Celebrate: “to demonstrate satisfaction in by festivities.” But you did not need a definition of celebration did you? All of us have been a part of some kind of celebration. It may have been an athletic accomplishment. It may have been an academic achievement. The state of Florida has been celebrating the outcome of a recent sporting event. By the time that game was over Monday evening confetti was flying, cheerleaders were crying, and coaches were sighing; all for an accomplishment that will be totally forgotten by most of society in just a few years.
We celebrate outstanding accomplishments. We celebrate memorable events. Why then, do we so often fail to celebrate the greatest accomplishment in human history; the greatest event in our individual lives? It is an accomplishment that did not occur on a gridiron, in a classroom, nor in a courtroom, but on a cross. It was an event that changed, not just the course of time, but the course of eternity. It was the accomplishment of the Lord Jesus Christ when He paid the penalty for our rebellion against God and purchased for us deliverance from our sin, and the assurance of a home in heaven. We may not drop confetti, launch balloons, or kill a fatted calf, but we ought to continuously celebrate the wonder of our salvation.
I encourage you to open your Bible to the New Testament letter of Colossians as we begin a series of messages I have entitled, “Is Christ Enough?” This was the nagging question confronting the church at Colossae. I want to begin our study in Colossians by laying down a
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historical foundation for our study.(v.1-2) This letter was obviously penned by the apostle Paul.
He was writing from a Roman prison cell. While Paul was under house arrest, word came to him about a troublesome situation arising in the city of Colossae. This is the only one of the prison epistles penned to a church that Paul himself did not start. He had no direct involvement in the starting of this church in Colossae. In fact, there is no evidence Paul had ever been to the city of Colossae.
The recipient of the letter was obviously the church at Colossae. The city of Colossae had once been a prominent, prosperous city located near the fertile fields of the Lycus Valley. It had once been part of what was called the “Golden Triangle”, which included the cities of Laodicea and Hierapolis. Colossae had been known for its wool industry. Sheep grazed in the fertile pasture lands surrounding the town, and dyes were made from the nearby chalk deposits. Politicians and dignitaries often frequented the city streets. But the valley of Lycus was also known for its frequent earthquakes. Whether it was the result of one such earthquake cannot be clearly ascertained, but for some reason the Roman government rerouted the road system running through the region, bypassing Colossae altogether for the neighboring cities of Laodicea and Hierapolis.
The Romans made Laodicea a conventus; the capital of a district of twenty-five towns. Hierapolis was known for its hot mineral springs that many believed possessed healing powers. So for commercial interests one went to Laodicea. For luxury and pleasure, one went to Hierapolis; and Colossae was reduced to a “what used to be” town. Yet in this town composed of an odd mixture of Jews and Greeks, a church had been established. Its founder appears to have been a man named Epaphras.
But a strange new teaching had begun drifting across the city; the fallout of which was beginning to poison the purity of the gospel. The danger of this false teaching was so disturbing that Epaphras had made a 1300 mile journey to Rome to discuss it with Paul. It was a mutt philosophy, blending elements of what would later be known as gnosticism, with the elements of Judaistic legalism. It challenged the supremacy of Christ and the sufficiency of Christ. It called into question the entire created order of the universe. This is the concern Paul will be addressing in the Colossian letter. But rather than attacking the negative, Paul chooses to begin with the positive. He celebrates the wonderful work of God in the lives of these Colossians.
CELEBRATE YOUR SALVATION!
We are to celebrate the work of God in our lives. (v.3a)
We give thanks to God because our salvation was birthed in the heart of God. The rescuing work of the cross was carried out by Christ, but the redemptive plan of salvation was birthed in the heart of God Himself. John 3:16 reminds us, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Ephesians 2:4 says, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ.” Every one of us in this room would be hopelessly, helplessly lost were it not for that glorious conjunction, “but God”. How grateful I am for those two simple words. I was hopelessly lost, “but God”. I was bound for an eternal hell, “but God”. I could not save myself, “but God”. How wonderful those two words ought to be to those of us who have experienced God’s mercy as it was moved by God’s love. God did not ask us to earn salvation. God did not ask us to prove our worth in order to be found suitable for salvation. Our salvation is God’s undeserved, unmerited favor offered to every one of us as a free gift.
Ephesians 2:8-9 says: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.”
Romans 6:23 says: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Do you earn a gift? No. If you worked for it, it would be a payment or a wage. If it was the result of some accomplishment, it would be a reward. But it is a gift. That is why we cannot be puffed up, proud, or act superior to those who have not yet received God’s gift, because we did not earn it, we were not worthy of it, we were simply wise enough to realize how incapable we were of becoming right with God on our own, and so we put our hand of faith into God’s hand of grace and became part of His forever family.
We celebrate the work of God, but:
we celebrate the work of God through the person of Jesus Christ. (v.3b)
How do we know God loves us? He sent Jesus. For God so loved, He gave Jesus. Jesus became the visible expression of the invisible God. When Jesus came to earth, no longer was the love of God an abstract idea birthed out of the writings of Old Testament prophets; the love of God became concrete as it took on flesh and bone and dwelt among us. It was a love that compelled the Son of God to go to Golgotha, to carry the weight of a cross, and to stretch out His arms on that cross to pay the penalty for everything you and I have ever said, thought, or done. Do you want to know how much God loves you? Jesus, God’s one of a kind sinless Son, stretched out His arms and declared to you and me, “This is how much I love you.”
But that sacrificial death means nothing to us unless we receive it for ourselves. It is a gift, and a gift is worthless unless we receive it. So Paul says, “We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you and the love which you have for all the saints.” (v.3) We give thanks for what? “Your faith.” Faith simply defined means: “forsaking all I trust Him.” Faith is acting on what Jesus has done. Consider this chair. I can analyze this chair to determine the quality of it’s construction. I can analyze this chair to determine the durability of it’s construction. But I have not demonstrated faith in this chair until I sit in this chair. Faith “in”: the word “in” means: “to anchor, to place security in”. Hebrews 6:19 declares:“This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast.” We can be confident in our salvation because our salvation is not based on what we do, it is based on who we are as a result of what Jesus has done for us. That is cause for celebration!
Our celebration of God’s work through the person of Jesus Christ is manifested in a love for all the saints. (v.3c)
It is not a love for some of the saints. It is not a love for the saints who are like us. It is not a love for the saints who have been in the church with us for years. It is a love for all the saints. Jesus Himself declared, “By this shall all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35) People cannot see Jesus within us, but Jesus within us will be demonstrated by how we treat those around us. We are to continuously celebrate the wonder of our salvation.
But we also celebrate the security of our salvation.
CELEBRATE THE SECURITY OF YOUR SALVATION. (Vv.5-6)
We celebrate hope.
HOPE! When the Bible speaks of hope it is not referring to wishful thinking or blind optimism. For the child of God, hope is a bedrock promise, an ironclad guarantee of a glorious future secured by a past event. Peter describes our hope this way,
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
(1 Peter 1:3-5)
Our hope is not in this life. Our hope is laid up for us; it means stored away, kept for safe keeping, for us in heaven. Our hope is a future celebration secured by a past event. Peter tells us it is a, “living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” Our hope is not rooted in who we are, what we have, or what we have done. Our hope is rooted in who Jesus is, and what He has done. Jesus has been to the cross where He paid the penalty for our defiant rebellion against God. He has been to the grave where He faced our greatest fear: death. On the third day He came out of that grave proving His promise, “Because I live you can live also.” We can be secure in our hope because:
our hope is rooted in truth. (v.5)
What is the truth? The truth is the gospel. The word for gospel is ‘euanggelizo’, which we often translate “good news”, and the gospel is indeed good news. But the word means much more than that. The word was often used, in classical Greek, to speak of the report of victory brought back from battle. The gospel is good news; news of victory brought back from the battle that occurred on Calvary’s hill. Isn’t that why we sing, “O victory in Jesus, my Savior forever, He sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood”? The gospel is good news; news of victory brought back from battle. But it is also truth. You can deny the truth. You can reject the truth. But you cannot change the truth. Truth is truth.
The truth is every one of us are sinners separated from God. God, out of love and mercy for us, sent His Son to do for us what we could never do for ourselves. He lived a sinless life, died a criminal’s death, was buried in a borrowed tomb where decay could not corrupt Him, the grave could not contain Him, and three days later burst forth in resurrection power. He is the way, the truth, and the life. But what good is truth if you never act on it? Our hope is rooted in truth. We have heard the truth.
But not only have we heard the truth, we have apprehended the truth we have heard.(v.6) The word ‘understood’ means far more than simply the comprehension of a fact; it means ‘fully apprehended’; in our vernacular we might say, “You grabbed the bull by both horns. You latched onto it, and made it your own.” What have we latched on to and made our own? We have latched on to the grace of God in truth. Grace simply defined means: “God’s riches at Christ’s expense.” Have you latched onto the gospel and made it your own? It is a salvation God has made available to every one of us, if we will but reach out and receive it by faith.
But Paul does not end the celebration of salvation here, as marvelous and majestic as that salvation may be. He reminds us that God’s salvation was brought to each of us by way of a human instrument.
CELEBRATE THE ONE WHO SHARED THE MESSAGE OF SALVATION! (v.7)
Remember, Paul had not been to Colossae. He did not start the church at Colossae. So how did the gospel of God’s amazing grace reach Colossae? A man named Epaphras had heard that a preacher named Paul was visiting a city named Ephesus. Recognizing the hole in his own soul, Epaphras traveled to the city of Ephesus to hear Paul preach about Jesus the Messiah. Under the teaching of Paul, Epaphras was gloriously saved. But Epaphras did not keep the good news, the news of victory brought back from battle, the gospel to himself. He went back to his community and shared with friends, neighbors, and colleagues the transforming work of Christ in his life. From the testimony of Epaphras, a church was started. The church at Colossae was indebted to the testimony of Epaphras.
All of us who have received the glorious gospel of God’s amazing grace, are indebted to someone. It may be a mom, a dad, a friend, a minister, a co worker, but we all heard the gospel from someone. Have we thanked God for them? Have we shared with them the impact they have had on our lives? We all need encouragement, but especially those involved in the work of ministry. Wt keeps us going? The encouragement of those God has used us to touch.
Not too long ago, I received an e-mail. I will not name the source; but it was after the recent arrest of another local minister. It was this minister’s third or fourth encounter with authorities. The e-mail said,
“As I read with interest again about the embarrassment of Pitts, I find myself thankful that I have a Pastor that keeps himself beyond reproach. I am thankful that my Pastor is a true man of God and not a man of the world. I am thankful that my Pastor will never embarrass me by getting pulled over for DUI or committing any other criminal act. I am thankful that my Pastor will not contribute to the examples the non- Christians can use to show that alleged Christians are no better or no different than them. Just thought you should know that I am thankful for you being you. See you Sunday.”
I do not share that message for any personal glorification, but to remind us all that part of our celebration ought to be the celebration of those God has used in our lives. Paul was reminding the Colossians of the person God used to reach them. It was a reminder of their responsibility to give thanks for Epaphras, and his willingness to be used by God.
When is the last time you personally thanked someone for the way God has used them in your life? When is the last time we made ourselves available to God to be used by Him to touch someone else? God sent someone with the gospel of amazing grace to you. Now, will you do for someone else what someone else has done for you?
We are to continuously celebrate the wonder of our salvation, and we are to constantly look for ways to spread the good news. After all, good news is worth sharing? Will we?
