The Authority of Christ Jesus

Greetings from the panhandle where we have had a cold day and not quite as much snow as we would like. Its days like today I'm glad I have an inside job now. 

Well last week as we looked at verses 15-17 we read how the closing words of Paul's thanksgiving prayer brought him to Christ Jesus and so to the great theme of this letter to the Colossians, the fullness of Christ Jesus. Paul uses of no less than fifteen tremendous assertions comprise “the great Christology,” of Christ Jesus in verses 15-23. Paul starts with Christ Jesus' relationship to God - He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation (Col 1:15).

Donald English, Christian author and theology professor; tells a quaint English story that gives perspective to this morning's sermon.

In Birmingham, England, there is a store called Lewis’s. It’s a great chain store in one of the main streets, and wanted to extend. Right in the way of the extension was a little chapel of the Quakers, a Friends’ meeting house. Lewis’s sent a letter to the leaders of the Friends’ meeting house saying, “Dear Sirs, We wish to extend our premises. We see that your building is right in the way. We wish therefore to buy your building and demolish it so that we might expand our store. We will pay you any price you care to name. If you’ll name a price we will settle the matter as quickly as possible. Yours sincerely.”

They got a letter back by reply which said, “Dear Sirs: We in the Friends’ meeting house note the desire of Lewis’s to extend. We observe that our building is right in your way. We would point out, however, that we have been on our site somewhat longer than you have been on yours, and we are determined to stay where we are. We are so determined to stay where we are that we will happily buy Lewis’s. If therefore you would like to name a suitable price we will settle the matter as quickly as possible. Signed, Cadbury.” Here is the clincher. The Cadburys are the great chocolate-making, candy-making people in England. They have an enormous spread of business all over the country and the Cadburys are Quakers. They could very well have bought Lewis’s many times over.

The point is that it is not the size of the building that counts, but who signs the letter. One thinks of Paul’s word to the church at Corinth: “You are a letter from Christ… written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God” (2 Cor. 3:3).

Col 1:18-23

18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation- 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

The church is never in a defensive position as long as it remembers who's it is. We are the body of Christ. Christ Jesus, Himself has signed the letter of the church. It is Christ Jesus with whom every power in the universe must reckon. We who make up the church are not operating out of human wisdom and strength alone. We are a new creation, a fellowship of Resurrection life. We are a letter of Christ Jesus; His seal is upon us.

Paul makes a bold leap in thought with verse 18. Having presented Christ Jesus as the source of universal life, he now presents Him as the source of that new life which is operative in the church.

1. Christ Jesus' Relationship to the Church (vs. 18)

The church as the “body of Christ” was Paul’s favorite metaphor. To be such an expression, the church must remember two things:

1^st : Christ Jesus instituted the church; the church is Christ Jesus' doing, not ours. He is preeminent, sovereign over the church because He is the head. Scholars being scholars debate over whether the head should be understood as “origin” or “authority,” both are certainly true of Christ Jesus' relationship to the church. Here is how I see it. Christ Jesus began His church - Matt 16:18 "I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.” And because Christ Jesus began the church He is also supreme over His church. The church takes direction from Him and is under His authority. 

 

2^nd : The church depends on Christ Jesus continually as it's source of energy and power. He is the head of the church, not merely in the sense of being the most important member or having control; but rather in the sense that all the parts of the body are brought together in the head. Think of it this way. The head is the seat of life and will, which permeates to all the members, uniting us into a whole body. Christ Jesus, as head, energizes the Body, giving it life and power. We the members of the church are the body believers who owe our allegiance to Christ Jesus. 

The position of authority or supremacy in everything (and especially the church) belongs to Christ Jesus because of His resurrection and work of reconciliation. It is the Resurrection that qualifies Christ Jesus as the bestower of life and power. Let me qualify something here. Others had been raised from the dead before Christ Jesus. But that is just it they were raised from the dead and would die again at some later date. They had not conquered death, but had a reprieve so to speak. Christ Jesus was the first one who rose from the dead never to die again. He was the only one who's resurrection was of His own doing. He is the first one to conquer death and all other resurrections are based upon His. So Paul refers to Christ Jesus as “the firstborn from the dead” (v. 18) and in Romans 8:29 as “the first-born among many brethren.” Christ Jesus' Resurrection was the beginning of a new humanity, a re-creation in which you as a Christian participate. United with Christ Jesus, you share a new life. But you must be united with Christ Jesus, you must invite Him into your life as your Lord and Saviour.

The Old Testament speaks of God's choosing a place for His name to dwell, and delighting to dwell among His people, to dwell in Zion and so forth.

2. The Father's Good Pleasure (vs. 19-20)

Verses 19 and 20 sum up Paul's breathtaking Christology. Remember Paul was addressing the heretical thoughts that were slipping into the church at Colosse. In the “fullness” was in this heretical though the divine abundance, the total of divine emanations, agencies, energies, which filled the void between pure spirit and the material world. Paul asserts that all the attributes of God are displayed in Christ Jesus. The Gnostics conceded that God was in some manner present in Christ Jesus, but Paul was having none of this. Paul insisted and rightly so, that Christ Jesus in His own person is the fullness of God. Simply put in the fullness of Christ Jesus is the complete being of God.

It is because He is God that Christ Jesus is able to “reconcile to Himself all things.” Verse 20 states that God made a way to reconcile all things “on earth” and “in heaven” to Himself through Christ Jesus. Reconciliation is the removal of hostility and restoring of friendly relations to parties who have been at war. Paul calls reconciliation making peace through Christ Jesus' blood, shed on the cross. What God has done is move toward you to restore harmony, patch things up, cease hostilities, and heal the breach caused by sin.

This is the God-man Christ Jesus. I wonder if Jesus or Christ, or Christ Jesus what ever you want to call Him has become become common place, or maybe just part of some catch-phrase in your life. Have you lost your awe and reverence for Christ Jesus? Or have you even begun to grasp the greatness of the Lord Christ Jesus? He who is the head over the Church, is head over everything else. And this includes you, Christian or not, whether you want to admit it or not. 

The universal is verified as it becomes local. Having dwelt on the universal significance of Christ Jesus, Paul now brings it down to the people in Colosse. The thought of the first chapter as a whole began with redemption and now returns to redemption. “He has delivered us from the power of darkness” (v. 13). “And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled” (v. 21-22).

The big word in verses 20 and 22 is “reconciled.” You participate in the new creation by reconciliation. Before you consider the meaning and richness of that word, there are some underlying truths in this passage that must be stated.

3. Reconciliation (vs. 21-22)

Always Remember Who You are. J.B. Phillips Bible translates verse 21, “and you yourselves, who were strangers to God, and, in fact, through the evil things you had done, his spiritual enemies… .” You should not glory in your past sins, but you must not forget them. If you are a Christian, and if you are growing as a Christian, you must never assume that you have always been what you are. You are what you are as a Christian by the grace of God not yourself. Martin Luther insisted that persons must confront their own sinfulness in all its ravaging depths before they can enjoy the comforts of salvation. There is truth in this. although we do not need be as sin-conscious, we must always remember who we are: forgiven sinners.

Remember Who Christ Jesus Is. Paul has soared to the heights in his effort to describe the person and work of Christ Jesus. He is the image of the invisible God: He reveals to us something that has never been seen before. In Christ Jesus all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell: God has written Himself into history, into the flow of time and no-one can erase that. No matter how hard people may try, Christ Jesus will not be taken out. Christ Jesus is the firstborn of all creation: He is prior in importance, superior to everything else; He has supremacy of and over all things. All things were created by Him and for Him: He is the heartbeat of the created order; creation has meaning only through Him.

Do you remember whose you are or who Christ Jesus is? Paul had an apostolic passion because he knew the soul’s despair—“O wretched man that I am”—and was driven by a breathless gratitude in the redemptive work of Christ Jesus. He reminded the Colossians that their case was the same: they had been enemies of God, estranged from Him and without hope, but now they “were reconciled in the body of [Christ’s] flesh through death” (v. 22).

 

Reconcile. The concept of reconciliation is not just a universal theory; it is a personal truth. Christ Jesus' death allows God's enemy to become God's friend. Like the Colossians, and all unbelievers you start out alienated from God, that is you are separated and estranged. Yet through what Christ Jesus did, the lost relationship between you and God can be restored. 

 

What was it that Christ Jesus did? Look at vs. 20 again – Christ Jesus died, was buried and rose three days later so that you would be made right with God. Lets be clear on this point, Paul does not speak of God being reconciled to anyone, but always of a person being reconciled to God. God’s passionate yearning for His children’s return home is never abated; the fire of love burning in His heart is unquenchable, constant, and continuous. Nothing lessens that love or turns it into hate. God is that “hound of heaven” who pursues us down through the nights and days, who “moves my soul to seek Him seeking me,” who loves us to the Cross. You are the one to be reconciled. You are the one to be moved to penitence and surrender. - Dunnam, M.D., and Ogilvie, L.J.

Will you be reconciled to God today?

Conclusion: We have covered a lot of ground this tonight I know, but remember this the church belongs to Christ Jesus, and Christ Jesus is God's good pleasure. Remember that only through Christ Jesus can there be any reconciliation because He is God in His fullness.

If you already know Christ Jesus as Lord and Saviour, and if you truly know what it means to be reconciled then remain faithful to the gospel that reconciles you. I am sure that is the reason Paul put a kind of provision in verse 23 to remind you: “if indeed you continue in the faith grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel …” I believe what Paul is saying here is “keep on, keeping on!” live a life in Christ Jesus.