Colossians 1:18-22 | The Gracious Work of the Preeminent Christ

This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

Our time together this morning is a little different than normal already, even so far this morning.

Since next Sunday is Mother's Day, and we will be having a parent and child dedication at that service.

We decided to remove our remembering of the Lord's death through communion to today.

That's usually the second Sunday.

We're going to move it to today.

It's also a little different in that I'm not really going to preach.

I want to talk to you for just a short time.

Well, maybe not just a short time, because we'll see.

More accurately, though, I want to let God Himself speak by mostly just reading what He has written.

And in doing that, I have two goals.

The first goal is to review where we have been the last few weeks and looking at the exalted Christ, to remind us of where we have been in that.

And then the second goal is to lead us from there, from the exalted Christ, to remembrance of the exalted Lord's death on our behalf.

So to begin our time then in doing that, I would like to read the majority of the book of Colossians.

So if you'd like to follow along as I do that, you may or may just follow along as you listen.

Colossians chapter 1, beginning in verse 1.

Colossians 1 · chapter mention

And as we read, I would like you to take special note of what God says about Christ.

Take special note of what God says about Christ, and secondly, take special note of what God says about Christ's death.

So note what it says about Christ and about his death for us.

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy, our brother.

To the saints and faithful brothers in Colossae, in Christ at Colossae, grace to you and peace from God our Father.

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven.

Now, of this hope you have heard already before in the Word of Truth the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is it is bearing fruit and growing, as it does among you since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth.

Just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant.

He is a faithful minister of Christ in your behalf, and he has made known to us your love in the Spirit.

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will and all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.

May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

For he is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or authorities, all things were created through him and for him.

And he is before all things, and in him all things exist.

And he is the head of the body, the church.

He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that in everything he might be preeminent.

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

And you, and you who were who were once alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he is now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him.

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.

Now, I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, in my flesh filling up what was lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, 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.

That mystery, mystery hidden for ages and generations, but is now revealed to his saints.

To them, God made known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery.

This mystery which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Him we proclaim.

Warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom so that we might present everyone mature in Christ.

For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

Because 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.

So that their hearts might be encouraged, might be knit together in love.

In order to reach all the riches of full assurance and understanding of the knowledge of God's mystery, the mystery that is that is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

I say this so that no one may delude you with plausible arguments.

For though I am absent in body, I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of this world, and not according to Christ.

For in him, in Christ, the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.

And you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.

In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision not made with human hands, but by the putting off of the body of flesh by the circumcision of Christ.

Having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God who raised him from the dead.

And you, you who were who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive with him.

Having forgiven all of our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands.

This he set aside by nailing it to the cross.

He even disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in him.

Therefore, let no one pass judgment on you in questions of what you eat or what you drink or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.

Those things are just shadows of things to come, but the substance, the substance belongs to Christ.

Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism or worship of angels, or going on and on about visions being puffed up without reason by a sensuous mind and not holding fast to our head.

That head from whom the whole body nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments grows from a growth that is from God.

If with Christ you have died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive to the world, do you submit to regulations?

Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle, all referring to things that perish as they're used, according to human precepts and teachings.

Oh, these indeed have an appearance of wisdom and promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they're of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above.

Or Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Set your mind on things above, not on things that are on earth, because you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

And when Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you.

Sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, all those idolatrous things.

Because on account of those things, the wrath of God is coming.

But now you must put them all away.

Anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.

Don't lie to one another, seeing that you've put off the old self with its deceitful practices.

And you've put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

Here, there's there's not Greek or Jew, there's not circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is in all and is all.

Put on then, as God's, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved.

Put on compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another.

And if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

And above all, put on love which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body.

And be thankful.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God in whatever you do, in word or in deed.

Do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Lord Jesus, we we give thanks to you this morning.

We give thanks for you, for who you are and for all that you have done for us.

We give thanks to you for who we are in you.

Enable us this morning to see you, to have our eyes opened, our hearts soft, to see who you are and what you've done.

Amen.

Well, I've already used up all of my time for this morning, but I don't care.

Let's go back, let's go back and point out quickly a few things from this rich letter.

First, I want you to see the exalted Christ.

Where have we been?

A few weeks ago we started with Christ exalted in his holiness from Psalm 99.

Then we looked at Christ exalted in death on Good Friday.

Christ exalted in resurrection on resurrection morning.

And last week Christ exalted in his glory.

All of those evident here in the book of Colossians.

Look at verses 15 through 18 of chapter 1.

Christ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, for by him all things were created in heaven on earth, visible, invisible.

All things were created for him and through him.

He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

You might say, Pastor, where's holiness in that?

Doesn't even say it.

There's no word holiness.

If you go back to where we were in Psalm 99, we defined holiness then as being utterly unlike something.

Christ in his holiness is utterly unlike us.

He is separate from us.

He is greater than us.

He is higher than us.

We cannot be compared with him.

That's exactly what it says right here.

He is before all things.

In him all things hold together.

In him all things were created.

That's not like us.

He is wholly unlike us.

Totally separate.

He is exalted in his holiness.

Notice the repetition of he is.

He is the image.

He is before all things.

He is the head of the body.

He is the beginning.

He is, we aren't.

He is holy, entirely, unlike us.

He is exalted in his holiness.

If you look down in the same chapter, chapter 1, verses 19 and 20, in him the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

There he is exalted in his death.

He is the one who is making peace.

Chapter 2, verse 13, you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven our trespasses.

How can he do that?

By canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands.

This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

Nailing it to the cross.

He is exalted in his death.

Chapter 2, verse 13.

God made alive together with him.

There's our Christ exalted in resurrection.

God made him alive.

He is exalted in his resurrection.

Therefore, chapter 3, verse 1, he is exalted in his glory.

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things of Christ, the things that are above where Christ is.

Where is Christ?

Seated at the right hand of God.

We must see the exalted Christ.

That must encapsulate our vision this morning.

Now I'd like you to notice a couple of purpose statements.

Going back to chapter 1, verse 9, the Apostle Paul describes having heard about how the Colossians were doing.

This local church was struggling in some areas, and so that motivated, that news motivated Paul to not cease to pray.

Well, what did he pray?

Well, we've asked God that you would be filled with the knowledge of his will, with wisdom and understanding, so that you might walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, that you might bear fruit in every good work and increase in the knowledge of God, that you might be strengthened with all power, specifically for endurance and patience with joy.

He wants God's people to grow, to grow in their understanding and knowledge of who Christ is, so that that will have an impact on the rest of their lives.

Now, what source, what's the basis for that statement?

Well, it comes next in verses 13 and 14.

He understands that the Son of God has redeemed us, he has forgiven our sins, he has transferred us from the domain of darkness to his own domain, his own place of rule, his own kingdom.

Notice there the supremacy of Christ, the exalted status of the Son.

He is God, He is King, and He is able to forgive.

Chapter 2, verse 1 is another purpose statement.

I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those who are at Lacia and all who have not seen my face.

What's his struggle?

I want your hearts to be encouraged, to be knit together in love.

Here's how you're encouraged, he says, by being knit together in love.

If you don't understand that, find somebody who knits.

And you'll understand what being knit together means.

We aren't coming together.

We aren't supposed to come together as individuals sitting in our own assigned spot in the pew, not communicating with one another.

That's not how we're encouraged.

We're encouraged by coming together as a family of believers, brothers and sisters in Christ, being joint, knit together, tied together.

That's how we're encouraged.

That's what he wants.

That leads to reaching all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ.

What's the source of that desire?

Christ.

He says, I want you to know Christ because that's where full assurance is found.

Now let's try to connect the dots a little bit.

We have this exalted Christ, unlike us, totally unlike us.

And yet that that understanding, that knowledge of Christ and his exalted status is supposed to motivate us somehow.

Well, how in the world does that happen when he is so exalted and we are not?

I think we see that the pattern going back to chapter 1, verse 4.

We have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus.

It all begins with a trust in the person of Christ.

Not in ourselves, not in our religion, but in the person of Christ.

He says, You've heard the word of the gospel that's come to you.

Through faith, then in verses 13 and 14 of chapter 1, that faith has moved us from one domain of rule and authority to another, to that of Christ's rule and authority.

And so, in verse 21.

Now he's reconciled us to God.

He's reconciled us.

We are now people who are no longer enemies, but friends of God, reconciled with him, our sin no longer creating hostility.

Therefore, chapter 2, verse 6, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him.

Do you see what he does?

When we exercise faith in Christ, he moves us, he transfers our citizenship from darkness and sin to his kingdom, but he doesn't stop there.

He causes us to grow roots that go down deep into his kingdom, and those roots then feed the rest that develops fruit in him.

Built up in him.

Verse 10 for you have been filled in him, the one who is the head of all rule and authority.

That then puts us into a place of intimate connection with Christ.

Verses 11 through 15, I really want to preach on this, but we don't have time.

So if you're one of those people who marks up your Bible, I'm one of those people, so I'm not speaking negatively of you.

If you're one of those people who marks up your Bible, in verses 11 through 15 of chapter 2, mark the in hims or the with hims.

In him you were circumcised, having been buried with him, raised with him, made alive together with him, triumphing over them in him.

It's all about the exalted Christ.

This ancient church was having some difficulties.

Some were buying into false teaching.

They were looking for their hope, their encouragement, their life, their empowerment in life in all the wrong places.

So God gives this letter to them to say, for the Christian, all of your encouragement, all of your hope, all of your life, all of your empowerment are to be found in the exalted Christ.

In him, with him.

Chapter 3, verse 1, since then, since you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above.

Do you remember Easter Sunday?

We looked at Ephesians chapter 2, where we saw Christ buried, raised, and seated at the right hand of God.

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

That's the glory of resurrection morning.

But then in Ephesians chapter 2, the apostle goes on to apply that truth to us.

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

And he says, that all applies to you.

You have been buried with him.

You have been raised with him.

You have been seated with him.

All that Christ has in God, we have in Christ.

The glory of the exalted Christ must hit us in the head, it must pierce our hearts, and it must drive our souls to desire more of him.

Because all that is in him, we participate in.

Why is that?

Because God determined through him, through Christ, to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

And you, who are dead in their trespasses in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him.

Having forgiven all of our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands.

Allison and I have spent the last ten days moving to a new home.

Thank you for all of your help.

For those of you who have given of your time and your efforts, we could not have done it without you.

Thank you for those who have supplied food and those of you who've wanted to help but couldn't.

Thank you.

But now I have a mortgage.

I have a debt.

I have a debt that comes with legal demands.

We have a debt to God that comes with legal demands.

Legal expectations that must be satisfied.

He has forgiven us all our trespasses.

How?

By canceling, wiping out the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands.

This he completely set aside by nailing it to a cross.

In the Old Testament, there is a tale of two goats.

Two goats without blemish stood before the high priest in the bright Middle Eastern sun on the Day of Atonement.

Lots were cast.

And the goat on whom the lot fell was chosen, was led to the altar to be killed by the priest as a sin offering for all of the people.

As the goat was slain, the blood was caught in a bowl.

That bowl was carried directly into the sanctuary, right, right to the Holy of Holies, where the Ark of the Covenant sat with those cherubim on top and the presence of God enthroned between the cherubim.

And the priest took the blood of that goat and he sprinkled it on that mercy seat to atone for the sin of the people.

The other goat, commonly known as the scapegoat, portrays another truth.

The priest placed both hands on the head of that goat, and as he did so, he confessed the sins of all of the nation of Israel.

Then the goat was led out of the camp, out into the desert, and let go.

Sent off, never to be seen again, as it symbolically took the sins of Israel along with it, never to be seen again.

In that way, the people were reconciled to God every year on the Day of Atonement.

Both of those goats were ancient pictures of what Jesus would do.

The cross became an upright altar where the Lamb of God gave his life as an atoning sacrifice for our sin.

And what the scapegoat symbolically portrayed, the removal of their sins, Jesus fulfilled in reality.

He canceled the record of debt, setting it aside, nailing it to the cross.

Sacrifice, substitution, atonement, forgiveness.

Fulfilled in Christ when he died on the cross, making full atonement for our sins.

By his sacrifice, there is now reconciliation to God for those who believe.

Through his death, those who lived in the kingdom of sin and death are now exalted with the Son.

There can be no peace with God without the forgiveness of sin.

There can be no forgiveness of sin without the shedding of blood.

Making peace by the blood of his cross.

Our desire this morning is to see the exalted Christ.

To see him exalted in all of his glory, in all of his various ways.

And to see him now exalted on a cross.

That concludes this sermon from Faith Evangelical Free Church.

Our mission is to declare the Word of God and disciple believers into mature, devoted followers of Jesus.

You can learn more by visiting our website at faithfree.com.