Sermon Text: Colossians 1:13-20
Christ the King Sunday – November 25, 2001
A couple of weeks ago we all heard about those social aid workers who were kidnapped by Taliban forces and held captive for several days. What’s amazing is that two of the hostages were held prisoner apparently for sharing the gospel.
And then the news came. The prisoners were released. In, what was touted as a “daring rescue effort”, the Northern Alliance swept in and smuggled those hostages out of enemy hands. It was a pretty amazing story with a happy ending. We like those kinds of stories, don’t we? We like it when the “good guys” win.
Stories of daring rescues, brave heroes, and triumphant endings always appeal to us. Today, the apostle Paul recounts a story of daring rescue. In fact, it’s a story to which we can all relate. So, listen as the apostle tells you about THE GREATEST RESCUE EVER! It’s the account of 1) A King Who Becomes the Captive and then of how 2) The Captive Becomes the Crowned.
1) The King Becomes Captive
Speaking of rescue and escape, one of my favorite movies is The Great Escape. It takes place in Germany during World War II. It’s about a group of POW’s trying to escape from German prison camp. They plan a massive escape by tunneling out and under the fence of the camp. Unfortunately, only a few actually make it to safety. The rest are recaptured and executed.
People may no longer be threatened by the radical Nazi regime, but people – all people – still suffer from oppression and captivity. It’s the sinister dominion ruled by Satan himself. His evil rule that has control over all hearts and lives. It completely dominates. The apostle Paul refers to this as the dominion of darkness. This is the realm of spiritual ignorance and fear, in which our hearts and minds are conceived.
All people are born into this captivity of darkness. We are spiritual POW’s and Satan has complete influence over our existence in this life. We come into this world shackled and bound, unable to move. There’s nothing we can do to gain freedom. Unlike the POW’s in that movie, we have no ability or desire to work an escape. We can’t tunnel our way out; shoot our way out; cut through the wires – nothing.
That’s because we are born into this world without any understanding of the truth. The momenet we are conceived, this sinful flesh doubts God. We enter this realm with great suspicions towards the Lord. Satan, our own flesh, even this world, are constantly whispering in our ears and telling us lies about God: “ You can’t trust him. You don’t want to trust him. He’s a liar!” they say.
Propaganda is an effective tool used in time of war. Warring countries often intimidate one another by blanketing the opposing country with leaflets or fliers, which have threatening messages on them. It’s a sort of fear tactic meant to break down the enemy. The devil is the master fear tactics. He uses a propaganda all his own. In fact, it’s really a sort of mind control. The devil brainwashes us and then he uses our own bodies, our friends and families, and even the world around us, to confirm us in our suspicions towards God. The result is that we don’t trust him. We don’t love him. Actually, we hate him. We want nothing to do with him. That’s because we are void of any real spiritual understanding. The sinful heart knows nothing but Satan’s propaganda and lies.
We’re born into this captivity and know nothing more. The truth is there’s nothing for us to know. We’re dominated by darkness and ignorance, knowing nothing but lies. If left alone, this would be our lot -- to be held captive in the darkness of ignorance and sin for time and eternity. Yet, the Scriptures clearly record the greatest rescue ever. The apostle Paul recounts: “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” All at once, light floods the dominion of darkness. We see – we understand – the grace of God.
A daring rescue has been executed. The Bible calls this daring rescue “redemption.” To redeem something means, “to buy it back.” Now, imagine, we are shackled in fear and unbelief; our hearts and minds held prisoner. Suddenly, a figure enters this realm of Satan – the dominion of darkness – and he’s an intimidating figure. His clothing dazzles with splendor, the likes of which you’ve never seen. He seems royal, a king. Light and glory exude from every pore. In fact, he is the reason your dark prison cell is illuminated; he’s the source of this glorious light. One glimpse of this stranger and you know he is brave and valiant. This stranger begins to talk with Satan. There’s a heated discussion, but you can’t make out the words. After sometime, it appears the devil comes to an agreement with this wonderful stranger.
Suddenly, the two of them approach your cell. The door clicks open and you’re led out. The shackles and chain are removed. Your prison clothes – those rags – are ripped off of you. And as you stand in the light flooding from this wonderful stranger, you somehow feel clean and pure.
Then that’s when it happens. Satan hits this stranger with a mighty blow, knocking off his crown. All at once, hordes pile on him, beating and kicking him. They rip off his royal garments, laughing the whole time. What’s odd is that this stranger doesn’t fight back. He allows this to happen to himself. He allows himself to be stripped of his glory. After sometime, they bring him to his feet. Bloodied and bruised, he gazes at you, as they put your rags on his own body. And suddenly you realize … you’ve been set free. This king has become captive for you.
Our Savior has earned our forgiveness. Our debt has been canceled. We’re redeemed. The result is reconciliation, as the apostle says, “for God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things.” To reconcile something means to bring into harmony, to make content. God has reconciled – he’s made peace with us – building the relationship that once was severed by Satan. The Lord appeased his own sense of justice by sending his Son in our place. He paid the debt that Satan demanded by allowing Christ to win our freedom. We have been rescued because this king is eternal. This is a message proclaimed throughout all Scripture. The Old Testament prophets – Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the others – sang of this bold rescue. They knew God would be faithful to his loving promises and would free us. And one winter’s evening the Lord sent his messengers to proclaim this good news of rescue. The angels came the shepherds proclaiming, “Glory to God in the highest, and peace to men on whom his favor rests.” This is the greatest rescue ever!
2) The Captive Becomes the Crowned
Christ did not rescue us with SCUD missiles or high-tech weaponry. He didn’t burst through Satan’s domain with an army of soldiers. Christ Jesus gave himself. As the apostle reminds us, Jesus rescued us “by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” The reason Jesus’ blood is so precious, is because he is the very Son of God made flesh, he is peace incarnate. He is the eternal love of God and by his willing sacrifice he conquered all our enemies.
Christ did not remain captive. He took up his crown, for he is God eternal and has conquered death for all eternity. Salvation is ours. Christ is not some dead leader, a martyr, or some legend. He is the living King of kings. He is crowned with power. He returned back from the grave. In fact, his body did not see decay. Satan’s reign could not hold Christ down. By his suffering and dying, Christ crushed Satan’s rule. He broke the shackles and chains of sin, death, and hell. Satan laughed with delight that first Good Friday as the stone was rolled in front of the tomb. Jesus proved his victory over death by rising from the grave.
The captive has become the crowned. And the apostle Paul describes Christ’s eternal reign in various ways. He piles up several terms. He says Jesus is the firstborn over all creation. What that means is that Christ Jesus is supreme over all creation. When there was nothing, this One, existed. He holds all things together. He is the glue that holds everything in place because he is the very heart of God in the flesh. Paul also says that Christ the King is image of God. That means Jesus is the only one qualified for the job. He has the perfect resume to be our Redeemer. All that God is has been made known, revealed, in Christ.
Christ is also crowned with life itself. Again, Paul says that he’s the firstborn from among the dead. That means he’s conquered death itself. He rode through the realm of death and hell victoriously. There’s no doubt who reigns supreme; it’s the one with the crown. Christ took up his crown. And all who follow the king are safe in his rule. That means we’re also crowned with Christ’s love and glory. He will lead us through this life -- through death itself – and will bring us to the eternal bliss of heaven.
I remember the first time I went through a haunted house. We’ve all seen them. They suddenly appear around Halloween. I was in the third grade and all my friends were talking about going to this spook house in town. Apparently everyone was going to go to it, and so I folded, and felt compelled to go as well. We all piled into our car, my dad was driving. On the way, we talked about how fun and exciting this was going to be, until we pulled into the parking lot. That’s when reality hit. The place looked scary. It sounded scary. We saw the flashing lights, the people running from the exit, and we heard the shouting and screaming. Suddenly our brave hearts melted, and altogether we looked to my dad. He just shook his head and smiled. Well, we survived that haunted house. We came out of the exit and we wereexcited, thrilled, but we were laughing. In fact, it wasn’t that scary. We even laughed at what we saw inside. We suddenly were brave. The reason: we had talked my dad into leading us through. His presence made us brave.
Well, Christ is our king, and he is leading us through the horrors, the fear, the pain and the disappointments of this life. His presence makes us bold. We know he rules eternally and that his love covers us completely, and so we can be bold in the face of fear and uncertainty, even death itself.
We have a good leader, the King of kings. Now, some leaders are better than others and time will tell if one’s achievements as leader mean something. It’s true of Christ. Time will tell. In time, we will see with our eyes what we now believe through faith. When our Lord comes in glory all doubt will vanish, all pain will cease, and all our worries will dissolve. As we are gathered around our King’s eternal throne, we’ll gladly praise him and say, “Mission accomplished!” Amen.
