Grace For The Journey

The preeminence of Jesus Christ is both a fact and the key to experiencing true life.   Lasting peace, joy, purpose, fulfillment, satisfaction, and meaning are found exclusively in Him.  This is a truth stressed over and over in Paul’s letter to the Colossians.  And it is a truth especially highlighted in Colossians 1:24-29.  God makes His home in the Christian.  He “takes up residence” in the Christian’s body and soul.  He dwells within believers.  Are you a believer?  Then Christ is in you.  And “Christ in you” is the key to everything.

It is . . .

1) The Key to Suffering in Life.

Like other Christians, Paul was persecuted for his faith and had suffered hardships.  He suffered economic hardships and relational hardships.  He was ostracized, beaten, and ridiculed.  He suffered physically and emotionally as a Christian and yet, he says in verse 24, “I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church.” 

Before we talk about how Paul can rejoice in his sufferings, let’s consider the often misunderstood phrase “and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ.”   Some have taken this phrase to mean that Paul is talking about something lacking in Christ’s suffering on our behalf.  Others have used this verse to teach the unbiblical idea of penance or even punishing oneself for sin because Christ’s suffering on the cross was seen as somehow lacking.

The notion of Christ’s suffering on the cross as somehow insufficient is totally contrary to the entire teaching of the New Testament.  We have previously noted that Paul’s main point in this letter is . . .

That the Christian is complete in Christ.

Christ in you is the key to everything.

This verse is not teaching that Christ’s sufferings on our behalf lacked something; that we needed something else to atone for our sin.  In fact, the Greek word for suffering in verse 24 is never once used in the entire New Testament to describe Christ’s sufferings in His atonement for us.  Rather, Paul is teaching that . . .

Christians – The church – will suffer.

If you are a believer, then you will suffer

Similar hardships to that of the apostle.

It is what our Lord Jesus promised in John 16:33, “In the world you will have tribulation,” you will suffer.

So this phrase, “filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ” is Paul’s teaching that . . .

The suffering endured by the church

– The body of Christ – continues.

Christ suffered once for all time

In His physical body and He is now

At the right hand of the Father.

The church here on earth

Is the meaning of the word

“Body” in this context.

The church continues to suffer

And endure hardships here.

Paul adds in verse 25 that it is this church, “Of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God.”  Paul was divinely commissioned to serve as a minister.  God called him to preach the gospel and to plant churches.

He suffered as a Christian minister, enduring hardships and difficulties as he went about the ministry of proclaiming the Word of God.  And yet, he says in verse 24, “I now rejoice in my sufferings.”  How can he rejoice?  Because Christ lives in Him: “Christ in you, the hope of glory (verse 27).”

That Christ was in him was a fact

He was experiencing presently

And a fact that

He would enjoy forever.

And this is a fact that

He is proclaiming to others.

Consider that Paul’s sufferings were the means God was using to bless other people with the gospel.  That is clear given what Paul is saying in verse 25.  So, make the connection:

If Paul’s sufferings were the means God used

To bless others and bring glory to Himself

– How does God intend to work through

Your sufferings to bless others and glorify Himself?

When you go through hardships and difficulties for Christ, would you not be encouraged knowing that your sufferings served a greater purpose?  Would it not be encouraging to you if you knew that your sufferings for Christ would be the very means God was using to bring a loved one to faith in Christ?  Would you be encouraged to know that your sufferings may well lead to somebody else’s being blessed by the ministry of Jesus?

There is no suffering

Of yours that is wasted.

No suffering is meaningless

One of the keys to getting through suffering or enduring suffering is to know that God is at work through our suffering.  He works to make us more holy through our suffering.

James taught a similar truth in James 1;2-4, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance, the ability to stand, and let endurance have its complete work so that you may be complete, lacking nothing.”  Paul teaches here in Colossians 1 that . . .

Another way God works

Through our suffering

Is to spread the Good News,

To spread the gospel.

If you’re a Christian, one day you will be in heaven and imagine Jesus taking you around and showing you people who came to faith in Christ largely as a result of your suffering.

2) The Key to Meaning in Life.

“Christ in you” is the key to the very meaning of your existence.  Paul describes this notion of Christ in us as a mystery in verse 26, “The mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints.”  The word “mystery” is not “mystery” like we usually think of it.  It does not mean something like a detective show where you have to figure out who committed the crime (the more clues you are given the easier it is to identify the person).  The word “mystery” as used in verse 26 is a word that describes a thing that was once concealed but now revealed.  It was there all along; you just could not see it fully figure it out with your own reasoning and deductive ability.

I usually think of my experience in looking for something in the refrigerator.  I’m making nachos so I’ve got the chips and the cheese and I open the fridge door and I’m looking for the jalapeño peppers and I know we’ve got some, but I don’t see them.  And I look and look and look, but I can’t see them.  My wife comes over and immediately points them out.  They were there all along, I just couldn’t see them.

In a way, that’s a bit like Paul’s use of the term mystery here.

He is describing something God has done,

But it is something that could not

Be fully seen until God revealed it later,

Revealing it “to His saints,” to believers.

Paul adds in verse 27, “To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is – (and now here it is; the thing nobody could see until God revealed it) – Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

The mystery, the thing nobody could have anticipated or discover on their own, was that . . .

GOD WOULD LIVE IN US WHO BELIEVE!

This is the key to real meaning in life.  Christ lives in the believer and guarantees the believer’s future in heaven.  Christ in you – the hope of glory.  Remember that New Testament hope is . . .

A fact, an assurance, a guarantee.

You could just as well say,

“Christ in you; the fact of

Your future existence;

The hope, the guarantee

Of your future forever in heaven.

Why are you living?  You live physically for maybe 80 or 90 years.  If that’s all you’ve got, what good is that?  Your life is a vapor, here today, and gone in a moment (James 4:14).  If all you are living for is this life, you’re wasting your life.  If you are crossing your fingers and hoping there’s some kind of life after death and you are just kind of taking your chances, you are wasting your life.  The glorious good news of the Gospel is “Christ in you, the hope of glory!”

There is no news greater when a Christian loved one dies than to know that Christian is now in heaven.  We can say, “Praise God for Jesus, the hope of glory!”  Our loved one is in heaven.  Are you headed there?

But the gospel is not just about the hereafter,

But about the here now.

Living in the here now is shaped

By the truth of the hereafter.

Christ died for you that

He might live in you.

Christians live their lives

In the truth that God lives within them

And empowers them for every work

He calls us to do.

Have you ever sensed that God was working in you and through you as you shared the gospel with someone?  As you talked to someone about Jesus?  As you prayed, as you read the Bible?  You sense the presence of God!

Christ DIED FOR you

That He might

LIVE IN you

As Jesus said in Matthew 10:20, “It is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.”  Christ in you, the key to everything.  The key to suffering in life and the key to meaning in life.  One more:

3) The Key to Growing in Life.

Every true Christian is growing.

Paul writes in verses 28-29, “Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect (or complete) in Christ Jesus.  To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily.”  For Paul  . .  .

It was not enough that

The Colossians had accepted Jesus Christ

As their personal Lord and Savior.

That was not enough.

That was just the

Beginning of their experience.

He reminds Christians that there

Is so much more to learn.

The ultimate goal of ministry is “to present every man perfect (complete) in Christ Jesus.”  That includes “warning” and “teaching,” and doing this “in all wisdom.”

Coming to faith in Christ is just the beginning.  We go on growing in all wisdom.  God intends to grow us all, and to make us look more and more like Jesus with each passing day.

One reason you attend worship services and small group Bible Studies is to consider the “warning” and the “teaching” of the Word “in all wisdom” that you may grow into completion.

In verse 29, Paul describes Christian growth as hard work, “To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily.”  The word “striving” is the word from which we get “to agonize.”  It is the picture of an athlete running, or competing, and everything in him tells him to quit.  But he digs down deeper and says, “I’m not going to stop!  I’m gonna push through.”  

It’s much like Romans 8:18, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”  Just like Paul we must strive forward as we grow.  Don’t stop.  Push through.  Don’t get comfortable in your Christianity and just rejoice in the victories.  Keep pushing.  Keep sharing the Gospel, keep growing, keep running.  And don’t stop in the face of your failures.  Push through past failures.

Feel like you have failed the Lord recently?  Who doesn’t?!  Battling sin and temptation?   Who doesn’t?!  Push through.  Dig down deep and keep moving.  Remember the key: Christ in you, the hope of glory!

This is God’s Word …

This is Grace for your Journey …

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Grace For The Journey

  We are continuing our verse-by-verse study of Colossians.  We come to a delightful and succinct statement on reconciliation in Colossians 1:19-23.  The dictionary defines “rec·on·cile” (ˈrekənˌsīl / verb past tense: reconciled; past participle: reconciled) as restore friendly relations between. “she wanted to be reconciled with her father.”  What does it mean that God “reconciles” Christians to Himself?  And how exactly does this all work?  The verses we are going to look at today tell us.  Reconciliation comes . . .

1) By The Cross.

Verse 19 says, “For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell.”  This verse is very similar to a verse Paul pens later in Chapter 2 verse 9, “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.”  This truth is absolutely wonderful to consider!   Everything that is God dwells within Jesus Christ.  Everything.

The word “fullness” indicates that God literally “fills up” Jesus with everything that is essentially God.  The essence of God is in Christ Jesus.  Jesus is not only fully man, He is fully God.  This is why Paul can later say that every Christian is “complete” in Him (Colossians 2:10).  We need nothing else added to Christ in order to be reconciled to God and to be accepted by Him.

Verse 20 states, “And by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross”  Here is why sinful humanity is able to be reconciled to God, because Jesus Christ the “God-Man” is the means by which man approaches through faith.

As God “enfleshed,” Jesus Christ is perfectly righteous and that righteousness is credited to those who believe in Him.  And Jesus Christ is also the perfect substitutionary sacrifice, dying on the cross not for His sins – He had none – but for ours, “having made peace through the blood of His cross.”

Verse 21 continues by saying, “And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled.”  Yes, we once were “alienated and enemies” of God.  Because of sin, our mind was infused with thoughts of natural rebellion against our Creator – even if we were unaware of this.

The consequence of this reconciliation is that we are . . .

2) In The Clear.

As rightful Judge of all His creation, God rightly considers us guilty in His presence.    Yet, in His grace – HIS grace (!), He has made a way for us to be considered “not guilty;” reconciled to Him; able to stand in His presence.

Verse 22 shows us how this is done, “In the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight.”

There it is . . .

Through the work of the cross . . .

Jesus has made a way for us

To be in the clean, changed,

And in the clear.

Paul writes that it is through Christ’s death that God has worked “to present you holy, blameless, and above reproach in His sight.”  Simply put, God is declaring that now He has reconciled us to Himself through the death of Christ in His physical body.  As a result, He has brought you into His own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before Him without a single fault.

Isn’t that fantastic?!

Even though we are sinners,

If we believe in Jesus Christ,

God actually regards us as NOT sinners.

God thinks of our sins as completely forgiven that we may be “blameless” before Him and “above reproach in His sight.”  I love that, don’t you?

God can not look at me

Without seeing Jesus Christ first.

Because I have accepted Jesus

As my Savior and Lord,

God sees me “in Christ.”

God sees my sins

As imputed to

(Or charged to)

Christ.

And God sees

Christ’s righteousness

As covering

Me completely.

Do I need anything else other than my faith in Christ?  No!  We are COMPLETE in Him (Colossians 2:9).

We sing of this often in the traditional hymn:

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness

And:

When He shall come with trumpet sound
Oh may I then in Him be found
Dressed in His righteousness alone
Faultless to stand before the throne

Faultless to stand before the throne – not on account of my own righteousness, but His – dressed in His righteousness alone.

But wait!  Reconciliation means so much more.  Because of what Jesus Christ has done, reconciliation is . . .

3) To Be Continued.

The blessing of knowing our sins are forgiven and that we stand “faultless” before the throne of God comes only to those who “continue in the faith.”

Verse 23 states, “If indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.”  The way Paul writes this verse does not mean that there is any doubt that true believers will, indeed, continue believing.  They will!    But not all who say they are Christians are really Christians.  Some may only be affiliated with Christianity, or are church members who have never been saved.

Those who “continue in the faith” are those who are “grounded and steadfast.”  This verse is reminiscent of our Lord Jesus’ teaching at the conclusion of His “Sermon on the Mount.”  Recall His contrast between the man who built his house upon the sand and the man who built his house upon the rock in Matthew 7:24-27, “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.  But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell.  And great was its fall.”

Those who build their lives upon the Word of God will “continue in the faith,” persevering until that final day when they stand “faultless” and “blameless” before the One and Only Supreme Judge of the universe.

To quote again the hymn lyric:

On Christ the solid rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand

This is God’s Word …

This is Grace for your Journey …

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Grace For The Journey

Ever had baklava?  If you have you know that baklava is a Greek pastry divinely rich and sweet in flavor.  And one of the reasons it is so good is that it is made of numerous layers of Filo dough.  It is layer after layer of almost paper-thin Filo, separated with melted butter and finely chopped nuts.  It is baked and then a syrup with includes honey and other spices is poured over the baklava and allowed to soak in.  It is finally garnished with cloves.  Sounds good, right?!

I thought of Baklava as I read this section in Colossians 1, because again, this passage – which really goes from verse 15 through verse 23 – is arguably the most concise and tightly compacted teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ – layer after layer of rich teaching of Christ’s glories; highly concentrated teachings, about the deity of Christ. His Person and His work, who He is and what He has done.

Today we will study it together in Colossians 1:15-18 and learn about the Bible truth about the preeminence of Jesus Christ, His superiority over all things.

Jesus Is Lord Of Creation.

This is an unmistakable primary teaching of Paul’s here in the opening verses.  Verse 15 says, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.”  The word “image” there is the Greek word “eikon” from which we get our computer term, “icon.”  It means “copy” or “likeness.”  You click on a computer icon and it takes you to the file you want to see.  The icon is a representation of the fulness of the file you desire to see. And in a way, Jesus is like that computer icon.  To “click on” Jesus is to “click on” God Himself.  He is the One who makes God visible.

The Bible says in John 1:18, “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him (or made Him known).”  Jesus says that to look on Him is to see God Himself.  As He said in John14:9, “He who has seen me has seen the Father.”

As someone said . . .

“Jesus is the human face of God.”

The term “firstborn” in this context does not refer to physical birth, while the term can take that meaning it other contexts.  But that meaning here is an impossibility given what Paul goes on to say about Jesus’ being the very One through whom all things were created.  If you are the one creating all things, then you yourself are not among the “all things” created!

This is the error of the Jehovah’s Witnesses.  They believe wrongly that Jesus was created by God.  But again, if you are the one creating all things, you yourself cannot be among the all things created.

No, the term “firstborn” here takes on a different meaning.  “Firstborn” in this context refers . . .

To rank – The highest rank

– Or preeminence,

The preeminence of one’s position;

The rights and privileges

That belong to a person,

Like the son of a king for example.

The king’s son who will succeed the king may well be the firstborn son, first born chronologically – or he may not.  A ruling monarch passes on certain rights and privileges to whichever son he chooses.

And note again in verse 15 the tiny word, “over.”  Jesus is the firstborn not “of” all creation, but “over” all creation.  He is Lord over all creation.

Verse 16 declares, “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.”  Many people don’t realize that everything was created through the eternal Son of God.  John opens his gospel this way: “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 through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” (John 1:1-3)

Recall the eternal nature of the Son of God:

There never was a time

That the Son was not.

He has always been.

Now there was a time when Jesus was not, but there has never been a time the Son of God was not.  He has always existed.  What happened 2,000 years ago was that the eternal Son of God took on humanity, took on flesh in Jesus Christ. God “incarnated” Himself.

That’s what we sing at Christmastime:

Clothed in flesh the Godhead see
Hail the incarnate Deity!

God the Son has always existed.  He is the second Person of the Holy Trinity.

God is One in three Persons.

One in essence, three in personhood –

Each person different in role or function,

Yet with no separation of essence.

“Essence” describes “what” someone is, while “person” describes “who” someone is.  When it comes to God there is one “what” and three “whos.”

Jesus IS God.  Don’t believe for a moment secular university or liberal professors who tell you that the deity of Christ is something the early church really didn’t believe and that it came about much later. Colossians was written in AD 60-62, just 30 years after Christ rose from the dead.  How can we be so sure?  Remember our introductory post about the earthquake that destroyed Colossae?  That earthquake occurred around AD 60-62 and destroyed everything.

Think this through: Paul is not writing a letter to a church that isn’t there.  It stands to reason that he is writing this letter sometime before the earthquake, which means he is writing just 30 years after Christ rose from the dead.  Many people who witnessed the resurrection were still living as he wrote these words just 30 years after the resurrection: “He is the image of the invisible God…and by Him all things were created.”  Jesus is the agent of creation.  He created all things including all the various categories of angels.   That’s the meaning of the phrase in verse 16, “thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.”  Jesus created everything in heaven, including the heavenly angels.

The false teachers in Colossae were teaching the worship of angels.  You will note that heresy is mentioned specifically by Paul in the next chapter, Chapter 2, verse 18, “Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels,” and so on.

Some teachers apparently even suggested that Jesus was among the angels.  So Paul is like, “Look, Jesus is not on equal footing with the heavenly angels, He CREATED the heavenly angels!  He is preeminent, first & foremost in everything; vastly superior OVER His creation, including the angels!”

Jesus is both the agent of all creation

And the goal of all creation.

Paul says at the end of verse 16, “All things were created through Him and for Him.”

When it comes to creation,

Jesus Christ is the primary cause

(He planned it),

The instrumental cause

(He produced it),

And the final cause

(He did it for His own pleasure).

Verse 17 states, “And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.”  He is “before” all things, again a reminder to us of the eternal nature of the Son of God.  He has always been.  There never was a time when the Son of God was not.  He is before all things and “in Him all things consist.”  That word “consist” literally means “to hold together.”  Jesus holds all things together.  We sing that truth when we sing “He’s got the whole world in His hands.”

Despite the fear of many political ideologues, you can’t destroy the planet!  He’s got it.  In Him all things consist.  He keeps everything going; He holds everything together; maintains the order of all things.  In the words of one scholar: “He keeps the COSMOS from becoming a CHAOS.”

Jesus Is Lord Of The Church.

Verse 18 says, “And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.”  Jesus is “the head of the body, the church.”  He is the leader of the church.  Not the pastor.  Not the deacons.  Not this committee or that committee.  He is the head of the body.

Every local church is HIS church.  He is the leader.  A pastor is not even shepherd of the flock as much as he is the under-shepherd.  He is under the shepherding and direction of the Chief Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Bible also says that Jesus is, “The firstborn from the dead.”  Firstborn here indicates chronology.  Jesus is the first chronologically – first in time – first of many more to come.  The point?  Simply this:

Jesus was raised from the dead.

And those who believe in Him

Will also rise from the dead.

Paul is here writing primarily about spiritual resurrection.  If you turn from your sin and turn to Christ, you will rise from the dead.  This truth is guaranteed by Christ’s resurrection.  Apart from Christ we are dead in trespasses and sin (Ephesians 2:1).  The Holy Spirit works upon us through the power of the Gospel and we are granted the ability to say, “Yes” to Jesus, and when we say, “Yes” to Jesus we rise from the dead.

Like Jesus who was raised from the grave never to die again, so by faith we rise never to die again.  Christ’s physical resurrection is the source of our spiritual resurrection, and one day He will be the source of our physical resurrection too!

So What Does It All Mean?

Since this is true: “in all things He may have the preeminence,” we need to ask the question: Is Jesus Christ first and foremost in the “all things” of my life?

1) First in my Marriage or Singleness.

Do you love Him more than even your spouse – or your desire for a spouse?  If you love Christ more than anyone or anything, He will give you a greater love for those closest to you.  The closer a husband and wife get to Jesus, the closer they get to each other.

2) First in my Job.

Paul will go on to say in Colossians 3:23-24 says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for mere human men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”  He is first in your job – Work for Him and watch the way it changes your job.

3) First in my Possessions.

Do your purchases go through Christ first?  Do you “run it by” Him?  Do you hold on to your possessions lightly, willing to let them go if He directs you?

4) First in my Decisions.

who you are hanging with; what you are putting in your mind; what you are watching; what you are listening to; what you are doing with your body.

Why is this so important?  Because Colossians 3:4 tells us that it is “Christ Who Is Our Life.”

This is God’s Word …

This is Grace for your Journey …

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

 

 

Grace For The Journey

Everyone understands what it is like to walk in the dark.  You get up in the middle of the night, for example, and try to walk across the bedroom, but you can’t see anything.  You bump around in the darkness and try to feel your way along the wall or furniture.  You might even stub your toe!  But if someone turns a switch on and light floods the room, then you can see and you walk easily to where you want to go.  Then – and only then – is everything clear.

Spiritually, apart from Christ we “bump around in the night.”  We are trying to feel our way around, trying to make sense of what we think we can see.  We are just in the dark, but then God turns the switch on through the power of the Gospel.  He floods the room of our lives with the light of truth.  Now we can see.  Things are clearer now and we can sing, “I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see.” 

Paul talks about this very truth in Colossians 1:9-14.  But . . .

He begins first by writing about

How Christians may grow

In their sanctification.

It is important that we know and understand what Paul is talking about when he uses this big word.  It is a word that talks about a two-fold process of growing in our faith.

Sanctification is simply a process of growth.

That’s what that word means.

To speak of our growth in Christ

Is to speak of our sanctification,

The process of becoming

More sanctified, More like Christ.

Sanctification is related to another word, the word “justification.” 

Justification is not a process;

Justification is a point in time,

A one-time event.

It occurs just once.

To be justified

Is to be declared

“Not guilty” by the Judge

Of the Universe, by God.

We were once guilty but, because of Christ and our belief in Him, God justifies us; He declares us righteous, regarding us as no longer guilty of our sin.  We are justified–completely.

Unlike justification, sanctification is never complete in this life.  While sin no longer reigns in our lives, sin remains and we battle that sin throughout our lifetime – but we battle from a position of strength.

We have all the resources we need to defeat sin and to grow in our Christian living and become more and more like our Lord.

Sanctification Involves Learning.

Verse 9 says, “For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.”  The word “knowledge” there is a derivative of the Greek word “Gnosis,” from which comes “Gnosticism.”  I mentioned “Gnosticism” very briefly in an earlier post.  I know that word sounds strange.  We don’t hear it talked about much today.  But it is important for our study because it is a false teaching that was beginning to take shape in Paul’s day.

Think of Gnosticism as . . .

A belief in Christ, with other beliefs added to it.

This is a false teaching that said that

To have Jesus was not everything.

False teachers were

Peddling the idea that,

“Jesus is good, yes, but

You need more than Jesus.”

The idea was that you needed

Additional knowledge, deeper truth.

Paul will go on to address this false teaching more fully in chapter 2 verses 8 to 10 where he writes, “Beware lest anyone spoil you (or cheat you so as to plunder you of your riches) through philosophy and vain deceit, for in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily (all, there is no “Jesus plus other stuff”) and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.”

Paul is already addressing this false teaching in chapter 1 verse 9 where he writes, “We are asking God that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.”  In other words, “You’ve already got the true gospel.  We’re simply praying that you would be filled with the truth you already have.”  The Bible teaches that you receive the saving truth of the Gospel as a complete gift.  It is like a gift-wrapped present and everything is included.

But . . .

You have got to go on learning

About the gift you possess.

It is like opening up that gift

And looking it over and studying it,

And learning more and more

About this precious gift you have received.

Think of the Bible as the “Instruction Manual” that tells you all about the gift you have gotten.  It tells you what it is and how it all works.  So you read through the Instruction Manual of God’s Word and you learn all about the God’s will for you and how to grow in wisdom and spiritual understanding.

Paul is saying, “You already have the truth.  Don’t let false teachers tell you that you need something else.  You have the truth so I am praying that you will be filled with the truth,” that is . . .

That you will grow in your learning

And understanding of the truth

You already possess,

Allowing the truth

To completely fill you

As you grow.

In fact, verse 10 indicates that it is the very truth the Colossians already possess which leads to their growth, much in the way rain brings a harvest or sunlight grows a tree.  The truth which they possess must “get in them” and fill them so that they may grow.

Picture a football player’s toddler son playing with his dad’s football uniform.  Here’s a 4-year-old boy and he’s trying to put on his dad’s football jersey and shoulder pads and helmet.  He would be completely buried in all of the clothing and gear!  He’s not grown to the point that he could wear of all that.  He has got to grow quite a bit to “fill it out.”

So . . . we come into the Christian faith and we’re like a little kid trying to wear professional football clothing and gear.  We are young in the faith and we have got a lot of spiritual growing to do.  We have got a lot of “filling out” and “growing up” to do as we grow in the knowledge of God’s will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.

Sanctification Involves Living.

The “filling” of knowledge in verse 9 leads to action.  In verse 10, Paul says, “That you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in (or by) the knowledge of God.”

This “walking” is a metaphor we still use today.  We say, for example, if you’re going to “talk the talk,” then you’d better what? – “walk the walk.”  If you say you are going to do thus and such, then live it out.  Walking worthy of the Lord just means that Christians should live in a way that pleases and bring honor to Jesus.

Note the connection between verses 9 and 10 . . .

Right learning leads to right living.

Information you take in through learning

Should lead to transformation through living.

Right content leads to right character.

We study the Word of God

And we learn about Who He is

And what He has done

And it leads to a way of living

That causes obedience and honor.

Verse 11 says, “Strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and long-suffering with joy.”  Christians are to grow and become stronger in the faith.  God’s glorious power empowers us to grow.  And there are a couple of evidences of such growth brought out at the end of verse 11: “patience and long-suffering.”

Someone has said “patience is to endure difficult situations while long-suffering is to endure difficult people.”  God empowers us to be a patient people and a loving and merciful people.  It is a supernatural work that God does in and through the Christian.

The two words here at the end of verse 11 “with joy” can go either with what precedes it or what follows it.  It could be either “Having joy as you endure difficult circumstances and difficult people” or, “Having joy as you give thanks to the Father,” (Verse 12).  In either case, the Christian is empowered to live his or her life “with joy.”

Sanctification Involves A Legacy.

God has saved us through the power of the Gospel and we ought to always thank Him for this precious gift.  Verse 12 states, “Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.”  The Father qualifies us or authorizes us – those who are Christians – to have a share in the kingdom of heaven.   We are partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.

God qualifies those who are unqualified.  I think that is important to remember here! Apart from Christ, there is not a single person in all the world who qualifies to go to heaven.  Because of sin, we are all un-qualified to be partakers of the inheritance, or shareholders of heaven.

It is like qualifying for a loan when you have bad credit.  You’ve got bills stacked up six inches high on your kitchen counter.  You’re not gainfully employed and your credit history is disastrous.  What is more, you have absolutely nothing to offer the lending institution.  You are an absolute zero.  So, imagine you appear before the banker and you know it is bad news, but then the banker says, “We’re going to bless you anyway.  You are qualified.  In fact, not only have we qualified you for this loan, but we’re also going to pay it off for you.  You don’t deserve it and all you need to do is receive it.”  That is what God has done for us in the Gospel!  He qualified us to be saved!

Verse 13 says, “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.”  Paul did not write, “You delivered yourselves from the power of darkness.”  No, we were in darkness.  We were spiritually blind.  To be in darkness is not only to be without God, but to be against God, to be a rebel in the night.  We could not find a light switch, because we weren’t even looking.  We were just bumping around in the night and then God turned on the lights: “He has delivered us from the power of darkness.”

God must do the work of getting hold of our hearts and awakening faith.  He is the one who qualifies us and delivers us from the power of darkness.  Oliver B. Green was an evangelist who founded “The Gospel Hour,” a radio program of an earlier generation.  He said this on one of his episodes, “If unregenerate man (this is, a lost person) should enter heaven, heaven would be hell to him.”  Wow.  So true.  The natural man – apart from regeneration – is against the things of God.  If a lost person; an unregenerate man, were somehow to enter heaven then “heaven would be hell to him” because his heart hasn’t been changed.

I think that is important to remember in our sharing the Gospel.  Everybody seems to think he or she is going to heaven, but why would we ever think heaven would be a wonderful place if it is occupied by the One against whom we have committed treason and rebel against every day in this world?  We need a new heart.

Oliver B. Green goes on to say, “The natural man must be changed because the natural man is not subject to the will of God.”  Heaven is, “a prepared place for a prepared people.”  God delivers us from darkness.  God changes our hearts that we will believe in Christ and receive Him as Lord.

Paul rounds out this passage then, in verse 14, by speaking of Christ as the one, “In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”  If we believe Jesus died on the cross for our sins, we may be redeemed, released from the debt we owe God.  Without Christ we owe a debt we cannot pay.  Jesus pays the entire debt for us.  And it is on that basis that God the Father qualifies us.  The Father qualifies us to be blessed because Christ has taken care of the debt.

Many people today have a false understanding of the gospel.  Many think that the way a person gets to heaven is by being good: doing good deeds, being nice, giving things away, and so on.  You start talking about Jesus and how one is saved and somebody says, “Well, you know you’ve just got to believe Jesus and be a good person, do good stuff, and hopefully in the end you will been good enough and done enough good stuff.”  Well, we may be very sincere and try our very hardest and give it our best shot, but that doesn’t get us to heaven.

One evening a pastor and his wife and boarded a plane to fly them to Detroit where they would make a connection flight to take them to their destination.  But the flight to Detroit was on a half-hour delay.  When they got to Detroit they had just minutes to make it to the gate and board the connecting flight.  An airline worker called ahead to the gate and told them they could make the flight if they got there within 12 minutes.  They ran as fast as they could and finally made it to the Gate where their flight would depart.   When they got there they saw that the gate was shut and the plane was backing away.  They missed their connection.  That was their only chance to get out of Detroit that evening.

I want you to know they was very sincere in their efforts to get on that plane.  They tried their hardest.  They gave it their best shot.  They got pretty close; but they still missed the flight.  Once the gate shuts, it’s all over.

We may be very sincere in our efforts to be good and to “qualify ourselves for heaven.”  We may try our very hardest and give it our best shot.  We may even be so bold as to think we’re closer than others – but none of that matters when the gate is shut and we miss the only way of departure.

The only way to make it to heaven is for God to qualify us for the trip.  He takes care of everything: booking, ticketing, and baggage.  He will make sure you get to the gate on time.  He will even carry you there!  He delivers us from the power of darkness and bring us into the Kingdom of the Son of His love.

God does all of that for us because of Christ, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

This is God’s Word …

This is Grace for your Journey …

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Grace For The Journey

  Can people really change?  What effect does the biblical gospel actually have?  One place we can go to study these questions is found in Colossians 1:3-8.  These verses show us how blessed Paul was for how the Lord’s grace at work in their lives.

1) The Blessing of Gratitude.

After Paul’s general introduction in the opening verses we examined in the two previous post, we look now at what he is led by the Holy Spirit to write specifically in verse 3: “We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you.” 

Paul is expressing his gratitude to God for what he hears about the Colossians.  We note that truth in the following verse: “since we hear of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all the saints…”  Paul is thanking God for what he hears about the church at Colossae.  He is expressing his gratefulness to God for what is happening in and through the Colossians.   He hears about these Christians and it causes him to say, “Thank you, God!”  What he learns about them leads to his gratitude to God.  And that gratitude to God leads to his praying for them: “We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you.” 

What happens when you think of your brothers and sisters in Christ?  Are you grateful for your church?  Do you thank God for your church family?  More personally, how do you suppose others think of you?  Does your name evoke a sense of gratitude to God?  Someone hears of you and it causes them to say, “Thank God” – and it’s for a good reason!  It is not, “Thank God he’s gone!” but, “Thank You God, for ______.”

2) The Blessing of the Gospel.

Paul writes in verses 4 and 5, “We’ve heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints; because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel …”

Careful observers will have picked up on that beautiful triad he mentions here: “faith in Christ Jesus” … “love for the saints” … “hope which is laid up for you in heaven.”  Faith, hope, and love.  Paul likes these three terms a lot!  Many are familiar with his mentioning them in 1 Corinthians 13, the so-called “love chapter” of the Bible.  Paul concludes that chapter with: “And now abide faith, hope, and love, these three…”  And there are other places in the New Testament where Paul strings together these three virtues.

Here, in Colossians 1, Paul is using “faith, hope, and love” in their relation to the gospel.

Faith is a popular word, but there is a faith that is empty.  That’s how many people use the word today.  There’s no object of their faith.  It’s just “faith” as in, “I have faith; I am optimistic that everything will be okay.”  Well . . .

That is not Christian faith.

Christian faith has an object

And the object is Jesus Christ:

“I have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus.”

• Simply acknowledging there is a higher power does not save a person.
• Scoring a touchdown and pointing to the sky does not make one a Christian.
• Saying at a major awards ceremony that you wish to thank God does not in and of itself mean that one is a true believer.

We are saved only by grace, through faith in Christ Jesus.

Then Paul writes of love.  He says, “We thank God and we pray for you” … since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints.”  The gospel makes possible a love for all believers.  By the way, remember that all Christians are called “saints” in the Bible.  You do not have to wait a hundred years after you have died and some committee forms and reviews your life and votes on whether you can be called a saint!

Paul says that the Gospel makes possible our love for all the saints, all the saints, including the ones easy to love and not-so-easy to love, people just like you and me.  Christians are to love all the saints in their own church and all the saints in every other church; all the saints in Croatia, Iran, Korea, the Sudan, and in Syria.  All the saints.  We have a Christian family all over the world, a family that comprises every tribe, tongue, and nation (Revelation 7:9).

Faith, love, and also hope.  Paul says he thanks God “… because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven…”  In the Bible, hope is not so much an action as it is an object.  It is not like the popular English word we use today in our conversation.  When we use the word “hope” in everyday conversation, it nearly always contains an element of uncertainty: “I hope the weather is nice” or, “I hope the car starts” or, “I hope the teacher forgets about the assignment.”  There is an element of uncertainty involved in that kind of hope.

But . . .

When the Bible speaks of hope,

It is not an action, it is an object.

And the hope of the Christian

Is not an uncertainty, but

An absolute, guaranteed fact.

For example, in 1 Peter 1:3-4 Peter writes of the Christian’s, “living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,” he says a hope defined as, “an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you…”

Paul goes on to say in verse 5 that this hope is a hope you heard about when you heard the gospel.  If you want to grow in your understanding of the truth of heaven and your inheritance and all that awaits you, read the God’s Word.  The Colossians had heard the Word.  They listened to the Word; they studied the word; and they lived by the word.

3) The Blessing of Growth.

Writing of the gospel, Paul says in verse 6, the gospel “which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit.” 

The gospel causes growth.

• It is not church marketing that causes growth.
• It is the gospel that causes growth.
• It is not a special kind of worship service that causes growth.
• It is the gospel that causes growth – true growth.

A growth of the church Paul describes in verse 6 as, “bringing forth fruit.”  And that growth is seen not just in an individual person, but in an among various people of the world.  Paul says in verse 6 that this gospel, “has come to you, as it has also in all the world.”  He’s talking about all kinds of people wherever the gospel is preached, wherever the gospel is shared.  He’s talking about the work of evangelism and missions.  He’s talking about our obedience to the Lord’s commission to share the gospel across the street and around the world; from our neighborhood to all the nations.

Paul goes on to say in verse 7 that these Colossian believers had heard and learned the word from a missionary named, “Epaphras.”  Epaphras is the short form of the name, “Epaphroditus.”  Epaphras is mentioned again in the closing of Paul’s letter in chapter 4, verse 12, where Paul describes him as, “one of you.”  Epaphras was from Colossae.  So Epaphras had heard and learned the gospel – probably from Paul in Ephesus – and then went back to Colossae and shared the gospel with others; a true missionary!

From This Study We Need To Remember Two Truths:

The Gospel Changes Your Future Destination – What happens in death.

This is a truth most people acknowledge but few actually embrace.  Jesus says in Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” The gospel has the power to change your future destination.  The gospel has the power to grant you the joy and privilege and blessing of heaven.

Paul describes that future reality in verse 5 as, “the hope which is laid up for you in heaven.”  The Christian’s eternal inheritance in heaven is a fact, an assurance, a certainty.  Remember:

Christian hope is not an action;

Christian hope is an object.

If you have turned from your sin in repentance,

And have turned to Christ in faith,

You may be assured of that wonderful hope.

The Gospel Changes Your Present Situation – What happens in life.

The truth of the gospel has . . .

The power not only to change your future destination,

But also the power to change your present situation.

The gospel is not only about what happens at death;

The gospel is about what happens in life.

The gospel has the power to change our perspective.  It changes the way we think about things, how we spend our time, what we value, and so on.  Paul will show us this application more pointedly in the second half of the letter but, as a foreshadow of what’s to come, consider again what he says at the beginning of chapter 3, verses 1-4, “If then (or since then) you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.”

What happens when you “set your mind on things above” and “not on things on the earth?”

It changes the way you look at things.

It changes the way you live in the present.

A heavenly perspective changes your present situation:

• You become more loving, more caring, more generous, more at peace.
• You become less irritable, less worldly, less prideful, less jerky.
• You become more forgiving, more outward-focused.  You become less selfish, less self-centered.

Why?  Because you are setting your mind on things above.

The writer of Hebrews also writes about this in Hebrews 10.

He says when you consider

What you have in heaven,

It makes you a more

Thoughtful person here.

The Bible says in Hebrews 10:34, “For you had compassion on the prisoners in chains [you visited those who were imprisoned], and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods [you didn’t mind if people stole your possessions], knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven.”

If you set your mind on things above and not on the things of earth, you can accept the plundering of your goods – why – because you know the all-satisfying Christ and you know you have a better and enduring possession in heaven!

And if you set your mind on things above and not on the things of earth and you can also endure suffering.  The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 4:17-18, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

The Gospel changes everything!

This is God’s Word …

This is Grace for your Journey …

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

 

Grace For The Journey

  Colossians has just four chapters.  95 verses.  What is this short letter all about?  In a word: Jesus.  This letter is all about the preeminence of Jesus Christ.  In yesterday’s post we considered the place of Colossae and the people of Colossae, and the person who wrote the letter.  Today we will look at the purpose of Colossians.  Why exactly did Paul write this letter?

If you’ve ever found a letter in a box in your attic, maybe a letter written years earlier by a great grandmother or grandfather (remember handwritten letters?!), you can read the letter and usually figure out what was going on in that person’s life at the time they wrote the letter; what the situation was or the occasion for writing.

The same is true when you read through a letter like this letter to the church at Colossae.  As we read the letter it becomes clear that Paul’s stress on the superiority of Christ is his correction for at least two false teachings surfacing in the first century:

• One of those heretical teachings was rooted in unorthodox views of Judaism.
• The other false teaching eventually became known as Gnosticism.

We won’t go into detail on these heresies at present, but just know that Paul has these two ruinous teachings in his mind as he writes the first two chapters of the letter.

As to overall structure, there are two verses in chapter 1 that really give a nice summary of the contents of Paul’s letter.  They are verses 9 and 10, “For this reason we also, since the day we heard it (heard of their faith and love), do not cease to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; “that you may walk worthy of the Lord, full pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”

Here is a simple two-part outline of the letter as provided in J. Sidlow Baxter’s helpful resource: Explore the Book:

Chapters 1-2: DOCTRINAL – “That You May Be Filled” (verse 9)

Chapters 3-4: PRACTICAL – “That You May Walk Worthily” (verse10)

Note this . . .

Theology precedes living!

Paul gives theology before telling us how to live out that theology.  In Christianity, doctrine precedes duty.  If we reverse the order, we end up with nothing more than rigid legalism or religious moralism.

Christianity is truth

That is lived out.

So . . .

Paul gives two chapters of doctrinal truth

Before giving the imperative commands.

When we understand that

Our “duty” is based upon “doctrine,”

We will live out our Christian lives

As a “Thank You Note”

To God for His grace!

The same structure is found in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians: six chapters; the first three are doctrine, the following three chapters are duty.

The practical teaching makes sense

Only when it is built upon the doctrinal truth.

Christianity is not true because it works;

Christianity works because it is true.

So, in chapters 1 and 2, the DOCTRINAL section, we will be studying the fullness of Christ and what that means – all of this rich teaching on the preeminence of Christ – the greatness of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Then, in chapters 3 and 4, the PRACTICAL section, we will be studying how we are to live out our lives.

How one lives is based

Upon what one believes.

Stated another way:

What we believe

Determines

How we live.

Theology matters!

For example: notice the past, present, and future tenses in the opening verses of chapter 3 (beginning of the PRACTICAL section), where Paul reminds the Christians of their union with Christ: “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.  Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.  For you died, and your life is hidden with Chris in God.  When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. (Colossians 3:1-4)

Then Paul writes about living out our faith in Christ.  He uses this great imagery in chapter 3 of “putting off” and “putting on,” like old clothing, Christians put off the old dirty clothes of the way we used to live – putting off the old behavior of things in verse 8 like anger, wrath, and malice – and then putting on new behavior like the things of verse 12, tender mercies, kindness, humility and so on.

Paul talks about the Christian home in verses 18 and following, how husbands and wives relate to one another biblically, and children relate to their parents, and employees relate to their employers.

And he writes about Christian graces in chapter 4 and how we are to behave around lost people.

This is all the practical living

That flows from doctrinal teaching.

Theology matters.

So . . .

Who Jesus Christ is,

And what He has done,

Affects who we are

And what we do.

I love the statement in verse 4 of chapter 3 where Paul describes Jesus Christ as, “our life.”  He says, “When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.”

When we understand

That real life, true life,

Is a life found in Christ,

The all-satisfying Lord of everything,

Then we will know true living.

And we’ll be ready to meet Him either at death or when He returns.

This is God’s Word …

This is Grace for your Journey …

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

 

Grace For The Journey

To have Jesus Christ is to have everything.  The preeminence of Christ is both a fact and a key to experiencing true life.  Lasting peace, joy, purpose, and meaning are found exclusively in Him.  In a word, Christians are “complete in Him” (Colossians 2:10).

I am going to use the next few weeks to consider the richness of this truth as we go verse-by-verse through the short New Testament Letter of Colossians. Today we will look at some introductory truths about this fabulous Book.

1) Consider The Place Of Colossae. 

Colossae is located in an area that was once called Phrygia, the greater area having been called Asia Minor.  Today we refer to that same area as west central Turkey.  Colossae is located on the Lycus River, very close to Laodicea.  As such, we’re not surprised that in the concluding words of Colossians, the Apostle Paul encourages that the letter also be read in Laodicea (Colossians 4:16).

So, what does Colossae look like today?  If we took a tour today of Colossae how much of the great city would we see?  Is there a great acropolis like in Athens, or a Colossaeum like in Rome?  All that is left today is a sign.  Unlike other biblical sites, Colossae has yet to be excavated.  The city of Colossae was destroyed by an earthquake in the years shortly after Paul wrote this letter.  He wrote the letter around AD 60 and there was an earthquake that occurred closely after that time.

But when Paul wrote the letter, Colossae was already becoming rather insignificant in influence, and here is why:  Do you know about Route 66?  There was a song written about it, “I get my kicks on Route 66?”  It was made popular by Nat King Cole, Chuck Berry, and others.  Written in the 1940s, the song talks about the highway Route 66, going through 8 states from Chicago to Los Angeles.   Route 66 was completed in the 1920s and it was the way to travel west and thousands of people drove along Route 66 making their way anywhere from Chicago to LA.  By the way, did you know that the working title of the animated movie “Cars” (2006) was “Route 66.”

Anyway, there were all these great stops on Route 66, lots of popular motels, diners, and other business.  But with the coming of the Interstate in the 70s and 80s, Route 66 was eventually removed from the US Highway System in 1985.  A lot of the businesses along Route 66 closed down or dwindled to insignificance.

What happened to those businesses when the roadway was redirected is essentially what happened to the city of Colossae.  Colossae had once been a great city of commerce on the trade route from Ephesus to the Euphrates River. But when the Romans changed the road system, Colossae became less and less visited. Over time, cities like Laodicea and Hierapolis became more important.

2) Consider The Person Who Wrote Colossians. 

The person who wrote to this letter is the Apostle Paul.  We learn that in the first word of the entire letter in chapter 1, verse 1: “Paul.”  I have always liked the way people wrote their letters 2,000 years ago.  They identified the writer of the letter at the very beginning.

Who is the Apostle Paul?  You probably know that Paul was originally a very antagonistic unbelieving Jewish Pharisee known as Saul of Tarsus.  God got ahold of Saul’s heart – the same way he got ahold of many of our hearts – and changed Saul through the power of the Gospel.  Someone said after that, “Saul became something of a “church planting machine,” planting over a dozen churches in his lifetime.

The Bible doesn’t say who planted the church in Colossae, but Paul is writing to the church from prison in Rome.  He had been imprisoned for his faith, a fact especially clear in the way Paul concludes the letter.  Among the last words of Chapter 4, he writes, “Remember my chains” (Colossians 4:18).

Colossians is one of four epistles known as the “Prison Epistles,” because they were written when Paul was in prison (the others are Ephesians, Philippians, and Philemon).

People always want to know what Paul looked like and the Bible nowhere describes him so we really don’t know for sure.  There is, however, an interesting physical description of the Apostle Paul that dates to the latter part of the second century.  It’s found in a book called, Acts of Paul and Thecla.  This is book is not in the Bible, so it’s not to be considered totally trustworthy and it’s certainly not inspired in the sense of God-breathed.  But in this book, there’s this brief description of Paul: “A man small in size, bald-headed, bandy-legged (or bowlegged), well-built, with eyebrows meeting, rather long-nosed, full of grace. For sometimes he seemed like a man, and sometimes he had the countenance of an angel. (Acts of Paul and Thecla, vol.8, p.487.  Nobody really knows what Paul looked like– but that’s one popular description.

We also have no record in the Scriptures that Paul ever visited Colossae.  So how did the Gospel get to Colossae?  Colossae is close to Ephesus; only about 120 miles east of Ephesus.  And Paul had been to Ephesus.  In fact, Paul was in Ephesus for a total of 3 years (Acts 20:31), perhaps the longest time spent in any one city.

Acts 19 says that Paul spent 3 months teaching in the synagogue and then spent 2 years teaching in the lecture hall of Tyrannus; teaching every day for 2 years in this Ephesian school.  Acts 19:19 concludes the section by saying, “And this continued for two years, so that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.”

The point is that the Gospel was taught with such consistency that those who sat under Paul’s teaching would go to the surrounding areas and share what they learned – so that the Gospel reached out to every geographical location in what is now west central Turkey.

There were people there in that school in Ephesus, people like Epaphras who we will read about later in verse 7. Epaphras seems to be the evangelist who heard the good news in Ephesus and then took it to Colossae and neighboring Laodicea.

3) Consider The People Of Colossae.

I like the way they are described in Colossians 1:1-2, “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Note that phrase in verse 2, “To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colossae.”   The Colossian believers are described as, “in Christ,” and then “in Colossae.”  Paul describes their identity before he writes of their geography.  They are “in Christ,” that’s their identity; and they are living “in Colossae,” that’s their geography.

Our position in Christ –

Who we are –

Is far more important

Than the place we live –

Where we are.

Position is more

Important

Than place.

In the weeks ahead we’ll be reading more about the Christian’s position in Christ, his or her blessed union with Jesus.

This is God’s Word …

This is Grace for your Journey …

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Grace For The Journey

  Colossians has just four chapters.  95 verses.  What is this short letter all about?  In a word: Jesus.  This letter is all about the preeminence of Jesus Christ.  In yesterday’s post we considered the place of Colossae and the people of Colossae, and the person who wrote the letter.  Today we will look at the purpose of Colossians.  Why exactly did Paul write this letter?

If you’ve ever found a letter in a box in your attic, maybe a letter written years earlier by a great grandmother or grandfather (remember handwritten letters?!), you can read the letter and usually figure out what was going on in that person’s life at the time they wrote the letter; what the situation was or the occasion for writing.

The same is true when you read through a letter like this letter to the church at Colossae.  As we read the letter it becomes clear that Paul’s stress on the superiority of Christ is his correction for at least two false teachings surfacing in the first century:

• One of those heretical teachings was rooted in unorthodox views of Judaism.
• The other false teaching eventually became known as Gnosticism.

We won’t go into detail on these heresies at present, but just know that Paul has these two ruinous teachings in his mind as he writes the first two chapters of the letter.

As to overall structure, there are two verses in chapter 1 that really give a nice summary of the contents of Paul’s letter.  They are verses 9 and 10, “For this reason we also, since the day we heard it (heard of their faith and love), do not cease to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; “that you may walk worthy of the Lord, full pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”

Here is a simple two-part outline of the letter as provided in J. Sidlow Baxter’s helpful resource: Explore the Book:

Chapters 1-2: DOCTRINAL – “That You May Be Filled” (verse 9)

Chapters 3-4: PRACTICAL – “That You May Walk Worthily” (verse10)

Note this . . .

Theology precedes living!

Paul gives theology before telling us how to live out that theology.  In Christianity, doctrine precedes duty.  If we reverse the order, we end up with nothing more than rigid legalism or religious moralism.

Christianity is truth

That is lived out.

So . . .

Paul gives two chapters of doctrinal truth

Before giving the imperative commands.

When we understand that

Our “duty” is based upon “doctrine,”

We will live out our Christian lives

As a “Thank You Note”

To God for His grace!

The same structure is found in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians: six chapters; the first three are doctrine, the following three chapters are duty.

The practical teaching makes sense

Only when it is built upon the doctrinal truth.

Christianity is not true because it works;

Christianity works because it is true.

So, in chapters 1 and 2, the DOCTRINAL section, we will be studying the fullness of Christ and what that means – all of this rich teaching on the preeminence of Christ – the greatness of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Then, in chapters 3 and 4, the PRACTICAL section, we will be studying how we are to live out our lives.

How one lives is based

Upon what one believes.

Stated another way:

What we believe

Determines

How we live.

Theology matters!

For example: notice the past, present, and future tenses in the opening verses of chapter 3 (beginning of the PRACTICAL section), where Paul reminds the Christians of their union with Christ: “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.  Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.  For you died, and your life is hidden with Chris in God.  When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. (Colossians 3:1-4)

Then Paul writes about living out our faith in Christ.  He uses this great imagery in chapter 3 of “putting off” and “putting on,” like old clothing, Christians put off the old dirty clothes of the way we used to live – putting off the old behavior of things in verse 8 like anger, wrath, and malice – and then putting on new behavior like the things of verse 12, tender mercies, kindness, humility and so on.

Paul talks about the Christian home in verses 18 and following, how husbands and wives relate to one another biblically, and children relate to their parents, and employees relate to their employers.

And he writes about Christian graces in chapter 4 and how we are to behave around lost people.

This is all the practical living

That flows from doctrinal teaching.

Theology matters.

So . . .

Who Jesus Christ is,

And what He has done,

Affects who we are

And what we do.

I love the statement in verse 4 of chapter 3 where Paul describes Jesus Christ as, “our life.”  He says, “When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.”

When we understand

That real life, true life,

Is a life found in Christ,

The all-satisfying Lord of everything,

Then we will know true living.

And we’ll be ready to meet Him either at death or when He returns.

This is God’s Word …

This is Grace for your Journey …

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

 

Grace For The Journey

It is often said that if a skeptic wished to be honest in his serious consideration of the historicity of the Bible, he would have to explain two historical facts: the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the conversion of Saul of Tarsus.  Both events are difficult to dismiss out of hand if one takes seriously the historical record.

Today’s focus is on Saul’s conversion (recorded in Acts 9:1-22).  Saul, usually remembered as Paul, is the one who gave us close to two-thirds of the New Testament. What happened to this man . . .

That changed him from

A persecutor of the faith

To a publisher of the faith?

Here’s how Luke recorded Paul’s encounter . . .

Saul was on his way to Damascus, hoping to find Christians he could arrest.  He’s got warrants in his hand as he journeys along when suddenly he is blinded by a light from heaven and falls to the ground in an encounter that leaves him three days without sight.

We will read later that his sight is restored.  God will do that.  It is God who blinds him and God who restores his sight.  The irony is rich . . .

Saul believed he could see spiritually

But he was really blind to the truth.

So God blinds him physically

In order to help him see!

As we study this passage today, we must not miss this important truth – It is God who conducts this “operation,” this spiritual eye surgery, on Saul of Tarsus – and He does it upon everyone who comes to Him by faith in Christ.

From Paul’s conversion record we learn of no fewer than three “essentials” of true Christianity . . .

1) The Necessity of Conversion.

Jesus said in John 3:3, “You must be born again.”  We cannot be saved from sin without the new birth.  God gives us new hearts and we believe by faith in Jesus Christ.  This is conversion, we were once headed in one direction, but we have changed course.  We are now following Jesus Christ.  Paul described conversion as a new creation in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation.  Old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

This was true of the Apostle Paul.  He was on his way to Damascus, living a life in opposition to Christ and God got hold of his heart and he was converted, turned around, saved, and he began living a new life in Christ.

One of the powerful truths I like about this passage is that . . .

It illustrates God’s taking

The initiative in our conversion.

He makes the first move.

He seeks us before we seek Him.

Remember Jesus said in John 6:44, “No one comes to Me unless the Father draws him.”  And that his happening here.

God Makes The First Move.

Don’t lost sight of what is happening here – Paul was not interested in Jesus.  And Jesus “knocks Paul down, gets his attention” and speaks to him.  One of the things Jesus points out is the statement to Paul in verse 5, “It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”  That phrase is found later in Acts 22 and 26 where Paul tells this story of his conversion, so the translators included it here to bring a fuller accounting of the story.  But this phrase, “It is hard for you to kick against the goads,” is a way of describing “how hard it is to resist something that’s prodding you along.” 

A “goad” was a sharp stick used, for example, by a sheep herder.  Sheep are not real bright animals.  They may wander aimlessly towards a cliff or some other danger so the sheep herder would take a goad and prod the sheep and then the sheep would go in the right direction.

This is precisely what God had been doing to Paul and He does for us.  We are naturally going in the wrong direction and, in His love, He comes along and goads us in the right direction.  So, when we feel like God is “goading” us, prodding us, moving in our lives, we are wise to respond the correct way . . .

Not by resisting Him and

Kicking against Him,

But by surrendering to,

And following Him.

Apart From Christ We Are Spiritually Blind.

We cannot see the truth because we don’t yet have the ability to see the truth.  We are dead in sin (Ephesians 2:1) and therefore blind to spiritual things.

I raise this point as a matter of compassion . . . compassion for those who are spiritually blind.  A person can be spiritually blind to the truth without realizing it.

It is like when you’ve been to a movie theater.  You sit inside that dark theater for a couple hours and you see quite well.  You can see the person next to you, see your drink, and see the popcorn that’s fallen onto your lap.  When the movie’s over, you step outside and the bright light causes you to squint and you have to get adjusted to the light.  What happened was that you had gotten used to the darkness without even realizing it.  You were just used to sitting in the dark.  You could see, but all you could see was affected by the dark.

The same is true in the spiritual realm.

People Can Be In Spiritual Darkness And Not Realize It.

It’s a call for compassion on our part.  We should not make fun of them or look down upon them as though they lack intelligence.  We should do as others did for Paul, take them by the hand as they are, and lead them into the light.

I love the way Jesus introduces Himself to Saul of Tarsus.  He asks him in verse 4, “Saul, Saul, why are persecuting Me?”  And Saul is like, “What?!  Who are You, Lord?”  Great question, by the way.  An honest skeptic will make an honest inquiry of the nature of Christ; Who He is.

But Jesus’ question is a reminder that an attack on Christians is an attack on Jesus Himself.  He asks Saul, “Why are you persecuting Me?”  To attack Christians – the church – is to attack Jesus.  So united are Christians with Christ that to attack the one is to attack the other.

Now this takes us to the next point.  The church.  We have learned of the necessity of conversion.  The second characteristic of true Christianity is:

2) The Necessity of Community.

I mean by this a community of faith, a community of believers.  Through the gospel, God unites people together so they may grow in their faith, growing in a healthier relationship with God and with one another.  Note what the Bible says in verse 10, “Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and to him the Lord said in a vision, ‘Ananias.’  And he said, ‘Here I am, Lord.’”  That’s a great response!  God calls your name, you say, “Here I am.  Use me.”   But do we mean it when we say it?   Ananias said the right thing.  Let’s see if he means it.

Verses 11-14 tell us, “So the Lord said to him, ‘Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying.  And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight.’  Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem.  And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.’”

We can appreciate Ananias’ dilemma!  Ananias wants to do the Lord’s will, but he’s like, “Uh, God, are you sure about this?!  I don’t know if you have thought this thing through.  I mean, I know You know everything but, this Saul guy, he’s been persecuting Christians.  He has authority here in Damascus to arrest people!”

We are no different.  We say: “Lord, I trust You.  I believe in You.  I want to live Your plan.”  Then God unfolds His will and we are like Ananias here trying to make sure God has all the information He needs.

May God give us grace to just do what He says!

 He will always honor our doing the right thing.

Verses 15-17 say, “But the Lord said to him, ‘Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel.  For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.’  And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

I just picture Ananias gingerly approaching Saul, probably still thinking, “I don’t know about this!”  He enters the house and cautiously draws near him.  And then he gently places his hands on him, touching him.  And note the endearing way Ananias addresses Saul. He says: “Brother Saul.”  Did you catch that?   Brother. He’s family.

The gospel brings people together.

We can get along because

We are brothers and sisters united in Christ!

Verses 18-19 tells what happens, “Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized. So when he had received food, he was strengthened. Then Saul spent some days with the disciples at Damascus.”  Saul can now see!  Something fell from his eyes like scales, maybe like a film that had been over his eyes, and now he can see.

And then first thing he does is get baptized.  Throughout the Book of Acts you’ll read that as soon as people receive Christ, they are baptized.  Baptism is a word that means “to be immersed into water.”  It pictures the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Baptism has nothing to do with our salvation but is a testimony of what happened to us when we accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.  We have died to the old person and the old way of life and have been raised now to walk in a new way of life.

This part of the passage really stresses the need for community in the Christian life.  We are relational beings and we need one another.  Saul needed Ananias.  And Ananias blessed him by being the one to be there with him, to lay hands on him, to touch him, and to pray for him.

I can’t help but think that as Paul walks around in heaven today that Ananias is close by, reminding everyone: “Hey, I had something to do with this guy being here!”

We have read of the necessity of conversion and the necessity of community.  The third characteristic of true Christianity is:

3) The Necessity of Confession.

By confession we mean to confess our faith in Christ; to tell others about Jesus.  Paul is filled with the Holy Spirit so he is able now to say, “Jesus is Lord.”  He would later write in 1 Corinthians 12:3, “No one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.”   Saul of Tarsus now has the Spirit of God within Him.  He is now a new creation.  He is especially remembered now by his second name, “The Apostle Paul.”  And, as a new creation, he has a story to tell to all who will listen:

Verses 20-21 tell us, “Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God. Then all who heard were amazed, and said, ‘Is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem, and has come here for that purpose, so that he might bring them bound to the chief priests?’”

Everybody knows he is different now.

Something has happened.

He is changed!

If you are a Christian, do people see a change in your life?  Do people notice you are different – different in a good and God-honoring way?  You have a joy in the Lord that others see?

Verse 22 says, “But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this Jesus is the Christ.”  Paul is changed and he naturally now confesses Christ, tells others about Jesus.  That’s what every believer does.  Every Christian confesses Christ.  It is just like ministry: every Christian is a minister.  Not every Christian is a pastor, not every Christian will preach to a congregation, but every Christian is a minister and will confess Christ, speak of his or her faith in Christ as one of His witnesses.

You Just Naturally Want To Share The Joy Of Jesus.

I find it really easy to talk about things that I like.  Things that give me joy.  Like if I go to a new restaurant and the food is good, I’ll tell all kinds of people about it – even total strangers!  I’ll say, “Man, you’ve got to go to this place!”  

In many ways, that’s all witnessing is – It’s just telling others about the One who has forgiven you, given you purpose, power to live, and gives you joy.  If you have that joy, you just want to share it with others.  Confessing Christ.  True Christians do that.

Tell someone today how you met Jesus.  Just tell them.  Tell them how He came to you, how you came to know Him, and the difference He has made in your life.

This is God’s Word …

This is Grace for your Journey …

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

 

Grace For The Journey

  When I was a small boy growing up on our family farm in Northwest Missouri there was a dog that ran around our neighborhood whose name was Shadow.  The reason the dog was called Shadow was because, remarkably, it was aware of its own shadow.  Anytime it caught sight of its shadow, it would jump at it, or swat it, or try to catch or escape it.  It was one of the funniest sights I recall from my early childhood.

The Christian can say that God is like a shadow on a bright summer day.

He is right there with us.

He’s even there when

We are not aware of it.

 And He remains with us

No matter where we go.

God is always there.

In John 1:43-51, God reveals Himself to Nathanael as Nathaniel encounters Christ.  It is a remarkable moment that teaches us much about the presence of God.

We read about what happens beginning in verses 43-44, “The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, ‘Follow Me.’  Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.”  Don’t miss the important point makes in verse 43.  Jesus “found Philip.”   Right off the bat we notice that it is Jesus who does the finding.  The text does not say, “Philip found Jesus,” but “He found Philip.” From the vantage point of the Christian, it would seem that it is we who find the Lord, but it is actually He who finds us!

As John will record Jesus’ words later in John 6:44, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him…”  It is a remarkable thing, the fact that we come to Christ only to discover that He has first come to us.

It’s like the words from the old hymn:

I sought the Lord, and afterward I knew 
He moved my soul to seek Him, seeking me. 
It was not I that found, O Savior true; 
No, I was found of Thee.

So after Jesus found Philip, Philip goes and finds Nathanael:

Verse 45 says, “Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote – Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’”

You sense something of Philip’s excitement here as he exclaims to Nathanael: “We have found Him!   We have found the promised Messiah!”  Faithful Jews like Philip were expecting the Messiah.  They were familiar with the Old Testament teachings about a promised, coming Savior.

Then Philip tells Nathanael who this Messiah is.  He says, “Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”  What is Nathanael’s response?  Verse 46 tells us, “And Nathanael said to him, ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth’?”  You can tell from the way that reads that Nathanael is not impressed!  He’s like, “Nazareth?!  That’s a backward place, isn’t it?!  Not even mentioned in the Old Testament.  Only like 2,000 people.  What good can come of that place?!”

Philip’s reply is really is instructive.  How does Philip answer Nathanael’s scornful, skeptical question?  Does he argue with Nathanael?  Verse 46 says, “… Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.’  Sometimes the best answer to a questioning skeptic is simply, “Come and discover for yourself.”  We are not always going to have all the answers when we invite someone to faith in Christ.  Many unbelievers, however, are open to exploring Christianity when invited to worship or Bible studies by sincere Christians.

By the way, Nathanael did respond positively to Philip’s invitation.  He went with Philip.  Don’t miss that.  Now what happens when Nathanael sees Jesus?  More to the point, what happens when Jesus sees Nathanael coming to Him?

Verse 47 tells us, “Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, ‘Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!’”

The word “deceit” means “no hypocrisy or no deviousness.”  It doesn’t mean that Nathanael is sinless.   That’s not it at all.  A modern-day paraphrase would be something like, “Here’s an Israelite in whom is no phoniness, a real straight-shooter, a tell-it-like-it-is type of person!”

In any case, Nathanael is struck by the fact that Jesus knows him.  Note what he says in verse 48, “’How do You know me?’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.’”  That is just amazing, isn’t it?!   Jesus says, “Nathanael, I saw you long before Philip went looking for you.  You were standing there under the fig tree.”  Jesus could see as no other human eye could see.

How does Nathanael respond now?  Verse 49 says, “Nathanael answered and said to Him, ‘Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!’  In other words, “Okay!  I believe!”  Then Jesus replies in verse 50, “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.’”  It’s almost like a gentle rebuke, isn’t it?  “Nathanael, you believe because I told you I saw you before Philip went to get you.  Tell you what, Nathanael: if you follow Me, you’re going to see a lot more than that!”  This is sort of like, “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!”

Then Jesus “tips His hand” a bit in the last verse.  He gives an idea of at least one sense in which He means that there are “greater things” on the horizon.  Verse 51 says, “And He said to him, ‘Verily, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.’”  It’s an interesting statement, isn’t it?  The context is Genesis 28.  That is the passage where we read about Jacob’s being in the wilderness and falling asleep one evening.  He had a dream, a vision, of a staircase, or ladder.  It reached from earth up into heaven – and angels of God were going up the ladder and coming down the ladder.  It’s was a powerful image of the very presence of God!

And in the dream Jacob hears God say to him: “I am the Lord, and I am going to bless you with land and descendants as numerous as the dust particles of the earth!  I am with you and will keep you wherever you go.”  Jacob wakes up excitedly and says, “Surely the Lord is in their place, and I did not know it!”  And he adds, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!” (Genesis 28:17).

The writer goes on to say that Jacob named the place “Bethel,” which means “house of God.”  So Jesus alludes to this story in Genesis 28 when He says to Nathanael, in essence, “You haven’t seen anything yet!  Like Jacob was blown away, you will be blown away.”  

The God who sees Nathanael under the fig tree is the God who sees you right now exactly where you are.   He knows you.  Remember Nathanael’s question to Jesus?  He’s astonished and he asks Jesus in verse 48, “How do You know me?”  Jesus answered, “Well, I saw you.”

To the Lord,

To see is to know.

Our Lord Jesus sees us

And so He knows us.

He knows all about us.  He knows us inside and out.  We may rightly say that Jesus knows at least three things about us . . .

• He Knows Who We Are.

Remember that Jesus is the incarnation of the eternal Son of God.  John reminds us of this truth in the opening of his Gospel, where he refers to Jesus as “the Word.”  John writes in verse1-3 of Chapter 1, “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 through Him…”

The eternal Son of God is the One through whom all creation comes into existence.  He knows who we are because of who He is: He is God, creator God, who has all power and all knowledge.

• He Knows Where We Are.

Jesus not only knew who Nathanael was, but where Nathanael was.  Jesus declared, “I saw you,” specifically, “under the fig tree.”  Our Lord Jesus sees us right now sitting or standing as we read this post.  Right now at this very moment!  He always knows not just who we are, but where we are.

The Psalmist was overwhelmed by this truth as he pondered the impossibility of fleeing from God’s presence in Psalm139:1-4: “O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off.  You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.  For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.”

He knows who we are and where we are. Therefore:

• He Knows How We Are. 

That is, He knows how we’re doing.  It’s one thing to marvel at God’s omniscience, His all-knowing ways through Christ.  But it’s another thing to think about God’s care for us.

But before we consider God’s care for us, consider again God’s absolute and utter omniscience – that God knows absolutely everything.

• He knows every single fact of knowledge: every math equation perfectly.
• He knows the number of stars in the sky, the number of rocks on the ground.
• He knows the problems inherent in man-made structures, and the problem in your automobile that no one can locate.
• He knows exactly how many particles of dust are floating around you at this moment.
• He knows the precise number of documents on your computer.  And exactly how many words there are in each document.
• He knows how many keys you pressed when you typed each document.
• He knows how many texts you send.
• He knows how many times your heart beats in a given day.  How many times you breathed-in and exhaled in the last hour.

But most importantly . . .

He knows your concerns and cares.

• He knows what worries you.
• He knows your greatest fears.

So, it’s not just that He knows who you are and where you are, He knows how you are – how you’re doing, how you’re feeling, how you’re hurting.

And because He is God, our Lord Jesus knows just what to do if we take our cares and our concerns to Him.  Remember Peter’s encouragement in 1 Peter 5:7, “Cast your cares upon Him because He cares for you.”

Jesus says in Matthew11:28, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”  You may be worried about some particular challenge or burden.   It’s weighing on you.  You’re reading this post hoping to be encouraged.  Well, be encouraged!  Our Lord sees you.  He knows you.

Remember His character: He is always good and always does the right thing.  So, if you’re worried about that loved one, that job, that financial situation, that health scare, or anything else – hear God’s promise in Philippians 4:6-7, Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

He Sees Us. 

But the flip side is also possible.

Here’s the other side of the coin:

We May See Him . . . We Can Know God’s Personally Through Christ.

That is, we may know Him.  We may know Him in a very personal way.  This is why God came to us in Christ.  He came that we may have a personal relationship with Him.

This vision of Jacob’s ladder to which Jesus alludes is significant.  Jacob falls asleep and has this vision that there is a ladder between heaven and earth.  There is a realm above in which God resides.  It is a place of utter perfection and utter holiness.  Then there is this realm down here, this earthly realm, this world of sorrow and sin.

Jacob has this fantastic vision, or dream, where there is a “punching through” the realms.  A ladder appears.  It is as if God punches a hole in the sky and His presence is made known.   Angels are ascending and descending between the two realms.  Remember Jacob’s words?  He had said in Genesis 28:17, “How awesome is this place!  This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

And what has God done in Christ?  God has come down and enfleshed Himself in the person of Jesus Christ so that you and I can know Him personally.  God has punched a hole through the sky and entered into our world.  He has come to us as the gate of heaven.  Jesus says later in John 10:9, “I am the gate. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved,” and later in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one can come unto the Father except by Me.”  In John 1:51 Jesus declares, “Verily I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”  Jesus is the way and stairway to heaven.

You can know God personally through Christ.  You must come to Him, believe in Him, believe He lived a perfect life for you and earned your righteousness by fulfilling all the laws you have broken. You must also believe that He died a perfect death of substitution, taking the penalty of your sin upon Himself, dying for you, and then rising from the dead for you.  Believe Him, turn to Him, and be saved from your sin.  You can know God personally through Christ.

And if you know God personally through Christ, remember this – always remember . . .

We May See Him . . . We Can Know God’s Presence through Christ.

This fact, to me, is one of the greatest and most glorious truths of the Christian experience!  The presence of God!!

Back in Genesis 28 Jacob had described that place in the wilderness as “Bethel,” which means, “House of God.”  But now, God has come to us in the person of Jesus Christ, the Gate, the Stairway, the Door, the Way.  Jesus is now the place where people meet God, know God, and discover the presence of God.  Surely God is in this place, this person, Jesus Christ.

That’s why to the Christian, buildings or the geography of so-called “holy sites” is really not that big a deal.  To be with Christ is to be with God.  Jesus is the new holy place.  He is the new “Bethel,” house of God, the place where God is present.

This week, remember that God has punched a hole through the skies and placed Himself there in the ladder of Jesus Christ.  You can know God personally through Christ and you can experience the joy and wonder of His presence by basking in the presence of Jesus.

Take time each day to get away quietly and open your Bible and listen to God as you read.  He is with you as you read!  And bow your head frequently through the day and say, “God, thank you for being right here with me, as close as a shadow on a bright sunny day, never leaving me, never forsaking me, but being with me always.”

This is God’s Word …

This is Grace for your Journey …

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”