Are You Rooted? - Part 1

Part 2 and Part 3

We want to understand what does it mean to be rooted, who are we rooted in, what happens if I am not rooted.

But today we are going to see what God says about how we are to walk in Him. About being rooted in Him, Christ Jesus. We want to be rooted in Christ and nothing else. We want our roots deep in Him, because He is Lord. If you have your Bibles please turn to the book of Colossians the 2nd Chapter and we are going to look at 2 verses today. Colossians 2:6-7. Lets read.

Col. 2:6 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,
Col. 2:7 having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.

Over the past several months I have probably read this passage over 100 times and as I have studied it and meditated on it and wrapped my self in God’s word it just gets deeper and deeper. I really feel like we could spend several weeks on this passage but don’t worry it is only going to be two weeks specifically on this passage. But let us discover God’s incredible truth in these two verses, it is awe-inspiring.

Before we dig into the scripture, I want to give a little context of what is going on during this time Paul writes this letter to the Colossians and what is his purpose for it. In Paul’s day you would be hard pressed to find an atheist who believed there were no god but almost all people had some sort of religious deity that they worshiped. It is not unlike today that the number of true atheist in our world is pretty small but most people claim they are spiritual and there is a god or gods. And this is exactly what Paul was addressing with the Church in Colossians. There were people in the Church who were teaching false doctrine about Jesus Christ, who He was and what He has done for us. They were mixing other religious ideas with the Gospel and essentially corrupting the Gospel of Christ.

So Paul wants to do two things in this letter and that is first to warn the believers of these false teachers. Second he wants to encourage the proper spiritual growth of the believers in Colossae or as Paul puts it he wants us deeply rooted in Christ and built up in Him and established in Him.

I want you to think about this question tonight.

Why does Paul tell the Colossians people to walk in Christ Jesus the Lord? And if Paul has told them to walk in Him why should we want to walk in Him? Why do we want to walk in Christ Jesus? Why should you want to walk in Christ? This letter was written a long time ago to people living in Colossae but as we know God’s truth is absolutely eternal. The Bible tells us the heavens and the earth will pass away but God’s word will last forever! This message is as applicable today as it was back then.

Let’s dig in and see what God’s eternal word is telling us tonight.

Paul tells us in the first verse therefore you have received Christ Jesus THE LORD, so walk in Him.

Why should the Colossians want to walk in Him? What makes walking in Christ so important? Why do we want to walk in Him? It is the same reason why all people should walk in Him.

You guys want to know the know the answer to that question? I will spill the beans up front. Here is the answer to that question. Lord, because He is the LORD. Did you hear that again? HE IS THE LORD! Oh the depths of that truth! That is why Paul encourages us to walk in Him. HE IS LORD.

Lets go back to our text and tell me what is the very first word in chapter 2 verse 6 it says therefore or it can be translated since. Since you have received Jesus Christ the Lord we need to walk in Him. That word therefore transitions all Paul has already told the Colossians the reason why we should walk in Him. For us to fully comprehend why Paul commands us to walk in Him we better go find out why? Lets see the reason Paul commands us to walk in Christ after receiving Him, to be rooted in Him.

Lets go back one chapter in Colossians and let’s hit a few highlights and see what Paul tells us about Christ.

Col. 1:13 For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,
Col. 1:14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

We want to walk in Him because He has rescued us from the domain of darkness. Do you hear that, if you have received Christ Jesus He has rescued us from what? The domain of darkness, not only that but he has transferred us into His Son’s Kingdom.

At one moment of time we were here, in the domain of darkness and the next moment of time we are here in the Son’s Kingdom.

I remember that day. I remember the day I finally was rescued out of the domain of darkness and God carried me into the Son’s kingdom. It is the single greatest event that took place in my life. Someday I will share all the details how I came to a saving knowledge of Christ but let me tell you I was neck deep in the domain of darkness. I was a sinner who had broken every single one of God’s commandments. I was a liar, I was a thief, I was a fornicator, I was a disobedient son, I didn’t honor God, I used His name as a cuss word, I had many idols in my life. I had sinned against a perfect and Holy God. The domain of darkness was controlling me and I had absolutely no hope in my life, and you know what I was terrified to die. I believed I was either going to die and never exist again or I knew enough about the bible that I would suffer in Hell for all of eternity. Now knowing the Bible if I had died back then I would have spent an eternity in Hell.

But about 12 years ago I don’t remember the exact day but I remember the event like it was yesterday. God finally broke the domain of darkness in my life and carried me into His Son’s Kingdom. What He did that day was allow me to see myself a sinner against a Holy and perfect God. He allowed me to see who I really was and that is a sinner who needed saving. It is the day I bowed my knee to Him and He became Lord and in a very instant I was rescued from the domain of darkness and transferred me to the Son’s Kingdom. In simple terms it was the day I was rescued from Hell. If you have received Christ as Lord then you know exactly what I am talking about.

Why does Paul encourage the Colossians to walk in Christ? Why should we walk in Christ, because He has saved us from spending an eternity in Hell to spending an eternity with Christ in heaven? Christ has moved us from the domain of darkness into His Son’s Kingdom where He will reign forever and ever. Do you see why we should walk in Him believers? He is LORD.

Lets take a look at Verse 16 and see why we else we should walk in Him.

Col. 1:16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created through Him and for Him.

Jesus Christ has created all things, all things we can see and even those things we cannot see.

How many of you have seen Louie Giglio’s video on How Great is our God? If you have never seen it go to YouTube and check it out. It is an amazing video on how big our God is. It is so hard to wrap our mind around God but just for one example the universe we live in is a 146 million light years across and we are one of billions of Galaxies. Try to wrap your head around that one. He is a Big God. And he has created all the things we see.

I also think about all the things God created that we don’t see but they are there. Think about our consciousness that we know we exist, or how about love. I can’t see it, I can’t touch it, but I can feel it inside of me. That thing I feel when I look at one of my boys sleeping, or thinking about my wife and all that she means to me. Where did that feeling come from? If there is no God how did it come into existence? How did the idea of 2+2= 4 come from?

Here is the great problem for anyone who does not believe God created all things. Can anyone explain how this equation makes sense?

Nothing+Nothing=Everything?

NO there is a creator of all things and He has existed eternally and all things have been created through Him and for Him.

Here is God’s ultimate crown jewel to creation. It is you. He has given you life. He has planned you out before the foundations of the earth. He has given you the air you breath, the water you drink, the food you eat. When you sit down and ponder that this God of this enormous universe has created YOU. He has created you for a purpose and that is to receive Him and walk in Him, this glorifies Him. When we walk in Him we glorify Him. What an honor we have to honor the being who has created us.

Why does Paul encourage the Colossians to walk in Christ? Why should we walk in Christ, because He is the creator of all things? He has given you everything including life. He breathed life into you. Jesus Christ is creator God of all things. He is LORD.

The first chapter of Colossians tells us everything we need to know about Christ and that He is Lord and that is why we should walk in Him.

Do you know what word for Lord is in the original Greek language? It is the word Kurious. This is the word Paul uses since you have received Christ Jesus the Kurious. It is an interesting word that means Jesus Christ is the Master.

Sometimes we forget that Christ is really Lord. Sometimes we just think of Him as Savior, which He is but He cannot be your Savior if He is not the Lord of your life as well. They go hand in and are inseparable. It is a package deal when He becomes your Savior He has to also be the Lord of your life. And If He is the Lord of your life then He is your Savior too.

Paul does not tell the Colossians just except Jesus as Savior and do whatever you want. Paul tells them and us Since you have received Him walk in Him. The verb walk in Him in the Greek is peripateo and this is not a suggestion but it is a command Paul is giving us. Its not on option or a you should do this but it is I Paul since you have received Christ the Lord command you to Walk in Him.

Again why do we walk in Him, why do we live for Him why do we want to obey Him? Because He is Kurious, He is our Master.

He has given us life, He has created us He has saved us from the dominion of darkness, He is Master. We owe all to Him, I owe my life and my salvation to Him. Do you see how He is Master? It is hard for us to think of God as Master and that He commands us to walk in Him but this is what He wants from us.

We have a hard time because when we think of Master we think of a Master being over someone with an iron hand. Even calling Him Master could be hard for us because here in America we think about being free that no one is over me. I should be able to do what I want when I want it. But that is not the life God has called us to live.

But we need to understand He is the perfect Master.

It is hard to fathom a perfect master. Here on earth there are no perfect Masters. I think about those who are over me here. I look at my boss and he provides for me in many ways for my family and I but he is far from perfect. Or even what about my earthly father who I adore and love and respect. Has he been a perfect father to me? Has he been a perfect master to me? Of course not and maybe your father was never there for you, maybe he never loved you, maybe your father abandoned you, maybe your father was a lousy father and that is all you have known. But I stand her today to proclaim to you that our Father in Heaven is perfect. He is the perfect Master, the perfect Savior and the perfect LORD. He is everything perfect.

He loved us so much that He was willing to send His Son to die for you and me. He has given us life, He has created all things He has saved us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into His Son’s Kingdom. Therefore Christian ….Walk in Him.

There is one last word I want to look at in verse 6. It is the word received. It says since we have received Jesus walk in Him. This is just an amazing word in the original language it is paralambano. Here is what this word does not mean.

Jesus you sound like a pretty good guy. I like that you can save me from the domain of darkness. I am pretty hip on the idea that you created me. I guess I will let you into my life. Now that we have that settled you sit over here and I am going to do my thing. I am going to live my life the way I want, I got Jesus and my fire insurance.

But the word paralambano means I receive Jesus in an intimate relationship I am joining myself to Him because of who He is. It is to have a relationship with Him because He is Lord and I acknowledge Him to be such as he professes to be. I want to walk in Him in this deep committed relationship. He is my everything and I will do all that He asks of me. Why because He had done everything already, He has provided me with life, with salvation, He is the perfect LORD and He was willing to die to save all those who receive Him.

My question to you this evening is…are you walking in Him, are you in a deep relationship with Him? Have you received Him as Lord?

Christian If you are not walking with Him today WHY NOT? Has He not done enough for you? I encourage you to Walk In Him Today.