What I have to say this morning, as I hope it is all the time,
is for everyone here. That being said, the burden on
my heart that led me to this message is the young men and
women and the children who come here, some of which have been
raised in this very church. I had occasion in Cottageville
to sit and talk with some of the young men and women ranging
in age probably from 15 to 25 or 6. And mostly I'd just sit and listen
and then from time to time I'd answer a question that they'd
ask. But as I talked to them I recalled my own thoughts and
feelings at their age. Mostly confused. Just confused. For every statement
that I understood, there were ten questions. Questions. But mostly I was confused
about Jesus Christ. No one was ever clear in any
message I ever heard as to who he is. Who he is. Most of the message was concentrated
on us. On the life we were living. Decisions we had to make. Responsibilities
that we had and so on. Most of the messages were geared
to get us down to the front to get us, in their language, to
make our peace with God. Now they told us that Jesus was
the Son of God. They told us that. But they didn't tell us anything
at all about the God He was the Son of. They said he died on a cross.
I never questioned that, but I always wondered why. Why? What made his death so significant? Why are there crosses everywhere
you look? There's crosses. I see them beside
the road where people perish. automobile accidents, and I see
crosses on churches, and I see crosses in people's windows,
and crosses hanging on chains around their neck. Everywhere
I look is crosses. And Christ, they tell me, died
on a cross, but what made his death so significant? There were three men that day
that died on crosses. He was one of them. What made
his death so significant? Why is it I'm still hearing His
death preached? Why is it I'm still hearing about
His cross? What made His death so significant? There were two who died on either
side of Him, or for that matter, the prophets who died before
His coming. No message I ever heard dealt
with why He came into this world as a man. Why must God, I used
to hear them talk about God coming into the flesh, why must God
robe Himself in human flesh and come into this world? Why must
that be? What was God's intent in sending
His Son into this world as a man? And then thirdly, no message
I ever heard stated clearly what this man Jesus of Nazareth actually
did. He was preached to us as an example. He was preached to us as a martyr. He was preached to us as the
embodiment of love. But we were never told why and
what he actually did. What did Christ do? Did His death accomplish anything? Think about it. Did His death actually accomplish
anything? I was told what He wanted to
do. He wanted to save men from their
sins. That's what he wanted to do.
We were told what he attempted to do. For some, they said, in
spite of what he did, perished anyway. But no preacher, to the
best of my knowledge, ever told me what he actually did. And no preacher in more than
16 years, when my folks were carrying me back and forth to
church, ever told me where Jesus Christ went after His resurrection
and why. Where is He now? Where is He right now, this morning? Where is Jesus of Nazareth? Where is He at? You ever thought
about that? What's he doing? Where is he
at? He came into this world to save
sinners. He bore our sins in his own body
on the tree. He was delivered for our offenses,
raised again for our justification. But where is he now? What's he
doing now? And what does that have to do
with my salvation? He's seated, expecting till his
enemies be made his footstool. He's seated as the guarantor
for our inheritance that was given us and purchased for us
on this cross. Yet with no clear declaration,
no clear explanation of His person and work, hundreds came down
the aisle and professed faith and went home hoping in something. I was one of them. Hoping in something. Didn't know
what. Hoping in something we did, and hoping in something that
we did not understand. And I wonder this morning, as
you're gathered here in this assembly, how many of you have
heard and understood what I'm preaching. In John chapter 5, verse 20,
1 John 5, I'm sorry, 1 John 5,
verse 20, he says, and we, and if you'll back up in the chapter,
you'll see he was talking about those who believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. We, we who are called to be witnesses
to an unbelieving world, we know that the Son of God is come,
and in that coming, in that appearing, In that work He accomplished,
He has given to us an understanding that we may know Him that is
true. That is, that we may know His
Father, which is in heaven. He's the Son of God. Now He's
going to tell us who this God is. If you've seen Me, He told
His disciples, you're looking at the Father. You're looking
at Him. that we might know Him that's
true, that we're in Him that is true, even in His Son, Jesus
Christ. And this, not our profession
of faith, not our coming to the front, not our pitiful attempts
to produce a righteousness, this is the true God and eternal life. As I go through this message
this morning, I hope you'll listen to what I'm saying and turn in
your Bibles to the references. And if you won't hear me, hear
the Word of God. Hear what it says to you. It
may be that God will give you an understanding to know the
true and living God in His Son, Jesus Christ. Turn with me now
to Colossians chapter 1. The message this morning is Christ
in you the hope of glory." Christ in you, the hope of glory. In Colossians chapter 1, Paul
opens his letter to the church, speaking to them of their faith
in Christ Jesus. And for that blessed hope, he
said, which is laid up in heaven for them, which they had heard. These men
and women had heard before in the word of the truth of the
gospel. That's Colossians 1, verse 5. He goes on down in verse 12,
giving thanks to God the Father, whose wise counsel and provisions
had enabled them to be partakers with the enlightened saints,
or saints in light. Light denoting and understanding,
they no longer walk in darkness and ignorance, but in wisdom
and knowledge. And this wisdom and knowledge,
this heavenly light was concerning a person, a person through whose
blood we have redemption, a person who has, through the blood of
Christ, redemption. What is that? If I have redemption,
what do I have? That means he paid all our debts
to God. That's what that means. Jesus
paid it all, we sing that old hymn, all to him I owe. We have redemption, he said,
even the forgiveness of sins. And there's only one way your
sins can be forgiven, and that is if the debt they incurred
be paid in full. And this person who is our Redeemer
is the image, Paul tells us, of the invisible God. What does
that mean? The image of the invisible God.
That means His character is the character of God. When you look
at Christ, You're seeing the embodiment of God. This is God
come into the flesh. All you're ever going to know
about God is embodied in this person. You want to know who
God is? For real. I'm not talking about some concept,
some idea that's been passed off by a bunch of philosophers
and religious tradition and everything else. I'm talking about knowing
who God is for real. If you want to know who He is,
find out who this man is. Study this man, Jesus Christ.
This is God come into the flesh. He's God, our Savior. His character is the character
of God. Perfectly God. God through and
through. He thought it not robbery to
be equal with God. Perfectly righteous. Perfectly
holy. Perfectly just. Perfectly merciful
and gracious. Perfectly and all wise. Jesus
of Nazareth is God. If you break that statement down
that I read to you in John chapter 8, except you believe that I
am He, go back and look at that He. It ain't in there as added
by the translator so you can better understand the verse.
And it has its meanings. I'm not saying it's in there
wrongly. But I'm saying if you want the
full impact of what he's telling them, he's telling them, except
you believe that I am. That is the great I am. This
is God speaking to you. I and my Father are one. Philip said, show us the Father,
and we'll be satisfied. It will suffice us. And the Lord
answered him, have I been so long time with you, and have
you not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father. And how sayest thou then, show
us the Father? This One through whom God speaks
to men, speaks of reconciliation and peace, speaks of redemption
and forgiveness, is the brightness of the Father's glory." Now listen,
and express the image of His person. What He says, God says. Huh? Can that be? What He says, God says. Whom He loves, God loves. Whom He teaches, God teaches. Whom He forgives, God forgives. That you might know that the
Son of God hath power on earth to forgive sins. I said unto
him, Be thou healed. He is Colossians 1.15. He is
the image of the invisible God. Now watch this. The firstborn
of every creature. Every creature means All creation. All creation. In saying He is
the firstborn of all creation, He's saying that He was first. He was first. The reason for
creation is Him who's first. Ain't that what that's saying?
He's first, then creation. The reason for creation is Christ. Now what am I trying to tell
you this morning? I'm trying to tell you about who the Christ
is. We just throw that term around
like it doesn't mean anything. Brethren, read in the Scriptures
almost every time the apostles talked about Jesus, they called
Him Christ Jesus, didn't they? Or Jesus Christ. Or Christ Jesus
the Lord. But that word Christ is in there
almost throughout. Throughout. The reason for creation is Christ. In John chapter 1, the apostle
begins his gospel with this declaration, In the beginning was the Word.
Now we all know who the Word is. Capital W-O-R-D. I'm talking
about Christ. In the beginning was the Word.
Why is He called the Word? Because everything God purposed
to communicate to men, He did through His Son. Everything God
got to say to the sinner, He says through His Son. John 1.1, 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. All things were made by
Him. Why did He make them? Because
He's the Word. He's the Word. And in His time,
He's going to communicate what God gave Him to say. All things were made by him,
and without him was not anything made that was made. Every insect,
every fish, every beast of the field, every creeping thing,
every plant, every tree, the sun, the moon, the stars, he
sitteth, the prophet said, upon the circle of the earth. And
all the inhabitants thereof are grasshoppers. He's the firstborn
of every creature, Colossians 1.16. For by Him were all things
created that are in heaven, that are on earth. Visible, things
you see every day, trees, grass, cars, you go on and on and on
with it. Visible and invisible, things
you don't see. Things that work inside of you
that you have no idea that's in there. Visible and invisible,
whether they be thrown or dominions, or principalities, or powers. All things were created by Him. Now listen, and for Him, for
Him, for the Christ of God, for Him whose purpose is to manifest
the glory of God's love and mercy and grace, for Him through whom
God has purposed to speak to chosen sinners. Colossians 1.17,
He's before all things. And by Him, listen to this, all
things consist. Because of who He is and why
He was ordained, God has given to Him power over all creation. As the Son of God, He's equal
with God in His attributes. He's omnipotent being God, but
as Christ, He has a delegated authority. And this delegated authority
was given to him, according to his prayer in John 17, to give
eternal life to as many as the Father hath given him. That's what it says. Gave him
power over all flesh. That he should give eternal life
to as many as the Father hath given him. And he's the reason
why God didn't burn this world to cinders when Adam fell. It's because some of this ungodly
race of men and women have been chosen in Christ. And as Christ,
He will preserve creation until the last one of those elect is
called in. Romans 8, 19 says, the earnest
expectation of creation is waiting. What's it waiting on? The manifestation
of the sons of God. What's waiting on? It was made subject to vanity,
not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the
same in hope." Who's that? That's him who was the first, who was before. And heaven and
earth are ordered and preserved by God's mediatorial king. As
was the old world, Peter said, before the flood, so the heavens
and the earth which are now by his word. by His word are kept
in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and
perdition of ungodly men. But God's not slack concerning
His promises, as some men count slackness. He's not willing that
any should perish. Any who? Any of His elect. They're
not going to perish. This world's not going anywhere.
Sure looks like it, don't it? It's not going anywhere. By Him
all things consist. He's before all things. By Him
all things consist to be maintained, that is, in a fixed and permanent
state. The ungodly will not change,
never will change, and those chosen of God never will perish. That's just so. Yet they exist
together until the day of judgment. Colossians 1.18, talking about
who this Christ is. He's 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. He's the head
of the church. What does that mean? It means he's their federal head
and representative. Even so, in Christ, the head
of God's elect, his church, all are made alive. You remember
back there in 1 Corinthians 15, as in Adam all die, even so in
Christ shall all be made alive. Romans 5.18, by the offense of
one, that is our father Adam, Judgment came upon all men to
condemnation. Even so, in like manner, by the
righteousness of one, our divine representative, the free gift
came upon all men. That is, all represented in Him
under justification of life. He's the head of the body of
the church who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead.
The Christ of God is the firstborn from the dead. What's that mean? That means every child of Adam
is born dead. That's what that means. Dead in trespasses and sin. Come
forth from the womb, speaking lies. Conceived in iniquity,
born in sin. There's only one man ever born
into this world who was born from the dead. Are you listening? Christ. Christ. He is the first begotten from
the dead. Actually a man born without sin. Born not under the curse. Born without sin. Born of God. Born of a virgin. placed in Mary's womb by the
Holy Ghost, and not receiving Adam's fallen nature, but having
the very nature of God. The Scripture says, by one man
sin entered into the world, and death by sin. And so death passed
upon all men, for that all had sinned. They were all born dead
spiritually. He's dead in trespasses and sin,
dead in his nature, and dead by the judgment of God. He's
not awaiting trial. He's on death row. He's just
waiting for execution. The Christ of God is our only
hope because he's the first begotten from the dead. And that, not for himself, because
he's the head of the church. He is the representative of the
church. He's their federal head. As Adam
was the federal head of all mankind, of all creation and salvation,
he has the preeminence. He has the preeminence. Colossians
119, for it pleased the Father that
in him should all fullness dwell. fullness of purpose, fullness
of His person and character, fullness of His appointments,
fullness of His headship, fullness of power. Verse 20, Colossians
1.20, And having made peace through the blood of His cross by Him
to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, I say, whether they be
things in earth, Things in heaven, things in earth such as our existence,
our fall, our present state and glory, the gospel we preach,
the church we attend, and things in earth or things in heaven,
God's holiness, His righteousness, and His justice. God must establish His righteousness
in the salvation of sinners, and God reconciles those things
in Christ. Christ made peace by reconciling
all things by the blood of His cross. Alright, Colossians 1.21.
Now let's get down to it. And you, and you. Boy, you talk about coming down. We've been talking about Him
who is before all things. Who spoke, He commanded and it
stood fast. He spoke and it was done. He
commanded and it stood fast. By Him for thousands of years,
everything that is, consists by the Word of His power. And
right now this morning, controlling the providence that brought you
here, controlling the mind with which you think, is this great
mediator. And you, he said. And you. Just hard to stop for a minute
and think that now he's been talking about this great woman.
Too high for us to even begin to know everything there is to
know. The world wouldn't hold the books
of the things that he'd done. What John said. And you. Now he's going to talk about
you. Listen to this. And you that were sometime alienated,
enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled. Are you listening? In the body
of His flesh, through death, to present you holy. You can't even say that word
in relationship with yourself, can you? Kingdom, to present you wholly, now listen
to this, unblameable, and this just blows my mind completely,
unreprovable in His sight. There is only one way we can
stand in the approval and blessing of God, and that is through the
person and work of Jesus Christ. By divine union, by covenant
union, by eternal union, God put us in His Son, so that when
His Son became obedient unto death, we become obedient unto
death. When Jesus Christ bore our sins
in His own body on the tree, we received full recompense for
our sins because we were in Him. When Jesus Christ died, we died
with Him. And when He arose, He raised
us up with Him. And we ascended together with
Him and were seated together with Him. And in Him, by way
of our union with our head, We are presented holy, unblameable,
and unreprovable in His sight. Colossians 1.23. If, here's an
if, if you continue in the faith, that is faith in God Christ,
faith that rests in Him, faith that understands who He is, why
He came, what He did, and where He is. If you continue in the
faith, grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the
hope of the gospel which you have heard and which was preached
to every creature which is under heaven, whereof I, Paul, have
made a minister." That is just one faith. You can read about
it in Ephesians 4, verse 5. Just one baptism. One baptism that confesses what
you know in your heart to be so, that you were buried with
Him into His death and raised with Him under justification
of life. And there is but one hope of
your calling, and that hope is Christ in you. Colossians 1.25, Paul said he
was made a minister according to the dispensation, that is,
the administration or stewardship of God. which is given to me
for you to fulfill the word of God. Even the mystery, verse
26, even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and generations,
but is now made manifest to his saints, to whom God would make
known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among heathen
idolaters, rank idolaters, which is, oh may God the Holy Spirit
give you the ability to understand this next statement, which is
Christ in you, the hope of glory. Huh? What's your hope? What's your
hope? Christ. What's your righteousness? Christ. Where's your affection? Christ. Set your affection on things
above, not on things of the earth, for you're dead, and your life
is hid with God in Christ. And when Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall we also appear with Him in glory." Christ
in you. That's what faith knows. That's
what faith lays hold of. That's where assurance comes
from. I'm not a bit assured of me or my abilities or how much
I believe or anything else. I'm convinced that salvation
is secure in Christ. And if I have Him, I have security. If I have Him, I have assurance. If I have Him, I have life. Life's in Him. He that hath the
Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God
hath not life. You see what I'm trying to preach
to you? That's what Paul preached. Christ. It's all Christ. It's all in Him. And this is
the hope of glory. Christ in you. Now, you've heard the gospel
as simply and plainly preached as any man can preach it. And you have as surely heard
from the Master as if He was right here in your presence.
He that heareth you, heareth me. That's what He said. We're ambassadors for Him as
though God did beseech you by us. We pray you in His stead
be you reconciled to God. He is the way, the truth, and
the life. No man cometh under the Father
but by Him. How will you come? You going to drag those old traditions?
You going to drag that old understanding? You going to drag them old pitiful
attempts of righteousness up before the throne of God? No. Come in Him. Come in Him. He's able, the scripture said,
to save to the uttermost those who come unto God by Him. How
will you come? Come to Him. And come in Him. And when He appears, you'll appear
with Him. That's the gospel. Plainly as
I make it, that's the gospel.