The Ocean Does Not Have Walls | Colossians 2:10-23

Takeaway Verse: Colossians 2:20

You have died with Christ, and He has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world.

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Transcription:

Welcome to The Bible for Busy People. I’m Erica Parkerson. This is the place where we meet up to read half a chapter of God’s word together, and remember how loved we are. Jesus extends an amazing invitation to us in the Bible. He says, come to me and I WILL give you rest. This is us RSVPing: Yes!! to that invitation. So take a deep breath and let’s get started.

Today’s episode is called, “The Ocean Does Not Have Walls”. I’m excited to dive into Colossians chapter two, the second half, can’t wait to cover that. Paul might have written with ink and parchment paper, but consider it like a text that he is sending you right now. Paul did not know the Colossians, the people he was writing to, and he didn’t know us. But he was writing from jail to encourage all of us to have a strong faith, to know that our lives can be built on the strong foundation of Jesus Christ. That is good news today. Before we dive in, join me in a word of prayer.

Oh Father, we come to you in the name of Jesus, knowing that you have something for us today. Lord, would you open our hearts and our eyes to what you want us to understand and see in your word right at this moment, in Jesus name. Amen. Oh, so glad you’re here today. Here we are, Colossians chapter two and we’re gonna pick it up in verse 10. Ooh, this is gonna be good. 

“So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.” I love that verse because it tells us that Jesus is in charge. Woo. I like knowing that. “When you came to Christ, you were circumcised, but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision, the cutting away of your sinful nature.” Cut it away, Lord. Right? “For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized and with him, you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God who raised Christ from the dead. You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross. So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths for these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come and Christ himself is that reality. Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious, self denial or the worship of angels saying they have had visions about these things. Their simple minds have made them proud and they are not connected to Christ, the head of the body, for he holds the whole body together with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it.”

Earlier in the book of Colossians, we learned that God holds all creation together. Isn’t it marvelous that God holds our bodies together. And I believe that includes our emotions. I am not a theologian, but he holds us all together, he holds our very hearts. And I know that we can trust him to hold everything that’s in our hearts. He is so good. 

“You have died with Christ.” This is our takeaway verse today, “and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of this world, such as don’t handle, don’t taste, don’t touch? Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them. These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious, self denial, and severe bodily discipline, but they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires.”

I wanna tell you a little story. Have you ever seen finding Dory? You probably saw finding Nemo. Of course, the sequel with Dory, the bluefish who goes to find her family and she encounters this one whale named Destiny, a whale shark, actually. She lives in the aquarium and her friend in the aquarium is Bailey the Beluga. Well, you know, that there’s a sting operation that happens. And they spring from the aquarium and all of them together, Dory and Bailey and Destiny, and all the people involved in the sting operation, leave the aquarium and go to the ocean. Now, Destiny, the whale shark is nearsighted. And so she’s always bumping into the walls in the aquarium. And when she gets into the ocean, she’s so confused and her friend Bailey the Beluga says, “Destiny, there are no walls in the ocean.” And I love that story so much because Christ has set us free. The story of Destiny, the whale shark is a picture of our freedom in Christ. He has set us free and that is good news. Already looking forward to diving into Colossians chapter three with you tomorrow. Can’t wait.

Thank you so much for listening to the Bible for Busy People. If you need prayer or you’re ready to go a little deeper in your faith, we’ve posted some resources for you in our show notes. We’d love for you to share this podcast with a friend and leave us a review. It helps us reach even more people with the hope of Jesus. This podcast is part of Purposely, a podcast network designed with practical podcasts to help you find and live in God’s purpose for your life. Find more podcasts that will recharge you at onpurposely.com.