I want to begin reading in Colossians
chapter 1 and begin looking in verse 12. Colossians chapter
1 and begin in verse 12. Giving thanks unto the Father,
which hath made us fit, meet, to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light, who hath delivered us from the power of
darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of his dear
Son, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness
of sins, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn
of every creature. 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. And he is before all things,
and by him all things consist. 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. For it pleased
the Father that in him should all fullness dwell. 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 or things in heaven, and you that were sometimes alienated
and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
in the body of his flesh through death. to present you holy and
unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. 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 call and made
a minister." One more verse over in chapter 3 in verse 11. This has to be one of the most
tremendous statements in all of the Bible in verse 11. There is neither Jew nor Greek,
circumcision or uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond or
free, but Christ is all and in all. Christ is all. What a tremendous statement.
The Son of God, Jesus Christ, is all. You notice here if you
read that as he wrote it, he didn't say Christ is a small
part. Or Christ is almost all. Christ is a great part, all but
some minute part. But Christ is all. What a statement. Only this could be said of Christ. It could be said of no one else.
It could not be said of anything else. If you had the greatest
king that ever lived, if you had a David or Solomon, and he
was a great man, a great king, yet he's only a part of his kingdom. Jesus Christ is the whole. You
look up in the universe and see our sun and how bright it is
and gives us light, but you know that sun, as huge as it is, is
only a small part of the universe. There's the stars, there's the
moon, there's the planets. Only could it be said of Jesus
Christ that He is indeed everything. He's not a large part, but He's
the whole. even of our existence. In Him we live and move and have
our being. This could be said about Christianity. Christ is all in Christianity. He's the subject of it. Nothing
else is to know and be known in Christianity but Christ. He's
the object of it. He's the very essence and life
of Christianity. You and I sometimes think about
our nationalities, but Christianity is not nationalities. Christianity
is not color. Christianity is not culture.
Some denominational affiliation or creeds or standings, Christianity
is Christ. Christ is all in Christianity. The Apostle Paul tells us this
here in this third chapter. In Christ, there is no such thing,
he says there in verse 11, as Jew or Greek. In this world,
we're identified by who we are. We're Americans, or we're Mexicans,
or we're Canaanites, or we're European. But in the Lord Jesus
Christ, all nationalities are eliminated. There is no Jew. There is no Greek in Christ.
They are one in Him, and He is all. In this lifetime, we talk
about Baptists and Presbyterians and Church of Gods and Church
of Christ. We talk about denomination. But
in the Lord Jesus Christ, these affiliations meet their end. There is no such thing as circumcision. There is no such thing as uncircumcision. In Christ, He is all. In Christ, all our social standings
are eliminated. A man, Paul tells us here in
verse 11, may be a barbarian. He may not be able to trace his
lineage back any farther than his father. He may be out of
a wild, barbaric tribe. Or he may be of the tribe and
savage group as the Scythians, but in Christ Jesus they are
all one. Christ is all. was first converted and the Lord
called him to preach. Most people wouldn't have anything
to do with it. Some of the bigwigs didn't like him because he was
a tinker in metal. They didn't want to associate
with Dear Bunyan. William Huntington was a coal
heaver. But you know something? In Christ,
it don't matter if you're a tinker or a coal heaver or a theologian,
Christ is all. Christ is all. We may be a slave,
or we may own slaves. One may be free and possess a
great fortune, or one may be in poverty. But if they are in
Christ, the slave owner and the slave, the rich and the poor,
Christ is all unto them. The publicans and sinners and
Pharisees They not only did away with their sins in Christ, but
they came and sat together in Christ and said, He is all. Christ is all. In Galatians chapter
3 and verse 28, the Apostle made this statement, In Christ there
is no such thing as male or female, but you are all one in Christ. In this lifetime, we all have
our proper places. Some of you are ladies, some
of us are men. We have our proper place in society.
We have our gifts of God. But you know, in Christ Jesus,
all that's done away? In Christ, there is no such thing
as male or female, but we are all one in the Lord Jesus Christ. When John beheld that tremendous
multitude in heaven, he said, Of all nations, kindreds, people,
and tongue, they all stood before the Lamb and before the throne,
and they were all dressed in the same garment. They all looked
alike, they all bowed before the same throne, and they all
sang the same song. Thou hast redeemed us to God. In Jesus Christ, brothers and
sisters, everything else is done away. And it's just about us. being in Christ. What is Christ
to you? Is He all? Is Christ all? Everything else is secondary
in the light of who He is. And notice what else the Apostle
Paul said here in verse 11. Not only did he say that Christ
is all, but he said Christ is in all. If you are a new creature,
Christ is in you. You don't have to doubt that.
Not for one instant. If He's made you a new creature,
then He is in you, and you are in Him. I will dwell in them,
and I will walk in them, and I will be their God, and they
shall be My people. And the Lord Jesus said, In that
day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you are in
Me, and I am in Christ is all. And if He is in you, you have
all you need. You have all you need. And therefore,
you're only told to grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord and
Savior. Let's see some things concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Look back over in chapter
1 where I was reading to you in verse 17. Let's see some things
concerning Christ, the Son of God. Look what he says here in
verse 17. And he is before all things. What a statement that is. He
is before everything. Before him there is nothing. I remember I went out to the
Rocky Mountains one time. They took me up and showed me
there next to where David Letterman lived. And I didn't see David
Letterman's house when I saw the view sitting there. I wasn't
interested in his house. We looked at that mountain, the
face of a portion of the Rocky Mountains, and it went up into
the clouds. And it was just one huge, solid
rock, as far as you could see. Majestic mountains. Only God
could move that. But you know something, that
mountain, there was a time when it did
not exist. It was not there. Have you been
out on the ocean and all of its depths that men cannot even go
down to? You cannot hardly fathom the
depths of the ocean. But you know there was a time
when that ocean did not exist. All the starry heavens, that's
enumerable, the sun and the moon and the planets. You know there
was a time when all this did not exist. Man, us, proud us,
with all of our proud looks and our proud knowledge, there was
a time when proud man had no being. Did you know that? There
was nothing. There was a time when there was
no time. There was a time before time
when nothing existed. There was nothing there. Where
was Christ then? He was there, wasn't He? He is before all things. Before Abraham was, I am. Before the world was, I am. Before
time was, I am. Go back into eternity. Back there
when there's no one there but the triune God. There He is,
the Son of God, in eternity. Oh, He was before all things.
And who was Christ then? Who was He then? Brothers and sisters, He is the
same that He is now. He was the Son of the living
God. He was God the Son. Listen to
John 1 again, John 1, 1 and 2. was the Word, that's Christ,
in the beginning. He was. He didn't have his beginning
in the beginning, but go back to the beginning if you can find
it, and he was there. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God. There's association, isn't there? He was with God, and the Word
was God. Isn't that a mystery? The Word
was God. Jesus, the Son of God, is one
with the Father. The same in essence. Whatever
makes up God makes up Christ. He is God. And yet He's distinct. He was with God. What a mystery
that is. And you know something? That's
what He is now. He was the Son of God back before
time. He was distinct from God because
he was with God, and yet he was God. Who was he? He was the eternal
Son of God. What a mystery. There's always
been three in one. Oh, what a mystery. What a mystery.
The Son is as old as the Father. What a mystery. He's eternally distinct with
the Father, and yet he's one with God. And when Jesus Christ
came to this earth to take our likeness to save us from our
sins, he never ceased to be what he was from all eternity. He
is yet, to this very day, the Son of the living God. What was
he to the Father? What was Jesus Christ to the
Father? Back in eternity, before all
things, what was He to the Father? You know the Scriptures tell
us what He was. What He meant to His Father.
Before there was a host of angels to sing holy, holy, holy. Before
there were saints to admire Him and praise Him for His grace.
When the triune God dwelt alone in eternity, full and free and
happy, what was Jesus Christ to God then? You know, Paul tells
us here in his text, here in my text that I just read to you,
in verse 13, God hath delivered us from the power of darkness
and translated us into the kingdom of who? His dear Son. What does Christ mean to His
Father? He's the dear Son of God. The Father's soul, the Father
has a soul. Did you know that? in whom my
soul delighteth." The Father is wrapped up in His Son. He delights in Him. Behold my
delight in whom my soul delighteth. His thoughts are towards His
Son. He has one purpose in this whole
life. Brothers and sisters, what's
this life about? What's creation about? What's
the church about? What's judgment about? It's about
the Son of God. God has purpose to honor and
glorify His Son because He delights in Him. He loves Him and has
given everything unto His hands. And that's what He's doing with
you, dear child of God. God is going to bring all of
His children to think of His Son just like He thinks of Him.
God honors Him. And what do you do? Don't you
honor Him? God has highly exalted Him. What do you desire to do
in your life? Don't you desire to highly exalt
Him? Father, glorify thou me. And that's what the Father's
doing. And that's what you're doing. That's what you're doing.
He means the same to you as He does to the Father. Oh, not to
the degree. That's impossible. But He means
the same thing in principle. He's God's dear Son, and He's
your dear Savior. Oh, my dear Son, my dear Son. Something else here in verse
16 of chapter 1. And look what He says here in
verse 16. Look what He is to all creation
in verse 16. were all things created by Him. By Him. That's why He said He's
the firstborn, in verse 15, of every creature. He's the originator of all things. All creatures owe their being
to Him. If creation could cry out, do
you know what they'd say? He made us. And not we ourselves. That's what we say, and that's
what the universe says. The little worm that rises out
of its hole and wiggles along in the ground, if he could speak,
he would say, Christ made me, and not me, myself. If the Son
could speak in all of his globe, he would say, Christ made me,
and not me, myself. He created all things. What is Christ to creation now?
We know He is its Creator. What is He to creation now? In
verse 17, He said this, not only did He create all things, but
look at this, by Him all things consist. It consists. That word means to uphold. We
are told by many today that man is destroying the earth. I tell
you, we can corrupt a lot of things, but you know something?
You ain't going to destroy what Christ upholds. You know that? You ain't going to do it. Man's
going to stop the sun from coming up? I don't think so, because
He upholds it. Man's going to stop the seasons?
They used to tell us when I was young back in high school, there's
going to come a time where you can't tell winter from summer.
Really? Don't we have the promise that
as long as the world stands, there's going to be summer and
winter, heat and cold, springtime and fall? And who is it that
will fulfill that promise? Brother Larry told us this morning.
He don't make promises he can't fulfill. By Him, all things consist. And you know something? You're
going to be in this world, You're going to continue to breathe,
your heart's going to continue to beat, and you're going to
continue to move about and have your being as long as the Son
of God upholds you. You'll not leave this world until
He moves His hand, and when He moves His hand, neither you or
angels will keep you in this world. He has those everlasting
hands underneath all His creation, and that creation is upheld By
Him. And I've just got a sneaky hunch
that there's not going to be a change in it until He comes
and thoroughly changes it. Because in the last days, men
are going to be saying, all things continue as they were. Well,
why have they? Why have they? Jesus, the Son
of Man, is upholding all things. By Him, all things continue. This is not our creation. I want clean water. I don't want
to mess anything up. I want clean air. I want to keep
the air as pure as I can. I want to be good to this world. But I tell you what, brothers
and sisters, we're not the one that's upholding that. He is. And I take a lot of confidence
in that, don't you? What is He to creation? By Him. By Him. By Him. By Him. All things consist. What did Christ become in time? Paul tells us here in this passage
in verse 22 of chapter 1. He became flesh. Flesh and bone. Real human flesh. This is so important. He tells
us here in chapter 1 and verse 22 how he reconciled us to God. You were sometimes alienated
and enemies in your mind. by your wicked works, he hath
reconciled hell in the body of his flesh." Real flesh. What kind of flesh did he have?
Real flesh. There were two great errors in
the New Testament. One was that Christ took a temporary body.
I was trying to think what they called those guys, but it escapes
my mind. But Christ took a temporary body,
and in that body, he suffered and died, and then the body was
annihilated. It was just a temporary body,
like he appeared to Abraham in, or like he appeared to Manoah
in. But John tells us that The spirit
that does not confess that Christ is come in the flesh is not of
God. What does he mean, Christ is
come in the flesh? It means he came in real flesh, that he was
born of a virgin, that he had a human soul, that he was the
son of Mary, that he could grow weary, that he could grow hungry
and thirsty, that he could suffer, that he could die. He said, have
on me and see a flesh and And blood, a spirit don't have flesh
and blood, as you see me have. What did Christ become in time?
The Son of God who was with the Father, who created all things,
upheld all things, He was transplanted, He was put, He was conceived
in the womb of a virgin. and was born a real soul, a real
body, the Son of God still, the something that He was not before,
the Son of Mary. Now, ain't that amazing? Who was it in her womb? He was
the Creator, was He not? Who was it in the womb? Him that
upheld all things that He had made. There was another group
of people they called the Gnostics in the New Testament. They said that Jesus Christ took
to Himself flesh. But it was just temporary. And
the reason they said that was this. They said everything that's
made since the fall is sinful. Clouds are sinful. Trees are
sinful. Flesh is sinful. So they said
the Lord Jesus Christ could not have taken to Himself real flesh. He would have been sinful if
He had done that. Was Christ sinful? No. How was He kept from
sin? He was born of a sinful woman.
He was born of the Holy Ghost. Born of the Holy Ghost. I know,
I remember now that other one. I remember that other one now.
It escaped my mind. I remember that other one now. They said that Christ was a creature.
Christ was created first of all, and then He was the one that
came and was born of Mary. That's the two errors. One was
Christ could not have been born of a woman because the woman
was sinful. If Christ would have been born
of a woman, he'd have been born sinful. So he really wasn't born
of a woman. He just took upon himself a body. He was in her womb, but he wasn't
the Son of Mary. He just took to himself the likeness
of flesh. The other one was he was a creature.
He was a creature. And then in time, he was really
born of a woman. And in time, he really died for
our sins. You know, that's what the Jehovah
Witness believed. That's in part what the Mormon believes. Christ
was the first creature that God ever made. And then, he was really
born of a virgin. He was really sinful. And he
died upon the cross for our sins. Is it saving to believe that? You know why it ain't saving
to believe that? If we're wrong about Christ, the person, we're
wrong about His works. Are we not? Who was Christ? He's the eternal Son of God. He's the Creator. And in time,
He came and took to Himself our humanity, never to be separated
from us again. And in our humanity, He suffered
for sin. and put it away by the sacrifice
of himself. And where is he now? Where is
he now? He's in heaven. That's where
he came down from. Christ is in heaven. What does
he look like there? He looks like us, only he's glorified. He has holes in his hand, a hole
in his side. He has scars in his feet of the
Velcro. He's in a glorious body. He's
seated there again on the right hand of His Father to save His
people to the uttermost. And someday, what's He going
to do? He's coming again. And you know what? He'll be in
our likeness when He comes again. This same Jesus who was taken
up from you shall so come again in like manner as you've seen
Him go away. But He'll be glorious. And you
know what His people will say? This is our God. We've waited
for Him. And He's now come to save us. He's come to finish the work.
And then what's going to happen? All His saints, all His people,
are going to be with Him in glory. And they're going to look just
like Him. And they're going to be like Him. And they're going
to know Him as they longed to know Him in this world and could
not know Him because of the infirmity of their poor minds and hearts.
What can we know about Christ when the Scripture says He is
all? We'd have to know all to know
all about Him. Even in that day as eternity
rolls on, We will learn more and more and more and more of
Him. We'll be glorified creatures
because He'll finish that work Himself. But glorified creatures
have their limits. Angels have their limits. And
for all eternity, He will show us Himself. He'll enlarge our
hearts. And as He enlarges our hearts,
He will fill it with the knowledge of Himself. And we'll say in
amazement, Oh, He is all. He is all. We believe it now,
don't we? Oh, but we just can't grasp it.
We just can't grasp it. You're here without Christ this
afternoon. Do you see how hopeless you are? You're here without
Christ. See how hopeless you are. Because
Christ is all. If you're without Christ, you're
nothing. What can you have? If you're without Christ. If
you have Him, you have all. But without Him, you have nothing.
Because He's all. What should you do? Do the same
thing these Colossians did. Hear His gospel. That's what
He tells us in chapter 1, verse 5. Hear the gospel. Chapter 1,
verse 4, they believed the gospel. Chapter 2, verse 6, they received
Christ Jesus. They received Him in all His
fullness into all their emptiness and all their need. They received
Him. Come to Him as nothing and receive
Him as your all. Come to Him and so believe in
Him that you see yourself accepted in Him and complete in Him. And then you'll say, I had nothing. I was nothing. I knew nothing. I am nothing. But now I have
all. I have all. You know something? If you come in here this afternoon,
and you were a lost person, and you had nothing, and you just
now found yourself in Christ, you know you'll leave here with
everything. You come in here completely empty, and you're
leaving full. You come in here with absolute
need of all, but you'll leave with no need of anything, because
you have Him, and He's all. Isn't that wonderful? We grow
in grace and knowledge, but we don't grow into Him. He is all. Oh, what a salvation! Oh, what a Savior! What a Savior! Let's pray.