Sermon Tone Analysis

Broken things are hard to repair

Even a novice in woodworking quickly learns that you need to measure twice and cut once

If you’ve ever had a bad haircut, you know that it’s hard to repair when if the hair is cut too short

Even my three year old son learns this all the time when his toys break.

Humpty Dumpty

The shards of Narsil

or the walls of Jerusalem

Broken things are hard to repair

And this is true in our relationships as well.

We all know, that sin separates.

And once there is hostility between two people, it can be difficult to be reconciled.

And while this is true in human relationships, it’s all the more true in our relationship with God.

It’s true, sin separates us from God.

Adam and Eve were cut off from Eden because of sin

Israel was repeatedly sent into exile because of sin

And yours and my sin also separates us from God.

But this is where the Christ him in Colossians 1 brings us incredibly good news.

Jesus Christ is the Lord of Creation… and as such, he is preeminent over all.

But we know that not all creation has seen fit to acknowledge Jesus as Lord.

So we see that Christ creates a new creation that will gladly submit to Christ as Lord.

We have already seen what it means for Christ to be the head of the Church

Last week, Tait preached on Jesus being the firstborn from the dead - and as such he is preeminent.

And on what ground are these true?

V 19-20 describe the mystery that was hidden for ages - that God, through Christ has reconciled all things to himself.

Here, we have a wonderful explanations of the gospel in this one sentence, so it’s important that we rightly understand what it is saying.

So to help us walk through these verses, want us to ask, by who and what, where and when, then why and how, creation has been reconciled to God.

So first, who and what - who and what reconciles us to God

1. Who and what?

— All the fullness of God in Jesus

Reconciliation between God and man would have been impossible if Jesus in his humanity was not truly God.

This word fulness here should remind us of the Colossian heresy that Paul is writing to correct.

It’s difficult to know precisely what it was that the false teachers taught, but from what Paul is writing, it seems like they were offering the Colossians a false sense of fulness that was found through other means apart from Christ.

Understand what these verses mean:

You know how companies are adding + to the end of their name?

Disney+

Paramount+

I just saw that Crossway has a Crossway+

It implies that there is something added to it that was lacking before - better deals, better bundles, better subscriptions

The Colossian heresy was a Jesus+ teaching

Implying that there was something lacking for those who only had Jesus, but didn’t have angles, spirits, those who didn’t do keep certain Sabaths and festivals

What’s happening is they are teaching a kind of Jesus+ gospel that informs them that if they want to be full, they need Jesus and these other spirits and practices as well.

But this false gospel of fulness though Jesus + other things is a false gospel, because in Jesus all the fulness of God is pleased to dwell.

We need to recognize this - the Jesus+ heresy is not unique to the Colossians.

For we in our own consumer mentality feel like we lack something it is owing to the fact that we do not believe that Jesus is sufficient.

But don’t you know that if you have Jesus Christ, you lack nothing?

Understand, if we have Christ, we lack nothing, because all the fulness of God dwells in him.

What does this mean exactly… all the fulness

These three few words have an incredible weight to them.

All the fulness of God.

We could spend a lifetime meditating on it, and we would still need another lifetime of meditation before we began to scratch the surface.

But since our time is limited this morning, it might help read through the I AM statements in John that give us a glimpse of Jesus’ deity.

There are seven I AM metaphors in John… but in order for us to understand them, it’s important to understand what it meant for Jesus to say I AM

In response to the Jewish leaders questions, Jesus said

What Jesus said here is very similar to what Col 1:15-17 has showed us - that Jesus is the eternal uncreated God God - When Jesus said -before Abraham was, I am, Jesus distinguished himself from Abraham who was created, to himself who simply is.

And make no mistake… the words I am had particular significance to the Jews and do to us as well, for when God revealed himself to Moses, he said,

When Jesus said, before Abraham was, I am… the Jews knew what Jesus was saying, and because they did not believe in him, they sought to kill him.

But Jesus is who he says he is… he is God, the meaning of his deity is further unpacked in the seven I am statements of John.

Just as God provided manna for Israel in the wilderness… so too, Jesus provides his people with spiritual nourishment that satisfies their hunger - for all the fulness of God dwells in Jesus.

Just the Word is a light to our path… so to Jesus is the light of the world who brings light and life - for in him the fulness of God was pleased to dwell

Jesus is commited to watching over those in his care… and he is able to do so, for in him, the fullness of God dwells

Here we have the image of a shepherd’s protection and provision - and Jesus is able to to this, the way YHWH did this for Israel, for in Christ the fulness of God dwells

In Christ, death does not have the final word, because in Jesus, the fulness of God dwells.

Through Jesus is true knowledge of God that leads to life, because in Jesus the fulness of God was pleased to dwell.

Just as life flows through a vine, so life flows through Christ to all those who are in him, for in Him, the fulness of God dwells.

He is our satisfaction, he is our light, our protection and guide, he is our truth, our resurrection, and he is our life.

If we have Jesus, what do we lack?

Paul but it this way:

There is no need for Jesus+ anything, for Jesus is sufficient for everything that we need, because him the fulness of God was pleased to dwell.

That’s the who, and the what.

Now we move on to where and when.

Where does this fulness dwell?

We might be helped to look at

2. Where and when?

— In Jesus’ body for all time.

What I have in mind here is the incarnation of Jesus Christ - and it was completely necessary for God to dwell in human form if man was going to be reconciled back to God.

For if God did not put on flesh, how could anyone come into the presence of God, who is a consuming fire?

The language of God filling Jesus is the same language used to describe God filling the temple.

Exodus 40:34–35 (ESV)

34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

35 And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

And again when the temple was built

It was necessary for God to put on flesh, for if he didn’t, we would still be left without direct access to God.

Without the incarnation, we would still need temples and priests in order to have any access to God.

And do you see what limited access Moses and priests had to God.

So for the rest of Israel, consider how limited your access would be… that is if you were a Jew.

And for us gentiles… our access would be even more limited.

But speaking of limited access to the presence of God… even if one were to enter into the holy of holies… that is the inner part of the temple… even still your access to God would be but a fraction of what we have through Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 66:1–2 (ESV)

1 Thus says the Lord:

“Heaven is my throne,

and the earth is my footstool;

what is the house that you would build for me,

and what is the place of my rest?

2 All these things my hand has made,

and so all these things came to be,

declares the Lord.

Do you understand what this means for the earth to be the footstool of God?

It means that the temple contains but a fraction, and the lesser portion of God’s glory.

But this is not so of Jesus

For in him, the fullness of God dwelt....