Word of Salvation – Vol.39 No.34 - September 1994

Christ Is All

Sermon: by Revd. A. Esselbrugge

Text: Colossians 3:11

Brothers and sisters, young people, boys and girls.

It really is quite amazing how the Lord works.  The verses before us tell us that among the true people of the Lord there are no divisions.  There are no tensions among the variety and tapestry of people who belong to the Lord.  The one and only glory and joy is Christ Jesus, who is ALL.

It is wonderful and thrilling when a congregation longs to experience the warmth, security and belonging of a real family.  It is wonderful when worship services are attended with more enthusiasm; when people linger on after services to talk and when there is a desire and seeking for opportunities to spend more time in each other's company.  Here in the family of the Lord, when we see a brother or sister in distress, we are not to ignore them, but bring them to the Lord in prayer and seek opportunities of giving practical Christian support.

These things show that a congregation does not simply exist but that it’s is moving in biblical directions.  We have a long way to go.... and we will never achieve perfect harmony and unity.  The work will never be finished while we live here in this life.  The glorious perfection of the church of Christ will only come in the next life.  BUT we are working towards a goal.  We have made a beginning together.  We are going somewhere.  Let's see if we can clarify this goal in our minds and spell it out.  For, unless we are moving according to the way of the Lord, we won't be going forward.   Instead, we will be heading back.

The verses before us tell us there are two worlds.  There is an old world and a new world.  These two worlds are populated by two kinds of people; old people and new people.

The old world is filled with everything unpleasant and (when you come to know Christ) with everything we hate.  That world is filled with anger and rage, with malice and slander.  It is filled with filthy language and lies.  It is filled with lust, sexual immorality and impurity.  It is filled with greed and evil desires.  In fact, there is nothing in this world which any sane and thinking person would find attractive.  It is entirely ugly.

But in the new world, there is compassion and kindness.  The new person living in a new world, is filled with kindness and humility, gentleness and patience.  In this world the people have their hearts, their eyes, their desires set on higher and better things; things which are a part of Christ the Lord.  These people are in a process of being renewed constantly and progressively in the knowledge of God the Creator.

They bathe in the light of the forgiving, revitalising, recreating grace of God through the Saviour Jesus Christ.

The apostle Paul begins our text with the word, 'here' and with that he is referring to this new world and to the new person.

People of God, do you know where you are?  Which world is the one in which you move?  The one of ugliness, the one that grows darker by the day, and finds you caught deeper and deeper in the web of lies and deceit?  Or the other one, the one that finds you growing daily in the knowledge of God and where a wonderful sense of serenity and peace is gradually coming over you?

Paul in our verses contrasts these two worlds, or if you like, these two states.  In the state of new life in Christ Jesus there is no racial bigotry, no chauvinism or snobbery.  Here, says Paul, all are equal.  In our quest and desire to be united together into a community of people under Christ Jesus, this is one thing we will need to give a lot of attention to.  We have a particular privilege among us.  We are a blend of several nationalities and cultural backgrounds.  And yet there is separation and distinction among us.  Sometimes there is tension.

In New Testament times, the Greeks were proud of their culture and education; that was their distinctive feature.  The Jews boasted of their religion, and the circumcised saw themselves in a higher position than the uncircumcised.  The barbarian was the person who couldn't speak Greek and the Scythian was a real savage, who not only was considered cultureless, but was also regarded as unhygienic in habit as well.

Paul could have gone on with his list of distinctions.  He could have listed poor and rich, old and young.  He could have said English and Dutch.  But he makes his point sufficiently plain for us in what he said.  For Christians, those divisions are erased.

Yet, somehow we hold on to them.  For instance, when we enter each other's homes, those with an English background find that the Dutch clutter their homes with all kinds of trinkets and furnishings, while the Dutch find the English have bare homes.  The one group prides itself in the clean uncluttered look and the other in a homely appearance.

We have yet to learn that all these things fall away in Jesus.  Jesus is now our nationality.  Jesus is our legislator and leader.  Jesus is the one who gives us our laws, customs, history, prestige and power.  Jesus is our heritage.  It's no longer important how you understood the practices of worship in the old country you migrated from.  What is important now, as a new creation in Christ, is that Jesus provides us with new ceremonies.  The old one of circumcision has been abolished.  The Jew, the Greek, the English, the Dutch, the Australian and New Zealander are all united in the one body.

Here even social distinctions fall away.  They are non-existent in the spiritual realm.

What a blessed blending of all people in one body our Lord Jesus has brought about

People of God, we need to express this blessed unity which we have in Christ Jesus the Lord.

There are differences among us.  But in the church of the Lord Jesus we are to work and live and bring glory to our Lord in wonderful harmony.  We are not all alike and thank God we aren't.  Thank Him that He has made us into a people that are like the vast range of shades and colours that go to make a tapestry.  Before the tapestry is stitched the colours lie in the sewing box in one tangled mess.  But with the skill of the Master Craftsman we are united and joined and stitched together to make a tapestry of breathtaking beauty.  No, we are not all the same.  But in two important points every one of us and all people everywhere are indeed the same and equal.  We have all sinned.  We have all fallen terribly and disastrously short of the glory of God.  We are born into this old world of deceit and sin.  And secondly, those who by God's sovereign grace believe in the Lord Jesus Christ are saved!  Saved regardless of race, culture or social position.  Transplanted and recreated, we are reborn into the new world and made into a new people.  Even the distinction of male and female falls away before the Lord.

Grace bridges all chasms!  Though we in the old world create categories in which to put people, grace recognises no such distinction, for every man, woman and child, whoever they are or whatever their background, are united and reconciled to each other by being joined and reconciled to God through the cross.  That is what should be evident among us.  That's what we must strive for.  We must strive to care for one another, sensitive to each other's needs.  We must bear with one another in love and patience.  Every one of us is to demonstrate humility and count ourselves least and willing to promote each other ahead of ourselves.  In other words, as Paul so graphically describes: put on for everyday-wear, the clothing of compassion, kindness, gentleness, humility and patience.  Let love bind all these qualities together in perfect unity.

Why would we do all these things?  Why?  Because we are God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved.

Do you belong to Christ?

Do you have a place in the new world as a new-born child of God?  Is this where you belong, because Jesus the Son of the Almighty God went to the cross and hung there... and suffered all the agony of hell for you?

Do you believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, for salvation?

Then that's true for you.  Then you belong to the new order.  Then, by the grace of God, you belong to Christ and His people.

AMEN