Colossians 2 ~ The Picture of Christian Living!

Don't forget to visit my dear friend Jenilee and her thoughts on Colossians 2!

Colossians 2

Chapter Breakdown

1. The apostle expresses his love to, and joy in believers. (1-7)

2. He cautions against the errors of heathen philosophy; also against Jewish traditions, and rites which had been fulfilled in Christ. (8-17)

3. Against worshipping angels; and against legal ordinances. (18-23)

What God Wants To Show Me Today

I love how Paul uses earthly ideas to help us understand the spiritual truths here in Colossians 2. There is so much theology jammed packed into this little chapter. I see so many things in my mind as pictures. Some of the phrases that stuck out to me where.....

Knit Together (vs. 2)

Don't you just love this image??? Knitting is so complicated to me. The string is so entwined with itself. I can never figure out where the string goes half the time. A perfectly square baby blanket it is hard to see where the string began and where it ended. I have never knit; but I have done some crochet. When that string gets knit/crocheted to itself it becomes a strong item like a blanket or scarf that keeps you warm and snuggly.

Paul describes wanting us believers to be like something knit together. It is a beautiful picture of us being knit together in love, working together for a purpose and having confidence together in knowing who Christ is and His plan. The Church is to represent this picture....working together in love to fulfill His purpose!

Roots Grow Down & Be Built on Jesus (vs. 7)

Rooted down in Christ is such a powerful image in my mind. A tree that is firmly rooted will not fall even in the strongest of storms. Roots also tend to much bigger than the tree itself. I want my life to be so deeply rooted in Christ that when tough times come and strong winds blow I will not be moved. As I grow in Him my faith will be strengthened and I love the end of verse 7...

and you will overflow with thankfulness!

Being built on Jesus, who is our chief cornerstone (Matt. 21:42), is so important to our growth in Him. I like this from Wikipedia...The cornerstone (or foundation stone) concept is derived from the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation, important since all other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure.

I want Christ to be my cornerstone in which all other aspects of my life will be set in reference to Him, thus determining the position of my whole life!

Let No One Capture You (vs. 8)
Ooooo when I saw this phrase this picture totally came to mind. When we begin to allow ourselves to listen to false teachers we are lead away from Christ. We become prisoners if we are not careful.

This is exactly what Satan wants to happen to us. Satan is liar and wants to deceive us so that we can become his prisoner. Notice at the end of verse 8 that Paul speaks of him. He will use false teachers to do it!

Stand firm in your faith! Keep rooted in Christ and build on Him! Be freed by the power of Jesus and the cross. We no longer have to be bound to the things of this earth. Christ has ransomed us!

Spiritual Circumcision (vs. 11-12)

Now the picture I picked was because I think baptism shows what Paul was expressing and appropriate for a blog. LOL

When we believed in Christ we were "Spiritually Circumcised", our sin was removed. Baptism represents this so well. As we go down into the water it represents that sin being washed away. We have died to our old sinful nature...as verse 12 says "For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized." When we come up out of the water it represents our new life in Him. God made us alive! He forgave us and cancelled all charges against us! I love, love, love verse 14!

He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.

We Are the Body of Christ (vs. 19)

I love this picture of my church and my church family. I think it shows that we are one body; but see the cross above us all, that represents who we are living for.

Once again we see reference to Christ being the head of the body (Church). Paul goes a little further and also describes Christ as the joints and ligaments that hold us together. Paul says that false teachers are not connected to the body. We must remember that we answer to Christ alone. We look to Him for our help, our nourishment. We look to Him to help us work out our own salvation. He is our leader, no one else. The Church is our encourager our support system...it does not define our salvation only Christ does!

The Body of Christ is beautiful in what it does. We work together to do His will and that is to go out and preach the Gospel to the world!

Let's keep these images in our minds as we.....