The Fullness Of God

Good morning!

I don’t know about you, but I have really enjoyed and appreciated God helping us to see the work of Christ at Christmas.

Seeing the full work of Christ's life, through the lens of Christmas has given me a new appreciation of God’s work in the lives of His creation.

In our passage today, God wants us to see this again, but from yet another angle.

Remember, that Christ came to earth to reveal the heart of God and to reconcile His people.

Part of that process is us getting a more complete picture of who God is and what He is doing.

That is our goal today as we walk through this passage from Colossians.

Paul is writing the church in Colosse to encourage them and to teach them.

Look with me at his prayer for them before he shares this hymn of who Christ is.

Colossians 1:9–14 CSB

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.

In the passage just before this one, he tells them of how proud he is of their love for one another, in spirit.

But there is more that they need.

Paul prays that they would know and recognize the will of God in wisdom and spiritual understanding.

This is not the only time we see Paul pray for this specific thing.

Ephesians 1:15–19 CSB

15 This is why, since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 I never stop giving thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. 17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, would give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what is the wealth of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the mighty working of his strength.

This word, e-pee-guh-no-ses, is from the root word, ginosko.

It means to recognize or determine something, by personal experience.

Paul is asking God to help the church to recognize the fullness of God, by experience.

He is asking God for this, so that we may be like Christ in these ways.

The eyes of our hearts would be enlightened in order to know the hope of His calling.

and know the immeasurable greatness of His power toward those who believe.

Paul wants the church to know God as completely as possible.

Listen, this is the thing that makes the difference.

This is the difference between knowing about God and knowing God himself.

This is the difference between a dead religion and an active relationship.

This is the difference between sharing an idea versus being an idea.

I was sharing with someone the other day something that I learned growing up rodeo-ing.

There was an easily distinguishable difference between a cowboy and someone who was acting like one.

Anyone could buy the truck, trailer, horse, saddle, clothes, boots, etc.

They can learn the lingo, even how to rope and ride.

However, you look at how they treat the horses and cattle.

You watch how they talk to people.

You pay attention to the respect they give.

Very quickly you can tell the difference between the real deal and the impersonator.

It’s not about what they have and what you can do, it is about their character.

We all know that the same is perfectly true for those that call themselves followers of Christ.

I’m not being legalistic and saying that some are better than others.

I’m saying that when a person has had a personal experience with Jesus that has allowed them to see the world the way he does, it is recognizable.

A person can learn the Christian lingo, buy the “right” accessories to fit in with the crowd, play the role, but that is no substitution for walking with Jesus.

Paul is painfully aware of this because he was that guy.

It is for this reason, that Paul is taking the time to show these young churches the difference.

He writes this hymn or poem of who Christ is so that they can have a more complete understanding of who Jesus is.

Let’s read it together.

Colossians 1:15–20 CSB

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities— all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and by him all things hold together. 18 He is also the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile everything to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

As we celebrate Christmas by sharing the truth about who Christ is, we do so by understanding, through personal revelation from God, these three things.

Christ made all things.

Christ sustains all things.

Christ completes all things.

I want to remind you that we don’t do the work of setting ourselves apart from others.

God does that work of setting us apart by changing us into His likeness.

If we are trying to do the work of setting ourselves apart, we have missed the point.

By trying to do the work ourselves, we are actually making ourselves like the thing we don’t want to be.

Are you tracking with me on this?

If we are the ones drawing the lines of what is admirable, we are making ourselves more like the world, not like Jesus.

The goal is not for people to look at us and be in awe, but to look at us and see Jesus and to be in awe of Him.

Have you ever seen a graffiti artist working?

They use cheap, half used up, cans of spray paint, to make amazing images.

We are the the cheap paint.

Okay?

So let’s dig in and see what Paul is trying to help us understand about Christ.

Christ made all things.

Colossians 1:15–16 CSB

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities— all things have been created through him and for him.

I love this idea that Paul is communicating that Jesus made God visible.

I know this is a struggle that many have in believing in God.

We see this a lot, especially in the old testament.

Isreal struggled often because they wanted an image to worship.

We talked about this in Exodus when Moses was gone on the mountain for a long time.

What did God’s people do?

They made an idol to worship.

We are tangible beings and in order for us to believe something we need to see it.

The disciple Thomas made this famous with his need to see the nailed scarred hands of Jesus.

God never allowed his people to make an image of Him because he knew they would begin to worship the image instead of him.

But, when Jesus was born, the invisible God became visible.

This is just another example of how God provided what His people longed for through Jesus.

This is especially important to these churches in gentile countries because all these new believers are coming from cultures that worshiped tangible gods.

Paul is helping them see that if they need something tangible, Jesus is that.

Not only is He God in flesh, but he is also the creator of flesh.

This is a concept that we talked about last week as well in John chapter one.

Paul is communicating the same thing as John.

Jesus is not like us.

He is God and is our creator.

He was God and was with God from the very beginning.

Not only was Jesus there, but we are created through him and for him.

This is an important concept in establishing the argument that Jesus is the Godhead.

The creator owns the creation, not the other way around.

This idea is important, not just for the Jewish people, but for all people.

It answers the question that everyone is born with.

Why am I here?

Alex had an article written about his work this week.

If you haven’t read it, you should check it out.

It is a great article.

I bring that up because they asked Alex about his work, what inspired him, and why he chooses the colors, format, and styles that he does.

Those things are incredibly interesting, not because everyone understands the how, but because of the why.

When you ask someone who creates things about their creations, you don’t just get to know how, but you get to know the why.

The why in turn tells you about the creator.

Alex shared in the article his childhood, his desires, his family, his passion.

I know Alex better than I did last week because I’ve had a deep glimpse into who he is.

This is what Paul is doing for us.

He is giving us a glimpse behind the curtain and unveiling the godhood of Jesus.

The church gets a deeper glimpse into the person of Jesus and because of that, they know Jesus in a way that they didn’t before.

Paul doesn’t stop here.

Not only is Jesus the firstborn and creator.

Christ sustains all things.

Colossians 1:17–18 CSB

17 He is before all things, and by him all things hold together. 18 He is also the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything.

These two verses hold significant meaning for us, God’s creation.

When we talk of creation, we typically think of the story of Genesis.

However, new things are created every day.

Children, animals, plants, light, etc.

God didn’t just create once and then turn on autopilot.

He is still actively creating every day and in doing so, is sustaining the earth.

Think about it this way, Paul is telling us that if Jesus were to stop creating, the world would perish.

It is only through His faithful creating, that we are able to live.

Think back to our study of Exodus.

Do you remember when God was providing manna to fed his people?

God is still providing for us in the same way.

The food that we eat, every day, is provided by God through his creative activity.

You see, we think that we are providing for ourselves and our families, but aren’t.

God’s creative activity is the only way in which we can be sustained.

Yes, God uses us in that creative process, in a variety of ways, but we are simply playing our role in God’s sustaining activity on this earth.

Jesus is the glue that binds the whole of creation together.

Without him, this world would crumble.

Not only is he holding us together physically, but also spiritually.

He is the head of the body, the church.

Without his presence, the church would crumble.

We see this happening all the time now.

More and more churches are closing their doors every week.

If the church is not looking to the head for all leadership, it will cease to be the church.

If you were unaware, our church, myself specifically, is completely reliant on Christ to lead.

Let me give you this week’s example.

The whole week was busy, but Friday. wow.

Friday started at 5 am with Charlee waking us up because Poppa’s dogs were barking.

My dad is out of town and we are taking care of his animals, which isn’t a big deal, typically.

However, when I fed Thursday night, I forgot to latch the gate on the pen of his show calves.

I went to see why the dogs were barking and found on of the dogs loose.

When I went to the barn to find it, I also discovered that the two calves were missing.

Bethany and I searched from 5am until about 8:30 when a neighbor called. They were about a quarter of a mile away in his yard.

We found them, herded them home and got them penned up.

I got to work around 10am and had a marathon at work trying to get ready for a last minute training seminar that is happening first thing Monday.

I got that done and headed home about 5:30p.

When I got home we had to deal with some kid issues and didn’t get supper started until around 7pm.

We were finishing eating and my brother in law called.

He is out of town and one of his sheep got loose.

Beth and I went and caught it.

We got home, got the kids in bed, but we had more work to do for church stuff.

We finally go to bed at midnight and as Bethany laid down she noticed that the sheet rock on our bedroom ceiling was wet.

The roof, that is still tarped, was leaking.

I went out and put a new tarp on the roof, in the rain, while she went into the attic and pulled out wet insulation, dried up the standing water, and put a bucket under the leak for extra insurance.

We finally got to be about 2am Saturday morning.

We had to be up at 8am because the girls had a cheer leading event that Bethany was in charge of in town that morning.

I’m telling you all that to say that I was pretty worthless Saturday.

If it was up to me to make church happen, we would be in a sorry place.

It is only because God is in charge of these messages that they happen.

I’m not saying this in false humility.

I want you to see that today’s message is only happening because God is faithful and HE is sustaining and leading us.

God not only creates and sustains us.

Christ completes all things.

Colossians 1:19–20 CSB

19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile everything to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

This first verse may seem as if I have put it in the wrong group, but when you read it in the context of verse 20 it tells us something that is beyond comparison.

This is why we have titled this series as we have, The Incomparable Christ.

God was pleased...

What was he pleased with?

To fully dwell in Christ and through him to reconcile everything to himself.

By making peace through His BLOOD, shed on the cross.

Humbling himself and suffering on our behalf, was pleasing to God.

Christ is beyond comparison because of this incredible love.

It is through the birth, life, and death of Jesus that God is working into completion his love for his creation.

Paul shares this same message with the church in Corinth.

2 Corinthians 5:19 CSB

19 That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed the message of reconciliation to us.

He is reconciling us to himself by doing for us what we could never do.

He takes his purity and places it on his people.

We are made righteous and are able to enter into his presence because of his work, not our own.

Not only does he reconcile us, and therefore bring us back to himself, he also gives us the message of reconciliation to us.

We talk about Colossians 1:27 all the time and this is the same idea that Paul is sharing in 2 Cor 5:19

Colossians 1:27 CSB

27 God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

For God to include his creation, in the work of reconciliation, is yet another way that we know the incredible love that God has for us.

When I was growing up, my dad worked a lot.

Whether it was at Petron, or at home, he never stopped.

The same is true today, but he did something amazing for me.

Instead of just working all the time, by himself, he brought me along.

I cannot tell you the hours I spent riding on the fender of a tractor, or holding a flash light, or going after tools.

But do you know what all that time did for me?

I wasn’t just a gopher. (go for this and go for that)

During every bit of that time, we were talking about the work.

My dad was teaching me all the things he knew.

Not only was he teaching me, but he was allowing me to join in the work that he was doing.

By the time I was Sayleigh’s age, I could build a barbed wire fence, completely on my own.

I remember being on a job with my dad as a teenager.

We were working on an electrical panel and the other employees that were there were dumbfounded because my dad wouldn’t say a word, but would reach for a tool and I already had it ready and was handing it to him.

He never took his eyes off the work, just reached and I put the tool in his hand.

Because I had worked with my dad so long, I knew the work and I knew what was needed to accomplish it.

My dad taught me to pay attention, and by doing so, I would know what he needed and he didn’t have to say a word.

When we talk about joining God in what he is doing, we aren’t just gophers.

God is actively loving us by involving us in his work!

We are being loved by the father, being taught to pay attention to what he is doing, allowed to join him in the work of reconciliation, in doing so we are growing deeper in our relationship with God and have a greater ability to share with others, who He is.

As we have the opportunity to talk about Christmas with people who don’t know Jesus, we have are able to tell them things about Him that we have learned.

Our relationship with God, the work that we have joined God in, is the basis of this knowledge.

We have learned by walking with God, learning from him, and the allowed to join in His work.

Just like I use stories from my life to help you guys understand what we are reading, God will use your life to help explain the truth of the Gospel.

As we are made more like God, as we are sanctified, we begin to see the ordinary things of life through God’s perspective and we realize that we thought we just fumbling around, but we weren’t.

There is a country song that I am reminded of and one of the lines in the chorus is “she thought we were just fishin.”

The last line of the song is “This ain’t about fishin.”

Living with God isn’t one dimensional.

There is always something deeper going on than we see at first glance.

God is working, often in ways we can’t even see yet, but he is always doing something.

God is using the church to help the world see Him as creator, sustainer, and completer.

God uses Christmas, this time of celebrating the birth of Jesus, to tell the world of his love.

Amos 3:7 CSB

7 Indeed, the Lord God does nothing without revealing his counsel to his servants the prophets.

Christians spend much time talking about “seeking God’s will,” as though it were hidden and difficult to find. God does not hide His will. His will is not difficult to discover. We do not have to plead with God to reveal His will to us. He is more eager to reveal His will than we are willing to receive it. We sometimes ask God to do things He has already done!

Jesus walked so intimately with His Father that He was always aware of what the Father was doing around Him (John 5:19-20). Jesus said that if our eyes are pure, they will see God and recognize His activity (Matt. 6:22). If we are not seeing God’s activity, the problem is not a lack of revelation. The problem is that our sin prevents us from noticing it.

When God is working in your child’s life or when He is convicting your coworker, He may reveal His activity to you. His revelation is His invitation for you to join Him in His redemptive work. Be alert to God’s activity around you. He will reveal His activity to His servants. If your spiritual eyes are pure, you will be overwhelmed by all that you see God doing around you!