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Sustained by God’s Grace
1w ago00:35:04Tap to summarizeI Corinthians 1:4-9 –4 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, 5 that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— 6 even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— 7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Introduction I grew up in a home with a dad who had a lot of stamina to finish a project. My dad and I would often work on cars. Far too often we were making repairs that were not going as well as we had hoped. When I was younger I would be along side of dad watching—as I got older I would begin to help—but I soon found out that I would grow weary and quit, but my dad would keep on working until the job was done. My dad was amazingly patient and persistent. I always had full confidence that the car we were working on would get fixed no matter how difficult it was. My dad was one of those guys who if he didn’t have the right tool—he would fabricate one to work perfectly. Dad would persistently stay with a repair until it was done. In a much greater way, our text for this morning tells us how God persistently stays with us to finish the work that He started! And here is why this truth is so important. Have you ever battled sin or trials and wondered if you were going to be able to make it to the end? Have you ever felt weak, as if you may not have what it takes to make it and to remain strong to the end? Have you ever faced discouragement to the point where doubt dominated your thinking? I hope that at some point in your life you have felt weak and incapable of going on to the end! You might be thinking—Darrel, that is not the encouragement I was looking for this morning—but let me explain. Paul, in II Corinthians 12:9 records the words of the Lord Jesus when He said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness”. Paul continues: That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong”. You see, hardships remind us that we need God’s grace! Why do we need hardships? Because we are so prone to be self-sufficient and to think that we can make it on our own! Paul is writing to the church of Corinth, a church that was loaded with problems. But what is at the heart of their problems? Commentator Gordon Fee helps us understand one significant root of their problems when he states “The Corinthians are genuinely gifted, but as the letter reveals, they are self-satisfied and creature-oriented, boasting in mere human beings.” (NICNT, p. 36). Fee also states that “their problem lies not in their gifts, but in their attitude toward these gifts”(NICNT, p. 36). It was their inordinate attention on self and others—rather than God—that caused many problems within the church. Paul writes to them in I Corinthians to help redirect their focus. Today we will focus upon verses 4 through 9. In typical fashion for Paul, he expresses thanksgiving to God for the Corinthians. But if you have read through the letter to the church in Corinth, you know all the problems they had, and you might appropriately ask—what do the Corinthians have for which can be thankful? Well, what the Corinthians have, we have also been given—and because of that we too should be very thankful to God! But for what is Paul is thankful? Three things. First… I. Give thanks to God for what He has done (v. 4-7) In verse 4, Paul says “I always thank God for you because…” and then he gives us three reasons why he is thankful. The first reason is this… A. God has given you grace in Christ Jesus. Here “charis” is the Greek word for grace, and it refers to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel of Jesus is God’s grace to His people. The Father sent His Son, Jesus, to this earth, and ultimately to the Cross to purchase our redemption. Through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the penalty for our sin was paid in full. Today, if we are the recipients of God’s unmerited grace by faith, we are counted as righteous before God. We have peace with God. If you are “in Christ” by grace through faith, then there is absolutely no condemnation upon your life. Not now. Not ever again! God’s grace that is given to us in the Gospel of Jesus Christ sets us free from sin and death. That also means that the power of sin was broken. Born-again believers are no longer slaves to sin. We don’t have to keep sinning. We are set free from sin to live in obedience to Jesus Christ. This grace given to us in Jesus Christ also includes the gift of the Holy Spirit, who gives us power to live our lives for God’s glory and others good. We don’t have to keep on living proud, self-sufficient, and self-serving lives. We can, because of the grace given to us in Christ, begin to find our greatest joy in loving God! And, because we are no longer held captive to sin, and because we have experienced God’s great love in Jesus, we can begin to love others in right ways. We can place ourselves at the loving service of others for their good and for God’s glory! Because the grace given to us in Christ Jesus, the penalty for our sin is paid in full, and the power of sin in our lives is broken. But that’s not all! God’s grace given to us in the Gospel gives us great hope for eternity. We are given a great hope that when we leave this earth, we will spend eternity with Jesus Christ without the presence of sin. Because of God’s grace given to us in Christ Jesus, the penalty of sin is paid in full, the power of the sin is broken, and we have a Gospel-infused hope that one day we’ll be entirely removed from the presence of sin, and we’ll see Jesus face to face. For what is Paul thankful? It is not what the Corinthians have accomplished. Rather it’s what God has accomplished in the lives of the believers through the Gospel of His grace. As Leon Morris states, “Mere human achievement means little to Paul”. Morris continues, “Paul doesn’t thank them for qualities such as faith, hope, and love (as in I Thess 1:2-3), but for what God’s grace has in fact done in them”. You see, Paul is beginning to redirect their focus from man to God. Imagine for a moment if I was standing next to the Mona Lisa in Paris, France (a picture I actually had the privilege of seeing on a business trip). Pretend that I stood next to the enclosed case and talked with tourists as they came by—and as I talked with them, I talked with them as if I had been the one who had painted the Mona Lisa. What would happen to me there? I would get booted out quickly because everyone knows that Leonardo DaVinci painted the Mona Lisa in 1506. It would be absurd for me to try to take credit for something a famous artist had done centuries before. So to, it is wrong for us to take credit for something that God has freely done in our lives—the Corinthians were squabbling about following Paul, and following Apollos—they were fascinated with all of what man can do, but Paul keeps reminding them all the way through the letter that we are just clay vessels—their focus was on man, and it should have been on God—so Paul is at work to redirect their focus—from man to God But let us continue, for what else is Paul thankful to God? Here it is… B. God has enriched you in Christ Jesus. Paul is thankful to God for how they have been enriched in every way. The idea here is that the Corinthians have been “made rich” or “richly furnished” in every way. But then he gives two specific ways in which they have been made rich: 1. In All Speech: This is kind of funny because one of the Corinthians problems was an inflated view of their speech. Yet, Paul begins by saying he is thankful to God for the way He has made them rich in ALL speech. As we will see later, Paul did not place a high value on rhetorical eloquence. Paul didn’t proclaim the Gospel in lofty words of wisdom. Instead, Paul’s preaching of the Gospel was made effective by the power of the Holy Spirit. Neither did Paul place a great value on the act of speaking in tongues if it wasn’t done in love, or the good of others. In fact, Paul said that if you speak in tongues without love its like an obnoxious clanging noise. Silence would be better than that. In chapter 14 Paul puts a huge emphasis upon speech that builds up the church. Paul was big on the body of Christ being edified. Paul would address their abuse of speech, but here in the beginning of the letter, Paul gives thanks to God for how their lives have been enriched in all Speech. This probably includes edifying speech they had received from him, and it would have certainly included edifying speech they have been able to give to one another in the church. The bottom line is this: Paul is thankful to God f...
Transcribe →Struggling for Sinners
2w ago00:36:13Tap to summarizeColossians 2:1-5 –1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. 5 For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ. Introduction In our passage for this morning, Paul continues to describe how hard he worked to bring the Word of God to bear in the lives of others. He did so because he loved them and because he believed with all he had that God’s Word is so precious and powerful and transformative that sharing it with the world is worth every ounce of energy he had. He also did so because he knew that where God’s Word is taught in truth and received in faith, there is the treasure of encouragement, love, assurance, joy, and unity. Conversely, he did so because he also knew that wherever competing claims have taken hold, there is the misery of discouragement, division, doubt, corrosion, ignorance, and death. The big idea of the sermon is that hard work for the things of God is a feature, not a flaw of a godly life. Predictably, the main takeaway is to learn to understand and love God and His Word such that we’re compelled to work hard at living it out for the sake of the world. Moms, this isn’t anything like an ordinary Mother’s Day message, but I think you’ll find a good deal of clarity and hope for the hard work of your mothering in this passage and message. Paul Greatly Struggled on Behalf of Others (1) I wonder, what is the hardest you’ve ever worked? Have you ever felt like you were truly at the end of yourself on a physical level; like you worked so hard, you were on the verge of collapse? Similarly, what’s the longest you’ve worked the hardest for? Have you ever worked really hard for days, months, or years for something? And probably most importantly, what kinds of things have you determined are worth working your hardest for? What have you found to be valuable enough to work at with significant sacrifice and to the point of exhaustion? For the most part, our current cultural mindset seems to be that the main things worth working hard at are avoiding hard work and worldliness. But that’s a different sermon for a different day. My point here is to draw your attention to the Apostle Paul’s hard work, and especially what he worked hard for. Previously, we saw that Paul toiled and struggled to bring the gospel to everyone (1:29). In our passage, he picks up where he left off. You may remember that the Greek word translated “toil” indicates working to near exhaustion. And if you remember that, you probably also remember that the Greek word for “struggle” is even more severe still. To struggle in that sense is to work past exhaustion to the point of agony. Consider then Paul’s new modifier, “For I want you to know how great a struggle I have…”. He worked past the point of exhaustion, past the point of agony, to the point of great/excruciating agony. As I mentioned last week, that included ~10,000 miles of foot and water travel, preaching, teaching, debating, counseling, negotiating, rebuking, disciplining, encouraging, writing, tentmaking (he was bi-vocational), and all without a home base, without much sleep, often without food and water, with constant persecution and regular imprisonments, and all of that continually for ~30 years. We know from this letter (beginning right at the beginning and all the way to the end) that his primary work for others was prayer. His great struggle took the form of nearly constant prayer for his readers. Twice already, Paul has made it clear that God strengthened him for that work, but that wasn’t apart from Paul’s great struggle. We’ll come back to who and what it was that Paul greatly struggled for in a bit, but for now, two things… First, not everything is worth working this hard for, but there most certainly are things that are. We all need to have a category for things worth working towards until we have nothing left. As long as we live in this fallen, broken, cursed, and largely disordered world, and as long as we live under the dominion mandate, the Great Commandment, and the Great Commission, there will be things we need to pour ourselves out for (“as a drink offering” (Philippians 2:17)), both physically and spiritually. In this world, God’s design is leisure for work, not work for leisure. The rhythm of creation is 6 days of labor and one day of rest. And while we aim at “bearing [good, gospel, God-prescribed] fruit in every good work,” the expectation is inefficiency, difficulty, and injustice, no matter our work (Genesis 3:17-19). In other words, most of us would do well to do a bit of recalibrating concerning our understanding of the role of hard work in the life of a Christian. It is a feature, not a flaw of a godly life. Moms, on this Mother’s Day, you know this better than most. Good mothering is among the hardest work there is. There are few things more demanding, more constant, and with more at stake. But know this as well, there are few things more worthy of your best efforts and hardest work. If you are working hard as a mom, according to God’s design, you are working hard at one of the most important and significant tasks available to mankind. Do not let the world or your own inner voice tell you otherwise. That leads to the second thing I want you to notice from the beginning of v.1. For Paul, greatly struggling toward his God-given charge was both success and reward. This will become clearer as we make our way through the passage and letter, but a well-lived life works hard at the things of God and rejoices in the certainty of God’s pleasure in us as we do. As you all know, moms, your best efforts and hardest work can often feel like two steps forward and three steps back. And that can feel like failure. But the results are up to God, not you. You cannot save or sanctify your kids no matter how many prayers you pray, passages you read over them, verses you have them memorize, or how consistently you disciple and discipline them. Again, moms, learn from Paul that your task and your success is faithfulness in giving to your kids that which God has called you to. Work hard at those things (repent of not doing so if need be and rest in the forgiveness that is already yours in Christ). But as you do so, in the strength God provides, rest and rejoice in the knowledge that you do so in God’s pleasure. What’s true of motherhood is true of every aspect of a godly life. Our job and success, Grace, is working hard to live lives of faithfulness to God’s design, not to produce a particular result. Like Paul, work hard—really hard—for the gospel-good of others. And then rest well—really well—in the mighty hand and sweet pleasure of God in Christ. Paul Wanted Them to Know How Great his Struggle Was for Them (1) Paul greatly struggled on behalf of a group of people, and he wanted them to know it. I find that fascinating and not a little counter-intuitive. “For I want you to know how great a struggle I have…”. The first thought that comes to my mind when I read that is Matthew 6:1-4. “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. 2 Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Jesus told his followers to do good for others “in secret.” But in our passage, Paul was announcing his good work. He even went beyond simply telling his readers that he was struggling for them. He also told them how great the struggle was. Why was that and why is it not a violation of Jesus’ charge? Simply and encouragingly, Jesus’ prohibition was not against talking about our good works. It was about doing so for self-glory; for the...
Transcribe →The Heart and Marks of a Well-Stewarded Ministry
3w ago00:43:01Tap to summarizeColossians 1:24-29 –24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, 25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. Introduction Last Sunday, for missions week, I preached a high-level overview of this passage. My main aim was to help you see the kind of perspective Paul had that enabled him to rejoice in his missionary sufferings. His answer, in simplest terms and consistent with the theme of missions week, is that while the sufferings he suffered were significant, they were far lesser than the greater good of bringing the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. In other words, Paul was able to rejoice in his sufferings because although the cost was high, the reward was far greater. The loss of worldly comfort was a price worth paying for the gain of living in the will of God and love for His people. It was better, he reasoned, to die to the pleasures of the world than to live apart from the eternal pleasure of God and the saints. In that way, much of what I pointed out last week focused on how the claims of this passage support that glorious reality in relation to missions and how they relate to a well-stewarded missions ministry. For the next couple of weeks, then, we are going to circle back through the passage in order to consider more closely and practically what it means for the ministry to which we’ve been called. Last week, the focus was on doing that internationally. This morning we’re going to consider the heart and marks of a well-stewarded local ministry. To be even more specific, I’m going to make the case that this passage is a charge to all of us (to all Christians) to make it our life’s chief ambition to bring the glorious riches of the gospel to bear on everyone we meet. That’s the big idea and the main takeaway. Follow My Example Without getting too deep into the weeds, before getting into the meat of this sermon, it’s important for me to acknowledge/remind you of a few things concerning the context of this passage. I’m arguing that we apply this passage to our local ministry, but Paul had never met the Colossians. I’m arguing that we apply this passage to our local ministry, but Paul was hundreds of miles away from the Colossians when he wrote this letter. I’m arguing that we apply this passage to our local ministry, but Paul functioned mainly as an on-the-move missionary. I’m arguing that we apply this passage to our local ministry, but Paul’s ministry was as an apostle. I’m arguing that we apply this passage to our local ministry, but Paul’s ministry was directly, audibly, visibly, and explicitly given to him by Jesus. The question, then, is: How do I get from there to here? Am I being faithful to this passage in claiming that it is a charge for us to heed and example to follow, both in missions (last week) and local ministry (this week)? I think I am being faithful to the text for two main reasons: (1) Paul’s command in 1 Corinthians 11 and (2) His words in v.28. Paul’s Command (1 Corinthians 11:1) In 1 Corinthians 11:1, Paul commands his readers to “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” The NIV translates it like this, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” Paul meant his readers (which includes us) to look to his life and do what he did, love what he loved, and say what he said, because he did, loved, and said what Jesus did, loved, and said. He was not, of course, calling everyone to imitate him as an imprisoned, apostolic, missionary. Nor was he calling people to perfectly follow his perfect example of the perfect example of Jesus. But he was claiming that by God’s grace, his life was a good example of godliness for others to follow. In my estimation, following the Paul’s example boils down to living continually out of three main convictions, no matter our context: (1) Treasuring Jesus above all, (2) Expressing that through whole-life, glad-hearted, Spirit-empowered obedience to God, and (3) Doing so especially by proclaiming and applying the gospel everywhere and among everyone, no matter the earthly cost. In that way, although this paragraph in Colossians was written from prison, to a church he’d never been to, it flowed out of the same convictions that led him to spend 2+ years investing in churches in Tarsus, Ephesus, Rome, Corinth, and a few other cities as well. For us to obey 1 Corinthians 11:1 in light of this paragraph, then, ultimately means learning to live out of the same core convictions that Paul was living out when he wrote it (which is a local ministry for most of us). Paul’s Friends (1:28) The second reason I think this passage is rightly applied to our local ministry is found in v.28. Throughout most of our passage (vs.24-27, 29), Paul described his ministry in first person terms (I/me). But in v.28 he switched to the third person (we). “Him [Jesus] we proclaim…that we may present everyone mature in Christ.” Timothy, Epaphras, Tychicus, Onesimus, Aristarchus, Mark, Justus, Luke, Demas, and Nympha are all explicitly mentioned in this letter as significant ministry partners (part of the “we” of v.29). Each of those individuals played different ministry roles for the sake of the Church. Paul charged Timothy, for instance, to follow the example he set in this paragraph as a pastor of a local church (in Ephesus). More to the point, what was missions work for Paul, was at the same time, local church ministry for Epaphras (who was from Colossae). Therefore, just as those who were with Paul shared his convictions and followed his example in whatever context God put them in, so too should we. Grace, may we all treasure Jesus above all, express that through whole-life, glad-hearted, Spirit-empowered obedience to God, and do so especially by proclaiming and applying the gospel everywhere and among everyone, no matter the earthly cost. The Heart of a Well-Stewarded Ministry Let’s say I’ve convinced you of the need to pursue those convictions, and apply them according to Paul’s example (which I’ve prayed all week would be the case). What, specifically, does that mean? At the heart of the example Paul set is a commitment to stewarding his God-given ministry well. Don’t miss that. I think the culture of Grace Church is such that we all eagerly nod our heads when told of our need to treasure Jesus above all. But what does that look like lived-out? Certainly, it has a good deal to do with our appetites, affections, longings (which Paul talks about elsewhere). But it also has a good deal to do with the way we live our lives. It makes little sense to say we treasure Jesus apart from living that out in concrete ways. Paul’s point in v.25 is that the primary way he did so was by being a good steward of the ministry entrusted to him, “…I became a minister [of the Church] according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you…” In other words, I think the center of Colossians 1:24-29 is an example of what it means to treasure Jesus in our daily lives; namely, by being good stewards of the ministry entrusted to us by God. My main charge, then, is to do just that, Grace—treasure Jesus by giving your whole life to being a good steward of your God-given ministry. Key Terms If we’re going to follow his example, then, we need to begin with clarity on the two main terms of this clause—minister and steward. The term “minister” is an important one for Paul and an often misunderstood one for us. It is the same word used for “Deacon” when we speak of the office of deacon (1 Timothy 3:8-13). The literal translation is “servant”. God made Paul a minister of the Church in that He made him a servant of the Church. Paul’s main charge was not to get from the Church, but to give to it. O, that we might all come to think and act like that. We’re so programed to think of the church as existing to serve us (which, of course, it does in some ways) instead of the other way around. Indeed, it is far more blessed to give (to serve, to minister) than to receive. Grace, how are you guilty of thinking of the church mainly as your servant? The other key term, “steward,” is an unusual one. I can’t think of the last time I heard it outside of the Bib...
Transcribe →Death to That Which Is Lesser – Life to That Which Is Greater
4w ago00:42:49Tap to summarizeColossians 1:24-2:2 –24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, 25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. 2 1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ… Introduction Welcome to the start of missions week. I’m exceedingly thankful for the culture-shaping effect it has had on our church over the years. One of the most tangible ways I’ve seen that play out is in the fact that missions is normal at Grace. No one wonders whether or not missions ought to be a part of our church-life. We all know and love the reality that as long as there are people around the world who have not heard the good news of Jesus, who have not yet tasted and seen that He alone can satisfy our souls, we must go to them or support those who have. But if we’re being honest, we’ll admit that missions is a scary and costly and intimidating. With that in mind, Kyle introduced me to the theme of missions week this year with the following thoughts… “How many of us fall short in our sending and our going because we see it too much as a loss of something? A loss of money, loss of time, loss of comfort, a loss of fulfillment, or a loss of safety and security? Yes, missions is loss, but it is a loss of that which is lesser, and a gain of that which is greater. Greater joy. Greater purpose. Greater satisfaction” (Kyle Puelston). Grace, I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that all of life is one choice after another between lesser or greater. Likewise, I don’t think it’s misleading to say that sanctification is God’s work of giving us increasing appetite for all things greater. Our main problem is that sin has made it so that we often can’t tell the greater from the lesser and even when we can, we often don’t prefer it, and even when we do, we are often unwilling to pay the cost to get it. And here’s the key for us to grasp this morning: As long as that’s the case, missions will never find its proper place in our own lives or in the life of our church. Missions week this year is a call to die to that which is lesser in order that we might live for that which is greater. It’s a plea to ask the Lord to help us increasingly die to all the sinful and even “fine” things in our life, that we might come alive to the greatest things—to Jesus and all that He has commanded. Through Paul’s example, we are given a crystal-clear picture of what that looks like. The big ideas of this sermon are that God commands missions, missions is hard, and we’ll never do the hard work of missions if we aren’t convinced that it is greater. The main takeaway is that we’d work hard to learn, love, and live the greater, no matter the cost (that we’d read our Bibles, pray for the Spirit’s transforming power, and spur one another on in missions). Missions In Paul’s Life Again, there are three components to the big idea of this sermon: (1) God commands missions, (2) Missions is hard, and (3) We’ll never do the hard work of missions if we aren’t convinced that it is greater. Paul most certainly understood and believed and lived in light of those biblical truths. To help you see that, and then apply it, consider with me six high-level observations from our passage. Paul Rejoiced in His Suffering as a Missionary (1:24) Almost from the moment of his conversion, Paul spent his entire life serving as a missionary. That is, he gave himself to traveling around the known world, telling everyone he could about the good news of God’s grace in Jesus Christ. He did so across every geographical, cultural, linguistic, political and, economic boundary there was at that time. In the course of nearly 30 years of missions work, Paul traveled across two continents, somewhere in the vicinity of 10,000 miles, personally sharing the gospel with hundreds, if not thousands of people. And in that time, he suffered much. He suffered to the point that it’s probably nearly impossible for most of us to imagine it, his perseverance in it, or even his lack of complaining about it. But more than merely making it through and keeping his complaints to himself, Paul explicitly tells us (in v.24), “Now I rejoice in my sufferings…” He did the hard work, kept doing the hard work for three decades, and saw his hardships not as a flaw of his ministry, but as a feature, as opportunities to rejoice. That ought to cause two questions to spring immediately to mind: (1) What suffering, and (2) Why rejoice in it? What suffering? It’d be a significant understatement to simply say, “a lot.” By the time Paul wrote his letter to the Colossians and claimed to be rejoicing in his suffering (you can read about a good deal of it in 2 Corinthians 11:23-2), he’d already been beaten, lashed, stoned, shipwrecked, sleepless, homeless, famished, and betrayed. Most immediately, in the context of this letter, Paul was suffering imprisonment, in “chains” (4:18), for declaring “the mystery of Christ” (4:3). And all of those things, multiple times (including shipwrecked). Again, needless to say, that level and length of suffering goes far beyond what any of us can even imagine. If that’s the nature of his suffering, how/why in the world would he rejoice in it? You do know that sounds a bit crazy, right? Paul seems to be living out what James commanded: “Count it all joy…when you meet trials of various kinds.” I’ve always found that to be the most counterintuitive passage in the whole Bible. (I know there are others that should seem more that way, but they just don’t.) On the surface, trials and joy seem to me to be the definition of opposite ends of the spectrum. Nearly every part of my rational brain is convinced that to move away from one is to move toward the other; that they cannot coexist. The theme of missions week, the opening words of our passage, and Paul’s entire Christian life, are a direct assault on that line of thinking. But again, why? How? The short version is that in all of these things, Paul told his readers that he was willingly dying to his old self and life, to his old desires and motivations, to his old priorities and privileges, and to his old thinking and reasoning. And he told them that he was doing so for the sake of living for something much, much (incalculably) greater. Everything he once held dear and built his life upon, had become to him as rubbish compared to the opportunity to know Jesus, obey Jesus, and proclaim the good news of Jesus to the world. The remaining six observations are the meat on that bone. They are the alternate calculus which reckons suffering as joy instead of ruin. They are the greater that makes it worth dying to all lesser. They are the things that an above the sun exchange rate values above all earthly comfort. They are the answer to the question of how a man or woman of God can rejoice in their trials of obedience. Paul Rejoiced in His Suffering for the Sake of the Church (1:24) The second observation, and the first explanation for Paul’s rejoicing in his suffering, is found in the very next clause in v.24, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake…” [that is, according to the end of the verse,] …for the sake of [Jesus’] body, that is, the church…” (also, “for you” according to v.25). In other words, Paul knew that the suffering he endured for telling people about Jesus was for the benefit of all God’s people. It was a benefit for those who had not yet heard the gospel in that they might hear, believe, and be saved. And it was a benefit for those already trusting in Jesus in that, as we’ll see from 1:28 on, it resulted in their spiritual maturity. In his second letter to the church at Corinth (2 Corinthians 4:8-11), he says it like this… We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our bodi...
Transcribe →Persevering Faith in Christ Our Treasure
Apr 1900:42:34Tap to summarizeColossians 1:21-23 – 21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister. Real Letter, Real People, Real Author We are continuing our journey with the Colossian believers through Paul’s letter to them. I say it this way because this was a real letter to real people written by a real man. This is not simply a theological—let alone philosophical—exercise in analyzing abstract concepts. The Colossians are our brothers and sisters, we will see them in glory someday soon. There is a gospel history to our faith today – enduring faithful saints long before us. Praise God for the great cloud of witnesses that have endured before us! The real words to real people is true for the Bible as a whole, it is not just some book. These are the words of the Living God written in a real time and preserved for us, so that as the author of Hebrews says: “all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.” My aim this morning: Remind you of the great hope we have in Christ who has reconciled us to God the Father and will present us holy and blameless. Therefore, we joyfully persevere in Him, through Him, and for Him for our utmost joy and His utmost glory today into infinity. The reality of this letter is that it is not just written for those who are navigating hardships. Yes, the Colossian church was facing hardship in unique ways, but I imagine that some believers were coasting, not wanting to draw attention to their lives, or they were seeking comfort, maybe a justified holy comfort. This letter, friends, is for anyone who claims Christ is their treasure, to stir their faith daily in the sufficiency and joy in Christ. Often it is not just hardship that draws us away from Jesus, but the comfort, the ease, the ordinary days of this life, especially in the West. We drift if we are not careful. In fact, there are many warnings throughout the Bible of wandering away from God, we are to be diligent in our faith. To simplify all of this: whether hardship or ease is your current posture, this letter is meant for you to proclaim to your soul that Jesus is awesome so that you press on to the end. With that in front of us, let’s walk through Paul’s words starting with how vs 21 & 22 are connected and vital to understanding vs 23. 1. Your Condition and Calling: From Alienated to Reconciled Delight in God (vv. 21–22) “And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him.” Once alienated, cut off from the joy in God (v. 21). Alienated (apellotriomenous) meaning “transferred to another owner”. We belonged to sin, self, and Satan before Christ saved us since we were in Adam as all mankind is. In Adam, we are born alienated from God. Our very nature opposes Him. As individuals, we willingly embrace that alienation through sin (thought, word, and action), some of us more subtle than others, but until the light of Christ shone in our hearts, we loved being separated from God. Paul tells us this alienation affected our mind: “hostile in mind” meaning we were an enemy of God in our minds, and it affected our behavior, thus “doing evil deeds” meaning out of the heart the body acts. Not just guilt, but misdirected desires. Choosing broken cisterns over the fountain of living waters (Jeremiah 2:13), this phrase points us to the core problem of sin which is seeking joy in everything else other than where is can be found which is Jesus. We are alienated not only from God’s presence, but from God as our delight, treasure, and joy…alienated from life. Therefore, we are joyless, lifeless, hostile people in our sin. Can you just notice the ‘once’ for a moment. We can see there is something else coming…once you were like that…BUT GOD….transferred us from this alienation. This same term was used by Paul earlier in verse 13 “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son…” So, now we are reconciled, restored to God as our treasure through Jesus to present you holy into the joy of your Master. For those who have been adopted or adopted someone, you understand this in a unique way. Verse 22: “Now He has reconciled…” God’s answer to your alienation is reconciliation, accomplished at the cross. Friends, this is the initiative of God. He did not meet us halfway in our separation, but He came all the way to meet us down in the pit of our own sin and guilt. He does this “in his body of flesh by his death.” This emphasis by Paul reminds us of a real Savior, real body, real blood, real cross for a real redemption. Christ didn’t just make salvation possible, He secured your salvation and your reconciliation. Not just peace with God, but access to God as your supreme joy. The result of this reconciliation is “to present you holy, blameless, and above reproach before him…”, presented as acceptable before God, clothed in Christ’s perfection. This salvation includes transformation. It is not just escaping from righteous judgment, but becoming holy like Christ. The Apostle Peter tells us Christ died to bring you to God fulfilling the goal of salvation which is seeing and savoring God forever (1 Peter 3:18). This is key before we move onto the striking word we find in vs 23. 2. Your Response: Continuing Because You Treasure Christ (vs. 23a) “if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast…” The Bible does not contradict itself. Since Christ purchased your salvation, He will keep those He shed His blood for…not a drop is wasted. We believe that we are saved by grace alone through faith alone – we do not do anything to earn or keep our salvation. The ‘If’ is a warning, friends. Throughout the Scriptures, the Lord warns His people as a loving act. The “If” statements of God bring clarity to our responsibility in hearing the gospel and treasuring Christ as He also does a work in our hearts and minds at the same time. Here are a few instances: Genesis 2: “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Deuteronomy 28: ““And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth…“But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.” 2 Chronicles 7: “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, 14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” Then in Ch 15: “The Lord is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.” Isaiah 1: “If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; 20 but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” In the NT, this pattern continues way before Colossians. Jesus in John 14: ““If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Jesus, then follows this with the hope of the Helper coming…so that we would work to keep His commands out of love and duty, not to earn the free gift of salvation. John 15: “If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. “ Paul in Romans: “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” (ch 8) Lastly, the author of Hebrews: “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have come ...
Transcribe →Once Alienated, Now Reconciled, Soon Holy
Apr 1200:45:10Tap to summarizeColossians 1:21-23 – 21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister. Introduction Having spent the past several weeks on 1:15-20, we’re about to begin a new section of Paul’s letter. Before we get there, though, let me give you a quick recap of what we’ve covered so far. After a brief introduction (1:1-2), Paul wrote out his prayer of gratitude to God for His gifts of faith and faithfulness in the lives of the Colossian Christians (1:3-8). From there, Paul shared with the Colossians his main prayer for them; namely, that God would grant them all they needed to live lives “fully pleasing to Him [to God]” (1:9-14). And then, again as we’ve been considering for some time, Paul rooted all of that (along with all that’s to come), in the preeminence of Jesus. He wrote at length of Jesus’ supremacy over Creation and Recreation (1:15-20). Ultimately, Paul called the Colossian Christians to persevere in faith through persecution and false teaching, and, most importantly, he told them how to do so. He charged them to keep their eyes fixed on Jesus, the Preeminent One, who holds all things in His hands. His great burden was that they’d make sure Jesus, not themselves or their problems, was at the center of the story they were living out of. Beginning in v.21 (our passage for this morning), then, Paul moved from declaring transcendent truths about Jesus back to applying them to his readers. He moved from second person pronouns (He) back to third (you). Lord willing, we’re going to spend two weeks on this passage. This Sunday, I’m going to focus on vs.21-22 and the great exchange it describes. Then, next Sunday, Pastor Colin is going to focus on v.23 and the call to perseverance in faith. There’s a past, present, and future component to this passage. Consequently, there’s a past, present, and future big idea for this week as well: All people are born with a sinful nature (past), our only hope is to be reconciled by Jesus (present), and all who are reconciled will be made holy (future). And the main takeaways are to fight for humility, share the gospel, and hope in future grace. Born Sinful (21) I’ve shared this story with a number of you, but it bears repeating here. One evening at the Farmer’s Market a woman came up to me holding the “Gospel for Kids” booklet we hand out. She thought it was important to let me know that someone put a book at our church table that said of kids, “Because we do not love God as we should, we deserve to be punished.” She found that to be entirely false and offensive. What’s more, she assumed I’d agree and be glad she brought it to my attention. In a profound way, I really believe that much of the enflamed social and political turmoil we’re currently experiencing is captured in that brief encounter; that is, over the question of mankind’s essential nature. Whether she could articulate it or not, the division between us was directly tied to our answer to the question: Are humans naturally good or bad? I’ve recently read two clarifying books on this idea. Carl Truman’s “The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self” and Thomas Sowell’s “A Conflict of Visions” both recognize this problem and its profound impact on our culture. Although Truman writes from a Christian perspective and Sowell from a secular one, both persuasively argue for the same basic conclusion: Mankind is fallen in nature and needs help restraining his self-interest. With Sowell, I’d suggest there’s more than sufficient empirical evidence to support the claim that we’re born with sinful natures (he phrases it differently; doesn’t call it “sinful”). But at the end of the day, Truman is right in that it really comes down to whether or not we believe the Bible accurately describes the human condition. We can debate definitions and evidence. What we can’t debate though is what God’s Word says about the matter. What Paul says in v.21 is echoed over and over and over and over throughout the entire Bible. Of the Colossians, which is to say of every person since Adam’s Fall, Paul said exactly what we find consistently taught from Genesis 3 on, “you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds…” (21). And to remind you of the rest of the Bible’s teaching on this matter, consider just a few of the many verses.… Genesis 6:5 The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Ecclesiastes 7:20 Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God… 1 John 1:8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. I could go on, but the point remains: If you believe the Bible is God’s word and that it means what it says, then there’s simply no way to deny that alienation from, hostility towards, and evil against God is our natural condition. For Paul to claim that of the Colossians, for him to declare that they were alienated from God, is to claim that they were living in opposition to the very reason for which they were made—fellowship with God. To be alienated from God means being separated or estranged from Him. It is to be at enmity with God. It is a tragic declaration that they had been entirely severed from their very purpose in life. The next two clauses, “hostile in mind” and “doing evil deeds,” give the reasons for and result of their alienation. That they were hostile in mind means their thoughts were opposed to God. It means they believed lies and hated the truth. It means they were confused and conceited in their thinking. It means they didn’t know God, His will for them, or even themselves. It means the things they were thinking made God angry. And that they were doing evil deeds means their actions flowed out of their busted, rebellious thoughts. The did what they ought not to have done and refused to do what they should have. They chose folly over wisdom and death over life. They did what God hates and not what He loves. During my teenage years, had you asked me if I’d go to heaven or hell when I died, I’d most emphatically have answered, “heaven.” If you pressed me for my rationale, I’m most emphatically have answered, “because hell is for truly evil people.” In v.21, Paul teaches that I was right and wrong. I was right to think hell is for truly evil people. I was wrong to assume I wasn’t among them. We really need to come to grips with that idea, Grace. If we’re honest, it doesn’t really seem like that, does it? Do you really think of yourself as having been (or being) hostile in mind and evil in deeds? Do the unbelievers in your life truly seem wicked? Non-Christians, if you’re being honest, this seems pretty offensive even, doesn’t it? Of course, there are some who do more evil than others (sometimes, much, much more). Paul certainly wasn’t denying that. But his point was that starting there means missing the point. The problem with my teenage thinking was that it was exclusively on a horizontal plane. I was only comparing myself to other people. But Paul calls his readers to think on a different plane, a vertical plane. He wasn’t telling the Colossians Christians that they were alienated from God because of the way they stacked up against other Colossians, but because of the way they stacked up against God. In relation to God, everything looks very different. It is true that 99.99% of us do less evil than someone. Probably most of us do less evil than the majority of the rest of the world. Again, however, even the briefest glimpse of the holiness of God will cause the best among us to join Isaiah’s cry, “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts” (Isaiah 6”5)! In other words, Paul’s claim that the Colossians (and all people) were hostile in mind and evil in actions, did not mean that they were (we are) as bad as they could be. But he did mean that they had fallen infinitely short of the glory of the holy God. And He did mean that their rebellion against God had completely alienated them from Him. They were guilty before God and under His just judgment, not because of how they compared to one another, but because of how they compared to God’s holy nature and commands. Evil thoughts and actions, whole-being rebellion, leads to and results from our whole-being alienation from God. Paul echoes the sam...
Transcribe →Jesus is Preeminent – The Firstborn from the Dead
Apr 500:31:25Tap to summarizeColossians 1:15-20 – 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. Introduction Easter Sunday is the most important holiday on the Church calendar. For centuries, it has been a time set aside by the Church to celebrate and proclaim Jesus’ resurrection from the dead; not as a fairy tale or as a sentimental wish, but as a real, historical fact; one that shook heaven and earth; one that is the highpoint of all human history. It is not an exaggeration to say that the eternal destiny of every person on earth, including every person in this room, hinges on our response to this news. Of this, the Apostle Paul has some strong words, 1 Corinthians 15:13-20 If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. 20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. We are here today because we believe Jesus really is risen from the dead, and that He really is the savior of all who believe (1 Timothy 4:10), and that He really is, right now, seated at the right hand of God interceding on our behalf (Colossians 3:1), and that He really will return one day to judge the living and the dead (2 Timothy 4:1), and that we will join Him in His resurrection (2 Corinthians 4:14), and that all of that is worth celebrating in the highest! To pour gas on that fire, we’re going to continue making our way through Paul’s letter to the Colossians. In God’s kindness, we’ve come to the second half of 1:18, “He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” What a testimony to God’s presence and love it is that this is our passage for Easter Sunday. As we work our way through these few verses, we’ll see the big idea is that just as Jesus is preeminent over all Creation (over the making and governing of all that has been made), so too is He preeminent over all redemption and recreation (over saving and restoring all that has been broken). Said another way, the combination of Jesus’ work in creating the heavens and the earth and His resurrection from the dead shows that all things are from Him and through Him and for Him; and that is really good news for all who believe. The main takeaway for us, then, is to praise God and trust in the resurrected Jesus for every aspect of our lives and eternal lives. Christ is risen, Grace Church! The Power of the Parallels If you’re just joining us, I’ve been preaching on the various aspects of Colossians 1:15-20 for a number of weeks now. That whole section in Paul’s letter is about the preeminence—the stand-alone superiority, majesty, sovereignty, glory—of Jesus. In a clear and clean way, Paul divides the preeminence of Jesus between His work in the Creation (vs.15-18a) and redemption/recreation (18b-20) of the world. If we are going to really rejoice in the glory and receive the help contained in these few verses—which, of course, we very much want, right, Grace?—then we need to begin by seeing the four parallels Paul makes between Jesus’ work in Creation and in Recreation. First, in the beginning of v.15 (in the section on Jesus’ preeminence over Creation), Paul wrote that Jesus “is the image of the invisible God.” The recreation parallel is in v.19, where he wrote that in Jesus “all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.” Can you see that in both, Paul’s point is that Jesus is God incarnate? Second, in the second half of v.15 (Creation), Paul said of Jesus that He “is the firstborn of all creation.” And then in v.18 (recreation) he wrote that Jesus is “the firstborn from the dead.” There is a parallel between Jesus being firstborn at the making and remaking of heaven and earth. Third, in v.17a (Creation) Paul wrote that Jesus “is before all things.” We find the parallel in v.18b (recreation), “He is the beginning.” And finally, fourth, in v.16 (Creation) he wrote that in Jesus “all things were created.” And in v. 20 (recreation) he wrote that in Jesus “all things” will be reconciled. Why do we need to start there? What’s the point of the parallels? The point is that just as Jesus is preeminent over Creation, so too is He preeminent over redemption and recreation. Just as Jesus is the author of all created things, so too is He the author of the salvation of all things. Just as His life is the source of all life, so too is His resurrection the source of all new life. Just as He ordered all things in the beginning, so too will He reorder all things in the end. For the Colossian Church (those to whom the letter was originally written), drawing their attention to those awesome parallels served two main purposes. (1) It helped them grow even more firm in their resolve that salvation is in Jesus alone. That fact definitively answered many of the questions put before them by false teachers. (2) At the same time, Paul also meant it to help them grow even more firm in their resolve that Jesus is entirely sufficient to protect them from those persecuting them. And that fact definitively answered their questions concerning how they would be able to endure the persecution they were facing. In other words, in drawing the parallels between Jesus’ preeminence over Creation and redemption, Paul poetically pointed the Colossians to the unmatched glory of Jesus and directly addressed their two main problems. What a gift that was for them (and, as we’re about to see, is for us). With that in the way of a backdrop, let’s back up a bit and look more closely at the specifics of this passage. Insodoing, we’ll get a fuller sense of Paul’s argument and, Lord willing, it will result in hearts full of resurrection worship and lives full of resurrection obedience! For the remainder of this sermon, then, we’re going to look a bit closer at each of those parallels as they appear inside the four main recreation claims Paul makes of Jesus in our passage: (1) Jesus is the firstborn from the dead, (2) In the man Jesus, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, (3) In Jesus all things are reconciled to God, and (4) In all of this, the preeminence of Jesus is put on spectacular display. As remarkable as those things are, let me be clear on something: Neither Paul’s aim nor mine is to simply fill your head with Easter facts. For both of us, it is to help you see how those facts are the only sure foundation for a life, even an eternal life, of satisfaction, peace, meaning, and worship. Or, more immediately, it is to help today be filled with the kind of celebration and joy that can only come from genuine hope in the real and resurrected and reigning Jesus’. Let’s make our Easter celebrations centered around these things, Grace. If these things are true, and the certainly are, what could possibly be more worthy of celebrating?! Jesus Is the Beginning, The Firstborn from the Dead Once again, the first claim Paul makes in our passage for this morning is that Jesus “is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead.” As I mentioned earlier, in both Creation and recreation, Jesus is the cause. That Jesus is “before” Creation (Genesis 1-2) means Creation was by and through Him. It came after Him and out of Him. That’s awesome. And in the same way, that He is the “beginning” of recreation (accordi...
Transcribe →Jesus is Preeminent – In Him All Things Hold Together
Mar 2900:37:24Tap to summarizeColossians 1:15-20 – 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. Introduction Imagine at the same time the hardest trial and the best news you could get concerning it. At the time Paul wrote this letter to the Colossian church, the world seemed fairly neatly divided between those who didn’t know what to do with Christians and those who wanted to see them crushed. I’ve met men and women around the world who are in terrible situations because of their faith in Jesus, having lost virtually every earthly good. Some of you have known or are experiencing now, significant suffering. There’s no way for us to fathom the amount of damage and suffering sin has caused in the world. How many times have you wished for some measure of relief from it? How many times have you prayed for help or healing or deliverance? Again, I wonder, though, what’s the most you’ve dared to hope for in your suffering? What’s the best news you’ve imagined receiving in it? Whatever your answer, Paul’s letter promises something better, something infinitely better. Above all, he promised the Colossian Christians, along with all who are trusting in Jesus, that Jesus successfully gave His life to defeat sin and death and to bring about the complete restoration of all that sin has taken and broken. He promised a hope of glory and grace—past, present, and future. The past glory/grace was about their union with Jesus and the deliverance, redemption, and forgiveness that come with it, the moment they put their faith in Jesus. The future glory/grace is about sharing in the inheritance of Jesus and a time when all things will be right. But Paul was also realistic about the fact that they needed present glory/grace as well. That, under the Spirit’s inspiration, he offered in two main forms. The second, which we’ll come to later in the letter, was in the form of instructions for the Christian life in the here and now. And the first, which we’ve been pressing into for the past few weeks, is a description of Jesus’ preeminence over all created things. Last week, we considered Jesus’ preeminence over God’s original work of Creation (Genesis 1-2). Next week, on Easter Sunday, we’ll consider His preeminence over the coming recreation and His resurrection that proved it. This week, we’re going to consider His preeminence over all created things today. The big idea of all three weeks is that there is great help in hardship when we know the hardship is caused by things made by Jesus, governed by Jesus, and that will be brought to perfect justice and conformity by Jesus. Understandably, then, the big idea of this sermon is that Jesus sovereignly reigns over every renegade thing that causes our difficulty, both inside and outside the Church. The main takeaway is to find and trust in Jesus’ promises concerning His sovereign grace through all that causes our suffering. Jesus is the Preeminent Sustainer of Everything That Has Been Made Jesus is preeminent over everything that has been made. And one way that shows up is in the facts that, “17 …in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church.” This morning, then, with the Lord’s help, we’re going to marvel together that Jesus is the preeminent sustainer of everything that has been made and of the Church. First one first. Again, v.17 says that in Jesus all things hold together, but what does that mean? I remember coming across three helpful categories in this regard years ago. All things hold together in Jesus in that He preserves, concurs with, and governs all created things, continually. Preservation Why do you look like you every single day? Why does water freeze and boil at basically the same temperatures continually? Why do oak trees grow and lose leaves every year? Why do objects fall at the same speed every time? Perhaps more to the point, why do created things remain intact at all? Why don’t we simply dissolve into mist or just cease to exist at any given moment? The short answer to all of those questions is that Jesus continually preserves His creation according to the order with which He designed it. Hebrews 1:3, says it like this, “[Jesus] upholds the universe by the word of his power…” One of the more powerful ways I’ve heard this said is that for us to cease to exist, Jesus wouldn’t need to do something (like send a consuming fire from heaven), He’d simply need to stop doing something. We hold together, consistent with our nature, because (and only because) He is continually, actively working to that end; not a deistic, impersonal preservation, but an active, loving, personal, purposeful one. At the very least, that ought to bring about praise and peace in us no matter what this season of our lives holds. It ought to bring praise in that it is an awesome display of the omnipotence of God. It is a glorious manifestation of the complete authority given to Jesus by the Father (Matthew 28:18). We are right to look around and marvel at the fact that it is not the studs in the walls that are really holding the roof up in this room, but Jesus. He is, right now, keeping the earth beneath us, maintaining the chemical reaction that turned the limestone, clay, sand, and water into the rock-hard cement that’s under our feet, holding fast the fibers of the wood in the walls and trusses, and keeping the molecules together in our shingles to prevent rain from getting in. He’s doing the same thing for every body of every person in this room. He’s doing it for the sun and the lakes. He’s preserving the vibrating particles that allow us to hear the piano and one another when we speak and sing. Jesus holding all things together, preserving them in the properties He created, is the only reason that science and engineering work. And for all of that (and the trillions of other ways He’s preserving His creation continually), we must worship Him. I’ve long wondered if this is why there’s so much power released in splitting atoms. I don’t mean to say that humans have found a way to break Jesus’ hold on things or to overcome His preservation of them. I only mean to say that it seems entirely consistent with this idea that something that requires magnification of at least 50 million times to see, has so much power in it. It’s a way of revealing the power of Jesus’ preservation (kind of the opposite side of the coin of the visible universe being 93 billion light-years across as a means of displaying the vastness of God’s presence and glory). Either way, praise Him for His preserving power, Grace. There is praise, and there is peace in this knowledge, no matter our circumstances, in that it is Jesus who is knowingly and willingly holding together whatever it is that is causing us hardship. For some that’s a terrible thought, but for those of us who believe Jesus’ promises concerning His use of every trial for the highest good and glory, it is the surest source of the greatest peace. Jesus could cause the source of your pain to cease to exist immediately by merely being silent. Knowing that He’s chosen to keep upholding it by the word of His power, and that He loves you (1 John 4:19), and that He has promised to cause all things to work together for your good (Romans 8:28), means that He must have something really good for you in the hardship. That’s what Paul wanted the Colossians to understand and the peace he wanted them to experience when he wrote of Jesus’ preservation (holding together) of the source of their suffering. And that’s what I want for you all. Concurrence More than merely preserving all things, though, that all things hold together in Jesus also means that He is working concurrently with all things, at all times, in all that is done. Essentially, that means that in every action of every created thing, Jesus is working along with it. Biblically, we see this in God’s working in the falling of snow and hail (Job 38:22-23). We see it in His concurrence with the grass and plants of the earth (Psalm 104:14). We see it in the falling of the sunlight and...
Transcribe →Jesus is Preeminent – The Firstborn of All Creation
Mar 2200:44:29Tap to summarizeColossians 1:15-20 – 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. Introduction The ongoing questions Paul’s letter to the Colossians forces careful readers to consider are: (1) What hardships are you facing in life, and (2) What help is there for them (or where are you turning to for help)? For the Colossian Christians, the ongoing answer to the first question was persecution and false teaching. And Paul’s ongoing answer for the second question is the preeminence of Jesus. A proper understanding of and trust in who Jesus is and what He’s done (His preeminence in nature and practice) is always the main help we have and need, Paul wrote. We saw at the end of the last section of the letter (1:12-14) what Jesus did: Suffered, died, and rose from the dead in order to redeem us, that the Father might qualify us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light, deliver us from the domain of darkness, transfer us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, and forgive us of our sins. We’ll see what He did again at the end of this passage (1:20): He died on the cross to reconcile us (and all things) to Himself. That’s what He did in His preeminence. The rest of the passage, once again, speaks to who Jesus is as preeminent. Last week, we saw that He is preeminent in that He is the image of the invisible God. And because of that we have great help in every hardship. Specifically, (1) We can be sure that He is always with us for our good in our trials and (2) We can be sure that in the New Heavens and Earth we will see Him with eyes sanctified precisely to enable us to behold Him in His glory forever and ever. For the next three weeks, we are going to continue to consider who Jesus is as a means of growing in worship and help in trials. Specifically, we’ll see from this passage that Jesus’ preeminence was at the center of God’s work in Creation (this morning), is at the center of God’s ongoing work in sustaining creation (next week), and will be at the center of the coming recreation (Easter Sunday). The big idea of this sermon is that whatever form the hardships in your life take, you must know that Jesus is supreme over every aspect of every object of the difficulty. As the means and aim of all Creation, there is nothing causing you pain that Jesus is not over. There is great help in that knowledge for all who are hoping in Jesus. The main takeaway, then, is to learn to live out of that story—the greatest and truest story, with the greatest Hero, the greatest ending, and the greatest Author. Jesus is Preeminent Over All Creation In my experience, it is a common tendency for Christians to draw bold lines around the work of the persons of the godhead. For instance, it is normal to think exclusively of the Spirit when it comes to the ongoing power we have for ministry today, of the Son when it comes to securing our salvation, and of the Father when it comes to the Creation of the heavens and earth. Of course, there’s some truth to this—God’s Word does speak primarily of the Father’s work in Creation, the Son alone died on the cross, and only the Spirit indwells believers—but the Bible consistently teaches that all three persons of the godhead are all involved in all that God does. Our passage for this morning is an example of that in an important sense. If we miss it, we miss another awesome aspect of the preeminence of Jesus and help for our troubles; namely, in His involvement with and relationship to the Creation work of God. As we just noted, God the Father is the primary mover in Creation, but He did so, as we’re about to see, by, through, and for Jesus.But what does that mean and how does it help in times of suffering? The Firstborn of All Creation The second phrase Paul uses to describe the preeminence of Jesus in v.15 (the first is that He is the “image of the invisible God”) is that: “He is…the first born of all creation.” That might not sound at first like an expression of Jesus’ preeminence. In fact, the idea of Jesus being the “firstborn of all creation” ought to sound at least a little strange. It sounds a little like His involvement in Creation includes being created. And it sounds like His uniqueness is only that He was the first to be created and born. If that’s what Paul meant, it doesn’t seem all that impressive and, worse yet, it opens a giant can of worms. That’s how certain groups like the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons read it. And that’s part of what they use to deny the Trinity. Biblically, “firstborn” can certainly mean the first to be born in a family. That is a big deal and a real honor. It included an extra inheritance and the primary responsibility to keep the family unified in the next generation. There are many, many examples of that. But is that the case? Is that what Paul had in mind? Certainly not! He makes that crystal clear in the following verses when he says that Jesus is before Creation and that all Creation was by, through, and for Him. If that’s not what Paul meant, then what did He mean? Throughout the Bible, the term “firstborn” also refers to someone who is first in importance. Psalm 89 gives us a sense of this in a remarkable way. Psalm 89:27-29 I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth. 28 My steadfast love I will keep for him forever, and my covenant will stand firm for him. 29 I will establish his offspring forever and his throne as the days of the heavens. The Psalmist, Ethan the Ezrahite, wrote in God’s voice of King David, in what is considered a Messianic psalm. In other words, these few verses in Psalm 89 are ultimately about Jesus being the firstborn in the same sense as Paul means it in our passage. I read a similar use of “firstborn” in John’s Gospel in my quite time this week. John the Baptist was questioned by the Jews concerning his ministry. In response, of Jesus, he declared, “After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me” (John 1:30). John was the firstborn of the cousins (physically born before Jesus), but Jesus was the firstborn over the cousins (greater in significance, importance, worth, power). That’s the same connection that Paul made in our passage. Jesus is the “firstborn of all creation” in the same way that He is “before all things” in Creation (v.17); namely in that He is preeminent, in first place over Creation. The next verse in Colossians, v.16, unpacks that idea further—it explains some of what Paul meant by Jesus’ firstborn-Creation-preeminence. But before we get there, Grace, let’s pause to marvel at this and check our suffering-story and that of the Colossian Christians against it. That Jesus is over all Creation (again, that’s what it means that He is firstborn of all Creation), means, at the very least, that those persecuting and spreading false teaching among the Colossians, as well as whatever aspect of Creation is troubling you—be it renegade cells in your body or people in your life or even demons from hell—are under Jesus. He is over them all! There’s more to the story than that, but there isn’t less. And if your story doesn’t include that reality, if the way you are processing your hardship doesn’t have that as the center and backdrop, then you’ll never navigate your suffering as you ought, you are missing out on great help, and God is not glorified as He deserves in your response. That Jesus is the firstborn of all Creation must dominate every aspect of how you think about and respond to your suffering. And the more it does, the more help it will be, and the more God will be honored. That’s what Paul first commended to the Colossians and it’s what I first commend to you. Creation By and Through Him That’s quite a bit of help already. But Paul was not done. He further unpacked Jesus’ preeminence in Creation. Look with me at v.16 to see more of what that means, and therein find even more help for your trials. 15 He is … the firstborn of all creation. <stro...
Transcribe →Jesus is Preeminent – The Image of the Invisible God
Mar 1500:40:52Tap to summarizeColossians 1:15-20 – 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. Introduction I want to thank Darrel very much for preaching last Sunday. I was able to listen to his sermon on the way home from the conference that Pastor Colin and I attended. It was clear, biblical, hopeful, immediately applicable, and Christ-centered—all the ingredients of a good sermon. I prayed that you all would have been as encouraged by it as I was. In particular, I prayed that the things he commended to us would be our mind and heart whenever suffering comes our way (which, providentially, fits very well with this sermon). Thank you, Darrel. You served us well. And now, welcome back to Colossians. More specifically, welcome back to Colossians 1:15-20. More specifically still, welcome back to the heart of the letter and Paul’s answer to the question of how the Colossian Christians (and all followers of Christ) are to navigate hardship (persecution and false teaching for the Colossians). His answer is to make sure that nothing other than the preeminence of Jesus (the supremacy of Jesus; the reality that Jesus has first place in everything; that Jesus is all and in all) is at the center of the story we tell ourselves whenever trials—whatever their form—befall us. At the same time—and this really is the key, Grace Church—in order to make sure the preeminence of Jesus is truly and helpfully at the center of the story we tell ourselves in times of trial, Paul knew that we must know, in real, concrete terms what it means that Jesus is preeminent; how Jesus is preeminent; what forms Jesus’ preeminence takes. In other words, it does us no good to believe lies about Jesus’ preeminence. And it is not enough to know true things about Jesus’ preeminence in vague or abstract ways. To find real help through real suffering, we need to know the specifics of Jesus’ glorious preeminence. We need that now every bit as much as the Colossians needed it then. As I mentioned in my last sermon on Colossians, we’re going to consider the various aspects of Jesus’ preeminent nature (mentioned in this passage), slowly over the next several weeks. We’ll begin looking at them this morning with the first aspect named by Paul and the big idea of this sermon: Jesus is preeminent in that He is the image of the invisible God. The main takeaway is to learn look unto Jesus when life is hard by remembering that He is with us and that one day we will see Him face to face. What does it mean that Jesus Is the image of the invisible God? There are two main questions that drive this sermon: (1) What does it mean that Jesus is the image of the invisible God? And (2) How does knowing that help us in our suffering? God Is Spirit and Spirit Is Invisible In answer to the first question, there are three key points: God is spirit and spirit is invisible, God made Himself visible at times throughout the OT, and Jesus is the ultimate revelation of God. In the famous passage recounting Jesus’ interaction with the Samaritan woman at the well, Jesus taught several significant truths. Among them is the fact that “God is spirit” (John 4:24). By that He meant that God the Father is non-physical. He has no body or parts. He has no size or dimensions. That God is spirit means that He is not a being. He is being. Scholars have called this “pure being” or “the fullness or essence of being” (Grudem, ST, 187). This is why God’s most holy name is “I AM” (Exodus 3:14). And He is not optional being, but necessary being. He can’t not be. And all other being comes from Him. And yet, spiritual being is undetectable by ordinary senses. Like wind, spirit is very real and able to bring about very real effects, but it is also invisible. The Father is spirit and He is invisible. That is a key aspect of His nature and our experience of it. Before we move on, Grace Church, if this aspect of God’s nature does not stir you to worship, you do not yet understand it. For millennia, philosophers and theologians have pondered the question of what constitutes “being” (the fancy word is “ontology”). The greatest human minds recognize the significance of the question, even if they are incompetent to truly grasp it. God is the answer to the question. He is spirit. He is being. He is the purest and highest form of reality. He is the only non-derivative reality. That’s staggering. That’s amazing. That is worthy of our praise. That is part of what makes Jesus’ preeminent and His preeminence help in times of trouble. I invite you to pause and pray, asking God the Father to fill you with the awe and peace that will come as you recognize that He is more fully real and present right here, right now than anything you can see with your eyes. God Made Himself Visible While it is staggering, amazing, and worthy of praise, the fact that it makes Him undetectable by ordinary senses makes us wonder how we can even know there is a God, much less how we might interact with Him or have a relationship with Him, much less find help from Him when life is hard. There are two answers to this question. First, God made us with spirits. While that’s a different sermon for a different day, it’s important to note that there is “some communication from God to us of a spiritual nature” (Grudem, ST, 188)—His spirit to ours. In other words, and this is all I’ll say about it, as Romans 1 teaches, even though the fact that God is spirit means we can’t perceive him with ordinary senses, we are made with more than ordinary senses such that everyone knows there is a God through conscience and creation—through His effects in us and around us. The second answer, which I’ll say more about since it’s more relevant to this sermon, is that God has, at times, made Himself detectible by our senses. He has chosen to allow people to hear and feel and even see Him through created means. Have you ever heard the term “theophany”? It’s a combination of two words, “God” and “appearance”. Combined, as I imagine you can imagine, they refer to an appearance of God. Theophanies are all over in the OT. God made Himself felt, heard, and seen to His creatures through various aspects of His creation (wind, fire, light, etc.). Let me share a few examples. The first is found right at the beginning of the Bible. In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve, still in the Garden of Eden, “heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, ‘Where are you?’” As we just saw, God is spirit. Which means, again as we just saw, that He has no body to walk with, much less rustle leaves or grass as He walked (“the sound of the Lord walking in the garden”). Likewise, He has no mouth with which to speak (“He called to the man and said…”). And yet Adam and Eve heard and saw God because God made Himself audible and visible through ordinary (even fallen) eyes and ears by means of the things He made (grass and twigs and pebbles and vibrating molecules/atoms?). Another early OT theophany is found in Exodus 3. There we Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law when, unexpectedly, he encountered “the angel of the Lord” (which is God Himself). God “appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush.” And there, “the Lord saw that [Moses] turned aside to see [Him].” God “called to him out of the bush, ‘Moses, Moses!’ … ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’” The invisible, God of spirit made Himself seen and heard for the benefit of His chosen spokesman. A bit later in Exodus (24:7), God appeared to all the Israelites. This time, “the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel.” Maybe the most famous OT theophany ...
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