Today I would like you to turn
in your Bible to the book of Colossians, the book of Colossians.
And I'll be speaking to you from Colossians chapter one, verse
19. I want to back up this morning
and read from verse 12, Colossians chapter one, verse 12, giving
thanks unto the father who hath made us meet. And the word can
be rendered fit to be partakers of inheritance of the saints
in light or in Christ who had delivered us. from the power
of darkness and have translated us into the kingdom of God's
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 are all things created
that are in heaven, that are in the earth, visible, invisible.
Whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers,
all things were created by him, by the Lord Jesus Christ and
for him. And he is before all things,
and by him all things consist. He is the head Lord of the body,
Lord and head of the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn,
first begotten from the dead, that in all things he might have
the preeminence. Now here's our text this morning.
For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell,
having made peace through the blood of his cross by him to
reconcile all things unto himself. By him, I say. whether they be
things in earth or things in heaven, and you that were sometimes
alienated, enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now he reconciled
in the body of his flesh through death, his death, to present
you holy, unblameable, and unreprovable in his sight." Now, every message
we prepare and every message and every sermon we deliver We
should have one grand object, one major theme, and one certain
purpose. That is to glorify the Lord Jesus
Christ. Can't we say with David, Lord,
not unto us, not unto us, but unto thy name do we give glory
for thy mercy and for thy true sake. And certainly that is the
purpose of this radio broadcast, to glorify and honor the Lord
Jesus Christ. This text we have chosen this
morning does exactly that, and I pray God will enable me to
exalt Him, Christ, and give Him all the preeminence and glory,
for He is worthy of it. Now, Colossians chapter 1 verse
19 is my text. Let's read it again. For it has
pleased the Father, it pleased God, that in Christ should all
fullness dwell. Now, here's four things we see
in this text. We see the what, where, and why,
and when of the gospel. What dwells in Christ? All fullness. Where does it dwell? In him.
And we are told why it dwells in him. It pleased God to do
so. And when? It dwelleth. always
has and always will. Now let's look at those four
things, the what, where, why, and when of the gospel we see
in verse 19. What do we see in the Lord Jesus
Christ? It says here in this text, all
fullness, all fullness. Two mighty words are given to
us, fullness. and all. Now we rejoice that
all fullness dwells in Christ. This fullness here spoken of
dwells nowhere else. We know that with men we read
vanity of vanity all is vanity for in us by nature is all emptiness
for there is none righteous no not one there is none that doeth
good there's none that seeketh after God. Our human nature is
a desert empty and void of righteousness, inhabited only by sin and sorrow. Our human nature is a cesspool
of iniquity. That's why Isaiah said, our righteousnesses
are as filthy racks. With the law we read, cursed
is everyone that continues not in all things, written in the
book of the law to do them. With men is emptiness. With the
law there's cursing and threatenings, the types of the law, and the
shadows of the law may instruct us, but they cannot save us.
The law will only serve to condemn, not to heal, only to convict,
not to comfort. The law is only a shadow, a schoolmaster
to bring us unto Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is not
shadow. He's substance. He is our sacrifice. He is our altar. He is our priest. He's the tabernacle. He's the
mercy seat. Christ is all. It says that in
Colossians chapter 3 verse 11. Look over there. He said there's
neither Jew nor Greek, barbarian nor Scythian, bond or free, but
Christ is all and in all. The law was given by Moses, but
grace and truth comes through the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, on
this first point we see two things. All the fullness of God dwells
in Him. The power, wisdom, truth, immutability,
all the attributes of God dwell in the Lord Jesus Christ. Colossians
2 verse 9, right across the page, tells us that. For in Him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. We cannot begin to imagine
or comprehend the personal fullness of Jesus Christ as God. And that's who He is. He's God,
the very God of very God. All the fullness of God, all
the attributes of God dwell in the Lord Jesus Christ. The second
thing we see, all the fullness of salvation dwells in Him. through
his sacrifice, through his righteousness, all that God has demanded of
the sinner is fully. Now listen, isn't this good news? Everything that God demands of
the sinner is fully and freely and eternally provided in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to this scripture. 1 Corinthians
1.30, But of him are you in Christ, who of God is made unto us wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. And he that would
glory, let him glory in Christ alone. Now a limited amount of
mercy will only serve to mock us. A partial redemption will
only torment us. A halfway righteousness will
only condemn us. But in the Lord Jesus Christ
we have all fullness. All fullness dwells in Christ,
and the believer is complete in Him. Colossians 2 verse 10. Let's read verses 9 and 10. For
in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you
are complete in Him. In John chapter 1 verse 16 we
read, "...of His fullness have we all received grace, heaped
upon grace, grace for grace." We're not asked to contribute
anything, nor are we required to make up some deficiencies,
for there is nothing to contribute and no deficiencies to make up.
What a great comfort this gives the sinner. If we had something
to do to be accepted, we would always be in jeopardy of not
doing enough. But we read in Ephesians chapter
1 that we're accepted in the Beloved. We're accepted in His
fullness. We stand in Christ, holy, unblameable,
and unreprovable in His sight. All the fullness of salvation
dwells in Christ. Now, that we've already answered
our second question. Where does this fullness dwell?
Well, the text says it's in him. In him. Everything God has for
the sinner is in Christ, through Christ. Where else could fullness
be placed but in him? Only deity, only God can contain
all fullness. How suitable is the Lord Jesus
Christ to be a storehouse of all mercy. The apostle put it
this way, bless God who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings
in the heavenlies in the Lord Jesus Christ. And again, he says
in 2 Corinthians 1 20, for all the promises of God in him are
yes, and in him unto the glory of God. Now, where does all the
fullness of God dwell? All the fullness of salvation
in Christ. He has not only the capacity
to contain, immutability to retain, the unchangeable must to retain
all fullness forever. He says, I'm the Lord, I change
not, therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. He's the same
yesterday, today, and forever. He's the high priest forever.
after the order of Melchizedek. He obtained eternal redemption
for us, eternal redemption for us. He is the author of eternal
salvation. Perhaps the sweetest thought
is that he has all power and wisdom to distribute this fullness
to his elect, to his people, to his chosen, that we may receive
him. God placed this fullness in the
mediator who is a friend of publicans and sinners. You remember the
Pharisees asked the Lord that question that day, or asked the
disciples the question, why does your master eat with publicans
and sinners? And our Lord overheard them and said, I didn't come
to call the righteous. Well, people don't need a physician,
it's the sick who need a doctor. I didn't come to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. He's the friend of publicans
and sinners. The scriptures declare that he
died for the ungodly. You see, we have no ability to
come to Him, but He gives us of His fullness to do so. Thy
people shall be willing in a day of His power. He said, No man
can come to Me, except the Father which sent Me draw him. We have
no ability to come, but He gives us of His fullness to do so. We have no ability to repent. But he was exalted at God's right
hand to grant repentance unto his people. We have no ability
to believe, but he gives us faith to do so. He's the author and
finisher of our salvation. We believe according to the working
of his mighty power. All fullness dwells in him. And
my friend, he loves to distribute and to show mercy. He's a storehouse
of mercy to his people. Where does fullness dwell? In
Him. Now the third question is, why? Why? Well, the text answers that.
Simply, it pleased the Father. You see that? It pleased the
Father. Why does all fullness dwell in Him? It pleased God.
My friend, that's answer enough. Our God is sovereign who does
all things after His own will. Whatsoever the Lord pleased,
that did He, Psalm 135, in heaven and earth and the seas and all
deep places. It simply pleased God in His
infinite wisdom and purpose to do so. Ask the question, ask
the reason in the question for election, simply we can say it
pleased the Lord to do so. He's hid these things from the
wise and prudent and revealed them unto babes, even so, Father,
it seemed good in his sight." That one answer may apply to
10,000 questions. Why did the Lord do this or do
that? My friend, it simply pleased Him to do so. Since it has pleased
God to place all fullness and all spiritual blessings in Christ,
Let us look to Him and worship Him and be pleased with the Lord
Jesus Christ. God is, He said, this is my beloved
Son in whom I'm well pleased. What pleases God pleases the
believer. We glory in Christ alone. Believers
are filled with delight that their salvation glorifies the
Redeemer and would not have it any other way. Aren't you glad
that salvation is by grace? And aren't you thankful that
salvation by grace glorifies God's justice and his mercy and
glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ? The unbeliever should quickly
come to Christ and be reconciled to such a Redeemer as this. The
Lord Jesus Christ is the only meeting place between the sinner
and his God in Christ. In Christ we have peace. God,
apart from the Lord Jesus Christ, where all fullness dwells, is
a consuming fire. It ought to please us to find
mercy where mercy can be found. And may God give us grace to
say with the Apostle Paul that we count all things but loss,
dung and rubbish, that we might win Christ and be found in Him. In Him all the fullness of salvation
dwells, in Him alone. Now in closing, fourthly, When? When does this fullness dwell
in Christ? Well, it dwells in Him. In Colossians 2 verse 9 it says,
for in Him dwelleth, dwelleth. It always has and it always will.
It has been there all the time, in past, in eternity past, and
right now in the present, and in eternity future. All fullness
of God dwells in Christ. All the fullness of salvation,
redemption, and mercy dwells in the Lord Jesus Christ. Every
sinner saved before Calvary has found salvation and fullness
and righteousness and justification in the Lord Jesus Christ alone.
Listen to Abraham. Listen to Abraham. Abraham, the
Lord said, rejoiced to see my day. He saw it and was glad. Every sinner saved before Calvary
found fullness in the Lord Jesus Christ. And every sinner saved
since Calvary, by God's sovereign mercy, has found fullness in
grace. and mercy in the Lord Jesus Christ
alone." Listen to Paul. He said, God saved us and God
called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but
according to God's own purpose and grace. This fullness of grace
and mercy is never exhausted, never diminished, although multitudes
have been redeemed. It's a storehouse that's overflowing
throughout eternity. Dwelleth in him all this fullness
always dwells in him. There is a permanent fullness
in the Lord Jesus Christ The scriptures encourage us to look
to him to believe him He said look unto me all ye ends of the
earth and be safe for I am God and there is none of it my friend
I would encourage you today from the Word of God with the authority
of God's Word look to him and In Him is all the fullness of
salvation. My friend, that's what we need.
And our need is met fully in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, if
you'd like a copy of today's message, you write and I'll send
it to you free of charge. Or you can write to me at this
church, 6088 Zebulon Highway, Pikeville, Kentucky, 41501.