Prison Epistles

The Prison Epistles
Sermon Number Twenty-Nine
The Sufficiency Christ (Part 2)
Colossians 1:15-23
October 23rd, 2005
Jim Bordwine, ThD

Introduction

I began the sermon last week talking about how we become desensitized to messages or events over time. We sometimes lose the initial excitement we once had as we hear something stated multiple times or as we consider over and over again some event that, when first considered, brought us great joy. I pointed to the relationship between husbands and wives as an example. Both parties in a marriage can usually testify that the original romance and thoughtfulness expressed by their mate prior to their marriage has faded as years have passed. I had a few other examples, as well, and my point was that 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.

I also stated that we even see this pattern of becoming desensitized to some events and messages 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? As I said last week, 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. What we once heralded as "good news" becomes "old news," so to speak.

I then asked you to consider 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, and I said that 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 suggested to you that there is one area in which we should envy the believers of the first century--and that one area has to do with the fact that 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.

When Epaphras, the man who took greetings from the saints in Colossae to Paul in Rome, told the apostle that those believers 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 am emphasizing at this point in our study of the prison epistles. As I said last time, my hope is that your hearts will be stirred like they were once stirred when you heard about Him. I'm praying that God will use what Paul tells us about the Christ to renew that enthusiasm you knew in the past when you first heard about the gospel.

Last week, we began looking at vv. 15 and following in the first chapter of Colossians. I reminded you that prior to the passage we are now considering, 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) All who believe the gospel, Paul teaches, are 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."

I want to read our text again. Here we have Paul commenting on the One who rescues sinners who are trapped in darkness and settles them in His own wonderful Kingdom:

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 (continued)

Last week I concentrated primarily on the very first phrase of this passage: "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, I stated, has occupied the hearts of the faithful for centuries. As we consider what the Savior did, we think of Jesus who walked the earth, Jesus who was hungry and tired, Jesus who mourned and rejoiced with His disciples, Jesus who patiently instructed the dull of heart, and Jesus who wisely rebuked the religious pretenders--and we are astounded that this Jesus could also be God. But that is precisely what Paul means by that phrase "He is the image of the invisible God."

I explained that the word Paul uses, translated "icon," 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. Even though I'm repeating some of the things I said last week for the sake of review, I still have the same sense of astonishment when I say what I've just said. When I stand before a congregation and tell them that our Savior is none other than God in the flesh, I cannot help but be moved. Those words are so significant. They reveal what my experience as a believer is all about--God came to this world and, as one of us, gave Himself in my place. I know we can become desensitized to a lot of things, but brothers and sisters if you are so desensitized that these words leave you unmoved, then something is wrong with you! This is a message that should never become so routine, no matter how many times we hear it, that we can say something like, "Oh, yeah, Jesus was the God-Man, and He died for me ... say, what are we having for lunch today?"

Stop right here and search your heart and decide if this message means anything to you. Stop thinking about whatever it is that may be distracting your mind at this moment and consider the truth that Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God; and if that is true, as I said last week, then whatever He, the God-Man, has done for your salvation, must be wholly sufficient. There cannot remain even the slightest need if God Himself provides atonement for us.

I said that to you several times in the last sermon and I don't hesitate to say it several more times and drive this truth into your hearts. We have what no other religion or philosophy has--we have a God, our Creator, who came to earth and gave Himself for us. This is the unique and glorious message of the gospel. This is what Christianity is about--it is about following, living for, and serving this Redeemer who, as God in the flesh, gave Himself to save us. And, as we know, Paul is making the point that if God came in the flesh and gave Himself for us, then that is all we need; there is nothing to compete with this truth.

No matter what the source, if we are told that something needs to be added to the work of Christ, we are fools is we listen. The Colossians were being led astray by some claiming that the work of the God-Man was insufficient. That idea is absurd! How can an atonement provided by the all-knowing, all-powerful God be insufficient? That's impossible. Nevertheless, that's what the Colossians were being told and this lie was upsetting them and threatened their continued growth in the faith.

Consider this: If the story of 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 or woman need to hear than these words: "You are free. Another has paid for your crime"?

Well, Paul wrote more, of course. We also considered what he has to say about Jesus being the "firstborn" of all creation. I explained that this term is referring to Christ's superiority to or rank above all creation, not to His origin. He is, in fact, the One through whom everything that exists came into existence. By using this particular Greek word, Paul is not speaking of Christ's origination but of His status relative to all created things. 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.

We are ready to look at Paul's next declaration: "He is also head of the body, the church ..." (v. 18) We are introduced here to a remarkable truth, but again one that we probably don't fully understand and one we definitely take for granted. There is much to be gained from the consideration of the way the Bible describes Christ's relationship to His Church. Remember, Paul is speaking in the context of Christ having delivered the Colossians from the domain of darkness. Now he uses another image to teach them about the sufficiency of Christ's atonement--he uses the image of a head and a body.

This is such a simple yet highly effective image to teach us about Christ and His Church. How closely connected is your head to your body? When we think of this image, we think of a vital and indispensable relationship. We know that if we lose our heads, we stop living--we don't carry on in an impaired state of existence, we die! We know that our head is where our brain resides and our brain decides what the body will do and the brain watches out for the body. When the hand touches something hot, the brain receives those signals and tells the hand "pull away!" We cannot function without our heads attached to our bodies. Paul uses this concept to teach us about Christ's relationship to His Church. It is a relationship that is vital in every sense of the word. The Church cannot function without Her Head and Jesus Christ is Her Head.

Paul is teaching that Jesus did more than come and deliver us from one place to another, from the domain of darkness to His Kingdom. He is teaching that Christ has joined Himself to the redeemed in a critical manner so that the people for whom He made atonement are forever bound to Him, as it were, as the body is bound to its head. The head directs and sees to the preservation of the body, as I said. The head is the location of decision-making and the body carries out the desires of the head. So it is with Christ and the Church, the apostle states. This is not a union in which there are two centers of decision-making; the head-body image defines Christ's role with respect to the Church and the Church's role with respect to Christ. One leads and the other serves, just as it is with every human being in which the head or brain leads and the body carries out the desires of the head.

God Himself, the God who came to earth and took on the form of a man so He could die on the cross, is now related to His people as a head is to a body. It's a union that is unbreakable. Christ, as our Savior, is now directing and watching over us as the head directs and cares for the body to which it is attached. If, indeed, Christ is the Head of the Church, then what does that tell us about those who were teaching the Colossians that they needed more? We do not need two heads! The body needs only one head even as the Church needs only one Head or Savior. As I said before in reference to the previous phrase, what more do we need if we have the God-Man as our Head? How can our lot be improved if we are joined to Him as the body is joined to the head? Is this not a picture of complete sufficiency? There is nothing lacking in this image; it is a complete image, one of a whole man, as it were, head and body.

But think of what we so often see. We know the Church has a Head, but some parts of the Church simply are not acknowledging Him. And they are looking elsewhere for direction and they are taking instructions from other sources. And as long as that continues, the modern Church will be largely ineffective. Christ is our Head, not the latest idea conjured up by church-growth experts. The Church goes where the Head leads, not where creatures in need of salvation may lead with all their self-defined needs and wants. The image of Head and Body, Christ and His Church, is crystal clear in its implications. Unless we are acknowledging His position and unless we are following His direction, we will stumble and look as if we have no clear idea about who we are.

As a quick aside, I want to address a problem here that is related to Paul's teaching. One of the things illustrated by Paul's remarks is the easily over-looked connection between the atonement and the doctrine of the Church. I don't think most Christians make the connection. I don't think many Christians relate the work of Christ on the cross to the nature of the Church universal or the church to which they belong in their local community. But Paul does recognize that relationship. Every local church, assuming it is a true part of the universal Church, is attached to Christ as body to head. This truth had enormous implications for the Christians in Colossae.

Paul was teaching them that they were bound to the Savior in the vital manner I've described--as body to head. Therefore, they could not entertain any ideas about improving what He did. They were already connected to Him as a result of His work of atonement. Nothing else needed to be done. They were, there in the city of Colossae, a visible manifestation of the Body of the Savior. His work had not made them nearly secure, but it made them eternally secure by connecting them to Him in a saving relationship that was as permanent and essential as is the relationship between a body and a head. In this relationship, they had all they needed. They had life, they had His guidance, they served Him as His body.

We should think of the local church in which we find ourselves as the body of Christ, the body for which He gave His life; and when we think that way, our understanding of how we are to conduct ourselves can be revolutionized. Instead of thinking of the local church as a Christian social club, a club we can take or leave as we please, a club we criticize and run down every time we see something that doesn't suit us, we can think of the church as a member of our dear Savior's body--and when we begin to think like that, we don't speak ill of her and we don't cast insults at her; no, we try to keep her strong and healthy and effective.

I want to tell you that the Church of Jesus Christ today is "disease-ridden" in many local congregations. Those congregations are weak and the whole Body of Christ is weak. They are weak because the saints God has placed in those congregations often don't have the point of view given to us by the apostle. The care and strengthening of that local body, therefore, is not high on their list of priorities. They are failing to make that essential connection between the work of Christ on the cross and what has been produced in this fallen world as a result of that work, which is the Church, His Body, through which He is carrying out His post-resurrection ministry.

We all know that bodies don't function as efficiently or as easily when fingers are missing, or when arms are hacked off, or when feet are lame. But that's what we see in some congregations. Some believers who should be adding to the strength and effectiveness of the Church by settling in for the long haul--that is, the life-long work of building up the Church--instead weaken the Church because they have a self-centered view of the Church rather than a view in which they see themselves as servants of the Savior. We all need to remind ourselves frequently that we are here, as members of His Body, to make Her stronger and healthier and more glorious.

We really must be on guard against selfishness when it comes to our participation in a local part of Christ's Body. When we are mainly concerned with ourselves rather than the Body and the work of the Church, we deprive the Church of stability and cause the vitality of the local congregation to be consumed by something other than building the Kingdom and taking the gospel to the lost. The discerning Christian, the one who understands what Paul is saying here, sees that wonderful connection between the atonement and the Church of our Savior. The Church exists, as does every single congregation that makes up the Church, only because Christ died for us and was raised from the dead for us. We are here to serve Him as our Head, not ourselves. We are here to make His body stronger by contributing whatever gifts He's put in us. Christians who find some reason to leave church after church or who find some reason to stay as arm's length in regard to the church they attend are missing out on what makes a congregation truly amazing, and that is growth over time, over decades, a little here and a little there, growth ultimately in spite of occasional troubles.

We should love the Body and the local expression of the Body because it is Christ's Body. It's through the Body that He is bringing news of His atonement to the world. What a wonderful work to be part of in the local congregation! Imagine staying in the same church for 20 or 30 years and being able to look back and be amazed at what Christ did--how He used that local body in spite of her faults and how He made her strong in spite of her weaknesses! I wish every believer could have such an experience. It would create in us so much love for our Savior and so much praise for Him as we witnessed His work year after year in a local congregation. But, sadly, that is not the experience of most Christians today. Rare is the Christian who grows up in a church and remains in that church for life. We are so short-sighted, so attracted to the present and so determined to find a situation that pleases us completely--and as a result, we miss out on one of the most wonderful things in this fallen world, which is the growth and maturity of Christ's Body in a local congregation.

Well, let's get back to the text. Paul adds: "He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything." The Bible teaches that Christ's resurrection was the first in what will be the resurrection of an untold number on that last great day. His victory over death signaled victory for everyone united to Him by faith--that is, for all who are part of the Body Paul has been speaking of. As the Head lives in spite of death, so the Body will one day live as well.

Paul speaks here of the preeminence of the Savior. He means that Christ, the one who gained the victory over death after having paid for our sins, is supremely positioned over all authorities and realms. He has been given, as this same apostle says elsewhere, as Head over all things to the Church and all things are in subjection to Him (cf. Eph. 1:22). The resurrected Christ is "the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords" (cf. 1 Tim. 6:15).

Here we have yet another wonderful truth emphasized by Paul. The resurrection of our Savior is packed with significance. It means that there is no power greater, no realm greater, no authority greater. This is why Jesus stood before His disciples and said:

All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. (Matt. 28:18-20)

We are in league with the One to Whom all authority has been given! What do you think He will do with that authority? Will He see those for whom He died crushed by the evil one or will He defeat the evil one and leave no doubt regarding His power? Will He let the final chapter of history record the sad defeat and demise of His Body or will He cause to happen exactly what He says in this Great Commission? Yet another glaring sign that the modern Church is not thinking and acting as if Christ is Her Head is the defeatist views rampant among Christians. To hear the average Christian talk, you'd think that the body of Jesus Christ stayed in the tomb and rotted!

As Paul describes who Christ is, he is describing our Savior. He is describing what He did for His people. Paul is providing a lesson in basic Christology. The Savior is all-powerful and He is wonderful and His relationship to the Church is fixed forever and the Church exists in this world as His Body doing His work, the work of the One who is King of kings and Lord of lords. As a sinner in need of redemption, Paul could have said, you cannot do better than Jesus Christ; you cannot find anything or anyone greater than Him. He is God in the flesh and the atonement He provides is all-sufficient. Nothing remains to be done!

I ask again if you can understand why those who were suggesting that the Colossians needed to add to the work of Christ were utter fools, fools to be dismissed immediately? If the One who is first before all things and the One to Whom has been given all authority provides your salvation, what more do you need? Is it not absolutely clear that what He did is wholly sufficient for us? If this One is your Savior, you should be filled with confidence--not in yourself, but in Him! If He is your Redeemer, you should never have a doubt regarding your destiny--not because you are wise and crafty and figured out a way to appease God, but because He made atonement for you!

Notice what Paul adds in vv. 19, 20. He writes that "all the fullness" dwelt in Christ. This is a reference to the deity of the Savior. He was all that God is; He possesses all that God possesses. He is God, as was stressed before. And it is this One who is God, fully and completely God, through Whom reconciliation has taken place. Paul makes a wonderful and profound statement when he says that the Father reconciled all things to Himself "having made peace through the blood of the cross ..."

What do you think of when you see the cross? I think of the violence done to Christ, but also of the safety provided for me. I think of His death taking place instead of mine. I think of Him lifted up and exposed to the wrath of a holy God, wrath that consumes and lays bare everything before it, while I, the sinner, never have to face that wrath. Is that not exactly what Paul says here? Is that not peace in the purest and sweetest expression?

Reconciliation, that is what Christ has accomplished--the sinner reconciled to God, the sinner allowed to approach the offended God once again, the sinner shielded from the fire of God's justice. All of creation reconciled in Christ Jesus. This ministry of reconciliation is what the Savior is now bringing to the world through His Body, the Church. When the Colossians heard all this and considered the meaning of Paul's words, they were being armed to face and denounce those false teachers who were troubling them.

There is still more to come regarding the sufficiency of Christ--and in some ways, what remains to be said is the most thrilling of all. We will return to this passage, Lord willing, next Sunday.

Application

As I close, I have a few questions I want you to think about. There questions are prompted by what Paul teaches about the relationship between Christ and His Body. Paul taught the Colossians that they, as a local gathering of believers, were part of the Body of Christ; he taught that, because of what Jesus did on that cross, they were related to Him as a body is related to its head. Do you love the Church as you should? Look around--this is it; this is part of that Body Paul speaks of. I'm not asking if you love the concept of the Church and I'm not asking if you love the Body of Christ in some non-specific manner. I'm saying, once again, look around--this is the Body. Do you love Her? Does she have your devotion? Are you a source of strength for this body or a source of weakness? Do you look for the good Christ is doing through Her or do you fixate on Her faults?

Do you know why Paul rarely spends time in his many letters talking about the imperfections in local congregations and, instead, spends most of his time teaching the saints about the beauty and calling of the Church? It's because Christians don't need to be taught about finding fault--we do that easily and very effectively. Identifying a local congregation's weaknesses is no challenge. There is always plenty to complain about if we want to look for characteristics that dissatisfy us. It's the glory of the Church and the mission of the Church and the inevitable growth and maturity of the Church that have to be stressed to us. Those are the things we fail to ponder because those are the noble characteristics of the Church and we, though redeemed, still struggle to conform our thoughts to truth so that we comprehend the magnificent notion that this is the Body of Christ and He is our Head.

Think of this issue like this: If everyone in this congregation had your attitude toward this part of Christ's Body, if everyone in this congregation felt as you do and shared your opinions of this Body, and if everyone in this congregation followed your example of service and dedication, where would we be? Would we be stronger and more effective and a greater glory to our Head, even though we have our blemishes and flaws? Or would we be weaker and less effective and bring less glory to our Head? Only one of these descriptions can be true.

Let's pray...

Conclusion

This sacrament commemorates the wholly sufficient atonement that our Savior provided for His Body, the Church. It is not only a means of remembering that atonement, but also a pledge of what is to come because of that atonement. Christ, triumphant over death, is building His Church and He is completing His Church and one day, we, along with all the redeemed, will stand with Him before the Father in perfection.

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)