Hope Church LV Sermons
The Incomparable Christ :: Colossians 1:19-20
I graduated from college in 2005 with a degree in religion and as it is with most majors in college, I spent the last two years of undergraduate work specifically focused around my major and here's what that looked like for me. That meant that over the course of those two years I was doing numerous projects and research and reading about all the major world religions. I studied what they believed about God, what they believed about life and death and peace and eternity. But the last two semesters that I was in college, we transitioned from simply studying about world religions to actually having discussions and debates with leaders and members of those specific world religions. And I couldn't remember going to class the last two semesters I was in college and every day there would be a different representative from a different world religion who was there to talk with us. Sometimes those discussions were group discussions, sometimes those were one-on-one debates and we would talk about key figures within their religion, we would talk about defining moments in their religion, we would talk about their religions history and these conversations would go on for hours upon hours upon hours. I can't even tell you the hundreds of conversations I had with these different members of world religions. But in every instance when we would talk there would always be one question that I ask every person and sometimes I would ask it at the beginning of the conversation, sometimes at the middle, sometimes at the end but I knew when I asked this specific question it was going to change the dynamic of the discussion. It was going to draw a line in the room if you will. And I ask this question to members who practice Scientology, I ask this question to Buddhists and to Muslims, you name it, I had a conversation with one of their members and here's the question I ask. In the midst of all this religious talk, what do you believe about Jesus? That's the question. Because if we don't get that question right, nothing else really matters. And when I would ask that question in these classroom environments, it mattered to me what their response was to my question. That was a big deal. I wanted them to have a right perspective. I wanted them to have a correct view of Jesus but it was equally important to me not only what they believed about Jesus but what I believed about Jesus. And that I had a solid biblical doctrine about the person of Christ. And I say all that to you tonight to say this, it should matter to us as believers what the world thinks about Jesus. That should be a big deal on our radar. But it should also be important to us as believers what we think about Jesus and that we have a solid biblical framework when it comes to the person of Christ. We should know who Jesus is. And currently as a church family we are studying in a verse by verse study through the New Testament book of Colossians. And most recently we've been in a series within that study called the incomparable Christ. And we have been carefully studying through a passage of Scripture that theologians say contains more concentrated doctrine about Jesus Christ than anywhere else in the New Testament. As we begin tonight I want to read you a statement that John Piper made specifically about the section of Scripture that we're studying here in Colossians. We're going to put it up on the screen. John Piper said this, "If your heart ever wavers and grows cold, go here, memorize this litany of glories and ask God to give you affections that correspond to the measure of this greatness. If any person or any power or any wisdom or any love awakens any admiration or any amazement or any joy, let it be the greatest person and the greatest power and the greatest wisdom and the greatest love that exists Jesus Christ." So through this series here's what we're doing as a church. We're examining what a solid biblical doctrine about Jesus looks like. We're examining what the Bible teaches us about the person of Christ. And if you've not been able to follow along throughout this series, let me strongly encourage you. I know we say this all the time, but I mean it this time. Go on our website and catch up on these messages. You can watch them there for free. You can pick some up tonight. We have CDs and DVDs available in the lobby, but you need to get your heart around. Pastor Vance and Pastor Tom have done a phenomenal job at unpacking this text here in Colossians. And this weekend we continue our series. So if you have a Bible, turn with me to the first chapter of the book of Colossians. If you're here tonight and you don't have a copy of God's Word, we want to invite you to follow along. We're going to put these verses on the screen so that you can read along with us as we study the Scripture tonight. That's what the Bible says in Colossians chapter 1 starting in verse 19. The Bible says, "For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him," meaning Jesus, "and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross, through Him I say whether things on earth or things in heaven." Now in these two verses, there is an inexhaustible amount of truth that we could unpack. But this weekend, just like every other week in this series, we're going to draw some conclusions from these verses that will help us understand who Jesus is. And the way I want to unpack that tonight is I want to give you two clarifying statements about Jesus. One from verse 19 and one from verse 20. So if you're taking notes tonight or you just want to write these down to talk about it in your small group this week, here's the first statement I want us to talk about from verse 19. Jesus alone perfectly reveals the Father. Jesus alone, all by Himself, reveals in a perfect way God the Father. Based on the overall counsel of Scripture, we understand that the only way to know the Father and what He is like is through Jesus. The book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His character. People all over the world ask the question, what's God like? I mean there are people sending out different messages all over the globe. Where do you find the answer to that question? What is God like? Well what the Scripture says, if you want to know what God's like, look at Jesus. That's why in so many cases when people come to Christ and they think about starting to study the Bible, they say, where do I start? Every time we say start in the Gospel of John, because you need to understand who Jesus is, because He perfectly reveals the Father. To see Jesus is to see God. Marvin Vincent is a Greek scholar that we study a lot as we prepare to teach and preach. And here's what he said about verse 19. He says, "The phrase in him should all the fullness dwell, gathers into a grand climax the previous statements, image of God, first born of all creation, creator, the eternally pre-existent, the head of the church, the victor over death, first in all things. On this summit we pause, looking like John from Christ in his fullness of deity to the exhibition of that divine fullness in redemption consummated in heaven. What he's telling us is that everything we studied in this specific series is gathered together and put in verse 19. But to understand verse 19, there are two key words that we have to get our head around. Here's the first one, the word fullness. The word fullness communicates the totality of divine power and attributes. In essence, the scripture saying, "In Christ is the totality of God's power and God's attributes." That's what the word fullness communicates here. And this word fullness is used multiple times in the book of Colossians. Now, we know this, but if something is mentioned once in the scriptures, it's extremely important. But if something is repeated multiple times, we must do everything we can to let it take root in our heart. And this word fullness is one of those words that is repeated. Paul uses it again in Colossians 2 verse 9 when he says this, "For in him," meaning Christ, "all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form." The word fullness is a word that means completion. And it was used when referring to warships that were fully staffed and fully supplied ready for battle. In essence, the Bible is telling us that Christ is fully equipped to be the complete revelation of God. There are no gaps in his sufficiency. He's not partially God. He's not mostly God. The Bible says he is completely God. So let me give you this foundational principle. Jesus Christ is co-eternal, co-equal, and co-existent with God the Father. That's who Jesus is. That's the preeminent Son of God. And Paul here in verse 19 draws a line in the sand and separates Jesus from every person who walked on planet Earth. And here's why I did that. Because in this day, the word fullness was a common word to the believers at Colossae. And here's why. Because there were false teachers who were using this language to teach a false gospel. They were saying that God had distributed his deity among different spirits and higher beings. That's what they were teaching to these new believers at Colossae. And Paul steps up here in verse 19 and addresses that lie. He says the fullness of God has not been spread out. It is in Christ and Christ alone. Here's what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 11. I love this verse. He says, "All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, nor does anyone know the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him." The first word we have to get our head around is this word fullness. The totality of divine power and attributes. But there's a second word that we need to understand to understand verse 19. It's the word dwell. The word dwell means to take up permanent residence. It means to establish a permanent place. So what scripts are saying? Scripture saying that God was pleased, He found pleasure for the totality of divine power and attributes to establish a permanent residence in Jesus. And it's very important to understand that this little Greek word dwell is used in such a way that it tells us the fullness was not something added to Jesus' being. But it was a part of his essential being for all eternity. You see the incarnation is not man becoming a God. It is God taking on human flesh through the person of Jesus. One theologian said it this way, Christ added to Himself that which He was not meaning flesh. He did not lose what He was meaning deity. So let me give you a summary of the thought here. In Christ every single part of the very essence of deity is permanently at home. In Jesus every single part of the very essence of deity of God is permanently at home. It pleased the Father that Jesus was just as holy as a human as He was before the foundations of the earth. But before we look at verse 20, I want to ask a really practical question. We can get our mind around fullness, we can get our mind around dwell, but let me ask a practical question. How specifically did Jesus reveal the Father? I mean if you go to dinner after this service and you guys are talking and maybe with your spouse or with a friend and they ask you the question, well how do you feel that Jesus revealed God the Father? Well there are a lot of ways we could answer that question. We could talk about the grace of Jesus, revealing the grace of God. We could talk about the wisdom of Jesus, revealing the wisdom of God or the patience of Jesus, revealing the patience of God, but I want to give you just a couple simple answers that hopefully as we chew on them tonight will just give us greater clarity about who Jesus is. Here's one of the ways that Jesus revealed the Father. His sinless life reveals God's righteousness. His sinless life reveals God's righteousness. Jesus lived on the earth for 33 years and over the course of those 33 years he never sinned. Hebrews 4 says it this way, "For we do not have a high priest" meaning Jesus, who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are yet without sin. Jesus was perfect. Now why is it so important that Jesus be so perfect and so blameless and so sinless? Here's why, because God the Father is so holy and so righteous and so blameless. That's important. You see God as our Holy Creator, as our Heavenly Father cannot be exposed to sin. He cannot be in the presence of sin, His standard is righteousness and that cannot change. That's why in the garden as we read in Genesis humanity and God were walking in harmony and then sin entered the world and that sin destroyed the harmony between God and humanity. So humanity began to try to restore this relationship with God, but in order for the relationship to be restored sin had to be wiped away. Sin had to be forgiven and cleansed because God could not be in the presence of sin. And so as humanity we tried to keep the law, we failed. As humanity we tried to burn offerings of animals, it wasn't good enough. There was no sufficient payment to take care of the sin problem. And then in John chapter 1, the Bible records that John the Baptist saw Jesus in the distance and here's what he said. He said, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." We have to understand how significant that was, that there was a perfect and sinless Christ who could be a substitute and take care of the sin penalty. Jesus had to be righteous because God's standard is righteousness. Jesus was sent to earth on a mission that demanded righteousness because God can only accept righteousness and he could not compromise his standard even when it meant the suffering of his son. I want to read you a verse real quick from 2 Corinthians chapter 5. Let's now know what the Bible says and how it speaks to this idea. In chapter 5 verse 21, here's what the Bible says, "He meaning God made him who knew no sin, who was perfect, to be sin on our behalf so that we might become what? The righteousness of God." One of the things that Jesus reveals about the Father is his perfect standard of righteousness. His perfection reveals to us just how holy our God is. But another way that Jesus reveals the Father is this, His sacrifice reveals God's love. Before we unpack this, I want to put a bug in your ear. Next weekend, we are going to conclude this series, The Uncomparable Christ. We're going to study verses 21, 22 and 23 and then at the end of our time next week, we're going to celebrate the Lord's Supper as a faith family. So let me encourage you to be here because for some of us, we're going to observe the Lord's Supper next weekend in a way like never before because of what God has taught us in this powerful series about the incomparable Christ. But one of the ways that we see God, what He's like is through the sacrifice of Jesus. Jesus lived the perfect life, the King, the Son of God, the preeminent one. And then He experienced a horrific and excruciating crucifixion. He laid His life down as a payment for sin, not because He deserved it, not because He was guilty. So what do we learn about God by looking at the sacrifice of Jesus? Well, here's what we learn. It shows us His consuming passion to love the world. When we see the cross of Jesus Christ, it should tell us that God passionately loves the world. I love this verse in Romans chapter 5. The Bible says, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." You see God, ever so lovingly sin His Son, knowing He was going to suffer, knowing there was going to be pain, but He did it because of love. Now, I know when our culture love is a buzzword, so I want to say something to us as a church. This isn't to the secular media or the secular world. This is to us as believers. In the end of this statement, as Christians, we have a tendency to over-communicate and yet under-value the unconditional love of God. We've developed a habit. Sometimes we insert the word love just because it makes us feel better. May we be people who repent of speaking about the love of God, or singing about the love of God, or reading about the Word of God, and not letting it move our hearts. May we not just talk about it. May we understand the significance of the unconditional love of God that was shown through the cross of Jesus. The greatest sacrifice in history is God broadcasting to the world. I am passionately in love with you. John said it this way in chapter three of his gospel, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." The first clarifying statement about Jesus I want us to understand is that Jesus alone, perfectly reveals to us the Father. Here's a second clarifying principle from verse 20, Jesus alone provides the way of reconciliation. Jesus alone provides the way, provides the means of reconciliation. There are five words in the New Testament that are used to describe salvation, redemption, justification, forgiveness, adoption, and reconciliation. I know that's not a word that we use a lot, but if you were to go home tonight and Google the word reconcile, you would hear definitions like this, to end conflict and bring harmony, to restore friendship, or to exchange hostility for peace. Tonight, I want to give us a working definition of the word reconcile so we can get our minds around what Paul is saying in verse 20. Here's a definition for us. To reconcile means to bring back to a position from which one has fallen, means to bring back to a position from which one has fallen in every instance. When reconciliation is brought up, there has been a ruptured or a broken relationship in every instance. So take that over to our relationship with God. You see, there was a point in time when humanity and God lived in a right relationship, but sin entered the world and the relationship with God and humanity was over. So we lived, separated from God, and spiritually, dead. So when we say that we desire to be reconciled to God, here's what that means. It means that from our spiritual death and our sin, we want to be brought out of that and brought back into a right relationship with God from which we have fallen because of sin. That's what it means to be reconciled. Adrian Rogers said this, God is unseeable, unknowable, unapproachable, unless we have some way to come to Him, someone to bring us to Him, someone to reveal God the Father. Reason is not enough, religion is not enough, ritual is not enough, Jesus Christ Himself is the One who makes the invisible God knowable. I'm telling you, you can never fully know God the Father unless you know God the Father through the Son. You see, Jesus is our reconciler. Jesus is the only One who can bring us back and provide for us a way to a right relationship with God. He's the One who plunged into the turmoil of humanity in order to bring harmony out of chaos, reconciliation out of estrangement, and love out of hate. And any time that there is a reconciled relationship, it's not just an uneasy truce. It has a positive connotation, meaning those two relationships are brought back into harmony. As believers, we should find great encouragement in this reality of reconciliation because it's not just God writing off something and changing the books about our sin. It is God the Father through the Son, Jesus Christ offering us an intimate love relationship with Himself. That's significant. The Bible says in Romans 5, 10, "For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through His death of His Son, much more having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life." The reality that Jesus is the only One who provides the way of reconciliation. That's why we say it hope that it's all about Jesus. Because if it's all about Jesus, here's what that means. It's all up to Jesus. Now there are some people in the room who would want to say, "Hey, it's all about me." That's what that means, theologically. If it's all about you, then it's all up to you. That's a scary place to be. But when we step in and say that it's all about Jesus, here's what that means. That it's all up to Jesus. That He's the only path. He's the only way of reconciliation that can bring humanity back into a right relationship with God out of spiritual death and into abundant life. It's all about Jesus. That should stir in us tonight as believers. He is our reconciler. But as you look at verse 20, there are a few other phrases that I want to highlight very quickly. You'll see in verse 20, it says, "And through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of the cross, through Him I say, whether things on earth are things in heaven." The Bible says that He desires to reconcile all things, whether things on earth are things in heaven. Now there are things about the Scriptures that we absolutely know for sure. But there are other things about the Scriptures that we don't know. And honestly, you read some of those phrases and you ask the question, is He talking about reconciling people who put their faith in Jesus? Yes. We may ask the question, is He talking about reconciling the seas and the mountains and the universe back into harmony with God? Yes. I think what the Scriptures are telling us here, that when sin entered the world, everything was affected, and through Christ God desires to bring those things into harmony once again with Himself, the way He intended from the beginning. What does that look like? I have no idea, but that's okay, but here's what I do know. Of all the things that God created, the universe, the mountains, the seas, the animals, He's given one specific invitation to humanity that He hasn't given to anything else He created. Here's the invitation. I'm the way, I'm the truth, and I'm the life, and no one comes to the Father unless they come through me, because I'm the reconciler. So as we finish, I want to give you just a couple of application statements that I want all of us to respond to in some way tonight, and then we'll be finished. Here's the first application statement I want us to chew on. I need Jesus to experience the forgiveness of sin. We all of us need Jesus if we're ever going to experience the forgiveness of sin. The Bible says here in verse 20 that He made peace through the blood of the cross through His sacrifice, paying the penalty for sin. Listen, you may be looking to find forgiveness of sin in a lot of ways. Listen, money won't do it. Other relationships won't do it. Your good works, my good works won't do it. That's coming to church won't do it, the only way that we can find forgiveness and be set free of this sin that is stricken of spiritually dead is through the cross of Jesus. That's the only place. That's what the Scripture teaches us. But has there been that moment for you? As you think about your journey, has there been a moment where you've gone before a holy and righteous God, the holy and righteous God, and said to Him, I recognize my sinful nature and my mistakes. And I recognize the only hope I have to experience forgiveness is through the cross of Jesus. I want you to think about that for your life. Here's a second application statement. I need Jesus to experience a right relationship with God. Not only do we need Jesus to find forgiveness of sin, but we need Jesus to experience a right relationship with God because you see, even though Jesus died on the cross and if we embrace that by faith, our sins are forgiven, we are still spiritually dead. And here's the good news that not only did Jesus die on the cross, but through the power of God, He was brought back to life on the third day, giving Him the authority to give life in its fullest sense to any person who puts their faith in Him. That's the gospel. Not only through Christ that we find forgiveness of sin, but we also find abundant life. That's why hope, as long as we exist, we are going to raise the banner and we're going to shout across our city that all the world's hope rests in Jesus. He's the perfect revelation of God the Father and He alone provides the way of reconciliation. Just a moment, we're going to transition to just a time of response at our church, we feel it's very important that when we've unpacked some principles from Scripture, that we take a few minutes just to respond to it, to ask God, Lord, what are you saying to me through this Scripture? And tonight, there are several responses. One potential response you may have tonight is simply repentance. Maybe tonight you recognize that you've been trying on your own, you've been trying to figure it out, but you realize tonight that the hope of the world, the hope of eternity is found in Jesus. And tonight you just need to go before God and repent and ask Him to save you. When we stand and sing in just a moment, we're going to have some pastors here at the front. We would love to talk to you about the gospel. We would love to just unpack some of these principles for you so that you can understand who Jesus is. Another response tonight that you may have may just be gratitude. It is so easy to take grace for granted. It is so easy to take this abundant, full life that Jesus offers us for granted. Maybe as we stand and sing in just a moment, you just need to express a heart of gratitude to your heavenly Father for saving you and giving you life. But finally, a response that you may have tonight is just a prayer of surrender, a prayer that says, "God, you're enough and I'm not, God, you're sufficient and I'm not, and I'm tired of trying to figure it out on my own and hold these things and be in control, Lord, I want to pursue you and I want to know you and God, I give up a surrender." [BLANK_AUDIO]