All Things for Christ

What is the Chief End of Man?

What is the Chief End of Man:

That is the very first question that the great Westminster Shorter Catechism asks. And if you are familiar with the catechism you know that the answer is,

“To glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”

If human beings are ever to know how to begin and go about in life, we must understand what the goal is. We live in a society that values the externals of materialism, and titles, and image over the internals of generosity, and humility, and character.

But if the catechism that was written in the 1600’s is true (and I believe it is) than that should inform how we live our lives and as a way of correlating this to the special occasion of the Parent/Child Dedication and Mother’s Day, how we view our children, and our relationships.

Colossians 1:15–23 ESV

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 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. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 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. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 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, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

This passage contains a barrel full of doctrinal truths about Christ and Creation and the Trinity and the efficacy of the blood of Christ. And for our time today, I’d like to hone in on the incredible depths of verse 16.

“All things were created through him and for him.”

When you stop to think about what this means for us at any stage of life it really should send chills down your spine. To claim this as truth is to say something very counter-cultural. To accept this as truth is to accept that I am really in control of nothing and I am an owner of nothing.

To accept this as truth is to acknowledge that Christ is the Sovereign and Divine Creator of all things that I can see and all things I cannot see. It is to say that Christ as Creator and King is the rightful owner of all things that I possess. That is all fine and good until we start making the application:

This is not my money, but Christ’s

This is not my career, but Christ’s

This is not my house, but Christ’s

This is not my child, but Christ’s

This is not my body, but Christ’s

Now, this poses a serious threat to our well-being IF Christ is like us. See, if Christ is like me I would like to have your money, so I can be secure, so I can be happy, so I can be popular. If Christ is like human beings that have been adversely affected by the fall he wants everything for himself because he must have everything for himself.

But what if Christ is not at all like fallen human-beings? What if Christ is completely opposite of how natural human beings think and act? If you had ultimate authority and ultimate power, what would you do with it? You’ve all heard the game-show host ask the contestant what would you do with $100,000? Or the Miss Universe contestant if you could change one thing in the world what would it be? And almost without fail, the micro-response is other-centered, right?

I don’t have any stats to prove it, but I wonder if the person who swore up and down that if they ever won the lottery they’d give a large portion to charity and then they did win, did they give what they said they’d give?

Here is how Christ is completely different than fallen human beings:

Colossians 1:19 ESV

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,

So, all the fullness of God, all the power to make demands, to kill or make alive, all the power to create, all the authority to tell the ocean how far they can go, to tell the perceived 100 billion galaxies made up of 100 million stars exactly where to be aligned, the fullness that formed an estimated 8.7 million species of animals in the world, the fullness that designed the systems and laws that control the patterns of time, space, and matter, and the 11-12 systems within the human body… this FULLNESS dwelled in Christ, giving Him ultimate authority and power to do anything and this is what Jesus did:

Colossians 1:20 ESV

and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

The fullness of God dwelt within Jesus so that He could reconcile all things to himself. And the means by which he would bring that reconciliation is not in your typical super-hero fashion. He doesn’t storm satan’s castle in the way one might think. In fact, it’s a head-scratching statement. Jesus reconciled all things to himself in the most unthinkable way, through the blood of his cross. The two essential components were blood and a cross. The cross was the most brutal and humiliating forms of execution in the history of the world. It symbolized absolute power and authority. What could be more brutal and humiliating than not only stripping a man down, but stripping him of his own skin. The cross was meant to remove any dignity or even humanity away from the offender.

The blood - why does this matter? Is the blood something we really need to discuss? The blood is the single most essential component to the reconciliation of mankind. The OT reminds us that the “life of the flesh is in the blood.” The OT also reminds us that “When I see the blood I will pass over you” which represented the passing over or more literally the protection against the judgement of God.

Isn’t it interesting that Paul poetically describes Jesus as the one who had all the fullness of God dwelling in him and with that fullness he chose to lay it down and instead be willing to sacrifice his dignity and his own blood. BUT WHY?

Colossians 1:21 ESV

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,

Colossians 1:21–22 ESV

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 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,

Col 1:21-22

Without going in to too much historicity we must understand that the God of the Bible was the God of Israel. Even though He created all things, He chose the people of Israel to be His representatives on the earth. That combined with the fact that the fall (or sin of Adam) alienated all humans from their Creator. We were as non-Jews outside of the family. But what Paul’s point is and one that we’ve become very acquainted with is that because of the sacrifice of Jesus, we’ve been brought in to the family. But we’ve not been brought in on the basis of our goodness, but rather on the basis of Christ’s goodness and now Christ is doing the work to (as Paul explains) present us holy and blameless and above reproach before God. In other words, Christ is changing those who are trusting in Him so that before God, there is no conflict.

See, there is no threat to trusting in Christ because Christ has only done us eternal goodness. And here is the mind-blowing reality unlike the image of an all-powerful King that demands his subjects to bring their very best of everything to him so that he can claim he is the best, most powerful, and strongest and counter that worldview, Jesus says, I am all-powerful, all-knowing, and ever present and instead of making demands, he made peace FOR us.

And even now he lives and pleads before the Father on our behalf and even though all that we have in our possession belongs to him he doesn’t want us to give it to Him as if he needed anything, he calls us to give it away so that others will know what He is like.

That’s what it means to glorify God. It means to tell the truth about what He is like.

And since we know what he is like because of Jesus, we happily enjoy him forever.

Dedication:

INTRODUCTION: A parent/child dedication is a special time in the life of a church. The opportunity to welcome children into the church community, for parents to make a public commitment to raise their children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord and for us as a faith family to assure these parents that they are not alone, but we stand with them and will seek to partner with them to point their children to Jesus. This is a beautiful picture of the Gospel.

TRANSITION: God chose to fulfill the promise (of the Rescuer) He made in through the most vulnerable of creatures, a baby. Children were special to Jesus. Jesus did not turn the children away when the disciples (the closest followers of Christ) felt that kids “just got in the way.” Unfortunately, this is in many ways how adults (even Christians) view children. They’re either “in the way” or they’re “worshipped” spoiled and given only the best of the best. This leads to a child who will grow up believing they deserve more than the world is willing to give them. We want to lead them to find their highest joy in Jesus.

CHILDREN ARE SYMBOLIC: Throughout the Scripture children are symbolic. Seeing children helps us understand how God sees us…

“Behold what manner of love the Father has given us, that we should be called the children of God,”

Every earthly father that loves their child loves them to the best of their ability, but it cannot compare with the love with which the Heavenly loves His children.

CALL PARENTS TO STAGE: At this time, I’d like to call.

Andres Fidel Garcia:

10:24 - Andres Fidel Garcia:

Fidel and Ashley

Andres was born on February 10, 2017. Andres means manly and brave. Andres some people will try to define manliness by the clothes you wear or the way you talk or the car you drive, but manliness and bravery are terms that reflect the character of Jesus. For true manliness is defined by giving and serving, not taking and boasting.

1 Corinthians 16:13 ESV

Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.

 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not frightened in anything by your opponents.

Carina Rose Russell:

10:22 - Carina Russell:

Alex and Raquel Russell

Two children (Carson and Carmen). The name Carina means “Dearly, beloved.” Carina, may you always know that you are dearly loved by your family, and may you always know that you are dearly loved by God. His loved has been poured in to your heart so you may love others in the same way.

Ephesians 5:1–2 ESV

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Eli Patrick Yarbrough

Charlie and Patricia

Older brother Charlie. Eli is a Hebrew name and is not only a name that is used for the prophet in the Old Testament, but is the very name that Jesus cried out to when he hung on the cross. Eli means “high and elevated.” And my prayer is that God would give Eli an elevated position so that he may speak of the lofty excellence of Jesus.

1 Peter 5:6 ESV

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,

Communion:

Have you ever noticed that the same four words that Jesus used to initiate the sacraments are the same four words used to defend most decisions?

Planned Parenthood says, “This is my body… I can choose to clinically remove a fetus.”

A

Jesus says, “This is my body… which is broken for you.”