Is Jesus Enough for You? | Colossians 2:16-23

Good morning, Watermark. How are we doing today? Good to see you. Welcome to church. We're about to jump into studying the Word of God, so I want to do what we do every week. I want to give you an opportunity to pray and ask God to speak to you this morning very clearly. So pray really quickly for yourself and just say, "God, would you speak clearly to me today?" Then would you pray for the people around you? Just say, "God, would you speak clearly to them?" Then would you pray for me and ask God to speak clearly through me to you?

Lord Jesus, I pray that we would have eyes to see you, I pray that we would have ears to hear you today, and I pray that we would have hearts that are receptive to all that you want to say. We love you. We give this time to you. In Jesus' name, amen.

When I was a student at Texas A&M University, I decided to try out for this very selective organization. There was a weeklong selection process, so I went to all of the different events. At the end of the week, you were supposed to go to the Memorial Student Center to pick up a letter that would tell you whether or not you got into the organization. I just so happen to have that exact letter right here. I don't know the psychology behind me still having this letter. Maybe you can diagnose that for me.

I went to the MSC and picked up this letter, and I walked outside and opened it. I'll just read you a portion of what it says. I won't read you the whole thing, but you'll get the gist. "Unfortunately…" Okay. Let me start right there. That's not a good sign. That's not a word you want in this type of letter. "Unfortunately, the nature of what this organization was founded on requires that this process be selective. At this time, we must inform you you have not been selected." So that was that.

I think about that, and here's the message I took away from that. The message I took away from that when I was in college was, "Hey, you're not enough. You're not connected enough. You're not engaging enough. You're not funny enough. At least for us, you're not enough." As I thought about that, my question for you is…Has anyone ever handed you a letter like that? Maybe they haven't handed you a physical letter, but maybe they've handed you a figurative letter.

Maybe it's a parent whose message to you at a younger age was "You're not smart enough. You're not skinny enough." Maybe it's an ex-girlfriend or ex-boyfriend or ex-spouse who has, in a sense, let you know, "You're not lovable enough." Or maybe it's a boss or a former boss who has let you know, "You're not talented enough. You're not high capacity enough."

I would imagine that some people here look at social media every day, and social media feels like it's handing you a letter by all of the influencers and all of the people you follow and all that they're achieving. The message to you is "You know what? You're just not enough." The problem is when we take that message to heart, "You're not enough," we begin to live under the message and the banner of "Not enough," so life becomes one big performance.

We live a performance-driven life where everything we do becomes about proving to ourselves and to others that we're enough. We're trying to convince ourselves. "Am I enough? I want to be enough." We're trying to convince other people. "I want you to think I'm enough." Unfortunately, that banner "Not enough" and that lifestyle of performance can seep into our relationship with God.

Just to be clear, an aspect of the message of Christianity is you're not enough, but that's not the extent of the message of Christianity. The message of Christianity is good news. You're not enough, and that's okay because Jesus Christ has been enough for you and, because of what he has done through his perfect life, perfect death, perfect burial, and perfect resurrection, has made you enough for God. That's the good news of Christianity.

But there's some disconnect in our lives from that. The reason I can say there's a disconnect is because I think so many of us really, truly believe God loves us, but we struggle to believe he likes us. Hear what I'm saying right now. Listen to how I'm going to put it and evaluate if this is true for you.

I think so many of us happily receive eternal salvation by grace through faith, but then we try to earn and receive God's approval and pleasure solely through performance. So what happens is we live a life under this banner of not being enough. That's why in our Community Groups we often share about what we should be doing but aren't and where we need to step it up and be more consistent because we're not enough.

The reason I'm talking about this right now is we're in this series called A Maturing Church. We want to be people who grow up in our faith. We want to be passionate, mature followers of Jesus Christ. As we step into Colossians, chapter 2, we're now going to see the clearest passage in the book detailing the teaching of the false teachers, and what it boils down to… The message from the false teachers to the Christians in Colossae was "You're not enough. You are not enough for God. That's cute that you believe in Jesus, but you're going to need a lot more than Jesus if you're going to be a spiritually mature person."

The false teachers' lies can be boiled down to three. Their lies are these. "You know what? That's great that you believe in Jesus, but you're going to need to do more to be enough for God." That's the first lie we're going to see. The second lie is "You're going to need to experience more to be enough for God," and the third lie is "You need to sacrifice more in order to be enough for God." The reality is those three lies are alive and well today in the lives of the people in this room. So I want to address it.

If you have a Bible, I want to invite you to turn with me to Colossians, chapter 2. We're going to be in verses 16-23. I'll tell you this. When I read this passage and knew I was going to be preaching it, I was not excited about it. I read it, and I was like, "I'm still trying to understand what Paul is even talking about here. Where are we going to go with this?" I was not excited about it. Now that I've prepared for it, I'm like, "This might be the message we need most."

My hope is today something unlocks for you, that there's greater freedom and enjoyment in Jesus Christ because of what God wants to say through Paul to us. Let me boil it down for you really quickly so that you know ultimately where I'm trying to drive you. What you need to understand is as Paul is unpacking the lies of the false teachers, you're going to see Paul's response.

The question we really need to be asking is not, "Are we enough for God?" The real question is…Is Jesus, who is God, enough for us? That's the question you need to answer. Not are you enough for God. The question you need to answer is…Is Jesus, who is God, going to be enough for you? Are you going to allow his perfect life, death, burial, and resurrection to be enough for you?

So here we go. Colossians, chapter 2. We're starting with the first lie. The first lie is from the influence of Judaism. When you think about these false teachers, I like to say they have food-court theology. You think about going to the food court at the mall. There are a bunch of different flavors you could experience. What the false teachers have done is they've kind of picked a few different flavors and mixed them all together.

In this false teaching, there's some Judaism influence, and then there's some pagan theology mixed in. So, the first lie, "You need to do more to be enough for God," comes from the influence of Judaism. Paul starts out and says, "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."

Look at the way Paul starts. He says, "Let no one pass judgment on you." When he says, "Let no one pass judgment on you," he's not saying the false teachers are criticizing the Christians in Colossae. He's not saying they're looking down on them. What he's saying is they are handing down a verdict from God. They believe they are handing down a verdict from God to the Christians in Colossae.

Their point is, "Hey, you're not enough for God. That's great that you believe in Jesus, but you know what? If you're going to be enough for God, you're going to need to get back on the Old Testament diet, and unless your Microsoft Outlook calendar is packed full of the daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly events and festivals of the Jewish calendar, you just need to be clear you're not enough."

Paul's response to their verdict is this. Verse 17: "These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ." He's looking back at the Old Testament and all of the laws and regulations, and he's like, "Guys, let's be clear. Those things were just a shadow of the substance to come, and that substance is Jesus Christ."

Think about what a shadow is. A shadow is a vague reflection that points to a much greater reality. Paul's point is that's what the Old Testament was for Jesus Christ. The Old Testament law finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ. I'll give you one example. Jews would have been expected to celebrate the Passover. Every year there would be a lamb without blemish whose blood would be shed in order to atone for the sins of the nation of Israel.

When Jesus shows up on the scene, John the Baptist sees him and says, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." Then John gets a vision in the book of Revelation, chapter 5, and says, "Look. I see a lion-like lamb." He's a lion because he's royal and conquering. He's a lamb because he conquered by, in a sense, being conquered. He conquered through being slain. His blood was poured out. He has dealt with the sins of humanity by his blood.

Paul's point is, "Hey, why would you keep celebrating the Passover once a year? Why would you keep putting a lamb to death when the Lamb of God has already come and died once and for all to take away the sins of the world?" His point is, "Look. The Old Testament finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ."

For you to sit there and be like, "Let's get the lamb back out every year" would be like me saying, "You know what? My wife Kat is beautiful, but have you seen her shadow? Have you seen it? Oh my gosh. That vague, dark outline on the sidewalk when she walks in the sunlight…mm! Do you know what I want to be married to? That shadow." Wouldn't you be like, "This just got weird. What are we talking about right now?"

Paul's point is "Exactly. What are we talking about right now?" These false teachers are like, "Jesus is cute, but let's get back to the Old Testament." Paul is like, "He fulfilled it. Why are we going back to those laws and regulations when Jesus came and fulfilled the righteous demands of the law?" Let me explain it this way.

On Friday, the workout at the gym ended with a 400-meter farmer's carry. If you're not familiar with a farmer's carry, you basically get two kettlebells and walk with them for 400 meters. I know some of you all are still catching up, like, "Wait. You were at the gym? Really?" You're like, "Man, I'm looking at you in high definition. Are you sure?" Yes, I'm sure. I understand your question, but…

So, I'm doing this farmer's carry. I wanted to impress myself. I wanted to feel good about myself, so I decided, "I'm going to carry more weight today than I normally do, because I think I'm up for the challenge." So I go and grab more weight than I normally carry, and I walk out the door. It is not long into this farmer's carry when I realize, "Uh, I can't carry this much weight. This is not going to go well for me. I could carry it for a short distance, but, uh, this is not a weight I can carry for long term."

As I'm walking down the parking lot, I see a group of four people. Some of you here were in that group. You guys were talking and laughing with each other. The reason you were able to talk and laugh and enjoy your walk was out of you four people, only one of you was carrying the weight. So, one person was carrying the weight, and the other three were just walking and enjoying because someone was carrying the weight on their behalf.

Paul is like, "Guys, don't forget." The weight of the law is more weight than any of us can carry. Maybe you can carry the weight of the law for a few minutes on your best day or maybe a few hours for some of you who really got after it, but the reality is the weight of carrying God's 613 commands and fulfilling that law perfectly every moment of every day is a weight that is so crushing no one can bear it, yet Jesus came and carried the weight of the law on behalf of all of humanity by living the perfect life that we couldn't live. He satisfied the righteous requirements of the law on our behalf through his perfect life, death, burial, and resurrection.

So what's my point? My point is God's pleasure in us has been achieved not by our performance but because of his performance through his perfect life and death. We don't need to do more to be enough for God. We need to enjoy more the one who has done it all for us to be enough for God. Do you understand what I'm saying? It's not Jesus plus. We don't need to do more to be enough for God. We need to enjoy more the one who has done it all for us to be enough for God.

So, what am I getting at here? I would imagine half of you are like, "Look. I woke up and ate bacon today. Clearly, I'm not trying to pick up the law and carry it again. So, TA, what's your point? What are you driving at?" Well, here's the question I want to invite everyone in the room to answer: Why do you do the things you do spiritually? I want to invite you to think about the different spiritual activities you engaged in over the past week.

I'm going to ask these questions very slowly, because I want to invite you to answer in your heart. I'm not looking for your aspirational answer; I'm looking for your operational answer. Be honest with yourself. Why have you done the things you've done this week spiritually? Did you read your Bible this week? Why did you do that? Why did you read your Bible this week? Did you pray this week? Why did you pray? Think about it. Be honest with yourself.

Did you go to Community Group this week? Why did you go? Did your Community Group ask and answer the three Community Group questions? Why did you do that? Why did you come to church today? Why are you sitting there right now? Did you serve at some point this week? Why did you serve? Have you given to the church at some point this week over the last month or at some point in the last year? Why did you choose to give financially?

If at any point any part of your answer was "Because I'm a disciplined person and that's what I'm supposed to do. That's what God wants me to do. Because I don't want to feel bad about myself. Because it makes me feel better about myself. Because the church requires it…" Do you realize what has happened? You've just made a new version of the law with new requirements to try to be enough for God.

Let me be very clear, and I hope every person in this room hears it. Here's one of my fears for the members at Watermark. As I have interacted with different believers in this body, here is my fear. My fear is our spiritual activity would be more for the sake of security than for the sake of greater intimacy. Let me put it a different way. My fear is that through spiritual activity we are trying to either gain or sustain God's pleasure in us instead of simply more deeply enjoying God's already existing, unwavering pleasure. That's my fear.

So just be honest with yourself. Has the spiritual activity you've done been for the sake of security or for the sake of greater intimacy? Has it been to either gain or sustain God's pleasure in you or has it been to simply more fully enjoy the unwavering pleasure God already has in you? Now, let me be clear. Am I discouraging spiritual activity? Of course not. The Scripture calls us to spiritual activity.

All of the things we've just mentioned… I can make a case biblically that those are things we're supposed to engage in. What I'm trying to do is invite you to change the reason you are doing those things. I'll give you an example from my own life. Yesterday morning, my son had to be up and out the door for a cross-country race early, which meant I was up and on the road early to go and watch him run, which meant I didn't have my normal time in the Word.

As I am driving out to this race, I have the thought, "I need to spend time in the Word." You might hear that and be like, "You're a pastor. You do need to spend time in the Word." But when I had that thought, "I need to spend time in the Word," do you know why I had that thought? My thought was, "I need to do that because I don't want to feel bad about myself. I need to do that because that's what I'm supposed to do."

In that moment, it was like God inviting me… Like, "Hey, man. Just remember what you're preaching on tomorrow." God was just inviting me in. God is not in heaven like, "Yeah, you do need to read the Word so you don't feel bad about yourself. You do need time in the Word, because that's what you're supposed to do because you're a pastor." I honestly think God is like, "Hey, don't bother, man. Just consider yourself off the hook at least today. If that's why you're doing it… Hey, don't put that on me."

So what did I do in that moment? On the drive, I just hit the reset button. I was like, "God, I just need to remind myself of why I would even spend time in the Word. It's because through you, Christ, you've given me access. You've put me in Christ. I now live and move and operate in Christ. What a joy, what a privilege that I can meet with you and I can hear from you." I kind of hit the reset button in my life, because I needed to reorient myself to what is actually true.

God isn't sitting there saying, "Believing in Jesus is cute, but you need to do more if you're going to be enough for me." No. The question isn't…Am I enough for God? The question is…Will I let Jesus, who is God, be enough for me? Jesus has already satisfied the demands of the law. He's not asking me to create a new law that then I pick up and try to muscle through. No. He is inviting me to know him and enjoy him more as the one who has satisfied the law on my behalf.

So, here's my encouragement to you. Here's what I'm trying to drive toward. This next week, here's what I want to challenge you to do. Before you read the Bible or pray, stop and remind yourself of why you're even doing it. "Through Christ, I have access to God. He delights to meet with me. He wants to speak to me through his Word and prayer. I have the privilege of being heard by the God of the universe."

At Community Group this week, here's my challenge. Before y'all get going, just one of you be like, "Hey, TA told us to do this. I'm just going to lean into it. Let me start us off by reminding us of why we're even here and why we're doing this. We're here not because the church requires it. We're here because we aren't just in Christ individually; we're in Christ collectively. Christ has come to save us into a family. He secured my place in God's family. You are my brothers and sisters in Christ. We're gathering together to enjoy the privilege of meeting with God together as his children." Just watch what happens to that time.

Before you give financially or serve, remind yourself why you're doing it. "In Christ, I get to play a role in God's mission. God gives me resources to leverage so others can enjoy what I enjoy." This is what's called preaching the gospel to yourself. It's not Jesus plus. God isn't saying, "You need to do more in order to be enough for me." He's saying, "You need to enjoy more the one who has done it all in order for you to be enough for me." So, that's the first lie.

The second lie is "You need to experience more to be enough for God." "You don't just need to do more to be enough for God; you need to experience more. You need to feel more in order to be enough for God." We see that in verse 18. Paul goes on and says:

"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, and 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."

He says, "Let no one disqualify you," which means the false teachers were seeking to disqualify the Christians in Colossae. That word disqualify in the Greek can be used of an umpire ruling someone out. It's a referee. It's an official saying, "Err! You're disqualified." Paul is saying, "That's what they're doing.

They think they're working on behalf of God speaking to you, saying, 'Err! Not enough. You're just missing it. You're not enough for God. You've got to do more. Let's get back to that Old Testament law. But not just that. If you're really going to be spiritually mature, if you're going to play on varsity, you're going to need some supernatural feelings and experiences from God.'"

That's why he says, "Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions…" Scholars debate what Paul is really talking about here. Some believe he's talking about this belief that if you deprive yourself of food for several days, if you starve yourself, then your brain will kind of click into this mode where you will be transported into heaven to worship alongside angels.

So, those might be the visions Paul is talking about, that through asceticism, through depriving yourself of food, your brain is going to click into this state where you have these visions. It might be that these false teachers are going on and on and on very humbly. "Oh man. You know what? When I saw… Man, I looked to my left and my right, and there were the angels. They were getting after it just like me. It was crazy. When's the last time you had a vision like that?" Maybe that's what's happening.

Other scholars believe it's not worship alongside angels but worship of angels, that people were asking angels for protection and success, and through that, angels might grant people visions. Regardless of what's going on, Paul's point is false teachers are saying, "Err! You're out. You don't qualify. You're not enough for God because you don't have these supernatural feelings and experiences like we have."

Look at what Paul says. He says they're going on in detail about visions. Watch the wording. "Puffed up." That means they have an inflated view of self. They're becoming more and more arrogant. They're puffed up without reason. They have no reason to be arrogant. They've been puffed up by their sensuous or worldly or unspiritual minds.

So, these false teachers think they have achieved the highest levels of spiritual maturity. Like, if you're going to be a really spiritual person, you should look to them. Paul is like, "Nuh-uh. They're unspiritual. They're ungodly." Why? The beginning of verse 19 is so important. They're not holding fast to the Head.

Who's the head of the church? Jesus Christ. "…from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God." Paul is saying, "Look. The question isn't…Are you enough for God? Are you having enough experiences? The question is…Will Jesus be enough for you?"

You only grow spiritually in Christ, yet these false teachers are like, "Oh man. Jesus is cute, but we've got all of these crazy, amazing experiences over here," and they're having those experiences apart from Jesus. What does this look like today? I think it can look like chasing feelings and experiences spiritually. It could be as simple as coming here on Sundays or coming to The Porch on Tuesdays, and your greatest desire is for the feelings and the experience.

So, you come here on Sundays, and the goal is to get caught up in worship. The win is if you come here and leave wrecked by the worship and the message, but if you don't leave here wrecked, then it's like either there's something deficient in you or there was something deficient in the service, because if you're really spiritually mature, then you're going to leave here lit up, on fire with feelings and emotions and experiences in the name of Jesus. If you look around, and others are all in, but you're struggling to get there, then something is wrong.

For others, it might be making the mark of maturity a supernatural encounter with the Holy Spirit. I gave my 30s to college ministry, and being in college ministry, I saw these different college students going to churches that would tell them, "If you're truly saved, then at some point you're going to speak in tongues." The result of that is you have these young college students who make speaking in tongues the goal.

It's all about, "I desperately want the gift of speaking in tongues," and people are praying that they'll get the gift of speaking in tongues. Until they speak in tongues, it feels like, "Something is off. Something is wrong. Something is deficient. Why am I not experiencing spiritual maturity?" because that's the goal.

Maybe you hear about other Christians hearing from God and feeling close to God and God speaking to them in their dreams, so that becomes the measure for you of how you are doing spiritually. Are you hearing from God and feeling him? Now look. I want to be really clear. Meeting with Jesus can absolutely be experiential. There are going to be times in your pursuit of Jesus that your feelings and emotions will absolutely be stirred for him.

I want us to be careful. Sometimes, when anyone has any emotional response or feels on fire for Jesus, we chalk it up to emotionalism and spin it as only negative, but God made feelings. He gave us emotions, and in Christ, those feelings and emotions can be stirred to the glory of God. At the same time, it is a problem when feelings and experiences become the goal instead of Jesus being the goal. Feelings and experiences become what we chase. They become the standard for maturity.

Paul's point is spiritual maturity isn't the result of seeking experiences; spiritual maturity is the result of seeking Jesus. It's waking up each day to meet with Jesus through prayer and studying his Word. It's coming here and seeking to meet with Jesus as you worship together with other people. When you serve, you seek to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Yet along the way, as you seek Jesus, there might be different moments where it feels more experiential and your feelings and emotions are stirred. Let me share with you a moment from my life recently.

A couple of weeks ago, I woke up, and I sensed that God was inviting me to go for a walk with him instead of going to the gym, but I wanted to go to the gym, so I pointed my car toward the gym. When I was about to pull in, the entire parking lot was roped off because overnight they decided to redo the entire parking lot. In that moment, God was like, "Do you want to reconsider that invitation I gave you?" I was like, "Okay. You win." I turned around, parked my car, and went for a walk.

As I was walking, the goal of the walk was to just be with Jesus. I was reminding myself of truth from his Word, and God was ministering to me through the truth of his Word. As I was walking… There's no other way to articulate it than to simply explain it as I felt the embrace of Jesus on that walk. I don't know how else to explain it. I felt the embrace of Jesus on that walk, and it moved me to tears.

Now, here's my question. The next time I go for a walk, what's the goal? Is the goal to be weeping as I walk down the street? Is that the win? Is that how I judge whether it's a successful walk or not? No. The next time I go for a walk with Jesus, it's to simply be with Jesus. I'm going to seek Jesus. I'm going to seek to hear from him through the reading of his Word, through prayer. If my feelings are stirred during that time, great, but that's not the goal. There are going to be times along the way where that is simply a by-product of seeking Jesus.

The third lie from the false teachers is "You need to sacrifice more to be enough for God." In verse 20, Paul goes on and says, "If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations—'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 says, "If with Christ you've died to the elemental spirits…" What are those? I don't know. Scholars don't know either. You can read up on this. I spent hours this week on a journey to figure out what those elemental spirits are, and good news: after hours of research, I don't know and scholars don't know either. But I can tell you what I think he's talking about here, and that's not just my opinion. That's from reading and research.

I think this is another moment where these false teachers are pulling in some influence. There was a belief that there were angelic powers or even quasi-demonic powers that ruled over the basic elements of the earth, like earth and fire and wind and water. People lived in fear of these spiritual forces. They would seek to live in harmony with these spiritual forces, and they would seek to placate these spiritual forces by depriving the body of things like food and drink and even sex.

So it's possible that the false teachers' food-court theology is pulling those practices into their relationship with God. Like, "Hey, yeah. Do you remember those practices of placating those spiritual forces? Well, the same is true with God. If you're going to be enough for God, you need to sacrifice more. You need to sacrifice comfort more. You need to sacrifice the health of your body more."

That's why Paul says, "But you died to those elemental spirits. Why are you submitting to those regulations that say, 'Do not handle. Do not taste. Do not touch'?" Paul goes on in verse 23. "These…" These regulations. This asceticism of depriving your body to be enough for God. "…have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body…"

He's saying our tendency is to believe the harder it is the more godly it must be. Right? Do you ever sense that? Like, "The godliest way must always be the hardest way. God must be most pleased when it is most painful." His point is you look at these false teachers, and they're depriving themselves of all of these things, so it looks wise. It looks godly. It's like, "Oh man. Clearly, these guys are playing on varsity. No doubt."

He goes on and says, "…but [these regulations] are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh." So, what's Paul saying? He's like, "Look. Our tendency is to think that the harder it is the more godly it must be." But think about it this way. If this week you decide to fast for one, two, or three meals or three days… You decide to starve yourself.

Just imagine you decide to fast this week, but the entire time you're fasting, you're just thinking about how miserable you are. All you can think about is how you cannot wait to eat. You're already thinking about what your first meal is going to be when you break your fast. You just keep checking your watch and the clock. "Okay. How much longer? Just three more hours until I can finally eat."

Do you think that's pleasing to God? That's not godliness; that's actually idolatry, because your heart is still set on food. Your greatest desire is still for food. You are more in tune with your physical needs than your spiritual needs. That's why Paul says these practices are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. While you're depriving your body, your flesh is feasting on an idol, the idol of food.

Let's say you take a vow of celibacy. You decide, "I'm going to abstain from sex. Surely, God is going to be super pleased with that." But the entire time you abstain… You spend the rest of your life as a celibate. You wish you could have sex. You look lustfully at others, wishing you could have sex. Is God pleased by your abstinence? No, because you're still convinced that your greatest satisfaction is in sex.

See, we think God is pleased by us denying ourselves of our greatest satisfaction. Sugar is our greatest satisfaction, so God must be pleased when we give up sugar for Lent. Financial stability is our greatest satisfaction, so God must be pleased when we give until it hurts. Alcohol is our greatest satisfaction, so God must be pleased when we drink less. Here's the key: God isn't pleased simply by you denying yourself of your greatest satisfaction. God is pleased when you deny yourself because he is your greatest satisfaction.

Do you see the difference? One is idolatry, denying yourself of your greatest satisfaction. The other is godliness, denying yourself because Jesus Christ has become your greatest satisfaction. Paul says, "You've died with Christ to the elemental spirits." His point is because of the sacrifice of Christ, you don't have to sacrifice to be enough for God. If you do sacrifice, let it be because Jesus, who is God, is enough for you.

So, here's what this looks like in my life. I really enjoy food. I look forward to breakfast every single day. I genuinely look forward to my cup of coffee every morning. I will go to bed sometimes like, "Man! I can't wait for coffee in the morning." I just genuinely enjoy it. I eat the same thing for breakfast every single day, and if I'm not going to eat that, I get a little nervous. It is a good thing for me to sometimes fast.

When I fast, I say, "God, it is so good for me to feel hungry right now, because it reminds me that my greatest need is not physical; it's spiritual. The hunger pains I feel right now… I want that type of hunger for you, because you are so much more satisfying than food. You're so much more satisfying than the sweetest thing. You are the one I need most." That's me declaring, "You're my greatest satisfaction. I might really enjoy food, and it can be satisfying for a couple or three hours, but in the end, you are the only one who can satisfy the deepest longings of my soul."

So, the question becomes…How does Jesus become your greatest satisfaction? Right? If you want to get out from this banner of "Not enough…" If the real question is not if you are enough for God but if Jesus, who is God, is enough for you, the real question you need to figure out is…How does Jesus become your greatest satisfaction?

Well, here's what I want to invite you to do. I want to invite you to grow in your ability to preach the gospel to yourself. I'm going to give you several words I want to ask you to write down and to spend the next week and, honestly, the rest of your life praying through these things, unpacking these things, and exploring the rabbit hole of each of these things.

So many of us have such a small view of the gospel. We think the gospel is just what gets us into heaven. The gospel does get us into heaven, but it also gets heaven into us now. The gospel isn't just our means of transportation to heaven; it's the means by which we are transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ. So, here's what I want to encourage you to pray through and meditate on. If you want Jesus to be your greatest satisfaction…

1. Keep coming back to the new start you've been given in Jesus Christ. What do I mean by new start? I mean complete forgiveness in Jesus. Because of what Christ accomplished on the cross, your record has been done away with. Your record of sin has been canceled.

2. Your new position. We've been made new, and we have been placed in Christ. That's our new position, that we live, move, and operate in Christ. That's our spiritual location, and our spiritual location of being in Christ is to inform life in our physical location. So, spend time unpacking. Go down the rabbit hole of being united with Christ, living life in Christ.

3. Spend time exploring, praying through, and unpacking your new identity. Because of Christ, you are no longer an enemy of God; you've become a child of God. That should impact the way you live. Your identity should inform your activity. You're a child of God, but not just that. You're an ambassador of Christ. You're a servant of God. You're a saint. You're holy. Explore the identity you have in Christ.

4. Explore the new power you have in Christ. If you've put your faith in Jesus, then God has put his Spirit in you, which means the same power that raised Christ from the dead lives inside of you. You could spend the rest of your life exploring what it means to have the Spirit of God living in you and the power that raised Christ from the dead.

5. Spend time exploring the new mission you've been given. You've been invited into the family business. God is inviting you to leverage your life for the sake of the gospel. You have a noble and eternal purpose, a purpose to accomplish eternally significant things. It is far greater than anything that could ever be handed to you over a desk in an office.

6. You have a new hope. A day is coming where Jesus will come back to get us and take us to where he is. A day is coming where the struggle of this life will be over. A day is coming where all things will be made new…no more pain, no more tears, no more death, no more struggle with sin. That's certain for those who know Jesus Christ.

Here's the thing. If you want Jesus to become your greatest satisfaction, it starts with you beginning to believe that Jesus is always more than you will ever know him to be. If you ever get bored with Jesus, you have the wrong Jesus. He's always more than you will ever know him to be. Just this past week, we were sitting at the dinner table, and I asked my boys, "What are the two words Jesus used to describe his character?"

Do you know what they are? Gentle and lowly. Those are the two things Jesus really wanted to be known as: gentle and lowly. That reality has been blowing me up this week. I have taught that passage before. I have read that passage a million times. I memorized it a long time ago, but it was just this week that Jesus was like, "Hey, you know what? You know I'm always more than you will ever know me to be. I'm a bottomless treasure chest, full of wealth and spiritual riches for you to spend all of eternity enjoying." Would you come to him and know him in that way?

At some point, someone handed you a letter, whether it was a real letter or they handed it to you figuratively, declaring, "You're not enough." Do you know what the good news is? We've been handed a new letter which declares that, yeah, you and I weren't enough, but the good news is Jesus Christ has been enough for us, and through faith in Jesus Christ, he makes us enough for God. So, the question I'll end with is this. It's no longer whether you are enough for God. The question is…Will Jesus, who is God, be enough for you? Let's pray together.

Lord, my hope and prayer is that the people in this room would believe that, that they would begin to believe that solely in you, Jesus, are all the riches and treasures of wisdom and knowledge. God, would you free us today from the lies that we need to do more, experience more, and sacrifice more to be enough for you? God, may our lives look different this week because we enjoy you more, we delight in you more, and we find you to be the greatest satisfaction of our souls. We love you. In Jesus' name, amen.