The Gospel in Colossians

Doesn’t that seem silly?

You don’t always have to scold… you just have to point out what is right in front of them.

Part 1: news

Part 2: implications

The Gospel (Colossians 1:3-7, Colossians 1:13-23)

3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf

The gospel comes to you (v. 6)

The gospel comes to us first, we don’t come to it. How does that work? Because the gospel is good news, as we shall see. News invades us. Eggs are $5 now. You didn’t make that the case. It is. Outside of you. So this good news, this gospel, about Jesus hit the Colossians. And once it hit them, they understood the grace of God in truth. Notice, gospel from verse 5 just got exchanged with grace of God in truth. So somehow the gospel, the good news, is about the grace of God. And this gospel, this grace of God, you learned it from Epaphras. So let’s track with Paul’s flow. He heard that the gospel came to the Colossians. They heard it verse 6. They understood it verse 6. They learned it verse 7. So let’s learn the gospel right now. Let’s hear it, learn it, and understand it.

13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. 21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him

The gospel is about God

Jesus is the God-Man

And it is the fact that He is both fully God and fully man that makes Him so unique. It’s why Christmas is a big deal. As God He enters His own story. As Man He does what man could not do. It says in verse 17 He is the firstborn from the dead. So after His death on the cross, He was resurrected. He will never die again. The curse of death was undefeated ever since Adam and Eve. In Adam’s fall we all fell. Every human ever. The Dolly Llama, Mother Theresa, all of them, lost that battle. But Jesus defeated death. By dying as a sinless man, in the place of sinners, for their sin, but not as a sinner, his life was vindicated through the resurrection. So in Him now, all who trust in Him are no longer in the old Adam who is still cursed by death. They are now in the new Adam. Jesus, as the God-man, has ushered in a new era in human history.

Jesus is the Creator of all things

Jesus is the image of the invisible God. You and I are made in God’s image. Jesus is that image. And when it says he is the firstborn of all creation, that doesn’t mean he was the first one born. After all in verse 16 it says all things were created through him. It’s speaking to his place over all creation. He is in first place over all creation. Jesus is God. He’s not second place. The God of the Bible is triune. He is one God in three persons. Three persons in one God. Jesus is the eternal Son of God who took on flesh. This God-Man who entered His own story is the Creator of everything.And through Him all things hold together. Did you know that any given moment 1,800 thunderstorms are going on in the world? There are 100 lightning strikes a second on earth. How would you like to manage that? The human heart beats about a 100,000 times a day.The FAA oversees 45,000+ flights a day on average. I know we turn on the TV and it seems like so much is going wrong. Often it is. Our world is so broken. That’s why Jesus stepped into the story, to make things right. But also, think about how much goes right even in our cursed world.

Jesus is the Point of all things

It says in verse 18 that in everything he might be preeminent. He might be supreme. He might be the point of it all. So not only is Jesus the Creator. He is the point. All of life points to Him. He is the head of the Church. He’s the point. He’s the King. He’s the center. And as we talk about God being the center and central and Jesus being the point of all things, the thought might arise in our minds, how is God good if He makes everything about Himself? Doesn’t that sound selfish? It’s all about God. Okay, let’s track this down. God is triune. God is not needy. He is not creating and making it all about Him because there is a void in Him which He needs filled. If that were so, that takes us back to almost a greek gods chaos theory. You don’t want a needy god. God is eternally content and joyful in Himself. The fact that God is triune actually points to how giving is central to what it means to be God. God has eternally been giving within Himself. Father, Son, Spirit. And that giving exploded in creation. In creating, God’s God-centeredness overflowed into creating everything, with humanity as His crown jewel, and inviting us to get in on the party of seeing Him as the greatness He is, and then getting in on the action of giving as well. So think about it like this. If God has been overflowing with giving to Himself like hotpotato forever, and then overflows in creating He is creating out of the overflow of love. And He loves us too much to know how central He is to our own joy, and allow us to live ignorant of that. How unloving is it to let somebody settle for taco bell when they could eat unlimited Ruths Chris? How unloving is it to let your kid run into the street when cars are coming? So letting someone do what they want, if what they want is self-destrutive, and when the greatest option is available isn’t love, it’s the least loving thing you can do. So, God loves by inviting us to the party of Him being central.

19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. 21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him

The gospel reconciles us to God

When Adam and Eve fell, we all fell. The curse is felt every time someone dies. But before we physically die, we are already spiritually dead. That death is what sin did. When Adam and Eve fell, the curse was felt immediately. They knew they were naked. They hid from each other. From God Himself. The ground was cursed. Murder came soon thereafter. So much death followed. Because of them, we aren’t one with God naturally. We want nothing to do with Him. It tells us there in verse 21. We are hostile towards him. Like a kid telling his dad, let me run away. I wish you were dead to me. I can’t stand you. We can’t stand God, naturally. We think God is the obstacle to our happiness, not the path to it. So God is on one side, and we are on the other. But God wasn’t content to let us hate Him. Because He is love and loves us so much, He came to rescue us. Jesus was and is God. He dwelt among us. He created peace, he reconciled us to Himself through His death. He didn’t die for His sin, but for ours. And by so doing, He is offering to make us one with God. Not because you’ll never sin again, but because He offers to unite you to God. To treat you as a Son, not a hostile enemy. You don’t earn God’s love, you receive it in Jesus. You see what He did, and you repent and believe.

13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

The gospel makes us citizens of God’s Kingdom

So the Colossians had heard this news. Learned it. Understood it. I want you to piece this all together. Jesus is the point of everything. He’s so good. God is our good Father who is trying to give us the best gift in Himself. He doesn’t want us to settle. But in our sin, we are hostile towards the very God who can satisfy our souls. But He offers to transfer us from hostile God haters to sons and daughters. To transfer us into His kingdom. He delivers. He’s the delivery man. The messenger. God wants to invite you to a whole new world. Where Jesus is King. You need a passport to enter. This is important. In what I’ve shared so far two things are true. One, we are the terminal cancer patient in need of a vaccine. Jesus came to live and die in such a way that He offers us new health and life. But not only are we the cancer patient, we are also being transferred from a ravaged land to a new kingdom. In the old land, you were king. At least you thought you were. You were the center of the world. And your life was miserable there. Darkness reigned. You can’t see in darkness. And in the gospel God transfers you to a new world. New King. New government. New rules. New hopes. New dreams. New sights to see. Life to live. So God has given you both a vaccine to the curse of sin, and a passport to live in God’s world. Many have heard they are sick and need a vaccine, and even think they have taken that vaccine, but have no desire to live in God’s world. Do you see the problem with that? In God’s world, Jesus is the point. In the old land, we think we are the point. The point of Him delivering you from your sin is to give you the gift of Himself at the Center as He really is. So to take the vaccine, and not live in the world is foreign to the Bible.

The Gospel Changes Everything

Filled in Him

Ethics, Marriage, Work