All of Christ for All of Life

Intro

Good Morning, Good Morning. I am grateful to be here at Franklin Heights. Before we get into the sermon today, I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your prayers and support for the PowerHouse. We have kicked off this school year and it has been going great. As of today over 100 teens have signed up to be at our afterschool program. We have doubled our volunteers since last year. And, this is the huge news, construction is beginning on our new facility in November. God is so kind to us and we are thankful for churches like you who want to be involved in our mission of building relationships with jr. high and sr. high youth in order to share the gospel.

God is good.

Would you turn with me this morning to Matthew 28:16-20. Matthew 28:16-20.

Once you are there, if you are able would you please stand for the reading of God’s word.

English Standard Version (Chapter 28)

16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.

17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted.

18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Lets Pray

You may be seated.

Now I have been here enough that most of you know my affinity towards the great reformation and the reformers. I have cited names like John Calvin, John Knox, John Bunyan, Martin Luther, ect…

Out of what we call the Reformation came a saying that goes like this- All of Christ for All of Life. This is a saying that sums up all the reformation, and it sums up all of Christianity. We need nothing more and nothing less. We need all of Christ. It is Him.

But in all honesty what does this mean? There doesn't seem to be an action verb here. This doesn't really give us something to do. It is just a statment, All of Christ for all of Life.

This is where we get to our text. There are many text I could use to support this saying . I could have picked out any word of this saying and used verse for it. Like the word life- Colossians 3:17 “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Whatever we do. This is our life. All of it. We do for Christ. This follows with 1 Corinthians 10:31 “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

But today I chose the All part. All of Christ- All of life. I did so because of the times we are in. I did so because it seems that we as the American church have slipped into a routine or life that seperates Christ from all of life. Our culture also says that desire Christ but not all of Him. Just the nice parts of Him. Just the parts that fit into our way of thinking. They want the love part but not the justice. They want the Jesus who stopped the men from throwing stones at the women caught in sin. But not the Jesus that told her to go and sin no more. They want the Jesus that washed the disciples feet but not the one that looked at peter and said get behind me satan. You see it is ALL of Christ, for ALL of Life. Not some of christ for some parts of our life. Not just on sunday or facebook or instagram, but for Monday at work or at 5:15pm when you pull into the drive way at home. Its ALL.

Matthew 28:16-17 says

16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.

17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted.

So its Jesus and the eleven on top of a mountain. 17 says that they worshiped him but some doubted. What did they doubt. Did they doubt it was him. Well they had already seen him since His death and it said they worshiped him. Did they doubt if he really was who he said he was. Was he the messiah? Was he the saviour that they had been awaiting and gave up their lives to follow for 2-3 years. Was it really him?

There is much debate on this in commentaries on what some were doubting. I however, my opinion is they were doubting if he truly was the savior. the messiah. Why i think that is found in verse 18.

18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Jesus knew their thoughts. He knew their doubts. And the first words recorded out of his mought to them was, All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. All authroity. He didnt say some authority in heaven and all on earth, or all authority in heavene and some on earth. and he didnt say some authority on heven and earth. He said All Authority in heaven and on earth. All. All.

You see Jesus was telling them that he is Lord over all things. He is telling them of his dominion. Some doubted and the first words Jesus says is All authroity.

He was assuring them that He is the messiah. He is the savior of the universe. He is the one that the Father sent and now He is seated at the the fathers right hand. He is the one. No reason to doubt, some of you. I am who I say I am.

This is so profound. This All means evertyhing. Not some things. But everything. Jesus rules and reigns right now, today, over every thing. There is no power in hell that can stop Him from saving souls. because of His reign sin can not bind us any more. He has loosen the bounds the enemy has had on the world. Now there is no weapon formed against us that can prosper. We are His and He keeps all that God has given Him. Can i get an Amen to that. Jesus is Lord and reigns over ALL. All.

Abraham Kuyper puts it this way- “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry: ‘Mine!’”

It is His. It is all His.

So when I say All of Christ for All of Life, I am not just saying just for your salvation. I am saying that its every square inch of exsistance. It has been before you and will be after you. Christ is All and In All. Absolute He died to save us from our sins. But what are we saved too? And is it just us that he died for?

GOSPEL CENTERED MOVEMENT

These are the questions that most do not ask. This is the All of life part. All. Every Square inch. This means that Jesus died for the church. Every part of it. He died so the music would glorify him. He died so the preaching glorified him. He died that we might have a mission.

All of life means He died for the family. That Parents would be able to raise their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. He died that we might teach his precepts night and day and in our comings and going. He died so that marriages would not be torn apart but would be a grand picture of Christ and the church.

All of life means he died for the government. Proverbs 21:1 “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.” He died to save the nations and this includes the government.

Jesus came for ALL of life. Business, Government, Families, Churches, Education, The news, Family reunions, the fish in the pond and the ocean, He came for it all. All authority in heaven and Earth has been given to me. ALL. “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry: ‘Mine!’”

Again we all know of my affinity for the reformation and the reformers, but i want to talk about two 20th century men who made a huge impact on the world and still to this day are impacting us.

One, whom I have already quoted is Abraham Kuyper, known as the great Dutch Reformer. Interestingly enough and why I am so intrigued by him, is he was born in 1837. this is some 300 years after the reformation began. 300 years. He died in 1920 which is only 100 years ago now. So this man isnt a far off dream. It seems at times when we look back in history the further off we get the more unattainable it seems.

Kuyper was a pastor, a theologian, a professor, a historian, a journalist, a politician, and the Prime Minister of the Netherlands. He started churches, denominations, a new political party, schools and universities, and founded a News Paper. He was married to one wife and the father of 9 kids.

This man didn't just talk abut his salvation as something that was just personal and done in secrete. He truly lived out his salvation believing that God saved him to something. that something is the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. He sought to bring All of Christ to every aspect of life. All of it.

In fact that quote I have used of his is from speech he gave at the opening of a Christian university. He truly believed that there was not a single square inch of life that was not Christs.

The next man I would like to disuss was born sometime latter in the Netherlands during the govermental rise and reign of Abrhaam Kuper. He saw and heard of the Christian nation that Kuyper helped user in. However, the sad truth was after Kuyper had gone, Christianity didnt last long. Terny began to take over and his parents packed up and brought their son Cornielus Van Till to the United States. To Northern Indiana in fact.

There Van Till stood out among the rest. His parents could tell that Cornielus was a gifted young boy. His memory and scolatic disciplne set him aprt from the rest. So they enrolled him into a private school and later he became a student at princton.

Van Till became a profesor at Princenton for some years and is now known as the father of presupistional apologetics.

It came to past that Princeton started to drift away from its Christian founding and a fight to save it presumed. However seeing that it was a losing battle many begin to think of a new university and invited Van Till to join. This university is known as the Westminister Theoligical Seminary. Van till taught there until his retierment.

Many have credited Van till for his mentorship in apologitecs like the late Greg Bahsnon and RJ Rushdooney.

If you study Kyler and Van Till’s life and work you would think of them as unatanable. Some have even said there will never be any more men like these two. ANd this was said about the reformers in the 16th century.

But I however do not believe this. In fact in listening to a talk about Van Till by George Grant, he gave a plea that there will be many like them and even greater than them.

I life of pleasing God is attainable. A life spent discipling and creating a culture that sees Christ in everything is attainable.

These two men achieved incredible things for the Lord. Men before them did as well. Men after them did to. I am here to tell you, you can too. God didnt just send jesus to die on the cross so you could say a prayer and then go about your merry way. Know he sent him so we could be free from sin and to Go.

Lets head back to our text. Now we get into the great commission part. It is because Jesus has all authority all dominion over all things both heaven and earth that he has the authority to give us our marching orders. He has authority to give us our mission.

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

He bids us to Go. To Go. This is our action verb. GO. Do not just lock you self up in your home and just study his word and never apply it or tell it to others. He said to Go.

Go and make disciples and baptize them and teach them all that I have commanded you.

We teach them that every part of life is under the rule and reign of Christ. We teach them that because Christ is Lord of all and we are children of the King that it is our duty now to bring all things under his kingship. This means their lives, their marriages, their children, their jobs, their businesses, and yes even their politics.

I know. I know. We have grown really comfortable in not talking about politics in church. But we must remember that this isn't normal. This hasn't always been so. It wasn't so with the founding of our nation, it wasn't so during the reformation and it wasn't so with Jesus.

If Jesus has authority over all things then He must have authority over politics. He must bid us to go there and teach them all he has taught us. He must bid us who in a democratic republic for the people by the people, he must bid us to elect representives that will govern the most christian way possible. He must call some of us to actaully step out of our comfort zone and run for office with the heart to bring glory to Christ by how we would govern our office for our town, our city, our county, our state, and our nation.

You see All of Christ for All of Life, is a mission to Go to all parts of life where ever we may be or called to be and begin to work towards bringing Glory to God with every person, place or thing we might come into contact with.

And the reason I spent some time on talking about Kuyper and Van till is because I believe with every thing in me that there are more Kuyper’s and Van Till’s out there.

For that matter, there is more Hudson Taylors out there. Hudson Taylor is known as the father of modern missions. He spent 54 years of his life as a missionary to China. He worked there. He built there. He brought all he was in contact with under the rule of Christ and Christ Glory.

He is quoted as saying, “Christ is either Lord of all, or He is not Lord at all.” and “God's work done in God's way will never lack God's supply.”

These men are giants of the faith do much for Christ Glory. But I know there are more of them right here. Some of you are stirred right now of how much more you can do for the Glory of Christ. Some of you have had an idea for years and have put it off out of fear. Well hear me say, the Gospel bids you to GO. It could be a business, or a call to foreign missions or even a call to local missions and ministry. Listen do you know how Godly owning a business is. Think about creating a product or a service that helps others and solves a need for others. Think about growing that business to where then you can employ people and it is because of your business that your employees can put food on the family dinner table or enjoy vacations with family together. Think about haveing that business long enough that you kids can work in it and you leave it to them as an inheritance.

Of course i am not saying that being an employee is any less Godly. You get to be a part of a business and serve not only customers/clients but your boss or the business owner. You get to show that person that through your hard work and loyalty just who Christ is.

Christians not only should be but must be the best employees and or business owners that there are. It is because of Christ is Lord of All that we can be.

So do you see it. Christ isn't just for your own personal salvation, but he is for your entire life and all there is in it. Christianity and the Gospel can be sumend up as All of Christ for All of Life.

Let me leave you with this Hudson Taylor quote- “Dream a dream so big that unless God intervenes it will fail.” And may God bless Franklin Heights and Vincennes with christians who are willing to live All of Christ for All of Life. Amen