The Christ Who Is Enough

Colossians 1:9–23

Today we’re beginning a new series through the book of Colossians called Christ Alone.

Over the next few weeks, we’re going to see the supremacy of Christ, the sufficiency we have in Him, the new life He gives us, and what His lordship looks like in everyday life.

After several heavier series, I want us to lift our eyes again to the person of Jesus Christ and be reminded that He is not simply part of the Christian life—He is the center of it.

And this morning, we begin by looking at who Christ is, what He has done, and what that should mean for the way we live.

There are some words we use all the time without thinking very much about them.

My house.

My car.

My money.

My time.

My family.

My plans.

My future.

And there’s nothing wrong with talking that way.

God has given us responsibilities.

There are things that really are ours to care for, manage, protect, and make decisions about.

But somewhere along the way, responsibility can quietly become ownership.

We can begin to think, This is my life.

I decide what I’m going to do with it.

I decide what matters most to me.

I decide what I want my future to look like.

And then, without ever saying it quite this plainly, we can begin treating Jesus almost like a consultant.

Lord, here’s the life I’ve decided I want.

Would You please bless it?

But Colossians 1 turns that whole way of thinking upside down.

Paul begins this letter by thanking God for the believers in Colosse.

He has heard of their faith in Christ and their love for the saints.

He has heard about the fruit the gospel is producing in them.

Then beginning in verse 9, Paul tells them what he has been praying for.

He says: “For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you…”

And what does he pray?

“That ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.”

Paul wants them to know God’s will.

But he does not want knowledge simply so they can know more.

Verse 10 tells us why: “That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.”

Paul wants them to know God so they can live in a way that fits the God they know.

He wants them to walk worthy of the Lord.

That doesn’t mean they somehow earn Christ’s favor by living well.

It means the way they live should be consistent with the Lord to whom they belong.

And then Paul does something important.

He does not immediately give them a long list of commands.

Instead, he begins showing them the Lord.

Because before we can understand what it means to walk worthy of Christ, we need to understand something of the greatness of Christ.

Beginning in verse 15, Paul lifts our eyes as high as they can go.

He says Christ is: “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature.”

Paul is not saying Christ is a created being.

The next verse makes that impossible.

He is showing us Christ’s supremacy, His priority, His position over creation.

Verse 16 says: “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible…”

Paul reaches as far as language can reach.

Heaven and earth.

Visible and invisible.

Thrones, dominions, principalities, powers.

And then he says: “all things were created by him, and for him.”

That last phrase changes the way we think about everything.

Not only by Him.

For Him.

We were not simply created by Christ.

We were created for Christ.

That means the ultimate purpose of my life did not begin with me.

Before I ever formed a dream, before I ever made a plan, before I ever decided what I wanted my future to look like, there was already a purpose over my life.

I was created for Him.

Paul continues in verse 17: “And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”

Christ did not create everything and then step away from it.

Everything continues to exist by Him.

Every breath we take is possible because He sustains life.

The universe is not holding itself together.

By Him all things consist.

Then Paul moves from creation to something much closer to these believers.

The church.

Verse 18: “And he is the head of the body, the church…”

The One who rules over creation is also the Head of His church.

The church does not belong to us.

It does not belong to a pastor.

It does not belong to a family.

It does not belong to a tradition.

It belongs to Christ.

And Paul says: “that in all things he might have the preeminence.”

In all things.

Not some things.

Not simply church things.

Not simply Sunday things.

Not simply spiritual things.

In all things.

Christ has the preeminence.

But Paul is not finished.

Because the Christ who possesses all authority is also the Christ who went to the cross.

Verses 19 and 20 say: “For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself…”

Think about the contrast.

The One who made all things allowed His blood to be shed.

The One who holds all things together entered a world broken by sin.

The One for whom everything exists became the One who made peace through His cross.

And then Paul takes this enormous truth and brings it right down to the people sitting in front of him.

Verse 21 begins: “And you…”

Suddenly it is not merely about creation.

It is not merely about the universe.

It is not merely about the church.

And you.

Paul says: “that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled”

We were not naturally close to God.

We were alienated.

We were enemies.

But Christ reconciled us.

Verse 22 says that He did it: “In the body of his flesh through death…”

And for what purpose?

“to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight.”

The One who created you is the One who reconciled you.

Then Paul gives the warning of verse 23: “If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel…”

Stay grounded.

Do not be moved away.

Do not abandon the hope found in the gospel for something else.

So look at where Paul has taken us.

He begins by praying that we would walk worthy of the Lord.

Then he shows us the Lord.

Christ over creation.

Christ over the church.

Christ making peace through the blood on the cross.

Christ reconciling those who were once alienated.

Christ calling us to remain grounded in the hope of the gospel.

Colossians 1 confronts us with a Christ who is before all things, over all things, and the reason all things exist.

Because Christ is supreme over all things and has reconciled us to God, the fitting response is to bring every part of our lives under His rightful lordship.

That does not mean Christ becomes Lord when I finally surrender.

He already is Lord.

I do not give Him a position He did not have before.

I simply stop pretending I hold a position that never belonged to me.

So here is the question:

If Christ created us for Himself, reconciled us through His death, and rightfully has the preeminence, then what should that change about the way we live?

I. Let Christ Rule

Paul has already given us the foundation.

“all things were created by him, and for him.”

And:

“that in all things he might have the preeminence.”

That means there is no area of my life where I can legitimately say to Christ, You do not get a say here.

We tend to divide life into categories.

This is my work.

This is my money.

This is my free time.

This is my family.

These are my goals.

These are my private choices.

But if all things were created for Him, then every category belongs under His authority.

There is an important distinction here.

Nothing in my life is mine to rule independently, but rather everything in my life is mine to steward responsibly under Christ.

God has given you real responsibility.

You make choices.

You set priorities.

You make decisions about your family, your work, your money, your time.

Biblical submission to Christ does not turn us into passive people who never think or decide.

It does the opposite.

Our decisions matter more because they are made under His authority.

So the issue is not whether I make choices.

The issue is who gets the final word.

There are times when what I want and what Christ wants may not feel the same.

There are moments when obedience costs something.

There are desires that must be surrendered.

There are plans that may need to change.

There are attitudes we would rather keep.

There are habits we would rather excuse.

And in those moments, the question is not, Do I feel like doing this?

The question is, Who has the right to rule?

Paul answers that before we ever ask.

Christ does.

He created us.

We exist for Him.

He has the preeminence.

Second Corinthians 5:15 says of Christ:

2 Corinthians 5:15 KJV

15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

That is the issue.

Not living unto ourselves.

Living unto Him.

So ask yourself honestly:

Where am I still insisting on having the final word?

What part of your life do you most quickly defend when Scripture presses on it?

That may be the very place where Christ’s preeminence needs to become more than a doctrine you believe.

Let Christ Have the Rule today! Secondly,

II. Stay Grounded in Christ

Paul does not merely show us the authority of Christ.

He shows us the work of Christ.

Verse 20 says He made: “peace through the blood of his cross.”

Verse 21 says we were alienated and enemies.

Verse 22 says: “yet now hath he reconciled.”

Then verse 23 says: “continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel.”

Paul knows that believers can be pressured.

Confused.

Discouraged.

We can get Distracted.

We can begin to look elsewhere for something we think Christ has not supplied for us.

Now Paul is going to deal with that much more directly in chapter 2, so I don’t want to preach next week’s sermon today.

But the warning is already here.

Don’t be moved away from the hope of the gospel.

Stay grounded in what Christ has done.

There will be moments when your feelings tell you one thing and the gospel tells you another.

There will be moments when failure makes you wonder whether God could still want anything to do with you.

There will be moments when circumstances make God seem distant.

There may be voices that tell you Christ isn’t enough, that you need something more, something newer, something deeper, something in addition to Him.

Paul says, stay grounded.

You were alienated.

Christ reconciled you.

You were an enemy.

Christ made peace.

Your hope is not in your performance.

Your hope is not in having a perfect week.

Your hope is not in your emotions being steady.

Your hope is in Christ and what He accomplished through His death.

That should not produce careless Christianity.

It should produce a stable Christianity.

A believer grounded in the gospel does not have to panic every time life shakes.

The ground underneath him has not changed.

So ask yourself: What am I allowing to be in competition with Christ for my confidence?

Where do I get my confidence?

Is it your own goodness?

Someone else’s approval?

Your circumstances?

Your ability to keep everything together?

Paul says, do not be moved away from the hope of the gospel.

Let Christ Have the Rule today! Secondly, Stay grounded in Christ.

Then lastly this morning…

III. Live Worthy of Christ

Now we come back to where Paul began.

Verse 10: “That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing…”

Paul has shown us who the Lord is.

Now the question becomes unavoidable.

Does the way I live fit the Lord that I belong to?

Paul gives us a simple picture of that worthy walk.

He says: “being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God”

Then verse 11 speaks of being strengthened with all might unto patience and longsuffering.

Verse 12 speaks of: “Giving thanks unto the Father…”

This isn’t some mystical life that is reserved for a few unusually spiritual Christians.

It’s ordinary faithfulness.

Fruitful in good works - Doing good!

Growing in the knowledge of God - Stay in the Word!

Patient when life is hard - Trust Christ and Keep Your eyes on Him!

Thankful for what God has done - Be mindful of Thanksgiving!

That is what Christ’s lordship begins to look like in daily life.

A worthy walk means my beliefs do not stay in my Bible.

They enter my schedule, My conversations, My work, My home, My relationships.

And notice the order.

Paul does not say, Live worthy so Christ will reconcile you.

He says Christ has reconciled you.

Now walk worthy of the Lord.

Grace comes first.

Then obedience.

Redemption comes first.

Then our response.

We are not paying Christ back.

You could never pay back the blood that He shed on the cross.

We are living in a way that fits the One who has saved us.

So the question is not merely, Am I doing bad things?

It is deeper than that.

The better question is: Does the life I am living make sense in light of the Christ I belong to?

If someone watched the way I use my time, would they see that Christ has the preeminence?

If they watched how I respond when I am frustrated?

How I speak to my family?

How I work…

How I spend my money and my time…

How I treat people who can do nothing for me…

Would my life fit the Lord I claim to follow?

Not perfection, No, None of us has arrived yet.

But there ought to be a visible direction in the right way!

There ought to be fruit.

There ought to be growth.

There ought to be evidence that Jesus Christ is more than someone we believe in.

He is the Lord we belong to.

Conclusion

Colossians 1 gives us a breathtaking picture of Christ.

Before all things.

Creator of all things.

Sustainer of all things.

Head of the church.

First in all things.

The One who made peace through the blood of the cross.

The One who reconciled us when we were alienated from God.

When we see Christ that way, one question rises naturally:

What part of my life does He not have the right to rule?

And the answer is none.

Not because He is harsh.

Not because He is demanding something He has no right to ask for.

But because we were created for Him.

And because the Lord who has every right to rule us is the Lord who loved us enough to reconcile us through His own blood.

There is nothing wrong with having plans.

There is nothing wrong with thinking about your future, setting goals, saving money, building relationships, or having hopes and desires.

God has given us minds to think, responsibilities to carry, and decisions to make.

But all of those things must remain yielded to Christ.

My plans are still mine to make, but they are His to redirect.

My future is still something I should prepare for, but I do not control it.

My money is mine to manage, but not mine to use independently of His will.

My relationships matter deeply, but even they must come under His rule.

My desires are real, but they are not the final authority.

That is the difference between stewardship and ownership.

I am responsible for these things, but I am not sovereign over them.

So when Christ presses on an area of my life, the answer cannot be, “That part is mine.”

The right response is, “Lord, this belongs under Your authority.”

There is freedom in finally putting the weight of lordship where it truly belongs.

Christ is already Lord.

The question is whether we will live like it.

So this week, don’t try to change twenty things at once.

Ask the Lord to show you one place where you have been resisting His right to rule.

And when He does, yield it to Him.

Stay grounded in what Christ has already done for you.

Then walk in a way that fits the Lord that you belong to.

Because all things were created by Him.

All things were created for Him.

And in all things, He deserves the preeminence.