Fullness In Jesus

This next section of the letter reveals a bit of a surprising warning. Paul wants his friends to realise that one of the greatest threats to their faith is fake spirituality. He’s warning them that there is a subtle and dangerous deception that can look a lot like sincere faith – but it’s not. It’s a worldly way of thinking that can gradually displace the truth about Jesus.

It’s this idea that God has something more for us than what we’ve already been given in Jesus, that there is some kind of subsequent experience that can elevate us to a place of greater intimacy with God.

There’s nothing wrong with a desire to draw near to God, and Paul isn’t saying that our relationship with God isn’t going to grow. He’s just reminding us that mature faith doesn’t get distracted from Jesus and what he has finished for us.

So to be really clear about what we all believe, Paul restates the Gospel with a powerful list of what it is that Jesus has already done for us. He reminds us that:

2.9

Jesus is the fullness of God.

2.10

In Jesus, we have been given literally everything that we’re made for in this life.

2.11-12

In Jesus, we’ve been set apart for an eternal spiritual reality. We exist for more than this life.

2.13-14

We’ve been spiritually resuscitated, forgiven, and pardoned through his death and resurrection.

It Is Finished

In other words, there is nothing we can do to improve our relationship with God. We live in the reality of a safe and unshakeable connection to our Heavenly Father. Right now, in Jesus, we experience the fullness of God – there is nothing that needs to be added to our faith, no higher experience, no divine upgrades, no hierarchy of intimacy. In Jesus, we are completely welcomed into the family of God.

The problem in Colossae was that a wrong way of thinking had crept in around this. So Paul simply calls them back to the Gospel that they first believed. If he was writing this letter today, verses 6-7 would probably sound something like this:

“Remember how you first accepted Jesus as your Lord and Saviour? Well live like that again. Let his life be your foundation, get back to the things you were taught at the start, let them keep guiding your faith. And don’t let God’s generosity become too familiar, stay thankful, like really thankful.”

What Paul’s saying is that if we stick to the message of Jesus that changed our lives, then we won’t be vulnerable to the things that can creep in and corrupt our faith. If we remember just how much we’ve been given, we won’t get distracted or deceived. And in the next section, that’s what he moves on to.

RESPOND

It might be a good idea to spend some time remembering and acknowledging all the things that you’re thankful for today. You could spend some time meditating on the life-changing gifts we’ve been given in Jesus. Perhaps make a thankfulness mindmap.