Destroy Obstacles Defy the Odds

Colossians 2-3

The title of this article comes from an inscription on a Tee shirt that I saw on a young man named Rick. I believe that this article was meant to be. How did I come to this conclusion? At The Nashville Athletic Club where I work out I had become friends with a young man named Eric. I had not seen Eric in quite some time. This morning I stay at the club about ten to fifteen minutes longer than usual. As I as leaving the locker room area Eric walks in. As we are talking and catching up on things in our lives a young man come through. On the back of his Tee shirt is written the words that lead to this article, “Destroy Obstacles Defy the Odds.” After saying farewell to Eric I introduce myself to this young man and ask him to write down the words. I tell him that I write articles and I’m not sure at this moment how I will use the words, but I am sure that there is a scripture that these words speak to. After some thinking I remember the book of Colossians.

The book of Colossians is written by Paul the apostle from a prison cell. In this book Paul tells the church about the supremacy of Christ. Christ is the head of the church. Christ purchased the church by dying on the cross. Paul addresses some very important issues that exist in the church. The church has false teachers that are teaching philosophies and religious practices that are contrary to the teachings of the apostles. So, Paul writes to clarify the difference between the religion of the apostles and that of the false teachers. This lesson is relevant today because in our churches today there is a lot of false teaching taking place based on philosophies and practices of other religions. The church of Jesus Christ exists to call people out of the world into the kingdom of God. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life and any teaching or doctrine that is contrary to the teachings of Christ is false and is to be rejected by the church.

Paul sends greetings and in his greetings Paul prays for the church (1:9-23). These verses tell us what is expected of those who are under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. What should be our worldview? What does our lifestyle look like? Who is Jesus and what has He done for us? What prevents the believer from conforming to the words of Jesus? What are the obstacles to our growth in our relationship to Christ? What are the odds that we must defy? This article is too brief to cover the entire book of Colossians, but I want to stimulate us to study this book more thoroughly because it addresses some of the issues and questions that exist in our churches today.

Let us begin by addressing this question: What are the obstacles that the Christian church need to destroy? As stated earlier Paul writes to address three major obstacles that the church faces today. The first we have already mentioned; and that is who is Jesus and His role in our salvation to eternal life. Is Jesus the only way to God? Is faith in Jesus Christ alone enough or do we have to do certain things to be saved? These questions and other questions about Jesus lead us to the second obstacle that Paul mentions.

The second obstacle Paul writes about is found in 2:8. Paul writes, “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ” (NASB). Now, Paul is not saying that philosophy is totally bad and false. Rather, Paul is arguing that these things hold us captive and prevents us from coming to the knowledge of Christ and His will for our life. While philosophy speculates and raises questions about life Jesus come to tell us the truth about Himself, God, and life. The church submits to the words of Christ because “in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and he is the head over all rule and authority” (vv. 9-10, NASB). Christ is supreme, and philosophies of men have no authority in the church.

A third obstacle that Paul addresses is that of giving ourselves over to religious beliefs and practices. In verses 16-18 we learn that the false teachers are teaching the necessity of following rules about foods, drinks, religious festivals and Sabbath day (v. 16). “Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind” (v. 18, NASB). Paul is not condemning visions. Rather, he is denouncing the source of the visions. The scriptures attest to the validity of visions when the person receives the vision from God. The problem here is that the visions come from the person’s “fleshly mind.” On this matter Paul concludes by saying: “These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence” (2:23, NASB). The lack of knowledge about Christ along with philosophy, and religious practices not based on the truth that Jesus brings are major obstacles to our walk with Christ; and our eternal salvation. Now, let us turn to some of the odds that we must defy.

The word “defy” means to confront or stand up to something or someone. It means to challenge and resist. Thus, Christians who are called to live according to the will of God are confronted with great odds. There are some things that are natural to us in our carnal state. The problem is that our fleshly minds; our carnal state is the enemy of God and resist the things of God (Rom. 8:5-8). The things of God must be sought while at the same time the things of the flesh must be defied. Paul says, “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth” (3:2). I have heard this question many times: How can you stop doing what comes natural? How can you say that the things that are natural are wrong? First, of our own will we cannot stop doing what is natural to the sinful nature that is in us. Second, According to the ways of the world these things are not wrong. They are accepted things in life. However, when we do these things and live this way, we are living in disobedience to God and are subject to God’s wrath (v. 6). So, how do we resolve the conflict?

We have already said that we must change our mind about things. Our focus must be on heavenly things instead of earthly things. We are able to do this when we submit our life to Jesus Christ and He gives us the Holy Spirit that teaches us the mind of Christ. In verses five through eight Paul list things that we are to consider to be dead. In verse five Paul calls all these things idolatry. Idolatry is the recognition and worship of any god other that the Lord our God. Thus, when we walk and live in these things we are guilty of worshiping the world and ourselves. Rather than being conformed to the ways of God, we seek our own way, but our way while bringing about fleshly pleasures also keeps us in spiritual death and condemnation before God. We are called to make a change in our life.

We defy the odds when we lay aside the old self (v. 9) and “put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him” (v. 10). The old self is consumed by “anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech” from the mouth (v. 8). The new man is chosen by God who is holy and calls us to a life of holiness; that is a lifestyle that is separate from the way we live before we give our life to Jesus Christ. God’s chosen ones “put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you” (v. 12-13, NASB).

Finally, we destroy obstacles and defy the odds when the peace of Christ rules in our hearts and His word dwells within us. Instead of indulging in self-abasement and worshiping angels we worship and praise Him. Whatever we do must be done in the name of our Lord Jesus. We give thanks to the Father through His Son Jesus.