JONAH 4:5-11, THE PERSISTENT SERVANT AND THE MISSIONARY

JONAH 4:5-11

The Persistent Servant And The Missionary

HOT TOPIC: A BRIEF THEOLOGY OF DECENCY, NAKEDNESS AND CLOTHING

Did you ever wonder why your being uncovered in front of other people is a shameful experience?  It’s because you were meant to be clothed.

Genesis 2:24-25 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

Now at first glance at the text you may think that Adam and Eve were naked. They were naked in the sense that they did not have any material clothing on.  But I think that there is a sense in which they were “clothed.”

Genesis 3:8-11 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”

When you read the text you’ll see that something changed after Adam and Eve sinned.  Sin brought about a change in their spiritual condition but also their physical condition.  The image of God was marred and death set in their bodies.  Is it possible that the marring of God’s image had a physical affect on them in such a way that they perceived their own nakedness when prior to the fall they could not perceive their nakedness?  Now I think one of two possibilities are at play here: either Adam and Eve got smarter after the fall and became aware of what nakedness was OR Adam and Eve’s physical appearance somehow changed so that they could actually see their own nakedness.  I think a clue to this perceiving of nakedness is found in the Lord’s two questions to Adam and Eve.  “Who told you that you were naked?  Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”

In other words, “You were already naked, but if you were to know that then someone would have to tell you that because you surely couldn’t see your nakedness UNLESS you ate of the tree that I told you not to eat of.”  In simpler terms, nakedness had to be disclosed or revealed: either by someone who knew they were naked or by their sinning.  Since no one disclosed their nakedness to them we are left with the idea that somehow their sinful actions caused a revealing of their nakedness so that their eyes could actually see the nakedness that was already there.  The end result was their embarrassment and shame. It’s my opinion that prior to the fall, being in the perfect image of God, they were clothed with glory, with righteousness and with splendor.  When sin entered in, that glory was snuffed out so to speak so that they could see their nakedness.  Being unclothed or stripped of righteousness led to the affect of their eyes being able to see what was already there.  It’s like Adam and Eve were stripped of their spiritual glory and their nakedness was exposed.

Immediately after the fall we see God creating clothes for Adam and Eve.  That’s an important clue to glean from as well.  God didn’t tell them to adjust to their nakedness. He didn’t say, “Get over it.  It’s natural.  Just love your body.  Be proud of it.” Rather, He clothed them with skins from an animal or animals.  We were meant to be clothed with something.  Our natural clothing reminds us of our sinful condition.  Our need for clothing reminds us that we were meant to be clothed with something greater.

Take a look at Luke 9:28-32.  Jesus goes up a mountain to meet with the Father and notice what happens.

Luke 9:28-32  Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him.

Remember that Jesus was made in the likeness of man (Philippians 2:7).  There was a veiling of His deity when He became flesh.  On the Mount of Transfiguration we see that Jesus’ actual glory was momentarily unveiled.  We see that His face was altered and His clothing became dazzling white.  I think it’s safe to assume that if His face became altered and bright then so did his neck and chest and legs—the rest of His body.  This glory radiating through His skin caused His clothes to be dazzling white at well.  This was a brightness and whiteness that the disciples were not accustomed to.  Jesus’ glory was being unveiled.  Jesus is the perfect man and I believe this is what Adam and Eve may have looked like before the fall—reflecting the perfect glory of God as they were made in His image.  And when you look at Moses and Elijah you see that they appeared in glory too! So we see Jesus in glory and Moses and Elijah in glory…all three of them free from the effects of sin.

Now glance over at 2 Corinthians 5:1-5 and see that God has a future clothing for us to put on!

2 Corinthians 5:1-5 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

A putting on of our heavenly, restored, glorified bodies is a reversing of nakedness.  The new body Christians will receive is called a “further clothing”.  I think the theme running through Scripture is that we were meant to be clothed with honor, righteousness, perfection, holiness and glory.  All this comes from God’s perfect image in us being restored in Christ.  I think this glory is real and physical, not just intellectual or a theological abstract.  The glory of Christ is physical in some sense in that it radiates brightness.  It is not a merely a spiritual reality described with earthly analogies.  He is bright…He is the true light!

Now there is some application for these truths. Do you ever wonder why it wrong for Christians to be indecent in their clothing, exposing their bodies in sensual ways?  It’s because you were meant to be clothed.  Exposing yourself for others to see is shameful, not because God made something bad but because our nakedness is a result of the fall which removed our righteousness and dazzling clothing! 

Do you see why endless hours of preparation adorning the outward appearance means nothing to the Lord?  He is concerned with inward holiness! Granted there is a modesty somewhere in the middle that is appropriate for God’s people.  We don’t need to be dressed for a runway fashion show, but we don’t need to don burlap either.  Scriptures focus is to take care of the spiritual above all.  We are to wear holiness and righteousness.

1 Peter 3:3-6 Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear—but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious. For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening. 

Now take a gander over at Revelation because ultimately Christ fixes our clothing issue.  If Genesis opens with the story of sin and nakedness, then Revelation ends with the story of righteousness and clothing. 

Revelation 7:9-10 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 

Christ is the one who clothes us in white robes.  Now these robes may be symbolic and it’s possible they may be actual real robes that are dazzling white.  I tend to lean towards the symbolic use of white robes because of the counsel that Jesus gives the church at Laodicea.

Revelation 3:18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.

The Lord is not telling this church to buy actual gold for actual riches.  He’s not telling them to buy ointment for their eyes so that they can actually see.  Jesus isn’t literally selling garments to people to make a profit so that they’ll have white garments.  Rather He’s beckoning this church to come to Him for healing, for salvation, for restoration, for righteousness, for real and eternal riches.  These riches are there to restore us to a righteous relationship with God that resembles the pre-fall relationship God had with Adam and Eve.  We need white garments…we need our sinful robes washed in the blood of the Lamb.  We need to be purified and not only declared righteous (justification) but we need an actual transformation (glorification). We need to be glorified. We need GLORY.  Scripture makes it abundantly clear that we will share in the glory of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18, 2 Timothy 2:10, 2 Peter 1:4, John 17:22). So in light of Adam and Eve’s fall and their awareness of nakedness, in light of our current need for clothing, in light of our embarrassment that comes from being exposed, in light of our future need to be clothed and glorified, let us consider our actions, decisions and thoughts.

This is why we must not parade our naked bodies around for others to see.  This is why pornography is wrong. This is why indecency amongst God’s people should never be named.  This is why calling others to notice the physical appearance of your spouse is sinful.  You are tempting others to consider people in an unclothed condition which God never intended.

This is why a restroom policy that opens the door for nakedness to be seen by the opposite sex is totally inexcusable.  Our President and world have no qualms about the possibility of seeing others naked.  Some will say that we are prudish for being so old school and outdated.  The world says, “If you got it, flaunt it.”  Social media sites are littered…LITTERED with images of Christians who are exposing their bodies for all to see as if it’s ok.  I have to say that they do not have a proper theology of clothing and nakedness.  It’s one thing for a husband and wife to see each other that way. But it’s quite another thing for everyone else to see you that way.

So if you’ve every wondered why you instinctively scream when someone accidentally barges in on your bathroom stall or you instinctively cover up if the bedroom door opens up while you’re changing, it’s not because any particular physical harm will come to you by someone seeing your nakedness.  It’s because God never intended you to be seen naked.  He always intended you to be seen covered with the glory of God---and when you are exposed without clothing it is a terrible reminder that we need the salvation of God in Christ Jesus.  Our embarrassment that comes with nakedness is a condition of the fall.  And our lack of embarrassment when we parade our nakedness for others to see simply means that we do not understand just how bad sin is. If we are OK with others seeing us in clothing that tempts others to lust then we don’t understand what a lack of clothing demonstrates. It shows that we are sinners without righteousness.  How we need the righteousness and glorification that only Jesus can provide us. 

Therefore, dress modestly and contend for modesty policies in our world.  Husbands, protect the privacy and decency of your wife and/or daughters.  Men, keep your eyes from evil things.  Women, protect the privacy and decency of your husband and/or sons.  Help them to see the connections between sin/nakedness and righteousness/clothing and what this all has to do with Jesus Christ.  And never forget to preach the gospel to sinners in need of white robes.

THE FIVE SOLAS: SOLI DEO GLORIA

You may be a little familiar with George Frideric Handel’s musical masterpiece “Messiah” (1741).  Most people are familiar with the following excerpt from the “Hallelujah Chorus.”

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

For the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

While these words may be very familiar to us, what is even less known about Handel is that he would sign the end of his cantatas with the letters “SDG.”  That was shorthand for Soli Deo Gloria—the overarching principle of the Protestant Reformation.

Soli Deo Gloria is Latin for “to God alone be the glory.”  Glory is one of the words that has a forgotten meaning.  People sling it around in their Christianese vocabulary without giving thought to what it actually means.  There is a well-knowing TV preacher that says, “Glory to God” all the time like verbal pauses. Some people will used this phrase jokingly or as an exclamation for just about anything.  People will use the phrase like this, “We ate ‘til we were ready to burst…glory to God."  The casual use of this phrase just shows that people don’t understand what they’re saying.  Few people may be able to explain what the word actually means.  So at this point, a definition may be in order to help you understand what SDG means.

The English word “glory” comes from the Greek word “doxa.”  It is often translated into English as: glorious, honor, praise, dignity or worship.  Other ways to express this might be by saying that God has splendor, brightness, majesty or excellence.  This is intrinsic to God.  It is who God is.  He is glorious.  In every way God is perfect, beautiful, radiant, marvelous, splendid, majestic and bright.  He is wonderful to behold because He is glorious.  We do not make Him glorious--He just is glorious. So one way that we use this word is to describe what God is inherently.  And God, being who He is, displays His glory in the way that He interacts with mankind.  Regardless of what attribute is being displayed, it is glorious.

To be clear, there is nothing we can do to add to God’s glory or to take away from God’s glory.  Our sin does not take away from God what has always been, what is now, and what will always be His.  He is glorious no matter what.  Yet at the same time we are called to give God glory, to glorify Him, to live for His glory, to do all things for His glory and to be the visible display of God’s glory.  What is the world do these things means?

When we say that we are “giving God glory” it does not actually mean that we are giving God something that He is lacking or in need of.  What it means is this: we are called to use our thoughts, words and actions to tell of God’s greatness.  To glorify God is to magnify God.  Pastor John Piper has a very helpful illustration in bringing this lofty thought down to the bottom shelf.  He says that Christians are called to magnify God like a telescope, not like a microscope.  A microscope takes what is small and makes it appear to be larger than it is.  A telescope takes something that is enormously big, but appears small to the eye, and makes it bigger than the way the eye naturally sees it.

So it is with mankind.  We have naturally small thoughts of God.  We don’t see God as He really is.  He is a tiny speck of light in the night sky so to speak, not like the blazing sun.  We need to look at Him through the lens of Scripture so that we can see Him for as He really is.  God reveals Himself through His Word so that we can see His glory.  Our duty as Christians is to declare the glory of God for what it is.  Our duty is to think and live in a way that is consistent with a glorious God.  This is what we mean when we say that we are to live to the glory of God.

We eat and drink to the glory of God.  It is His splendor as Provider that ensures we have food in our bellies.  So we eat and say, “Thank You, Lord, for giving me this food.  And Lord, You sure have made some tasty stuff.  You are wonderful.  You could have make all food to taste like Nyquil, but you didn’t.”

We sleep to the glory of God.  “Thank You, Lord, that the world doesn’t depend on me to keep in going.  The fact that the world still spins while I sleep means that You are in control.  Thank You that I can lay down in peace tonight and be rested for the next day!  Some will be in pain through the night, but you have shown me goodness.”

We use money to the glory of God.  “Lord, help me to use my money to promote and spread Your Word across this planet so that others can hear of Your glory and come to Christ for salvation.  In giving away the money You gave me, the world will see that You are more glorious than the world’s goods that I can buy with this money.  You are my Treasure and this money will go towards helping others know of my Treasure.” 

We raise our children to the glory of God.  We teach them the Scriptures.  We discipline them when they sin knowing that this will help them see God’s hate for sin.  We are gracious to them when they sin knowing this will let them know of God’s grace to sinners.  We are called to think about, talk about and show God’s glory in our actions to our children.  When you rightly represent God in this world, You are giving God glory.

We sing in church to the glory of God.  This is why our songs must be declarations of the greatness of God, not just expressions of our feelings towards God.  God is glorious regardless of our feelings.  I don’t want to in anyway minimize our “feelings” for God—they are important.  But they are not often the first indicator of whether or not we are really giving God glory.  They are part of giving God glory, but the truth of God’s greatness must be declared first if our feelings are going to be anchored to His marvelous reality. 

Giving God glory is what the Christian life is about.  This is what it means to live a life of worship.  Worship is not something you do ONLY on Sunday mornings.  Giving God “doxa”, worship, or glory is to happen all the time.   Scripture tells us that we are to do ALL things to the glory of God.  We are to “make much” of God.  Pastor Mark Dever says that the church is to be the “visible display of God’s glory.”  We are to show God’s glory by not only declaring God’s glory but by representing it in our lives. 

Now when we refer to Soli Deo Gloria, we mean that God alone gets the glory (the worship, the praise, the honor) for everything that pertains to our salvation.  The Pope does not receive glory for our salvation.  Neither does Mary or any angel.  And we certainly cannot give credit to ourselves for any part of our salvation (not for the new birth, not for repentance, not for faith, not for justification, not for sanctification, not for glorification, not for election, not for adoption, not for predestination, not for anything).  To declare yourself wonderful for any part of your salvation would mean that salvation is a co-operation between God and man—which is synergism.  We believe that all of salvation is a work of God alone—monergism.  Consequently, God alone gets all the glory.  He alone is marvelous, splendid, majestic and wonderful for the salvation we receive.  We thank Him alone and not any other, for God will not share His glory with another.

When we examine the saving work of God, we see that from beginning to end, God does it all.  Notice the emphasis on what GOD does and notice the emphasis of His glory.  Follow me here:

God sends His Word to tell us who He is and how we fall short of His glory by sinning and breaking His Law.  His wrath abides on all who do not perfectly display His glory--that is us.  Then God’s Word tells us that His plan all along was to send His Son to be the perfect display of His glory.  Jesus proved that He was God and full of glory by perfectly adhering to the Law of God—He sinned not.  The Son dies in the place of all whom God has called to salvation.  Since we are all born dead in sin and could never respond to the message of Scripture, God sends His Holy Spirit to awaken us from our spiritually dead state so that we can believe in Christ with the gift of faith that God gives.  God saves us and then slowly but surely He transforms us to look more like Christ—who is the perfect glory of God.  This process is called sanctification and means that we are being transformed from one degree of GLORY to the next degree of GLORY.  In others words, God saved us in order to transform us to look more and more like Christ who perfectly displays the glory of God.  God’s goal in saving us means that this WILL happen to us.  This is a process that is not finalized until we either die or meet the Lord Jesus when He comes back.  This final transformation is called GLORIFICATION.  God will one day remove all our desire to sin and ability to sin.  Only then we will look like God originally intended us to look like.  We will finally be restored to His image in order to display His glory.  We will have a glory that comes from God’s glory.  Think about that for a second.

Do you see how much God has done for you in salvation and that you have done nothing?  He alone is declared glorious, marvelous, spectacular and wonderful for our salvation.

You must understand that God’s GLORY is what salvation is ultimately about!  In Genesis, we see that God created man to display His image---His glory.  Sin ruined that image—that glory.  That enrages God.  He hates when His glory is not displayed.  That is why sinners are punished.  Yet in God’s kindness He rescues those who do not display His glory through the saving work of Christ.  That work includes being restored to people who bear the image of God.  

Those of us that are saved are now to declare how great God has been to us in saving us and restoring us.  We are to declare all of God’s marvelous attributes as explained in Scripture.  We are to give God glory.  And knowing that His saving work is all because of His goodness to us and not because of anything we’ve done, we have to say that all glory, praise and honor goes to our God.

Soli Deo Gloria!  It’s hard to imagine that we could thank or give glory to anyone other than God for our salvation.  Yet there are those false teachers and religious systems that would love to deflect the glory of God to someone or something else.  Be careful of them.  They are subtle. 

At the heart of Reformation Theology and at the heart of Calvinism is this great belief of Soli Deo Gloria.  When you hear someone say, “Salvation is ultimately up to You and what You decide to do with God,” then you are hearing a jackhammer that is trying to break apart this foundational principle.  Yet this is how the average Christian talks. 

Ultimately, salvation is up to God.  And that is why every Christian, and I mean every Christian, prays like a Calvinist.  “Thank YOU, LORD, for saving me!”  “Thank YOU, LORD, for saving my friend!”  We know that it was all God or else we’d be thanking ourselves and our friends for getting saved.  And I’ve never heard anyone pray like that.

Martin Luther and other Reformers fought hard in their theological battles against the Catholic Church to recover SDG.  The Catholic understanding of salvation leaves all sorts of room for man to boast in himself—to give himself glory.  The Reformers risked their lives to promote Soli Deo Gloria because it is so vital to our love for God and it is what the Scripture teaches.

So the next time you feel like slinging around the phrase, “Glory to God,” or you hear a worship leader say, “Let’s give God glory,” or you sing the song, “To God be the glory,” stop for a moment and reflect on the saints of old that fought to uphold this truth.  Give pause for a moment and think about what it is that you are saying and doing.  Reflect on the word glory and it’s implications and then burst forth in praise that truly does make much of God and Him alone.

THE FIVE SOLAS: SOLUS CHRISTUS

“In Christ alone my hope is found.”  These are the famous words of the modern-day hymn penned by Keith and Kristyn Getty.  The song is only a few years old and has made its way across the globe and is quickly becoming a staple of church music and worship.  Those opening words reflect one of the vital points of the Protestant Reformation.  Salvation is found only in Christ.  That is what Solus Christus means—Christ alone!

The doctrine of Solus Christus stands in direction contradistinction from the Catholic doctrine that says that salvation cannot be found outside of the Catholic Church.  The doctrine of Solus Christus firmly declares that there is one mediator between God and man.  We are not the mediators between a holy God and us.  Mary is not the mediator for mankind.  Neither are angels, good works, self-improvement or anything else.  Christ alone is our mediator and Christ alone is our only hope of salvation.

Our look at Solus Christus will take us to the book of Colossians.  The Apostle Paul is attacking heresy head on with this letter to the church in Colossae.  There were some in the church bringing in all sorts of teachings that corrupted the truth that we are saved by Christ alone.  Before he addresses these issues and heresies he sets forth the supremacy of Christ.  He exalts Him high above and shows Him to be the one and only Savior.  Read through these verses and notice how Paul describes Christ:  the image of God, the first born of creation  (which is a term of rank and does not mean He was created), He’s the Creator, eternal, the head of the church, preeminent….it was through Him that God is reconciling sinners to Himself.

Colossians 1:15-23  He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

The rest of Paul’s letter to these Christians is a strong warning to them to not be disqualified by letting others insist that salvation is Christ PLUS other things.  In other words, Paul is saying that salvation is found in Christ alone.  To replace Christ with anything or to add anything to the finished work of Christ is to be disqualified from the race—this means that you are not saved.  Solus Christus is not just a matter of preference.  It’s a matter of life and death.  Cling to Christ alone and you are saved.  Cling to anything else and you are damned.

In Colossians 2 Paul warns the church not to fall prey to the philosophy and empty wisdom of the world.  The world’s philosophies and the wisdom they provide are empty.  They appear to be full of wonderful promises and delights, but they are empty.  They are like storm clouds that look like they’re going to deliver rain, but then don’t!  Paul plainly says that these things are not according to Christ.  The wisdom of the world and their philosophies are not the way to combat sin.  That is not how sin is dealt with.  Sin is dealt with in Christ only.  He cuts the sin out of our hearts…that is the point of spiritual circumcision.  Christ, not the world, is doing the saving and redeeming and restoring.

In that same chapter we are told that the old man died with Christ…the new man was raised with Christ.  His death and resurrection accomplished that for us.  Our trespasses and sin were nailed to the cross that He hung on and because of that our sin debt was canceled.  God disarmed the evil forces that dominated us and He did this through Christ. 

Nowhere in Scripture are we told that anyone else or anything else does this for us.  Scripture elevates Christ to such a high degree that you should be left with only one conclusion: Christ alone is our Savior and Mediator.  He alone reconciles us to God and secures our salvation.

I.  LEGALISM CAN’T SAVE YOU  

In the latter part of Colossians 2, Paul tells the Colossian believers that no one is to pass judgment on them for not adhering to dietary laws and Old Testament holy days.

Colossians 2:16 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.

Apparently there were some false teachers in the church saying that “real Christians” need to keep the dietary laws, festivals, new moon celebrations and Sabbaths.  In other words, to be saved, the Colossians were wrongly told they had to practice the Old Testament ceremonies and rituals.  What was Paul’s response to these teachings?  “Don’t let anyone pass judgment on you!  You are not damned for not keeping these regulations.”  Paul then explains the truth regarding the Old Testament feasts, holidays and ceremonies:  they were shadows of Christ….pictures of the things to come.  All those things were leading us up to Christ.  You know how when you see a shadow and you follow it to see what it casting it…well, once your eyes find what is making the shadow, then you have found the substance.  The shadow exists because there is something real creating it.  So too, when you looked at the Old Testament holidays, feasts and Sabbaths, you could follow them with your eyes and see what was casting the shadow.  You should find that the shadow leads you directly to Christ.  He is the substance.  He is the real deal.  They were about Him.  Those Old Testament rituals, ceremonies and feasts were very important--they were there to lead people to Christ.  But once Christ had come those things, those pictures became obsolete…they were no longer to be regarded.  Not only that, but participating in those things never saved anyone.  They pointed to Christ who alone saves!

So the false teachers were trying to convince these Christians that salvation was found in Christ PLUS these rituals.  Paul’s opening chapter in the letter was to warn these believers against the danger of failing to see Christ as the All-sufficient Savior.  If they listened to these false teachers they would not be saved.  Christ alone was to be their salvation. 

2.  ASCETICISM CAN’T SAVE YOU

Paul then goes on in the next few verses and says:

Colossians 2:18 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

The word asceticism carries some deep meaning.  Some translations have rendered this phrase as, “taking delight in false humility”.  In it’s fullest sense, the word asceticism is used to describe the pride that these false teachers had in humbling themselves.  They were proud of the fact that they denied their body food, clothing or anything else pleasurable.  That’s why some translations use the phrase “false humility”.  The act of humbling their body was a source of pride for them.  It’s like being proud that you’re humble.  It’s fake.  It’s not real.  They assumed that salvation and union with God was found in disciplining the body and suppressing desires.  Many of the world’s religions still do these types of things in hopes that they will be united to God.

Some religious renounce all sexual relations.  Some do not use electricity or they do not wear shoes.  Some will wear clothes that are uncomfortable because they are made from rough material.  Some will stand while eating or even fast for up to a month.  There are some who own almost no possessions and even refuse to live in one place for more than two months because they may become attached to one place.  Others engage in the Hindu practices of Yoga.  To them, this is good news.  This is how they are set free from the flesh.  This is how they are set free from sin. 

And Paul says, “Let no one disqualify you by insisting on asceticism.”  Asceticism is not what frees you from sin.  It does not lead to salvation.  It does not lead to sanctification or becoming more holy and looking like Christ.  But if you look at these kinds of these from the outside, it looks like these people are becoming more holy.  But here is what Paul says.  He says, “these regulations of…”

Colossians 2:21-23  “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” [22] (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? [23] These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

Paul is saying that these are human rules and teachings.  Do not handle this.  Do not taste this food.  Don’t touch that.  These are according to the wisdom of man, not God.  Living by strict rules will not save you.  Paul says, “But it has the appearance of wisdom.”  It sure looks good.  But it is self-made religion, this severity to the body stuff.  Look at what he says in the last phrase.  They are of NO value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.  They do not help whatsoever in controlling your sinful appetite.  They cannot quench your desire for sin.

Do you want to see how this plays out in our world today?  Because people practice this kind of stuff…perhaps not as extreme, but they think that somehow their lesser forms of asceticism make them better people…and it surely puts them in right standing with God.  Some people think they are good people and going to be with God because they have never done drugs, have never hurt anybody, they never speed on the road, they don’t spend their money frivolously, they watch what they eat, they exercise and take care of their body.  They don’t realize it but they are practicing some form of asceticism.  They are trying to live a life that denies extremes.  Whether it be overeating, overspending, overreacting, or whatever, they think that their life of moderation is what makes them a good person.  They think that this is the kind of life that pleases God and earns them salvation with God.  It has the appearance of wisdom.  But it is nothing more than a man-made religion that will disqualify people from the prize that Paul talks about.  It disqualifies them from true holiness and true salvation.

But sadly this is just about all that pop-psychology can offer man these days.  If Christians struggle with the sin of overeating what do they do?  They don’t run to Christ do they?  No.  They run to Jenny Craig and put them on some ascetic diet.  When children are bad, what do a lot of parents do?  They put their kids in time-out—and that’s all they do.  No fun for you…no pleasure for you—that’s asceticism.  This will not work in saving our children, nor will it work in making them more holy.  As parents our privilege and duty is to show our children law and gospel, sin and salvation—we show them how their sin is against God and how Christ saves them.  And when we fail to point their children to Christ when it comes to discipline, we fail miserably.  If you want your child to be saved and grow in godliness, asceticism won’t cut it.  Only Christ will.  Do not be disqualified.  Do not participate in the disqualification of others by pointing them to inferior methods of avoiding sin and attaining salvation.

3.  ANGELS CAN’T SAVE YOU

The worship of angels?  This church was plagued with blatant heresy.  There were some ideas floating around that said that if you wanted God to hear and answer your prayers, then you had to get to God through angels.

Colossians 2:18  Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels,

In their false humility these false teachers said that God could not be approached directly.  He was too great to have humans come to Him directly.  So the way that people reached God was through the angels that He created.  In other words, the angels were the mediators between God and man.  In order to get to God you had to go through His angels.  This is how they paid homage and worship to the angels…by praying to them.  The Judaizers reasoned that because the law of God was given by angels, then it was OK to invoke them or pray to them.  This heresy started in the Colossian church and history records that it continued for another three hundred years.  In fact, in about the year 363 A.D. a council of 30 clerics or clergyman got together in Asia Minor to discuss some concerns.  Of the 60 concerns raised, number 39 had to do with heresies—specifically the heresy of angelici—or the angel invokers.  The heresy of worshiping and praying to angels that started in Paul’s day continued on and the council took a stand and said that this was wrong because scripture condemned it. 

These so-called humble people took their humility to an extreme.  "We are so low and God is so high that we cannot approach Him.  There must be a mediator that we can pray to.  There must be someone who stands between God and us and communicates to Him for us."  They chose the angels to do this and prayed to them.  But Scripture never teaches us to pray to angels as mediators.  Christ alone grants us access to the Father. 

There is no mention in Scripture of invoking angels when we need the help of God in overcoming sin.  Christ told us to speak directly to the Father and pray, “Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.”  In Hebrews 4, the Bible tells us that we can come confidently to God’s throne in prayer to seek His help in overcoming sin.  Unlike the humble Judaizers who were proud of their humility in not approaching God and prayed to angels for help, the writer of Hebrews tells us the opposite.  Don’t be afraid to come to God for help in growing in holiness.  Come boldly.  Come confidently to God so that we can receive mercy and grace for the sins we commit.

Hebrews 4:14-16  [14] Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. [15] For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. [16] Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

How awesome are these verses?  We are weak and we will sin.  How do we deal with this?  Asceticism?  Calling on angels?  No.  Going to God in prayer and holding fast to our confession.  Our confession is that Christ is the Savior who died and rose again that we could be declared innocent of our sin and righteous before God. When we sin, we can confidently draw near to God, to the throne of grace and receive the mercy and grace that we need.  When we are tempted to sin we can draw near to God and ask for help in overcoming it.  Christ is able to sympathize with us.  He knows what it is like to be tempted yet not cave in to sin.  He knows we are weak and that we need His strength.  So we ask the Lord for help.  We do not need a mediator between God and us.  Christ has provided that link for us.

1 Timothy 2:5-6  For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

We insult God when we pray to beings that are not capable of answering prayer.  We become disqualified from growing in holiness when we pray to another being.  And ultimately, whom you pray to is the one who you believe can help.  In essence that person or thing you pray to is your god.  This would disqualify you from ever having a part in eternal life unless you repent of it and put your trust in Christ alone.

Sadly, this kind of thing takes place takes place when others insist that to get to God you must pray to the Virgin Mary or you must pray to dead saints.  The problem of worshiping angels or needing dead saints in order to get you to God is that they lead you away from Christ.  And any practice that leads you away from Christ, His salvation, His sanctification is a terrible thing and should be guarded against. 

4.  MYSTICISM CAN’T SAVE YOU 

Colossians 2:18  going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind,

You may recognize the root of the word mysticism.  It looks like the word mystery.  It has to do with things that are hidden.  It has to do with hidden knowledge that needs to be found out.  This was something that the early church continually fought against.  The Gnostics came along and said that salvation and holiness were found in discovering secret knowledge of God.  This secret knowledge was found in dreams and altered states of consciousness.  Much like the Hindus practice with their yoga and chanting.  It’s designed to put them in an altered state of consciousness whereby they can attain union and peace with God.  These types of things are forbidden in Scripture.  Union with God and secret knowledge of God are nowhere to be found in dreams.  Union with God is found only in Christ.  A saving knowledge of God is only found in Scripture as the Holy Spirit enables you to grab a hold of these truths spiritually.

These false teachers in the church of Colossae were so proud of their dreams and visions.  They went on in detail describing every aspect of their dreams and what they had supposedly learned about God.  They became puffed up or proud.  This is what their sensuous or sinful mind led them to be.  So get this: they were supposedly so humble because of their asceticism and worship of angels and dreams that it led them to be proud—it was a false humility they had.  And it was without reason.  Meaning that because this stuff was bogus there was no real reason for them to be proud.  It only condemned them and led them to hell.  There is no reason to be proud in that.  Not only were they falsely humble, but they were also foolishly humble.  They were fooled into thing that their dreams led to salvation and union with God. 

These bogus Christians were bragging about their supposed new knowledge and revelation from their dreams.  These false Christians told other believers that they were proud and arrogant for praying directly to God instead of praying through angels.  These hypocrites insisted on asceticism as a way to holiness.  All of these things they practiced showed that they did not understand the gospel.  They did not understand Christ.  They did not understand the reason for which He came.  They did not know His power.  Thus, they were disqualified.  They were not at peace with God.  They were never going to grow in true holiness.  They were out!

You see, true Christianity is about the Supremacy of Christ in all things.  He alone will be praised for all eternity for the salvation He gave us.  How sly and wise the devil is in trying to get us to fall away from our Savior.  These Satanic teachings have the appearance of godliness and truth, but they are damnable.  They seem to be good news but are exposed as bad news.  They seem to be a gospel but they are a false gospel.  The heresies in Colossae all put the emphasis on what you do and they take your focus away from Christ and what He has done.  True salvation is found in Christ alone, not in legalism, not in asceticism, not in angels, not in mysticism and not in the Catholic Church.

Christ alone.  Anything else disqualifies you from eternal life.  And that is why we say with Scripture and with the Reformers, “Solus Christus!”

THEOLOGY: IMAGES OF GOD

The beginning of God's salvation story is how the beginning of Genesis starts.  It starts with God creating man in His image--in His likeness. 

Genesis 1:26-28  Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.  And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

In giving the command for Adam and Eve to procreate and fill the earth, God was giving a command that would in essence fill the earth with His glory. This is, in part, why God created marriage.  His image and likeness in mankind would be paraded around this planet through the offspring of His image bearers.  Now if you're familiar with chapter 3 of Genesis you know that Adam and Eve shattered the perfect image of God by sinning. The perfect image bearers of God were ruined by sin. Thus, immediately after this you see God's great displeasure with the Tempter and those who bowed to his temptations.  A damning curse is placed upon Satan.  And while the shattered image bearers of God undergo a curse as well, they are given a promise in the midst of this dark judgment. The promise is that through Eve's seed, not Adam's, a man who is more powerful than Satan will come and war with Satan, be injured in the process yet this Promised One will crush the head of Satan and destroy Him (see Genesis 3:15).  In this promise from God we are told of this coming one, this Messiah, this Savior, this Rescuer. And so immediately in the beginning of Genesis we are given clues about this man to come--clues about God's salvation plan to save shattered image bearers.  He would be human, born of a virgin, more powerful than Satan (only God is), He would suffer and there would be an ongoing historical-spiritual battle between His people and Satan's people. Satan hates God's glory and God's image bearers and will fight to keep them shattered.  God will send One to destroy Satan so that God's image bearers can be free from Satan's oppression and influence.

As we move through the story of Scripture we find that this battle and story continues while the arrival of the Messiah is still yet to come.  In Exodus we find the Israelites enslaved to the Egyptians.  The Israelites were people who descended from a man named Abraham and his wife Sarah.  To Abraham God promised that the Messiah would come through his lineage to bless the peoples of the earth (see Genesis 12).  So the Israelite's story is the story of Messiah's ancestors and how God protected, blessed and preserved them for the benefit of the world's people groups.

Now in Exodus although we find the Israelite's enslaved to the Egyptians and under the influence of the pagan idol and image worship, God's plan is to free them.  This is where Moses and the Ten Plagues come in.  God's people are finally freed from the evil Egyptian ruler Pharaoh.  Now that the Israelites are free and wandering in the wildnerness, God meets with them and gives them 10 Commandments.  There's more to this story, but this is the condensed version. Before giving them the 10 Commandments, God reminds them that He was the God who freed them from the slavery of the Egyptians and because of that here is how He requires Israel to live under His rule. 

Exodus 20:1-6  And God spoke all these words, saying,  "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.  

“You shall have no other gods before me. 

"You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

It's interesting to me that God brings us the notion of images once again.  He made us in His perfect image and likeness back in Genesis 2. I think this is one reason (there are others) that we aren't to make images of God--He already created an image and likeness of Himself that is supposed to perfectly point us back to Him. BUT as we saw, sin broke that image and we fail to represent God perfectly so did something about it. Once again He promised a Rescuer, Savior, God-man to come and fix what was wrong and to destroy the enemy.

As you progress rapidly through Scripture and fast-forward to the New Testament you see that the Messiah finally arrived.  And I think it is no coincidence that the New Testament describes Jesus as the Perfect Image bearer of God because He is God.  So God sent His Son who is the Perfect Image of God.

Colossians 1:15-20  "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross."

So why did God send His Perfect Image, this Messiah. God sent His Perfect Image to rescue and save a shattered images (us) so that we could once again represent God rightly as image bearers. This Saving Image we worship and adore as Creator and Savior. His name is Jesus. This is another reason we aren't to make images of God--Jesus is God's Perfect Image and likeness for He is God. This Perfect Image ascended to heaven after His death and resurrection and sent His Helper (the Holy Spirit) to live in us to help transform us into the likeness of the Perfect Image--in whose image we were initially created.

2 Corinthians 3:18  "And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit."

So shattered images of God (you and I) aren't to worship false images of God who sent His Perfect Image (Jesus) to rescue us. The Perfect Image (Jesus) ascended to heaven and sent the Helper (Holy Spirit) to transform us bit by bit into the image of the Perfect Image.

Imagine that.

Wait!  But there's more to the story.  God promises that a New Heavens and a New Earth will be made.  And He will dwell in creation only with those who have been restored to the Perfect Image of God.  All others will be punished for their continued rebellion against Him and their refusal to come to Christ who fixes this great problem. In the end, God's glory will fill the earth by His very presence and by the presence of His perfected image bearers (us) and the Perfect Image bearer (Christ) who is ever before us.

So let me ask you three things: (1). Do you see yourself as a shattered image of God in need of rescue, repair and redemption from Christ?  (2). Do you worship false images of God? Do you love the One who made you or is there something else in your life that you love more--something that mankind has made? Is that your god? Are you a worshiper of false images that you have created with your hands or your very own mind?  Is your understanding of God taken from His Word or from your own imaginings? If it's taken from your very own thoughts you are worshiping a false god of your own imaginings--it's made after your own image. That is sin that is worthy of judgment and wrath from God. You need Jesus' help just like I do (3). Do you see Christ as the Perfect Image of God and is your desire to be transformed to look like Him--just as God intended in Genesis. It why people were created! It's why Jesus came to save!

If you can say "yes" to all three questions then turn to the One who died to save and rescue sinners from certain judgment that is to come. God's love for His own glory and Perfect Image (Jesus) is extravagant and that same love He has for His Perfect Image is why He created mankind in His image. This is why He can't tolerate shattered images with sin. He will repair some of us for His own good delight and our joy. So turn to Christ for this rescue. Turn to Him for this renewal. Believe that He alone rescue and redeems and restores you to God, your Maker. Believe that the Perfect Image of God saves shattered images of God from worshiping false images of God. Come to Him and believe that He died for yours sins and rose from the dead to defeat death for you. Come to Him and trust Him to do for you what only He can do.