Date: August 17, 2025
Lord’s Day: 32
Series: Colossians the Mystery of Christ
Title: Filled
Text: Colossians 2:8-23
Introduction: I recall many years ago someone taught me a lesson that too me another twenty years to learn. I heard what they were saying but I did not completely understand it till much later in life.
I place before you a glass which represents the life of a potential believer. We are going to define grace. This can be a rhetorical exercise. So, if this cup is the believer, water equals what has to be done to save you.
In other words, what do you bring to the table? For instance, if you are 20% does God bring 80%? Or if you are 50% is the remaining grace needed 50%? How much does Christ fill?
At the time I looked and I reasoned, well I do my part and Jesus does His part and I am saved. That was the tools I had been given to interpret Scripture from an early age on. But is this reality? Is this what Scripture teaches?
I focus on this a lot because I find that in church congregations and in individual Christian lives there are often one extreme or the other on this issue.
On the one end I will use this image to define it: Donkey from Shrek. Have you seen Shrek? It was a brilliant cartoon film that is now 25 years old. Shrek and Fiona’s ugly children are now out of high school, out of college and in the work force.
In Shrek you had Donkey. All he wanted is for Shrek to like him. He did everything in his power to make Shrek like him. He just kept hanging around, kept following him, everywhere Shrek went there was donkey.
Donkey tried to do things for Shrek to prove his worth. He was trying to show Shrek that without him, he would not be complete.
Donkey was in awe of Shrek. If Shrek had given Donkey the open arm of fellowship from the beginning, I do not know if that would have changed Donkey’s feeling of inadequacy. He was constantly trying to impress Shrek with his importance.
Yet, there was another side of Donkey, another ego, another personality. It was what he really wanted to be. (Shoe the white stead.)
The stead is the exact opposite of Donkey. Donkey saw himself as slightly below average in looks, the stead is a 10 out of 10. The stead is tall, donkey is short. The stead is strong, Donkey is weak. The stead is brave, Donkey was most of the time a coward.
The stead did not need a friend in Shrek. Everyone would want to be friends with stead. The stead being handsome would attract a beautiful mate that is thrilled to be with him, donkey was being pursued by and ugly very large dragon.
What I find in myself at times, in others, and in congregations are there are people that fill these roles. There are times we just want Jesus to love us but we know us and we have seen our failures. We know what we think sometimes. We know what we have done, what at times we want to do and sometimes what we continue to struggle doing.
If I could just get myself in a position for Jesus to love me. If I could just do my part. Maybe if I just hang around Jesus A LOT, maybe if I just keep pushing what I am good at, maybe He will love me. I just need to prove myself and be really good and show that I would be a good friend of Jesus.
Then the other extreme happens when we fail to see all the ways we fail. Maybe there is not an outward failing. But we fail to see that while we may not have said profane words out loud when we were in traffic or in a specific place, we certainly said them in our heart. But we can overlook that right? I did not say them out loud . . .and then with the same inward voice pray to God in our heart. The same voice that yelled outrage or held anger or harbored wrong desire is the same heart that utters silent prayers.
For those who have been in church most of their lives, this can be true of them. Jesus loses a little luster and we become a bit more the captain of our righteousness. We become less like Donkey and more like the steed.
My hope today as that we get a very healthy look at Jesus. I want us to see his deity, his authority and His sufficiency in our lives.
For Donkey, he is full of awe but lacks the seriousness of the situation. For the steed, it is the reverse for he lacks the awe but understands the seriousness of the situation.
The woman who anoints Jesus understands both. She is in awe of Christ and also gets the seriousness of his work and ministry.
What she realizes is what we must realize that we fill no part of this glass. Jesus completely fills us. Jesus (2:19) who is the head and holds us together, also fills us (2:10) but there were some (2:18) who were teaching that there was something they could do, apart from Christ, on their own, that would grow them.
Faulty Doctrine = Faulty Reality
There were elemental spirits of the world (2:8, 20), demonic teaching that were causing the believers to take their eye off Jesus and begin putting it on themselves. How so?
What can I do to fill my glass?
Can I eat/not eat certain food to get me closer to God?
Can I celebrate a certain holiday or feast and that get me closer to God?
Can I fast/deny myself in someway to get closer to God?
In reality NONE OF THIS WORKS. Jesus stated it best in Mark 7:1-8 that the heart of the problem is a problem of the heart. Our issue is the flesh and none of these things just mentioned and will be mentioned again shortly, will fix a spiritual problem.
These things can help make you appear spiritual but at the same time, you become prideful and arrogant. The only help is Jesus. How so?
Our passage today points that proper doctrine produces a proper view of God’s work in our lives (2:8, 16, 18, 20-23).
Rather than look at self, our passage lists three things. We will look at three pieces of Christ’s work in:
The deity of Christ (2:10a) points back to 1:15-20. We spent several weeks in this passage working our way through how Jesus is fully God and fully man.
God was pleased to dwell bodily in Jesus. He was pleased to dwell there, much more than an O.T. sacred building. This tabernacle pointed to Christ.
The sacrifices and the holidays all pointed to Christ. Christ was the fulfillment of these things.
The influence that the Colossian church was receiving made promises that failed to deliver. Jesus never failed and never fails.
His authority is profound. The picture that is being painted here by Paul is so very powerful (2:15). He disarmed the ruler and authorities and put them to shame by triumphing over them.
The picture here is what the Roman army would do in victory. The conquered soldiers were stripped of their clothes and weapons. Then they would march them in public. Completely naked and disarmed they were shown to be in total defeat.
Compare this to what led up to Jesus’ darkest hour. As he was mocked and put through sham trials, then beaten beyond recognition, stripped naked and made to carry a cross through the streets of Jerusalem.
Isaiah 52 says that He was so beaten that he did not even look like a man. They gambled for his clothing. When I read account of the woman who anointed Jesus with oil, this was just literal hours away from his crucifixion.
I have pondered the difference between cheap and expensive cologne/perfume. Through the years Terrell, who has worked with me a lot, have had conversations about this. We would find a scent that we like but it does not last. Even if you can find a cheap version, let’s say Polo Black, which sells for about $100 for 6 oz. that you can find similar size with same scent for $15. The difference, it does not last.
You can spray and it smells great but it only last a few minutes to a few hours. He and I would say, what is it that the expensive one has that make sit last. The pricey scent will last all day.
He found out the answer and it is because it has to ferment. Like fine wine, it is not so much the ingredient but the process. It has to sit in the dark for a period of time and then it can be sold because something happens during that time.
This woman brought expensive perfume and anointed Jesus with it. How expensive? A year’s wages. An entire year wages is poured on him in a matter of seconds.
I have thought about this on many occasions. Because it was expensive, maybe, just maybe there was a hint of aroma as he was paraded through the streets. Maybe there was an occasion that remnants of that perfume she sacrificed for him could be detected as He was sacrificed for us.
As Jesus was being led through the streets being humiliated it was actually the beginning of the end for the demonic forces.
We are being led by Christ triumphal procession. We are the aroma of Christ. As he ascended on high, he took many captives (2 Cor. 2:14; Eph 4:8)
The deity of Christ, the authority of Christ and the sufficiency of Christ is no match for our measly efforts at spirituality.
