INTRODUCTION
• If my count is correct, I have just completed the 25th funeral since moving to Auburn in September of 2000.
• I have had the honor of being a part of so many families who have said good bye to their loved ones.
• For me a death always begs the question concerning the meaning of life. Why are we here? What is life all about? Do we have a calling in life or are we just supposed to do what ever seems right to us or whatever will make us the most money?
• Who is really supposed to be in charge of our lives?
• SLIDE #1
• I know we in church we are supposed to say that Jesus is supposed to be #1 and Jesus is supposed to be what life is all about. Jesus is supposed to be in charge of our lives.
• Today as we look at Colossians 1:9-15, I want us to consider WHY It’s All about Him!
• It is important for us to understand WHY it all HAS to be about Him. We do not want to get to the end of our lives only to find out that we invested it in the wrong things.
• WE ALWAYS need to remember what if most important in life.
• Let’s look at Colossians 2:9-15 together this morning as we see that “It’s All About Him!”
• SLIDES #2-#3-#4
• READ Colossians 2:9 - 15 (NASB)
SERMON
It is all about Him because:
SLIDE #5
I. IN HIM (9-11)
SLIDE #6
1. The fullness of Deity dwells.
• One of the reasons “It’s all about Him” is the fact that in Him the fullness of deity dwells.
• Since “dwells” is in the present tense it indicates the risen Christ is still the fullness of deity as savior, as he was upon earth. The significance of the incarnation continues.
• “Fullness” means that in every sense of the word, Jesus was God. Jesus was not just some man who did good things, He was not just some good teacher, He was God in the flesh and now He is seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven!
• Since the fullness of deity rests in Christ, then the benefits of His saving grace can be found nowhere else!
• In Him you will find God. People search for God in all the wrong places, God is found in Christ alone!
• Slide #7
• John 1:14 (NASB) 14And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
• In Him…
• SLIDE #8
2. You have been made complete.
• The Colossians lacked nothing outside of Christ; in Him they had everything they needed for salvation and right living
• But what does this “completeness” mean? The Life Application Bible states: It means that there is nothing lacking in a believer’s relationship with God. God pours his love and power into believers, giving them fullness for this life and readying them for the life to come. Believers need not look anywhere else. Christ is the unique source of knowledge and power for the Christian life. Christ alone holds the answers to the true meaning of life because he is life. (LAB)
• Look around you. People are searching for something to give their lives a boost. Few people seem content within themselves. A strange and often hard-to-identify inner vacuum gives most people an uneasy sense of incompleteness.
• But Christ fills the vacuum. As Jesus’ person is fully divine, so we, united by faith to Jesus, find personal fulfillment in him. We are complete in Christ.
• SLIDE #9
• John 1:16 (NASB) 16For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.
• You do not have to look elsewhere to be complete, when you find yourself in Christ, you are complete!
• In Him…
• SLIDE #10
3. Your old life has been cut away.
• Jewish males were circumcised as a sign of the Jews’ covenant with God (Genesis 17:9-14). Circumcision was an expression of Israel’s national identity and was a requirement for all Jewish men. Circumcision was a physical reminder to Jews of their national heritage and privilege. It symbolized “cutting off” the old life of sin, purifying one’s heart, and dedicating oneself to God (Deuteronomy 10:16; Jeremiah 4:4; Ezekiel 44:7). (LAB)
• Verse 11 tells us that in Him the body of flesh is removed. The word for “removal” denotes a taking off of clothing and putting them away. A total breaking away from something.
• If we are going to experience the fullness of Christ, we must “take off” the old way of life.
• SLIDE #11
• 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NASB) 17Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
• The reason we are a new creation is because in Him, our old life is cut away!
• SLIDE #12
It is all about Him because:
II. WITH HIM (12)
SLIDE #13
1. You have been buried.
• Verse 12 tells us that we have been buried with Him in baptism. This is where the cutting away of the old self happens.
• SLIDE #14
• Galatians 3:27 (NASB) 27For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
• When we are immersed, we “put on” Christ. We take off the old suit of clothing and cloth ourselves with Christ.
• This is one reason baptism is a significant part of the salvation process.
• SLIDE #15
• Romans 6:3 (NASB) 3Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?
• Anyone who doubts the need for baptism for a person who wants to be saved has not carefully studied Romans 6.
• The great thing about being buried with Him is …
• SLIDE #16
2. You have been raised up.
• God did not leave you in the watery grave; you were raised up with Christ!
• Christ rose from the dead the possessor of a new eternal life for us, when we are in Christ, or clothed with Christ, we receive this as part of the blessings we receive from God.
• Notice though that baptism without faith has no effect. The passage says we are raised up with Him through faith in the working of God.
• Faith in the risen Savior is required before baptism is effective, then and only then does it become a spiritual experience.
• Baptism is not just a sign, it is not just a religious exercise or ceremony, it is the meeting place where you put on Christ. Baptism without faith and repentance is nothing more than getting wet.
• You must rise and walk in a newness of life!
• SLIDE #17
It is all about Him because:
III. THROUGH HIM (13-15)
SLIDE #18
1. He made you alive.
• What does it mean to be alive? There are many people who are existing, they are not living life. When we are living life outside of God’s purpose for our lives, we are not really living life.
• In the context, what is meant is the fact that because we are in Christ, we will have eternal life in Him.
• The passage in verse tells us that we were dead in our sins or transgressions and through Christ, we are made alive.
• When we commit our first sin, we separate ourselves from God. Jesus brings us back to life.
• Do you really want to experience life, Christ will make you alive with Him!
• SLIDE #19
2. He forgave all your sins.
• In 1940, a twenty-one-year-old black man named W. D. Lyons was arrested for a brutal triple murder in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His conviction was based on a coerced confession, and his trial was a farce.
• While the truth was never fully determined, the murders were probably committed by organized crime figures, who had framed Lyons because he had a prior criminal record. No court in the country, including the U.S. Supreme Court, had rules sufficient to get at the truth. Lyons was a man caught in a system with no way out.
• After twenty-five years in prison, Lyons was released by the governor of Oklahoma using his executive authority. Prison gates opened and Lyons walked free.
• Spiritually, we are all left without a defense on a one-way trip into darkness and death. Yet our pardon comes with a promise. God will guide and prosper us in new life in Christ. Not only is our conviction cancelled, but we get power for rebuilding our lives. Make eternal life your wonderful goal and hope.
• SLIDE #20
3. He removed the burden of perfection.
• In verse 14 Paul speaks of canceling out a debt. This debt was the payment for sin. The decrees that were hostile to us speaks of the Law of Moses.
• No one was saved by the Law. It was hostile because except for Jesus, no one was able to keep it.
• Those under the Law who were saved were still saved by Jesus, because all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
• SLIDE #21
4. You win.
• This “disarming” occurred when Jesus died on the cross. The word for “disarmed” is literally “stripped,” as in stripping a defeated enemy of armor on the battlefield. The powers and authorities of this evil world stripped Christ of his clothing and popularity, made a public spectacle of him on the cross, and triumphed over him by putting him to death. Ironically, the victory belonged to Christ. Actually he stripped the evil powers of their hold on the world, held them up to public contempt, and triumphed over them by taking his rightful power and position.
• This means that through Him you win!
CONCLUSION
• Jesus deserves to be first in our lives; our lives should be all about Him! His life was all about you!
• He did all He could for you, now what is your response?
