Colossians 2:6-15

6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

8 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.

9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. 11 In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.

13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
 

          Someone one said that “everyone loves a parade.”  I think for the most part that is true.  Parades are held to celebrate which means that something good has happened.  We have recently seen the Thanksgiving and Christmas parades that celebrate these 2 holidays.  We’ve also seen sports teams that have a parade in their honor when they win a championship.  Parades were also common at the time of our text for today, often when somebody had conquered an enemy.
          Paul described a parade that is held in honor of our Savior.  He decisively defeated our enemy and provides protection for us against him.  The story of our salvation is the perfect reason for us to celebrate.  We’ll be reminded of what the Lord has done for us.  And we will be reminded of all that he continues to do for us.  Paul calls on us to…
 

“Live in the Fullness of Christ”
 
I.  The fullness of his victory
II. The fullness of his protection

 
          Paul wrote this letter to the Colossians when he learned that false teachings were being mixed in with the true message of the Bible.  They were being told that angels and other spirit beings were needed to help save them.  They were also being taught that the traditions and customs of the Old Testament still needed to be followed in order to be saved.  These false teachings were pushing aside the true teaching of salvation by faith alone in Christ alone.
          Paul wrote, “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him.”  He also warned them, “⁸ 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.”  The only true source of salvation is found in the work of the Savior.  When human traditions or inferior spirit beings like angels are worked into the equation, it only detracts from what Jesus has done.  Paul reminded the Colossians, “⁹ For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, ¹⁰ and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.”
          The central message of the Bible is very simple, simply enough that even young children can understand it.  We sinned.  We did what was wrong.  Jesus saved.  He removed all of the wrongs that we had done.  Without Jesus there is no salvation.  Little children are taught to sing, “I am Jesus’ little lamb, ever glad at heart I am,” and “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”  This key teaching of the Bible is what will get us to heaven and must be taught faithfully in Sunday School, Bible classes, and worship services.  We all need to be taught why we should line the streets to honor and praise our Lord and Savior as he leads us through the streets of our lives to our eternal destination.  Paul spot-lighted the Savior when he wrote, “¹³ When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ.”
          After a hard day’s work or the completion of an assigned task, there’s no better words than “We’re done.”  That is what Paul is telling us in these verses.  “The work is done.”  He doesn’t point to the acts of kindness that we have shown to others.  He isn’t patting us on the back for finally getting over the hump and reaching our goals.  There is no invitation for us to make a list of all of the nice things that we have done. 
          The devil realizes that all of these thoughts are very appealing to human nature.  From early on we are taught that you will be rewarded positively for doing right, for doing good things.  We get ice cream if we finish our homework.  We get our allowance when the trash is taken out and our rooms are clean.  You get a good grade for studying and a job promotion for meeting or exceeding expectations.  So much of our life is based on a reward system that it becomes easy for the devil to slip that same line of thinking into our salvation.  Salvation by works is a dangerous concept that can slip into our thoughts and minds too easily.
          Paul warned against relying on “human traditions and the basic principles of this world.”  The battle to save souls is not fought in our day to day lives where hopefully good will triumph over evil.  Contrary to the notion that if you try hard enough, you can do whatever you want, even earn a ticket to heaven, Paul points us to the true reality when it comes to our eternal well-being.  He wrote that we were “dead in our sins,” and dead people cannot do anything to change their situation.  Dead people cannot earn rewards.
          As Paul wrote to the Colossians and applied also to all who believe in Jesus, we “have been given all fullness in Christ.”  Yes, “We’re done.”  The job has been completed.  It was completed by Jesus on a cross and through an empty grave.  We have been saved because we have been given the full and free forgiveness that Jesus won for us.  We are to live in the fullness of his victory and praise him for all that he has done.  Every Sunday School lesson, Bible class, and worship service will rightly point to Jesus as the Savior from sin.
 

II.  The fullness of his protection

 
          I believe that we have all had the unfortunate experience of losing something that we worked hard to get.  It may have been money or a possession or something like respect.  You know how disappointed you feel when you realize that it is gone.  Paul saw the true teachings of salvation by faith in Jesus slipping from the hearts of the Colossians and knew how devastating it would be for them if they lost it altogether.
          In the final 3 verses of this text, Paul warns against “your flesh…your sins…the powers and authorities” that threaten our faith.  These are the enemies.  They promise to help us, but do nothing but harm us.  Although God created Adam and Eve perfect, in his image and likeness, they lost that perfection when they disobeyed him.  Ever since their fall into sin, all people are born sinful which makes them unfit for eternal life in heaven.  You might say that we lost the battle even before it began.  We started life with one strike against us.
          The “powers and authorities” that battle against our Lord don’t want us to accept that this is true.  “It isn’t fair” they shout to us.  Our sinful flesh bristles against the thought that we might not be given a fair chance in anything that we do.  Whether it be a kickball game at recess or the upcoming Super Bowl, everybody wants to have a fair chance to succeed.
          The devil will point us to all of the good and kind and nice and beneficial things that we have done.  They will try to convince us that those things should be adding up and getting us closer to a “Well done,” from our heavenly Father.  That is the “hollow and deceptive philosophy” that Paul warns us is a danger to our way of thinking.  While we all want at least a chance to succeed at what we do in our lives, we have no chance whatsoever to win our own salvation.  We were all saddled with a monumental debt to God when we were conceived and born in sin.  Before we could take our first breath, the devil had his hands around our throats.
          Rather than despair and shout out “That’s not fair!” Paul points us to our Savior.  He tells us that we can live in his fullness, fully free from our sins and their punishment, fully perfect in the eyes of his Father.  Paul says, “…God made you alive with Christ.  He forgave us all our sins.”  Paul wrote to the Romans that we were “buried with Christ by baptism into death.” (6:4) That was not the end.  Today he said that we were “made alive with Christ.”  Though our sins condemned us, God’s mercy forgave us.
          Jesus “disarmed the powers and authority,” and he “made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”  Early on Easter morning Jesus made a stop in hell before he left the grave.  After rising from death, he stopped in hell to show the devil that he had won the battle.  He went right into the devil’s kingdom, and there wasn’t anything that the devil could do to keep him there.  Satan has no power over our Savior.
     As we celebrate his victory, we rest comfortably in his care.  The attacks will keep coming.  The devil will keep trying to steal us away from our Lord.  He will fail if we hold onto our Lord and his salvation.  We will hold onto him in faith if we stay faithful to his Word.  Then, on the final day when he returns in all of his glory, we won’t just stand on the side of the road and watch him pass by on his way back to heaven.  We’ll join him in the victory parade and follow him to heaven.  Live in the fullness of his victory and trust in the fullness of his protection as you praise him now and forever.  Amen.