A Full Life In Christ

A Full Life In Christ

Colossians 2:7-15

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 basic principles 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.

1. Paul wrote in verse 8 about the basic principles of the world. What are these? The fundamental idea driving the bus is one, single, age-old idea. It’s the idea that a healthy and full life is up to .

Question for later further thought: Where are some of the places that you have observed these basic principles in action (a) in the world, and (b) in your life?

2. Paul brings us to the morgue in verse 13. He tells us that we were dead in our sins. He does this also in Ephesians 2:8-10. Why does Paul take us there so often?

3. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead raised you from the dead. You have abundant, spiritual power. You have power to live .

Question for later: The power of the resurrection is fully yours so that you can live a full life even in a world filled with death and sin. What does that look like in you? What are the ways that you need to bury the part of your sinful nature that is always searching for more and better ways to have a full life?

Healthy, abundant, full living isn’t about moving on, forward, or past with the help of the latest and greatest spiritual pull-yourself-up-by-your-own-bootstraps scheme. That would mean leaving behind the greatest, spiritual power known to man. Bad idea. Better idea? Rise again today to the fullness we have in Christ.