Really verse 9 of Colossians
2 is all we'll look at this morning. The fullness of the Godhead bodily. Let's think about that word bodily
first. It doesn't just mean in a body.
I've heard this quoted that way. The fullness of the Godhead in
a body. Trying to clarify. I think I've quoted it that way
myself. The fullness of the Godhead in
a body. but it doesn't just mean in a body. God did not just inhabit
a body for a while and then leave it behind like some kind of garment
or costume when he left this earth in bodily form. He is the
God man and his body is integral to who he is. He was God in human
flesh when he was conceived in the womb and he's God in human
flesh this morning. Remember what it says in Philippians
3.20, our conversation is in heaven from whence also we look
for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our
vile body and fashion it like unto his glorious body. Boy,
the mind can spend some time on that, but we can't trust our
mind If our minds though can search through the word of God
and just delight in what God has revealed, he shall change
our vile body and fashion it like unto his glorious body according
to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things
unto himself. What a glorious promise. In Acts
1-9, when he had spoken these things while they beheld, he
was taken up. And a cloud received him out
of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly
toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them
in white apparel. What are they looking at? They're
looking at the Lord, his body. They're seeing his body. And those two men that stood
by them in white apparel, it says, which also said ye men
of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus,
which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like
manner, bodily. You see him going up, you're
gonna see him here again. He's coming back in the same
way, the same person. as you have seen him go into
heaven. As you have seen him go into heaven. Turn with me
please to Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews 10.4. Hebrews 10, four, for it is not
possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away
sins. Wherefore? Since that's not gonna
cut it. Since those sacrifices were never
ordained to take away sins, but to set forth and exalt the one
who does. Like John said, there's the lamb
that does take away sin. The other ones didn't. But he
does. Wherefore, though, how's he gonna
take away sins? Well, he came into the world
and he said this, sacrifice an offering thou wouldest not. Those
offerings are not the religious obedience to those Old Testament
laws of here's what you do, here's how you separate the offering,
here's how you burn it and collect. blood and go into the Holy of
Holies with it, and all of that. There's not salvation in that,
there's salvation in the one whom all that pictures. All of
those things were saying, look to Christ, look to Christ, and
yet the religious Jews looked to the shadow and not the substance. Sacrifice and offering, thou
wouldest not, but here's what God would. Here's what God does
accept. Here's what does take away sin.
A body thou has prepared for me. A body thou has prepared
me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices
for sin, thou hast had no pleasure in that. If you offer those sacrifices
perfectly, exactly the way God ordained, and you're not looking
to Christ by faith in your heart, God doesn't take, God has no
respect unto you and your offering. And if God has any respect unto
you at all, it's gonna be unto you and your offering. God had no pleasure in those
things themselves. Then said I, when God couldn't,
wouldn't and couldn't save anybody by that, Then the Lord Jesus
said, lo, I come, in the volume of the book it is written of
me. I come as it's written from the start of me and to the end
of me, to do thy will, O God. What's that? To offer himself
a sacrifice for many. Above, when he said sacrifice
and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin, thou wouldest
not, neither hadst pleasure therein, which are offered by the law.
There's why. The law can't save you, it just
shows you your need of the Savior. Then said Christ, lo, I come
to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first that
he may establish the second, by the which will, the will of
God that Christ accomplished, fulfilled in every jot and tittle
is this, that we are sanctified. Through the offering of the body,
you see our text, of Jesus Christ once for all. Once for all, one
time. Those other sacrifices offered
daily, Christ fulfilled all of that by his one sacrifice for
sin, his own soul. Now listen, we know that it wasn't
only Christ's body that was offered as a sacrifice from Isaiah 53.10. It wasn't just a body. In Isaiah 53 10 it says, yet
it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief
when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin. So it was Christ body and soul. The spotless, holy, eternal lamb
of God. Body and soul was offered for
our sin and he shall see his seed. He shall prolong his days
and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. It
wasn't just a best attempt. It wasn't just an offer. God was well pleased with that
offering. And so his people are redeemed. But in Hebrews 10,
it is specifically noted that a body was prepared for Christ
and that it was the offering of that body as well as his soul
that has sanctified us before God. And we know from the other
scripture we've looked at this morning that this body was not
a temporary dwelling for the Lord. The virgin born, eternally
sinless, son of God, bodily, sits on the throne of glory right
now. Now, think about, though, who
he is inside that body. You couldn't just look at his
body only and see who he is. especially with natural eyes
only. Even those who knew him though,
spiritually and savingly, couldn't see who he is just with the physical
eyes see in his body. There was no beauty about him
to the natural man, to us by nature that we should
desire him. When God gave a man faith to
know who Christ was, then the physical side of him meant more
than it did without that faith. But it's only with spiritual
eyes given by God that a man can see who Christ is. To the
saving of the soul, like that tabernacle in the wilderness
was covered in badger skins, completely covered in badger
skins. What did that look like? One word came to my mind when
I thought about your skin, beige, beige, dark beige, I don't know,
nothing special, unless you could see what was
inside. The manna that came from heaven,
light, light, A beautiful smell, a wonderful smell. Gold and beautiful
art and the very presence of God in mercy. And that's important
now. The presence of God is not necessarily
a good thing for you. But he said, I'll meet with you
there and commune with you. Not destroy you like you deserve,
but I'll commune with you there on that mercy seat. There's blood
inside there on the mercy seat by which atonement is made for
sinners. And you got to understand something
about that to know who Christ is. The light of the world, the
sweet smelling savor unto God. When you might look at the son
of God, he looked like an ordinary man on the outside, but in him
is light, and he is the manna from heaven, and he is the sweet-smelling
savor unto God by whose intercession we're saved. There's a mediator
between God and men, and so we're saved. We're represented before
God in perfection and merit, ultimate merit. To look at him
by faith is to see that God dwells with us in mercy. not wrath. He came not to condemn
but to save. His precious blood is human and
yet divine. The church was bought with the
blood of God, Acts 20 28. When the Lord Jesus forgave the
sins of the paralytic in Mark chapter two, they said, who can
forgive sins but God only? Only God can do that, and they
were right. A man can't just walk around
forgiving sins. They do, but it's impotent, it's
heretical, it's profane and blasphemous. but the Lord Jesus was all the
fullness of the Godhead bodily. He is the one who man sinned
against. The only one that can forgive
sins is the one you sinned against. I've used this illustration before.
If I owe Bob some money, And D says, I forgive your debt.
Well, that's fine and well for D, but Bob is kind of out on
that deal, isn't he? He's out. God's not gonna be
out. You're gonna do business with
the one you sinned against, and you're gonna have to satisfy
him for your sins. And that's by the precious blood
of God. He's the one who redeemed sinners
of their sins. He is the one sinned against
and he's the one that did something about it. And so he, you see
what I'm, what this scripture is so clear about, the fullness
of the Godhead. God delights to show mercy. That
was Christ, Christ is the one who gave mercy, in whom resides
the mercy of God. He's the one who redeemed sinners
of their sins, and so those whom he redeemed, their sins being
forgiven by him, washed away in his precious blood, he can
tell them about it, can't he? On the authority of who he is
and what he did. Your sins are forgiven. He knows that, doesn't he? Because
he did that. And he can say that, he has the
authority, because he's all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. The Lord Jesus can tell the woman
taking an adultery, I don't condemn you. I don't condemn you. Because he was soon to give himself
for her. on Calvary, and as God, he already
saw her as one of his redeemed ones. She was one of his little
ones. They said of him in Matthew 7,
28, it came to pass when Jesus had ended these sayings, the
people were astonished at his teaching, his doctrine, for he
taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. Wow. Why was his teaching different
than everybody else's? Because he was God. Dwelling in a body, but not a
body in the sense of just something that he used for a while. Bodily, God was among them. And they
were astonished. They could tell the difference,
couldn't they? Even those who I assume he didn't reveal himself
to could see the difference. It was evident to them. Even
if the Lord didn't give them faith, there was a difference
and they heard it. He talks like God. The fullness, the fullness of
the Godhead. This is one of those thoughts and revelations that
the Lord, we're gonna see what God shows us and that's it. We
have no reasoning ability in this realm at all unless the
Lord gives us light, unless he reveals to us the fullness of the Godhead,
your sins are forgiven. Who can do that but God? He talks
like God. He talks as one who has authority,
not as the scribes, the most religious people in the world. All of God's power, the fullness
of God's power, all of it. When something's full, there's
no room for anything else. In him was nothing but God. No sin, no guile. all of God's power in the sense
of ability. He created bread and fish that
didn't exist before. Who can do that but God? How
did He do that? He created the universe, that's
how. He's the God who said, let there be light. He made water
into wind, just as He made the earth, which was without form
and void, into paradise. for his children. All of God's
power in the sense of authority. The centurion answered and said,
Lord, I'm not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof,
but speak the word only and my servant shall be healed. For
I'm a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say
to this man, go, and he goeth. And to another, come, and he
comes. And to my servant, do this, and
he does it. Just speak the word only and
it'll be done. Christ being the very God of
heaven and earth, as he said in John 17 to the Father, he
said, God has given me power over all flesh that I should
give eternal life to as many as thou hast given me. All the
fullness of the Godhead in his power of ability and authority
Him being God bodily caused two reactions in this centurion that
I want to point out. I know I didn't have you turn
there, but listen to what he said. Him being the one in authority
over life and death now, you speak the word and my servant
will live. He'll be healed. He shall be
healed. And this man knew him in that
capacity, in that office, or in that attribute of his, of
total authority over things that man has no authority at all over. And knowing him to be the God
of heaven and earth bodily, it caused two reactions in this
man. The first one was, if you say the word, my servant shall
be healed. It's because of who you are.
If you say go, if you say do, it's
done. Say the word. Do you know that
about God? Do you know that about Christ? He
saves whom he pleases. Say the word. Say the word. And it's done. I'll have mercy
on whom I'll have mercy, he said. God said that to Moses when Moses
said, show me your glory. I'll be merciful to whom I will
be merciful. And it caused another reaction.
In other words, it caused the same realization that Job had. He said, I know now that you
can do anything. And that when you do, nobody
can stop you. Okay, so he knew that. What was
the second reaction? I'm not worthy. I'm not worthy that you should
even come into my house, much less have mercy on somebody I
love. Not worthy. You see, this is
mercy, not obligation. This is mercy, not getting saved. This is a question of mercy. from him who said, I will have
mercy, not your will. It's not if you will, God will.
It all hangs on God's will, not yours. So all of God's authority walking
around, the one who said, let there be light, said to Thomas,
be not faithless. And what did Thomas do? My Lord
and my God. God Almighty walked around with
dirt on his feet. On this earth, he got thirsty. And asked a woman for a drink
of water Or maybe that was more of a command All of God's love Think about
that all the fullness of God's love In a human being How refreshing would that be? How different, how separate from
sinners? You know, I thought about God's
love, the powerful, eternal, infinite love of God in a person. The first thing I thought of
was this. Damsel, I say unto thee, arise. And get her something to eat. He loved that little girl so
much that he gave her life from the dead. And we know that happens
by the power of his word, but it happens by the power of his
word because of the precious blood that was shed on Calvary. That's love. Simon, feed my lambs. Here's a man that had forsaken
the Lord and forsaken the work that the Lord had given him to
do. He quit. He gave up, he quit. Simon, feed
my lambs. Herein is love, not that we loved
God, but that he loved us. Now we love him because he first
loved us. His love is the cause of ours.
But if you want to define love, don't look at yourself. Don't
look at me. Don't look at anybody but him. He loved us and sent
his son. That's love. That's the definition
of love is Christ crucified. And think about this, when you
think about the love of God, the fullness of it in a person. Father, forgive them. They spat on him, they beat him,
they punched him in the face until he was marred more than
any man. split open his back, pulled out
his beard. How do you express hatred in a more emphatic way than what was perpetrated upon
the Son of God? How are you gonna do that? If
I spit in your face, you'd get the message, wouldn't you? You'd
get the message. Father, forgive them. for they know not what they do. The fullness of God's love, I
lay down my life for the sheep, and they shall never perish.
You see, the love of God is love that does something about it.
God's love is not well wishes for his people. How can anybody
Well, I know how, don't you? It's just no light from God,
no spiritual understanding given. But to say that about God Almighty,
that He loves with an eternal, everlasting love, and yet He's
not gonna violate your will. I violated my children's will
quite a bit. Quite a bit. I think they're
thankful for that now. I'm pretty sure they are. but somehow God's not supposed
to do that. That's just you exalting yourself
above God. You're exalting your own will
above his. That's what that is. That's not
even natural. Nobody would do that to anybody. If somebody's about to jump off
of a bridge, And they say, don't you try to save me, because I'm
determined, I want to die. What are you going to do? You're
going to try to save them. You're going to violate their will.
Their will and wishes is, I'm going down. Not so, not going
to let that happen. But God's supposed to stand by
while his children go to hell? Where did that even come from?
That came from man saying, I will be his God. That's where that
came from. They shall never perish. I lay
down my life for them and they're never gonna perish. He did what was necessary for
us. Neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. You know, it's not the books
that thick that disprove the false doctrine of man-centered
free will religion. You know what it is? It's the
simple truth of the gospel. Simple. I lay down my life for
them, and they shall never perish. Now, you can call that the doctrine
of effectual atonement and write volumes on it, and I'll probably
read them. Nothing wrong with that. But
it's the gospel. It's the simple, plain, clear
gospel of Jesus Christ that refutes man's desire to be God. His false, free will, man-centered
religion. Every attribute of God is on
full display in Christ our Savior because He is God. If you've
seen me, you've seen the Father. He's holy and harmless and undefiled
and separate from sinners and made higher than the heavens. Are we aware of that? I know
we believe that, but do we live that? God is with us. God is for us. God is in us. Christ in you is the hope of
glory for you. Do we realize that as we walk
through this earth? And Paul shows, he gives this
verse, he says our text to show the vanity of philosophy. Remember the verse right before
it? Don't be deceived by the philosophy, the deceit of man,
the rudiments of this world. Don't be deceived by that. Well,
how? Christ is all the fullness of
God. Christ is the wisdom of God.
Don't love wisdom, love Christ. In Christ, and remember verse
three, in Christ are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. What are you looking for? What
are you trying to find out if you know him? What more is there? What is it you hope to find?
What will this world give you? Outside of, what are you looking
for? Outside of Christ, in addition to Christ? What is it you hope
to find? What will this world give? A
purpose, a cause? People love those things, don't
they? Will the world give you hope? Will the world give you
satisfaction, fulfillment? If you have not found in Christ
all you need, You simply don't know him yet. I pray that it's yet. If you
don't know him, I pray it's yet. And I pray that you will. You see how Paul uses the verse?
When you know Christ in all the fullness of God, in all of his
attributes, the philosophies of men, the wisdom of men. It doesn't mean that much, does
it? It doesn't mean a whole lot. We have Him. And having Him,
we have everything we need. Let's pray.