Colossians 2:7

Paul used the language of agriculture - rooted - to communicate his vision of our relationship with Christ.

Remember that this is not automatic but a process that Paul hopes to contribute to with the letter he had written to them.

He did not say, "I want you to climb the social ladder, take over the political system, be liked by everyone, or be a big-time philanthropist." There may be nothing particularly wrong with those things, but making them the goal of Christianity, the end to which all Christians should strive is a distraction from the pit of hell.

Paul also borrowed language from the construction industry: built up.

These words reflect the people's daily lives at that time (they have either built things or seen things built) and even our lives today, demonstrating that the language of the Bible is timeless.

Jesus said, "I am the bread of life (John 6:35)," and we still eat bread today. He said, "I am the door (John 10:9)," and we still have doors even thousands of years later. No advancement has made eating bread a thing of the past or made having doors history. Also, Jesus said, "We are the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13)." I can go on and on.

Back to Paul's words in the focus verse: He said he wants the people to continue in Christ and live in Him. Christianity is not just a box that you check on a form. He said to be rooted and built up in him.

The very life of the tree depends on it being rooted. Anything else, and there is death; there is the ending of potential. The difference between a rooted tree and the one that is not rooted is stark. The non-rooted tree does not just exist in a neutral state; decay sets in.

Jesus said it this way: You are the salt of the earth, if you lose your saltiness, you don't just go into a neutral state; something opposite to what would have happened to you before you lost your saltiness now happens, and even more than that (Matthew 5:13).

You are thrown out, symbolic of complete uselessness. You are also trampled on by people, telling you that being useless is not without cost.

With the phrase "…rooted and built up in him and firm in your faith," Paul is saying that there is a seed and a foundation, but that is not the end. Being rooted means we continuously derive our life source from Christ, our constant, continuing reality. Rooted also means we need to have our root go deeper into Christ.

As Christ is our foundation (1 Corinthians 3:11), and being built up means people are putting in hard work to do the building, which we are (1 Corinthians 3:9).

The phrase “…rooted and built up in him and firm in your faith" tells us that Paul is hammering at stability.

In another letter, Paul said that the aim is that "we are no longer to be children (Ephesians 4:14)." He sets the goal of spiritual maturity in front of us and explains that the way to get there is by growing up into Christ (Ephesians 4:15).

He described being children as opposed to being mature by saying children are "tossed back and forth by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching by the trickery of people who craftily carry out their deceitful schemes (Ephesians 4:14)."

That picture shows a lack of rootedness.

Remember, we are supposed to be rooted in him. The focus is on him, and the priority is on him and who he is in us.

The lack of rootedness is shown in being tossed to and fro by every wind of teaching, not being able to separate what is coming from trickery and deceitful schemes from the truth and discern what is coming from something else rather than Christ.

The root is about the tree's access to nutrients and stability. The tree takes nutrients from the soil, which is different from the tree, and has done nothing for it, which is the definition of grace.

The building is about firmness and stability. Both the tree and the building exist in wildly unpredictable environmental conditions, and they must be able to withstand and thrive in these conditions. Otherwise, bad things happen.

We need to be rooted in Christ and built up in him because we exist in this world amid adversarial conditions. The only way is down, through being rooted so that our leaves remain green even in desert conditions and our buildings remain standing in fire (1 Corinthians 3:13), flood, and storm (Matthew 7:24-27). Our roots run deep into Christ, the water of life, and being built up in him means he is the material for our building.

Paul said build up in him, meaning you are being shaped into who he is, that you derive your life essence from him, and that you are being shaped into him.