All right. Thank you, brother,
for that. Well, let's take our Bibles and
go back to the book of tonight, the book of Colossians, chapter
3. Book of Colossians, chapter 3. Well, we endeavored this morning
to break open this delightful alabaster box of precious ointment
that is to be found in verse 11, the statement of Christ is
all and in all. As we fit this into the context,
as we look at it in the context, the people of God are instructed
who conduct ourselves in a manner that is befitting our God, that
is consistent with our being raised from the dead by Christ
Jesus, and then he finishes this off, as it were, by saying that
we're those who are the people of God, those who believe the
Lord Jesus Christ, to these people Christ is all. He says in the
first four verses, we should really seek Christ. He says,
verse of chapter three, if you then be risen with Christ and
seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God, and set your affection on things above, not on things
of the earth. And here's the reason, for you're
dead. You're dead and your life is hid with Christ in God. You died in Christ Jesus. and
we were raised in Christ Jesus. There's the emphasis in this
portion of Scripture and indeed throughout the Old Testament
and the New Testament as well of our union with the Lord Jesus
that when He died for us, we died. We died in Him. He's the
head. When the head died, the body
died. His death was a representative
death for us, but it was a real death for Him. And we value that
death because in his death, we see our life. And in Christ Jesus,
we've been raised from the dead, and our Lord Jesus, who's been
raised from the dead, he says in the first verse, he sits upon
at the right hand of God, and there he rules over all things. And he says, therefore, you should
set your affection upon things above, and not on things of the
earth, because the things of the earth are perishing. We seek
heavenly things. We seek treasure which is above. We seek the Lord Jesus himself. And then he says in verse four,
when Christ, who is our life, He's not only the object of our
faith, but He's the one who raised us from the dead. He raised us
from the dead representatively in His own resurrection, but
more than that, or in addition to that, I should say, He has
raised us from spiritual death. He has quickened us. He has regenerated
us, and He is Himself our life. Therefore, He is our all. We
have no life apart from Christ Jesus. We have no salvation apart
from Christ Jesus. We have no existence apart from
Christ Jesus. We have no acceptance with God. We have no opportunity to enter
into the presence of God apart from our Lord Jesus Christ. And
in verse four, he says, concerning Christ, who is our life, he's
coming back for us, he says, and then you're going to appear
with him in glory. And then secondly, from verses
five through nine, he tells us to mortify the old man. He says, mortify, put to death. And this is not a one-time thing,
this is a daily thing. This is a daily putting to death
the old man. Mortify therefore your members
which are upon the earth, and then he begins to speak about
these impure actions. Be dead to these, and may these
be dead to you. He says fornication, uncleanliness,
inordinate affection, that's depraved passions, evil concupiscence,
that is, Lust for that which is absolutely forbidden in the
word of God and covetousness which is idolatry. And if you
wanna know how bad these things are, he says in verse six, for
which things sake the wrath of God comes upon the children of
disobedience. Who are the children of disobedience? Those who are disobedient to
the gospel. Those who are disobedient to
the gospel command to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. The
wrath of God abides upon them and they give evidence of their
still spiritual death because this is their lifestyle. And then he says to these believers,
he says in verse seven, in the which you also walked sometime. You lived in them before conversion. But then he says in verse eight,
but now, but now, that is, since you've been born of the Spirit
of God, since you've been given new life, since your life is
hid with God in Christ, since your life is in glory, Since
your all is in glory, since Christ is at the right hand of God,
he says, but now put off all these, and you'll notice he mentions
three things that have to do with the heart, and then three
things that have to do with the mouth. Notice in verse eight,
but now ye also put off all these, anger, wrath, malice, those things
come forth from the heart. You see the evidence of them,
but you can't see them. And you may very well hide these
sayings from others, but God sees them. He says, now put off
these. Anger, wrath, and malice. And
then he mentions there are three things that he speaks of that
have to do with the mouth. He says, blasphemy, taking God's
name in vain, and filthy communication out of your mouth. And then he
says, and don't, lie one to another, speak the truth, seeing that
you've put off the old man with his deeds. Now seek to be done
with these things. And this is a daily mortifying. It's a daily putting to death
these things. As you know, you who are the
people of God, life is a struggle between the flesh and the spirit.
And this is something we have to fight against every day. We're
not passive toward this. We're active in this. You say,
well, I thought salvation's of the Lord. It is. It is. And He's the one who has to give
us the will, who has to give us the desire to put off these
things. And by His grace, that's what
we seek to do. We seek to honor Him in our lives,
in our attitude, in our attitudes toward others, in the words that
come out of our mouths. That's what we seek to do is
speak those things that are beneficial for the people to whom we're
speaking and those things that are honoring to our God. And
then in verses nine and 10, he says, put off the old man and
put on the new man. The latter part of verse nine,
seeing you put off the old man with his deeds, look at verse
number 10, and have put on the new man. which is renewed in
knowledge after the image of Him that created Him. This new
man is a creation of God. It's a work of God. God didn't
take something within you and then work within you to change
and bring about this miracle. No, He put something in you you
didn't have before. He put new life. He Himself established
you in grace and you have by His mercy and by His omnipotence
a new nature, a new will, a new desire to honor God and believe
Him. You've put on the new man which
is renewed in knowledge after the image of him who created
him. Your desire now is to be like
the one who created you, anew, that is Christ Jesus. That which
is absolutely true of all the people of God here tonight, and
of all those who are watching and listening to this message
by way of the internet, that which we really want more than
anything else is to be conformed to the image of Christ Jesus.
That is our predestinated end, is it not? That's what we read
in Romans chapter 8. We're predestinated to be conformed
to the image of Christ Jesus. I want to be like the Lord Jesus
Christ, not divine, that's not what that's talking about, but
rather to seek only the will of God, the glory of God, and
have all of my thoughts and all of my desires be honoring unto
my Lord. And so, he says, you put off
this, you put on this. And then he says of Christ's
people, in verse 11, he said there's no distinction. Because
in the Lord, all national differences, they fade away. We're one body. We have one mind, we have one
Lord, we have one faith, there's one baptism. And so he says in
verse 11, where there is neither Greek, that is in Christ Jesus,
there's neither Greek nor Jew. We lay those things aside. I saw something that actually
came across, came in my email the other day, Jews for Christ. Well, nationality differences
have faded. We're just for Christ. We're
just followers of the Son of God. You know, you see bikers
for Christ, and this group for Christ, and that group for Christ. All of these distinctions, they
fade away. They dissolve. They fizzle away. We're one body in Christ Jesus. We're united to Him. We've been
united to Him forever. God joined us to His own Son. And all of these distinctions
that men make, they fade away. We're one in Him. And it doesn't
matter whether you're Greek or Jew, circumcision or uncircumcision,
or barbarian or Scythian, whether you're bond or free. He says,
this is what's true of all of us. Christ is all and He's in
all. He's in all of us. Equally. We're all His people. We're equally
loved. We're equally regenerated. We're equally saved. We're equally
made the wisdom of God in Christ Jesus. We're equally righteous.
We're equally sanctified. We're equally justified. We're
one in the Lord Jesus Christ, this one who is our life. And to each one of the people
of God, This is always true. Christ is all. He is all. And he's in all. And this is our theme for the
day. I tried this morning, and I believe the spirit of God helped
me, to set before you the fact that back before God made anything,
Christ was all then. Because the emphasis in the word
of God, when you go back before time began, okay? Go back before Genesis 1-1. The emphasis in the Word of God
concerning that which predated all of creation, the emphasis
is all on the covenant that God made with Himself, with His Son,
and with His Spirit concerning the salvation of sinners. That's
where all the stress is. That's where all the focus is.
You say, but what was God doing before He made anything? The
only thing we are clearly told in the Word of God that God had
made an everlasting covenant with Himself that meant that
He would save a people by His grace through the Lord Jesus
Christ, and you check all of the Word of God. Go especially
into the book of Hebrews and you will discover that that which
is said regarding our God, which predates creation, it's all focused
on this, His covenant of grace. That's a covenant that gave David
peace when he was on his deathbed. And in that covenant of grace,
Since our Lord Jesus Christ is all, where was He then? He was
all in that covenant. And I took you this morning to
the book of Proverbs chapter 8, where our Lord Jesus said,
before anything was made, I was set up. I was set up as the surety
of the covenant, as the savior of sinners. God the Father chose
a people unto salvation. And he gave those people to Christ
before the foundation of the world. How many times do you
read, especially in the writings of the Apostle Paul, of that
which happened before the foundation of the world? And always that
which is mentioned, that which is stressed, is this covenant
of peace, this covenant of grace. And in that covenant, Christ
is all. He assumed all responsibility
for the salvation of his people. Therefore, he is called the surety
and the mediator of the new covenant. And our Lord Jesus stood for
us in that covenant. And so I said, I tried to say
this morning, before anything was ever made, the Lord Jesus,
our Savior, that one appointed by the Father to be our Redeemer,
before the world was made, we were His delight. He desired
us. You remember last Lord's Day,
In preaching before the Lord's Supper, I preached to you from
Luke chapter 22, and our Savior said, with great desire have
I desired to eat this Passover with you. You remember that verse
of scripture? With great desire, he said to
his disciples, did I desire to eat this Passover with you? And
the reason he desired it so much was not because he was hungry,
but because He desired to redeem us. His desire has always been
toward His elect. He has no desire toward anybody
else. All of His heart, all of the
heart of Christ Jesus has always been set upon His people. And so He says to His disciples,
with great desire have I desired. Actually, the word desire there
is the same word translated in other places as lust. A strong
inward craving. And that's what he was saying.
I crave this time. Why, Savior? Why? Because I'm
gonna finish the work of redemption for you. This is a work set before
him in old eternity. And ever since creation had come
into existence for 6,000 years, He longed for this day. This
was His joy. This was His delight to save
His people. And in that covenant of grace,
Christ is all. This was the Savior's great delight. light and say his great wish
is not strong enough word, his great desire to redeem his people. And then, now let's move on.
Then there came a time when creation came into being. Because you
see, God had indeed ordained salvation. But there had to be
a place where this salvation would take place, would happen.
And so therefore, God made all of the universe. Now, as far
as we know, only one of the spheres that God called into being is
capable of accommodating life as we know
it, and that's Earth. And so in that sense, and if
you're a student of astronomy and that sort of thing, you would
differ with this. scientifically, but in the purpose
of God, Earth is in the center of everything. And the reason
it's in the center of everything is because that's where His people
are. You see, that which God has set out to do, though He
created worlds that are yet unknown to us, you say, why did He make
them all? For His glory. That's why He
made them. For His enjoyment. He can do
that, can't He? For His enjoyment. and for our
curiosity, and for men to make fools of themselves in making
bold declarations about how old this universe is. But he made
this earth as that location where he would bring about this great
work of redemption that he purposed back in eternity. And so here's
our Lord Jesus. If He is all, where was He with
relation to this creation? Well, He's the maker of all things.
You see, He was all in the covenant of grace before the world began,
and then the scripture says, by Him all things were made.
Everything that was made, He made it. In the beginning, God
created the heavens and the earth. Christ was the one who created
all things. He's the maker. He's the fashioner
of everything. In six days, the Lord made the
heavens and the earth and all that in them is. Hebrews chapter
one, verse 10 says, and thou, Lord, in the beginning has laid
the foundation of the earth and the heavens are the works of
thy hands. In fact, here in the book of Colossians, look at Colossians
chapter one. Go back to the first chapter
of the book of Colossians. Look at verse 16, speaking of
our Lord Jesus. Verse 15 says, who is the image
of the invisible God. All of God you'll ever see is
Christ Jesus. Philip said to the master back
in John 14, show us the Father, it'll satisfy us. And Christ
said, Philip, I've been with you so long, you don't understand,
he that's seen me, seen the Father. He's the image of the invisible
God. He's the firstborn of every creature.
And look at verse 16. For by him were all things created,
that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible,
whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers,
all things were created by Him and for Him. Not for us, though
we benefit from the things that are created, but everything really
was created by Him and for Him. That is, as it says in the last
verse of Revelation chapter four, for His glory. If Christ is all, where was he
then? He's the maker of all things.
He knew just exactly the kind of environment that we would
need in order to live. And this was all predetermined
before he made the world. Back when he covenanted with
the Father for our salvation, he also purposed the location
where this grand drama of salvation would take place. And he would
be the only leading character in the drama. Because he himself
is the only Savior. He's the only Redeemer. He's
our life. He's the truth. He's the God-man. And so he makes this world. But wait, there came a time when though this world was created
without any defects, without any sin, there came a day when
the very throne of God came under attack by Lucifer. and he and one third of the angels
fell. They kept not their first estate.
They weren't satisfied with their position. They sought a higher
position in the creation of God, and that was not to be. Satan
or Lucifer, he wanted to be in the sun's position, the heir
of all things. That was not to be. He craved
that position. He coveted that position, that
honor that was going to the Son of God. And God said, no, this
is not for you. And Satan, in rebelling against
the throne of God in God, therefore pouring out a measure of judgment,
even then kicked him out of heaven. And he came to earth at some
point. He entered into a serpent. He
deceived our mother Eve, and then the man fell by his own
unwillingness to obey God. They both fell and ran from God. If Christ is all, where was he
then? And what did he do then? I'll
tell you, he was right there in the garden. Not as a helpless
bystander, oh no, but as the mighty Savior. as the one who
is manipulating Satan, and Eve, and Adam, and all of the things
that happen in the garden, manipulating and directing, and as a director
would direct an orchestra. He's orchestrating all things
that would ever happen, even man's sin. He has authority over
that as well, because you see, it's against the black backdrop
of man's wickedness and transgression that God's greatest glory is
gonna be revealed, and that's in the salvation of sinners through
a suitable substitute. So he was there. He was there. And when they fell and ran, he
was there as the seeking shepherd. I will both seek and search out
my sheep, he says. And he did. They didn't run to
him. They didn't come to him. He went
after them. And he found them. Not in the
heat of his wrath, but in the cool of the day. and the bold
announcement was made by the Son of God, the seed of the woman
is coming, and he's gonna crush your head. You see, all of this
was contrived, planned, before the world ever began. That's
why God made the world in Christ. Christ was all, back then, he
was all in creation, and he's all in bringing to fulfillment
this purpose of God regarding redemption. It's the Lord Jesus
who's speaking there in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15 because
we know God's not going to speak to nor be spoken to by any son
or daughter of Adam except through a mediator. There's the mediator. There he is dealing with our
fallen parents. There he is speaking and they
hear him. And then He illustrated what
he was going to do. He killed two innocent animals.
The very first blood shed in this world was shed by the one
who would come and shed his blood. The Son of God, the Great I Am,
the Mediator of the Covenant, he kills these animals and he
robes our fallen parents. There they were, they had clothed
themselves in fig leaf aprons. Wonder if they ever thought about
this. They cut those leaves off and made them an apron. You reckon
it ever dawned upon them, them leaves are gonna wither. They're
gonna dry up. They're not gonna cover your
shame. They're not gonna be long. But I'll tell you, he robed them
in the garments, I suspect, of lambs, innocent animals. Animals
that were innocent of any rebellion against God. And so began a steady
river of blood all the way through the Old Testament. All the way
through. And then we get to 4,000 years
later. There came a time when this world
was sunk in sin and depravity. And after 4,000 years, it's been
proven beyond a doubt that man by wisdom doesn't know God. Doesn't
know God. Call it an age of enlightenment,
if you will. It's just every age is an age
of darkness. And men grope in darkness, in
religious darkness, in pagan darkness. never finding life, never finding
the true God. Men are ignorant of God. And
for 4,000 years, things went on, and men and their idolatry
and their ungodliness became worse and worse, worshiping beasts
and trees and rocks. And then God said, now, I'll
send my son. And in that time of redemption,
where was Christ? He's the one who came down. If
Christ is all, what did he do then? He came down here to this
earth. He humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. If Christ is all, what did he
do? He did the will of God perfectly. All the things we had messed
up, he came and honored God. He honored the law of God. But
something had to be done about the penalty of our sins because
our sins deserve death. So we had to suffer, bleed, and
die. Oh, but you see, that was ordained in the covenant back
yonder too. He knew. He knew because he was
the Lamb who was slaughtered before the foundation of the
world. He knew exactly his reason for coming into this world. I
know there's some modern foolish religionists who say he didn't
know exactly who he was, didn't know exactly why he came into
the world. They're fools. He knew the reason he was coming
into the world, to save his people from their sins. To satisfy God. to be the substitute of his children,
those that God entrusted to him in the covenant of grace. And
he, by his death, redeemed us from the curse of the law. He
opened up a fountain for cleansing, a fountain for sin, a fountain
for uncleanness. He died for our sins according
to the scriptures, and he arose again the third day because he
accomplished our justification. And he ascended to God's right
hand, and he sat down, awaiting the day when every knee will
bow to him, and every tongue shall confess that he is indeed
Lord to the glory of God the Father. There he reigns. There he rules. You see, all of providence That's
the purpose of God being executed. That's what He's doing now. It says in Colossians chapter 1,
by Him all things consist. He holds everything together. Say, aren't you afraid the sun's
going to burn out or some asteroid's going to come and destroy the
earth? I don't worry about those things. You worry about those
things? Why would you even give a thought to those things? Don't
you know who governs all things? It's this one who is all. Christ
is all. And he is all in divine providence. People worry about this, they
worry about that, and they don't give any thought to their soul's
salvation. Isn't that a shame? But God's people, give more than
a passing thought concerning our salvation. We see Christ
is all. And as we, through our lives,
understand that Christ is all and in all, it gives us the proper
perspective how we view everything in this world. Family, possessions,
and everything else. Christ is all and these things
are just Well, most of them are necessary evils. That's all they
are. And we use them, but we must not abuse them. And we enjoy
what God gives us. We enjoy our families, but we
don't even hold to our families very tightly because we know
God's going to either take us away or He's going to take them
away. that in all of this we know Christ is all, because He
governs everything. And if the Lord Jesus you worship
and serve and believe, if He doesn't govern everything, how
in the world can you have any peace at all in your heart? I spoke with a dear lady Friday. I called her, hadn't talked to
her in a while. She gets our DVDs. I said, isn't it good to know
that our Savior governs all things? She said, oh, yes. She said,
how do people live their lives with any measure of peace when
they don't know that? And I said, well, they don't
know what they're missing. They don't know the peace that comes
in knowing Christ and knowing that He's all in the providence
of God. And then there's coming a day. When our Lord's going to wrap
all things up, time as we know it is going to come to an end. If Christ is all, where will
He be then? Well, He'll be the one that comes
back for us. And He'll change this corruptible,
our corruptible bodies and the incorruptible and mortality. She'll put on immortality. He'll
be the judge. He'll be the divider of all men,
dividing sheep from goats. He will be the one who assigns
us to everlasting life or everlasting damnation. And His purpose of
grace will be fulfilled. And all of His people will spend
forever with Him. That's on that side of the end
of time. He was all on that side of time,
if I could put it that way. Somebody mentioned to me, said,
you always use the expression old eternity. I said, I don't
know where I picked that up, but he was there, he was all
in old eternity. And he will be there and we'll
call it new eternity. He'll be all then too. And He'll
be all to His people. Even more so than He is now. You say, what do you mean by
that? Well, we'll finally be without
sin. That's the thing. We'll finally
see things as we ought to see them. We'll see things clearly.
And we'll honor Him forever and ever. Because Christ is all. Do you know Him? I hope you know
Him and I hope He's your all. And He is in all of His people. 329 is our last song for the
day. Sitting at the feet of Jesus.
I kind of think