The Bryce Crawford Podcast - Book Of Colossians Part 1 (EP 19)

Episode Date: March 11, 2024

In this two part series, Bryce breaks down Colossians chapters 1 & 2!

What's going on, guys? Welcome back to another episode of the Bryce Crawford podcast. I'm Bryce, and today, a little bit of a different episode. All right, I don't know what the title of this one's going to be. So depending on the title or what you think you're expecting, I'm actually going to break down the book of Colossians in a thorough way, but as quickly as possible, because our podcasts are normally short. But the Book of Colossians is one of my favorite books of the Bible. I think there's something important about the Word of God. And, We have a disease in our culture with Western Christianity where we believe that our words are more powerful than the Word of God. It's like we try to rush past the Word of God and say what we think sounds good and say what we think is going to really hit home. When in reality, we should let the Word of God do it. So we're going to read the Word of God verse by verse, Colossians 1 through 4, reading from the ESV translation.

So if you guys don't have your Bibles, if you're listening while you're on a drive or something, like guys, I'm going to be reading it and then explaining it. And if you guys are new here, subscribe to us on YouTube, Bryce Crawford podcast. Follow us on Instagram. Bryce Crawford podcast. We're on Spotify and Apple as well. If you guys want to support what we're doing, go to Jesusonthe street.com, buy you some fire Jesus shirts. If you have our time starting gospel conversations in public, we're sharing the gospel with people.

We're a T-shirt rep in Jesus to start conversations. And if you guys look, the importance of the word, it's awesome. So if you guys are struggling to get in the word, we have a Bible plan where you will literally read the Bible in an entire year. And all you have to do is read five days a week. and it's like two chapters a day, and you'll read the whole Bible in the year. And if you want to follow along, you can start at any time. I have videos that teach all of it on my Instagram. You can download it.

If you're on YouTube, click the description, a link to download the free PDF. It's free. So if you guys are struggling to get in the Word, you need discipline. Just download this Bible plan. Follow along. It'll help you get in the Word and it'll start this fresh hunger for you. Really believe it. We're going to dive into Colossians today.

It's four chapters, and we're just going to explain it. All right? So Paul the Apostle wrote Colossians. Let's keep that in mind. Chapter 1, verse 1. Paul and Apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God and Timothy, our brother. To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colosse.

Grace to you and peace from God, our Father. Paul is writing to the church of Colossi, and he's writing them a letter. That's what this is. And I love what it says, by the will of God, because Paul used to be Saul, used to kill Christian.

So it's by the will of God that Paul is an instrument for his glory. I love how this opens up with Thanksgiving and prayer. always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Now, I think this is interesting because we should open up all prayer with Thanksgiving and praise. We want to thank the Lord and praise them. But oftentimes we view prayer as this thing where we have to cast our worries on him and we're like, God, I need you to do

this thing, I need this thing, I need this thing. We often view prayer as this transactional thing where God's a gene in a bottle. We only pray when we need something from him. But Paul says here, we always thank God when we pray for you. The Church of Coloss say we thank God for your faith. He's like, when we pray for you, we're actually just thanking God that you have faith. So actually, I want to challenge you guys in your prayer life to thank God for your faith or even thank God for other people's faith around you. Thank God for the ministries that have blessed and impacted you. Thank God for leaders and fathers and teachers and mothers and friends that are in your life, that are championing you. Your prayer life doesn't have to be you just tugging on God when you need something physical from him.

Because it says, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Verse 5. Of this you have heard before in the Word of Truth, the Gospel, which has come to you as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing, as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth. gospel bears fruit in the whole world. It does. No matter what you see, Jesus says the harvest is ripe, but the laborers are few. And so we often go, uh-oh, I can't share Jesus because this person is going to get mad or what are they going to think? No, the harvest is ripe, because there's not enough people talking about Jesus. And so if the gospel is still bearing fruit to this day, then people are

ready to get ripped off the tree. It's ripe, but the laborers are few. You need to get sent out. A lot of you guys cry out, you say, God, send me here, send me here, but you won't even leave your couch. You want to criticize people and be a keyboard warrior from behind your screen, but you say, God send me to the nations, but you won't leave your couch, and you criticize other people for sharing their faith. Paul is saying, the gospel is bearing fruit to this day. People are ready for Jesus. Just as you learned it from Epiphrus, our beloved fellow servant, he is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf and is made known to us your love in the spirit. And so from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of

his will and all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transformed us to the kingdom of his beloved son in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. We don't evangelize or share our faith for our own glory, but we share our faith to equip people to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. That's what Paul is saying. He says, we don't cease praying for you so that you may be filled with the knowledge of his,

will. So every day when I hit the ground, I want to be like, God, fill me with your spirit. Fresh filling, fill me with your spirit. Give me wisdom and inside. Let me walk in grace. And he's saying this, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, which is pleasing him. So walking a manner of the Lord is pleasing to him. And it bears fruit in every good work increasing in the knowledge of God. You're being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for endurance and patience. So when you're being filled with the spirit and his knowledge, it actually gives you strength and endurance to do things. that your flesh would normally overpower you to do. So when you're asking the spirit to partner with you

and give you knowledge and wisdom, it's not just so you can share your faith. The knowledge and wisdom is for you and yourself too. As for you to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. So when you ask God, fill me with your spirit, give me your knowledge, give me your wisdom. You're saying, God, flow through me, manifest through me, so that I walk in a manner worthy for you.

That's what you're saying. Now we're going into verse 15. Oh, wait, highlight one more thing. Verse 13 says he has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son. The Bible says that when we get born again that we have been seated at the right hand of God. So when you get born again, you're boom, you're seated in the heavenly places. Your spirit is seated with him in the heavenly places. Like it's like it has been seated.

It's not that you will be seated. It has been seated. Your spirit is seated with him. And so if he has delivered you from the domain of darkness, this is a man. This is important for you to understand as a born again believer. You don't have to sin anymore if you've been delivered from darkness. Okay? Verse 15, he is the image of the invisible God talking about Christ here.

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. Jesus Christ, John 1-1, in the Bible, beginning was the word, the word was with God, and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God. Now, this says, he is the image of the invisible God. Jesus Christ is the physical image of the invisible God. So people say, oh my goodness, I wish God was here with me right now. It's like,

Jesus just did that. And people don't understand, look, if you want a simple explanation of what he's trying to say here, this is, this is a pointing to the Trinity. Because it's saying, Jesus, it says, by him, all things were created. So God the Father, God, the Son, God, the Holy Spirit are three persons, but the one being of God. Okay, that's the treaty. Three persons, one being of God. Saying Jesus Christ, all things were created from Him. Because in John 1 1 1 1 says, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God, and the Word was God, he was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything that was made.

And then in Him was light, and the light was the light of man. That's what 1st John 1 says. It's really powerful. points to it. It's a cool cross-reference. He is before all things and in him all things hold together. Jesus Christ holds all things 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. That's interesting that he is the head of the body. And oftentimes we want to say what we want rather than saying what he wants. If he's the head, then why do we keep trying to say what's on our heart? Let's say what's on his heart.

Let's let him guide our mouth. But then, you know, I said earlier, we have the same thing. disease where it's like, oh, I want to say what I want. Or then you have these churches or pastors or leaders that are saying things that tickle people's ears just to keep heads in the church or to keep tides coming in rather than saying the truth. As we don't want to let him speak. We want to say what we think is going to sound good. When we don't let Jesus Christ be the head of the body, then that's when the church

becomes the corrupt. That's when the church starts to hurt people. That's when things start falling apart when we don't let God speak and we try to speak over him. and it says my sheep hear my voice and no him and it says his voice is still right and so when we try to say what we want we crank that volume up to a 10 and jesus isn't going to crank his volume up if he's out of two right if jesus's volume is at a 2 and that's the voice he speaks at and we crank what we think up to attend jesus isn't going to crank up to 11 to try to override us he's speaking out of two his voice is still and soft but it's powerful so we got to crank our worldview down and listen what jesus has to say he's the head there's a lot of people that want to say what they think 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 the cross, through the blood of Jesus Christ,

there is peace and unity and restoration. Jesus Christ has the ministry of reconciliation. And because Jesus lives inside of us, now we have that ministry of reconciliation. Jesus Christ is the bridge to God, the Father. Okay? None of the saints. You guys got to stop praying to the saints. The saints ain't going to get you to the Father.

Jesus Christ did. already did that 2,000 years ago. He's your bridge, not Paul the Apostle, not Peter. Stop praying to the saints. He's the bridge. Jesus Christ is the bridge. Okay? That's what he's saying here. In him is the fullness of God and it was pleased to dwell on him and through Jesus Christ, reconciled himself all things. So if you confess with your mouth and believe you're in your heart that Jesus Christ is Lord resurrected on the third day, you have been reconciled to God. Boom, the end of story. You don't have to pray to, you don't have to pray to the saints. You don't have to make some ritual.

If you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, you've been reconciled with God. Powerful. Jesus Christ, the ministry of reconciliation. I love this verse. And you who once were alienated and hostile in mind doing evil deeds, your old self. And it says,

and you who wants, which means it no longer exists through Jesus Christ, your old self is abolished. 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. If indeed you continue in the fate, 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 of.

Whoa, that's interesting. So it says because of Jesus Christ, death and resurrection, we're able to be seen holy, blameless, pure, and right. in God's sight. And so if it says if, if you continue in the faith, if, you got to lay your crown of pride down every day. Faith is the persistent pursuit of God. So you've got to continue. Faith justifies us, Hebrews 11 and 12.

We're justified by grace through faith. And so if it's an if, if you continue in the faith, because Paul also writes, if you sin. So same thing, if you sin or if you continue in the faith. Sin isn't your destiny. It's merely a possibility made through deception. So you can continue to press in through the faith, or you can choose to sin. It's like if you sin, or if indeed you choose to press on in the faith.

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake and in my flesh. I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body that is the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you to make the Word of God fully known. That's Paul's ministry to make the word of God fully known. That should be your ministry is to make God's words known. The mystery hidden for ages and generations, but now revealed to his saints, to them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this,

I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works. But I mean, that's interesting. They call Jesus Christ the hope of glory. If there's people that aren't preaching hope, then they might not be preaching Jesus. If people aren't preaching hope, which is Jesus Christ, then they're not preaching Jesus. But that doesn't mean they're preaching conformity. Conformity isn't hope. So if someone's preaching like, hey, brother, you, you know, saved by grace through faith.

But, you know, once you're saved, you know, you can keep on. sin and however you want. That's not hope. That's conformity. That's comfortability. That's not hope. The hope is, hey, brother, you're wretched and you are in need of saving grace, but Jesus Christ has died and resurrected you, and he can save you from the pit that no man can save you from. That's hope. The hope is that you've got no hope, but Jesus Christ is the hope. That's it. But people just like want to preach comfortability and conformity. It's, it's whack. That's not the gospel. That's a demonic gospel. Comfortability is a demonic gospel. God calls us to do hard things. God calls us to when we get slapped her in the other cheek. God calls us that, hey, if we get sued, why don't you go ahead and

give the tunic as well? It's crazy. God says the dead bury their own dead. It's really interesting. Really interesting. Comfortability is a killer to fate. Chapter 2, for I want you to know how great a struggle I have faced for you and for those at Laodicea for all who have not seen me face to face that their hearts may be encouraged being knit together in love to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery which is Christ and whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments for though I am absent in body yet I am with you in spirit rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ isn't it interesting how the ministry of

the apostle is still affecting us today. He's been dead a long time, but his ministry, through the epistles in the New Testament and the way he lived his life, is radically impacting us today. Really, really powerful. I love it. I love it. I think it's so awesome. Chapter 2 is one of my favorite chapters in Colossians. Therefore, as you've 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 and Thanksgiving. Jesus Christ is the rock. If Jesus Christ is not your rock, then you're not rooted in Jesus Christ. But you got to be rooted in something. So what are you rooted in? Are you rooted in your relationship?

I'm talking about with a boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, or wife. Is that your rock? Because at some point they're going to let you down. Are you rooted in substances? Are you rooted in an addiction to explicit videos? something's got to be your rock. We're all rooted in something. But Jesus Christ is the rock.

And it says so as you're rooted and built up at him and established in the faith. This is really on my heart right now. If you're not rooted in Jesus Christ, you're rooted in something and that's sinful because it's becoming an idol in your life. And when that thing becomes an idol in your life and you're using it in a sinful manner,

whether you're idolizing it or you're doing something you shouldn't be doing and you keep that in the dark. Everything you keep in the dark, you give the enemy license to use against you. What I mean by that is, is when you're sinning in the darkness and you're not bringing it to light,

you're actually allowing Satan to get in your mind and use it against you in that guilt, shame, and condemnation, and he's nagging at you, and then you walk around the halls in your school and your workplaces as if everybody around you knows what you did behind closed doors, but they really don't.

He's getting in your head, he's eating you alive. So we want to stay in the light. We want to be rooted and grounded in Jesus Christ. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit. Empty deceit is sin. According to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world and not according to Christ. Interesting how it says according to human tradition.

Human tradition would be affirming things to get people in your church, affirming things to make people like you, affirming things to do this and do that. Like we have a disease right now, and I'm probably going to get hate for that. I don't give a rip. We have a disease right now in Christianity where we look at homosexuality right now and say that's okay. We have that disease right now. That's human tradition is affirming that same-sex love is love. That's not love. Love is laying your life down for someone, and Jesus Christ did that.

That's love. But we have this human disease right now, and according to human tradition, where empty philosophy and empty deceit is crept into the church. And it's crept in because people are allowing it there. And people don't want to hear the truth. And so Paul is saying, as you receive Christ Jesus, walk in him so that no one takes you captive by empty deceit. Because we're in the last days. And the last days are described as the time period, which we wait for Jesus to return a second time.

So even the apostles were in the end times. So the end times, people are going to be taken captive by empty deceit. People's ears are going to be tickled. People are going to want to listen to stuff that they just want to hear and not things are going to transform their life. So we have to be careful. For in him, the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. And you have been filled in him who is the head of all rule and authority.

Talking about Jesus. And him also, you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands by putting off the body of flesh by the circumcision of Christ. When Christ enters into your heart, this symbolism of circumcision is, is referring back to Ezekiel 36, where it says, and I will give you a new heart, and I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

When you, circumcision is when you cut flesh off, all right? And so what it's saying is, is when you get Jesus Christ, he's cutting your flesh out of you. He's trying to get rid of yourself and trying to put more of him in you. So when you receive Jesus Christ, he's cutting that flesh out. So I love to say, let the word of God and let Jesus Christ fillet your heart. to fillet a fish means to rip the flesh off the bones Jesus Christ wants to rip that flesh out of you All right having been buried with him in baptism in which you were also raised with him through faith and the powerful working of God

Who raised him from the dead and you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh God made it live together with him having forgiven us all our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands this he set aside nailing it to the cross he disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them and that is crazy I gotta break that down

real quick all right and you who were dead in your trespasses you were once dead in your trespasses without Jesus Christ we were hopeless that's what he's saying God made you alive together with him through Jesus Christ because we were baptized into death with him

and were resurrected through the same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead, we're given that new life with that same power. God made a life together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses. So every wrong that you've done since you've been bored, imagine it just on notebook paper after notebook paper after notebook paper, just everything you've ever done wrong, big or smaller, just written. Imagine how long that list is from the day you were born, just fall into the floor and rolling out, this, and that. And because Jesus Christ, he took that with him and nailed it to the cross and then he wipes us a slate clean but what does it say before that says we've been raised

with him through faith do you believe that you've been justified through the blood of jesus do you believe it because we have that's what he's saying and he gives us a clean slate i said this in the last podcast episode but the bible says that he drops our sin in the sea of forgiveness he wipes it clean as if it never happened so why do you guys keep bringing up your old past if it's been nailed to the cross and it's been left 2,000 years ago. God stop bringing it up. And you know the only thing that brings up your past that's been redeemed?

It's shame, guilt, and condemnation. That's not the voice of God. Shame, guilt, and condemnation come from the devil. Conviction comes when you're about to act on something or you have acted on something and God says, hey, that's not right. Don't do that next time.

Shame guilt and condemnation say, hey, you should do that thing, you should do that thing. You should do that thing. And then when you do it, shame guilt and condonation goes, why did you do it? Boyce of the devil. He says, you should bite into the apple, and then you bite into the apple. And he goes, why did you bite into the apple?

Crazy. Crazy. And then it flows into verse 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 Sabbath.

Guys, if you've been redeemed by Jesus Christ, if your slate has been wiped clean, then it doesn't matter what people say or what they bring up out of your past. That's not who you are. I'm free and I'm clean and I'm a son or a daughter of Jesus Christ. That's what you say. When that voice comes in your head and says,

you remember when you used to do this thing, you go, that's not who I am. I'm a son or daughter in Jesus Christ who's been made free by the blood. That's what you say. Or when someone brings that up, let's say someone brings it up at school or your workplace or they're making a joke or making fun of something that you used to do. You just respond and you say, hey, bro, that's just not who I am.

It's not who I am. I recognize that I did that, but that's not who I am. And Jesus Christ has sent me free for. it. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels going on in detail about visions puffed up without reason by a sentious mind, 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. If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world. The elemental spirits of the world

is the deception of sin. If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to the regulations? Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch, referring to the things that all perish as they are used. According to human precepts and teachings, these have indeed an appearance of wisdom

and promoting self-made religion and assessicism and severity to the body, but they are of no value and stopping and the indulgence of the flesh. It's interesting. He says the things of the world have an appearance of wisdom. It's like when we look at our life, we try to do things to make our life easy,

and those are things of the world. Because following Jesus, like denying yourself and picking up your cross daily, that's a difficult thing when it comes to the flesh. Like we get it, his yoke is easy and his burden is life. So it's not a burden to follow Jesus. But to deny your flesh daily is an act.

Like that's the difficult, hard decision. you got to make to deny it daily. So doing easy things like living in the world seems easy and it has an appearance of wisdom, but it actually makes your life harder than making the hard decision to follow Jesus and deny yourself and pick up your cross every day. So the things of the world have the appearance of the flesh. So if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to the regulations? No.

They are of no value. So stop indulging in the flesh. Guys, I'm going to have to split this up into two podcast episodes. we just did Colossians 1 and 2. All right. So what I want you guys to do is if you listen to this fully, I want you to go back, read Colossians 1 and 2 by yourself. All right, whether you've got to go home,

whether you're listening to this in the car. But I am so encouraged by Colossians 1 and 2 right now because we have freedom in Jesus Christ. We've been made new. We've been set free. We are alive in him. It's powerful. So I'm just going to pray that God lays it on your heart.

Go read Colossus 1 and 2. Go ahead and read 3 and 4. because Friday will probably be Colossians 3 and 4. And we're just going to dive into it. Break the rest of it down. It's going to be powerful. I love you guys, Jesus. I thank you for everyone watching and listen to it.

God, will you just give them boldness? Hunger for the word. Hunger for your presence, God. Will you just speak to them through Colossians 1 and 2 and through this podcast? Jesus, we love you. We thank you for everyone watching and listen. Jesus' name.

Amen. Guys, I love you so much. Thanks for watching. Stay tuned for part two of this Colossian series. Love you guys. See you guys next time.