The Ninth Sunday after Pentecost
\nJuly 17, 2016
\nColossians 1:21-28<\/p>\n
Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.\u00a0 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation\u2014if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the Gospel.\u00a0 This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.\u00a0 Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.\u00a0 I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness\u2014the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints.\u00a0 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.\u00a0 We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.\u00a0 To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.\u00a0 (NIV1984)<\/p>\n
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,<\/p>\n
For most of the years I was growing up my Grandfather and his brother, Uncle Joe, were like real life \u201cGrumpy Old Men.\u201d\u00a0 Since Uncle Joe lived in the upstairs apartment of my grandparents\u2019 home he was there pretty much every time we came to visit.\u00a0 Whether it was at the kitchen table, out on the front porch, or even in the fishing boat up at the cabin I was privy to many conversations that took place between Grandpa and Uncle Joe.\u00a0 One of their \u201cfavorite\u201d topics centered on the subject of cars.\u00a0 Grandpa always and only drove a Chevy.\u00a0 Uncle Joe always and only drove a Ford.\u00a0 Grandpa was not shy in letting Uncle Joe know why a Chevy was far superior to a Ford, and well, let\u2019s just say that Uncle Joe was never known for being shy either.<\/p>\n
When it comes to the subject of cars the debate over which one is \u201cbetter,\u201d the debate over which one is the \u201cbest,\u201d the debate over which one you ought to drive is quite varied and extremely personal.\u00a0 Not so when it comes to the subject of our Savior.\u00a0 You may recall that when Jesus\u2019 disciples asked Him about the signs which would precede the end of the world one of the things Jesus told them was, \u201cWatch out that no one deceives you.\u00a0 For many will come in my name, claiming, \u2018I am the Christ,\u2019 and will deceive many\u201d<\/em> (Matthew 24:4, 5).\u00a0 At the very same time Jesus made it very clear that He is this world\u2019s only <\/strong>Savior from sin.\u00a0 You may recall Jesus\u2019 words in John 14:6, \u201cI am the way and the truth and the life.\u00a0 No one comes to the Father except through me.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n While we are not exactly sure if any of the false teachers who had infiltrated the church at Colosse were trying to convince God\u2019s people that Jesus was not the Savior or at least not the only Savior, there is no doubt that these false teachers were criticizing the importance that men such as Epaphras and Paul were placing on Jesus Christ.\u00a0 Therefore as Paul continues his letter to his brothers and sisters in Colosse he helps them and us understand this important truth:\u00a0 When Guarding Against False Teaching\u2014 Always Emphasize the Supremacy of Christ!<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 As we study this text we will see three things.\u00a0 First of all, we will see how the supremacy of Christ is revealed in the fact that He is the one who has changed our status with God.\u00a0 Second, we will see how the supremacy of Christ is brought out in the glorious \u201cmystery\u201d<\/em> of \u201cChrist in you.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Finally, we will see how the supremacy of Christ is brought out in the fact that He is the One who makes us \u201cperfect.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n One of the false teachings that has been around for a very long time is that we human beings are born \u201cinnocent.\u201d\u00a0 This false teaching claims that we come into this world \u201cmorally neutral\u201d and then our environment and\/or our upbringing and\/or our own personal choices determine whether we grow up to be a \u201cgood\u201d person or a \u201cbad\u201d person.\u00a0 Scripture adamantly disagrees!\u00a0 Think about it.\u00a0 Why did God destroy the ancient world by means of a world-wide flood?\u00a0 Because \u201cThe LORD saw how great man\u2019s wickedness on the earth had become, that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time\u201d<\/em> (Genesis 6:5).\u00a0 Why does death permeate every single aspect of our life, our world, our existence?\u00a0 Because God not only warned Adam and Eve \u201cYou are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die\u201d<\/em> (Genesis 2:16, 17), but God also decreed, \u201cFor the wages of sin = death\u201d<\/em>(Romans 6:23).\u00a0 Why do so many people dismiss, disrespect or disdain the one true God, the Triune God of the Bible?\u00a0 Because \u201cthe sinful mind is hostile to God.\u00a0 It does not submit to God\u2019s law, nor can it do so\u201d<\/em> (Romans 8:7).\u00a0 While our children do indeed \u201clook innocent\u201d when we hold them in our arms for the very first time, it does not take long for every parent to learn that the sinful nature which they inherited from their parents has now been handed down to their child.<\/p>\n Our natural status before God is one of enmity and hostility.\u00a0 Our natural default setting runs from dismissing the Almighty as being \u201cirrelevant\u201d to our life to distaining the Almighty for taking all the \u201cfun\u201d out of life by telling us, \u201cNo!\u00a0 Thou shalt not<\/strong>\u2026.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Now there is the false teaching which says that if you follow the teachings of the idol called Buddha you can reach a state of \u201cenlightenment.\u201d\u00a0 There is the false teaching which says that if you submit to the will of the idol called Allah you might be able pass the three tests which Allah will use to determine whether or not you are allowed into heaven.\u00a0 There is the false teaching which says that if you follow this prescribed course of penance you can make up for the sins that you have committed against God.\u00a0 But what is the truth?\u00a0 Paul proclaims the truth to us when he says in our text, \u201cOnce you were alienated from God and were enemies in your mind because of your evil behavior.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 That\u2019s our natural status before God!\u00a0 That\u2019s the default setting with which we were born!\u00a0 But listen to how Paul continues, \u201cBut now he has reconciled you by Christ\u2019s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation\u2014 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Our faith, my friends, the true Christian faith, the faith that was first created in our hearts and is now strengthened and nourished through the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, our faith assures us that our status before God has been changed.\u00a0 It has been changed as a result of the incarnation, as a result of the true Son of God coming into this world as the true Son of Man.\u00a0 Through faith in the perfect life, the innocent death and the physical resurrection of Jesus the Christ our status in God\u2019s eyes has been changed from being \u201calienated from God\u201d<\/em> to being \u201cwithout blemish and free from accusation.\u201d\u00a0 <\/em>Through faith in the perfect life, the innocent death and the victorious resurrection of Jesus the Christ our status in God\u2019s eyes has been changed from being \u201cenemies in our<\/em> minds because of our evil behavior\u201d<\/em> to being \u201choly in his sight.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 This change in status, a change which is nothing short of miraculous, is only possible when we believe and trust in the supremacy of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 Take the supremacy of Christ out of this equation, replace Jesus with anyone or anything else and you have nothing left but your original status:\u00a0 \u201calienated from God and\u2026 enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.\u201d<\/em> \u00a0That\u2019s why it is so important for us to believe, to trust and to always emphasize the supremacy of Christ.<\/p>\n The fact that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is supreme over Allah and Budda, over money and fame as well as every other idol to which people foolishly bow down, the fact that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has changed our status before the one and only living God is a truth that has a powerful impact on our lives!\u00a0 Sometimes we look around at other people even our fellow Christians and see how \u201csuccessful\u201d they are\u2014 they have talents and abilities, money and possessions, brains and beauty and brawn\u2014 and we think that we just don\u2019t compare to them.\u00a0 Sometimes we might look at someone else even a fellow Christian and wonder why they can\u2019t do this or why they won\u2019t do that and we look down on them for not being more like us.\u00a0 Either one of those scenarios could easily lead us to forget that through faith in Him (Pointing to the cross) all <\/strong>Christians have the exact same glorious status in the eyes of our Savior-God.\u00a0 None of us is any \u201cbetter\u201d than anyone else.\u00a0 None of us is of any less value to Him.\u00a0 (Pointing to the cross)\u00a0 The status that we have because of the supremacy of the Lord\u2019s Christ is indeed supreme!<\/p>\n This glorious change in our status is then reflected in the \u201cmystery\u201d<\/em> that Paul refers to here in our text.\u00a0 When talking about the privilege he had been given, the privilege of proclaiming the supremacy of Jesus Christ, Paul says, \u201cI have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness\u2014 the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints.\u00a0 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n A \u201cmystery\u201d<\/em> is something that we would not know, something that we could not understand unless it was revealed to us.\u00a0 For \u201cages,\u201d<\/em> Paul says, for \u201cgenerations\u201d<\/em> the Lord God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was viewed by God\u2019s people as the awesome God who descended on Mt. Sinai in fire and clouds and smoke, as the majestic God whose glory dwelt between the cherubim on the Ark of the Covenant in the Most Holy Place in the Temple in Jerusalem, as the Almighty God who controlled the rise and fall of both nations and empires.\u00a0 While all of that is most certainly true, Paul was given the privilege of \u201cmaking known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cChrist in you.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Think about what those three words mean for you, my friends.\u00a0 The \u201cmystery\u201d<\/em> of \u201cChrist in you\u201d<\/em> gives us an even greater insight into Jesus\u2019 words in John 14:23, \u201cIf anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching.\u00a0 My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 As Christians the \u201cmystery\u201d<\/em> of \u201cChrist in you\u201d<\/em> gives us an even greater motivation to make sure that when people watch the way we live our life they are able to see Jesus.\u00a0 As Christians the \u201cmystery\u201d<\/em> of \u201cChrist in you\u201d<\/em> gives us even greater motivation to make sure that when people listen to the way we talk, when people listen to the things we talk about they are able to hear Jesus.\u00a0 Personally, I can\u2019t help but wonder if the \u201cmystery\u201d<\/em> of \u201cChrist in you\u201d<\/em> doesn\u2019t give us an even greater insight into Jesus\u2019 promise, \u201cAnd surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 And as Paul brings out here in our text, the \u201cmystery\u201d<\/em> of \u201cChrist in you\u201d<\/em> gives us \u201chope\u201d<\/em>!\u00a0 It gives us \u201cthe hope of glory\u201d<\/em>!\u00a0 When so many false teachers emphasize that you have to do this and this and this and then maybe God will let you come into His glorious presence, the \u201cmystery\u201d<\/em> that has been revealed to us in the Bible, the \u201cmystery\u201d<\/em> that we understand purely by the grace and power of God is the \u201cmystery\u201d <\/em>of \u201cChrist in you, the hope\u2014 the expectation\u2014 of glory\u201d<\/em> in the eternal Kingdom of Heaven.<\/p>\n That leaves me with just one more point to bring out.\u00a0 Actually, it is more of a transition from this week\u2019s sermon to next week\u2019s sermon.\u00a0 Look at the closing verse of our text, verse 28.\u00a0 Paul writes, \u201cWe proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Next week we will see that guarding against false teaching by emphasizing the supremacy of Christ will automatically lead us to guard against false teaching by emphasizing the centrality of Christ\u2014 the centrality of Christ in everything we believe, the centrality of Christ in everything God has done for<\/strong> us.\u00a0 Next week we\u2019ll see that by emphasizing the centrality of Christ then we are \u201cperfect in Christ.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n I will have to admit that I miss those conversations between my Grandpa and Uncle Joe.\u00a0 At the same time, I will have to admit that I\u2019m not sure I would want to hear how my Grandpa would react if he knew that there is a Ford in my garage.\u00a0 Thankfully when it comes to the subject of cars we can agree to disagree as to which one is the \u201cbest.\u201d\u00a0 Thankfully when it comes to the subject of our Savior there is no need to even have a discussion much less a debate.\u00a0 Our Jesus reigns supreme!<\/p>\n My prayer this morning is that whenever we come into contact with a false teacher, whenever we are confronted by a false teaching we will guard against them by making sure that we always emphasize the supremacy of Christ.<\/p>\n To God be the glory!<\/p>\n Amen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Ninth Sunday after Pentecost July 17, 2016 Colossians 1:21-28 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.\u00a0 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation\u2014if you continue in your faith, established and firm, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=698"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/698\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":699,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/698\/revisions\/699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}