We can turn in your Bibles to the book of Colossians, Colossians chapter 1. Colossians 1 for our meditation prior to participating in the supper. Our focus will be on verses 12 to 20, but I do want to begin reading in verse 9. Colossians 1, beginning in verse 9, For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. strengthened with all might according to His glorious power, for all patience and long-suffering with joy, giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.
He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.
And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. And you, who once were alienated, enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and blameless and above reproach in His sight, if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.
Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, thank you very much for the Word of God. Thank you for these epistles of the Apostle Paul to the churches, and thank you for their lasting benefit for the churches today.
We know, God, it's not simply the work of the Apostle, but it's from the Holy Spirit, and we give praise to you for your Word. We give praise for its authority. We give praise, Lord God, for its beauty and its instruction. And God, help us now by Your Holy Spirit to receive it.
Help us to act upon it. Help us, Lord God, to glorify You in our Christian lives. For we know that You've done great things for us. We know that You have blessed us richly.
We know that You have conveyed all these things upon us. And God, help us to respond in kind as a people that are thankful, as a people that are worshipful, as a people that bring glory and honor unto You. And we ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Introduction: Paul's Prayer for Colossae
Well, here specifically in verses 9 to 14, the Apostle Paul indicates how he prays for the church in Colossae. He gives them sort of a view into his closet on their behalf. I just want to give us the structure of his prayer. I don't think it's necessary for us to pray in a structured sort of a way.
But this word has been given by the Holy Spirit. It is indeed the prayer life of the Apostle Paul. And there is a particular structure that we ought to notice because our focus is going to be on something. Our focus is specifically on verses 12 and following.
But in terms of the occasion of his prayer, notice in verse 9, he says, for this reason, we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you. And that is what he has already said in verse 7. He says in verse 7, as you also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, who also declared to us your love in the Spirit. So when Paul hears that the people of Colossae love the Apostle Paul and love the men of God, and they do so in the Spirit, as Paul hears that there is fruit in Colossae, he starts this prayer for them.
He always prays. That's the constancy involved. He says, we do not cease to pray for you. And then notice the specific petition for the people in the church in Colossae.
Verse 9, he says, we do not cease to pray for you. And then at the end he says, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. So the Apostle certainly knows that there are problems in the people or in the churches of the people of God. There are physical trials and physical challenges and afflictions, and there's nothing to suggest we shouldn't pray for that.
But the Apostle Paul indicates that spiritual things, those internal things, those eternal verities are what occupies him at the throne of grace. We ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. That is crucial for the people of God. to know the will of God so that they may indeed conduct themselves therein. He then highlights what the purpose for this is.
Notice in verse 10, he says, we pray this so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him. So Paul, at the throne of grace, wants the people in Colossae to walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him. This would be a great prayer for all of us to pray for the people of God in this local church, that we would know the will of God, that we may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him in all things. Yes, we pray for the physical challenges.
Yes, we pray for job loss. Yes, we pray for calamity. But we also pray for the spiritual ends that the people of God with whom we commune are walking worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing God. Now, the apostle fleshes out for us in four particular statements that are grammatically called participles what this worthy walk looks like.
In other words, he doesn't leave us to guess, he doesn't leave us to wonder, he doesn't leave us to try and figure out what a worthy walk before God is. He sketches it out with reference to these verses. Notice, he says that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, and now he describes this worthy walk using four participles.
Four Marks of a Worthy Walk
In the first place, that they would be fruitful in every good work. being fruitful in every good work. In other words, the people of God are supposed to be zealous for good works. We're not saved by good works, but we're saved unto good works. He calls us out of darkness into marvelous light.
He gives us grace of the graces of faith and repentance so that we can close with Jesus Christ. And then he calls us to live in a way that is pleasing in his sight. We are to bear good fruit. The Lord Christ highlights this in John 15.
We are to bear good fruit. That ought to be the purpose of the people of God in this worthy walk.
Increasing in the Knowledge of God
Notice, secondly, he says that they would increase in the knowledge of God. So they're being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. Again, this isn't esoteric. This isn't by osmosis.
This is by Bible study. This is by attending the means of grace. This is by being where preaching is. This means listening to sermon audio, listening to your Bible read, listening to yourself read scripture.
We are to be increasing in the knowledge of God. That's not a suggestion, that's part of a worthy walk, fully pleasing Him. Jesus prayed in John 17, "'Sanctify them by thy truth, thy word is truth.'" Jesus defined, He gave us the very essence of eternal life in John 17 3. This is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.
So if eternal life in the age to come is more knowledge of God, and we possess eternal life in the here and now, we ought to be increasing in the knowledge of God. Peter signs off his second epistle in this way, but grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. This isn't, again, a suggestion. Each and every person here should be increasing in the knowledge of God.
Just like we're being fruitful in every good work, we ought to be increasing in the knowledge of God. John Calvin says here, he says, what is said, or what is here said to the Colossians, let all believers take as said to themselves and draw from this a common exhortation that we must always make progress in the doctrine of piety until death. Now, this ought not to be a chore. This ought not to be something that people go, oh no, I can't believe Pastor Butler says I ought to read my Bible.
I ought to attend church. This is a means by which we flesh out the reality of a faithful walker, a walk worthy of the Lord fully pleasing him, bearing fruit and increasing in the knowledge of God.
Strengthened for Patience and Longsuffering
Notice thirdly, he says that they would be strengthened with all might according to his glorious power. He says in verse 11, "...strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy." He gives a specific reason why He wants us to be strengthened with all might, according to God's glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy. In other words, there are difficulties in the Christian life. There are afflictions in the Christian life.
There are hardships in the Christian life. And the Christian who faces those isn't supposed to fall apart. The Christian who faces those isn't supposed to come unglued. I mean, maybe for a time, maybe for a moment, maybe for a few minutes, you have that moment, but you get up, you brush yourself off, and then you seek by the grace of God to face the various things that God has for you to further conform you unto the image of His beloved Son.
If God's plan for us is conformity to Jesus Christ, and if, with reference to Jesus Christ, He was a Son who learned obedience through suffering, then I think it's a necessary inference that we too will learn obedience through suffering. And so Paul wants the people of God in Colossae in terms of fleshing out this walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, that they would be strengthened with all might according to His glorious power for all patience and longsuffering with joy. And then notice, the fourth,
Giving Thanks to the Father
and this is where we're going to camp for the rest of our sermon, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints and the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood. the forgiveness of sins. Hopefully, you see the structure. He prays for them.
He prays constantly for them. And the specifics with reference to His prayer is that they may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him. That walking worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, looks like this. It means being fruitful in every good work.
It means increasing in the knowledge of God. It means being strengthened with all might according to His glorious power. And it means giving thanks to God the Father. In other words, Christian people, the people who are blood-bought, the people who know their God redemptively through Jesus Christ are a people that are full of gratitude.
They express that gratitude through psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. They express that gratitude in prayer. They express that gratitude toward their fellows. They express that gratitude in all of their lives because God has saved them and God is worthy.
You know the structure of the Heidelberg Catechism. You have guilt, grace, gratitude. God shows us our guilt via the law. He delivers us via His gracious purposes in Jesus Christ.
And once that occurs, we respond in gratitude to the living and the true God. So the apostle emphasizes that a worthy walk before the Lord is going to be a walk characterized by gratitude.
Gratitude as a Theme in Colossians
Notice just that theme in the book of Colossians. Look at chapter one, verse three. We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you. We obviously have it here in verse 12, giving thanks to the Father.
And then we see it in chapter two at verse seven. Chapter 2, verse 6, he says, As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with what? With thanksgiving. Notice in chapter 3, verse 15.
Chapter 3, verse 15, And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body, and be thankful. You see a theme with the apostle. 317, and whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Notice in chapter 4, verse 2, continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving. This is a recurring and repetitive theme in the book of Colossians, and the idea is simple.
Those saved by grace are going to be a people that express gratitude toward their God. And in this expression of gratitude, or when we give thanks to God, do you know what it does? It highlights God's grace. When we're thanking God, we're not congratulating ourselves.
When we're thanking God, we're not patting ourselves on the back. When we're thanking God, we're acknowledging the origin and source of our so great a salvation. When we are expressing gratitude toward God, this is a recognition of the grace-based reality of salvation. It is boastful, it is pride, it is arrogant to not thank God, to somehow think that we did it on our own, to somehow think that I made a decision, I signed a card, I came forward, I raised my hand, I had the better option or the better choice with reference to my fellows.
No, we are to express gratitude to God for what we have. If anybody muses for a millisecond upon how they are now currently in a state of God's favor, you have to result in gratitude toward God. You're not saved because of you. You're not saved because of your works.
You're not saved because you're awesome. You're saved because God is awesome, and this expression of thankfulness and gratitude shines the spotlight on that reality. So grace is best seen through the lens of gratitude.
Two Reasons to Give Thanks
Now, notice the apostle doesn't leave us there, Colossians chapter 1. He not only tells us to give thanks to the Father, but he gives us two particular reasons why we should give thanks to the Father. The first one is inheritance, and the second is deliverance. Now, he sort of amplifies or develops deliverance in a few particulars, but let's look first at this reality of inheritance.
In other words, we're giving thanks to God the Father. Why? Because of an inheritance that God the Father has given to us. It's a blessed thing.
Thanksgiving for Inheritance
Notice what Paul says there in verse 12. Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. Well, how does he qualify us? It's by grace.
Notice that he qualifies us. We didn't qualify ourselves. We didn't put ourselves in a state of having received this inheritance. This comes as a result of God.
You see it in Ephesians. Go back for just a moment to Ephesians chapter one. Ephesians chapter one, a very similar epistle to Colossians in terms of subject matter. And in Colossians, I'm sorry, Ephesians chapter one, notice in verse three, blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him. in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
And then notice in verse 11, in Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him, who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. The idea is that it's God who has qualified us. It is God through sovereign grace. It is God in election.
It is God in predestination. It is God having made us fit for these things. So back in Colossians 1, verse 12, giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. This is something we ought to ponder and something we ought to express thankfulness to God for.
You know, there's that children's song. It says, this train is bound for glory. And then if you're kind of a goofy parent, you do the, you know, choo-choo thing with your kid. That's reality.
This train is bound for glory. The people of God have inherited every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Currently, presently, we own them. But it's not yet been revealed what is our portion.
And brethren, we ought to realize that in one sense, Joel Osteen is right. Now, before everybody faints, let me qualify this. Joel Osteen says we want our best life. The problem with Joel Osteen is that he wants it now.
Our best life isn't till then. Our best life isn't till the eschaton. Our best life isn't till the consummated glory. Our best life isn't until Jesus delivers up the kingdom to the Father and God is all in all.
That's the inheritance emphasized by the Apostle Paul. Because quite frankly, in this present world, it's not always the case that we are enjoying the fullness of God's kingdom. We are possessors of it. We are citizens of it.
But nevertheless, we still deal among foreign power. We still have truck with enemy power. And those enemies can make our lives somewhat miserable. And so, Osteen is right in terms of a best life, but he's wrong in terms of the timing of it.
Your best life is in the future. Your best life is when the Lord Christ consummates the kingdom. Your best life is coming. And Paul says, we need to ponder that, we need to consider that, and as a result, we need to express gratitude and thanks to God.
Now, that doesn't mean our present possession of the kingdom of God is miserable in this world. It doesn't mean that we can't enjoy the things of God, that when we sing praises to God in the corporate place, when we rally around the word of God and we pray to God, doesn't mean there isn't blessing and benefit and encouragement for the people of God. But the inheritance that God has for his people is ultimately in our future. And we need to ponder that.
We need to meditate upon that. And as a result, we need to express thankfulness and gratitude toward God. Read the book of Revelation, specifically chapters 21 and 22, very often. You want encouragement about your future?
I'm not talking about your future schooling, your future homeowning, your future job, whatever. Think about your future when you enter into Emmanuel's land. When you enter into that place where there's no more sin, there's no more sorrow, there's no more hunger, there's no more pain, there's no more death. You see, that is your best life.
That is what you have in your future. And that is why you ought to express gratitude to the living and true God. So he says we are to give thanks for inheritance.
Thanksgiving for Deliverance
And secondly, we are to give thanks for deliverance. And he amplifies that in verses 13 and 14. Notice. After highlighting what we inherit, he says in verse 13, He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
So, three sort of sub-points here with reference to deliverance.
Delivered from Darkness
There is first this deliverance from darkness. He has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. And the way that He has qualified us to be partakers of the saints in the light is by having brought us out of the darkness, having brought us out of misery, having brought us out of sin. I think there are a few passages probably behind the apostle in this particular statement.
Turn to Exodus chapter 6 for just a moment. Exodus chapter 6, at least conceptually, this is what would happen, or this is what did happen in terms of Israel's redemption from Egypt. Exodus chapter 6, verses 6 to 8. So you see, Paul is saying we are to express gratitude or thanks to God.
We do so because we have an inheritance laid up for us, and we do so because we've been delivered from spiritual darkness. This parallels what happens in Egypt. Notice in Exodus 6, 6, Therefore say to the children of Israel, I am Yahweh. I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
I will rescue you from their bondage and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. I will take you as my people and I will be your God. then you shall know that I am the Lord your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you as a heritage. I am the Lord." You know how often the exodus comes up in the Psalter as a reason to express thankfulness and praise unto God. In other words, that great redemptive act wherein God brings them out of the spiritual darkness of Egypt serves as a reason for the people of God as they march to and participate in worship in Zion to praise Him.
For what the Lord has accomplished, we will express our gratitude and our thankfulness to the living and true God. Turn over to Luke's Gospel, Luke chapter 22. Luke 22, just to see some New Testament illustration of what the apostle is highlighting in terms of this deliverance from darkness. Luke 22.
Notice in verse 52, this is after the arrest in Gethsemane. Verse 52, then Jesus said to the chief priests, captains of the temple, and the elders who had come to him, have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs? When I was with you daily in the temple, you did not try to seize me, but this is your hour and the power of darkness. Notice in Acts chapter 26.
Acts chapter 26, this darkness, this spiritual darkness, it enveloped Christ with reference to the passion. As well, it envelops his people with reference to sin and Satan and the world itself. And notice specifically in Acts 26, Paul recounting, rehearsing his conversion to Agrippa. And in 26.12, While thus occupied as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, at midday, O King, along the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me.
And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goats. So I said, Who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.
But rise and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. I will deliver you from the Jewish people as well as from the Gentiles to whom I now send you. to open their eyes in order to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me. And then one final passage, 1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2, this whole idea that God has delivered us from darkness. Why do we thank Him?
Because we have an inheritance laid up for us. in the Eschaton. Why do we thank God? Because He's delivered us from darkness. He's qualified us for this inheritance of the saints and the light.
And in order to bring us into that place of light, He had to have first delivered us from that place of darkness. Notice in 1 Peter 2 at verse 9. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people. that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light, who once were not a people, but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy." You see, Peter's emphasis is the same here. When God delivers you from the darkness, when God delivers you from that spiritual decay, the legitimate response is thankfulness.
Do we ever just get on our knees and thank God that He's delivered us? That thank God we're no longer in the darkness? I mean, we're not what we ought to be. We're not what we're gonna be, but we're certainly not what we once were.
Credit to John Newton on that. That's what he said. Do we ever muse on this? I mean, you know, I think all of us on our knees at the throne of grace can lament the reality that we're not what we ought to be. lament the reality that we don't live according to the light that we have.
You know, when we sing 400, there's a particular reason why. We ought never to forget what that brother says. We are prone to wander and prone to leave the God that we love. But brethren, do we ever muse and think and stop and ponder what Newton says?
I'm not what I was. I have been delivered. I have been moved from that state of darkness into his marvelous light. And notice what Peter says.
He says, in order to praise or proclaim the praises of of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." In other words, thankfulness, gratitude, proclaim His praises, those are all concepts that are consistent with the deliverance of the people of God from that darkness and into His marvelous light. Well, as Paul continues to amplify, he says in verse 13, he has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the son of his love.
Transferred into Christ's Kingdom
There has been this transfer of kingdoms. We have gone from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the son of his love. It's how we know that the kingdom is now. That it's not only then, but it is now.
There is a kingdom of the Son of His love, and we are participants in it by His grace. In Revelation chapter 1, the Apostle John stresses or highlights or indicates one thing that will hopefully serve to comfort the readers in the rest of the book of Revelation. He calls Jesus the ruler over the kings of the earth. Now, when you read Revelation, it's about kingship, it's about his throne, it's about his dominion, it's about his victory.
But on the earth, there are beastly characters. On the earth, there is persecution of the people of God. What a great way to sort of stabilize and provide security for their hearts in order to fortify them for the fight ahead, but by reminding them that Jesus Christ is the ruler over the kings of the earth. That is a great encouragement.
I think in light of our modern political scene, I don't know how anybody can face what's happening without faith in the Savior. It would be a despairing life, wouldn't it, to think that these madmen are living according to their own prerogatives? I like to know that God is in control of the madman. I like to know that God has the madman on a leash.
I like to know that God does have the heart of the king in his hand, vis-a-vis Solomon in the book of Proverbs, and he turns it like the rivers of water turn. The Lord Most High is sovereign. He has transferred us from this kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the Son of His love, and this is what Paul is celebrating, highlighting, so that we will respond with thankfulness to our God. John Eady says, plainly that kingdom which has Christ for its head and founder, which is partially developed on earth and shall be finally perfected in heaven.
He goes on to say, the word used here by Paul was often used to signify deportation of a body of men or the removal of them to form a colony. In other words, God deported us, God transferred us, God conveyed us from one kingdom into the kingdom of the Son of His love. Christ at the cross dealt the death blow to the devil, thus freeing his people from that bondage. Another commentator says the imagery of verses 12 and 13 suggests that believers have been rescued from the gloomy domain and tyrannical rule of Satan by being transplanted as free colonists into the kingdom and peaceable sovereignty of Christ to become citizens in the realm of light.
See, these things are reasons why we thank God. We have an inheritance, currently enjoyed, but not fully as it will be one day. We have a deliverance out of spiritual darkness. We have this conveyance or this transference from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the Son of His love.
Redeemed from Bondage
And then he highlights thirdly this redemption from bondage. This redemption from bondage in verse 14, he says, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, the accomplishment of redemption. The presupposition behind redemption is slavery. The presupposition behind redemption is bondage.
In other words, in order for us to have been redeemed, we must first have been in bondage. Just like you see there in Exodus, I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. You see, this is the great redemptive act of God in the Old Testament, and this is the great redemptive act of God in the New Testament. This redemption from our bondage.
Notice the means by which we have been redeemed. In whom we have redemption through His blood. I've told you many times, as we've looked at this particular word group in our studies, especially at the supper, that redemption isn't simply the exercise of God's power to free us from bondage. The meaning, a core meaning involved with this particular word group is redemption through the payment of a price.
Not just the exercise of power. Not that God doesn't have the power to exercise. But intrinsic to this particular Greek word is the payment of a price. And the payment of the price is specified here, at least in the King James tradition, through His blood.
It's certainly in Ephesians 1, 7. in whom we have redemption through His blood. That's the means by which that has occurred. The redeeming work of the Lord Jesus Christ is fulfilled, is realized, is purchased by the shedding of His own blood. He lived in obedience to the law, he went to that cross on our behalf, he functioned as a substitute and a sacrifice, and he did so in order to pay this price, not to the devil, but to the Father, in order to redeem us from bondage.
This idea that he paid the ransom price to the devil is heretical. He paid the ransom price to the Father. And therein we have redemption through His blood, is what the Apostle celebrates. Again, does this ever find its way into our prayer closets?
Thank you, God, for the inheritance that you have given to us. Thank you, God, for the deliverance that you have given to us, that we were in darkness and now we're in light. We were in the kingdom of darkness, and now we are the kingdom of the devil himself, and now we've been transferred to the kingdom of the son of his love. We were in bondage, in slavery.
Again, I don't think any of us, if asked honestly, thinks they are as far in their lives of sanctification as they ought to be. In other words, I'm always wary of the person that says, oh yeah, I'm doing great. I'm awesome. I mean, you see them all over Facebook and Twitter.
They'll tell you. I'm just doing great. I witness, I evangelize, I fast, I pray. I wonder if we're standing next to that man in Luke 18.
Thank you, God, that I'm not like these other Christians. Thank you, God, that I'm not like this other bit of rabble. That's not the typical response from the people of God who've been humbled by the grace of God. They say, you know what?
I've got a lot of shortcomings. I've got a lot of issues. I've got a lot of sins. I need a lot of grace.
But this one thing I am thankful for, I'm no longer in bondage. I may have remaining corruption, but this much I know, it's not reigning corruption. It may be there still, and I lament, and I struggle, and I cry out to the Lord God Most High. I sound like the Apostle.
And if they actually said this, it would be a little proud, too. But you get the point. They cry out with the Apostle in Romans 7, O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
This one thing I do know. I'm no longer in bondage. You all understand the difference between remaining and reigning corruption. Remaining corruption, I hate to break it to you, is going to be with you till the end.
The devil might actually leave you alone sometimes. The world might actually leave you alone sometimes. But you know who will never leave you alone is you. It's a really unfortunate reality.
You can't get away from you. You'll never be able to get away from you. And if you're the kind of person that's in their head a lot, these things are a bit paralyzing. But may I encourage you, may I exhort you to reflect upon what the apostle is saying in this passage.
You've been called out of darkness into marvelous light. You've been transferred from the devil's kingdom into the kingdom of the son of his love. And you are no longer in bondage. You have the graces, you have the resources, you have the wherewithal, you have the Holy Spirit so that you can fight another day.
Don't give up, don't concede, don't ever back down, but rather consider what you have in the person and in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ and fight like a man. Get up, go forward, rehearse these blessings and express your gratitude to God Almighty. Now, as we bring this to a conclusion,
Christ as Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer
notice what Paul is doing. Again, one man says, with reference to verse 14, he says, prayer is giving way to theology. Grammatically, these verses are still connected to Paul's prayer, verses 15 to 20. But there is transition here from three of God's redemptive acts to the celebration of Christ's person and work.
See, you need to appreciate that movement. We're not going to spend a lot of time in verses 15 to 20, but you need to see the connection. You are giving thanks to the Father for inheritance. You're giving thanks to the Father for deliverance with these three particular sub points in terms of deliverance.
And now Paul shines the light upon the agent of our redemption. perhaps to draw our soul out into more thankfulness and more gratitude for the One, the Son of His love, who has effected salvation for us. I've always referred to 15 to 20 as spiritual CPR. You know what CPR is in the physical realm? Cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
Everybody should have at least some basic understanding of CPR. If their kid starts to choke or somebody stops breathing and there's some need for a bit of CPR, everybody should be skilled enough. I mean, don't look at Google on your phone while somebody's dying. You should have that already going on.
There's a necessity to know your CPR. Well, with reference to spiritual things, with reference to Jesus Christ, we need to know our spiritual CPR. Christ is Creator. Christ is Sovereign in Providence.
Christ is Redeemer. That's what Paul highlights here in verses 15 to 20. Notice the glory of the Redeemer in creation. Verses 15 and 16.
He is the image of the invisible God. He's not a creature. He is the image of the invisible God. No creatureliness in terms of Jesus with reference to His essence.
He shares the essence, or rather, He has the essence of divinity, deity. We see that in Colossians 2.9. He is the very image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. Jehovah's Witnesses are wrong.
Firstborn there does not mean created. It means the one who is preeminent. You see that in the Old Testament. You see that in the New Testament.
And probably he is highlighting that he is premier or firstborn in terms of the old creation, and he is firstborn with reference to the new creation. Notice in verse 16, for by him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. One more dig at the Jehovah's Witnesses. Do not hold on to their Bible.
They, in their devilish ingenuity, insert in brackets, all other things were created. All other things are created. What's their implication? He himself is created, but he's the agent by which all other things were created.
The text does not teach that. That is a mistranslation. That reflects a theological agenda to deny the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is not a scholarly production, the New World Translation.
It is a sectarian production to serve the interests of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, to deny the very deity of our Lord Jesus Christ. Do not, for a moment, think that somehow they've arrived and they understand the Greek and they have it all right down. No, they supply other there to try and indicate that Jesus is created and therein he is the agent of the creation of other things. But notice the glory of the Redeemer in Providence, verse 17.
He says, and he is before all things and in him all things consist. All things consist in Jesus, not in the federal government. All things consist in Jesus, not you and me. There's something greater.
There's something bigger. There's something more excellent, more majestic, and more awesome. The apostle highlights this in Hebrews 1. Go there for just a moment.
Again, conceptually, there's a lot of overlap between Hebrews 1 and Colossians 1 and John 1. Notice in Hebrews chapter 1 verse 1, God, who at various times and in various ways spoken time passed to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the world. You see that? the agent of creation, who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person." Now notice, "...and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they." He upholds all things by the word of His power. And I think that ought to afford a great deal of comfort for the people of God in the 21st century.
Nothing happens, nothing continues, nothing prevails apart from the sovereignty of King Jesus Christ. And then Paul highlights the glory of the Redeemer. in redemption, verses 18 to 20. Creation, providence, redemption. Your spiritual ABCs.
Notice the glory of the Redeemer in redemption, Colossians 1, 18 to 20. He is the head of the body, which is the church. He is the head of the body, which is the church. If ever there is a text that should promote, produce, instigate, evoke a high view of the church, it's this one.
Now there's a whole host of them to be sure, but look at what the apostle is saying. Christ is the head of the body, which is the church. In Ephesians 1, again, very similar and parallel in many ways to Colossians, the Apostle Paul tells us at the end, in Ephesians 1, 20 to 23, that Christ has a name above every name. He has dominion.
He has power. He has absolute authority over all things to the church. In other words, Christ exercises this comprehensive sovereignty over prime ministers, over Congress, over presidents, over kings, over nations, over persons, over events. But he does this with a peculiar view to the church.
See, I think that biblical churchmanship has seen better days than what it presently sees in the 21st century. We need to love the church. Why? Because Jesus loves the church.
We need to love the church. Why? Because Jesus bled for the church. We need to love the church because we are the body of Jesus Christ Himself.
I think that we, as the people of God, ought to love the church. Notice as well, He says that He is the firstborn from the dead who has preeminence. Verse 18, He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. Again, He's firstborn, being preeminent one in the old creation, but he's also firstborn, preeminent one in the new creation.
The church, the people of God, the kingdom of God, the inaugurated new covenant. Notice as well, the fullness of redemptive blessing is in Jesus. Verse 19, for it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell. Look at chapter 2 at verse 9.
Chapter 2 verse 9 says, for in Him, for in Jesus, dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. I think at times persons believe that 1.19 is saying the same thing. I don't think that's the point. I think the point is, is that everything necessary for our salvation is to be found in Jesus Christ.
All the fullness is in Him. You need justification? Christ. You need sanctification?
Christ. You need glorification? Christ. John Edie said, all fullness of grace or saving blessings dwell in Christ.
Whatever is needed to save a fallen world and restore harmony to the universe is treasured up in Him, is in Him. Now, brethren, if that is the case and that is true, then we ought to be those who feed on Christ. Yes, when we come to Him, believing the gospel for that initial time, when we receive that justification. But if in Him all the fullness of everything that we need is available, then why don't we call upon Him?
Why don't we cry to Him? Why don't we take our burdens to God Most High, asking Him for the aid, for the assistance, for the Spirit necessary, so that we may fight manfully onward? And then notice the reconciliation through His cross, verse 20. Verse 20, he says, and by him to reconcile all things to himself, by him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of his cross.
Now, longtime attenders here will probably recognize the quote I'm about to quote. This is Gordon Clark. And I think this is a magnificent statement in terms of Colossians 1.20. Look at what Colossians 1.20 says.
Let me read it again. And by him, to reconcile all things to himself by him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of his cross." Clark says, now, when we pause to consider, this is staggering. This is staggering. The preceding verses have described Christ in transcendent terms.
Transcendent means removed from us. He's the creator. We're the creature. He's the one in whom all things consist.
We have trouble getting out of bed each day. That's transcendence on the part of Christ. He is creator. He is governor.
So he says, the preceding verses have described Christ in transcendent terms. He was the creator in whom all the fullness dwells, the heir of the universe for whom it was created. When now the creator of heaven and earth, the creator himself, voluntarily suffered on the cross for our sins, we can only stand in awe and worship that nails it, having made peace through the blood of His cross. Don't know that we usually ponder that.
We don't associate peace and blood. I mean, in the Orwellian dystopian future, I guess, peace and blood go hand in hand. But for the most part, we associate blood with warfare. We associate blood with death.
We associate blood with bad things. Typically, when you're shooting blood out of a vein, you're not rejoicing and thanking the Lord. It's always a bad thing to be emitting blood. You get that, right?
But it's through blood that He made peace. It's through the cross that He makes peace. It's through His work as substitute and sacrifice that He brings peace to His people. It is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Brethren, I hope that you'll focus upon your inheritance, you'll focus upon your deliverance, and you will give thanks to God Almighty, because this is a necessary or essential ingredient in a worthy walk before the Lord, which is fully pleasing Him. Yes, you need to be fruitful in every good work. Yes, you need to increase in the knowledge of God. Yes, you need to be strengthened according to His power and might.
But you also need to give thanks. Giving thanks, get your eyes off of yourself. Giving thanks, put your eyes where it ought to be, on the Lord Most High, who has given this inheritance and who has provided deliverance. Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Our Father, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for the Apostles. Exhortation in Colossians chapter 1 is prayer that gives way to the glory of Jesus Christ. I pray that as we appreciate the structure, the flow, we would see the necessity in our own hearts, in our own prayer lives, as individuals, as families, as a church, to give thanks to you, our God, for the great things you have done in our lives.
Thank you that you didn't leave us in darkness, you didn't leave us in the devil's kingdom, you didn't leave us in bondage, but you have delivered us through the power of the Lord Jesus Christ and His glorious gospel. We give praise to you in adoration, and we pray now in His most blessed name. Amen. Well, you can turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 26 as we transition