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the hope of glory Tony Cooper, Elder Grace Church, Sunday Worship Colossians 1 May15th, 2011
God is infinitely glorious and powerful, and he displays this in many ways
Let me give you quick outline of this passage (Colossians 1): · Paul wrote this to the saints and faithful in Christ · He talks about the gospel coming to them and to the whole world, and the fruit that it is bearing · He talks of the work of Christ in the gospel, and his power and authority · He finishes by talking of his labor and suffering for the sake of the gospel’s continuing work in them So, there is the context and the overall message of this passage. There are 2 phrases that Paul uses in this passage—2 fairly short phases that are profound. And because they are short, it can be easy to overlook them. And, because of how we are wired, and because we are sinful and more self-focused than God-focused, we are all that much more likely to overlook them. Overlooking these statements will have a negative impact on our understanding of the gospel. Overlooking these statements will have a negative impact on our sanctification (our growth) in Christ. I—and most importantly God—do not want anyone walking away today unknowingly carrying around something that hinders the core work of God in our lives. In fact, these statements point to the core and essence of the reason for all things—and that is God. Let’s look at these two statements, and begin to explain what I mean. The 2 phrases: v 15 and 19: “He is the image of the invisible God,” and in 19: “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.” What do these mean? Paul’s talking about the relationship between God’s nature and Christ’s nature. How is Christ an image of God? And, what is the measure of the fullness of God? Much is said of Christ—and certainly the attributes of Christ that are mentioned could help us understand these verses in part, but I think it would be helpful to look to God. If Christ is his image, and, if the fullness of God dwells in him, then, we need to have an idea of what Paul has in mind about God when he is talking about Christ in this way. He’s saying, “These things of God are in Christ.” If we don' t understand what is said of God, we won't understand what is being said of Christ. So, what is being said of God? I could list the myriad of things the Bible states about God’s character. But rather than do a broad survey, let’s look at one particular thing about God, and go in deep. If tonight’s sky is clear, and you can manage to get away from the city lights, you’d be able to see about 3,000 stars in the sky. With a small telescope, you could see about 100,000 stars. That’s a lot. It would take a while to try to count them. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, contains roughly 400 billion stars. Astronomers believe there are anywhere from 100 billion to 1 trillion galaxies in the universe. And, each of those galaxies contain anywhere from 100 billion to 1 trillion stars. The belief is that there may be up to 300 sextillion (that’s 300 with 23 zeros) stars in the universe. That’s 3,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0 stars. A couple things about these stars: · God spoke, and they were created: o Gen 1:14 And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, o Gen 1:15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth." And it was so. o Gen 1:16 And God made the two great lights--the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night--and the stars. o Gen 1:17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, o Gen 1:18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. God spoke, and these stars appeared. Out of nothing, God spoke, and there was. No help—no kit—no building blocks—no starters—no seeds. Just his word, and into existence an uncountable number of stars exist. · God, night after night, calls each one out by name, and makes sure not one is missing o Isa 40:25 To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One. o Isa 40:26 Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power not one is missing. It would take a person, naming 1 star per second, 24 hrs/day, 365 days/year, 950 quadrillion years to name all the stars. God does this each night. And he doesn’t miss one. We have trouble counting off to 30 in our business meetings! So, why? Why does God do this? Why number each star? Why name each star? Why ensure each and every one is in place? Verse 25 tells us: so that we can see that nothing and no one compares to him. God is asking, “who can do what I do? Who else has such power? Let me show you and see for yourself what I can do, then you tell me who is like me.” Kindof a side note—if you ever wonder how many things God does in a day, at the very least, we can say God does 300 sextillion things every day. He makes sure 300 sextillion stars are still there, night after night, after night. Point number one: God is infinitely glorious and powerful, and none compares to him.
Christ is infinitely glorious and powerful. Paul has God’s greatness in mind when he talks about Christ in those 2 statements mentioned at the begining. So, when you read those two statements, have something very big in mind about God’s nature, and that Christ also shares it. As I mentioned earlier, Col 1:3-8 gives us a picture of the gospel coming to the world, from God, through Jesus Christ: · 1:3 – we thank God (because this is coming from him) for your faith (1:4) in Christ Jesus. So faith comes from God, and is in Christ Jesus…and for the love you have for the saints · 1:5 – because, (here is the reason why God is being thanked) of the hope laid up for you in heaven. This is the gospel, the word of truth. (Paul is saying these three things are the same) · 1:6 – this came to you and the whole world and is bearing fruit and growing We aren’t going to spend a lot of time in these particular verses, but I want to point out that the context here in this passage is the gospel—or, the hope laid up in Heaven—or, the word of truth, as verse 6 calls it. What of Christ? What of his nature? We just talked a bit about God’s nature. Let’s turn to Christ, as this passage does. We already saw in 1:19 that the fullness of God is pleased to dwell in him. Let’s jump back starting at verse 15 to what else is said: · “He is the image of the invisible God”—we mentioned earlier · “firstborn of all creation” –Jn 1:1 Christ, God’s son, was in the beginning. · By, through, and for him ALL things were created · “He is before all things” · “in him all things hold together”—this includes 300 sextillion stars, or, if you want a bigger number, one tretrigintillion atoms in the universe. (1e+102) So, Christ: before all things, holding all things together, by him all things were created, through him all things were created, and for him all things were created. He is the image of God, he is eternal. There is nothing outside the bounds of Christ. Nothing. Everything is in his realm. Everything is under his control. The fullness of God dwells in him, and it is pleased to dwell there. The parameters are set, and they are infinite. We cannot go beyond Christ--there is nothing beyond him. Nothing and no one is greater. That’s the nature of Christ. When Paul talks about the nature of Christ, we see that he has something very big in mind. He is putting together God’s nature and Christ’s nature. Christ, the image of the invisible God. Christ, in whom the fullness of God is pleased to dwell. So, as we talk about Christ, let us too have something very big in mind.
Point number two: Christ is infinitely glorious and powerful and sovereign, and none compares to him.
He is working out our salvation in us. He is building up his body, the church. Remember that the context of this passage is the gospel—or, the word of truth—or, the hope laid up for us in heaven—and that it is coming to the world and bearing fruit. Along with talking about the nature of Christ, this passage also talks about the work of Christ in the lives of the believer. We saw what Paul has to say of Christ’s nature—now let’s look to see what he says of Christ’s work—what does he do: · 1:16: all things were created by and through him. So all of creation goes through Christ. · 1:17: in him all things hold together. Christ holds all things together. · 1:18: he is the head of the body, the church. That’s us—the church—his body. Christ is over us. · 1:20: through Christ all things are reconciled to God. Christ makes peace between us and God. Christ does this—there is no other way this can happen—and it needs to happen. · 1:20: by the blood of Jesus’ cross peace is made with God. Christ does this reconciling work through his sacrifice, taking the punishment and making the just payment for our sins. · 1:21-22: he presents us holy and blameless and above reproach before God. Because of this sure and complete work of Christ, he is able to present us as pure and blameless before God. So, we have this description of Christ’s work in us. These are decisive statements. What I mean by decisive is: resolute, determined, unmistakable, and unquestionable. Christ—who is before all, creator of all things, head of the church, through his blood, reconciles us to God, presenting us holy, blameless and above reproach to God. Who could present a hostile, evil alienated people (that’s us) as holy, blameless and above reproach before an infinitely glorious God but an infinitely glorious and powerful Savior. Point number three: Only Christ can do the work that he does; no one else can. No one compares to him.
I could end things here, wrap things up, and we would have seen a good overview of the gospel. God, infinitely glorious—Christ, powerful, blood-bought salvation, reconciling us to God. But, Paul doesn’t end there. He says some things in this passage that I haven’t talked about yet. The first statement is in 1:9-10: “we pray for you so as to walk in a manor worthy of the Lord.” So, apparently there is a way for the gospel to come to a person, but for them to not walk in a way that is “worthy of the Lord.” If just believing the gospel to be true were enough, Paul wouldn’t say this. Second statement: 1:21-23: “…if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard.” Paul seems to be tacking a condition onto the promise of Christ’s work. If we do this, Christ will do this. I could end the sermon here, too. And what has been said is true—no one who does not walk in a manor worthy of the Lord should expect to be saved--nor should a faithless, unstable, unsteadfast, hopeless-in-the-gospel person. Paul is clear here--Christ will reconcile us to God if we continue in faith. If I were to end here, I think one of 3 things could likely happen: · Some would say, “yes—I have to try harder. I have to refocus. I gotta do better,” and would walk away motivated in a fresh way to put forth new, stronger effort. This message was a good pep-talk—a good kick in the pants. · Some would walk away saying, “I’ve been trying hard for years. And I feel like I’m getting nowhere. Yes, I believe in the gospel, but as far as hope and joy in it—it’s a struggle to find any.” So, for that person, here’s another “do better” sermon and they’ve been trying to “do better” and it isn’t working and this will just lead to more despair. · Some could walk away saying, “Yep-I believe the gospel—I’m doing good. Sin isn’t a big problem for me, so, I think I’m doing good. There’s nothing new here for me.” So, sort of a “check things off the list” feeling. I can’t end the sermon here. Paul doesn’t end where we’ve left off. In fact, if I did end here, I would have said nothing of the endurance-producing, patient-in-joy-producing work of God that Paul talks about in 1:11. I would have skipped right over what I see as Paul’s main point. So, I mentioned what Paul says in 1:23 “if indeed you continue in the faith.” Let’s look at the whole paragraph [READ 1:21-23] · 21: we were alienated from God · 22: Christ has reconciled us to him · 22: Christ presents us blameless before him · 23: IF we continue in the faith Continue how so? Stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel. So, we need to always be holding on to the hope of the gospel. If we don’t, we aren’t continuing on in faith in the way we need to, and that should at the very least bring into question whether or not Christ will present us blameless before God. Let’s go back to the other statement in v 10 I mentioned. “So as to walk in a manor worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him.” So here is another conditional statement. If there is a manor of walking that is pleasing to the Lord, then there is a manor of walking that is not pleasing to the Lord. He lists a few things that describe this manor of walking: · Bearing fruit in every good work · Increasing in the knowledge of God These are some of the activities that go along with walking in a worthy manor. Paul goes on to talk about the way in which these activities are to be done: · With endurance and patience with joy Let’s chop these two statements up, and put the first halves together, and the second halves together. “Stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel.” And, “for all endurance and patience with joy.” Stable and steadfast—same as endurance. If you are enduring, you are holding on—you are staying the course—stable, steadfast. And, not shifting from the hope of the gospel—put that together with patience with joy. Impatience causes us to look for other alternatives. This isn’t working, so, I’ll try this. Or, just plain give up. And hope—there’s emotion with this. Positive emotion. Hope is good news—relief, joy, contentment. There will be a willingness to stay on this course. Let me illustrate how this works—and in doing so, I’ll tie everything I’ve said together. Let’s say you are really wanting to get to the Rocky Mountains, and you find out that you can get there by train. So, you purchase a ticket. The time comes to leave, and you hop in the car where your seat is. Sitting next to you are two others who are also wanting to get to the Rocky Mountains. As the train starts off, you share with each other how you can’t wait to get there and set your eyes on the incredible sights. A little way into the trip, the train stops at a station. You and the first neighbor seem to think nothing of it, but you can tell the 2nd neighbor is slightly agitated and anxious. But soon enough, the train continues on. Again, a while later, the train stops. This time, to wait for another train that is crossing ahead. Again, you and the 1st neighbor do nothing more than peek out the window. The 2nd neighbor again is agitated, and this time speaks up, “I thought this was a direct line to the mountains—what is up with all of these stops?” The train ahead passes through, and you continue on. After a bit of time passes by, the train stops again, this time, abruptly, and with a loud clanking. One of the wheels of a car is damaged. You look at your ticket. You think nothing of it. The 2nd neighbor, as you suspect would be, is really worked up. “What now?! What kind of train is this? All of these stops, things breaking….we’ll never get there!” This time, the 1st neighbor chimes is as well, “Yeah, this is getting to be a little much.” The workers make a quick and full repair of the wheel, and you once again are on your way. A little later, the train slows, and comes to a complete stop. You are in the middle of what seems to be nowhere. You see some commotion outside from some of the workers. They are running to the front of the train with fire extinguishers. You come to find out that the engine caught fire, the engineer stopped the train, exited the engine, and watched it go up in flames. You look down at your ticket, and again think nothing of the incident. Your 2nd neighbor is livid--speechless, but livid. Your 1st neighbor has his face in is hands, shaking his head. He says, “I don’t know how much longer this can go on. All the stops, and all the failures. I was tempted to get off at the last stop and figure something out, but, I know this is the only train that goes to the mountains. I guess somehow we will end up getting there.” Neighbor two asks, “Why are you so calm about this? You are OK with all of this calamity? And why do you keep looking down at your ticket?” Neighbor one says nothing, but looks at you, just as curious for your answer. You ask your neighbors “Did either of you read the back of your ticket?” Neighbor two blurts out a short, “no.” Your 1st neighbor says, “Yes. I know some of what it said, but I guess I just have a hard time seeing how that helps, although I know it probably should.” “Well,” you say, “let me read it:” and you read the back of the ticket: “Thank you for choosing our railway. Please know a few things about your trip: - The train may make frequent stops. Please be assured that this for the help of others, and to ensure our arrival - Our railway is like none other. Our workers are highly trained, and have more than enough supplies to meet any need. We can meet any emergency, make any repair, and fix any issue that may come up. Every point along our whole track is only one hour away from another rail yard, fully equipped with backup trains, workers, fuel, food, and supplies. Be assured that there is nothing that will keep us from our destination. All resources are at our disposal.” “That is why I’ve been able to be OK with this. And, I keep reading the back of my ticket so I don’t lose hope.” So, the hope of the power and glory of the railroad, and their promise to ensure the arrival to your most treasured destination enabled you to endure with patience and joy. It didn’t matter what came up. You were promised it would be taken care of, and you had faith in the ability of the railroad to do so. So, the hope in the glory of God, who with a few words spoke into existence 300 sextillion stars, and his power in might—fully dwelling in Christ, who is sovereign over all things—holding all things together—including some one tretrigintillion atoms in the universe—promising to present us before God –our treasure—as holy, blameless, above reproach—in a manor worthy of the Lord--with all endurance---produces in us an unspeakable joy. And that is good news. We will meet the trials of life—Paul said there will be trials—with joy. We also will meet the mundane—everyday-ness of life with joy, in God. The question is, how do we do this? How do get to the point where we walk in a manor worthy of the Lord, with endurance and patience with joy? I want to share an acronym that Daniel shared a few years ago. This has been helpful to me, and may be helpful to you. APTAT Admit you can’t do it. In Colossians 1, Paul is continually pointing to the fact that it is God and Christ working in us to do these things. And, the things we are told we need to do, are also things God does in us—a work he promises to do in us. So, admit that you can’t do it, and admit to God your need for him. Pray, asking for forgiveness/help. Look what Paul does in 1:9 {read}. He prays, asking God to work, so that the Colossians may walk in a manor worthy of the Lord. I think sometimes our thinking is unclear on this. We look to something we or someone else needs to be doing or not doing, and we pray, “God, please help or help so-and-so to do this. “ Then, we carry on, looking to ourselves or that person as though they need to be doing better, NOT resting in that God is to be the enabler of the work. Do what Paul does. He tells the Colossians you need to be doing this, because that is so, I am praying to God asking him to do that. So, pray. Pray for yourself—pray for others. I know people pray for me. They tell me, and they tell me what they are praying for. I love it—I absolutely need it. Tell others you are praying for them. But in the right way (not a “I know what you are doing…I’m watching you” kind of way). But, in the context of a loving, caring, complete-understanding-of-our-complete-and-utter-dependance-on-God type of relationship. Trust in a promise—from God’s word. Remember the train ride illustration—and looking at the back of the ticket, and the promises there? God’s word is his truth to us—his sure promises are in his Word. How do we know about God? How do we know about Christ’s work in the church? How do we know what God asks of us? Without God’s word, we’d know almost nothing of it. Truth, giving us hope, allowing us to endure with patience with joy. And resting and feeding on God’s word is a continual thing. Last year I preached on God’s word being our daily bread. How many times have you and I felt strong one moment, then in almost an instant, we are facing a new challenge, a temptation, fear, despair. So be in the word, read it, memorize it. And, if you say, “I try, I really do. But, I just have a hard time connecting the dots, and seeing how what I’m reading applies, and getting hope and help from it. Talk to someone. Find someone who you think seems to get it. Ask them how it works for them. If you are in a DG, ask your leader. Ask Daniel, or Dave, another elder. Just don’t stop. Keep reading—keep at it. So, I’m reading the back of the ticket now—God will help you. His word is there to help you. So, even though you may not see it, he’s working in you. Endure…with patience and joy. Act—do it, knowing it is in the strength he provides and works powerfully in us. Taking the promise you have in mind, go into whatever it is you are doing, trusting in the promise from God. Thank – thank him for his work. Thank him that you did it—however imperfectly--you did it because he did it in you. God gave you something to do, you trusted him, it happened. Thank him for doing it. God is glorified—honored in this—you are recognizing before him that you know it’s he who is working in you. And share your thanks with others. When they see you thanking God for things, and see you in the word, and hear why you are doing all this in the first place—because you want God—God will be glorified and honored in your life, and you in turn point others to God—not yourself. Something else in regards to thankfulness. Sometime, read the story of Jesus healing the 10 lepers (Luke 17:11-19). 10 lepers come, ask to be healed, Jesus does, tells them to present themselves to the priest (apparently they were mainly looking to be clean in the law). But one realizes what Jesus did, goes back to him, falls at his feet, thanking and worshiping him. Jesus asks where the rest are, and tells this one that his faith has saved him. 10 were healed, one was saved. His thankfulness to Jesus showed something changed in him—what he wanted changed. The ten presumably wanted to be ceremonially clean, so they could be in good standing. Jesus healed them, they went off on their way. This one, though—his eyes were opened. His desire changed—he wanted Jesus. He recognized what Jesus did for him, and in turn, was saved. The other nine got what they wanted—the one got what he needed. His eyes were opened up to the preciousness and treasure of Christ. My prayer for us is that our eyes would be opened to the glory of God—producing an unshakeable hope, endurance and patience with joy, as we eagerly await Jesus, and to be with him in eternal glory.
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