If you turn again in your Bibles
to the first chapter in Colossians, to the chapter we've just read.
Colossians 1 and verse 19. I want to draw your attention
to verse 19. Colossians 1 verse 19. For it
pleased the Father that in Him, in Christ, should all fullness
dwell. For it pleased the Father that
in Him should all fullness dwell. Here in this opening chapter
of Colossians, Paul presents us with a wonderful, a lofty,
a high, a majestic view of the glory of God in Christ Jesus. He who is preeminent, he who
is preeminent in all things, he who created all things and
sustains all things, he who is the head of the body, the church,
he who is the firstborn from the dead, he who redeemed his
people, he who made peace with the blood of his cross to reconcile
all things unto himself. Yea, he who is above all things,
the creator and the sustainer. Can you see, oh can you see just
how great our Lord Jesus Christ is? how mighty, how glorious,
how great he is. But behind these remarkable truths,
behind these glorious truths of just who the Lord Jesus Christ
is, behind this in this chapter, is the tremendous truth, the
remarkable truth, the astonishing, the astounding truth that this
Creator, this sustainer of the heavens and the earth, this one
who reigns over all, the Son of God came into this world. Made of the seed of David, made
flesh, made a man, made a little lower than the angels, Christ
Jesus came into the world. to save sinners. Yes, the creator
of the heavens and the earth, the one who is over all, he came
into this world, he was born a babe in Bethlehem. God was contracted to a span,
he was born, he was conceived in Mary, that holy thing He came
and was born and God was manifest in the flesh. He who created
all things, who sustains all things by the word of his power
was contracted to a span, born a babe. This one, this one who without
sustaining us who without keeping us breathing, who without keeping
our hearts beating, who without keeping air that we may breathe,
this One who sustains us every moment of our lives, without
whom, without which, we would drop down dead in a moment, this
Creator and Sustainer of all life, without whom we would not
live, even this moment, For there's but a hair's breadth, if we but
knew it, between life and death, between this world and the next.
This one who keeps us living came into this world. This one was born of a virgin,
born in Bethlehem, born in a stable, a babe in arms, He was born in a world which
rejected him. He came unto sinners. He came
unto his own, but his own received him not. At his birth, Herod, as we read
in Matthew's Gospel, Herod sought to destroy him. Satan sought to destroy him.
the world sought and the world seeks to destroy him but they
could not and they cannot so this is the creator and the sustainer
of all things Galatians 4 verses 3 to 5 reads
even so we when we were children were in bondage under the elements
of the world as others But when the fullness of the time was
come, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the
law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might
receive the adoption of sons. In the fullness of time, God
sent forth his son into this world, which didn't want him. Consider this man. Consider the
son of God made man, made flesh. This one who came, born a babe. Consider his life. This one that grew in Nazareth. The one that went into the temple
at 12 years old and astounded the scribes and the Pharisees
with his knowledge, with his questions and his answers. And
astonished them at 12 years old. This one that grew in his mother's
and father's house and grew the perfect child, the perfect man. Never a sinful word came from
his lips. Never a wicked deed was seen
in him. This one who was perfect, the
one in whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwelt bodily.
This one in him should all fullness dwell. Consider him. This One
in whom the Father made Himself known unto mankind, the Lord
Jesus Christ. The One in whom God reveals Himself
to man. He makes Himself known unto us
in His Son. He makes known His fullness,
His riches, His glory, His majesty, His Godhead. He makes known His
righteousness, his perfections, in this one man that stood above
all men, this one man that lived in this world and never transgressed,
never turned to the left hand or the right hand, never said
a word against his father, never turned from his law or his ways
or his will, this one who manifested the glory and the perfections
and the righteousness of God. Consider just who it was who
was born a babe, who Mary looked after, who Mary held in
her hands. This one, the Son of God, made
the Son of Man. Consider his life. Consider his
faith, his submission to his Father. His life lived not for
self, but for his Father and his Father's glory. His life
lived for others, His life lived to make known the love of God,
the mercy of God, the glory, the righteousness, the justice
of God to others. Consider his speech, his utterances,
his conduct, his revelation of the truth of
God and of his father to others. Consider his speech when others
heard him, when they saw him and heard him speak, when they
heard his teaching men were brought to say never man spake like this
man he made the father known for
this man this son of god this son of mary this man the son
of god is god God made himself known in his Son, for his Son
is the revelation of the Father. He is all and he is in all. He
made known all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. He made known
all God's grace. He made known all his mercy,
all his righteousness, all wisdom, all truth, all life. all salvation for there is salvation
found in none other but in Jesus Christ this one this creator
this sustainer was made man was made flesh he came he came as
this one who dwelt amongst men he came into this world he came
into this earth, he came here, he walked upon the same world
as we walk now, he breathed the same air that we breathe, this
one came. And John bear witness of him
and cried saying, this was he of whom I spake, he that cometh
after me is preferred before me, for he was before me, and
of his fullness have all we received and grace for grace for the law
was given by Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. But why did he come? Why did
he who created the heavens and the earth, who sustains them
by the word of his power, who put man upon this world, and
watched as mankind turned and rebelled against his maker in
the garden, and then shook his fist at his maker, and brought
sin and death and corruption and rebellion into that perfect
creation which the Son of God, Jesus Christ, had created, into
that world upon which Christ looked and said that it is good. This world into which sin had
entered, into which death had entered, into which darkness
had entered. Why did this one come into such
a world? Why did he come? Why did he come
here? Hebrews tells us that he was
made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death. Philippians tells us that he
humbled himself and he became obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross. Why did he come? He came to die. He didn't come to be a great
teacher, he didn't come to bring deliverance for the Jews at that
day, he came for one purpose, he came to die. He came to die
for others. He came to die in the place of
sinners. He came to die as a substitute
for sinners. To die for the sins of others. He came to die to pay the price
that others owed. To pay the debts of their sins. To satisfy the law and the justice
of God against the sins of his people. he came to bring in righteousness
for that people and he came to appease the wrath of God which
burned against the sins of that people that wrath which burns
from the almighty glory of light inaccessible against all which
is dark and all which is sinful and all which is rebellious That
wrath which is in God, which in righteousness burns against
all sin and all sins. Christ came to take away that
wrath. Christ came to die in the place
of his own and to swallow up wrath, to swallow up the wrath
of God against his own, to swallow up the wrath of God against those
who would rebel, those who would turn, those who were wicked. came to die, came to die, and
he came to die that the fullness of the Jews and the Gentiles
might be saved through him in whom all fullness dwells. He came to die. For you? Do you even care? Was his blood
shed in vain? Was it shed for you? Yes, he came to die, but no man
could take his life from him. He didn't come and die as one
slain by those who hated. Though man nailed him upon the
tree, it was merely the outworking of God's counsel. They could
not put a hand or a finger to him except God allowed him. came
to die, yes, but at his choosing and at his will for he would
lay down his life for those whom he loved. He says in John's gospel,
therefore doth my father love me because I lay down my life
that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me but
I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down and
I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my father. Yes, he laid down his life, but
he laid it down for others. You see, Christ is both the priest
and he is the sacrifice. He is both the one that makes
the sacrifice and he is also the one who is slain. This one
who came is the Lamb, the sacrifice. He is the Lamb of God, the Lamb
which God provided as a sacrifice for the sins of his people. The
next day, John seeeth Jesus coming unto him and he saith, Behold
the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is why he came. This is
why he came. To die. And in his death the
Saviour made known the love of God. He made known the mercy
of God. And he made known the righteousness
of God. For he died for those whom he
loved. He died for those whom he loved
with an everlasting love. With an everlasting love. He'd
always loved them. He loved them before ever they
were born, ever they were created. He loved them when they turned
against him in the garden. He loved them when each and every
one of them turned against him as they were born and as they
went forth speaking lies from the womb. He loved them as they
lived their lives in rebellion, sunk in sin, shaking their fists
against their maker, running as far away from him as they
could go. He loved them. And he came to
die for those he loved. He died for those who once hated
him. for those who once despised Him,
for those who once thought Him but trouble, for those who once
would not listen to Him, would not hear of Him, would not worship
Him, for those who thought that He would just bring misery to
their lives, for those who thought that to serve this God and this
Son of God would bring but bondage, for those who hated and despised,
for those who rejected Him, These are the ones he loved. And he
came while they were yet sinners. He came into this world when
his people were yet sinners. And while they were yet sinners,
he died for them. He loved them. For God commendeth
his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. came to die, for those who sought
him not, for those who loved him not, for those who knew him
not, that they might be brought to love him, that they might
be brought to know him, that they might be brought out of
sin into righteousness, out of death into everlasting life,
out of rebellion and enmity to God into peace with to dwell
with God, to know Him. At the cross when Christ died,
when He was nailed to the tree, when He was lifted up, when the
people walked by and scorned and mocked and said others He can save, can He not save Himself?
Can He not bring a legion of angels to take Him down? they
laughed and they scorned and they mocked. At the cross when
he died and when the light of the sun was taken away and then
the world was made dark because God laid upon Christ the sins
of his own and God made his son sin for them that they might
be made the righteousness of God in him. At the cross when
all was dark and when God's injustice when God in wrath looked upon
that Son of His, upon whom He had laid the sins of the full
election of grace. When He looked upon that Son
and looked upon Him as the sinner in the sinner's place, and rained
down His wrath against His own Son, and beat and bruised His
own Son until His own Son died, for sin and the wrath of God
slew Him. At the cross when the Son of
God was slain by the wrath of God against the sins of his own,
when having taken away every last drop of that wrath, having
drunk the cup of God's wrath against sin to the very dregs,
at the cross when Christ cried out, it is finished. And when he gave up the Spirit,
and died at the cross when all the sins of all his people were
taken away at the cross the full election of grace all that people
that God the father gave to the son before ever he created before
ever he came into this world before ever he came unto sinners
before ever those sinners nailed him to the tree before ever God
began to judge those sins in his son. When those sins were
taken away, when he cried out, it is finished, every one of
that people, that great multitude, every one of that election of
grace, that fullness of both Jews and Gentiles, at the cross
they were brought through death out of darkness into light. At the cross, every last one
of their sins was taken away. At the cross, their sin was condemned.
But they, with Him, on the third day, might rise again in newness
of everlasting life. He was the firstborn, that they
might rise with Him, born from the dead. He is before all things,
and by Him all things consist. He is the beginning, the firstborn
from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence. He is the head of the body, the
church. When he died, the church died in him. When he died, all
his body, all those members of his body, all that multitude
whom he called out from both Jews and Gentiles, from the beginning
of this world until the end of this world. All sinners, all
made clean by the blood of the lamb. When he died, that body,
that church, were justified, were washed, were purified. When he rose, they rose in him.
They rose in him who has the preeminence, him who is the firstborn,
him who is their saviour. Did he die for you? Was that bloodshed for you? Do
you know him? For having risen, on the third
day he rose from the dead. The grave could not hold him. Why not? Because there was not
a sin, nor a blemish, nor a spot upon him. Every last sin Every
last blemish of all his people was taken away as far as east
is from west. They were white. They were perfect. They were righteous. And he rose. And they rose in him. But having risen, where is he
now? Where is he now? You may say, well that was 2,000
years ago. if I had been there when he came
if I had seen that baby in Bethlehem if I had been in the temple when
he taught if I had been in Nazareth and the places in Galilee when
he came and he healed and he made the blind to see and the
deaf to hear and the lame to walk oh well then well I mean
then I'd have believed then well I mean I'd have seen him I'd
have seen him I'd have had the advance I mean I just who could
not believe Who could not believe when they see such a one do such
great wonders? But where is he now? I mean I'm
living now, I can't see him now, where is he now? Or would you have believed then?
You would no more have believed then than you would believe now.
Multitude saw the works that this son of God did. Multitudes
heard his speech. Multitudes followed for a time,
and at the end they all went away. And Christ said to his
disciples, will ye also go away? Peter answered, to whom else
shall we go? That's the words of eternal life. Have you heard his words of eternal
life? Where is he now? If you saw him
then it would have been either with a natural sight and in the
end you'd have walked away or it would have been with that
revelation which Peter had when he could say thou art the Christ,
the son of the living God, that revelation of faith. You'll either
see him now by faith or you'll not see him at all. But where
is he now? Having found the tomb empty,
Mary said, they've taken away my Lord, and I know not where
they have laid him. Where is he? Turn to Revelation
in chapter one. The revelation of Jesus Christ
in chapter one. I'll show you where he is now. This son of God, this creator,
this sustainer, This one who was made flesh, this one who
was made man, this one who was made that holy thing conceived
in Mary, that one who was born a babe in Mary's arms, born in
a stable, that one who was rejected by all men, that one who went
to a tree at a place called Golgotha. one who was nailed to the tree,
that one who was slain, that one who was rejected by all,
that one who was cast out, that one who died. Where is he now? He rose and he ascended. Verse 10 of Revelation John on the Isle of Patmos saw this vision of the Risen
Saviour. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's
Day and heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet saying
I am Alpha and Omega the first and the last and what thou seest
right in a book and send it unto the seven churches which are
in Asia, and to Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos,
and unto Phyretyra, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia,
and unto Laodicea. And I turned to see the voice
that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven
golden candlesticks. And in the midst of the seven
candlesticks, one like unto the Son of Man, clothed with a garment
down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle,
his head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow,
and his eyes were as a flame of fire, and his feet like undefined
brass, as if they burned in a furnace, and his voice as the sound of
many waters. And he had in his right hand
seven stars, and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword.
And his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.
And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid
his right hand upon me, saying unto me, fear not, I am the first
and the last. I am he that liveth and was dead
and behold I am alive forevermore. Amen. Here is the glorious vision of
the risen Saviour, the Son of Man, whose hair is white like
wool, white as snow, whose eyes are as a flame of fire, He sees
everything. He knows everything. His feet
are like under fine brass as if they burned in a furnace. Those feet that were nailed to
the tree. Those feet that suffered under the outpouring of the wrath
of God, the fires of God from heaven against the sins of his
people. These feet are like under fine
brass as if they burned in a furnace and his voice as the sound of
many waters. A voice that demands to be heard. A voice which speaks. A voice
which has been speaking from the creation until this very
day. A voice which speaks at this
very hour. Whether you hear the voice or don't hear the voice,
it speaks. He does not cease to speak, he
does not cease to preach, he does not cease to declare what
he did for his people in coming into this world to save sinners. His voice is as the sound of
many waters and he had in his right hand seven stars and out
of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword and his countenance was
as the sun shineth in his strength. Can you see this view of the
Lord Jesus Christ, the Risen Christ, the Risen Saviour? He reigns. He is exalted, the
Lord of Lords, the King of Kings, the Lord over all, the Judge
of all the earth. He reigns. When John saw him,
he fell at his feet as dead. So glorious, so fearsome was
this vision of the risen Christ. This one that reigns over all
the earth, the one who created it and sustained it, the one
who was cast out and crucified, nevertheless rose and he ascended. and he reigns even this day until
his enemies be made his footstool. The earth is the Lord's and the
fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein, it's
his. He sits on a throne, he sits
on a judgment throne, he has a throne upon which he sits and
he has a throne that he sits upon for judgment also. There is a day coming when, like
John, we will fall before his feet. Whether we have come to
see a view like John has now, here and now, by faith, or whether
we will come on that one great day when he returns to judge
the living and the dead, we will come to see him and we will bow
the knee. For he comes in judgment to judge
all mankind to divide those on the right hand from those who
are on the left hand, to divide those who have received from
those who reject, those who believe from those who cast out, to divide
the sheep from the goats, to divide his own from those who
will go into outer condemnation, outer darkness forevermore. to divide his sheep and to bring
them into everlasting glory. He reigns in judgment and he reigns as the one in whom
all fullness dwells, all fullness. For all his church are in him,
all fullness is in him, All the Godhead dwells in Him, dwells
in Him bodily. He's the manifestation, the revelation
of all that God is. All His glory, all His light,
all His perfections, all His persons. But He is also Him in
whom His people dwell. Him in whom all the fullness
of His church, His body dwell. And He hath put all things under
His feet, and gave to him, to Christ, gave him to be the head
over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness
of him that filleth all in all. All fullness is in him. God the
Father, God the Spirit, God the Son, his people, righteousness,
light, glory, salvation. all is in him all is for him
all is by him he is all and he is in all but can you see him can you see him have you seen
him well no by nature you can't by
nature we can't it's just words you come and listen those words
you can't you're blind and you're dead you're deaf you're blind
you're dead you can try you can hear you can't see except and until and but god
the holy spirit Come and open your eyes and open your ears
and point you to that one who came, that one in whom all fullness
dwells, that one who reigns, that one at whose feet John fell,
one whose head and his hairs are white like wool, his feet
like fine brass, his voice is as the sound of many waters, that has a sword, two-edged sword
out of his mouth, whose countenance is as the sun that shineth in
his strap. Should God the Spirit this day
breathe life into your cold, dead heart? Should he open your
ears to hear? Should he open your eyes to see?
Should you be given faith to believe? Should He turn you from
darkness unto the light? Should He give faith to believe
and to see this great Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ in His
risen glory even this day, and to hear His voice, that voice
of many waters, speaking the truth of His gospel and His saving
mercy and grace to you? Should He open your ears to hear
this day? then seeing, hearing and seeing
you, like John, will fall down on the floor at this one, before
this one, this Son of God, this King of Kings, this mighty Saviour,
this Lord of Lords. And you will fall down and you
will bow down and you will worship this great Saviour. And then
He, in whom all fullness dwells, shall say unto you, and he shall
say unto all his own, whom he bought with the price of his
own blood, he shall say unto that great people whom he redeemed,
fear not, I am the first and the last, I am he that liveth
and was dead. Behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen.