes.The offended took the first step to mend a broken relationship. Charlie’s dad was an Amish taxi driver and who knew these folks.
It shows us how much potential He sees in us (Col. 1:22). There’s a powerful phrase here: “In order to.” This is a purpose statement. Why make peace through the blood of Christ’s cross?Christ wants to present us before God with three important qualities–holiness, blamelessness, and being beyond reproach. The devil would like us to stay stuck in our sin and guilt. To let that beat us down and keep us from our potential. But Paul says the cross overcomes what we were and makes us more than we ever thought we could be.
It shows us how much it should effect us (Col. 1:23). The way the Amish treated the Roberts profoundly effected them. It changed their life! They repeatedly spoke of how blessed they felt to have experienced that lovingkindness. While they would have desperately wished never to have gone through such shame and loss, the grace they felt changed them. Paul is saying that’s what the cross should do for us. He says, “Plant your feet in the concrete of Scripture.”Don’t let anything move you away from the hope of the gospel. Let it make you so resolved to love and follow God that no trial, temptation or teaching can succeed in making you abandon Jesus.
Steven Curtis Chapman wrote, “How do you explain? How do you describe a love that goes from east to west and runs as deep as it is wide? You know all our hopes, Lord, you know all our fears, and words cannot express the love we feel but we long for you to hear.” Try to put yourself in Charlie Roberts’ parents’ and wife’s place, watching members of the Amish community, whose daughters were taken by your son, walking up your sidewalk, coming in your house, hugging you and praying with you. How would you describe that to other people? By a life lived in appreciation for that incredible gift. There’s no comparison to what Christ did through the blood of the cross. It brings instant harmony in our relationship with God, making things right with Him. It’s hard to describe that feeling, so the best thing we can do is live lives that show everyone how much we appreciate it!
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