We're going to look at a scripture
today from the book of John. I'm turning to John chapter 3,
verse 35 and 36. And my subject today is all things
in Christ. All things in Christ. Now let's
listen to the scripture. If you have your Bible, take
it, open it, and follow with me as I read from John 3, 35
and 36. And John writes, the Father loveth
the Son, and hath given all things into his hands. And he that believeth
on the Son hath everlasting life. And he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. Now, look at the first phrase
in that Scripture, the Father loveth the Son. The Father, the
Heavenly Father, loveth His Son. He's called the Son of God's
love. He's called also His dear Son. He talks about the kingdom of
His dear Son. He also called him His only begotten
Son, for God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son. The Father loveth the Son. And at the River Jordan, when
He was baptized of John, the Scripture says, the heavens opened,
and the Spirit of God descended in the form of a dove, and the
Father spake from heaven and said, This is My beloved Son. his dear son his only begotten
son the son of his love and this is my beloved son also Hebrew
says he's the brightness of God's glory and again he's the exact
image the exact image of God's person and Isaiah called him
wonderful counselor the mighty God he said this son is given
And His name is wonderful. This Son is given. His name is
Counselor. His name is the Mighty God. He
is the Everlasting Father and the Prince of Peace. And listen,
He's the Son of God and He's God the Son. Now, many people
today will say, He's the Son of God. Jesus Christ is the Son
of God. But not many realize he's also
God the Son, God-Man, God Almighty in human flesh. That's the mystery
of godliness, that God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the
Spirit, seen of the angels, preached to the Gentiles, believed on
in the world, and received up into glory. The Father loveth
the Son. Now what's the next phrase? And
the Father hath given all things into his hands. Everything is
in the hands of Christ. God the Father hath put everything
in his hands. He's put all things past, present,
and future into the hands of Christ. Hebrews says he's the
same yesterday, If everything is in His hands today, everything
was in His hands yesterday, because He's the same yesterday, today,
and forever. And all things past, present,
and future are in His hands. And then He's all things in the
covenant of mercy. In Hebrews chapter 13, the Scripture
says, Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our
Lord Jesus Christ, that great shepherd of the sheep, through
the blood of the everlasting covenant. All things past, present,
and future in His hands, the covenant of mercy in His hands,
eternal life, all things pertaining to eternal life are in His hands. The Scripture says there are
three that by record in heaven, the Father, the Son, the Holy
Ghost. There are three that by record
on earth, the blood, the Word and the Spirit. And he says this
is the record. Three by record in heaven, three
by record on earth, and this is the record. This is the testimony
that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His
Son. All things pertaining to eternal
life are in the hands of Christ. And He's all things in the kingdom
of God. The kingdom of God is called
the kingdom of God's dear Son. He hath translated us from darkness,
out of darkness, into the kingdom. Of whom? The kingdom of God? Oh yes. The kingdom of heaven?
Oh yes. But it's the kingdom of His dear
Son. All persons are in His hands.
He said in John 17, in that great priestly prayer, Father, thou
hast given all creatures, people, persons, flesh into my hands,
that I should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given
me. All flesh in his hands. Power over all flesh. And then
all authority in heaven and earth. When he sent his disciples out
to preach, he said, remember, all authority is given unto me
in heaven and earth. Go ye therefore and preach. All
of his enemies are under his feet. You see what this is saying? John 3, 35. The Father loveth
the Son and hath given all things all things into his hands. So it's evident, he that hath
the Son hath all things. He that hath the Son hath eternal
life. You see, he's the only fit person
to contain all things. He's the only wise person, wise
enough to order all things. He's the only sovereign, able
person to accomplish and distribute all things. So, let me put this
glorious and most important truth in five statements, easy to be
remembered. Now, you listen carefully. The Father loveth the Son, and
hath given all things into His hands. Now, he that hath the
Son of God, he that believeth on the Son of God, hath life,
eternal life. shall never come into condemnation.
But he that hath not the Son, and believeth not the Son, knoweth
not the Son, shall not see light." Because all things are in the
Son. All things are given to Christ. And in order for us to
participate in these things that are in Him, we've got to be in
Him. See that? All right, here are the five
things. Now see, follow me and see if you can remember these
five things. First of all, Christ is all, all things, in the first
creation. Now, when I'm talking about the
first creation, I'm talking about the creation of heaven and the
earth, the seas, and all things, the creation of man, the animals,
everything that God made. And the Scripture says He's before
those things. Jesus Christ was before all things,
before the creation. For in John 17, this was His
prayer, Father, Glorify me with the glory which I had with thee
before the world was. Glorify me with the glory which
I had with thee before the world was. If you read Proverbs 8,
you'll see how that our Lord says, before He made the seas,
and before He made the stars, and before He formed the earth,
I was with Him. And daily His delight, I was
before Him." You see that? All right. He not only was before
all things, but He made all things. All things were made by the Son.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. And
the Word was God, and all things were made by Him. Without Him
was not anything made that was made. All things were made by
Him. All things were made for Him.
That's what Colossians 1.16 says, all things were created by him
and for him. And he has authority over all
things, and by him all things consist. That word consist means
held together by Christ. Everything in the universe is
held together. Now listen, and he's the heir
of all things. Whom he hath appointed the heir. It belongs to Him of all things. Almighty. Christ is all. The Father has put all things
into the hands of the Son. He was before creation. All things
were made by Him, for Him, were held together by Him, and He
owns all things. So when you understand that,
when you understand that His power and His authority is over
all things and reaches to all things, now listen, All things,
all events, all persons, all creatures, and all their actions
are under the control and dominion of Jesus Christ. That being the
case, then this verse can be true. All things work together
for good to them who love God, who are called according to His
purpose. The only way that all things All creatures, all events,
all happenings, all things can work together for the ultimate
eternal good of His people is for somebody who loves them and
cares for them to have authority over those things. If there's
anything not under His authority and not under His dominion and
not under His control, that whole thing would get out of position,
not a person, purpose. All right, secondly, now watch
it, Christ is all in the new, old creation, Christ is all in
the new creation. John Flavel, a preacher who lived
many years ago, said it's not possible, not possible, for us
to give the Lord Jesus Christ too much glory or too much praise
in the redemption of sinners for four reasons. Are you with
me? Jesus Christ is all. The Father
loves the Son. He's given everything to Him.
He's the heir of all things. And you can't give Him too much
praise or too much glory because, listen, He's all things from
the Father. My Father sent me, and Christ
is the only one God's going to send. He's the only Redeemer. He's the only Savior. He's the
only Mediator. He's the only Righteousness.
He's the only one. My Father sent me. He sent me. He's all with the Father. God
so loved, He gave His Son. All right. Secondly, He's all
to the Father. The Father never has said this
about anyone in whom I'm well pleased. This is my Son. I'm pleased with Him. He's all
from the Father. He's all to the Father. He's
my only begotten. He's my well beloved. He's my
dear Son. All right. Thirdly, He's all
with the Father. The Father has given Him a name
which is above every name. That is the name of Jesus. Every
knee is going to bow, and every tongue will confess in heaven,
earth, and under the earth that He's the Lord, to the glory of
God the Father. The Father loves the Son. There's
nothing outside of Christ for the sinner but wrath. There's
nothing outside of Christ for the sinner but condemnation.
Everything's in Christ. In Him all fullness dwells, all
the grace of God, the love of God, the mercy of God, the goodness
of God, is in Christ. He's all from the Father, He's
all to the Father, He's all with the Father, and He's all in approaching
the Father. The disciple said, well, show
us the Father. He said, He that has seen me has seen my Father.
I'm the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the fatherhood
by me. I tell you, every person listening
to my voice, especially Gentiles, and most of you are Gentiles,
ought to be familiar with Ephesians 1, verse 3 through 7. Let me
just touch on it. Listen to the phrase now. Listen
for it, in Christ. In Christ. Now listen for that
while I'm reading. Blessed be the God and Father,
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in Christ, according as he chose us in Christ, having
predestinated us to the adoption of children in Christ, wherein
he hath made us acceptable or accepted in Christ. In Christ
we have redemption, the forgiveness of sin, according to the riches
of the glory of his Christ. Everything is in Christ. The
Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things before the world,
covenant mercies, redeeming mercies, the New Testament, all things
in the creation, and all things in the gospel. That's the third
thing. Christ is all in the gospel.
What did Paul say to the Corinthians? He said, I am determined to know
nothing among you except Jesus Christ. Him crucified. Now, He's
my message. He's my gospel. He's my testimony. I'm separated to the gospel of
God concerning Jesus Christ. It's Christ who sent us to preach.
He said, as my Father sent me, so send I you. It's Christ who
gives us the grace and the power to preach. He said, I'll be with
you. I'll never leave you, never forsake you. It's Christ Jesus
that we preach. Take away Christ, we have nothing
to preach. That's right. We preach not ourselves,
but we preach Christ Jesus, the Lord, and ourselves, your servants,
for Christ's sake. God forbid, Paul said, that I
should glory. God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world
is crucified unto me and unto the world. Are you in darkness?
He's the light of the world. Are you a sinner? He came into
the world to save sinners. Are you weary? He said, You come
to me and I'll give you rest. Are you thirsty? He said, Ho,
everyone that thirsts, come to the water. Are you weak? He said,
I'm your strength. Are you dying? He said, I'm the
resurrection and the life. He that believeth on me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live. He's everything in the gospel.
I brought a message several years ago on the subject, the bad news
and the good news. Some of you who've been listening
for these 20 years may remember that message, the bad news and
the good news. The bad news is this. There's
a holy God that I cannot please. In the flesh, no man can please
God. But the good news is that my
Redeemer did please him. Remember what he said? This is
my son in whom I'm well pleased. The bad news, number two, is
this. There's a holy law, a spiritual
law that I cannot keep. A law that reaches not just to
these hands and feet, but to the heart and the head. God's
law. I can't keep it. And cursed is
everyone that continueth not in all things written in the
law to do them. But here's the good news. Christ
did keep the law. He was made under the law, made
of a woman, to redeem them, like you and me that were born under
the law. Here's the bad news. There's
a righteousness I can't produce. The Lord Jesus said, Accept your
righteousness. Exceed. the holiness and righteousness
of the Pharisees. You won't enter the kingdom of
heaven. Well, I can't produce it. But the good news is that
Christ did. He's the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believe it. He was made under the law and
fulfilled it to be our righteousness. He kept it, every jot and tittle
of the law. Here's the bad news. I have sin
that I can't put away. I weep over them and mourn over
them and regret them, but I can't put them away. But here's the
good news. Christ put away sin by the sacrifice
of Himself. And He put it so far away that
the Father said, I'll remember it no more, as far as the East
is from the West. That's good news. And then the
fifth thing, the bad news, is there's a judgment. It's appointed
unto me and wants to die, and after that judgment, I saw the
dead, small and great, stand before God as a judgment. I don't want any part of that
judgment. I can't endure it. I can't stand up to it. I can't
pass the test. But here's the good news. Christ
faced the judgment for us. He took our judgment and satisfied
it. And the Scripture says, there
is therefore now no judgment. to them who are in Christ Jesus.
Now, that's good news, isn't it? I'm glad He is all things. All things in the first creation,
in the new creation, and in the gospel. And then listen to this. Christ is all in every grace. Now, the apostle Peter closed
his epistle with these words, these instructions. He says now,
but grow in grace, grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And I'll tell you this, if we
grow in grace, it will be as we learn more of Christ Jesus. That's right. For He's the fountain
of all grace. If I grow in grace, it'll have
to be as I learn more of Him, more of Him. grow in grace and
in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he said, you
come to me, take my yoke upon you and learn of me and you'll
find rest. All right? Let's look at graces,
grace and graces. Take the grace of faith. Where
are you going to grow in faith? By looking to Christ. He's the
author and finisher of faith. Take the subject of hope. Christ
in you, that's the hope of glory. The more you know Him, the more
you rest in Him, the more hope, the stronger your hope. Because
He is your hope. The more you know of Him, the
more hope, the stronger the hope. You see that? He's the hope.
Can we speak of love? He is love. He said, you love
one another like I loved you. Herein is love, not that we loved
him, he loved us. That's where you learn love,
at the feet of Christ. Speak of forgiveness. Paul said,
be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God,
for Christ's sake, forgave you. Talk about humility. Let this
mind be in you, which was in Christ Jesus, who thought it
not robbery to be equal with God, yet made himself of no reputation,
took upon himself the form of a servant, was made in the likeness
of sinful flesh, and became obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross. Wherefore God hath highly exalted
him. Learn humility by looking of
Christ. Let's talk about giving. How
do you learn to give? How do you learn to give? Well,
the whole 2 Corinthians, the whole 8th chapter and 9th chapter
tell us how to give, how to share, how to help others. And it sums
it up with this statement, Christ who was rich for your
sakes became poor, that you through his poverty That's your example. Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable
gift. That's the way to give. All right.
The Holy Spirit. How are we going to learn of
the Holy Spirit? Christ said, He'll glorify me. He won't speak
of Himself. He's going to take the things
of mine and show them to you. I tell you, when you hear people
always talking about the Holy Ghost, the Holy Ghost, the Holy
Ghost, they don't have the Holy Ghost. Because the Holy Ghost
doesn't glorify Himself, He glorifies Christ. He speaks of Christ.
He takes the things of Christ and shows them to men. You hear
a man talking about Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Redeemer. He has the Holy Spirit. Because
the Holy Spirit's office is to magnify and exalt and glorify
Christ. Let's talk about perseverance.
Now unto Him that's able to keep you from falling. Who are we
talking about? Listen now unto Him that's able
to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before
His presence with exceeding joy to the only wise God, our Savior,
Jesus Christ, be glory and dominion both now and forever. He's all
in every grace. Grow in grace and in the knowledge
of Jesus Christ. Christ is all in the worship
of God. A man cannot worship God apart from Christ. He cannot. Seeing we have a high priest
over the house of God, let us come boldly before the throne
of grace. Seeing we have a high priest,
Jesus Christ the righteous, let us come boldly, let us come to
God, because we have a high priest. You see, the communion table
is His blood and His body, shed and broken for us. Baptism pictures
His death, His resurrection. Praise is always unto Him who
loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood. Prayer
is always in His name. There's one God and one Mediator
between God and me and the man Christ Jesus who said, whatsoever
you ask the Father in my name will give it to you. Fellowship. What did John say the fellowship
is? The fellowship of the Church is with the Father and with His
Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Yes, the Father loveth the Son
and hath given all things into His hand. That's the reason.
I make so much of Christ Jesus and preach Christ Jesus and present
to you Christ Jesus. Because like John Flavel says,
all that God has for us is in Christ. And it's ours by our
union with Christ. And that union with Christ is
brought about through faith. That's what I'm going to preach
about next week. Faith, the life of faith. And that faith comes
through hearing the Word of God. Christ, the Word of God. And
that Word is made effectual. by the power of God's Holy Spirit. Ah, my! All things in Christ.