852. Christ Is All and In All

Welcome to The Daily Platform sponsored by Bob Jones University. Today, BJU President Steve Pettit continues his series entitled Seeking Things Above from the Book of Colossians. Would you please take your Bibles and turn to this morning to Colossians chapter 3 today. Colossians 3.

I do want to welcome all the Bob Jones Academy students that are here with us today. They were not here last Monday, so welcome this morning to our chapel hour. We're reading this morning in Colossians chapter 3 in verse 11, which is really the text verse that I'd like to sort of lay once again the foundation of what we're looking at this semester. Our theme is Seeking Things Above from the third chapter of the book of Colossians as we are learning to walk with Christ. And last week we started with an introduction, and this morning I'd like to do one more introductory message that is found in our text verse here in Colossians 3 and verse 11.

The Scripture says, Where there is neither Greek nor Jews, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free, but Christ is all and in all. Last week we found out that the purpose of Paul's letter to the Colossians was to address a certain kind of false teaching that had worked its way into the church. So what was being taught? Well we know a man named Epaphras came all the way from Colossae to Rome because he had a problem and he didn't know the answer. He was dealing with a form of teaching that was slippery.

It was hard to get a grasp on. And what had happened is certain instructors had come declaring that the gospel that Epaphras had preached to the Colossians was sufficient enough to save them, but it was not sufficient enough to complete them or to mature them. In other words, Epaphras gave them a message that was incomplete and they needed something more. And what these teachers claimed to be able to provide for the Colossians was a fuller knowledge of God along with a greater freedom from sin. And of course it appeals to all believers because all Christians want a greater vision of Christ and all Christians want greater victory over sin. Seeing and knowing Christ and being able to live for him, that's the heart of all Christians. So their message appealed to that, but the problem was that it was not focusing on Christ. Instead their emphasis was on some add-ons like mystical experiences.

You can read it all in chapter 2. Secretive knowledge, legalistic rules based on Old Testament laws, severe bodily discipline, what they call asceticism, denying yourself of certain bodily appetites. But their message had a problem, and that is it implied that Jesus and the gospel were insufficient and they were incomplete for the spiritual life of the Colossians. You could say it this way, they did not make much of Jesus. You know I've heard a lot of sermons in my lifetime and if I hear a sermon after sermon and Jesus is not spoken of, we've got a problem. And so Paul begins his letter by confirming the ministry of Epaphras. He endorses him as a legitimate minister of Christ. This man Epaphras has accurately preached the gospel. He also confirms Epaphras's credibility by announcing that the message of the gospel that he was preaching is the same message that is being preached throughout the whole world.

And so once Paul establishes the credibility of Epaphras's ministry, he then launches into or he focuses on the believer's vision of Jesus. In Colossians chapter 1 beginning in verse 15 down to verse 18 and 19, we are at some of the highest points in biblical truth that speak of the supremacy and the sufficiency of Jesus. Let's read those verses beginning in verse 15 of Colossians 1 where Paul says, who is the image of the invisible God? The firstborn of every creature for by him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth visible and invisible whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created by him and for him and he is before all things and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead that in all things he might have the preeminence for it pleased the father that in him should all fullness dwell. The key word that unlocks the theme of Colossians is the word all. You see that in this passage. It's used some 30 times to emphasize Jesus Christ is the one who is everything to everyone.

In our text first Colossians 3 and verse 11 is actually a summary of that. He's everything to everyone. Christ is all and Christ is in all.

So let's look at that meaning this morning. What does he mean when he says Christ is all? And what does he mean when he says and Christ is in all?

Two things this morning. Number one, when he says Christ is all he means that Jesus Christ is described as the source of everything. When you've said Jesus you've said it all.

Christ is all. And in Colossians 1 Paul tells us that Christ is the source of the created world. Notice what he says in verse 16, for by him were all things created. In the book of Genesis, Moses announces that all creation finds its origin in a supernatural creator God.

Genesis 1 in the beginning God created. The Old Testament reveals that the name of the creator is Jehovah. Jehovah means the self-existing one or the great I am. That is, he is a God that is a self-sufficient being.

He depends on no one for his existence. Everything in creation finds its source and finds its sustenance in the God who made everything. And Paul declares that this self-sufficient one did something amazing. And that is he took on human flesh and he became a person just like you and I. And the moment that Paul does this, this announcement of the incarnation of Christ, he is simultaneously declaring that Jesus of the New Testament is Jehovah of the Old Testament. Remember what Jesus said before Abraham was, I am. And the incarnation means that God has fully revealed himself to man in a man.

Think of that. God became one of us. And there is no clearer picture of God than Jesus, for Jesus said, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. And so Paul announces that Christ is the creator, for by him were all things created. He is the one who made everything, the physical and the spiritual.

There's nothing made that he didn't create. Visible, invisible, human or angelic, everything finds its source in Jesus. And since Jesus is the source of everything, he's also the one who sustains everything. And by him all things consist.

The writer of Hebrews says it this way, he upholds all things by the word of his power. Christ is the one who keeps everything together. Everything would fly apart or fall apart without him.

I'm convinced of that. Marriages would fly apart without Jesus. Life would fall apart without him. A church without Christ, could you imagine what it would be like?

An organization, an institution, a university. Do you know what keeps us together folks is Jesus. Even your own discipleship group, just a small microcosm of reality, having to live with people you don't know and perhaps people you would never become friends with. What is it that binds your group together? It's always Christ.

He's what sustains us. And ultimately Paul says Christ is the purpose for everything. All things were created by him and for him. Nothing in creation will ever find true meaning in life apart from a connected relationship with Jesus Christ. If you don't know Jesus and if you don't experience Jesus and if you don't live for Jesus then you'll never understand why you're alive. Let me just say this to the student body, just because you're in a Christian environment and sitting in Christian classes and surrounded by Christians doesn't mean number one you're a Christian and number two it definitely does not mean that Christ is your life being lived out. If you learn anything in your years here at Bob Jones University, I hope it is this, that you will come to find out that life without Christ doesn't make any sense. Find your life in Christ.

Come to know Christ. He's the meaning. He's the purpose.

He's everything. So Paul describes Christ as the source of creation, but not only that in verse 18, Paul describes Christ as the source of the new creation. Look at verse 18 and he is the head of the body, the church. The church was brought into being through Jesus's resurrection from the dead and his ascension into heaven.

The cleansing blood of Christ and the regenerating power of the Holy Ghost makes spiritually dead sinners alive. We come alive and God takes every believer and enters him into a living organism or baptizes him into a body and that body is called the church. It is a glorious thing to be a part of the church. In reality, you really don't join the church.

You get born again into the church. Now I think you ought to join a local church which is an assembly of the ultimate reality of the greater church and Jesus is both the head of this body and he is the one who has superiority over everything. He's the source of the life of the church.

He's the true vine who provides life for his branches. Jesus sustains the church by his power. He supplies the church with his strength. He guides the church with his wisdom. He's the source of the life of the church for in him we live and move and have our being. When Jesus is diminished in the life of the church, then that church will begin to shrivel up and die.

I'll say it again. If Jesus is not the source, the substance, the sustenance, the ultimate purpose of the church, that church will dry up and die. In my 30 years of evangelism, I went to churches that later on I couldn't go back to because they were no longer in existence.

Something happened. The church died. But thank God the ultimate church, Christ's body's not dead.

It's very much alive. And the church without Christ cannot be sustained. He's the source of everything. Paul says Christ is all.

So that's what it means. He's all. He's everything. But then notice secondly, he says not only is Christ all, but it says Christ is in all. Not only is Jesus the source of everything, but he's to be the focus of everyone. You see the phrase in all, is emphasizing the unity of the church. He's in all believers. When he says Christ is in all, he is speaking of the solidarity believers have, all of us have, with our connection or our union with Christ. We are all united to one another because we are all connected to him. And the church is a body into which all believers from every imaginable background are joined together. In fact, let's go back and look at verse 11 in chapter 3 when he says where there's neither Greek nor Jews, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bonder, free.

What is he talking about? He's talking about all the kinds of different people that are in the church. And he says Christ unifies, he says for example, Christ unifies people racially, the Greek and the Jew. Well you couldn't find, you couldn't find, you couldn't find well you couldn't find any more racial differences than Jewish people and Gentile people.

They were completely different. Circumcision nor uncircumcision, Christ unifies people culturally. The lifestyle of a Gentile and the lifestyle of a Jew were radically different.

But in Christ they all come into one body. And then he says barbarian and Scythian, Christ unifies people geographically. The barbarian were those who have been conquered by the Roman Empire. They were slaves. The Scythians were those who were uncivilized and unconquered. And yet in the church there were barbarians and Scythians.

And then he says bond nor free. That is Christ unifies people economically. Whether you're poor or whether you're wealthy, whether you, whether you're in chains or out of chains, Christ brings believers together. And believers are incredibly diverse and yet they are all viewed as one. A number of years ago I was preaching in New York City in a church of 200 people. Well what's interesting is the church had 40 different nationalities in it. Man that's just flat cool.

I love it. I love going to churches where you have people there from from all kinds of different backgrounds, tribes and tongues and nations. Because the diversity speaks of the unity that we have in the Lord. And this unity of believers here that Paul is speaking of, Christ is in all, is impossible without some commonalities. In other words for us to have unity there are some things we have to have in common. And what are the commonalities of believers?

Well there are three of them. Number one, we have a commonality in doctrine and what we believe. All believers regardless of their background embrace the same primary truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's what Paul says in Colossians 1 5 when he says that Epaphras preached the word of the truth, the gospel.

Now these truths are not mysteries that are hidden to us. Paul tells us what these truths are. He speaks of the deity of Christ, Jesus is God. He speaks of the sacrificial atoning death of Christ.

He died on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins and he shed his blood so we could be forgiven. He speaks of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and he has come alive and he's ascended into heaven so we as believers are connected to him in his death in his life. So Paul tells the Colossians that this is the same message that's being preached throughout the world. There is a unity in that message and I think his point is very clear that these are primary truths. These are main truths. Now we know in Christianity there are secondary truths and there are tertiary or third level truths.

Maybe I could explain it this way. I heard a preacher preach a number of years ago a sermon entitled die, fight, and fuss for. He said now there's some things as a Christian I'm going to die for. He said I'm going to put my life on the line. I'm going to die for the inspiration of the Bible. I believe the Bible is the word of God and I'm going to die for it. He said I'm going to die for the virgin birth and the sinless life of Jesus Christ.

You put a gun to my head and ask me to deny that. He said I'm not going to deny it. I'm going to die for that. He said I'm going to die. He said I'm going to die for his resurrection. I'm going to die for salvation by grace through faith.

Those are top level primary things. He said now there's some things I'll fight for. He said now I'm a Baptist. I'm going to fight for baptism so if you don't believe in baptism I'm going to punch you in the nose, but I'm not going to die for it. And then there's some things I'm going to fuss for. You know Christians fuss for things. That's okay.

Why? Because we look at the Bible, read it, we have different interpretations. But let me tell you something. A true believer has no problem with interpreting the gospel correctly. And there is a commonality among God's people over the things that they believe that are necessary for salvation.

That's the unity we have. Then let me say secondly we have not only a commonality in doctrine but we have a commonality in experience. Everybody gets saved the same way. It's not like five different ways to heaven.

All roads may lead to Indianapolis but not all roads lead to heaven. There's one way to get into heaven and that way is through Jesus. That's why he says in chapter 1 and verse 4 I've heard of your faith in Christ Jesus.

In chapter 2 verse 6 he says as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord. How do you get saved? By your good works? By your baptism? By your good life? By the things you've done?

No. You are saved not by saving yourself but Christ saves you. You are believing and trusting in his death, his resurrection.

So there's a commonality in experience. All who are believers are saved by grace through faith in Christ alone. And Paul says that those who are saved the same way experience the same thing. You can read in the Colossians he says for example you're forgiven, your debt's been paid. You're redeemed, you've been brought out of slavery to freedom. You've been reconciled, the worst of enemies have become the best of friends.

You've been recreated, you were once dead but now you're alive. This is what God does for all of us. We have a commonality in experience. And Paul even goes further. He says Christ's saving work accomplishes for all of us what is necessary to live a life of victory. That is we all have and experience what is necessary to live the Christian life.

And so in chapter 2 beginning in verse 10 he says we're complete in him and he explains that completeness beginning in verse 11. For example he says Christ's death is the death of our flesh. In Christ we've been spiritually circumcised so that the power of the flesh has been cut off or broken. We don't have to be enslaved to our sin nature.

Why? Because in Jesus we died and that power has been broken. He goes on he says in verse 12 he says Christ's resurrection is our resurrection from the dead so that now we have been risen to a new spiritual life. We have a spiritual life. We have a relationship with God. We can read the Bible and not only understand it but it can feed our spiritual souls and strengthen us. And then he tells us that Christ has canceled the debt of our sin because our sins were nailed to the cross and therefore we're freed from the guilt and we're no longer under the demands of the laws.

We don't keep laws to have a relationship with God. Christ kept the law for us and through him we have a relationship with God. And then he tells us Christ is disarmed and defeated the demonic powers that wage war against our souls and so therefore as a believer we don't have to fear demonism and satanic attacks because in Christ we are victorious. All believers share in these victorious experiences through Christ's saving work. This is what we have in common. This is what it means when Christ is in all. And then thirdly we actually have a commonality in conduct. Paul's command for Christian living in chapter three is not based on cultural traditions and practices.

It's not applicable to some but not to others. These applications in chapter three that we'll see over the semester are for all believers in all places. It's been my privilege to travel in various countries and preach the gospel. I've preached the gospel in at least 25 different foreign countries.

You know what I've discovered? That I can go to a different culture and by culture I mean language, I mean dress, I mean food, I mean music, I mean there's a huge difference between the music of Russia, India, and Africa believe me. There's a difference in maybe way things are run or how things have are done but what's very interesting is that when you meet with God's people who are truly redeemed people what you find is that they are distinguishably different from the culture in which they live. They're not they're not worldly and secondly they all have a common morality to them. It's the morality of the bible because the morality of the bible is based not on culture but on the character of God, the nature of salvation. At conversion the old life of sin is discarded and the new life of righteousness is put on. That's for all believers.

Believers are in a process of being renovated into a new image the likeness of Christ. All believers in all places share the same commonalities in moral conduct and so Paul's ultimate point to the Colossians is that Jesus Christ is to be everything to everyone. He is all and he is in all. He is totally sufficient for every need in the church. The word of Christ is sufficient for preaching. The presence of Christ is sufficient for living. The power of Christ is sufficient to overcome sin. The fellowship we have in Christ is sufficient for our unity. The peace of Christ is sufficient to rule the church and the relationship we have with Christ is sufficient to build our families. So what then should be our response to Christ's efficiency? If he is all and he is all in all then what should it be?

As we finish he says in Colossians chapter one there's a reason for all of this and that is that he might in all things have the preeminence. What does that mean? It means that he has first place. First place. Superiority. Preeminence. The highest eminent spot in your heart. You know your heart is like is almost like a throne and a master sits on that throne. A king rules on that throne. The question is who's ruling the throne of your heart?

Who's your king? It's either you or Jesus. And Paul exalts Christ to the highest place because he deserves the highest place in our hearts. You know what my prayer is? Every last one of you sitting in this building, every single one of you will make Christ preeminent. Now he already is preeminent but as an act of your will and choice Jesus you have first place in my heart. Father thank you that Christ is all and in all and we ask this in his matchless name. Amen. I'm Steve Pettit, president of Bob Jones University. Thank you for listening to The Daily Platform. Please come visit our beautiful campus in Greenville, South Carolina and see how God is working in the lives of our students. For more information about Bob Jones University visit www.bju.edu or call 800-252-6363.