We Never Move on From Christ
We sing a song at our church called “Jesus, Strong and Kind” by CityAlight. It’s a simple chorus with profound truth, and it stands as one of my favorites for corporate worship. At the end of the song, it culminates in the classic, “Jesus Loves Me.” It’s a delight to hear children singing in the worship service to a song they know so well, and I can get choked up in hearing them joined by adults of all ages.
We think of “Jesus Loves Me” as a children’s song because it’s easy to sing and understand, and it’s been sung in children’s Sunday school classes for decades. But why do seasoned adult Christians belt out this song so fervently? Because we never move on from this truth: “Jesus loves me—this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” We should certainly dive deeper into this reality, but we must never go beyond it.
Paul’s purpose for writing the letter to the Colossians can be described similarly. There was a heresy being spread among the church in Colossae which claimed that Christ is not enough for spiritual maturity and stability. Instead of living life in Christ, the false teachers were promoting a legalistic list of do’s and don’ts, harsh treatment of the body, and worship of angels (Colossians 2:16–23). Therefore, the Colossians needed to be shown that Christ is sufficient for all of life. They needed to be shown that Christians never move on from Christ.
To drive this home, Paul employs the highest, loftiest language to express the supremacy and centrality of Jesus Christ. He does this first by conveying that Christ is the Lord of all creation. Paul declares of Christ that “all things were created through Him and for Him” (1:16), and “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together” (1:17). Does this sound like someone who is limited in what He can do for our souls? Does this sound like someone who can only do so much to meet our spiritual needs?
All things were created by Christ . . . including the angels the Colossians were told to worship (2:18), the things they were told not to handle or touch (2:21), the food they were told not to taste (2:16, 21), the bodies they were told to treat severely through asceticism (2:18, 23), and the Sabbath they were told to keep (2:16). Because Christ created all these things, it is utterly foolish to think that anyone would benefit from moving on from Christ to embrace a religion focused on what is only under His rule and reign.
Paul is also clear in declaring Christ as Lord of all salvation. We see this in a few places, but it is most prominent in 2:11–15. In these verses, it’s clear that our sinful flesh is only put off in Christ (2:11), that we are only raised to new life in him (2:12–13), that it’s only with Christ that God forgives us all our trespasses (2:13), and only in him does God triumph over Satan’s army of darkness (2:15). With truth like this, what spiritual need can you imagine that Jesus does not meet? Christ alone has provided for every cry of our souls. Therefore, Christ alone must be trusted now and moving forward. We never move on from Christ.
Paul also uses all-encompassing language to reveal Christ’s sufficiency for all of life. In 2:3, he says that “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” are in hidden in Christ. This is in stark contrast with the heresy being touted among the Colossians, which only has “an appearance of wisdom,” but has “no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh” (2:23). When someone comes along claiming that there is something else outside of Christ that you need for growth and maturity, you don’t have to carefully weigh everything being stated. You can easily cast it aside because Scripture tells us that there is no treasure of wisdom that exists outside of Christ. We never move on from Christ.
The letter to the Colossians leaves us no room for thinking that Christ isn’t enough for every spiritual need. Paul tells us that the “whole fullness of deity” dwells bodily in Christ (2:9), but also that believers “have been filled in Him” (2:10). This is why we can obey Paul’s command to “walk in [Christ], rooted and built up in Him” (2:6–7). In Christ, we lack nothing we need to live our lives “fully pleasing” to the Lord (1:10).
It imperative that we embrace the truth of Colossians, because a subtle shift might take place if we don’t. According to Colossians, Jesus is clearly supreme and central to the Christian life. But without attentiveness to our souls, we may begin to see Christ as only important and helpful. And then, from there, we may begin to see Him as merely a suggestion or side note in our lives.
Brothers and sisters, as Lord of all creation and Lord of all salvation, Christ is sufficient for all of life. Never move on from Christ.