Continue in the Faith!

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Jim Jordan

0:12Good morning North Church. As Pastor Brian mentioned, my name is Jim Jordan. My wife Sarah and I have been members here since 2006. Uh, I am currently serving as a global partner working with training leaders international. Uh, it's been a blessing to be a part of this church for so long and to be one of your scent ones. Uh, Sarah and I have served in various capacities over the years. Uh, and as Brian mentioned, in the past two years, I've been serving as one of the elders here. And this past week I especially had the joy of serving as a cabin leader for a group of seventh grade boys. Uh, these young men are fantastic and I'm so glad for the opportunity that I had.

0:58And I just wanna say thank you to the many people that made this camp possible. There was a small army of people that did administrative work, uh, that set up the programming people who were actually onsite leading. Uh, the Lord was at work in mighty ways. And I heard many stories of young people committing their lives to Christ, young people who know Christ that are, that have been encouraged and grown greatly in their faith. So thank you to all of those who have been even at home praying that this camp would be successful. So grateful for that opportunity. And this morning I'm grateful for the opportunity to open God's word with you.

1:38So let's pray together that God would be at work in us. Holy Father, we thank you, thank you that you are with us in all things. We thank you that you are the God that we can hope in. We thank you for sending your son Jesus Christ and pray now that as your word is opened up before us, that you would give us eyes to see, that you would give us ears to hear and that you would give us hearts that are wide open to hearing from you. May we come away from this place changed because of the work that you will do and we ask these things in the name of Christ. Amen.

2:21I think that the purpose that Paul has for the Church of Colossi and the surrounding churches that would've received this letter is the same purpose that we should have this morning. And that is that we would continue in the faith By way of reminder from John Nolan's sermon a few weeks ago that ch, the Colossians were being challenged by many false philosophies that threatened to lead them astray. And we have the same issues in our day that there are many false philosophies, many things that the enemy of our souls would like to distract us with. And Paul here is encouraging the people to remain steadfast, to remain continue in the faith.

3:06So an outline of where we're going this morning, Paul gives two ways for the church to continue in their faith. One is to cast their eyes and to know Jesus Christ. The second is to know who they are. For us to know who we are in Christ. So to know Christ and to know who we are in him, he is here Continuing His thought from the sermon that we heard last week, Paul wrote, he has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. And he will be, we will be exhorted more about who that beloved son is and the redemption that we have in him. So here we go first, who Christ is and then who we are in him.

4:05Paul begins this section of who Christ is with four. He is statements. So statement number one, he is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation by him. All things were created and all things were created through him and for him. So Christ as the image of the invisible God, Christ is the physical manifestation of God himself. Jesus is both fully God and he is fully man. In other words, he is the visible expression of God. In the Old Testament, the Israelites were commanded not to carve, not to fashion, not to paint any kind of image of God because no one can create an accurate portrayal of who God is and to worship a manmade I image is idolatry.

5:01So God is spirit and humans cannot even conceive of a way to accurately portray him as spirit. How amazing then that Christ came to this earth and he is the actual image of God. God himself came to earth and made himself visible to us human beings. With all of our limitations, were able to actually see God incarnate as we just read. Hebrews one, three. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature. And he upholds the universe by the power, by the word of his power. So we also read then that he is the image of the invisible God and the firstborn of all creation. So what does it mean that he is the firstborn of all creation? Well, it might be helpful to first think about what it does not mean.

5:55What this does not mean is that there was a time when Christ did not exist and he was born. This is a classic heresy made popular by Aria, a preacher from Alexandria, Egypt. In the late two hundreds and early three hundreds, the first counsel of NAIA declared Aria's view heretical. And the church has upheld that position ever since. These statements by Paul speak directly against philosophies that say that there was a time when Jesus did not exist. Jehovah's Witnesses would be an example of a modern expression of this belief that there was a time when Jesus did not exist. So that's what firstborn does not mean. Well, what then does it mean? Well, firstborn here functions in a way that's similar to the way that we find it in Psalm 89. So speaking of David, the Lord says, and I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.

6:59David is obviously not the first king that ever walked the earth. He's not even the first king of Israel. However, David was given the rights and privileges of the firstborn. So that's the way that this is functioning. The the idea of firstborn here, uh, Christ is being described in this passage as having prominence preeminence over all of creation. Firstborn is used to describe first in priority as opposed to literal birth. In seven of the eight times that this word shows up in the New Testament, here are just two examples. Hebrews one, six. And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, let all God's angels wor worship him.

7:47So Jesus was not the first person born in the world, but he is the first born in terms of being preeminent, of having the highest priority or revelation one, five. And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first born of the dead and the ruler of the kings on earth, Jesus is not the first person that even rose from the dead, not chronologically, but yet he is the one that has supremacy. He is the one that has priority. So Christ is the firstborn of all creation. Could also be stated, the firstborn over all creation as it reads in the N I V and the net Bibles, the idea is that he has first priority.

8:29He has the rights and the privileges of a firstborn. So we go on and we see that Jesus is the creator for by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him. So the understanding of Christ as preeminent or having the highest priority over creation is further explained by Paul as he describes Christ as the creator of all things by him, all things were created. This is similar language to what we read in John chapter one, verse three. Through him all things were made without him, nothing was made that has been made.

9:18And that's true whether it's in heaven or on earth, visible or invisible. So these words are here in a ki structure with the words heaven and earth and visible and invisible. And the effect here is that we see Christ as the one who has created everything that we see and he's created everything that we don't see. He's created the visible world and all that we can observe with our eyes, with our ears, with our skin, with our touch. And he has also created the invisible realities that exist in the heavenly realms. Those heavenly realms have been created by Christ and he rules and reigns over them. Nothing exists that he did not create.

10:02Whether we see it or not, Christ is preeminent in heaven and on earth. Paul goes on and says Whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. So Christ has created every structure of power, both what we see here on earth and what we cannot see in the heavenly realms. Every king, every president, every governor, every mayor, people like King Saul, king David, king, Solomon, emperor, Caesar, Augustus, emperor Niro, president, Biden, governor Waltz, mayor Frey, every angel, every fallen angel like Michael, the chief prince that we read about in Daniel chapter 10, the prince of the Kingdom of Persia that we read about.

10:52All of them have been created by Jesus. So whatever we might think about men or women and the power that they have, they're nothing. They're utterly insignificant compared to the one who has made them. They have no power compared to Christ's power. There is no earthly leader that we need to fear. There's no earthly leader that we ought to put our hope into. There's no earthly leader that we should give our allegiance to. Primarily we do not need to live in fear of what President Putin or what President Xi might do on the world stage. We do not need to live in fear of the freedoms that some people might think President Biden is going to take away.

11:42We don't need to live in fear of what some might fear in terms of the polarization that could come from President Trump's second term. All of these leaders are under Christ control. We need not fear them. We also ought not to put our hope in them. President Biden is not the one that is going to fix all things for us and make all things right. Trump is not the one that is going to make all things right for us. Yes, we live in a country where we do have political freedoms and we ought to exercise those freedoms, but our hope cannot be put there. They have no power compared to the power of the one who has created them.

12:25There are also no heavenly leaders that we need to fear. Even Satan himself, the enemy of our souls is under the rule and reign of Jesus Christ. He created every being that exists and they are powerless against him. So we ought to fear Christ and Christ alone. We ought to have our hope in Christ and Christ alone. Nobody here on earth, nobody in the heavenly realms can compare to him. Christ is preeminent. Paul goes on and says more about Christ. Uh, he's gathering strength here As he goes on, he says that Christ about Christ, that he is before all things and in him all things hold together. So this is the second of the four. He is statements.

13:17He is before all things and this describes both time and priority. Christ existed before anything else in this universe came into be in the ancient world. And even logically, this gives him the priority of position as well. Nothing is before him. Nothing can come before him. Nothing has a higher priority than Christ and in Him, all things hold together. So Christ, he is the creator, the one who has made all things. And this was not just a one time event. Creation was not just something that happened at the beginning. Creation is something that Christ is doing even now in the sense that he continually is at work.

14:03These statements speak directly against the deistic philosophy which says that God created the universe and then is just letting it do its thing. As like a watchmaker who creates a watch, winds it up and then sets it down and just lets it unwind itself. Watching. That's not how it works. That is not what Jesus has done. Jesus holds all things together. He's continually at work. So we need not be led astray by philosophies or by ideas or uh, attacks from the enemy that will tell us that Jesus is not actively at work right now today or that he is so distant that he is uninvolved in the particularities of our daily life.

14:50He is holding all things together on the global picture, on the universal picture. Scientists can't even understand how it is that the planets can orbit in an elliptical manner and not just spin off in into the galaxy somewhere. Christ is holding all things together. It also means that he's holding you together. Even when you feel like things are spinning out of control, Christ is the one who will keep you. Christ is preeminent over everything that exists today and nothing continues to exist apart from him. He is preeminent. The third he is statement. We read here that he is the head of the body.

15:37The church Christ is preeminent as the leader of the church. There is no earthly church leader that is above Christ. He is above them all. So do not be led astray by charismatic church leaders who do not put themselves under submission to Christ. Christ is the actual head of the church. Also do not give your allegiance to a church leader of one kind or another. This was a problem in the ancient church and it can be a problem for us today. One Corinthians one verse 10 through 13, I appeal to you brothers by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind, in the same judgment.

16:23For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, I follow Paul or I follow Apollos or I follow Cephas or I follow Christ. Is Christ divided. Was Paul crucified for you or were you baptized? In the name of Paul Christ is preeminent over the church. The church exists only because of Christ and he holds the highest position. We ought not to give our allegiance primarily to John Piper or John MacArthur or Al Moeller or Tim Keller. There is no church leader that compares with him in any way, shape or form. Christ is preeminent, the one who has the highest priority.

17:11He is supreme over the church. The fourth he is statement. He is. He is the beginning, the first born from the dead. So this the fourth of the he is statements. Uh, this is just one amazing attribute of Christ after another. Christ is God made visible. He is the creator of all things and all people. He is before all things and all things hold together because of him. He is the leader of the church, the community of believers. And now we see that he is the beginning, the first born from the dead. So here we have this word again first born. So first born from the dead. Defines for us what he means by the beginning and first born means that he has the priority of place again or priority of position.

18:04Jesus was not the first person in history that we read about who is raised from the dead. One example can be found in Second Kings chapter four in which we see Elisha raising back from the dead. The son of the s Shunammite woman. Christ is the firstborn in the way that he holds the primacy of place regarding the resurrection of the dead. Jesus is the one that makes it possible for us to be born again. He's the one that makes it possible that resurrection can even happen. Acts 26 verses 22 to 23. To this day, I have had the help that comes from God. And so I stand here testifying both to small and great saying nothing.

18:46But what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass, that Christ must suffer and that by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the gentiles. Again, we read about Christ being the firstborn or having the first fruits in first Corinthians 15 verses 20 to 22. But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. The first fruits of those who have fallen asleep for as by a man came death by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die. So in Christ shall all be made alive. This is what we know the gospel message to be.

19:28That Christ is the author and he is the perfecter of our faith. Christ died in order to take upon himself the death that we deserve for our sin, our rebellion against God. We deserve death. Christ did not deserve death, but he voluntarily died in our place and rose again from the dead. He is the first born, the one who is preeminent, the one who has the highest priority. He is the beginning.

19:57We now read that Paul makes uh, a statement about how Christ is in everything preeminent. So he begins by saying that and the word that in this context is indicating purpose. Some other ways that we might say this thing in English would be so that, or in order that. And what it means is that everything that Paul has been saying about Christ has its purpose in Christ being preeminent over everything. He towers, above all he excels surpasses everyone and everything. He is the king of kings. He is the Lord of lords. He is supreme overall creation. He is supreme in holding all things together. Christ is supreme over the church as its founder and its head.

20:44He is supreme in bringing life out of death. This is the Christ that we love. The Christ who is number one, he is the greatest, the most magnificent, the most glorious. The one for whom there are not enough words to describe. He is the one who is preeminent. And Paul goes on here and then says four in him, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. So here we have another important word to look at for and the fore here moves us to think about the way in which this is true or the reasons why. Uh, another way that we could say this in English is because or on account of.

21:34So the purpose of these great he is statements is that Christ will be preeminent in all things. He is preeminent in all things because of his person and work. He is preeminent because of who he is and what he has done. So first we see here in verse 19 who he is. Paul says, for in him the fullness of God was pleased to dwell again. Jesus is God. Jesus did not have some portion of the spirit come upon him in power like it did for some of the people in the Old Testament like David or Elisha. In Christ is the fullness, the completeness, the entirety of God. Jesus is God. He is preeminent because he is God.

22:24Secondly then we see that he is preeminent in all things because of his work. In that through him he reconciled to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven making peace by the blood of his cross. So we see here that Christ is reconciling all things, not just human beings, which is true, but all things whether in heaven or on earth. Sin as we know brings disorder and broken relationships in the heavenly realms. Fallen angels rebelled against God and broke their relationship with him. In the garden of Eden, human beings rebelled against God and broke their relationship with him. The creation became disordered as a consequence. That ga, that God brought for Adam's rebellion.

23:13This we read about in Genesis three 17. And to Adam, he God said, because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, you shall not eat of it. Curse it is the ground because of you in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Not only was the relationship broken between the people of God, between God and his people, but creation itself was moved from being perfectly ordered to now being disordered. The disorder that we see in creation, whether it's the thistles and thorns or earthquakes and hurricanes, these are a result of sin and rebellion.

23:56And when Paul says here that Christ will reconcile all things to himself, this includes the creation, the hope of creation, being reconciled to Christ. We can also see in Romans chapter eight and verse 20 where Paul says, for creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in the hope that creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. So the effects of sin and rebellion are going to be reconciled. Those effects reach to the heavenly realms. They reach to earth and all of the material creation and they really, they reach to the relationship that human beings have with God and all of this reconciliation that has begun and will be fully done when Christ comes again. All of this was done at great cost.

24:56Making peace by the blood of his cross. Sin separates us from God and makes us his enemies. Sin also separates us from one another and turns us into enemies of each other. Sin separates angels from God. Sin results in broken and disordered creation. And God is not content to just let that be the end of the story. But Jesus came to this earth to live a sinless and perfect life. And he died as the sacrifice to pay the penalty for sin. He has died the death that we deserve. And through that death, he is making peace. He's making peace. This has already started and it will be made complete when he comes again.

25:43So as we look at Christ, what a glorious God and savior we have. Jesus is preeminent over all things. Look at what we have seen in verses 15 through 20. What else could we possibly see that has greater power? He created everything that we see and everything we don't see. Who or what else could we fear and honor that has greater authority. He holds all things together. He holds planets in their orbits. He holds governments together. He holds us together. He brings rain and sun to make crops grow. Where could we possibly go to find someone or something that has a greater ability to hold things together or what else could we possibly look for in leadership? The church belongs to Christ. He is the foundation, the cornerstone, the head. He has laid down his life to purchase for himself.

26:39A people that will know him and love him forever. We do not need to follow those here of this earth. We follow Christ as our head. He is the one who is over the church. Who or what else could we possibly look to for hope in a dying world? Everything dies. Every one dies. And for those who hope in Christ, we do not lead to live in fear of death. Christ has overcome death. There is life after death because of him being the first born from the dead. He is the one who initiates new life and has supremacy even over death itself. Christ is preeminent over all things because of who he is. He is God incarnate.

27:21He is preeminent over all things because of his work that he is reconciling all things to himself. Therefore, how can it be that we would look to other things for hope, for help, for happiness? Where are we gonna go when we are afraid? Where else are we gonna go when we, when we feel empty, where are we going to go? When we feel like things are spinning out of control in our lives, in the world that we live in? What is it that's going to give us satisfaction? What will give us happiness, joy, peace. Will we get peace with the new house? Will the latest iPhone give us peace? Will it give us hope? Will it give us joy, A new car, the new video game? How about the puppy?

28:09Are those the things that are gonna give us true joy in this life? Is that the thing that we're really looking for that's gonna help us in our time of need? Only in Christ will our souls have peace? Will we have hope? Will we have fullness of joy? Will we have rest? Will we be held together? Christ is preeminent. So this is the first part of Paul's theological grounding for encouraging the church to continue in faith. That is to know Christ, to know who he is and what he has done. And the second part follows in knowing who we are in Christ. And he begins with who we once were. He says, and you who once were alienated and hostile in mind doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death.

29:04This is who we were. We were alienated hostile against God and doing evil deeds for those who are like me and did not come to Christ until a later age. We actually remember and know what this hostility and what evil deeds look like. I was what many people in the world would call a good guy. I had a good job. I was kind. I was even generous most of the time. But yet I was empty and I didn't have hope. I searched for hope and meaning. I searched for it in a career. I was an engineer. I made plenty of money. I was able to even move to Hawaii and live in a place that many people would call paradise on earth. I had traveled the world, I looked for satisfaction for the next thrill in adventure sports like surfing and skiing. But yet at the end it was all empty.

30:05There was no hope and I was without God and my deeds were indeed evil. And I knew it even though I was one that people might call a good guy. I was never enmeshed in things like drug addiction or anything crazy. Yet I knew that my deeds were at their core. Selfish. I knew that I did not have peace with God. I was unsettled in my soul and I did not know how to fix it. And this is a horrible place to be for those who came to Christ as children. You may not remember a life like this and praise be to God, but whether you remember or not, that is the kind of thing that we have been saved from. Would we want to go back to that? That's what we once were.

30:54But now, but now he has reconciled us in his body of flesh by his death in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him. This is the best news ever. Christ has brought reconciliation to those who trust in him. Instead of alienation, we have adoption as children of God. Instead of hostility in mind against God, we have peace. Instead of evil deeds, we have holiness. Instead of being shamed by our sins, we are above reproach before him. Oh glorious day. What a savior. What a hope this is cause for much rejoicing, this is cause for worship. This is the the king Jesus that we worship.

31:44The one who has taken away our sin and shame and has nailed it to the cross. He is our greatest treasure. In him there is joy forevermore. May we revel in that goodness, that love, that mercy of Jesus who has taken away the punishment that we deserve and instead gives us the life we have not earned. If there is anyone here who has not yet put their trust in Jesus as their savior and as their king, as one who can grant forgiveness of sins, let me encourage you to trust in him. Even right now. Here is one way that you could pray to receive the reconciliation that only Jesus can bring. King Jesus, I have sinned against you.

32:31My rebellion against you has caused you and my fellow man to be hurt and grieved. Please forgive me. I repent. I turn away from my life of sin. And with your help, I will live a life of loving you above all things. So for those of us who are trusting in Christ, we read the encouragement in verse 23. If indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven and of which I Paul became a minister. So Paul, uh, well let us even just read this passage together a bit because that word if can be a little confusing.

33:15So we read and you who once were alienated and hostile in mind doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him. If indeed you continue in the faith stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard. So that phrase, if indeed you continue in the faith, it can be one that is a bit confusing it, it is connected logically to what comes before it. Namely the reality, the present fact that Christ has reconciled the believers in order to present them holy and blameless and above reproach.

34:00It might seem at first blush that this implies that there might be a doubt about that, that there might be a doubt about the actuality, the realness of that reconciliation to Christ. And maybe it's even dependent on our own initiative in continuing in the faith as if something that we are going to do might cause that to not be true in the future. So I just want to encourage you to know that the word if here does not bring with it the idea that the outcome of the believer's reconciliation in Christ is in question or is in doubt. The first part of the verse states this as a present reality. It's something that already has been done.

34:45It is complete for those who are truly in Christ. This passage is not a reason to worry about their ability to secure their own salvation throughout the rest of their lives, by their own efforts. John 10 is one place where this is made abundantly clear in scripture. Verses 27 through 30 reads like this. Jesus says, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My father who has given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of the father's hand. I and the Father are one. If you belong to Christ, you do not need to fret that you might one day lose your salvation.

35:40You are not the one that holds your salvation. Christ is holding you. This was illustrated, uh, even at uh, camp this last week with Pastor Ben showing the image of his little son clinging to his arm with two little hands, one on each side of his arm when his son does not hold on, is not still in the arms because those two little hands are strong enough to hold him up. He's in Ben's arms because Ben is the one that is holding him. That is how Christ holds you. If you belong to Christ, he will hold you. He will hold you fast. This passage may however, serve as a warning for those who are not true believers.

36:24That if they are not continuing the faith, they might not actually be believers. They might not actually be saved when things get hard. This is the type of person that leaves Jesus abandons the faith because they never really believed in him or treasured him for who he really is. The encouragement that Paul is giving here is not some form of behaviorism or legalism. He is not saying that they need to look spotless and perfect right now here on earth. He's encouraging them to maintain their faith in Jesus as their savior. He's encouraging them that they would not put their trust in a counterfeit gospel.

37:03The false gospel of hoping in a political leader or getting satisfaction in this life through extreme sports or through possessions. The word if here makes a logical connection being between the thoughts that Paul is describing. He is encouraging the believers to continue in their faith to be stable and steadfast because they are reconciled to the preeminent Christ. He wants them to live in the reality that there is no one greater or worthy of worship. In this section here, Paul is describing the progression of their lives in Christ. Believers start out in a state of alienation doing evil deeds than reconciled to Christ and saved out of that alienation in the future. And at the final judgment, they will be presented holy, blameless, spotless, and above reproach.

37:58When he comes a second time and he judges the living and the dead, all those who are in him will have their filthy rags taken away and be given a robe that is spotless and white. We will be made pure and perfect. But in the in between, in this present time, we are to continue in the faith and live in light of that past and future reality. So let us then continue in the faith. Let us be stable and steadfast and not shift from the hope of the gospel that we have heard we should press on in our faith because of the awesomeness of the Christ that has a relationship with us and that we now enjoy in Him. Where else are we going to go?

38:43What else are you going to find your satisfaction in The likes that you get, the number of people that look at your Instagram post is not gonna give you joy. But we have a preeminent Christ in whom there is satisfaction, in whom there is life. Let us hope in Him. He is the creator of all things, the one who sustains all things. He is the head of the church, the first born from the dead. And we are in him. Let us continue in that. So as we move towards this closing song and we sing, as we sing this closing song, let us treasure Christ as he has proclaimed in this pass in this song. So let us pray as the worship team comes up.

39:29Lord Jesus, you are over all. You are preeminent. There is nothing greater than you. And yet we live in a fallen world. And our hearts, our hearts just get let us stray. So help us please to treasure you for who you are. Help us please to find you to be our greatest joy and our greatest satisfaction. Help us. Please help us to continue in the faith and to hold fast to the gospel that we have heard and believed in. And we thank you that we have confidence that you are the one that will hold us. So it's in Christ's name that we pray through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Sermon Text

Colossians 1:15-23

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