Rooted in Christ

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

Rob McFarlane 0:29

Today we're going to focus on Colossians chapter 2 verse 6 and 7. And let me read it to us from two different versions of the Bible. First, I'd like to read it to us from the English Standard Version and then from the Contemporary English version. Let's read the English Standard Version first. It says, Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. And now in the Contemporary English version, Colossians 2, verse 6 and 7 says, You have accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord. Now keep on following Him. Plant your roots in Christ, and let Him be the foundation for your life. Be strong in your faith, just as you were taught, and be grateful. Now I love this phrase, rooted and built up in Him that we see in Colossians chapter 2 and verse 7. I particularly like the way the contemporary English version puts it. It says, Plant your roots in Christ and let him be the foundation of your life. Now today I would like to look at four things that enable us to be rooted in Christ. Four keys to putting down strong, deep, firm roots in our relationship with Christ. Things that will help us to plant our roots in Christ and let Him be the foundation of our lives. First key we see in verse six is to accept Jesus Christ as Lord. In verse 6 it says, receive Jesus as Lord or accept Him as Lord. Now these seem very passive and indeed it's something that we receive, it's something that we accept. You see, salvation is not something we earn or achieve, it's a gift that we receive. We receive salvation by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's look at Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 8 and 9. It says, For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. I love that. I love the fact that salvation is a gift that we can receive. Now, have you accepted Jesus as Lord? Have you received him as Lord of your life? This is the first and most important step in us being rooted in Christ. If you haven't done that yet, I would like to offer you a free copy of a booklet that I wrote entitled What is Salvation? This little book explains what it means to be a follower of Jesus and how you can grow in your relationship with him. You can download a free copy on our website. The second key we see is to keep following Jesus. In verse 6 of Colossians chapter 2, the English Standard Version says walk in him, or the contemporary English version says, keep on following Him. You see, walking with Jesus talks to me about a relationship, an ongoing daily relationship, and that's what God has invited us into. And if we're going to put our roots in Christ and be fruitful, it's important for us to develop a daily relationship with God. A walk with Him. So the second key we've seen is to be a follower of Jesus and to keep following Him, to walk in Him. Let's look at key number three now. The third key to us being rooted in Christ, so that we are strong and we are fruitful is to be strong in faith. I love this. He says in Colossians chapter 2, verse 7, in the English Standard Version, be established in your faith just as you were taught. And in the contemporary English version, he says, Be strong in your faith just as you were taught. Can you see the connection between faith and teaching? You see, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. The Bible tells us that in Romans chapter 10 and verse 17, it says, So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. Faith comes as we listen to what Jesus has taught us. Now faith is so important. Faith is an obedient response to what God has said. And without faith, the Bible teaches us that it's impossible to please God. It doesn't say it's difficult, it's challenging, it's hard. It says it's impossible to please God without faith. So faith is so important. It's something that we should develop and we should see growing in our lives to the place that our faith becomes strong. Let's have a look at Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 6, where the Bible tells us, and without faith it is impossible to please God. For whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him. God wants us to grow strong in our faith. You see, faith is what connects us to God's supply. As we take hold of God's promises and we begin to apply those to our lives, we begin to claim those in our lives. It connects us to what God intends to do in our lives. Is there an area that you need to grow your faith in? Perhaps for guidance, or you need wisdom, or maybe you need healing physically or emotionally, or whatever you may need from the Lord, take a hold of his promises and begin to feed on them so that your faith begins to grow and you can reach out and receive from God's abundant supply. So key number three is to be strong in your faith. And now we're going to look at our final key, which is seen in verse 7. Be abounding in thanksgiving. Or as the contemporary English version says, be grateful. Be thankful is the key. And I think that thankfulness or gratitude is such an important thing for us to be strong and stable. Being thankful is so important for us being rooted in Christ. And thanksgiving or thankfulness, having an attitude of gratitude, does three things in our lives. I think the first thing it does for us is it brings us into God's presence. Psalm 100 and verse 4 says, Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name. In God's presence there's peace, there's joy, there's acceptance. And when we're facing a difficult time, perhaps in your in your emotions or or or you feeling overwhelmed, the best thing you can do is to draw near to him with praise and with thanksgiving. The second thing thanksgiving does for us is it uh it brings glory to God and draws others to him. And I would say that sharing a testimony of God's goodness and love and grace in our lives is praise and thankfulness. In 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 9, it says, You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, of a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. And as we give him praise and we are thankful and we declare his praises, we are in effect telling others what Jesus has done for me, he can do for you. And praise does that, it draws people to an encounter with God. And finally, praise or thankfulness brings us into a place of healing and wholeness. There's a a story in the Bible, in Jesus' ministry, he encounters ten lepers and they they're crying out to him for mercy, and he tells them, Go and show yourselves to the priests. And as they went, the Bible says they were cleansed. And then a little later in that passage, which is Luke chapter 17, verse 11 through to verse 19, we see one of the lepers comes back, and it says he's a Samaritan, and he comes back and he says, Thank you to Jesus. And I love the way the King James Version puts verse 19. Jesus turns around to him and he says, Where were the other, where the other nine? Only one has come back to say thank you, and then he says to that one, the 10% of people who come back and say thank you, the 10% of people who don't just want to be cleansed but want to be made whole. He says to that man, and he he he says this amazing phrase, he says, Your faith has made you whole. Now, some versions say your faith has made you well, but I like that phrase, your faith has made you whole. You see, he was a leper, and the leprosy hadn't just stopped when Jesus said, Go show yourself to the priest for him, it hadn't just stopped and uh it it now had been reversed. And I believe that thankfulness or an attitude of gratitude puts us in a place where God can restore what the enemy or life or the challenges that we've been through have taken away from us. The devastation that sin and its effects have brought into our lives can be reversed, and God can restore and heal and bring wholeness to us if we live with an attitude of gratitude. This year, friends, let's be thankful. And we have so much to be thankful for. So often we focus on what we do not have or what we cannot do. Let's start to ask God to show us what this season in our lives is making possible. Let's be thankful. I encourage you to think through what we've talked about, to ask the Holy Spirit to help you grow in your relationship with Jesus.