Contending for Christ

Psalm 42 says,

¹ As the deer pants for streams of water,
   so my soul pants for you, my God.
² My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

Let's drink deeply from the living water.

Read Colossians 2 with me.

Colossians 2

2 I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. ² My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, ³ in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. ⁴ I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. ⁵ For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how disciplined you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.

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.

¹⁶ Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. ¹⁷ These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. ¹⁸ Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. ¹⁹ They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.

²⁰ Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: ²¹ “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? ²² These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. ²³ Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

When you become deeply engrossed in reading something, you lose awareness of your surroundings. Today was one of those days.

Last week, I introduced some tips that have helped me feel more confident in reading God's word. If you want to check those out, you can find them in 'Bearing Fruit'. Today, I've included another tip that I used to help me find my feet in this passage.

Tip #3: Ask yourself what is the gist of the passage?

I tend to look at the details when trying to understand a passage which is a good thing most of the time. It's only frustrating when I don't understand these details and am overwhelmed. What does this word mean? What does that verse mean? What are they referring to here?

When I start to feel this way, it's good to take a step back and look at what the passage is about more broadly. I find that as you try to figure this out with a couple of keywords and phrases, the details slowly fall in place.

When I applied the first two tips, I noticed the repeated words and concepts like Christ (ten times, so I guess he's a big deal), rules, hidden v known, deception v wisdom/knowledge/understanding and death/sin/flesh v life/forgiveness/freedom.

Here are some of my takeaway points from the passage:

Paul shares his heart and purpose.

I loved listening to Paul (the author of this letter) share his heart and purpose for why he does what he does.

He first brings up this concept of 'contending' in Chapter 1 and then again in Chapter 2.

1. He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me. (chapter 1 v 28-29)
2. I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (chapter 2 v 1-3)

But why is Paul working so hard for this end? Why is he doing this for people he hasn't met personally? He does this because God has finally disclosed the mystery of God, who is Christ. He is fully God and fully man, and through him, we hear the good news He brings. This is the gospel message in Colossians 2:13-15:

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, 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. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

Paul personally experienced God's forgiveness and the gift of life through Jesus. Now, he was 'contending' to make Christ known. He wanted them to have the full riches of complete understanding, to know Christ and to have all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Paul's encounter with the Lord completely changed his life - what he did, what he wanted and how he lived. Has my life also changed in the same way? Why do I do the things I do in life? What are the goals and purposes of my ministry? These were some of my questions as I read this passage.

I can honestly say that the grace of God has completely changed my life and continues to change me. As I read this passage, the desire to proclaim Christ burned in my heart. I want people to know Christ, who He is and what He has done for them. I want the church to be encouraged in heart and united in love.

Though I may not have met you personally, I contend for you to grow in your faith, knowledge and love for God. I labour to make Him known, for His words to reach you through this blog and to help you navigate the complexities of life. I hope to share the gospel with you but also my life.

1 Thessalonians 2:8 says,

Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.