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“What More Could We Need” • 4.27.14
• Calvary Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service
Intro.
- We began our journey through Colossians a few
weeks ago, understanding that this was not a church directly associated with
Paul and Timothy. They became aware of it through Epaphras.
- Epaphras has given a stirring report,
presenting evidences that the Colossians had truly come to faith in Christ
Jesus, issuing in a genuine love for the body.
- At the same time, the church had opened
themselves to the current thoughts that were beginning to widely circulate and
there was a danger that they would lose their footing.
- This is what Paul is beginning to directly
correct without once mentioning the false doctrine, but instead, seeking to
bolster their understanding of the truth concerning Jesus Christ.
- That's what this chapter is all about: The
truth concerning Jesus Christ!
Text
• Colossians 1:15-17 : "He is the
image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created
that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether
thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created
through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist." : When constructing a biblical worldview about Jesus, anything
less than the visible impress created by the living God is false!
- Christ correctly, accurately represents the
God that no man has ever seen! The image, literally, the icon, referred both to
likeness as that captured in a mirror and manifestation.
- The disciples once asked Jesus to show them
the Father and Jesus responded clearly, "He who has seen me, has seen the
Father!" (John 14:9)
- Unlike a carved image that was incapable of
change or response, the Lord's life was a perfect reflection of His Father. He
is the impress, the stamp of God's reality. Jesus is God!
- He is the firstborn over all creation.
English gets in the way of the concept that lays before us. Jesus, being God,
never came into being. He is eternal.
- For the Israeli people, the firstborn son
received the double portion of the family's wealth and was a symbol of the
strength of the family's future. But that firstborn status was often given to
others.
- Read through Genesis again with this in view.
It's Isaac who is blessed over Ishmael, Jacob who is blessed over Esau, Judah
over Reuben and Ephraim over Manasseh.
- Jesus out ranks any created being as He is
the agent of creation itself! He brought it all to be!
- That which is in the furthest reach of outer
space, to the tiniest microbe on earth! Everything that can be seen and
observed and everything that is, but cannot be seen, came about by His hand!
- Every agency spiritually, thrones of
spiritual authority, rulership, angelic hosts and authority. Everything was
created through Him and for Him!
- Those thrones exist because of Him and exist
to cast their rule toward Him. Angels were His creation and they exist in order
that they might exalt Him perfectly!
- Jesus is before all things. He existed prior
to their coming into existence and it is by His power that they remain held
together!
- Physicists who study protons and electrons
can't figure out how it is that within a single atom, these elements that
should repel are found circling each other.
- According to one commentator, taking two gram
size protons and placing them at opposite poles on the Earth, would require
50,000 pounds to hold them in place!
- While I'm fairly certain that he never
actually performed that task, theoretical quantum physicists would likely nod
their head in agreement as to the veracity of the illustration.
- How do those powerful elements remain near
one another? By the sheer power of Jesus Christ, who sustains it all, the
Earth, your life, and on and on!
- Listen to what Paul has just said. Jesus is
the embodiment of God Himself, the very image. Jesus is the creator who brought
all things together. And He sustains them!
- And He has an intimate relationship with His
body, the church!
• Colossians
1:18 : "And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the
beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the
preeminence." : The head refers to
authority structure. The "head" is the Master, the decision maker.
Jesus is the head of the body, the church!
- We are the body, the organism, living and
breathing, responding and reacting. We are an integrated whole, full of
separate, but interconnected parts.
- We're alive and growing, constantly changing
and rearranging ourselves. This is what we are on a personal level.
- At the same time that we are an organism,
we're also an organization! We're a group of people organizing themselves,
responding to the call of God upon our lives!
- In both cases, as an organism and an
organization, we answer to the Lord. As a church, we defer to the Lord's
leading. Individually, that must be taking place as well!
- We take our cues from the One who guides and
directs us. Do we follow perfectly? Not at all! But Christians people are those
who seek to be lead consistently!
- He is the beginning, the foundation, the
origin and the firstborn from the dead. Here again, we are talking about the first
in rank among an entire new group of people.
- Jesus is the firstborn from the dead. He is
the first of a new type of people. He was the first to rise from death, never
to return to that state.
- Others in the Bible rose from dead, only
eventually to die again. Jesus died and then rose never to die again! Each of
us who are Christians, barring His return, will follow in like manner!
- Why has God made it like this? So that Christ
might be in the first place, owning supremacy over all things. He is
preeminent! He has no equal and no rival!
• Colossians
1:19,20 : "For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should
dwell, and by
Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or
things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross." : All that was God settled perfectly in Jesus. The fulness,
pleroma, is a technical term speaking of every part of deity.
˚
"Pleroma was used . . . in
a technical sense, to express the sum-total of divine powers and attributes." Marvin
Vincent
- This seems a good time to share a little of
what the Colossians were beginning to deal with. The prevailing view of the
time was that God could never have endorsed matter.
- In the cultural mindset, matter was what
brough evil to pass. But parts of God could be recognized in certain beings and
wisdom from God could be derived from various sources.
- A person of that time would have considered
Jesus a ghost, not a real man, that brought a part of God's consciousness to
light among the world. Does this sound familiar!?
- Today, we would call what I have just spoken
about "The New Age." But the "New Age" is really just plain
old Gnositicism redressed! It's a supposed enlightened knowledge of a few.
- Paul's assertion here is that Jesus was not
simply given a "part" of God's consciousness. He was all God,
completely full! Nobody else has anything divine about them. He has it all!
- This Jesus is so powerful and magnificent,
yet, His actions reveal that He is gracious and beneficent! It pleased God that
by Him, He would reconcile all things to Himself!
- Reconciliation refers to the return to
friendly relations. It is by Jesus alone that men can be reconciled to God. Not
all are on friendly terms! This is God's perspective.
- Man, a person, may tell you that he is
"fine" or "ok" with God, but the Biblical data shows us
that He is the One who has a problem with us!
- That's why it was necessary for all of God to
dwell in Christ, as He was the One initiating an act by which men could enter
into a peaceful relationship with God!
- He made peace, not by proclamation or by
simply forgiving the debt. Jesus made peace by paying the debt, the debt which
required the blood of His cross!
- How sufficient is it to have Jesus Christ, in
whom the fullness of deity dwells and by whom all of creation is reconciled to
God? What more could one want?
• Colossians
1:21-23 : "And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by
wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and
blameless, and above reproach in His sight—if indeed you continue in the
faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the
gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of
which I, Paul, became a minister." : The
people who comprise the church then or now were not always in this state of
peace with God.
- In fact, there was a time when they were
alienated or cut off from fellowship and even hostile enemies of God in our
minds by wicked works!
- Paul is not saying that the hostility was all
in their minds, but their minds, their thinking brought forth wickedness which
caused them to be on the opposite side of a Holy and righteous God!
- This was our state before grace. You were
indeed an enemy of God! Some may still be!
- "Oh, I wouldn't go that far!" If
you don't, you are arguing with the Bible! I was an enemy, you were an enemy of
God!"
- We were enemies when we refused to
acknowledge His rights over our lives and when we loved the actions that spit
in the face of His good Kingdom!
- Perhaps you were passive in your hatred of
God, as you now know that to be dismissive is outright rebellion. Others of you
were aggressive, thumbing your nose at God knowingly by action.
- Either way, make no mistake, you were once
cut off and hostile enemies of God! Yet now!
- What a joy to hear those words! There has
been an incredible turn of events, for the fullness of God reconciled you to
Himself by His own death in the flesh!
- In His human body, Jesus Christ absorbed
every ounce of God's wrath which He held against His enemies! He drank down the
cup of God's wrath in full!
- Why did He do this? Look at that next phrase:
To present you holy, blameless and above reproach in His sight!
- The word "present" is translated
other times with the phrase "stand beside." The Lord Jesus wants to
stand beside you before the Father, making the proverbial introduction!
- He wants to stand beside you, one who is
finally and fully holy. This looks forward to the part of salvation where you
are incapable of sin. You won't know how to any longer in heaven!
- At that time, you will be absolutely made
holy in order to stand in the presence of God Himself! Even then, it will be on
account of Christ's holiness on your behalf!
- At that time, you will be blameless,
faultless. The NIV uses the phrase "free from accusation!"
- And finally, above reproach. One that cannot
be called to account! Wow! There is a time when the Lord will bring His church
into the presence of His Father.
- There won't be a hint of unholiness. Nobody
will be able to stand there and hold up an accusation against us. And even the
Lord God won't call us to account for anything at that time!
- We will relax and enjoy the results of
Christ's finished work on our behalf on that day! Once we are there in heaven,
there is no possibilty of change.
- However, notice the caveat: If indeed you
continue in the faith! The Colossians were flirting with ideas, philosophies
and worldly ways of thinking which were threatening the validity of their
faith.
- The only assurance that one can truly have in
this life is that they have continued, perservered, remained in the faith. How
does one persevere in the faith?
- First, Paul mentions being
"grounded." This refers to the footing of a building, it's
foundation, being settled and established into place.
- Next, Paul speaks of being
"steadfast." Immovable, fixed on a purpose. Focused and determined to
remain that way.
- Both of these refer to positive, decisive
moments. The third refers to a neglect, as Paul exhorts them not to "move
away." The NLT uses the word "drift" and the ESV uses
"shifting."
- The nuance of either movement is subtle,
perhaps unnoticeable in the minutae. But the slightest change in degree will
set a person dramatically off course!
- He warns them and I warn you not to move
away, allow yourself to drift, from the Gospel that you heard and that has been
preached to every creature, by Paul himself!
• Colossians
1:24-26 : "I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh
what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which
is the church, of
which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given
to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, the mystery which has been hidden
from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints." : Paul had proclaimed that he wanted to know Christ and the power
of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering. (Philippians 3:10)
- Paul viewed his stay in prison as a suffering
for them. He was going through what he was going through on their account, even
though he did not start their church.
- He took pleasure in the fact that those
sufferings that he was enduring were proof of his active participation in what
Christ suffered for His body, the church.
- Jesus suffered greatly to bring His church
into a position to be His church. Paul sees that as His responsibility as well.
He was a minister and should share in the suffering as well.
- By the way, when God calls you to be a
minister, a servant of His Kingdom, you'll suffer too on behalf of the people
that He has called you to love.
- You'll suffer as you watch them vascillate
between walking steadily with God and walking away from the Lord. You'll suffer
when they reject you because you represent the Lord.
- Paul was a minister and the things he
suffered were physical in nature. Yours and mine might be more in the spiritual
and mental realm, but they are sufferings all the same.
- Paul was a minister, not out from his desires
or his resources, but out from the stewardship from God that was given to him
for the Colossians. This is a wonderful and freeing picture.
- The word "stewardship" refers to
management. In ancient times, when the owner of a house was away on business, a
trusted servant was charged with dispensing monies and food.
- These were not his, but were the Master's
entrusted to his care, for the sake of the workers of the home!
- Every minister of the gospel has been given
the keys to a storehouse of goods, meant to be given out to those who belong to
the house.
- God had reserved it for their use and Paul
was blessed to dispense it to them. What had God left Paul in charge of? The
Word of God.
- I like the way it reads in the NIV: God gave
Paul the Word in order that he might present it in it's fullness! He was to
hold nothing back! He was to proclaim it all!
- As a Pastor, I am continually inspired by
Paul's example, especially in this regard. There was not a thing that Paul left
unsaid.
- He never held anything back from the body
that it needed to hear! That's is the MINIMUM job requirement for a Pastor. The
Bible is the storehouse and you need everything in it!
- Paul was excited to give it out because it
had been hidden but was now revealed! He could go out and give it to all of
God's churches.
• Colossians
1:27-29 : "To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the
glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you,
the hope of glory. Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all
wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. To this end I also labor, striving
according to His working which works in me mightily." : God willed to
unveil His storehouse of riches, contained in the weight and reality of the
mystery!
- This mystery is something that had been
hidden, which would never have been discovered apart from God's unveiling it!
- The mystery is that a new Man has been formed
out of the two entities. The Jews knew that the Gentiles would be saved, but
thought that it would come by Gentile conversion to Judaism!
- Instead, God brought a whole new category
into being: It's the Church! And within the Church corporate and individual,
Christ, the expectation of glory, dwells in them!
- His presence in our lives on Earth is the
expectation of the reality, the glory of Heaven!
- That is what has become of you: God has taken
up residence in you! Through His Holy Spirit, He has begun to direct and
empower you to live the life that honors Christ!
- But it's not the human that we announce. It's
Jesus that we preach! He is the One whose presence we announce to the world!
- What we are, we are by the grace of God,
through the work of Christ, by the power of His Spirit! We preach Christ
because He is God's Messiah and the Holy Spirit's focus!
- Notice what preaching Christ entails: Warning
and teaching every man in all wisdom!
- Paul was always admonishing the people of
God. Every Pastor has this duty and it informs us that there are things that
are dangerous to our souls.
- At the same time, each Pastor was teaching,
instructing every person with all wisdom!
- Why? So that they could present, stand beside
a complete person in Christ! That's the goal. That's why Paul exhausted
himself! This is why he agonized over the people of God!
- But never in his own strength. Always in the
power that was effectual through him!
Conclusion
- What can be
said but this: The Church has been given Christ! He is the Eternal God, the
first in rank over all creation, having been it's Creator and Sustainer!
- He is the
head of the body, the Peacemaker, the lover who stands next to His bride
revealing her to be all that He paid to make her: Holy, blameless and above
reproach!
- He's the
Master of the House who has given all things to His servants to give to His
servants, to equip them and keep them through seasons of ministry.
- He's the One
whose presence promises that we'll dwell in His paradise perpetually! This is
Jesus, our God, our Savior, our Lover, our King!
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