Colossians 2:6-15
Second Sunday After Epiphany
Pastor Nathan P. Kassulke Sunday, January 18, 2026
“Find Fullness in Christ”
Have you had times, like I have, when you are certain there must be more to the story? Maybe one of your children comes to you and says about a brother, “He hit me!” And you can just tell that the appropriate question is, “Well, what did you do?” I’m not excusing the hitting, but I want to know what really happened. Just about any political argument that is presented comes from one specific perspective and leaves out the possible unintended consequences or other possible issues, so it’s pretty important to think about it carefully and to consider those things. I actually saw just the other day how a news organization had posted a headline that said, “human DNA detected on a meteorite.” Unsurprisingly, the article revealed that the headline did not match up with the actual story. Scientists did find some things that are at times components in DNA, but nothing like DNA. If you just read the headline, you would be far from the truth.
Our Second Reading today comes from the book of Colossians. The Apostle Paul wrote that book to Christians in the city of Colosse. One of the reasons for writing the book was that false teachers in that city were insisting that there was more to Christianity than what the Colossians had learned. They were saying that there were deeper truths or hidden insights that gave the real story about what it means to be a Christian and how to be saved. Now, we would agree that there are always more insights to be gained about God’s grace to us, there is always more to learn about how Christianity affects our lives. The issue is these new insights and depths of understanding don’t change the perspective the way the false teachings were trying to. So Paul wrote to those Christians to encourage them not to change their perspective or approach, but to hold on to the amazing truth that they had learned and appreciate it even more.
We can understand how it might be tempting to try to look for deeper meanings or hidden truths. Just look at today’s Gospel. It may not sound like John is saying a whole lot when he calls Jesus the “Lamb of God.” But he is. When he told his disciples, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” he was summarizing the most important points of all of Scripture. That phrase gives us a special name or title for Jesus. It provides a theme for our service today. It captures an amazing truth. In fact, our theme centers on the Lamb of God even though the Gospel is the only one of our readings that even uses the phrase. We might think that there has to be a lot more to the story. We might wonder if we’re missing something.
Paul invites us to listen in on his letter to the Colossians and to see that we’re not missing anything. He may not use the phrase, “Lamb of God,” but he beautifully describes who the Lamb of God is and why that is so important. He wants to assure us that if we have Jesus, we have everything we need. So no matter who tries to convince us that we need something more or something different, we can stand firm knowing that we have the Lamb of God. We have Jesus. We have everything we need.
So today we are invited to find fullness in Christ.
We find fullness in Christ because of who he is. Here is how Paul describes him: For all the fullness of God’s being dwells bodily in Christ.
The Colossians were being falsely taught that there was a disconnect between the spiritual and the physical. While we can certainly understand that the physical and the spiritual are different things, they are not so totally separate. The false teachers said that bodies, since they were physical, were not important. Perhaps they were even evil. But Paul says, no. Jesus had a true body, a physical body. Not only did he have a physical human body, he still has a physical human body. That’s maybe the easy part to understand. What Paul discusses here is beyond our comprehension. In that human body lives everything that is God, lives the fullness of God’s being.
And even though Paul does not mention Jesus being the Lamb of God, this truth that he emphasizes gets right to the heart of that message. The Lamb of God means sacrifice. It makes us think of all the many sacrifices offered on God’s altar in the Old Testament. It makes us think of all the lambs slaughtered at Passover—in the first instance to save people and since in remembrance of that great event. So John’s proclamation marked Jesus as the one who would fulfil everything those sacrifices taught. He was the sacrifice, the one for the sins of the whole world. And to be that, he needed to be a true human being. God does not die. God does not live under law. God in the person of Jesus Christ lived under law and died as a sacrifice. And because that sacrifice was God, it had infinite value. It was not only enough for one life as an exchange. The holy, precious blood of Jesus could truly wash away the sins of every sinner. Ever.
And that is how you find fullness. Jesus is exactly what we needed. He is everything we sinners needed. So while some search for more to the story, we do not. We marvel at everything this means for us and for our lives. That’s why Paul starts this section by urging us to continue in Christ just as we received him as Lord. We didn’t earn or deserve it. We didn’t need to do anything, so we still don’t. We are rooted in him. We find everything that we need, the nourishment we require, in him and through his Word. We are built up in him. All that we are is built on him as a strong and sure foundation.
Paul may not use the picture of a lamb for sacrifice, but he uses so many rich pictures here to describe what Christ has done for us. He tells us that we were buried with Christ in baptism to be raised to new life. He tells us that we have been given a circumcision not done by human hands. Christ has put off our sinful flesh, our sinful nature. Through baptism we have entered into a lasting relationship with God. We were buried with Christ and raised to life with him.
And what an apt picture burial and resurrection paints. That’s not true just because that is what Jesus went through for us. It is true because we came into this world spiritually dead. Left to our own devices, we would have no interest and no ability to come closer to God. But God made us alive by forgiving our sins. God took the legal demands, the commands that accused us and opposed us as wretched sinners, and he nailed them to the cross. He has left behind no trace of guilt or accusation.
And now the crucified and risen lord, the Lamb of God, rules over everything. There is no power or might or authority greater than his. Every enemy that would oppose Christ has been defeated. Jesus marched like a conquering king to display his victory over them all. In this regard we might think of his powerful descent into hell, something we confess regularly in the Apostles’ Creed. Jesus did not go there to suffer. He suffered the torment of hell during his time on the cross. He descended into hell alive to demonstrate his complete victory over all his enemies. And he told us about it that we, too, may have the confidence that he has done everything we need.
For so many things in this life it is good for us to get the rest of the story. It might completely change our perspective on things or at least give us an understanding or appreciation of another perspective. But when we hear John the Baptist proclaim the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, we don’t need the rest of the story. That is the reality. The deeper we look, we don’t learn anything new or different. We see that we need nothing else, no one else. All we need is Jesus. We find fullness in him, because of who he is and because of what he has done. We were dead in our sins. He has made us alive with him forever.
The Text: Colossians 2:6–15 (EHV)
6Therefore, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in him, 7by being rooted and built up in him, and strengthened in the faith just as you were taught, while you overflow in faith with thanksgiving.
8See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, which are in accord with human tradition, namely, the basic principles of the world, but not in accord with Christ. 9For all the fullness of God’s being dwells bodily in Christ. 10And you have been brought to fullness in him. Christ is the head over every ruler and authority. 11You were also circumcised in him, with a circumcision not done by human hands, in the putting off of the body of flesh, in the circumcision of Christ, 12when you were buried with Christ in baptism. And in baptism you were also raised with him through the faith worked by the God who raised Christ from the dead.
13Even when you were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ by forgiving us all our trespasses. 14God erased the record of our debt brought against us by his legal demands. This record stood against us, but he took it away by nailing it to the cross. 15After disarming the rulers and authorities, he made a public display of them by triumphing over them in Christ.