Colossians 1:15-20 Sermon: Jesus is Good News. Introduction:

Transcription

1 Colossins :5-20 Sermon: Jesus is Good News Introduction: I m one of those people who is often up lte thinking. It is not tht I m lwys thinking out profound things sometimes I m simply pondering the universe of Spidermn or thinking out how Yod could hve defeted Drth Sidious. I often think out life nd how it is plying out. I often ponder on theologicl issues such s the sovereignty of God nd I wonder wht is going on in our world. With the onset of new yer I cn t help ut think little out the future sking questions like, Wht will life e like in 5 yers, 0 yers, or 50 yers? How will the world chnge? How will Americ chnge? Wht kind of joys will I experience? Wht kind of sorrows? How does my fith ply out in ll of this? How do I think out the future in light of the Gospel nd in light of the mgnitude of God. And usully the more serious of these questions drive me to pryer nd reding from scripture in serch of some perspective. As we enter new yer it is not uncommon to find people looking for perspective. You find people contemplting the pst yer nd wondering out the yer to come. Tody we re going to look t pssge dripping with perspective. It is perspective tht will shpe how we think out nd how we pproch our world. Plese turn with me to Colossins chpter vs Context: As we do so we let us rememer tht it seems s if Pul writes this letter to defend the Gospel y celerting nd procliming the gospel joyously nd with gret spectcle. Pul does not hold ck, in the erly verses he explins how the Gospel hs een growing ll over the world, he explins tht the Gospel ws out redemption nd tht those who in fith receive the Gospel re heirs of the kingdom nd they re free of this world nd its trppings. He clls them to live in light of the Gospel to live righteous lives. You see the Colossins were eing chllenged in their perspective nd Pul writes to keep them oriented in the right direction y giving them Perspective from Jesus who is good news. Listen to the words of Colossins :5-20

2 5 He is the imge of the invisile God, the firstorn of ll cretion. 6 For y Him ll things were creted, oth in the hevens nd on erth, visile nd invisile, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or uthorities ll things hve een creted through Him nd for Him. 7 He is efore ll things, nd in Him ll things hold together. 8 He is lso hed of the ody, the church; nd He is the eginning, the firstorn from the ded, so tht He Himself will come to hve first plce in everything. 9 For it ws the Fther s good plesure for ll the fullness to dwell in Him, 20 nd through Him to reconcile ll things to Himself, hving mde pece through the lood of His cross; through Him, I sy, whether things on erth or things in heven. Friends Jesus is Good News He is Good News for ll cretion nd for slvtion. st Jesus is good news for ll of cretion. Vs 5 He is the imge of the invisile God, Right off the strt this pssge declres something most mgnificent, Jesus is the imge Jesus is the representtion of the invisile God. The text very oldly unites the son to the fther, leving no dout tht in Jesus we sw God. Where once God hd only een seen nd known in clouds nd voices nd shdows he is now known in the person of Jesus the Christ. This is phenomenl. Here is the perspective - God is not distnt, he is not impersonl ut rther he is Immnuel, with us. Not s some cosmic force or essence ut s person, whom we cn know. One whom we cn relte with, the fther hs shown himself through his son! This is phenomenl; in Jesus we cn know God. Ponder tht for moment. God hs in his gret mercy come to us to e known through his son Jesus. Or in Lit Who is 2 Cor 4:4 John :

3 Vs 5 now goes on to sy even more, He is the firstorn of ll cretion Like in Herew fmily the firstorn position ws one of honor nd uthority. God spoke of Dvid this wy in Pslm 89:27. To sy tht Jesus is the firstorn of cretion is to sy tht Jesus holds position of honor nd uthority over cretion. And Vs 6 quickly moves to tell us why Jesus receives this honor nd uthority, 6 For y Him ll things were creted, Jesus is firstorn of ll cretion ecuse he clled ll things into eing, ll things. There is nothing tht ws creted tht he did not mke! And to leve no dout the text gives clrity y sying oth the things in heven nd the things in erth, nd gin so tht no one misses the point, oth the visile nd the invisile. This pssge is declring firmly nd oldly tht Jesus ws the one who creted ll things oth the visile nd the invisile, the physicl nd the spiritul. Everything. The end of Vs 6rings the perspective into shrp focus with stoke of ppliction y sying whether thrones or dominions or rulers or uthorities. It is likely tht the text here is refereeing to ngelic eings in ll four of these ctegories giving sort of list of lower to higher eings. The point is tht there ws no spirit or power or eing tht would e le to overpower or dominte or tke control or e stronger thn the LORD Jesus who is the Christ. Jesus Christ is supreme over ll. There re no powers which do not nd will not ow to him. There is no power whether on erth or in heven, whether visile or invisile who will rule over Jesus. Whether Christin lives in free country or not they re free to worship nd serve Jesus ecuse he is Lord, he is supreme. There is no creted power who will tell Jesus wht to do. Vs 6 concludes tht ll of cretion is not only mde through him ut for him. All of cretion finds its purpose in Jesus Christ. There is nothing creted tht exists unto itself for itself. There is no unequl dulity in the creted universe oth visile nd invisile find its purpose in him. Here the wlls come down, there is no scred nd seculr. Everything is for Jesus, everything. And though some things re set prt for specil purpose those things re not Or in Eph :0 Eph :20f; Col 2:5

4 somehow inherently more righteous. All things find there end, their purpose, their gol in Jesus. Jesus hs mde oth the physicl nd the spiritul tht they my worship nd serve him. This mens tht when we mow our lwns, shovel our drives, get our mil, sleep, et, chnge our clothes, py our ills, gther to worship, prech, tech nd listen to the gospel we do them for Christ s it ws ll creted for him. Pul keeps this perspective when lter in this very letter he sys in 3:7 Whtever you do in word or deed, do ll in the nme of the Lord Jesus, giving thnks through Him to God the Fther nd in 3:24-25 Whtever you do, do your work hertily, s for the Lord 2 rther thn for men, knowing tht from the Lord you will receive the rewrd of the inheritnce. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. It is eutiful thing to know tht when we go out our dily grind we re not simply idding our time, ut we re serving the Lord. With Jesus we re le to worship nd serve Him ll dy everydy midst ll tht we do. Whether we re consciously thinking out him or singing to Him or not, when we do the work tht he hs put efore us whether tht e helping ptients, lncing udgets, clening toilets, writing ppers, serving clients, chnging dipers, teching students, gging groceries, ll of it is for Jesus nd is done in service to him. All is creted y Jesus nd for Jesus nd there is no creted one greter thn him. Vs 7 then like good overture or poem returns to previous theme to gin celerte tht Jesus ws not creted ut he ws indeed efore ll things. And it dds to this theme y stting tht not only ws Jesus efore ll things nd not only did he crete ll things ut s the second hlf of vs 7 sys in Him ll things 2 hold together. Literlly, he keeps things from going poof. Jesus holds it ll together nd keeps if from spirling into nothingness or cosmic chos. Not in n Atls kind of wy y holding the gloe still in spce or crrying it on his ck, ut rther s Lord. Jesus previls over the powers of drkness tht would just s soon spin this world into utter chos nd destruction. Jesus keeps evil from overtking the world nd Jesus previls in ringing His kingdom nd His redemption. This perspective is ultimtely ressuring in world tht seems s if it is often on the rink of chos nd destruction. Jesus holds it together, he is the one who oversees events nd history 2 Lit nd not 2 Or endure

5 nd gives rin to the just nd the unjust. The forces of drkness hve no power either over him or his world. Though they meddle with it, Jesus sustins nd holds this world together guiding it ever towrd him nd his slvtion. This perspective llevites us from flling into futility, it helps us to not ecome overwhelmed y the world nd its crziness. We need not worry, we need not fret, we need not try to consume nd control. Listen to Jesus words from the ook of John, 6:33 These things I hve spoken to you, so tht in Me you my hve pece. In the world you hve triultion, ut tke courge; I hve overcome the world. Friends Jesus is Good News for ll of cretion! 2 nd Jesus is Good News for slvtion. Vs. 8 now ties the two themes of cretion nd slvtion together when it sys He is lso hed of the ody, the church; Here the text moves from first cretion to the new cretion, the work of redemption y Jesus. Here the text ffirms tht ll things hve een creted y nd for Christ even the Church of which he is the hed, when it sys, He is lso it links the two together. Here is the perspective - ll tht ws sid out cretion is lso true out the Church. The Church, his ody exists y him for him nd he holds it together! We s his ody, his church do not exist unto ourselves for our own purposes ut for his purpose, for his will nd for his glory. This mens tht we cn e comforted in knowing tht he is guiding nd leding nd tht he is cring for us. This lso mens tht we seek him nd his purposes nd his will for ourselves y oeying his Word nd y following his Spirit. And to elorte on Jesus s Good News for Slvtion the text declres next tht, He is c the eginning, d the firstorn from the ded, so tht He Himself will come to hve first plce in everything. Eph :22 Eph :23; Col :24; 2:9 c Rev 3:4 d Acts 26:23

6 Slvtion strts with Jesus, he creted it he egn it, he is the firstorn of the ded leding the wy. Jesus is the first to rise from the ded, he hs egun the work of slvtion. The Gospel of Mrk sys it like this: The time hs come, the kingdom is ner repent nd elieve. Jesus is now exlted even higher t the end of vs 8 which sys so tht or we could sy for this reson He Himself will come to hve first plce in everything Ever since the digitl ge nd the onset of emil, instnt messging nd texting the fshion in which words re typed nd set in their text or put on screen hs ecome yet gin very importnt, just s it ws with the onset of the printing press. For instnce if you were going to sy hello to someone through instnt messging nd you simply typed in lower cse h e l l o, you would in effect e sying, hi. If however you were to type in H E L L O, you would e incresing your volume nd in effect e sying, HEY THERE, WHAT S UP BUDY. This verse which sys, so tht He Himself will come to hve first plce in everything you could sy is in ll cps. JESUS IS SUPREME IN EVERYTHING. Jesus is supreme in cretion he is supreme in slvtion. JESUS IS SUPREME IN EVERYTHING. 9 For it ws the Fther s good plesure for ll the 2 fullness to dwell in Him, 20 nd through Him to reconcile ll things to Himself, hving mde pece through c the lood of His cross; through Him, I sy, d whether things on erth or things in heven. Now in the lst two verses wht we find is some insight into the mind nd hert of God s he crried out his plns for slvtion through Jesus. Vs 9 sys For it ws the Fther s good plesure for ll the fullness to dwell in Him, We re reminded of similr times with the fther ws plesed with his son, t his ptism nd t his trnsfigurtion. Here the Fther is plesed to hve l l the fullness to dwell in Jesus. The Fther is plesed to hve ll of him, his wisdom, Or ll the fullness ws plesed to dwell Eph :5 John :6 2 I.e. fullness of deity 2 Cor 5:8; Eph 2:6 Rom 5:; Eph 2:4 c Eph 2:3 d Col :6 Lit the hevens New Americn Stndrd Bile : 995 updte. 995 (Col :5-20). LHr, CA: The Lockmn Foundtion.

7 grce, mercy, truth, nd righteousness e living within his Son Jesus the Christ. The Fther is plesed for Christ to receive ll the honor nd uthority over cretion nd slvtion. He is the imge of the invisile God. The fther ws lso plesed through him s vs 20 sttes to reconcile ll things to Himself The fther is plesed to ring ll things ck to himself through, y mens of his son. Why? Becuse or Since he hs mde pece through his lood on the cross, His cross. The tonement of Jesus, his ct of love nd scrifice rought pece. Hostility etween God nd mn hs een ended in Christ. Jesus hs rought pece for those who elieve. It is through Jesus in whom ll of glory nd uthority nd mercy, nd grce nd truth, nd righteousness dwelled vs 20 concludes through Him ll things re reconciled to the fther, whether things on erth or things in heven! Here is the perspective - Jesus who creted ll things is redeeming ll things, tht is there is no re of cretion which he did not crete nd which is left untouched y his work of redemption. The physicl is eing redeemed long with the spiritul. God s slvtion in Christ excludes nothing. Reltionships, sex, work, industry, worship, ledership, uthority, pryer, community It is not just the spiritul which is eing redeemed ut the physicl s well. The Gospel leves no stone unturned, ll of cretion is eing reconciled unto God through Jesus who hs mde pece through his lood on the cross His Cross. Pul reminds us in Romns 8:9-2 tht cretion is egerly witing for its liertion t the redemption of the children of God. The Gospel is not just ticket out of this world ut rther it is reorienttion, new life, new eginning, new cretion in which every re of cretion is eing reconciled. Friends Jesus is Good News for Slvtion! Let us celerte the mjesty nd the supremcy of Jesus the Christ for 5 He is the imge of the invisile God, the firstorn of ll cretion. 6 For y Him ll things were creted, oth in the hevens nd on erth, visile nd invisile, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or uthorities ll things hve een creted through Him nd for Him. 7 He is efore ll things, nd in Him ll things hold together.

8 8 He is lso hed of the ody, the church; nd He is the eginning, the firstorn from the ded, so tht He Himself will come to hve first plce in everything. 9 For it ws the Fther s good plesure for ll the fullness to dwell in Him, 20 nd through Him to reconcile ll things to Himself, hving mde pece through the lood of His cross; through Him, I sy, whether things on erth or things in heven. My we rejoice in Jesus our good news nd experience God in ll of life this new yer! Let us pry