False hope and the real thing

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. 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. In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in 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 alive 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 in him. - Colossians 2:8‭-‬15 ESV

Rev. Travis Drake

This is a letter written by Paul. It is written to a church in Collosi. This church is located in what is now modern day Turkey. It is to correct the church and bring them back to the real thing and away from the counterfeit/fake. In our world there are plenty of counterfeits. Many counterfeits to address our ills. How do we avoid spiritual fakes? How do we recognize them?

The Warning

Paul is trying to bring our awareness to something. It isn't a quiet word, but more like "Hey!" This is something that is coming and we need to be prepared. What is it? It is that we should beware of empty hopes and philosophies. These are lifestyles and philosophies that promise life, prosperity, and fulfillment. But they will not deliver on those promises. Paul is telling believers to watch out for these scams. The counterfeit hopes are coming to us. It isn't just a warning to the foolish or inattentive or unbeliever, but for us. We can stare at a spiritual forgery and invest into a scam that comes to nothing in the end.

The Counterfeit

Paul references aceticism and mysticism. The former is denying ourselves of pleasure and joys to make progress. Or the latter is looking for special hidden knowledge... Like looking for a prophecy from God for our lives. How does this happen? There are elements of the original of the truth. The counterfeit must speak to the fact that we are broken and we need something else. We need to do something more, work harder, and know more in order to be right. We desire fulfillment and there's nothing wrong with that, but we think we can fix it. We can fix ourselves.

The Remedy

Jesus is fulfillment. He is joy. He is the unfading, undying, glorious fullness. He is the healing we need. We need to stop trying. Instead of waiting for fulfillment, we need to consider that in Jesus, we have it; we have it all. Whatever dreams our hopes we have are still small, Jesus promises a fuller hope, a fuller dream. He wants more than just our small hopes for us. Jesus is circumcising our hearts. It isn't us doing this, it is Him. And it doesn't need our additional work, He's finished it.

Application

1. Come back to the Gospel (lean into the finished work of Jesus)

2. Find how we seek our false hopes (and lay them down)

Ain't nothing like the real thing - Marvin Gayle

https://youtu.be/Jz_D-greh8Q