It All Starts With The Root.
Colossians 1:6-7
As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord,
so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him,
and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught,
abounding therein with thanksgiving.
"Rooted"
is a verb in the perfect passive tense which should be read as "having
been rooted." In ancient Greek non-biblical writings "rooted"
was
used in two ways. In it's literal use it was an agricultural
term
that was used in relation to planting. In the figurative
sense it
was used to refer to the foundation of a building and/or the solid
stance of a sportsman or soldier. The perfect passive tense
tells
us that we were not the instigator of the act of being rooted but
instead we were the receiver of the action. Perfect passive is used to
denote an action in the past that has ongoing results and effect. So to
fully communicate the tense in English we could say: "Having been
rooted in the past, we are now rooted and will always be rooted."
Psalms
1:3-4 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that
bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither;
and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not
so:
but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
Please note
that our rooting is not in education, secret knowledge, experience,
religion or any other fleshly thing. We are rooted in
Him.
Any other root or foundation is on sinking sand:
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus' name.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
All other ground is sinking sand.
(by Edward Mote 1770s)
We
are rooted in Him: The second chapter of Ephesians makes it
clear
that God was the one who initiated and carried out our
rooting in
Christ:
Ephesians 2:4-6: "But God, who is rich in
mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we
were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye
are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit
together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:"
God made us to
sit. "Sit" is a position of rest. A position of
stability.
Rooted. We are rooted together in the heavenlies in Christ
Jesus. Again, we are not the one performing the action but it
is
God who caused us to sit IN Christ.
As Christians, "having
been rooted" refers to our spiritual birth, or infilling of Holy Spirit
and the ongoing outpouring that results from having been
rooted.
Colossians 1:27 states that we have Christ in us who is the root, the
foundation and our solid stance. We did not plant ourselves
or
cause ourselves to be planted. Eph 2:8-10 tells us: "For by
grace
are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift
of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
For we are
his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God
hath before ordained that we should walk in them." The accuracy,
precision and specificity of the original Word of God is amazing.
So,
having a solid foundation that cannot be moved we are being
progressively built up in Him. "Built up" is a verb in the present
passive tense that should be read as "being built upon." It
is
present ongoing action but we are the receiver of the action.
God
is the actor. He acts through our brothers and sisters who
are
outpouring the Spirit on our behalf. When we interact with
one
another we are to build up, encourage and comfort one another in
love. We all have the ministry of reconciliation.
Neil
