3/29/25 The Divine Headship
We continue our study from Chapter 2 of Colossians. This is Paul addressing a church that is being swayed by deceptive worldly philosophies that sound logical and even godly. The problem with this is that it discounts the true identity of Messiah. Last week we covered the depth of the meanings Paul used in V9-10 when the same terms are used again in V15. The full understanding of the headship of Christ in the life of a follower and just how he can cancel out the indebtedness of our sins. Go to deadlifter.org for the sermon noted or watch last weeks episode for a greater understanding. This week we will move forward, into V16-19 and the deeper aspect of the headship of Christ as your head is connected to your body. If you lose your head, your body is disconnected. If your body is disconnected, you have serious issues.
16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.
Initially the problem seems to be with what people think of the people who are part of the church of Colossae. I mean judging people by what they eat or drink? Whether they go to celebrate spiritual times or observe the sabbath, I mean we have as a culture moved well beyond that haven’t we? Well, no not really. Keep in mind this was written 35 years shy of 2K years ago. These issues continue today. Just check the malice of people on social media where everything is a reason to be divisive. The reality of our pride comes into play here as we assert that our assumptions are greater than the preferences of our neighbors is somehow an offense. Do people criticize when they see people go to church, or do people criticize our celebration of the Passover? Does corporate America tell us that the Sabbath is of no use and our vocation should trump the importance of rest? Or are we programmed in a manner to believe activity is always better than being still? All of this goes on today. But let’s understand why it was happening in this church in modern day Turkey.
If we go back to an earlier teaching from this series we can see there was a swaying from the truth as to who Christ is and what he did. There was as we opened with being swayed by deceptive worldly philosophies that sound logical and even godly. The difference between now and then is that now it is coming from the pulpit. Churches in Atlanta preaching to hate people because of their skin color or the political affiliation, or here in Texas a preacher who proclaims that you can have your best life now, everyday is a Friday and life never sucks, you’ll never suffer. Or churches in the north proclaiming that it is God’s will for everyone to be rich and if you give more, you will get more financial reward and walk in the luxury of this world. That is deceptive philosophy because it is not proper theology. None of that is true.
Paul is stating that the Old Testament practices were a foreshadow of the coming of the Messiah. He is our hope and they were giving us a sign of what was to come, that now has come. Then goes to V18
18 Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind.
Notice the clarity here. False humility. What is that? That is the “oh Lord it is hard to be humble when you are as perfect as I am in every way,” or the people who look at us and say, “you’re perfect yes it is true, but without me, you are only you.” This has not gone away. It is here and now. It is the uneducated Christian who will shut from the roof tops they are always right about theology when they can’t handle it when someone corrects them.
Paul goes further, the people who were swaying the people in Colossae were guilty of worshipping angels. This is the GR word Aggelos where we get angel from. This is not seraphim or cherubim these are messenger angels. However this word can also mean a human messenger. So which is it here? Rev 1:20 is the same word but is in a different form. Let’s look at what Paul leads in with false humility and they delight in it. A practice highly developed in later Judaism, while entirely absent from the apostolic teaching, and indeed clearly condemned here, and Revelation 19:10; Revelation 22:9, and implicitly in Hebrews 1. Safe to say that it is angels. It may be common to believe that it is not a problem in the modern church, but there are still Christians who pray to St. Michael the archangel and the glaring hole in that is that St. Michael isn’t a saint, and he isn’t listening to you because he is the guardian archangel of Israel. He is not a saint; he is a holy angel of God. Paul gives a warning about those who practice the ridiculous worship and prayers to angels feeling they are being humble because they would rather deal with angels than God.
19 They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.
Idk, my hope is that you can see the issue here. They have sacrificed worship of Christ with the worship of angels feeling as though it is an act of humility because they do not want to face God, they fail to see that Jesus is the doorway to the Father. No one gets to the Father except through me, Jesus said. (John 14:6) They have sacrificed the head and now have a disconnection and will no longer grow. They have lost connection with the source of nourishment, the source of growth, the source of purpose and meaning in this life. Meaning and purpose comes when you recognize Jesus as head. Don’t lose your head.
