Shadow and Substance
Song:
Our Father (chorus)
Call to worship:
Exodus 20.1-17
Athanasian Creed
Song:
Christ is Risen (Come Awake)
Confession and Pardon
Song:
Doxology
Song:
All I Have is Christ
Introduction
“All children, except one, grow up.” This quote is from one of the original Peter Pan stories and refers to Peter himself. Peter Pan is the story of a boy who doesn’t want to grow up. He lives in the magical world of Neverland where he bests Captain Hook, leads the lost boys, and, most importantly, never grows up. Peter Pan made his first appearance in J.M. Barrie’s The Little White Bird and his most famous appearance in 1953 Disney animated film, Peter Pan.
One of the most famous scenes from Peter Pan comes near the beginning of the film where Peter returns to the Darling household because Nana the dog stole his shadow. Tinker Bell eventually finds Peter’s shadow in the sewing drawer. After she frees Peter’s shadow, Peter chases his shadow around the room and wrestles it to the ground. Wendy then tells Peter, “One can’t leave his shadow lying about and not miss it sooner or later, don’t you agree?”
Like Peter Pan who was separated from his shadow, the false teachers at Colossae had separated the shadows of Christ in the Old Testament from Christ himself. These heretics were preaching a syncretism of Christianity, Judaism, and paganism. The heresy was, in essence, that Christ is not enough. In order to be saved one must not only take Christ, but also they must have an additional experience or they must add additional practices.
Beginning with last week’s sermon we are now in the heart of the book of Colossians. Colossians 2.6-4.6 is the core of Paul’s argument against the false teaching. Everything before Colossians 2.6 is introduction leading to his argument and everything after Colossians 4.6 is concluding the letter. Last week we saw that Colossians 2.6 is the heading for this core section of the epistle. Look again at Colossians 2.6: Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him.
Everything leading up to this verse was describing what it means to receive Christ Jesus the Lord. And now Colossians 2.6-4.6 is Paul’s argument for what it means to walk in Christ and to watch out for empty deceit. The empty deceit was trading the substance of Christ for the shadows of Christ. They were trading the preeminence of Christ for pagan rituals.
If we were to summarize this pericope in one sentence it would be: Do not add to the gospel of Christ because Christ is enough. Like that New York City chef who fed his interns his cooking exclusively so that they might be ruined for anything less, Paul has been feeding us Christ exclusively throughout this epistle so that we might be ruined for anything less. Like a banker who studies legitimate tender so that he can immediately identify a counterfeit, the Holy Spirit has been teaching us about the legitimate Christ so that we can immediately identify this counterfeit teaching. We must not add to the gospel of Christ because Christ is enough.
Do Not Add To The Gospel Of Christ
There are two imperatives in this pericope: (1) in verse 16 Paul writes, let no one pass judgment on you and (2) in verse 18, let no one disqualify you. The heretical false teachers were passing judgment and disqualifying the Colossian Christians by teaching that Christ was not enough; they needed to add experiences or practices to Christ, in order to be saved. And it seems like Paul addresses this heresy from two different angles: first, the Jewish angle, and second from the pagan angle. In verses 16-17, Paul addresses the Jewish elements and in verse 18 Paul deals with the pagan elements of the heresy.
Look again at verse 16-17:
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. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.
There is no question that here Paul references Judaism. One commentator summarized this list as Paul’s argument against Jewish diet and days.
The old covenant required a particular dietary code and a particular calendar. You can read Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy to see a list of restricted foods and rules about how certain food must be cooked. To this day orthodox Jews keep Kosher. If you read the Pentateuch you will also find commands about required festival days including Passover, Yom Kippur, new moons, and the Sabbath.
In verses 21-22 Paul gives further explanation for why the food laws are not inherent. “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings. Paul asks, why are you governed by food and drink that you put into your mouth but they’re going to end up coming out the other end? The food laws were not an end in and of themselves but were a means to an end. They were a shadow, not the substance.
The Colossian heresy was not only Jewish but it was also pagan. Look at verse 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
The word disqualify is the Greek word καταβραβεύω, which means, “to judge as a referee that someone is not worthy to receive a prize.” The false teachers were teaching the church that if they didn’t embrace these additional experiences, then they would be disqualified from salvation.
Paul uses four descriptors for this pagan teaching: (1) asceticism, (2) angel worship, (3) going on about visions, and (4) being puffed up without reason. First, the heretics taught asceticism. The word translated, asceticism is actually the word for humility but in this context it obviously means false humility. Asceticism teaches that the physical is evil and the “spiritual” is good. It is a form of Gnosticism. People were taught to starve themselves and abuse their bodies. Married people were taught to abstain from sex because physical pleasures are inherently evil.
Scripture teaches us the opposite. God created the world good (Gen 1). God created food and drink to be enjoyed. God created sex for procreation and pleasure in marriage between one man and one woman for life. Asceticism for asceticism’s sake is heretical because it teaches that God’s creation is inherently evil.
Second, the false teachers worshipped angels. This is heresy because angels are creation. The only one worthy of worship is the creator. The angels are merely messengers of the one true God. In Revelation 22.8-9 the Apostle John fell down to worship an angel and the angel rebukes him:
I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”
Angels worship Christ. We do not worship angels. We worship the one whom the angels worship, the one true God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Third, the false teachers go on in detail about visions. The phrase, go on in detail is difficult in Greek. It’s the word ἐμβατεύω, which is an hapax legomenon, meaning it only occurs once in the New Testament. The ESV Study Bible has a helpful note: “The use of this word on a series of inscriptions found near Ephesus…has clarified it’s meaning…It denoted the higher stage of mystery cult initiation that involved ‘entering’ the innermost sanctuary of the pagan temple.” What probably happened was that the false teachers had some pagan spiritual experience with a pagan temple and were trying to mix it here with Christianity.
Fourth, the false teachers are puffed up without reason by a sensuous mind. These hereticswere arrogant. They were puffed up, but Paul says it’s without reason. They’re arrogance is unreasonable. They are deceived by their sensuous minds.
Paul summarizes the Colossian heresy in verse 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.
At first glance this false teaching appeared to be wisdom, but ultimately it has no value. There is no substance in a shadow. There is no regeneration, no transformation in any of these practices.
These are the specifics of the Colossian heresy, but the application is for the entire church for all time: do not add to the gospel of Christ. Do not impose old covenant rules on new covenant Christians. Do not believe that you need an extra experience like speaking in tongues, having a vision, receiving new revelation, or experiencing a second blessing. Do not let people judge you about what you eat or drink. Baptists are historically ok with telling people don’t judge what they eat, but they’re also historically the most judgmental about what people drink.
If someone tells you that Christians don’t drink alcohol, or smoke tobacco, or dance, don’t listen to him. If someone tries to tell you that Christians must speak in tongues or have an extra experience, don’t listen to him. If someone teaches that regeneration happens at baptism, don’t listen to him. If someone tries to impose certain days or holidays on you for salvation, don’t listen to him. The New Testament only requires one day of observance: every Sunday as the church gathers around the Word and the sacrament. Do not add to the gospel of Christ.
Because Christ Is Enough
And the text is clear; the reason why we must not add to the gospel of Christ is because Christ is enough. Paul gives three reasons why Christ is enough: (1) Christ is the substance of these shadows, (2) Christ is the head of the church, and (3) in Christ we have died to everything else. First, Christ is enough because he is the substance of all of the Old Testament shadows. Second Corinthians 1.20 says that all of the promises of God find their yes in Christ.
This is where hermeneutics are imperative. Look again at verse 17, these are the shadow of things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. The diet and day restrictions of the old covenant were not an end in and of themselves, they were a means to an end and that end is Christ. The food laws of the Old Testament were given, among other reasons, to create a distinct people; Israel looked different than the pagan nations because they could only eat certain things. This was a providential picture given to point forward to God’s one true distinct Son, Jesus Christ and with the advent of Christ comes the abolition of the food laws. Read Acts 10.9-16 and you will hear God’s declaration that all foods are clean.
The same is true with the laws about days. These festivals and days made Israel distinct. The occasions they celebrated, Passover, Yom Kippur, etc., pointed forward to Christ, who is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Read the book of Galatians and you will hear the Holy Spirit rebuke any who try to add Jewish regulations to the gospel. Read the book of Hebrews and you will see that the Jewish law and liturgy led to Christ.
The Old Testament is filled with people and pictures, offices and sacrifices, buildings and holidays that are all intended to point us forward to Jesus Christ. They are the shadow; he is the substance. They are the signs; he is the destination. In January we went to Florida for Bethany’s birthday. Can you imagine if we drove all the way down to the Georgia/Florida border, got out of the van, took a picture by the “Welcome to Florida” sign and turned around and drove home? That would be insanity! That’s what happens if you try to apply any Old Testament teaching or promises apart from the gospel of Jesus Christ; you are trading the destination for the sign; the substance for the shadow.
Not only is Christ the substance but second he is also the head of the church. In verse 19 Paul writes that the heretics are:
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
Christ is the head of the church. That means that everything the church is and does is centered in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Anything that is antithetical to or an addition to the gospel of Christ is harmful to the church because Jesus is the head of the church.
We do not move on from the gospel but the gospel is the exclusive substance of the preaching, liturgy, and ministry of every true church. Christ is the one who nourishes the body. Christ is the one who knits the body together. Christ is the only one who brings growth to the church. Everything we do as a church must be centered in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Finally, the text says that Christ is enough because we have died with Christ (Col 2.20). The gospel is the good news that the eternal second person of the Holy Trinity took on flesh and dwelt among us (John 1.14). His name is Jesus of Nazareth and he lived without sin (Heb 4.15), died on the cross as the substitute for God’s people, and resurrected on the third day. Now everyone who will repent of their sin and trust in Christ alone will receive the forgiveness of sins and eternal life.
We are able to receive the forgiveness of sin and eternal life because the death and resurrection of Christ are imputed to us. We are united with Christ in his death and resurrection. When you take Christ by faith God views you as if you died with Jesus on the cross and that you resurrected with him on that very first Easter. This is the declaration of our baptism: we have died, been buried with, and have been raised in Christ. His death for sin is our death to sin. His resurrection is our hope of resurrection.
And what have we died to? Paul says we died to the elemental spirits of the world. This is the language Paul used last week when he referenced the unholy trinity of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Through the death and resurrection of Christ we are no longer enslaved to the world, the flesh, and the devil. We are free to love God and love neighbor. We are freed to hate and fight our sin. We are liberated from any attempt at self-atonement, self-righteousness, or self-salvation because we have those things in Christ.
We are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Repent and believe in the gospel. Do not let anyone pass judgment on you about anything additional to Christ for salvation. Do not pass judgment on anyone about anything additional to Christ for salvation. Do not let anyone disqualify you insisting on anything additional to Christ for salvation. Do not disqualify anyone insisting on anything additional to Christ for salvation. All we have is Christ and all we need is Christ.
Conclusion
When Peter Pan and Tinker Bell returned to the Darling home for Peter’s shadow, do you know how Peter made sure he didn’t lose his shadow again? Wendy sewed Peter Pan’s shadow back to his feet. We need to make sure we do the same thing with all of the Old Testament shadows that point us to Christ. The shadows must be sewed to Christ because apart from Christ they are meaningless. With the advent of Christ Judaism has become just another pagan religion. But when we see the shadows fulfilled in Christ, the Old Testament becomes the rich, Christ-centered book that the Holy Spirit intended it to be.
These heretics were like Peter Pan; they didn’t want to grow up. They wanted to keep playing in the shadows when the substance had already come. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all of the Old Testament types and shadows. They were merely a means to an end. The Old Testament apart from Christ is worse than meaningless; it is heresy. But the Old Testament is all about Christ. He is the substance. Do not add to the gospel of Christ because Christ is enough. Do not get lost in the Neverland of legalism, moralism, or adding to the gospel. Grow up and see the substance, which is Christ.