You may be seated. The scripture lesson for today's sermon comes from the book or the letter to the Colossians by Paul, the apostle. And before, I'll just say a little introduction to this letter. This letter was written by Paul to the Colossians. The city of Colossi had been a very prosperous and prominent city at one time in Asia Minor, which is now in modern day Turkey. But it had fallen on hard times by the time that Paul came around. It was no longer a major center. The important centers of civilization had moved on. And yet the people of Colossae had a sense of their past and their past grandeur. And it's remarkable that Paul, when he wrote this letter, wrote it to basically a small town, a backwater, and yet some of the most glorious scripture passages about Christ are contained in the letter to the Colossians. We read here about how the fullness, the entire fullness of the deity was pleased to dwell in Jesus Christ, the person. And this was a backwater where he was writing this too. And yet in God's providence, there are no backwaters. All God's people are important to him and all have been cleansed by the precious blood of his son. And so the people of Colossae were given this great privilege of receiving first the great Christological statement of the church. And we'll be reading part of that statement today. I'm reading from Colossians 1 beginning at verse 1 through to verse 23. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God and Timothy, our brother, to the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae. Grace to you and peace from God our Father. We always thank God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ when we pray for you since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you as indeed in the whole world It is bearing fruit and growing, as it also does among you since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth, just as you learned it from Epiphras, our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf and has made known to us your love in the spirit. And so from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authority. All things were created through him and for him. And he is above all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him. if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister." This is the word of God. May we pray. Gracious Lord, as we ponder your word, this afternoon and wonder what application it has for our life, we pray that you would guide our thoughts, our feelings, and our desires, that our hearts would be pleasing to you, and that you would show us how we might be pleasing to you in all our life. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. This afternoon's sermon is called The Supremacy of Christ Over All Things. The world is being held hostage, in bondage, the Bible says, and our only hope of rescue is the Lord Jesus Christ. In today's politically correct world, such a statement borders on hysteria or hate speech. Nonetheless, it is true. The Bible pictures the world as enslaved to sin, enslaved to death, and enslaved to Satan. And our only hope of being rescued from this captivity, the Bible declares, is through the redemption that comes through Jesus Christ. Christ is the only one who can rescue sinners from the dark kingdom and transports them to God's kingdom, where he transforms them more and more into his image and his likeness, their savior. In the Old Testament, there are several famous examples of the Lord rescuing and recovering his people from captivity. Joseph was rescued from being killed, then rescued from the pit, and finally rescued from prison. And each time he recovers by God's grace until finally he was made vice regent of Egypt. Moses and all of Israel too were rescued from captivity and recovered in the promised land where they were slowly transformed into a nation set apart for God. And in today's lesson, Paul pictures the Colossian Christians as people who were rescued from captivity to sin and death and who were now recovering, being restored as they were being transformed by God's grace into people who live to glorify God and enjoy him forever and love the other saints. Today's lesson can be organized under three main headings. First, the transformed, then the transformer, and finally, the messenger of transformation. First, the transformed. In the opening verses of today's lesson, Paul thanked God for the transformation of his friends in the Colossian church. Paul had heard a report from his coworker Epiphras that saints in the Colossian church were growing in grace. And Paul wrote, we always thank God, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Paul knew his friends had once lived in darkness. He knew that very well, but they'd been transformed. They had changed. In verse 13, he describes their transformation this way. He says, he, that is God, the father has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Here, Paul pictures the transformation that Christians undergo as their status is changed from being slaves to being free men. The Bible says, in effect, that God the Father delivered his people from darkness by sending in his son. As a result, Christians are people who have been redeemed from slavery and given a new life, and it's done by the power of Christ. We might picture it this way, if we wanted to picture it. A group of soldiers are being held captive by the enemy. So the army launches a raid to get them back. The rescue operation storms the enemy's stronghold, liberates the captives, and brings them home to recover from their ordeal. It's not a prisoner exchange. It is a rescue operation. Continuing with the analogy, the prisoners, although free, are still broken men due to the weeks, months, or even years, or even decades in some instances, of captivity. The former prisoners must regain their health and sanity, but the transformation can be slow. And the same holds true for Christians, only more so. They've been rescued from sin, depending on how far along they were in their life when they become born again, The same holds true for Christians, only more so. They've been rescued from sin and given a new nature, but they need to be reminded constantly that now they must bear fruit in keeping with their new condition. Once, says Paul in verse 21, you were alienated and hostile in mind doing evil deeds, but now they were bearing fruit in keeping with their new life. But Paul has to encourage that fruit bearing constantly. Christians were once far from God, hostile to Him, and doing things that were evil in God's sight. And those of us who were born again later in life have many more memories of that former life. After Christ redeems them, Christ begins to restore the image of God within us, an image that had been damaged and distorted by sin, but is now being restored and recovered by God's grace. Part of this restoration process involves effort on our part. We must participate in our sanctification. Yes, it is the Holy Spirit who does the work, but we must participate in that work. You and I must throw off our old ways and put on the new self. The Bible pictures it as a changing of clothes. You must get rid of the filthy rags that you wore when you were far from God. And even now, as you are being sanctified, there are slippages. And you must put on the robe of righteousness that Christ has already given you. Christ has given us the righteousness, but we must take it on and put it on. And Paul speaks of it in the imperative, put on. Have you put on? Have you put away and end to the things that you once loved? Have you not only renounced your old self, but thoroughly rejected your old ideas, your old desires and habits, and ways of doing things? Even now, you may be struggling with the flesh. How are you at resisting it? The Puritans spoke of mortifying the flesh, which is a fancy way of saying to kill the flesh, to kill the sinful nature within us. How are you doing in that warfare with the flesh? We are not against the human body which God made, but the sinful nature which resists the Holy Spirit. The Bible says, Colossians 3, beginning at verse 5, put to death, therefore, Whatever is earthly in you, sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is adultery. On account of these, the wrath of God is coming. In these, you too once walked. He's speaking to Christians here. You too once walked when you were living in them, but now you must put them all away. anger, wrath, malice, slander, obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator." This is an active process, a daily process, an hourly process. We are to put on the new self. Sometimes, as Reformed people, we may think that it is all of God, and we know that it is all of God, but that we still participate in the work of sanctification. There is a part we play. Men and women who had always put their faith in themselves or others or riches or some other idol were now putting their faith in the Son of God. Notorious sinners who had loved their sin were now showing signs of love for Christ and for His people. and those who had always feared the approach of death. And doesn't sinful man do that? Natural man is fearful of death and what comes after it. Think of Hamlet who said, you know, to be or not to be, what happens after that? When I die, what's going to become of me? Natural man is terrified of death and does everything he can to suppress the truth that he will someday die. But here, the Christians in Colossae, who had once feared death, now have a hope in the future. And it's clear that this hope for the future is a future that includes the afterlife, because they knew, somehow, that they would be with Christ. Because they knew that judgment awaited them, sinful man, they were hopeful. Sorry, the natural man is fearful of death, because he knows that judgment comes, and he doesn't have a leg to stand on. But Christians need not fear judgment because they know that Christ has suffered the penalty for their sin. And so the Colossian Christians had great hope in the future. Second, the Transformer. Paul knew who the change agent was in the transformation of the Colossians. He had no doubt about it. It was Jesus, the only Redeemer of God's elect. Near the end of chapter one of his letters to the Colossians, sorry, near the end of chapter one of his letter to the Colossians, Paul made a remarkable statement about Jesus. He wrote, for in him, that is in Jesus, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. All things were made peace by the blood of his cross. This is one of the statements that drives the Jehovah's Witnesses crazy. If you've ever brought this passage up, this verse up, it drives them crazy. They don't want to recognize that the fullness of the deity dwells in Jesus, but it's right there in God's word. It drives the Jehovah's Witnesses crazy because it affirms the full deity of Jesus Christ. According to the inspired word of God, Jesus is very God of very God. He is the one who alone is able to bridge the fracture between heaven and earth and reconcile the broken relationship between God and man. And only he can do it. That was a result, that breach was a result of Adam's first sin. And Christ is the second Adam, the better man. According to the Bible, the reconciliation that Jesus achieves was accomplished on the cross. He makes peace, says scripture, by the blood of his cross. That is, his death on the cross was an atoning sacrifice that appeased the wrath of God against the sin committed by God's people. The Bible teaches, especially in John's gospel, chapter three, beginning at verse 16, that there are two types of people in this world, and only two types, those who are redeemed by Christ and those who aren't. Those who are redeemed stay in the light, looking to Jesus, and are forgiven and renewed, and they're sanctified. But those who are lost, are not in the light. They stay in the darkness, rejecting Jesus, and they are condemned. Their only hope is to turn to Christ. We all fall within one or other of these types. Which one are you? If you're not looking to Christ, then your situation is dire because you are not redeemed from sin, and therefore are still a slave to sin. You are not right in God's sight. You are not at peace with God. The Holy Spirit does not dwell within you. You do not have blessed union with the triune God for all eternity, but are slated at this point for eternal destruction in the life to come. If this sounds like you, then may Romans 8, beginning at verse 6, serve as a warning. For to set the mind on the flesh is death. But to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law. Indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. On the other hand, if you are looking to Christ, then you have been redeemed from sin. You have been made right in God's sight, and now have peace with God. The Holy Spirit dwells within you, and you can look forward to enjoying blessed union with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit in the life to come. Unbroken, perfect communion with God. The Bible, Romans 8, beginning at verse 1 says, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law weakened by the flesh could not do. By sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. Christ is the one who has achieved this for us. If you were looking to Christ for your salvation, then all the glory goes to God, who gave you the gift of faith, as Ephesians 2 verse 8 makes clear. It is a gift, God's gift to us. May your assurance of salvation in Christ increase as you continue to rest in him. And the final point, the messenger and the message of transformation. First, who are the messengers the Bible speaks of? The messengers are men ordained by God to deliver God's message to the world at large and his church in particular. They are apostles, pastors, and teachers mentioned in Ephesians chapter 4 verse 11. Epiphras was one such messenger. He was a pastor teacher who preached the good news to the people in the city of Colossae. It's likely that Epiphras was a member of that city and knew the people very well and loved them dearly. And Paul paid the highest compliment to Epiphras when he described Epiphras as our beloved fellow servant and a faithful minister of Christ. Paul clearly loved Epiphras and had a high regard for Epiphras when he thought of him. This should remind us that Christians ought to pray for their ministers regularly. We should pray for our ministers regularly. We should keep them in our prayers and pray for their families and their children as well. We should be praying for their gospel ministry. We should be praying for the way that they handle the Word, and how they exposit the Word, and how they deliver the Word, and how they apply the Word in our life. Because the ministers are such an important, integral, crucial part of God's means of salvation. It is through the proclamation of the Word that people are saved. And it's through the proclamation of the Word The saints continue to be sanctified. So it's so critical that we continue to pray for our ministers locally and in the denomination as well, that God would use them mightily and that he would pour grace upon them as they minister to us. And also, what is the message? Now, this is something that you have, if you've been in the church for any length of time, you're very familiar with. But it might help to have us be reminded of the message of the gospel so that when we go into the world and we encounter people who have never heard the gospel or haven't heard it for a long time, we recall what that message is. What is the good news? In verse 5, the Bible refers to the message as the word of truth, the gospel. That's how Paul describes it. The gospel is the word of truth. One of the simplest presentations of the gospel, the word of truth, is found in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21, which says, For our sake he made him to be sin, who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. For our sake God made Christ to be sin. sent him to the cross, who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. The bad news is we're all sinners. The Bible states, none is righteous, no not one. No one understands, no one seeks for God. We are all guilty before the holy God. None of us are worthy to stand before him as such. The bad news is we're doomed. The good news is, however, God the Father made us right by taking our sins and placing them on Jesus, who then died for our sins on the cross. Romans 5, verse 8 says, God chose his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. This should give us incredible courage When we go out into the world and we speak to people who are far from God, who are sinners, because we know that Christ died for such as them. While they were still sinners, Christ died for them. Just as when we were still sinners, Christ died for us and applied his goodness to us while we were still in rebellion against him. So we can have great confidence when we meet sinners, notorious sinners as well. realizing that God has the power to transform anyone, including the most notorious sinner. And it seems as though God takes a great delight in converting especially notorious sinners, because that gives him all the more glory, because those notorious sinners were so weak in the flesh, and God delights to save those who are weak. You might not want to tell the notorious sinner that, that he's a weak person. Although that's true, notorious sinners are the weakest of people because they have given in to the temptations and they love their sin. God the Father declares us not guilty because our sins, which are many, have been placed on Christ instead. He suffered the punishment that we deserved. He became the curse instead of us. Isaiah 53 verse 5 declares, but he, that is Christ, was pierced For our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed." This also should give us great boldness when we go into the world and speak to notorious sinners, that Christ paid the penalty. Sinners know their status before God. The problem is that they suppress the truth in unrighteousness. It's as Van Til said, they know the reality, they know God. But they push him down the way that a man or a child in the pool will try to push down that beach ball. And how successful is that when you try to push down a beach ball in the water? Does it stay down? No, it keeps popping up. And their sin and their knowledge of God keeps popping up too. They know they're sinners. At night in the quiet when they're driving or when they see the magnificence of nature around them, they're suddenly humbled. And they know instinctively that there is someone out there greater than themselves, and then rushes in that knowledge that they are sinners before this God, this mighty God, and they suppress the truth. The world is continually suppressing the truth about God and about themselves. And so to say that Christ took their sins upon himself is a message that they desperately want to hear. It takes God to quicken their hearts so that they hear it in faith. The good news doesn't end there. Those who are in Jesus have become the righteousness of God. They are right in God's sight because God the Father has counted Jesus Christ's own perfect righteousness in their favor. He imputed Christ's righteousness to our account. We are made right in God's sight. Not only Are we forgiven of our sins through the cross? But we have been robed in Christ's righteousness. We have a new nature. Moses declared, the Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. This is the glorious God we worship. a God who is gracious and merciful, who is slow to anger, who's abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. Friends, you and I know that we can't remain in our love and our faithfulness even for one day. We slip. God is always faithful. God is always faithful. May God convict our hearts of our great need of our Savior. Even as saints, we still must be rooted in Christ and look to Him always. And may He draw us daily to the spring of living water, where we may be refreshed by His love and His grace that He provides. May we pray. Lord God Almighty, Heavenly Father, we thank you for your steadfast love and faithfulness. Father, we thank you that you are both merciful and gracious, that you are slow to anger, and it is such good news to hear that. For even we, your redeemed children, will stumble and fall. Even this week we've done that. And Heavenly Father, it is good to know that You see us with eyes of grace and love. You see us in your beloved son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and you're the one who picks us up. You're the one who speaks words of comfort and reassurance to us, but you also tell us to return to Christ and to look to him. Father, we pray that as we think on today's passage, and we think of the love, the hope, and the faith that the Colossians had that we would have the same attributes within us, manifesting themselves within us, that we would have faith in Jesus Christ, that we would express love for Christ in loving our neighbors and our brothers and sisters, and that we would have tremendous hope in the future that is in store for us when we see you face to face, when you gather us to yourself, either because we have died or because your son returns, we look forward to that great hope when we will have communion with you forever and ever. And may these truths give us great confidence as we go into the world, sharing the gospel with our friends, our family, our neighbors and coworkers, for we do this for your glory and by your grace. Amen. Thank you. And now may the Lord increase your faith, your love, and your hope through his grace. Amen.