Continue in our series and what
is important to God? What is important to God? And
we'll be looking at his son today. What is important to God? His
son, the Lord Jesus Christ is important to God, important to
God. Turn if you were the Colossians
chapter one verses 18 and 19. That'll be our scripture for
this lesson. Now, we know that all power.
And all authority has been given to the Lord Jesus Christ. And
in him all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily. And he
is the only way to the Father. The only way. There's only one
access to the Father. And that's in and through the
Lord Jesus Christ. Nowhere else. Not by our works. Not by other
people. No other way. No other way. Only Christ. He's the only access
to the Father. Colossians 1.18 and 19 says this,
and he is the head of the body, the church. who is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have
the preeminence. So he's the head. Our head controls
our body. Our head controls our body. He's
the head of the church. He's in full control. He's the
one who gave himself for the church, and he is the head of
the church. And the reason why is that he
might have all the preeminence. And look in verse 19, for it
pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell. All
the fullness, all fullness dwells in Christ. Now think of this
in light of our salvation, right? All our redemptions in Christ,
all our sanctifications in Christ, all our justifications in Christ,
everything, everything. And in him, all the fullness
of the Godhead, though it says here, dwells bodily. And it pleased
the Father that in him should all fullness dwell. God has chosen
us in Christ. And Christ has redeemed his people.
And it's in him we have forgiveness of our sins. Only in him. And
God the Father sees his people in Christ. In Christ. Brother Marcus, when he looks
at you, when the Father looks at you, he sees Christ. He doesn't
see you. He sees Christ. He sees Christ. He sees the perfect
spotless robe of righteousness that you're clothed in. And it's
wonderful. See, and that's why he says,
I don't remember your sins. Isn't that wonderful? Because all I am is a sinner.
And I know it's so with you. But we who are redeemed, God
doesn't see us in ourselves. He sees us in Christ, the perfect
spotless, sinless lamb of God. That's good news. That's good
news for sinners. Good news for sinners. Turn if
you would to Genesis chapter 41. Now Joseph was a picture
of Christ in the Old Testament. It says there in Colossians 119
for it please the father that in him should all fullness dwell
and then the verse before it said that that he might have
all the preeminence right. He has all power beloved. He
has all power all authority. Look at Genesis 41 verses 40
to 44. Now we know the story of Joseph
right by God's providence he was taken he was taken by his
brothers and and cast into a pit and then sold into slavery. And
then he was put in jail. He was in Potiphar's household.
Then he was put in jail. Then he rose up to be the one. The we're going to see here are
the most powerful men in Egypt other than Pharaoh. But Pharaoh
had committed everything to him. Had committed everything to him.
Look at this in Genesis 41 verses 40 to 44. Thou shalt be over
my house and according unto thy word shall all thy people or
my people be ruled. How are all God's people ruled?
In and through Christ. He has all power, beloved. Only
in the throne will I be greater than thou. And Pharaoh said unto
Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt. And
Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's
hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold
chain about his neck. And he made him to ride in the
second chariot which he had. And they cried before him, bowed
the knee, And he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt. The Lord Jesus Christ is God,
the son. He's the creator. He's a ruler
over everything. Over everything. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph,
I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand
or his foot in all the land of Egypt. And then look at verse
45, it says, and Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt. He had full dominion. He had
full control. That's the one, what a picture
of the one who has our souls in his hand. And think of this,
the one who keeps our soul has all power, has all power. Look a little further down in
verse 55 to 57 in the same chapter. And when all the land of Egypt
was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Now, isn't
that interesting? Bread? Who's Christ? He's the
bread of life, beloved. And Pharaoh said unto all the
Egyptians, go unto Joseph. What he saith to you do in the
famine was over all the face of the earth. And Joseph opened
all the storehouses. Now, notice, Joseph is the one
who has the key to all the storehouses. He's the one who opens the storehouses. He has all power, all power. And the famine was over all the
face of Egypt. And Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold
them to the Egyptians. And the famine waxed sore in
the land of Egypt. And all countries came into Egypt
to Joseph to buy corn. because the famine was so sore
in all the lands. What a picture of the Lord Jesus
Christ. As I said, Joseph is the keeper
of the storehouses. And he was the only one who could
open the storehouses. And in order to get to the storehouses,
in order to get to the food that would make bread, you had to
go through him. And he had all authority to give
it to him, whomever he pleased. What a picture of all of it.
And think of this. Think of Joseph being the one
who opens the storehouses, right? Who's the one who has all spiritual
blessings? Christ. Amen. Christ. Ephesians 1. Christ. He's the one who all
the storehouse of God's spiritual blessings are in him. And he
has the key. He has the key. And we have to
go through him, right? in order to receive those blessings,
in order to receive that. He's the bread of life. He's water for our souls. He's everything. So what a picture.
What a picture. All spiritual blessings for the
believer are in Christ. Again, he's the keeper of God's
storehouses. Redemption's through him. Think
of this. Redemption's through him. Forgiveness is through him.
Peace with God is through him. Justification with God is through
him. Sanctification before God is
through him. All of God's spiritual blessings
are all wrapped up in Christ and him alone. Do you see how
it totally takes man out of the picture? Except for receivers.
We're receivers of this wonderful, marvelous grace. We receive the
grace of God in and through the Lord Jesus Christ in him alone.
So our Lord Jesus Christ is important to God. He's the only one fit
to open the storehouses of God's mercy to sinners, too. He's the
only one fit to because he's perfect. He's sinless. He's spotless.
And he foreknew. Think of this. He foreknew the
fall and he foreknew the famine. Romans says this in Romans 5
says this wherefore is by one man's sin entered into the world
right when Adam died sin entered into the world and death by sin
and so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned
and then it says in Romans 5 19 for as by one man's discipline
as many were made sinners we fell in Adam so by the obedience
of one being Christ many shall be made righteous there he is
there's our great god and king And He purposed and planned the
everlasting covenant of mercy whereby a people would be saved
from Adam's race. Turn if you would to Hebrews
13. Hebrews 13. Hebrews 13. Look at this, Hebrews 13, 20 to 21. Now the God of peace that bought
again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, that great shepherd
of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant.
Christ's blood ratified the blood of the everlasting covenant.
Why is it called everlasting? Because it was made in eternity.
And it's been from everlasting. God has had a people that he
chose in Christ from everlasting. It says, Make you perfect in
every good work to do his will, working in you that which is
well-pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory
forever and ever. Amen. So even all our fellow
brethren always used to write, we want you to have the glory
of God. We want you to have the glory of God. Now think of this,
Christ came to earth in the likeness of human flesh and obeyed the
law in order that his people might have a perfect righteousness
before God's law. And he died on the cross so that
we might be justified in God's sight. That's why he did it. He was perfect. He was sinless.
He was spotless. He did that for his people. And
he did it willingly. He left the glories and splendors
of having knowing full well what he was going to do. He didn't
learn about it, he knew about it. He knew. And he is the only
one who has the capacity to contain all the fullness of God. The
only one who has the wisdom to distribute the fullness of God
and the only one who has the internality to continue to be
our fullness. He continues to be our fullness
even today, isn't he? He's our fullness when we fled
to him, and he's still our fullness. He's still our fullness. I look to him more now than I
ever have before. As Paul said, remember Paul,
you know, well, I'm the least of all saints, and at the end
of his ministry, he says, I'm the chief of sinners. He needs
Christ. He needs him more and more. My. where our conversation is in
heaven from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ, who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned
unto his glorious body according to the working whereby he is
able even to subdue all things unto himself. He is able to subdue
all things. Why? How can he do that? Because
he has all power. He's God incarnate in the flesh. He's God. And he's still God. and he ever
will be God. I was thinking about that today,
how all these false idols, all these different idols in the
world, and you've got Muhammad, you've got Buddha, you've got
Mary, all these false idols that people, they bow to them. They
bow down to them. And they're just stone. They
can't do anything. But beloved, we are trusting,
we who are redeemed, are trusting in the one who has all power. And he's manifested that fact
that he has all power. He's manifested and he manifests
it all the time. Every day. Every day. So Joseph opened the storehouses
and what a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ who opened God's
storehouse for sinners, for for all who believe and trust in
him. Christ became our surety and our sin offering in order
that sinners might be saved. There's no salvation outside
of Christ. If he hadn't have come and died upon the cross
in our place, there'd be no hope for us. None at all. Scripture says this, for the
Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.
The question is, are you lost? It's hard to find sinners now. There was a time when I was lost,
when God showed me. Now, I didn't think I was. And
then God revealed himself like he did to Joseph and his brethren. And like we were talking about
how that even when he just let a little of his glory shine when
he was with the apostles there, just a little bit. When he was
transfigured. He has all power. He has all
power and he came to save sinners. He came to seek and to save that
which was lost. And our prayer is that we pray
that whether someone's listening that that and they're not saying
that God would reveal to you your lost state and that you
would flee to Christ because he's the only hope. The only
access to the father is in and through the Lord Jesus Christ.
God's son is so important to the father that he has given
him a name. that is above all names, all
names, and at that name. And think of this, think of all
the people we've known through our years, and think of all the
people in the world, think of all the leaders, all the empires,
all the, through the years, right? People who despise God, or set
up false idols, or did all this, that one day, every single one
of them, all of us are going to bow our knee, every one of
us, All those people, even who hated
God, are going to bow their knee and they're going to confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Why? Now, in the New Testament, God
only spoke audibly to man twice at the baptism of our Lord Jesus
Christ and at his transfiguration, and both times his message was
the same. Turn, if you would, to Matthew chapter 3. And then
put your finger in Matthew chapter 17. And then we'll go to John
17. So Matthew chapter 3, verses 13
to 17. Then cometh Jesus from Galilee
to Jordan, unto John to be baptized of him. But John forbade him,
saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? He knows. John's had revealed
to him who Christ is. Now, think of this. Christ is
obeying the law for his people, right? Everything that God demands,
he must do. And Jesus answered, said unto
him, Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh to us to
fulfill all righteousness. then he suffered him. And Jesus,
when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water,
and lo, the heavens were opened unto him, And he saw the Spirit
of God descending like a dove and lighting upon him and lo
a voice from heaven saying, this is my beloved son and whom I
am well pleased. We'd be good to underline that
because let's look at that in whom I am well pleased. We in our own natural state cannot
please God. We come into this world dead
in trespasses and sins. The only reason why God has shown
favor and mercy to us is in Christ and Him alone. And God is pleased. He's pleased with Christ. He's
pleased with Him. That's why He's the refuge of
our soul. Because God's pleased in Him and we're in Him. We're
in Him, beloved. Look at Matthew chapter 17. Matthew
17. And after six days Jesus taketh
Peter and James, Matthew 17, verse 1 to 7. Matthew 17, verses
1 to 7. And after six days Jesus taketh
Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into a high
mountain apart, and was transfigured before them. And his face did
shine as the sun, and his remnant was white as the light. Boy, oh boy. Then answered Peter
and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here. If
thou wilt let us make thee three tabernacles, one for thee, and
one for Moses, and one for Elijah. While he yet spake, behold, a
bright cloud overshadowed them. And behold, a voice out of the
cloud which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased. Him. Again, though, in whom I am well
pleased. He's well pleased with with the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's my savior, and God is
well pleased with him. And when the disciples heard
it, they fell on their face and were so afraid we'd be right
there with him, wouldn't we? Jesus came and touched them and
said arise look at this look at this and Jesus came and touched
them and said arise be not afraid oh There's our shield there's
our defense there's our mediator between God and man right there
Now now we would fall on our face wouldn't we but what comforting
words the Lord says to his people? Arise and be not afraid God deals
with men in and through the Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone. And
those in Christ are safe. Those out of sight of Christ
will perish in their sins. And we know that the Son was
with the Father in eternity. Turn if you would to John chapter
1. John chapter 1. It says, In the beginning was
the Word, verses 1 and 2. And He is called the Word. The
Lord Jesus Christ is called the Word in Scripture. Look at this.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. And in verse 14, the Word, spoken of here, becomes
flesh. And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And
we beheld His glory. The glory is of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. So the word is the
one to whom believers were chosen in before the foundation of the
world. And he comes to earth, he comes to earth. Look, it says,
look at and look at you see right here in the beginning was the
word and the word was with God and the word was God. That's
an eternity in heaven. The same was in the beginning
with God. Then look at verse 14. Here is the word incarnate
and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld
his glory. The glory is of the only begotten
of the father, full of grace and truth. And he is the one. He is the
one believers are chosen. And he comes to this earth to
redeem those given to him by the father. And he's the surety
of his people. Now, we often say that word surety. Well, surety is defined as this.
Listen to this. One who becomes responsible for
another. Isn't that comforting? He's responsible for us. And
you tie that in with the shepherd aspect, right? The shepherd's
responsible for the sheep, to take care of them, to keep them
safe, to feed them. Isn't that wonderful? Isn't that comforting? Oh my,
he's assured. And Hebrews tells us this. Hebrews
7.22 says this, by so much was Jesus made assured, you have
a better testament. So in Him, we have the assurance
that all provisions will be fully and faithfully carried out that
are needed for our salvation. And it's all in Christ. It's
not in us. It's all in Him. And that's why
we say Christ is all. Christ is all for us people.
And Christ hasn't just been all for us here. He's been all for
us in eternity too. And when we get the glory, He's
everything to us. It doesn't stop. So Christ is so important
to God that God has given him all power. Just as Joseph had
all power, we saw that, right? Joseph had all power over all
of Egypt. So God has given Christ all power. Joseph was a picture
of Christ. 1 Peter 3.22 says this, "...who
has gone into heaven and is on the right hand of God, angels
and authorities and powers being made subject unto him." Subject
unto him. That means everything is under
his feet. That means He has all power,
beloved. All power. The Lord Jesus Christ. Christ
is seated on the right hand of God in all angels, good and bad,
all authorities, kings, governors, rulers, demons, powers in heavens,
earth and hell, and all flesh are subject to Him. There's nothing
that's not subject to our great King. Nothing. Turn if you would
to John chapter 17. Beloved, all power is in the
hand of our great God and King. All power. All power. And it's
God who has given Christ all this power. Look at this. John
chapter 17. We'll go through a few verses
here. John 17, 1. These words spake
Jesus and lifted up His eyes to heaven and said, Father, the
hour has come. Glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son
also may glorify Thee. So here before us we have the
high priestly prayer of our Lord Jesus Christ. The One, think
of this too, the One in whom the Father is pleased. This is
our Savior, this is the One in whom the Father is pleased, and
He is praying to the Father. And our Lord lifts up His eyes
to heaven, which indicates the soul and heart being lifted towards
the Father. And this hour, beloved, think
of this too, this hour is prearranged by the Father, predetermined
by the Father. And the Lord Jesus Christ prays
to him as the hour has come, the hour of his sacrificial death. The hour of his sacrificial death
that he prays the hour has come, his time to suffer. His time
to die, His time to depart out of this world, the time for Him
to redeem His people with His own precious blood has come.
The people who were given to Him by the Father, and He will
be crucified in the manner determined by the Father. That He might
be both just and justifier of His people. And He has come. Christ has come. to glorify the
Father and the work that's set before Him. Look at verse 2. As thou hast given Him all power
over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many
as thou hast given Him. Here we see the picture we looked
at in Genesis with Joseph. Here we see it come alive before
our eyes. Who has all power and authority?
Christ. Christ. He has all power and
authority. His power, beloved, is absolute. Absolute. It says, thou has given
him power over all flesh. That he should give eternal life
to as many as thou has given him. Aren't you thankful? If you're here, say that you're
one of the ones who was given to Christ in eternity. And let
us remember this. that in order to save his people,
he must be the one who has all authority. In order for him to save his
people, he must be the one who has all authority. He must be
the one who has all power. He must be. Otherwise, he can't
save him. But beloved, our king has all
power. All power. Do you see how the
sinner is in his hands? Not the way religion says, where
God's hands are so tied up He can't do nothing? That's a lie! Our Savior has all power. All
power. John 10.26 says this, And we
know, we also know, too, that eternal life is a free gift,
don't we? We know that it's a free gift. Turn, if you would, to
John chapter 10 and keep your finger in John 17, because we'll
be going back there. But John chapter 10, we know
and look in our text there, it says that he should give eternal
life to as many as thou has given him. Right. And it's so clear
in Scripture, isn't it? It's so clear. But yet we don't
see it unless God reveals it to us. The father has given Christ
all power. in the eternal covenant. And
this ties right in with John chapter 10 verses 26 to 30. Look at this. But she believed
not because you're not of my sheep. Christ is telling them you're
you're not of the ones the father gave me. As I said unto you,
look at this in 27, my sheep, what? They hear my voice. They hear my voice and I know
them. I know them. I have an intimate
relationship with them. Do you remember there's some
that he said, I never knew you? No, his people, he knows. He knows. And I know them. And what? And
they follow me. There's no doubt. When he calls,
the sinner flees and runs. And I give, look at this, look
at how this ties in with John 17 too, where it says, He gives
eternal life to as many as thou hast given them. And I give unto
them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Oh, that's comfort
in words for this sinner. He's the one who gave me eternal
life. And then it goes on, see, neither shall any pluck them
out of my hand. My Father which gave them me is greater than
all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
I and my Father are one. That's our Savior. That's our
Redeemer. That's the one who I hope and
rest in. That's the one who has my eternal
soul in His hands. What a great God. Turn back,
if you would, to John 17. Look at verse 3. And this is life eternal, that
they might know Thee, the only true God in Jesus Christ, whom
Thou hast sent." There was a time when I didn't know, and I know
when you didn't know God. We had no clue. But we know Him
now, don't we? Holy Spirit's revealed Himself,
revealed God to us. Revealed who He is. Eternal life
is not a profession of religion or a reformation of manners.
People reform themselves all the time. That's not salvation. It's not a knowledge of facts
about God. There are some people out there who think you can educate
people in the kingdom. That's hogwash. You can't do
that. You must be born again. And then He teaches us. He teaches us. All that I know
about God and about Christ, and it's just a little wee bit, but
all that I know has been revealed to me, and I know it's so with
you. Brother John, did you know anything about the Lord before
he saved you? He didn't even, we had things cooked up in our
minds maybe, but we didn't know who he was, and he's revealed
through the years, he's revealed himself to us through the preaching
of the gospel, and we just rejoice. My, Christ must reveal himself
to the sinner in order for us to know him. This is what the
Holy Spirit does. He regenerates His people. They're
born again. He grants us faith and repentance.
And then, as I say, He teaches us for the whole pilgrimage upon
this earth. He teaches us as we read scripture,
as we hear the gospel preached, and we grow in the grace and
the knowledge and truth of Christ. And we are drawn closer and closer
to Christ by it. It's incredible. And He leads
others just where they are. And if it wasn't for the grace
of God and Christ, remember, If Noah hadn't have found grace
in the eyes of the Lord, he'd been just like everyone else,
right? We can bring that home, can't we? Brother Marcus, if you hadn't
have found grace in the eyes of the Lord, he had just left you
where you were. But he found grace in his office. Every believer
can say the same thing. We found grace in the eyes of
the Lord. We've been regenerated. He's
granted us faith. to believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. Look at John 17, 4. I have glorified thee on the
earth. I have finished the work which thou gavest me. To glorify
God is to love him perfectly, to obey him perfectly, and to
live in absolute submission to his perfect will. And only one
could say he did this, the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, I have
glorified thee on the earth. Only the Lord Jesus Christ can
say this. He's the only one who is perfectly
submissive to the Father. Perfectly. And He did it for
us. He did it for us in our room and place. And here the Lord
Jesus Christ speaks of the work that was set before Him from
eternity. Think of that too. This work
was set before Him from eternity. It didn't just happen when He...
God didn't just go to plan B and say after the fall and say, well,
now you're going to have to go die for your people. No. Isn't
religion so foolish sometimes? This was planned and purposed
by God from eternity, beloved. And he speaks here of the work
that was set before him from eternity, which the Father gave
him to do, which was to fulfill all righteousness and to defeat
and destroy all enemies, all enemies, such as sin, Satan and
death, and to redeem and to save his people from their sins. And
he did it. He did it. He did it. He could say, I have finished
the work because it was so near. It was so near for Him to go
to the cross and so certain that He would finish it. And beloved,
He did it. He did it. When Jesus, therefore,
had received the vinegar, He said, It is finished. And He
bowed His head and gave up the ghost. It's finished. The work set forth before Him. is finished and praise God our
salvation is finished and may we rest and repose in our wonderful
Savior. May we rest and repose in Him.
Look at the last verse John 17 5 and now O Father glorify Thou
me with Thine own self with the glory which I had before the
world was. Note the praying son had been in existence before
the world. Before the world. Note he had laid aside his glory
in order to become the father's servant. Note that. And now,
oh, father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory
which I had before the world was he had laid aside his glory.
To become the father's servant, to redeem his people from their
sins, what condescension, what humility we see here in our wonderful
savior. And note also He prays that having
finished the Father's work, He prays that He might resume His
preexistent glory with the Father. He prays that He might resume
it. And this, this is the one. This is the one in whom the Father
is well pleased. And this is our Savior. And this
is our Redeemer. Praise God. Gracious Heavenly
Father, we thank Thee for Your Word. and how Your Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ, is so important to Thee, and that You have in
Him placed all spiritual blessings for the believer. Oh, we just
glorify You and magnify You and praise You that You've had mercy
upon us, and we pray that You'd have mercy upon Your lost sheep
in Jesus' precious name. Amen.