Christ is the One Hope of Glory
Colossians 1:21-29
Colossians 1:21-29 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23if 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.
24Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, 25of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 27To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.
In the news we read and hear of hostile aliens. Not the kind from outer space but the ones from the Middle East, Mexico, etc. How do you feel about hostile aliens? How would like to invite them to live near you, work with you and worship with you?
Perhaps the “aliens” part does not bother you as much as the hostile part. We understand that some aliens do evil deeds. They murder, kidnap, steal, sell illegal drugs, bomb and try to destroy our way of life. They act if they had no hope for this world. Some act as if they did not believe in heaven; they have no hope of glory.
Can you ever imagine such people becoming one of us? It is difficult to imagine. What are we? We are good Christians. We are Biblical Conservative Lutheran Christians. We believe the Bible is God’s Word. We believe Jesus is Savior of the world. We believe that all people are born sinful creatures and have no hope apart from Christ.
YOU were aliens and hostile, doers of evil! That is not the best thought in the world.
Paul writes to the Colossians and to us in verses 21, And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds..
He says we were hostile to God and aliens to God. We did evil deeds? Let us be honest about what we are now. We are at home among sinners. We do what we want, when we want the way we want.
I will bet some of us do not feel comfortable in church. Some of us do not like liturgy. Some of us do not know what liturgy is. It is the words we chant and speak during worship.
Some of us do not like the hymns, pastor or positions on morals the LCMS takes. We may feel alien to the practices of the church. We may read the Bible and feel alien to the bible and to what it says.
Sometimes we are like the person who came from the gutter up the ladder to success. But then acts as though he is homesick.
We are not the only ones to act that way. The people in Colossae did the same. That is why Paul is writing this to them. Some of them struggled with the idea that faith in Christ is the only way to heaven. People still struggle with that. People wonder if God would let “good” people to heaven. Paul reminds us that no one is good enough. Our only hope of glory is Christ. He is the only way to heaven.
Here is what Paul means. Leave your sinful past behind you. Leave your guilt and shame behind you. Jesus struggled and died to redeemed sinners. If you know you are a sinner then give thanks that Jesus has redeemed you. Notice Paul never uses the name Jesus here. What name does Paul use? CHRIST is the name. Paul never knew the man Jesus, but Paul knows the Christ, the Messiah. Paul knows the Redeemer. He does not know the Savior,
Christ makes you into a new creature. You are no longer the man or woman who lied, cheated, took drugs, drank to excess, divorced or did whatever you have done.
Dr. John Nunes, president and CEO of Lutheran World Relief (LWR), Baltimore, related how he suffered with a sore toe for 10 days, not realizing it was broken until he finally saw a doctor. He used that as a metaphor for the “longer suffering of those who are limping their way through life with brokenness,” and said there are many people who “look normal on the outside but are hurting on the inside,” particularly “church people,” he added, who “are the best … in the world” at “hiding [their] hurts.” What are your hurts? What are you hiding? Christ in you, the hope of glory.
You have no hope in your work. Good.
If you think you are pretty good. Then I have bad news. You are not near good enough. Christ Jesus is our hope of glory.
When we trust Jesus, When we do things God’s way, we are no longer aliens to God but we become enemies of the world. As enemies of the world we will suffer. (Verse 24)
We become the ones who warn people of hell, teach them about Jesus and proclaim God’s love.
We do need to tell them how to live a God-pleasing life. We do need to warn them that there will be a Judgment Day. We must live as one who has Christ inside. (27)
Together with other Christians we rejoice (24). It is hard to tell someone that God is not pleased with their actions. It painful and we will suffer for warning those we love. Paul warned people and he was killed. Peter warned people and he was killed. Jesus warned people and he was killed. But death could not hold Jesus. Three days later Jesus was back at work, warning people and in wisdom sharing God’s words of redemption. Christ is our hope of Glory.
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By the Will of God we have Redemption
Colossians 1:1-14
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father. 3We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, 7just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf 8and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.
9And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. 11May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, 12giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Grace …Notice that the words I usually speak at the start of the worship service are the words of Paul from Colossians 1. This letter to the believers in Colossae is like a long sermon. That is why we are covering it over the next four Sundays.
Look at verse one with me. Was it Paul’s will to become an apostle of Christ Jesus? …No it was the will of God.
Look at verse 6. Did the people go after the gospel message in the Word of God? …No, it came to them.
Notice in verse 6 that “it”, the Word of God, specifically the gospel of Christ Jesus is “bearing fruit.”
God wants to have you bear fruit as well. Not necessarily to be evangelists- that would be ok. He does want us to bear fruit for Him, that means the Lord wants us to encourage others to trust in Jesus as their Savior from sin and hope for eternity.
Sometimes we need encouragement to bear fruit. We become comfortable as Christmas and Easter Christians. We become comfortable sitting in the pew.
When we lived in Ft Atkinson we had an apple tree that for three years did not bear fruit. I thought we should cut it down. Margie’s uncle John said he could help. He has a green thumb. “I saw what I need in your garage,” John said. A moment later John emerged with a wooden baseball bat. John hit the tree trunk several times and concluded, ”that should do it!”. John explained that the tree needed to be challenged, to struggle to experience hardship, then it will send more nutrients up from the roots to the limbs to bear fruit.
Sometimes the challenges are good for us as well. Today I will help you to struggle so that you may bear spiritual fruit.
Grandparents Talk or write to your Grand kids- Tell them the pastor’s words in the sermon made you think of them. Remind them God cares about them and you love them as well. Remind them that one day you will see them in heaven. (5) 5because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel
Parents you get the idea? You can do the same for your children. If they cannot read then draw a heart on paper and slip it into their shoes or lunch. They will get the idea. Put a cross in the heart. They will know it means Jesus.
Kids you can do the same for your parents. Tell them you want to see them in heaven. Ask them to look at devotions with you or help you with Sunday School lessons.
We must challenge ourselves to get better. When I played Table Tennis well I learned a lesson from an older man who always beat me by a close score. I learned to do what he did. Play to the strength of those who were not as good and try to play with my weakness.
I became a better player.
It seems that people come to church on two Sundays of the year. Everyone comes on Christmas and Easter. Why? They hear the same sermon every Christmas and every Easter. Perhaps I should preach just those two sermons very Sunday and church will be filled?
You have learned about Jesus the Savior. You know the story of His birth. No one seems to grow tired of hearing the Christmas story or the suffering and death of Jesus on the cross and His resurrection on Easter. You can tell that to anyone. The main point of Christmas is that it was God’s will to come to us. He came as a humble baby and His first bed was the uncomfortable manger. Why Jesus came to us is answered on Easter. He came to destroy sin and death. Jesus came to do God’s will and redeem us from death and hell.
(9) PRAY for those you love and know. What should you pray? we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. 11May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, 12giving thanks to the Father,
Here is our hope we have forgiveness. It is God’s Will for you to live, not in fear but in the joy of Redemption. It is that joy we are encouraged to share.
Usually I associate endurance and patience with struggles. We endure chemotherapy. We are patient with unruly children. Why does verse 11 read “endurance and patience with joy?”
Think back to the baseball bat and the tree. It is in and through the struggle that we bear fruit. A mother endures 9 uncomfortable months. Patiently she awaits the birth of her child. Then the mother endures the pain of labor and birth. Her joy is complete when the baby is born. It requires endurance and patience to bear spiritual fruit. In the end it brings joy.
And may the peace of God….