THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST TO THE CHURCH AT COLOSSAE
Colossians 1:3-14
Here is a link to an MP3 recording of this sermon: http://chirb.it/bqxyKD
INTRODUCTION:
1.) I have decided to continue with where i had left off last week and to preach a series of messages from the book of Colossians.
2.) This morning as I continue in this series, I would like to speak more on the Gospel of Christ and the church at Colossae.
I) THE GOSPEL HAS COME TO YOU.
1.) Last week we looked at Paul’s thanksgiving for the church at Colossae.
A.) We said that Paul was thankful for their:
aa.) Faith in Christ.
ab.)Love for each other.
ac.) Hope for the future because of Jesus Christ.
II. THE GOSPEL IS GOING OUT INTO THE WORLD.
In as much as the Gospel had come to Colossae it did note merely stay there. This church was taking the message of the Gospel out into the world.
1.) This has always been the will of God.
A.) From the beginning of time, God’s will was that the message of salvation through Jesus Christ would go to the entire world.
aa.) When God first spoke to Abraham he also told him that all peoples of the earth would be blessed through him.
aaa.) Genesis 12:1-3
.01) In reality the blessing of the world would not be directly through Abraham, but through one of his descendants Jesus, the Christ.
aab.) This was a concept which the Jewish people could not comprehend.
.01) In Jesus’ day, the Jews had mistakenly come to the place of missing out on seeing Jesus as the Christ.
.02) They had come to believe that God owed them salvation because they could trace their family tree back to Abraham.
.021) On one occasion, as John the Baptist was preaching he even addressed this false teaching they had come to embrace.
.0211) Luke 3:8
aac.) After the time of John the Baptist, Jesus would also come preaching to the people.
.01) Both of these men would tell the people of Jesus Christ.
.02.) Jesus would further elaborate on the message that John preached, showing it God’s plan and will for Jesus to be crucified, buried, and on the third day raised again to life.
B.) Before Jesus left this world he gave what we have come to call the Great Commission.
ba.) In a nutshell, the message of the Great Commission is that the message of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ was to go into all the world.
bb.) Matthew 28:18-20
bc.) This Church was completely faithful to Christ in this regard.
C.) There has always been power in this message of the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
ca.) The Spirit of God rests in and works powerfully through God’s Word, and the message of the Gospel of Christ.
D.) Even before man came into this world, God knew that eventually man would sin and rebel against God.
da.) Even at that point and with such knowledge of the future of man, God loved the one part of creation that had been made in the very image of God Himself.
db.) Before there was sin, or evil God made the decision to reach from heaven to the earth, to offer His own sinless Son for the good of
mankind.
dba.) God’s own Son would become the sacrifice of atonement so that man could once more, and for all of eternity have fellowship with
God.
.01) The practical implication of that is that:
2.) Wherever the Gospel goes, it bears fruit.
A.) We like to take the credit for the success of the gospel message.
aa.) Sometimes for the preacher it can be a matter of pride when a person comes to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
B.) The reality is that it is not in the power of man, but by the power of the Spirit of God in the gospel of Jesus Christ that fruit is produced for the Kingdom of God.
ba.) Man is only the messenger.
baa.) The Church at Colossae had heard the message of the gospel through Epaphras.
.01) I do not know a great deal of this man Epaphras.
.011) What I do know is that He was an active agent in the early church to advance the Gospel of Christ.
bab.) The Apostle Paul spoke to the church of this man as:
.01) A dear fellow servant.
.02) A faithful minister of Christ.
bac.) It is true that Epaphras was a valuable servant of Jesus Christ, faithful to his calling before God.
bad.) It is also true that Epaphras was the man who proclaimed the message of salvation to these people.
.01 Yet as valuable as the service of this man was, He was but the messenger used of God.
.02) The power was not in himself, but in the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ he brought to the people.
.021) This brings me to my third point that:
III. THE GOSPEL IS THE POWER OF GOD.
1.) It is the power of God unto salvation.
A.) Romans 1:16-17
B.) 1 Corinthians 1:18
C.) The Gospel is the power of God for our salvation because it is a proclamation of the only thing that can save man from sin, and that is the blood of Christ.
ca.) As the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” there is great power in proclaiming this message to a world that is in
need of a Saviour.
ca.) Paul goes on to explain of this power of God, and what it means to have salvation:
D.) It means to be rescued from the dominion of darkness.
da.) Colossians 1:13
db.) Darkness is a metaphor that has long been associated with evil, and the practice of evil.
dba.) In fact, it has long been a reality that the darkness of sin often is most prevalent when there is physical darkness in the world.
.01) When there is physical darkness there are more robberies, murders, and other activities of the wicked world.
.02) It is also when there is physical darkness that the prevalence of sexual sinfulness is most common, perhaps because it is felt that the physical darkness will cover and hide the darkness of the soul engaged in such actions.
dbb.) Certainly when Paul used this metaphor of darkness he chose a very fitting term to describe life when lived under the dominion
of Satan.
dc.) It is in direct contrast to this terrible state that Paul pictures the greatness of being in the kingdom of God’s beloved Son.
E.) The work of Christ in bringing us to salvation is further elaborated as Paul shows us the greatness of our redemption from that
darkness by the reality of the forgiveness of our sins.
ea.) It is when we remember that darkness of our souls compared to our present life in Christ that we can comprehend the power of the
Gospel of Jesus Christ.
eb.) Yet the power of the Gospel goes beyond the initial act of salvation itself.
2.) It is the power of God in the Gospel which brings us to maturity in Jesus Christ.
A.) The power of God in the Gospel brings us into the knowledge of God’s will.
aa.) It brings us to a place in which we develop spiritual wisdom and understanding.
aaa.) Colossians 1:9
B.) The power of God in the Gospel enables us to live a life worthy of the sacrifice that Jesus has made for us on the cross.
ba.) Perhaps I should clarify myself here as we will never even come close to living a life that is worthy of the price Jesus paid for our
souls in his death on the cross.
baa.) Although this is true, the realization that God loved us enough to allow his own son to take our place on the cross should motivate us to live as best we can to the Glory of God.
.01) Colossians 1:10a.
bb.) It is when we allow the Word of God to get into us, that God will work through us to live a life that is pleasing to God.
bba.) Colossians 1:10b.-12
bbb.) This in no way means that we are perfect.
bbc.) Neither does it mean we have it all in every part of our lives, but that we acknowledging our salvation is from God and that we consciously are living to His glory.
CONCLUSION:
1.) As I close today, the apostle Paul was excited because great things were happening in the church at Colossae.
A.) By their faith, hope, and love it was evident the Gospel had come to them.
2.) Paul could also rejoice because the Gospel was going out from them.
3.) Paul could rejoice because he had experienced firsthand that the gospel is the power of God.
A.) Have you personally experienced the Power of God through the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
B.) If you haven’t why not experience that power today.
