2. Our Sufficiency In Christ Sufficient Control

4. Fuzzy Cloud “Christ is sufficient… …for character growth.” What Exactly Happens Here?

5. Our Sufficiency In Christ Week 1: Sufficient Hope Week 2: Sufficient Wisdom Week 3: Sufficient Control Week 4: Sufficient Acceptance Week 5: Sufficient Power

6. Sufficient Control

7. “Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. He has 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.” - Colossians 2:18-19

8. Sufficient Control

9. “Since you died to the basic principles of this world, why as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: 'Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!' These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.” – Colossians 2:20-23

10. Sufficient Control Short-cut?

11. Sufficient Control Message of Colossians: A call to live the Christian life in light of Christ’s sufficiency.

12. Sufficient Control Order of Colossians: Chapter 1: The Sufficiency of Christ for Character Growth Chapter 2: The Inadequacy of Other Means for Character Growth Chapters 3 & 4: A Call for Character Growth

13. Sufficient Control Christ in Control of Creation (v. 15-17) Christ in Control of Church (v.18-20) He is Firstborn Everything In Him Through Him For Him

14. Sufficient Control Christ in Control of Creation (v. 15-17) Christ in Control of Church (v.18-20) He is Firstborn Everything In Him Through Him For Him Deity: “the image of the invisible God.” (v. 15) Deity: “…all His fullness dwell in Him.” (v. 19)

15. Sufficient Control “Firstborn” = 1) First Child “While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”- Luke 2:6-7

16. Sufficient Control “Firstborn” = 1) First Child 2) Being First in Time 3) Status

17. Sufficient Control “Firstborn” = 1) First Child 2) Being First in Time 3) Status 4) Control “I will also appoint him my firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth.” - Psalm 89:27

18. Sufficient Control 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Christ’s Control over Creation:

19. Sufficient Control 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Christ’s Control over Creation:

20. Sufficient Control Promotions & Demotions in America: God Angels Humans Animals Gods Angels Humans ? BeforeAfter

21. Sufficient Control 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Christ’s Control over Creation:

22. Sufficient Control 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Christ’s Control over Creation:

23. Sufficient Control 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Christ’s Control over the Church:

24. Sufficient Control 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Christ’s Control over the Church:

25. Sufficient Control 1:15 “He is the image of the invisible God.” 1:19 “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him.” 2:9 : "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form." Christ’s Deity:

26. Sufficient Control Assessing Our Own Short-Cuts: Total Dead Ends: Distorted Means of Grace:

27. Sufficient Control “As sinners, we have a natural bent to turn away from the Creator to serve the creation. We turn away from hope in a Person to hope in systems, ideas, people, or possessions. Real Hope stares us in the face, but we do not see him. Instead, we dig into the mound of human ideas to extract a tiny shard of insight. We tell ourselves that we have finally found the key, the thing that will make a difference.”

28. Sufficient Control “We act on the insight and embrace the delusion of lasting personal change. But before long, disappointment returns. The change was temporary and cosmetic, failing to penetrate the heart of the problem. So, we go back to the mound again, determined this time to dig in the right place. Eureka! We find another shard of insight, seemingly more profound than before.”

29. Sufficient Control “We take it home, study it, and put it into practice. But we always end up in the same place. The good news confronts us with the reality that heart- changing help will never be found in the mound. It will only be found in the Man, Christ Jesus. We must not offer people a system of redemption, a set of insights and principles. We offer people a Redeemer.”

30. Our Sufficiency In Christ Sufficient Control