Well, come back with me in your
Bibles to Colossians, to the first chapter of Colossians.
We started a study of this book three or four weeks ago now,
and we come back to it this morning. I've called the message, The
Light of the Knowledge of God's Glory, and you know that refers
to 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 6, God who shined in the
darkness has shined in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And it seemed
to me that that verse was a very good summary of what we have
in the verses before us this morning. Let me remind you that
Colossians was written by Paul in about AD 60. He was under
house arrest in Rome in his final two years of life, a period that
seemed so negative for him in his ministry, yet was so profitable,
because look how many of the epistles we have that Paul wrote
from that situation, and this is one of them. And he wrote
this epistle to the Colossians, a place he hadn't been apparently,
but Epaphras had planted a church there. and Epaphras had come
to visit Paul in Rome to tell him, to give him an update on
how things were with the believers at Colossae. And Paul is prompted
then to write this letter, which we saw is not just a letter,
it's the Word of God. This is the Scripture. Peter,
the Apostle Peter says, Paul's epistles are the Scripture. This
is the Scripture, the Word of God. The Word of God to his people
regarding his kingdom and their inheritance in it. Are you a
believer this morning? Do you count yourself by the
grace and mercy of God to be one of God's people, to be a
citizen of his kingdom? Well, this word is to you. It's
to me. Paul's prayer is that the people
would be filled with the knowledge of God's will. That was what
we saw a couple of weeks ago in verse nine, that you might
be filled with the knowledge of that will. And he's not just
speaking to the Colossians. He's speaking to believers in
all ages. He's speaking to us today. It's
not just for the super spiritual. It's not just for the Christians
that are serious about it, but the others, they're Christians,
but you know, they don't put too much effort into it. His
prayer is that all true believers would be filled with the knowledge
of his will. And you know what the will of
God is? That his church will be saved, that his people will
be saved, that his people will inherit the kingdom prepared
for them from the foundation of the world. And why is it important
to be filled with knowledge, the knowledge of God's will?
Why is it important? Because knowledge changes life. It changes the believer's life
in relation to the world in which we live and the other people
that we come across of whatever type and nature and race and
kindred. It changes our attitude to that,
and it changes our life regarding God, regarding our relationship
with our God, to whom we're thankful. See, that was a thing in there,
wasn't it? Giving thanks unto the Father, giving thanks to
Him, thankful to Him. Why? Because He's fitted us. He's made us meet, it says there
in verse 12. He's fitted us to inherit this
kingdom. Come you blessed of my father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world. How has he done it? He's delivered us from the power
of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of the son of
his love. Kingdom of the son of his love.
This is what he's done. How has he done it? Through redeeming
blood, as it says in verse 14. were made, his people are made
the righteousness of God in him. His people are justified from
sin. They're sanctified, made holy
by one offering. What was the one offering? Precious
blood. The precious blood of the Lamb
of God. So then he proceeds, after verse 14, he proceeds to
extol the infinite virtues of God the Son. In those next few
verses, the infinite virtues of God the Son. Can we plumb
the depths of this? Can we reach the heights of this?
Can we grasp our way around this? So many people have preached
on these verses. I might even have done myself
in times past. What more can be said, you might
think, And you may well have a point, we'll see when we get
to the end. But as an analogy, you know, works of art can be
magnificent works of art that we look at, we gaze on. And people
who are expert, let's say, just as an example, the crown jewels
in the Tower of London, the United Kingdom's crown jewels, if you've
ever been to see them, it is a magnificent sight, the lights
shining and refracting through the different jewels, and you
can go back again and again and again. view the same things from
a different perspective, and you'll always be catching a new
shaft of refracted light, and thereby topping up the experience,
topping up the knowledge and the experience of it. And so
it is, but much more so with the knowledge of God's will.
So I've got three points this morning. First of all, The Son
of God in relation to the invisible Godhead. Secondly, the Son of
God in relation to this physical creation in which we live. And
thirdly, the Son of God in relation to his body, which is his church,
which is his people. So let's take an albeit brief
stroll around this very familiar gallery. Christ, the image of
God, first of all. In verse 13, it says, the kingdom,
it says, the translators have put it, his dear son, but if
you look in the margin, if you've got a marginal reference, it's
the son of his love, the son of his love, the kingdom of the
son of his love. Christ came preaching the kingdom
of God. Do you long for that kingdom? Although we live in this world,
although we experience all the things of this world, there's
so much going on around us that we see and touch and interact
with and taste and hear every day, but do you long for that
kingdom? It's a bit like, it's a very
weak illustration, but the poet Robert Browning was in Italy,
and you might remember his poem that he wrote in the spring,
I think it was in April, I'm not quite sure of the phrasing,
but it's, O to be in England, now that April's there, or now
that spring is there. And as he longed for this country,
is there a longing in your heart, believer, for that kingdom of
God? Not just as he did, but so much
more. You see, the kingdom of God was
the focus of the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. That kingdom
is the glorious estate of God, with the multitude that he's
loved from everlasting. The multitude that is loved from
before there was ever time or ever a world or ever a creation.
It's that glorious estate of God with those people. It's where
every spiritual blessing from God to the people of God is constantly
tangible to God's people. They hold it, they grasp it.
In that kingdom, they're there, there's nothing. Here, the things
of this world, the things of the sin of the flesh, and all
of those things get in the way. They mar the connection. But there, in that kingdom, when
we're there, there is nothing in the way. It's intimate communion. The Scriptures talk again and
again about the communion of God with his people, the relationship
of God to his people. In Deuteronomy chapter 33, And
verse 26, it says this, there is none like unto the God of
Jeshurun. You could read that as the people
of God, the Israel of God, the true people of God. There is
none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in
thy help, and in his excellency on the sky. The eternal God is
thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. And he
shall thrust out the enemy before thee, and shall say, Destroy
them. Israel then shall dwell safely, in safety, alone. You see, the relationship of
God with his people is that of great care. God cares for his
people, and his people rejoice in that care that he has for
them. But the invisible God, I was talking about the relationship
of the people of God with their God, the invisible God dwells
in light which sinners cannot approach unto. So how is it revealed? How is it grasped? How is it
held? It's in the sun of his love. I think I said last week that
He, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the tangible representative
and depository of the invisible Father's love to His elect. It's
all in Him. We grasp it in Him. We experience
it in Him. It's there where the Father has
put it, in Him. And because of that love of God
for his people, God so loved the world, not the world in general,
but the world of his elect multitude. He gave his only begotten Son
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life. Because he gave him his Son as
a substitute for his people. He gave his son as a sacrifice
in the place of his people, a sacrifice to redeem them from the curse
of sin. To redeem means to buy, means
to purchase, means to possess by purchasing. He redeemed his
people from the curse of sin, and the currency that he used
was his lifeblood, for the life is in the blood. The soul that
sins, it shall die. And we have all sinned, all have
sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And he shed that
lifeblood as the substitute and surety of his people. And thereby
made his people meet, fitted, fitted to inherit the kingdom
of God. You notice that The language
is that God has done it all. Religion will tell you what you
need to do to contribute to it. You know, the Jews asked Jesus,
what must we do to do the works that are pleasing to God? How
should a man be just with God, asked Job. And this is the answer,
believe him. This is the work of God, that
you believe, said Jesus, in him whom he has sent. He did this
work in Christ. He did it in Christ the Son. God the Word. The Word made man. He was made man. Visible. Visible to our senses. audible
to our hearing, sensible. We can see the things of Him
in His Word. We've got the historical account
of His ministry. He is the expression to us of
the hidden thoughts of God. And so God's Word says, in the
beginning, before there was ever time, before there was ever a
creation, in the beginning was the Word. and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with
God. All things were made by him, and without him was not
anything made that was made. Look at Micah, you know this,
well you don't need to look at it because you know it so well,
I'm pretty sure, but Micah chapter five and verse two. Thou Bethlehem
Ephrathah, Bethlehem in Judah, though thou be little among the
thousands of Judah, you're only a little town, the town of David,
Yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler
in Israel. Now listen to this. That baby
born at Bethlehem, Bethlehem's baby, laid in that manger, we
were singing about it in one of the hymns, whose goings forth
have been from old, from everlasting. This is who he is. This is who
he is. In the beginning, before creation,
the Father gave to the Son the glory of manifesting the invisible
God to people of flesh and blood. Let me say that again. Before
the beginning of time, before creation, the Father gave to
the Son the glory of manifesting the invisible God to people of
flesh and blood. No man has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is
in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. He has manifested
Him. He has made Him known. He is
God, and he is the image of the invisible God. He's the image
of the invisible God. Look at verse 15 of our passage
in Colossians 1. It says about him, it says about
him who redeemed his people through blood, thereby securing the forgiveness
of sins, it says that he is the image of the invisible God. He manifests the glory of God
to flesh and blood like us. He is God. He is the image. He
is the visible, the thing we can see of that which we cannot
see, which is God who is invisible. He is the image of the invisible
God. Just come with me, you know,
in the mouth of two or three witnesses. We'll come to Hebrews
chapter one and the first three verses where we've got the same
idea. God. who at sundry times and
in diverse manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the
prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son. whom he hath appointed heir of
all things, by whom also he made the worlds, who being the brightness
of his glory, and the express image of his person, the outshining
of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his
power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on
the right hand of the majesty on high. Just rotate those thoughts
over in your mind. Meditate upon them. This is God
manifest. This is not separate gods, this
is the one God manifest in three persons, Father, Son and Holy
Spirit. But here the Son manifests that
which we, as flesh and blood, cannot see. We cannot apprehend,
we cannot grasp it. Ask God as you rotate those thoughts
of Hebrews chapter 1 in your mind to shine in your heart the
light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus
Christ. This glorious Son, again, more
witnesses, more witnesses, back into Philippians chapter 2 verse
6, this glorious Son was in the form of God. It says in verse
six, he was in the form of God, Jesus Christ, let this mind be
in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form
of God, he was God, thought it not robbery to be equal with
God, he was equal with God. He hadn't stolen anything from
God by being equal with God, but from that position made himself
of no reputation that he might accomplish the salvation of his
people. This glorious son, was in glory
before there was a creation with the Father. Because in John 17,
in that high priestly prayer, He, the Lord Jesus Christ, with
His disciples there before Him, prays to His Father that He would
glorify Him, the Lord Jesus Christ, with the Father, with the glory
which I had with Thee before the world was. You know what
God says about His glory? God says he will not share his
glory with another. He will not. And yet here is
a man on earth saying, glorify thou me with thine own self. These are such deep, deep ideas. This is what Paul is praying
that the people of God and us today might be filled with that
knowledge. We'll never get to the bottom
of it. We'll never span the breadth of it. But here is the truth
of the knowledge of God. In time, in time when the fullness
of the time was come, says Paul in Galatians, God sent forth
his son. made of a woman, that which he
hadn't been before. He wasn't a man before, but he
was made a man, made of a woman, made under the law, made, as
Hebrews 2 tells us, for a little while, lower than the angels. Why did he come down to be lower
than the angels for a little while? that he might suffer death
and thereby in suffering death bring many sons to glory. That's
his people. That's his elect. That's his
kingdom where he's bringing them. He's fitting them for that kingdom.
How do we know the unknowable God? How do we know that which
is invisible? How do we know it? John 14 and
verse 5, Thomas says, how do we know the way? He says, You know the way, and Thomas
says, no we don't. And Jesus said to him, I am the way, the
truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but
by me. Philip said to him, show us the
Father. Let's get right to the core,
right to the nub of the whole issue of sinful man knowing the
unknowable God and thereby having eternal life. Philip said to
him, show us the Father, and that will be enough. And Jesus
said to him, have I been so long with you, so long time with you,
And yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that has seen me has
seen the Father. How sayest thou then, Show us
the Father? Don't you believe that I am in
the Father, and the Father in me? Can you comprehend these
words? No, you say, I cannot. But they're
here, and we believe them. Here is God manifested. I am
in the Father, and the Father in me. The words that I speak
unto you, I speak not of myself. You hear Jesus, the man, speaking. And it's the Father that doeth
these things, that gives these words. Believe in me, believe
me, that I am in the Father and the Father in me, or else believe
for the very work's sake. And down in verse 20, at that
day ye shall know that I am in the Father, and ye in me, and
I in you. Would you know God? Would you
know eternal life, which is what it is, to know God? This is life
eternal. The father has given to the son,
says Jesus in that high priestly prayer, he's given him power
over all flesh that he should give eternal life to as many
as the father had given him. And what is that eternal life? What is it to have eternal life,
to be given eternal life? It is this, it is to know thee,
the only true God, to know the hidden God and Jesus Christ whom
he has sent, by whom that hidden God, the invisible God, is revealed. In 1 Timothy chapter 6, 1 Timothy
chapter 6 and verse 14, Paul again writing to Timothy, he
talks about the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ which in
his times he shall show, who is the blessed and only potentate,
the King of kings and Lord of lords, who only hath immortality,
dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto, whom no
man hath seen nor can see, to whom be honour and power everlasting.
He's speaking about God the Father, the only potentate and King of
kings, and it's our Lord Jesus Christ who shows him, who reveals
him, who reveals the truth of him. In chapter 2 of Colossians,
which no doubt we'll come to in future weeks, but in verse
9, there is one of the most profound ideas, revelations, in such an
economy of words. For in him, in this man, in the
Lord Jesus Christ, dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Can you imagine that? Hymn writers
wrote it, didn't they? I often quote, God contracted
to a span. God, the infinite God, contracted
to a span. In him, this man, dwelt the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. If you would know God, you will
only find him in Christ. When we read earlier, Exodus
24, about Moses and the 70, and one or two others, going up the
mountain. And it says there the most remarkable thing, because
you know, no man shall see me and live. God says, no man shall
see me and live. And there were 75, give or take,
one or two, who went up the mountain, and it says, they saw God. And they ate, and they drank,
and they were not consumed. What was it that they saw? How
did they see God? They saw the Lord Jesus Christ.
They saw God the Son. They saw the Word of God. They
saw the manifestation of God. And if you do see this and know
that in Him dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily, look at
your standing now with God. Look at your standing. Verse
10 of chapter 2, you are complete in Him. You are complete. How
should a man be just with God? How should a man be complete
with God? How should a man have everything
he needs to be accepted by God and to be in God's presence forevermore? You are complete in Him. in the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's why it says in chapter
3 of Colossians and verse 11, Christ is all and in all. That's why Paul declared in 1
Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 2 that he was determined to know
nothing else amongst them except Jesus Christ and him crucified. Don't you think that's a bit
narrow, preacher? That that's the only thing you focus on?
I tell you what. I couldn't be bothered to study
and get out of bed to preach anything other than Jesus Christ
and Him crucified. For absolutely nothing else will
give me peace with God. Nothing else will give me acceptance
with God. Nothing else will give me an
assurance of the inheritance that I have with God. Nothing
else will persuade me that when I come to the end of my life,
whenever that might be, sooner or later, that I have an inheritance
with Him on the basis of everything He's done. So then, in this fragile
life, Nothing is more certain than this kingdom of God. Nothing
is more certain than God who is revealed by our Lord Jesus
Christ. Stand in awe, stand in praise,
stand in thankfulness. Well, we must move on for the
sake of time. But secondly, Christ and the creation of God. It says
in verse 15 of Colossians 1, he's the image of the invisible
God, the firstborn of every creature. Now, what does that mean? the
firstborn of every creature. Well, of course, most of you
will know what the Jehovah's Witnesses say. They say that
Jesus, as John 1 verse 1 says, they say, not that the Word was
God, but the Word was a God. The first created being by God,
but not God. I tell you, that's appalling,
eternally damning heresy. If you're hearing it now, and
you know somebody that's in that JW organization, or if you're
in it yourself, you know, because the sermons go on to sermon audio
and they're listened by people down the months and years ahead.
If you're in it and hearing it now, I say this, come out of
it, come out of it, because it's a damnable lie, it's a heresy. You see, it cannot mean When
it says he was the firstborn of every creature, it cannot
mean that he was created. Because why? Read on. Just forget
the verse division there. He's the firstborn of every creature.
Why is he the firstborn of every creature? For by him were all
things created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible
and invisible, thrones, dominions, principalities, powers. All things
were created by him and for him. all things. It says in John chapter
1 and verse 3, all things were made by him and without him was
not anything made that was made. And I remember once, I haven't
done it for years now, but there was a Jehovah's Witness on my
doorstep and I quoted John 1 verse 3 and he was saying that he was
the first created being and I said, but John 1 3 says all things
were made by him and without him was not anything made that
was made. If he was a made being, it was
made by him. How can that possibly be? And
the conversation quickly ended. All creation, all tangible things,
things that we can see and touch and sense, visible and invisible
things. Spirits, because of course, spirits
and angels, you know, they're all around us. Think just for
a moment, and again, I often quote this in Second Kings, or
is it First Kings? Second Kings, chapter six, Elisha. Elisha and the young servant
who's absolutely terrified because the Syrians are going to overrun
them. And Elisha sees that they're surrounded by angels and he prays,
God, open his eyes that he might see. And the Lord opens his eyes
and he sees that those that were with us are more than those that
are against us. All of it. visible things and
invisible, spirits, angels, this physical world, this universe
where we stare up at the moon and the planets and the stars
at night, all of this was made by him and for him. Human societies,
human governments, all of these things, Satan, Satan and his
hordes were all made by him. Why? Because it says all things,
all things. There's nothing that was made
that was not made by him. They were all created by him,
and why? For him. They were all created
for him. What does that mean? It means
it was all created to serve his purpose of grace to his elect
multitude. He is before all things, it says
in verse 17, and by him all things consist. It all holds together
by him. You know, we read that in Hebrews
chapter 1 verse 3, upholding all things by the word of his
power. This same one, this Lord Jesus Christ, this son of God,
this God manifest, created all things and upholds all things. He didn't create it and then
leave it to itself. He actively now upholds all things
by the word of his power. If you wonder whether you can
believe in miracles, and most people say they can't, If you
think of it like this, there's no difficulty whatsoever in believing
in miracles. If it is our Lord Jesus Christ,
God the Son, God manifest, who upholds all things by the word
of his power, he upholds, he sustains actively now, The reason
your chair isn't collapsing under you is because He is upholding
all the forces in that chair for His purpose. He is doing
all of this now. He, God the Son, the Word, it
says there, is before all things. He is before all things. He is
above all things. He is actively holding it all
together for His eternal purposes of grace. Hence, Romans 8, 28,
which we quote often, he causes all things, we know this, he
causes all things to work together for good, to those that love
God, to those who are called according to his purpose. How
can he do it? Because he upholds all things
by the word of his power. How can he make this situation
change for his purposes? He upholds all things by the
word of his power. and children of God, hear this,
if God before us, because it says this later in Romans 8,
if God before us, who or what can be against us? When his kingdom
is finally triumphant, when God is vindicated in strict justice,
Then will the recovered kingdom, recovered from the fall, recovered
from Satan who usurped the power given, the viceroyship given
to Adam when he surrendered it to Satan, that will be recovered. The kingdom will be delivered
up by the Son to God. that all things will be complete.
It says this in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 24. Then
cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom
to God, even the Father, when he shall have put down all rule
and all authority and power. For he must reign till he hath
put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be
destroyed is death. He will deliver that kingdom
up to God, complete. Here is the man, Jesus Christ,
who walked this earth, who lived with his disciples, who was seen
by the Jews, who ministered in their temple, who walked that
land of Galilee and all around. This is God made known. This
is God declared. This is God manifest. And then
thirdly, Christ the head of his body, Christ in relation, the
son of God in relation to his body. Verse 18, he is the head
of the body, the church. The body of Christ is the church
of Christ. The church of Christ is the temple
of God. You are the temple of the living
God, says Paul. You are the temple, you believers
are the temple of the living God. You're a temple not made
with stones quarried from a physical stone quarry, but you're quarried
out by the grace of God. You are living stones. It says
that in Ephesians chapter 2. It says that in 1 Peter chapter
2. He is the beginning, the firstborn
from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence.
Here we have the head of his church, the head of his people,
the head and the members in perfect union, pictured here. They were
betrothed in electing grace before the beginning of time. They were
bound in legal unity under the justice of God. The members of
that union, their debts were paid by their federal head, who
is the surety. For why? For Christ. You see,
cursed is everyone that continues not in all things that are written
in the book of the Lord to do them. But Christ has redeemed
us from the curse of the law. How did he do it? By being made
a curse for us so that We can sing that hymn we often quote,
my sin of the bliss of this glorious thought, my sin not in part but
the whole is nailed to his cross and I bear it no more. He's borne
it for me. He's taken it away. Has he given
you eternal life? Has he given it to you? You know,
I said earlier, John 17 in that great high priestly prayer, all
power is given to Christ. by the Father, that he might
give eternal life to as many as the Father had given to him. This is sovereign grace. Religion, lots of religion that
calls itself Christian, wonders how on earth we extract this
extreme doctrine of election from these pages. It's on every
page. If you put the glasses on of
sovereign grace, you can't fail to see it in every page. The
power that God has given to his son to give eternal life to as
many as he has given him. We were thinking a couple of
weeks ago, weren't we, that who was it that believed in the Acts
of the Apostles, chapter 30. Who was it that believed when
the gospel was preached? Those that were ordained to eternal
life. This is it. And he gives eternal
life. And what is it, that life? This
is life eternal. It's to know God and Jesus Christ
whom he has sent. To know God through Jesus Christ
whom he has sent. And so thereby, be made the righteousness
of God, thereby be made meat, be clothed in the righteousness
of God, made meat fitted for that inheritance, summoned to
the eternal marriage supper, confident of resurrection. We're
confident of resurrection. We know we're going to die if
he doesn't come before we do die. We're going to die, but
we're confident of resurrection. Why? Because he is the head of
the body, the church. He's the beginning, the firstborn
from the dead. He's the firstborn from the dead.
You say, didn't he raise other people from the dead? Didn't
people rise from the dead in the Old Testament? Well, yes,
they did. Lazarus was raised by Jesus from the dead, but he
was raised into a body that then subsequently would die again.
No, the Lord Jesus Christ is the firstborn from the dead.
He's the firstborn from the dead. He said, John 14 verse 19, because
I live, you shall live also. Because he lives, because he
rose from the dead, you shall live also. Before time began,
the father first trusted the son. It tells us that in Ephesians
1 verse 12. He trusted him to accomplish
the triumph of the kingdom of God. And seeing the truth of
this, his people also trust him to keep us safe. Isn't that what
Paul said? I know whom I have believed and
am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed
unto him against that day. Christ, the head of his body.
Prayerfully meditating on these glorious truths of God is the
way to what it says in verse 9 of chapter 1, be filled with
the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. It's how to experience what it
says in verse 20, the peace that we have with God through the
blood of his cross. Not through anything that we
are, not through anything that we have done or not done, but
through Christ, in whom the Father was pleased to have all fullness
dwell. This is the gospel of liberty,
made free from the curse of the law, made free to enjoy God for
eternity, made free indeed. And if the Son shall make you
free, said Christ, you are free indeed.