Prison Epistles

The Prison Epistles
Sermon Number Twenty-Eight
The Sufficiency Christ (Part 1)
Colossians 1:15-23
October 16th, 2005
Jim Bordwine, ThD

Introduction

Most people know what it's like to become desensitized to some message or some event that, when first heard or experienced, caused tremendous excitement and joy. We get used to things when they are repeated or as time passes and sometimes we lose that initial gladness or enthusiasm we once knew. As I was thinking about this matter this past week, I quickly came up with a number of examples. Most wives will testify that the attention they received from their husbands-to-be before the marriage seems to have waned since they said "I do." And many husbands could testify that the dreamy-eyed looks they once received from their wives-to-be in those early days of romance have long-since been replaced with looks of a different kind.

When something is new and pleasant, we tend to react enthusiastically and we spend time thinking about it, whatever it is. But as time passes, the newness wears off and so does our excitement and happiness. You can see this pattern throughout life--when we are pursuing a mate, as I already mentioned, we are the most thoughtful person we can be, but that wears off. When we get a new job, we vow to be the most productive worker ever seen, but it's not too long before we are complaining about the hours or the block-headed boss we work for.

When we get a new car, we promise ourselves that we'll wash it every week and change the oil regularly and never let one of our children eat or spill anything in it, but soon that vehicle looks like a recycling bin on wheels and as long as it starts, that's all we care about. When we move into a new home, we are determined that no shoe shall ever touch the carpet and no smudge shall ever dirty a window and no weed shall ever defile the lawn, but soon the house is a home where people actually live and we come to appreciate the tenacity of weeds.

The truth is that those aspects of our lives that initially excite us and bring us happiness do become common-place over time. On a more serious note, this pattern of becoming desensitized to some events and messages is a truly sad thing. And the one place where it is really something to be lamented is in our Christian experience. How many times do you suppose you've heard the gospel? How many times have you heard teaching or read material on the work of Christ? Have you known times when you were more excited and thankful for what has been done for you than you are today? I don't mean to imply that these matters of faith ever become boring or trivial, but we can get used to hearing a truth or used to reading about a doctrine and, over time, our zeal declines. We have so many opportunities in our lives to consider the work of the Savior that even His accomplishments, which we once heralded as "good news," become "old news," so to speak.

Have you ever wondered what it was like for those first century Christians who received letters from the apostle Paul? We tend to think that those believers lacked much in the matter of understanding the faith; we might think that they were naīve regarding some of the deep truths that later generations pondered and wrote about. There is probably some truth to the notion that the first century believers lacked the deep understanding of doctrine that has been attained by those who came after them, those who had the time and tools to do in-depth analysis of the Bible and engage in prolonged meditation upon Scripture. But I want to suggest that there is one area in which we should envy the believers of the first century--and I'm referring to those Christians who came to faith under the ministry of men like the apostle Paul. They had a great advantage over us because they were hearing about Jesus Christ and the gospel and the faith He revealed to the world for the first time. They weren't many generations removed from the Incarnation and the crucifixion and the resurrection so that the recounting of those events could become routine; they weren't so far away from the time when God became flesh that such a wonderful declaration had lost its power to mystify and produce in them a holy reverence.

We grow up in a culture where, even with all its troubling aspects, still knows much about Jesus and the gospel and the work He performed. The idea that God would become one of us to save us is not as unusual or shocking as it was in the first century when it was being proclaimed for the first time. Our culture, again although we have many alarming traits, is one still very much shaped by the Christian faith and we take for granted what first-century Christians heard. But what they heard was the ultimate message, the one message above all messages. What they heard allowed for no compromises and no rivals.

So, when Epaphras reported to Paul that the saints in the city of Colossae were being pulled away from that glorious message of the gospel, Paul wrote a letter and in this letter he sets forth the truth about who Jesus Christ is and what He had accomplished and when he is finished with this section of his letter, there is no competing message left standing and no alternative route to God left open. When Paul presents to the Colossians the Christ in all His divine glory, he leaves no room for more. Christ is it; He is all in all, He is the God-Man, He has done it all--in a word, He is sufficient.

The sufficiency of Christ--this is the truth I want to present to you today and in so doing, I want to stir your hearts like they were once stirred when you heard about Him and I want to make your soul glad as it was once glad when you heard about Him. I want to use what Paul says about Christ and renew that enthusiasm that may have declined and I want to rekindle that desire to love and serve Him that may have been diminished.

Today, we come to vv. 15 and following in the first chapter of Paul's letter to the believers in Colossae. They were among those hearing about Christ for the first time; they were the generation that had no long history of gospel preaching, no long history of doctrine taught and pondered. Pray that God would give you the open heart to hear and rejoice in the Christ the way they did when Paul wrote to them and told them about the unparalleled Savior, the unique Redeemer from heaven above.

Prior to the passage we will consider today, Paul told the Colossians: "He [that is, the Father] rescued 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." (vv. 13, 14) As I noted in the last sermon, these verses speak of a change of status. The Colossians--indeed, all who believe the gospel--were taken from one realm and one authority and placed in another realm under another authority. The state of estrangement from God is described as "the domain of darkness." The state in which the Colossians now found themselves, as the redeemed people of God, is described as "the kingdom of [God's] beloved Son."

And then Paul elaborates on this One who saved them:

1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-- all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. 18 He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. 19 For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, 20 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. 21 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, 22 yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach-- 23 if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.

The Sufficiency of Christ

Instead of following my normal routine of dividing this passage into two or three main points, I want to work through it, verse by verse and phrase by phrase. Therefore, take note that after declaring that, in Christ, the Colossians had been rescued from the domain of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of Christ, Paul says further: "He is the image of the invisible God ..." (v. 15) All that Paul says for the next several verses is in the context of his assertion that Christ has rescued sinners from the domain of darkness. With that context in mind, we have here one of the most essential and thrilling truths about our Savior--He is not a man who became a God and He is not a God who was Himself created by another God, but He is God.

This great truth has occupied the hearts of the faithful for centuries. We have marveled at the notion that the Jesus who walked the earth, was hungry and tired, who mourned and rejoiced with His disciples, who patiently instructed the dull of heart, and who wisely rebuked the religious pretenders could also be God. But that is precisely what Paul means by that phrase "He is the image of the invisible God."

In the Greek text, the word "image" is eikon and refers to the fact that Jesus possessed the same nature as the Father. In Christ, in a true sense, we behold God in the flesh. It is this God clothed in flesh who gave Himself for the sins of the Colossians; He is the One who took pity upon them and provided what they could never provide. The thought that God had come to them in the flesh and had given Himself for them, which is what they were told when they believed the gospel, was enough, all by itself, to obliterate any competing idea.

As we will learn later, the Colossian church was troubled by teaching that advocated the addition of something to the work of Jesus. Consider that--the addition of something more, something performed by the sinner, was necessary, they were being told, to make His work sufficient for salvation. But I ask you, in all seriousness, taking only this short phrase by the apostle, how could anything, no matter how it sounded or how it was presented, compete with God in the flesh? When you are told "Your Savior, the One in whom you have believed is, in truth, God," what more needs to be said? What more does a sinner need than to have God come down from heaven, walk this earth as a Man, take upon His own precious back the burden of our sins, and go willingly to the cross? What remains to be done when God dies for us? What is there that is of greater worth? What is there that amounts to a more valuable payment for sin? How could one even conceive of adding to the work of God incarnate?

Christian, let your joy in the Lord be renewed as you hear the words of the apostle! It is God who gave Himself for you. You need nothing else. You may rest in Him alone for salvation because He is God. And these things that I say to you, Paul says to the Colossians, in essence, as this letter continues. He soon will blast away at the false teaching troubling these saints and he will say to them "be done with concern for enhancing what you have received from Jesus Christ--relax and rest in Him because, as God in the flesh, He has rescued you and His rescue is not in part, but in full." I ask again, therefore: If your redemption begins with God becoming one of us to die in our place, to take as His own the punishment for our sin, what remains to be done? What more does a condemned man need to hear than these words: "You are free. Another has paid for your crime"? What more does the condemned woman need to hear than this: "Though you were justly judged and worthy of death, you are free because Another has accepted your guilt"?

Why must the preacher stand before the assembly and plead with sinners to receive the Christ? Why must verse after verse be sung as sinners are urged to believe in Jesus? Is it not sufficient--wholly sufficient--for the sinner to hear that Jesus Christ, the Savior made known to you in the gospel, is God? Should not the Savior be presented as an exalted Redeemer rather than One who stands idly by hoping that the sinner will look His way? If God has come in the flesh, should we not fall before Him in thanksgiving and praise? Should we not exalt His name and raise our hands in grateful adoration? Is it not enough that God has come for us as one of us? Is it not true that Jesus, the God-Man, is incomparable and we need nothing else?

It is no wonder that Jesus, the image of the invisible God, Jesus Himself being God, could say to us: "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." (Matt. 11:28) Only God could say such a thing to those lost in darkness and weighed down with the burden of condemnation. Is it beyond belief to conclude that when this same Jesus, this One who is the image of the invisible God, said upon the cross "It is finished," it really was finished? Only God could make such a declaration because our sin was greater than what any mortal could achieve or offer.

"He is the image of the invisible God," Paul writes. If this is true, if it is true that Jesus really was God in the flesh, and if it is true that the God-Man died on the cross for my sins, and if it is true that He then rose from the dead and declared His victory over the dreadful consequence of my sin, which is death, what more could I ask? My Savior is the One who is the image of the invisible God! My Savior is God by nature! If He has given Himself in my place, what can I possibly add to what He has done? Would my good works make His atonement more efficacious? Would my efforts to please God make His death more significant or His resurrection more glorious? Do you see why a report saying that some false teachers were leading the Colossians astray would have alarmed the apostle? Do you see why one of the main messages of this letter can be summed up in the words "Christ is sufficient"?

This isn't the first time you've heard this message. But have you lost your appreciation for it? Have you become desensitized to this wonderful news so that it does not stir your heart and soul as it once did? So many Christians today have their heads turned by that which is billed as "new" or "fresh." There may be aspects of our experience as Christians that need to be re-examined and presented from a different perspective, but the work of Christ is not one of them. In this matter, we need to be defined by an ancient confession: Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. That confession is bound up in Paul's words: "He is the image of the invisible God."

Paul writes next that Christ, who is the image of the invisible God, is also "the firstborn of all creation." Heretics have alleged that Paul is here declaring that the Christ was a created being, that He had a beginning just like everything else in creation. In fact, one of the heresies threatening the spiritual well-being of the Colossians taught that Christ was a created being and not truly God. The word translated "firstborn," however, comes from a root (protos) meaning "first in time, first in rank, first in influence." Some translations bring out the meaning of this word by saying "the firstborn over all creation," which conveys the idea of superiority better than the phrase "firstborn of all creation."

The point is that by using this Greek word, Paul is not speaking of Christ's origination but of His status relative to all created things. As we'll soon see, Paul goes on to tell us that Christ was the creative "Agent" through whom God brought into existence everything that exists. Here, the apostle is saying that the Savior existed before creation. This phrase is actually another declaration of Christ's deity. Paul says that the Savior of the Colossians was "the image of the invisible God," meaning that He shared the nature of God, and he says that their Savior is "the firstborn of all creation," meaning that He existed before creation--He is eternal, in other words.

As I just mentioned, Paul tells us that "by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on the earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things have been created through Him and for Him." (v. 16) Creation exists because of Christ and creation exists for Him, that is, to serve His purposes. It was fitting, therefore, that the One by whom all things were created should become the One through whom a recreation is taking place. He is reclaiming His creation as the God-Man. His death and resurrection have broken the curse of sin on this universe and upon man, the crown of His creation.

There is nothing in existence that does not owe its existence to Him, Paul teaches. There is nothing visible, nothing invisible that has come into being apart from Him. And, once again, let me remind you that this One is our Savior. Paul presents to us this magnificent Figure--He is God, He is the Creator, He is superior to all things and all things are His--and He is the Savior of our race. He was able to deliver us from the domain of darkness, as Paul said earlier, because He is the ultimate Ruler over all domains. He conquered death on the cross and by His resurrection because He is the source of life. There is no power greater than His because He is the origin of all power. And He is your Savior, the apostle teaches. What compares to Him? Who compares to Him? Who can give something that is greater than His life in exchange for our souls?

"All things hold together" in Him, Paul adds (v. 17). Here, he uses a word (sunistao) meaning that Christ is the controlling and unifying force in nature (cf. Robertson). He made all things and He controls all things. Christ is the reason the atoms of the universe don't fly apart; He is the reason for order and for the so-called laws of nature and physics. He is that powerful and He is our Savior! It now becomes laughable to suggest that man, the sinner, might be able to add something to enhance the atonement achieved by this Redeemer. If He is all that Paul says, the idea of completing what He began, so to speak, which is one of the things being suggested to the believers in Colossae, is utterly preposterous. Contrary to the Gnostics, who were vexing the Colossians, matter is not evil; matter exists by the power and will of the Christ and He is redeeming His creation by applying the blessing of God to all He made.

The primary theme of this passage, as I said before, is the sufficiency of Christ as the Savior of sinners. God did not create a being to come and make atonement for us--not even a marvelous, powerful being who was superior to us in every way. No, God Himself came in the flesh to rescue us. I have to say again, therefore, what more do we need? What more could we possibly need than to have God Himself make atonement for us? The One who made us gave Himself for us. Because He was God and not a creature like us, His sacrifice was sufficient to take away our sin. But what an understatement that is! We rejoice in the idea that God came in the flesh to take away our sin, but do we realize what this truth says about our sin? Do we realize how great our offense must have been to require the death of Christ, the Son of God?

How significant is an offense against a holy God? Based on what our sin required, it must be beyond calculation. If the blood of the God-Man had to be shed in order to satisfy the charge against us, then our guilt must have been infinitely offensive. Blood of infinite worth, the blood of the God-Man, was required to satisfy an offense of infinite character. That is how great your sin was, Paul is telling the Colossians; and that is how great your redemption is in Christ, he teaches.

And, praise be to God, if my sin required a sacrifice of infinite worth and if that sacrifice of infinite worth has been provided, then I am free! My brothers and sisters, if our Savior is, indeed, God in the flesh, then our guilt before God has been atoned for and there is nothing to add. Grasping that concept is what brings true freedom to the believer. Understanding that sin is paid for and forgiven, no matter how hideous, no matter how abundant, brings rest to the soul and the burden of pleasing God, the burden of seeking to win His favor is taken away. He has been pleased and His favor is ours forever because of Christ!

Application

We will return to this passage next week, Lord willing. For now, I want to state that there are only two categories of people hearing my words at this moment--those who have believed the gospel and those who have not. To those who are still alienated from God I say: You will never find anything, no matter how diligently you look, and you will never achieve anything, no matter how hard you try, that will satisfy your guilt before God. You are a fallen creature and everything you touch, everything you accomplish, everything you offer to God is defiled by your sin. You cannot go a single hour without violating the holy law of God. His standard is perfection, unbroken perfection, and you know only too well that you are not perfect. If you are standing before God at this moment by yourself or if you are standing before God right now and offering to Him your attempts to live a righteous life, or your efforts to be a "good" person, then you are, in reality, empty-handed. Your offense against God and the sin you commit daily are too great; you cannot make atonement. The One without sin, the One who is perfect, the Lord Jesus Christ, is your only hope. Unless you cling to Him and trust Him to your Savior, you will be lost forever.

To those who have confessed faith in Christ, I say this: Don't think that this passage has nothing to say to you. Don't think that because you are saved, you don't need to hear about Christ who is the image of the invisible God or Christ who is the firstborn of all creation. You need to think on Him daily. You need to contemplate His work daily. You are not yet beyond the pull of this world. You still face challenges. Perhaps you are struggling with thoughts of failure as you consider God's standard. Does your sin sometimes burden you to the point of despair? If so, I point you to the same place as the one who is yet without faith; I point you to Christ. The Savior, Jesus Christ, who is God, has given Himself in your place and you may rest in Him forever. You may plead His work on your behalf when your heart condemns you; you may point to His death when your mind accuses you of sin. You may be at peace knowing that your Savior is none other than God and no matter what you hear or what you think, He has provided an atonement that is wholly sufficient for you now and in the life to come. You need nothing else.

This is, I admit, a concept that so many of us find difficult to accept. We almost insist on hanging onto our guilt even though the Scripture tells us that we have been forgiven and are free in Christ. Let me tell you that if you truly believe that God has provided your atonement, then you should be done with doubts. Whatever God does, He does perfectly and completely. If God in the flesh has provided an atonement, you can be sure that His atonement is complete--it is, as I've been saying, wholly sufficient.

I want to close with a few words directed to the young people of this congregation. And what I want to say will be relevant to all the young people to a degree, yet more relevant to some than others. In our tradition, we put a great emphasis on the covenant concept of the family, which is good and right and beneficial. But what we sometimes fail to do is stress to our children their need for Christ; consequently, some children grow up with a misguided notion about their relationship to God. Young people, I understand that you are encountering various struggles and issues as you reach adulthood. I know that, at times, you struggle with sin; and I know that, at times, you feel pressure to live up to the standard you've been taught.

And, for some of you, I know that some in whom you've placed your trust have failed you. I want you to understand that your parents don't save you. Your parents and every other adult you look to or count on are sinners in the process of sanctification. Your ultimate hope cannot rest in your parents or anyone else, but only in the God who has promised to be your God as He has been the God of those who have come before you. This God has come in the flesh to bring to the world what we all instinctively want, which is peace with Him. He is the One who never fails. He is the One who has given Himself for you. Love and obey your parents; be thankful for what God has given you in this life and be thankful for the instruction you have received and the examples of godliness you have witnessed. But when it comes to the salvation of your soul, you must put your trust in Christ and Christ alone.

Let's pray...

Conclusion

Each week, the Savior testifies to us concerning the sufficiency of His atonement. When we observe this sacrament, we are reminded that what He did was all that needed to be done. He has secured for us the forgiveness of God. He has secured for us eternal life. There is nothing that remains to be done. And in that we can rejoice and rest.

The Scripture says:

While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is My body." And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. (Matt. 26:26-28)