The Supremacy of Christ
The Supreme Message
Text: Colossians 1:21-23
I. Introduction
Illustration: British Airways 2069 left Heathrow’s London Airport everything seemed to be going quite well at first. Six hours into the flight some of the passengers were asleep, some of the reading lights were on, everyone was comfortably settled in when suddenly everyone was jarred awake by a violent dip of the airplane. They heard a scuffle up near the front and in the cockpit there was a lot of chaos. Then about as suddenly as the plane dipped it had leveled out and seemed to have recovered. But only for a moment. The problem was that a 27 year old deranged and suicidal man had rushed into the cockpit and momentarily gained control of the plane. When the pilots jumped on him they were able to pull him away from the controls for just a moment and then he began to punch them and even began to bite them. He regained control of the airplane and locked himself onto the controls and leaned forward and pushed the 747 into a deep and violent plunge. At this point everyone in the cabin was absolutely chaotic, people were yelling and screaming people were praying out loud, people writing notes to their loved ones. They were certain they were doomed as this 747 plunged toward the ground. Earlier that day a man by the name of Clark Bineham had gone to London’s Heathrow and tried to get on his flight from London to Uganda but was bumped due to bad weather and got on flight 2069 going from London to Kenya. They were going to fly him from Uganda to Kenya with apologies and to make up for it they put him in first class. Clark said it was the first time he had ever flown in first class and they put him two seats from the cockpit. Clark was on his way to a short-term missions trip, he was a preacher from South Carolina and he was going to preach to a couple thousand teenagers who were assembled for a rally in Uganda. The preacher that God had redirected to this flight happened to also be six foot seven and a former athlete from Clemson. He was huge and in the prime of his life. He says in the report that he saw a very short flight attendant going to assist in the cockpit and about that time he says he realized it was his calling to get involved. He unleashed himself from his seat belt and dove into the fray in the cockpit where everyone was fighting and this madman was clenched to the controls of the plane. And this six foot seven preacher popped that guy out of the cockpit like a bad tooth. He literally threw him on the floor between the first couple of rows and jumped on him and with the help of his preaching partner subdued this man and had him quickly tied up by his hands. The plane in this deep descent was then regained by the pilot who took the plan and releveled it back out. The pilot later said that if the plane would’ve continued at that descent for a few more seconds he would not have been able to recover it. What do you think the passengers thought of Clark Bineham? They thought they were doomed but because of the intervention of a preacher from South Carolina they had a whole new lease on life.
II. What We Were (v. 21)
This shows that the state of being lost is not due to ignorance or innocence, but is a condition of hostile opposition to God.
A. Alienated – objectively banished from God- the Colossians were not viewed as originally alienated, but becoming so.
Ephesians 2:3 - All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.
B. Enemies – The Colossians made themselves enemies (the word has an active connotation). The Colossians had formerly been at war with God.
Illustration: “Every time you are making a choice, you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different than it was before. And taking your life as a whole, with all your innumerable choices, all your life you are slowly turning this central thing either into a heavenly creature or into a hellish creature: either into a creature that is in harmony with God, and with other creatures, and with itself, or else into one that is in a state of war and hatred with God, and with its fellow creatures, and with itself… Each of us at each moment is progressing to the one state or the other." C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, p. 92
Quote: There are no innocent heathens.
Quote: John MacArthur – The problem is not ignorance, but willful love of sin.
1 Timothy 1:15-17 - Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Transition: The gravity of this condition serves to magnify the wonder of God’s mercy and takes us from what we were to:
III. What We Are (v. 22a) - reconciled
A. What it means: those who were far away have been brought back close to Him.
Illustration: That which was previously at war against God has now made peace with Him.
Quote: Soren Kierkegaard “God creates out of nothing. Wonderful, you say. Yes, to be sure, but he does what is still more wonderful: He makes saints out of sinners.”
B. How it happened: It requires a physical and real sacrifice. It was the physical death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It involved the reality and totality of the physical death of Jesus.
Illustration: It was May 21, 1946. The place - Los Alamos. A young and daring scientist was carrying out a necessary experiment in preparation for the atomic test to be conducted in the waters of the South Pacific atoll at Bikini. “He had successfully performed such an experiment many times before. In his effort to determine the amount of U-235 necessary for a chain reaction—scientists call it the critical mass—he would push two hemispheres of uranium together. Then, just as the mass became critical, he would push them apart with his screwdriver, thus instantly stopping the chain reaction. But that day, just as the material became critical, the screwdriver slipped! The hemispheres of uranium came too close together. Instantly the room was filled with a dazzling bluish haze. Young Louis Slotin, instead of ducking and thereby possibly saving himself, tore the two hemispheres apart with his hands and thus interrupted the chain reaction. By this instant, self-forgetful daring, he saved the lives of the seven other persons in the room. . . (A)s he waited. . for the car that was to take him to the hospital, he said quietly to his companion, ‘You’ll come through all right. But I haven’t the faintest chance myself’ It was only too true. Nine days later he died in agony. Nineteen centuries ago the Son of the living God walked directly into sin’s most concentrated radiation, allowed Himself to be touched by its curse, and let it take His life . . . But by that act He broke the chain reaction. He broke the power of sin.
IV. What We Will Be (vv. 22b-23)
A. Holy – set aside for God and His purposes
B. Without Blemish – translates a technical sacrificial term for animals that were without flaw and therefore worthy of being presented to God. It is not so much a matter of conduct as it is condition, even position.
Illustration: A surgeon will reject a scalpel during surgery that has even the tiniest blemish. He will reject just as if it was covered in filth. But when we are in Christ, no such blemishes will be found at the Day of the Lord.
C. Free from Accusation – Satan is the Accuser –
Revelation 12:10 – Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.
Has a courtroom sense - He accuses us before God day and night, but there is no accusation that the is “on the record” for the blood of Jesus Christ has cleansed our record.
V. Conclusion
Verse 23 shows that you cannot believe what you want nor can you do what you want and expect to be saved. The genuine and true mark of a Christian is the evidence of reconciliation by the faith firmly established and steadfast. It is the perseverance of the saints that testifies to the salvific work of the cross.
