Supreme - Colossians 1:3-14

If you have been attending NXT for the last few years then you know that at the beginning of each new year, we do a message series where we cover an entire book of the Bible. This year, our series is called “Supreme” and we will be studying the Supremacy of God that is found in the book of Colossians.

So, if you will, go ahead and open up to Colossians Chapter 1.

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Think about your biggest role model in life…

Athlete?

family member?

Friend?

Growing up, I would have said someone like Kobe Bryant or some famous military leader - simply because I thought they were cool!

In reality, I did not know those people personally and they did not know me personally!

Now? That person is my Dad.

I didn’t always recognize this until only a few years ago. It is easy as a kid growing up to get annoyed of your parents or the person who raises you - it is easy to think that you are right and know it all - and it is annoying when they correct you!

I have the classic funny Dad embarrassing stories:

picked me up on a moped in high school in front of everyone…. 2 guys over 6ft tall riding on a moped together is a crazy thing to see.

Food on the teeth - talking to crushes

Or the CLASSIC Dad thing:

Saturday morning 6am wakeup to go do yard work

waking me up on a late start day to move a dresser down the stairs

Aside from those things… so many fun memories

fishing

football

bike rides (monster drinks and donuts)

changing the brakes on a car

NOW it is home improvement stuff

Now, those are just a few of the many memories.

But, when I was born, I needed him (and my mom but I’m talking about him now - love you mom). Me being born was just a single event that started a life long process.

I needed him to teach me what it means to be a man. All the things that he did for me/to me, formed me into the man that I am today. How to respect my mom and my sisters, what it looks like to see and love the outsiders, how to work hard to provide for a family, how to protect those that you love or those who can’t stand up for themselves. How to respect leaders and those who are in charge of you.

The truth is, we need them because they have knowledge and life experience that shapes us into who we are today. Whether we like it or not, they do this because they love us and what was it best for us.

The single most important thing that my Dad ever modeled and taught me was what it means to follow Jesus and that NOTHING in life matters aside from following Jesus changes your life.

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I learned all of this from him and it really shaped me into the man that I am today. And now, I have the hope to one day pass on this knowledge that he taught me to my kids!

I tell you this because I think this relationship with my Dad is very similar to our walk as believers.

I heard a pastor say “Christianity is a 2 step process that takes place over a lifetime” - much like our lives, we are BORN and then we are taught how to live our lives by the people that raise us.

Becoming a Christian is a single moment of salvation that begins a lifetime of transformation.

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Here is why this is important.

Whether you realize it or not, something is forming you right now. The question is not if you will be influenced but, who or what is influencing you?

As Christians, we need to be influenced by the Gospel.

Big Idea - The Gospel Changes Your Life (V6)

Text Setup

Before we get into the text, I want to catch you up with what we are about to read.

the Apostle Paul wrote the book of Colossians to remind believers that Jesus is supreme over all things and that nothing needs to be added to Him. Because of Christ’s sufficiency, our lives are meant to be shaped and transformed by who he is and what he has done.

In verses 3-8, Paul is thanking God for what he has done in the lives of the church of Colossae. He is thanking God that his truth had taken root in their lives and that the Gospel is being spread all around the word. He then picks up in verse 9 with a prayer for spiritual growth over the believers.

Text - Colossians 1:9-14 (CSB)

Colossians 1:9–14 “9 For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven’t stopped praying for you. We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, 10 so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, so that you may have great endurance and patience, joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light. 13 He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. 14 In him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

Point 1 - The Gospel makes you grow (9-10)

In verses 9-10, we read Paul praying and asking that God would fill these believers with 3 different things.

Knowledge

Wisdom

Spiritual Understanding

Following this, we see Paul stating that their lives will reflect 3 different things.

Walk worthy of the Lord - pleasing to him

bearing fruit in every good work

Growing in the knowledge of God

The Christian life is not one where you DO things so that you can EARN things. It is not a give/take reward system. However, when we truly allow the Gospel to be the center of our lives, it begins to grow us.

When we are filled with knowledge of Gods word, wisdom, and spiritual understanding, it WILL change us! We GROW when we do what his word says.

A life that is growing, is a life that is pleasing to God.

When we begin to grow, we begin to show fruit in everything that we do!

Here is how I like to think about it

In the spring time, when the snow melts and the grass starts to grow, the water from the snow soaks into the ground to help the grass grow. My yard does not have sprinklers.

So, I have to manually water my grass - especially when there is not a lot of rain. When I water my grass and give it the care that it needs, it begins to grow. But, when I leave it alone, it dries up, the soil gets hard, weeds start to grow, and the grass dies.

When it is dead and gross, it isn't nice to look at and…. its dead! lifeless! But, when it is taken care of, watered, and cut properly, it looks nice, it feels good to walk in, and it provides LIFE to other things in nature.

I like to think of us as the grass. Water is the Gospel. When we are connecting with God and taking in his word, it is like the water that the grass needs to grow. When it is being watered every day, it begins to grow and it stays healthy!

But, when it lacks care and nourishment, it dies and loses the nutrients that it needs.

We can’t grow just by trying harder, we grow when we are filled with the truth of the Gospel!

When we grow, we begin to strengthen our lives to stand strong against temptations from the enemy.

Point 2 - The Gospel gives you strength (11)

Paul goes on in verse 11….

Colossians 1:11 “11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, so that you may have great endurance and patience, joyfully”

I am a big fan of the UFC (if you do not know about it, it is the Ultimate Fighting Championship - MMA). Something that is always fascinating to me about this sport is when fighters have to meet a certain weight in order to fight. A lot of times, these fighters will move UP in a weight class, which means that they need to gain a certain amount of pounds to meet the required weight.

This is a long process that requires discipling, endurance, and training.

Throughout this weight gaining process, they are training and working out a TON. Conditioning their bodies to be able to take hits, stay calm under pressure, and keep going when exhausted.

The thing about these fighters is that they do not just WILL their strength and size into existence, they submit themselves to a process and the wisdom of a coach!

In the same way, God strengthens us not to make our lives EASIER but to help us endure hard things with patience, endurance, and joy.

This text explains to us that with continuous growth and dependence on HIS power, it results in strength.

A place where I see this play out in scripture is in Matthew 26 when Jesus was just about to be betrayed and arrested.

While fully knowing what was about to come, he cried out to God and said:

Matthew 26:39 “39 Going a little farther, he fell facedown and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.””

Here, we see Jesus - the Son of God asking the Father to take away this coming pain that he knew he was going to face.

What we see is that God ultimately does not - but what he does do, is strengthen his son to do His will by going to a cross for our sins.

In life, we experience many different things that challenge us!

loss of a friend

betrayal

a hard home life

getting picked on at school

getting left out because of your faith

These are all things that are hard things that challenge us but push us to choose Jesus over our own strength.

You see, Jesus endured before we ever needed to.

Leading me to my final point.

Point 3 - The Gospel rescues us (12-14)

Paul closes out with passage in verse 12 - 14 with this:

Colossians 1:12–14 “12 giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light. 13 He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. 14 In him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

Through Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection from the dead, we have been rescued.

What are we rescued from?

“the domain of darkness”

eternal separation from Christ

the wrath of God

But even better, we have been RESCUED and saved TO the kingdom of God. Because as Paul says, in Jesus, we have redemption and the forgiveness of our sins.

Close

Earlier I shared about my Dad and how much he means to me. You see, he was there for me every step of the way while I was growing up. When I was born, he did not just choose to leave me to figure it out on my own. He chose to raise me - to teach me/watch me grow.

He was there with me on my journey in my highs and lows - he didn’t leave when I would disrespect him or disobey him, he would lovingly correct me and show me a better way.

Now? He is still there. I may not be living with him but, as I mature, he is still my Dad that will always be willing to help whenever it is needed.

You see, this is just my story with my Dad and I understand that not all of us share the same experiences.

The truth is, God is a father to the fatherless. He loves his children and is always there for them.

He is with us every step of our lives. In our hardest moments, He is with us. He weeps when we weep. He celebrates when we win!

His word grows us, it strengthens us, and it rescues us from our sins. So now, it is our job to pass this on to encourage others that are along this journey with us.

I stated at the beginning of this that I heard a pastor say - “Christianity is a single event that leads to a lifelong process”

This process starts by giving you life to Jesus. By confessing that he is Lord and believing that he died on the cross and rose again.

This life with Jesus can start now and last forever.

Lets pray.