Wk2 22/07/25 Bible Reading

0:02 disciples in Jesus name. Let us go in the power of the Lord. Bring the tri of our God. Let us go for the glory. Let's go. Let us go in the power of the Lord. Bring the tribe and tongue. Let us go for the honor of our God. Let us go for the glory of the son.

0:55 [Music] Great thy faithfulness God. There is no shadow of thee. Thou changes

1:45 forever. Great is thy faithfulness. Morning by morning. [Music] Praise is thy faithfulness to me. Summer

2:31 and win joy. I will in waithfulness, [Music] mercy and love. Great is thy faithfulness. Praise thy faithfulness

3:17 morning by morning. I see. All I have [Applause] is thy faithfulness to me. forace [Music] to cheer and torengless.

4:05 [Music] 10,000. Praise thy faithfulness. Praise thy faithfulness. Morning. [Music] I see. All I have [Music] [Applause]

4:51 great is thy faithfulness to me. [Music] Great thy faithfulness, oh God, my father. There is no shadow

5:41 with thee. Thou changest not thy compass not as thou has been forever. Great is thy faithful. Great is thy faithful morning by morning. Mercies I see. All I have thy hand. Great is thy faithless

6:27 brought to me [Music] and winstes [Music] above. Join with all natural witness to thy great faithful mercy and love. Great is thy faithful.

7:18 Morning by morning, new mercies I see. All I have thy great is thy faithfulness to me. [Music] thar preslessing.

8:04 [Music] with 10,000. Great is thy faithfulness. Morning by morning I see. For I have thy proided. Great is thy faithfulness

8:51 to thee. Great is thy faithfulness. Great is thy faithfulness morning by morning I see all to [Applause]

9:38 [Music] Well, good morning everybody. It's great to welcome you to our second morning in Colossians with Tim Chester. uh whether you're in the room uh whether you're in one of the uh relay venues around the site or around the town uh or even if you're watching us online from

10:24 uh maybe even another country, it is great to have the privilege, isn't it, to to be together, to have the time and the space to sit under God's word and be fed and nourished. It's really wonderful to see you this morning. As you uh come in, as always, uh you're you're so well behaved. Look at this. just just make sure we're trying to close those gaps. Uh apparently this event is quite popular and uh so if you can help the stewards uh help you that would be wonderful. Just a couple of uh notices as we begin. Uh one is just to say if you haven't yet had a look at base camp. Uh please do make the most of that. You can buy refreshments in there. There's just a brilliant array of resources that Jonathan has been introducing us to uh via the bookstore. And there's also a

11:10 load of just excellent mission exhibitors. If you just go and talk to them and find out what God is doing in different bits of the world, uh they're just so inspiring and encouraging. Also, this afternoon, uh for for for kids, parents, grandparents, or or just big kids, uh SaltMine Theater Company are putting on a free production in here at 2:30. They're bringing us their rhyming Bible, an all age musical that takes us from creation all the way to redemption. Uh, all children must be accompanied by an adult, but it's um it's free and it's excellent and it's in here this afternoon. Uh, check the app for more info. Yesterday, uh, we were encouraged,

11:57 weren't we? You remember how how Tim finished pray like an apostle? We're encouraged to be people that that long to bear fruit, to go deeper, to keep going, and to find joy as God does his work in us, among us, and through us by the transforming power of word and spirit. So, as we start our morning again, let's just take a moment to to still ourselves from from all we've been about and to ask God's help. As we begin, let's bow our heads. In Psalm 119, we read these words, "How can a young

12:44 person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your words. I seek you with all my heart. Do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Praise be to you, Lord. Teach me your decrees. Amen. Well, if we're able, let's stand as the band leaders. [Music]

13:33 Who else would rocks cry out to worship? This glory taught the stars to shine. Perhaps creation longs to have the words to sing. But this joy is mine. With a thousand hallelujah, we magnify your name. You alone deserve the glory, the honor, and the praise. Lord Jesus, this song is forever

14:20 yours. A thousand hallelujah. A thousand more. [Music] Who else would die for our redemption? whose resurrection means our eyes. [Music] There is a time enough to sing of all you've done. [Music] But I have eternity to try.

15:10 With a thousand highle we magnify your name. You alone deserve the glory, the honor and the praise. Lord Jesus, this song is forever yours. A thousand hallelujah. A thousand more. [Music] Praise to the Lord.

15:56 To the Lord. to the king of heaven. Praise her. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Yeah. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music]

16:49 Heat. [Music] Yeah. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music]

17:36 Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat.

18:23 [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Lord Jesus, this song is forever yours. A thousand a thousand more [Music] with a thousand hallelujah. We magnify your name.

19:08 You alone deserve the glory, the honor, and the praise. Lord Jesus, this song is forever yours. A thousand hallelujah and a thousand more. Just as we stand uh in a moment of quiet, let's remind ourselves we are joining the whole company of heaven as we sing those words. Worthy is the lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might honor and glory and blessing. To him who sits on the throne

19:53 and to the lamb be blessing and honor, glory and might forever and ever. And we do sing hallelujah Lord Jesus, King of heaven for all that you've done. We pray today by your spirit in everything we do. Help us to live as those who know that the lamb is on the throne. Living to glorify you. Living to enjoy you and to be ch changed by you. Transformed into your image as we gaze upon you. We bless your name. Amen.

20:40 Good morning. Um, this morning I want to focus on um rejuvenating. Thank you so much. I've got so many they've got to give me a table now. And the table gets bigger during the week. But uh no uh we want to look at uh rejuvenating our Bible reading. Uh I I fear a little bit with all the book recommendations, people might be reading those and not getting into God's word. That is the book we want to be in daily as we meet with the Lord. So, some books that will help you and you may be at different stages of Bible reading. What we're trying to do is cover all of those. And uh so, let me start with if you've never read the Bible for yourself or you've never got into that daily habit of reading the Bible for yourself. There's a a little one called 14 days. It's like Ron Seal. It does exactly what it says

21:26 on the tin. You get 14 readings just to get you going into the habit of turning to God's word. does then a little devotion and a prayer. Or also if you're starting out and just beginning to get used to this idea of opening up God's word for yourself, the quiet time Kickstarter. Maybe you've never even heard that phrase quiet time. You're wondering how to get going. This is a six week plan that gets you uh gets you going, gives you some space to jot some notes down, maybe some write down some questions if you're uh if you're as you're reading, you're wondering what that means or how you apply it. two really helpful ones to to get you started. And then as part of the Kzik series, the food for the journey, this is Bible themes, 365 readings that are taken from the Kzich teaching over the years and put together as daily

22:12 devotions. The sort of thing that you could uh read while you're having your cocoa pops in the morning and just start the day uh meeting God in his word. And then this one is called a pastor prays for his people. It's not just for pastors, but I'll give you a couple of ways you can use it. For pastors who are seeking to lead the congregation in prayer, uh, but with rich Bible prayers, this is the sort of resource that you can use week by week. There's a prayer for each week. And at the back there's prayers for certain occasions. So, weddings, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Christmas Day, funeral, these sorts of things, but they are so pastoral, but they bring together scripture a prayers. I was talking with the team uh at 10 of those last week about it and one of our team said, "Oh, I've been using it myself and I just pray the the

23:01 prayer for the week. I pray it every day and it means my prayers are are rich Bible prayers, but also I'm feeding on the on the scripture I'm reading together." So, a pastor prays for his people. Then, Linder Alox, Deeper Still, helping us to meditate on God's word. So, we're not just ticking off, right? I've done the day. I couldn't tell you what I've read, but I've done it. deeper still is helping us. How do we meditate and and let the word of God dwell in us richly throughout the day? But then let me finish with this. It it's a big old beast, but I'm very excited by it. It's JC Riyle's expository thoughts on the gospels. So, seven volumes on the four gospels. It's slightly modernized English, though he didn't need a lot of that anyway, but it's it's no longer the AV. It's just slightly modernized. This is outstanding. He was a a a

23:47 wonderful Bible expositor and he gave these talks to farmers in the field at lunchtime. So it's the sort of thing that I can really understand and yet it's like a steak dinner that's been chopped up into little pieces so you can digest it. I love it. I've used it in my devotions and I'd encourage you at whatever stage you're at, whether you're a preacher who's gone through the gospels many times or you're just starting out, you will find this a real nourishment. Okay, quick bit on money. It should be a h 100red quid. We do it for 50 if you buy one. I know it's pretty good, but it gets better. You can get two for 75 quid with the idea that you might consider a a younger Christian that you can um that you can encourage. I know I often joke about certain things. This is no joke. Okay? If money

24:34 is the thing that stops you getting this, please come and see me. I'll be at the Mission Plus straight after here. You can bring your lunch. You can bring me lunch if you want, but Honestly, tell us what you can afford. We'd be glad to give it to you for that amount. [Applause] Well, this year we're celebrating 150 years of God's kindness to us as the Kzi Convention. 150 years of lives transformed in Christ. So every morning we're looking at the life of one person who was transformed by the convention and who

25:21 transformed the convention. From the very beginning the KZIC convention has had a heart for mission and through the years many well-known missionaries men and women have been sent from this place. Amy Carmichael, Helen Roosevel, and this morning I'm going to share the story of a less well-known woman called Pandita Ramabai Sarasvati. Pandita was born in India in 1858 and by the age of 23, she had been orphaned and widowed and was a single mother. She was cast out from society and her promising academic career was cut short.

26:09 But in 1883, she received an offer to come study in England and that changed everything. She became a Christian here and was baptized before returning to India. She began a residential center where young widows could be safe and educated. It grew rapidly and continues to this day. In 1898, Pandita was invited uh to come and speak at the convention. And Pandita began by saying to conventioners here in Kzich, I speak on behalf of the 150 million Hindu women who need to hear the gospel. My vision is for a thousand spiritfilled missionaries to go to India and for each

26:57 one to make disciples of a hundred Indian women. That's a 100,000 women and they in turn will then spread the gospel across their own country and she asked the convention who will answer that call. Pandita's appeal to the convention for missionaries in 1898 wasn't unusual. So it was glorious but not surprising that 200 people said yes. And those who went to India got involved in Bible translation. Pandita was keen that uneducated women across the country had access to a Bible in their own language they could understand.

27:42 Pandita died in 1922 having just completed the translation. One woman's calling led to countless women and men meeting Jesus in his word in their own language, coming to faith in him. Since then, thousands have sensed God calling them through the Bible teaching at convention to go and make disciples of all nations. That has always been in our DNA DNA because we know and we love a missionary God. And so even this year in our 150th year, our our prayer is for a whole new generation to take the good news of Jesus to every nation and people and

28:28 language and tongue. And our prayer is that because of KZIC, people who have never heard the name of Jesus will come to joyfully love and live for him. Should we pray? Our father in heaven, we thank you for the the inspirational stories of the way in which you have worked in the past through people like Pandita and many others. Those who have that that heart, your heartful mission. Father, pray that you would do something of that in us wherever we are, whatever our circumstances, our gifts, our abilities and resources. Would you show us uh what part we can

29:15 play? Maybe small, maybe big, maybe radical. What part can we play to be your your ambassadors and your mouthpieces in a world that desperately needs to hear more of Jesus? Would you help us, encourage us, equip us, and inspire us for the glory of your name among the nations. Amen. Well, this year we've uh we've kind of a special joy in our 150th year. Uh we we've invited and are joined by over 50 delegates from the the Kzich Fellowship. Now the Kzik Fellowship is sort of a a UK and international group of events

30:03 that happen. Uh there are 90 conventions that happen across 16 countries ministering to 40,000 believers every year. Now they all share Kzik's kind of ethos and values, but they're happening all over the place. and and we've got 50 delegates for our 150th celebration that are all joining us uh this week uh as as we encourage them and they encourage us with how how this kind of ministry is is spreading out across the world. And this morning we're delighted to welcome as our Bible reader Timothy Konishi, a long-standing leader of uh the Kzik that happens in Japan every year. Timothy is a special friend of Kzich in the UK

30:50 because as a gifted translator, he provides the translation for many British speakers. And by translation, we mean improvement of the messages a great deal. The Japan Kzich runs events in cities throughout Japan throughout the month of February and in so doing reaches some 5,000 believers from across the denominations. It's a wonderful ministry in a country with a very small Christian minority. So if you get chance this week, do send a quick prayer up uh for for the the believers in Japan and the ministry that Timothy leads. I'm going to pray once more as Timothy comes to read and then Tim will come and preach. And again a brief prayer picking

31:38 up words from Psalm 119 and verse 18 where we pray this. Lord would you open our eyes that we may behold wonderful things in your law. Amen. Today's verses are from Colossians chapter 1 vers 15- 29. Colossians chapter 1 15- 21. The son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

32:24 For in him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities. All things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his

33:09 fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood shed on the cross. Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight without blemish and free from accusation. If you continue in your faith established and firm and do not move

33:55 from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven and over which I Paul have become a servant. Now I rejoice in what I'm suffering for you and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body which is the church. I have become the servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness. The mystery that has been kept hidden for

34:42 ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord's people. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery which is Christ in you the hope of glory. He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. To this end, I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me. This is the word of the

35:27 God. Good morning. A few years ago, uh I was speaking in uh New Jersey and my host took uh me and my daughter, my daughter was traveling with me for a day out in New York. And what do you do on a day out in New York? Well, you go to the top of the Empire State Building. The uh slight snag with that is that I'm not very good at heights. Uh there isn't a lift to the top. You have to go in a up a lift to the 80th floor and then get out and get in

36:12 another lift. Uh and you get out on the 80th floor and all the windows are frosted so you can't see anything. But even at that point in my head, I I just knew that I I was feeling pretty queasy just at uh floor number 80. And then you get in another lift and you go up 22 more stories to the viewing platform which is outside. So my daughter is sort of bouncing around with excitement. Oh, look, there's Central Park, you know, and I am just sort of pinned to the back wall looking on the sort of far horizon. And then there was just one moment where I sort of um just went to the edge and peered over. Just just even telling you

36:57 now makes me feel uh makes me feel a little bit ill. This morning we are going to be looking at the glory of Christ. And the 14th century theologian Gregory of Nissa said that that looking at Christ's glory makes you dizzy. He says it's just like someone who looks over a really high cliff. What we're considering is beyond our comprehension. And there may be times this morning when you feel a little bit lost. Let me encourage you not to step back from the edge like I did almost to kind of press into the dizziness. Enjoy the grandeur

37:43 and scale of Jesus Christ. even if it does leave your head spinning sometimes. And then perhaps pick one idea that grabs your imagination or perhaps connects with your need and let that be your takeaway thought throughout the rest of this day. Basically, what I'm saying is my job this morning is to explain what can't be explained and your job is to understand what can't be understood. Okay? You are we happy with that? Let's strap in because it's going to get wild. In fact, just let me pray again. Father, we were reminded yesterday that the Lord Jesus Christ is the son whom

38:30 you love and in whom you are well pleased. May it be your pleasure this morning to show us his glory. Amen. So what does Paul tell us about Jesus? Paul begins by telling us that Jesus is the image of God. Verse 15, the son is the image of the invisible God. So think for a moment of a mirror. A mirror gives you an image of yourself. Whether you like it or not, what you see is is you in reflected back in the mirror. Well, when God the Father looks at God the Son, he sees himself

39:18 reflected back in his son. Now, normally for us, an image is a kind of approximation of what it pictures, but but we're we're talking about God here. Gregory of Nazanzis, who's another Gregory, actually Gregory of Niss's mate, but there we go. He said ordinarily an image is a motionless representation but when we when we come to God Jesus is a living reproduction. He is the image of God who is alive perfectly representing God. An image within God as it were that is so complete and so perfect that it is God.

40:08 The sun is the exact representation of his being says Hebrews 1. So we are well beyond human mirrors by now. The son eternally expresses himself and the eternal expression is so perfect that it is God, not the father but one being with the father. The father is like a a an artist who's created a living self-portrait that perfectly replicates who he is. Jesus is the image of God. But of course, we've also met the idea of image before in the Bible story.

40:57 In Genesis 1, God says, "Let us make mankind in our image." Every human being is made in the image of God. Now, because of our sin, that image has it's it's become like a damaged statue. Until Jesus, the incarnate Jesus perfectly images God. He is human as humanity was always meant to be. Anyone who has seen me has seen the father, says Jesus. God's power and his love, his justice, his compassion, his mercy are all perfectly on display in the Lord Jesus.

41:45 So Jesus is the image of God both as true God from true God and as the true and perfect human being. We'll piece those together in a moment. Second, Paul says Jesus is the firstborn over all creation. Verse 15. That doesn't mean there was a time when Jesus was not and then a kind of moment when he came into existence sort of as the first in a sequence to be born. There was no before and after with Jesus. Christ eternally comes from the father without any before or after. Very truly I tell you, said Jesus at one point, before Abraham was born, I am

42:35 a kind of present tense always. Christ is uniquely born as it were. We often tend to say begotten just a sort of flag in our heads that we're talking about something that's completely different to a human being being born, coming into existence for the first time. No, Jesus is eternally begotten of God. It's hard to get our heads around that, isn't it? Some an event that eternally takes place, but that's the way it is always without beginning coming forth from the father. But then why does Paul use the language of firstborn if if it's got this potential confusion

43:20 for us? If we might sort of start thinking about a human being born coming into existence, why use this language of firstborn? We're going to meet more than one answer to that question. But first, I think what he is doing, he's he is linking Christ's eternal origin with our created origin. Christ as image of God as God and Christ as the image of God as a human being. When Adam was made, here's the point. When Adam was made, he was made according to a pattern that had already been established, eternally established in the sun. Humanity, if you remember back in

44:06 Genesis 1, humanity is said to be made in the image of God or according to the image of God. That's not what Paul says here in Colossians 1 about the Lord Jesus. He doesn't say Christ is according or in the image of God. He says he is the image of God. Can you see that difference? Church fathers love to point this out. Christ is the prototype of humanity from all eternity. And human beings are made in the image of God by being made in the image of the son. The preexistent Christ is the template for humanity.

44:56 The extraordinary thing is that Christmas Christ when he became human became human according to a template that he himself had established as the eternal son. There's more. Come to our third description of the Lord Jesus. Look at verse 16. Notice how just just just follow this with me. If you've got in your Bibles, Paul says, "For in him all things were created." And just to be clear, you know, things in heaven and things on earth, visible and invisible, all sorts of thrones and powers, everything in him all things were created. And then at the end of the verse, all things have

45:42 been created through him and for him. Can you see that? In him at the beginning, at the end, through him, for him. In him, through him, for him. Christ is the one in whom and through whom and for whom everything was created. Human beings have been made in Christ and through Christ. Christ as it were as the template. But actually Paul here is stressing that Christ is the firstborn over all creation. Not just human beings, all things. Just to be clear, heaven and earth, visible and invisible, the whole malarkey, all things were

46:27 created in him and through him. What does that mean to create in and through? Well, think of it like this. God decides to create a world. We've hit a problem already because it's an eternal decision. But we're just going to ignore that for now because otherwise our brains would explode. So just just just sort of live with that for a moment. God decides to create a world. Part of my world, God says to himself, will be trees. I love a good tree. So God imagines trees. In his mind, there is a template for trees. They're going to come in all different shapes and sizes,

47:13 but they're all going to have roots and trunks, branches, and leaves. Every tree is going to be made according to this pattern. And then God repeats that for birds and flowers, for rain, for metals, for families, cars. In his imagination, as it were, God conceives a thousand wonderful ideas to populate the world he's going to make. He comes up with a plan. What form does that plan take? As human beings, we might write it down on a document or we might sketch it out on a piece of paper. These days, we would do a virtual model on our computers. But in the eternal God, it takes the

48:01 form of a person, the son. The son is the word of God or the plan of God. God expresses himself and his expressing expression self-expression is not something separate from himself. Remember at this point he hasn't created anything. Only God exists. He expresses himself in the word and the word was with God and the word was God. The plan was with God. The plan was God. Jesus the word is the pattern or template of all creation. The reformer John Calvin calls Jesus the

48:47 substance or foundation of all things. There's more. Not only does everything come into existence in and through Christ, but Christ continues to give everything its shape and character. Verse 17, in him all things hold together. Remember, if you were here yesterday, you remember this anyway, the the earth was formless and empty. And then the word gave form to the chaos and filled the emptiness as God spoke the world into existence. You remember that? Well, Christ continues to give

49:32 everything its form and substance. He's sustaining all things by his powerful word, says Hebrews 1. It's not just that God came up with the ideas of trees, but trees continue to receive their form and character from Christ so that they continue to display the artistry of God and not just trees in sort of some abstract sense. When you walk out of this tent, you will see a tree. And in that moment as you stand before it, Christ will be giving it its form and its character. He will be sustaining it

50:19 by his powerful word. Everything is made up of atoms and photons of light and atoms are made up of subatomic particles. But according to the latest thinking in quantum mechanics, and I should point out, by the way, that I am well above my pay grade here. So, um, we mustn't think of those subatomic particles as little bits of stuff as if they were sort of bits of grit sort of swirling around. They're fluctuations in the electromagnetic fields coming in and out of existence. If you think of the sea, they're like waves bobbing up and down. subatomic particles are are are bobbing up and down in the electromagnetic field

51:06 and they do it randomly. At least that's how it appears to us. At its most fundamental level, the universe appears to be a chaos of unformed energy, unpredictable energy. And yet look around you. We live in a predictable world. Everywhere you look, you see substance and order. The chair that you're sitting on has not suddenly dissolved beneath you in a chaos of subatomic particles. And that's amazing when you think about it. The more you have some sense of

51:51 what's going on at a subatomic level, it's just extraordinary that a chair remains a chair. Here's how the theoretical physicist Carlo Ralli puts it. A handful of tiny elementary particles which vibrate and fluctuate constantly between existence and non-existence and swarm in space even when it seems that there is nothing there. Combine together to infinity like letters of a cosmic alphabet to tell the immense history of galaxies, of the innumerable stars, of sunlight, mountains, woods, and fields of grain, and of the smiling faces of the young at parties. Here's what I want you to notice. As Ralli tries to express this strange

52:38 idea, his go-to metaphor is words. They combine together, he says, like letters of a cosmic alphabet. Isn't that striking? Christ is that alphabet. God spoke the world into existence. And the word he spoke is Jesus. And Jesus right now is the form that holds the formless together. Everything exists through him, in him, and through him. I can't explain it any better than that because we are straying into the

53:23 borderlands of what humans can understand. I don't even really know whether I've described or given you a metaphor, but there we are. One final step. Because everything begins in Christ, everything leads back to Christ. Again, think of the trees outside. Think of one of them. It's been created according to the word or plan that is Christ. And so it reflects something of Christ simply by being a tree. It points to the beauty of Christ. And that is true of every mouthful of curry, every star in the sky, every ant beneath your feet, everything in all creation,

54:11 every moment in all of time. All things were created for Christ. The goal of creation is the glory of Christ. The term firstborn, remember Christ is the firstborn over all creation. It had a legal meaning in Paul's day. It referred to the inheritor of a family estate. So to say that Christ is the firstborn over all creation is to say is to claim that all things belong to him as its true heir. Creation is the father's gift to the son. As we'll see, to to say that everything

54:58 is for Christ is to say something important about the orientation of our lives. We are to live for the glory of Christ. More of that to come. But I think it's important for us to realize that everything else is also for Christ. And that's important because I can so easily act as if ultimately other things are for me or at least for me to use as much as I can. This for me orientation is why humanity so often misuses creation. We kind of suck as much as we can from the earth as if it exists for us. But it is not for us.

55:45 It is for Christ. Our role is to care for it and nurture it for his glory. To his glory. The same is true of other people. So many of the scandals of our day exist because people have treated other people as if they are for me to serve my ends. And sadly I have to tell you I've been guilty of that. Treating people as tools for the cause. But people are for Christ and we're to treat them as those who belong to Christ to care for them and nurture them to his glory. Whether

56:31 that's in marriage or in sex or in the workplace in the home. We are not to use people as means to our own ends. However worthwhile we may think those ends are. Of course we can ask people for their help. We can partner with them. But fundamentally they are not for me. They are for him. So everything is made in Christ and through Christ and for Christ. Now just imagine with me for a moment the impact of reading the imagine you're

57:16 in first century Colassi in a little uh church that meets in someone's home and you read these words for the first time. What impact is that going to have? I think it's this. The man called Jesus who had lived in Palestine, who these little group of believers had come to believe to be Israel's Messiah, now offering forgiveness to the world. This man Jesus turns out to be none other than the son of the invisible God. The one in whom and through whom and for him all things exist.

58:05 Jesus is not simply my personal private savior. He is lord over every ruler and authority in the heavenly realms and in earthly politics. invisible powers and all too visible presidents. As if believing Jesus had risen as the king of Israel were not amazing enough, Paul as it were takes us up through the gears to say Jesus is the creator of everything everywhere. Everything true in this world is true because it participates in Christ the word. It gets its truth from Christ. Everything beautiful in this world is beautiful because it participates in the

58:51 beauty of Christ. It reflects his glory. Everything good in this world is good to the extent that it participates in the goodness of Christ. It is Christ who gives it its goodness. The Puritan Francis Rue says, "All the beauty, all the glory, all the joy in the world are but beams, rays, and flashes of the King of glory, the King of beauty, the King of joy. Open your eyes. See the world with the spectacles of faith. And Christ is everywhere. and everywhere he is glorified.

59:38 The poet Malcolm G has a lovely coupler at the end of a sonnet. He says, "Come hidden wisdom. Come with all you bring. Come to be now disguised as everything." The Lord Jesus Christ comes to us disguised as everything. Okay, let's pause. Let's take a deep breath and let's move on. This little sort of hymn of praise to Christ in verses 15 to 20. It moves from creation in the sort of first half to recreation or reconciliation. God reconciling the world. But how

1:00:25 how do we move from what has now become a broken creation to a new creation in Christ? And here we need to come back to that term firstborn again that we met in verse 15. Christ is the firstborn. Paul uses the term again in verse 18. He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead. In other words, he is the first to rise, never to die again. He is the beginning of a world made new. And so here we need to kind of add another layer to the word firstborn. We we've seen that it means eternally begotten. We've seen that it means heir

1:01:11 of all things. But it also takes us back to the story of the Exodus. Through Moses, God said to Pharaoh, "Israel is my firstborn son. Let my son go." Paul's kind of prepped us for that, as we saw yesterday by alluding to the Exodus in verses 13 and 14. Just as God redeemed Israel through Moses from slavery in Egypt, so God is now redeeming a new Israel through Jesus from slavery to sin. So, how did that first exodus take place? Remember the story? God sends a sequence of plagues climaxing in the death of

1:01:59 every firstborn son. The firstborn dies as a representative of of each family. God says to Pharaoh, this is Exodus 4, you refuse to let my firstborn go, so I will kill your firstborn son. But the people of Israel are just as much in the firing line. They too are sinful people. They too deserve the judgment of God. But God in his grace provides a way of redemption so that they do not lose their firstborn. Each family must kill a lamb dorbits blood over the door. Wherever God sees that blood, he will pass over that door.

1:02:44 That door covered by the blood will be redeemed, will be um liberated from death, escape death. Remember all of that? That's the old Exodus. What about the new Exodus? The new redemption that Christ accomplishes. How is that to be achieved? Well, the answer is in the same way. Through the death of the firstborn. And Jesus is that firstborn. He is the representative of God's family. Jesus dies as our representative. And so God's judgment passes over us if we've entrusted oursel, placed ourselves

1:03:30 within his blood. Except that here in Colossians, Paul doesn't say that Jesus is the firstborn over God's family. What does he say in verse 15? He says Jesus is the firstborn over all creation. Jesus doesn't just redeem one nation from slavery. He liberates all of creation. That doesn't mean that every person, every demon will be saved. It means evil is pacified. order is restored. The fracture in creation is healed. The

1:04:17 resurrection of Jesus, verse 18, is the beginning. The beginning of a world made new, a world put right. Okay? If you got lost somewhere along the way, tune back in. This is going to be important. If you forget everything else, remember if the person next to you has fallen asleep, now's the time to poke them. Verse 16, we've said, says, "All things were created in him, through him, and for him." Now look at verses 19 and 20.

1:05:02 Paul says, "For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him and through him to reconcile to himself all things." And the phrase to himself, wouldn't you know in verse 19 is exactly the same as the phrase for him in verse 17. So can you see both verses 16 and 17 creation and new creation say in him through him for him. It's really important that we spot that all things were created in him through him and for him. All things are reconciled if you like recreated in him through him and for him.

1:05:50 And in both cases, Paul adds things in heaven and things on earth, just so we're clear that nothing is left out. Everything revolves around Christ in creation and in redemption. And so the key phrase I think in this in this section and I think probably in the in in the good case for making it, the key phrase in the whole letter is verse 18. so that in everything he might have the supremacy. I think what Paul's the heart of Paul's message here is this. Christ is supreme in creation. All things are in him, through him, and for him. And God has planned redemption with Christ at the

1:06:37 center. So that in everything Christ might have the supremacy in creation, yes, as always, and now in redemption as well. Verse 19 begins, for or because reconciliation took place in the way that it did. We'll come to that in a moment. But but it took place in Christ and through Christ and for Christ so that in everything in creation and in redemption, he might have the supremacy. That is the punchline. so that he might have the supremacy everywhere you look. How does redemption magnify Christ?

1:07:25 First of all, Christ is the supreme person. Look at verse 19. For in him God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell. All the fullness or perfection of God, God without any lack or deficiency dwells in the human body of Jesus. Christ reconciles God and humanity by by combining God and humanity in one person in his own person. He is the God man. He is the supreme person. But secondly, he pulls off the supreme achievement. Verse 21 tells us that humanity have we have become enemies of God and creation has become cursed. But look at verse 20.

1:08:13 For God was pleased through him to reconcile to himself all things. Christ has pacified the forces of evil. Reconciled humanity to God. Restored a broken creation. The point is the saving work of Christ is cosmic. The scale is cosmic. He hasn't just saved a handful of people here and there. He has healed the fabric of creation. His work ripples out to the father's corners of the universe. It is very big picture. But think of it like this. Every time we turn on the news,

1:09:00 we feel the brokenness of this world, don't we? Children killed by another missile attack, another sex scandal rep that hits the news but represents a hundred untold agonies. And then you add in the personal messages that you receive. the news of the cancer diagnosis or the couple getting divorced. And sometimes it just feels I don't know if if you feel this, sometimes you just feel like you're going to be crushed by the accumulated weight of it all. All this brokenness, this is what Jesus is putting right.

1:09:49 The disease of sin is being cured by his love. One day he will make everything new. Already he is making things new in the church. So he's the supreme person accomplishing the supreme achievement and he does so through the supreme love. Look at verse 20. Christ reconciles all things by making peace through his blood shed on the cross. We've seen that God's glor Christ's glory is revealed in creation and I have slightly labored that because I don't think we talk about that quite so much. But actually his supreme glory is revealed in the cross

1:10:36 as he sheds his blood for his people. That was the only way we would see the full extent of Christ's love. just how far he would go to reconcile us to God. What is the application of these verses? The rest of the letter is going to answer that question. So, you'll have to come back the rest of the week. But here's the preview. Because everything in creation is in, through and for Christ. And because everything in redemption is in, through and for Christ. Therefore,

1:11:24 everything in our lives is to be in, through, and for Christ. So that, and get used to me saying this because it's going to come quite a bit, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. It all adds up to a kind of dazzling, dizzying portrait of Christ on the grandest of canvases. Christ has reset the direction of everything everywhere forever more. It doesn't get bigger than that. But then Paul brings it home. That's what we see in verses 21 to 29.

1:12:11 Reconciliation coming home. And to get a sense how the rest of the chapter unfolds. Look with me at who is the focus of each section. Look with me at the pronouns. First of all, in the passage we just looked at 15 to20, let me just read much of it again quickly. The Son is the image of God, for by him all things were created. Through him and for him, he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body. He is the beginning that in everything he might have the supremacy. For Christ God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things. You get the idea, do you? It's all he and him all the way through. Again and again, he

1:12:58 him. The gospel is all about Jesus. It's not about us. It's about him, who he is, and what he has done. And he has done something cosmic so that he might have this supremacy. But now look at the pronouns in the next paragraph, verses 20 to 23. Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight. If you continue in your faith, this is the gospel that you heard. The gospel is all about Jesus. But it is good news for you.

1:13:46 The cosmic reconciliation that Christ has accomplished is replicated in your life when you turn to him in faith. And if you look at the way 19 and 20 parallel up with verses 21-22, you'll see that that that that just as God's fullness dwells in Christ in verse 22, God says God has reconciled you by Christ's physical body. Christ unites you to God through himself in himself. And just as he has reconciled all things through his blood, all things through his blood. Verse 20 in verse 22, he reconciles you through death. That is through his blood. Christ has accomplished something on a cosmic scale that reaches to the farthest universes

1:14:33 into the heavenly realms. But the cosmic has become domestic. Reconciliation has come home if you're a believer. How does it come home? Through faith. Verse 23. If you continue in your faith, Christ connects us to God. Faith connects us to Christ. Faith is saying to God, I don't want to fight you anymore, and I can't put things right, but I think Christ can, and I want to be part of that. So, we move from him, him, him him, all about Christ to you, to us. If we're

1:15:22 believers, it comes, reconciliation comes to us. But now look at the pronouns in the rest of these verses. Verse 24. Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking. Verse 25. I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God. Verse 29. He is the one we proclaim so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. To this end, I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me. Can you see that? Suddenly, it's all I me. Little bit of we thrown in.

1:16:10 Paul is describing his own ministry, the ministry he shares with others. Here's the point. If reconciliation is to come home, then first of all, it needs to reach your doorstep. Reconciliation, we've seen comes home through faith. But if that's going to happen, if someone's going to respond to the message with faith, someone needs to tell them the message. The good news has got to reach our doorsteps. And that's what Paul describes in these verses. Imagine a long lost relative leaves me a vast fortune somewhere in a solicitor's woodpaneled offices. I just assume they're going to be wood panled.

1:16:56 It's probably an industrial estate these days. A solicitor opens a will and then as a result writes a check. Tim Chester 1 million pounds. Presuming solicitors still write checks. Does it change my life? No, not at that point. I don't know anything about it. I'm still counting the pennies. My wife is still telling me, as she does, it's no fun living with a stingy person. It It's our wedding anniversary today. Yeah. Hang on a minute. I assume that applause is for my wife.

1:17:43 It doesn't change my life until the check is delivered to my doorstep. Until someone turns up with that lifechanging news, then all I need to do is receive it. That's what's happening every time the gospel is proclaimed. Paul says, "God has qualified," this is verse 14, "God has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people." We've inherited, we've inherited vast treasures, as we'll see next week, tomorrow. So you can't you can't access those treasures and and if you don't know about them, someone needs to deliver that message. And that's where Paul steps in. You might want to think about the person who told you about the Lord Jesus Christ. And then you might want to think about the person who told them. And then

1:18:30 imagine that chain going all the way back to the Lord Jesus. There's actually quite a good chance that Paul is somewhere in that chain. God not only reconciles us in Christ, he delivers that reconciliation to our doorstep by sending his messengers. And as we were thinking uh earlier, now we are invited to become part of that chain to pass it on to deliver the offer of reconciliation with God through Christ to the doorsteps of our friends and neigh neighbors. We become part of the story of salvation.

1:19:16 We're not quite done yet. Paul summarizes his message, the mystery of the gospel in verse 27 as Christ in you, the hope of glory. In the end, it's not just reconciliation that comes home. It's the Lord Jesus Christ who comes home, comes to us. Christ himself, Christ in you. Intimate personal presence in you. There are things we hold inside that we hide from other people. Our secrets, our fears, shames, perhaps things we hide from ourselves, doors, places we don't

1:20:02 want to go, doors we don't want to open. Christ is there. Christ in you and he's there in love. Your inner child carrying in fear, Christ is there holding them by the hand. Your knotted angry self. Christ is there with an arm around your shoulder. Your inward injured hurting soul. Just remember by the way where we started with Christ as the one in whom and for whom all things existed. Christ is there the one who holds all the universe holds it all together by

1:20:47 the his powerful word is the one who holds your injured hurting self. This is the great mystery of God's love. Christ in you deep down present in love. But if that if that doesn't feel like reality for you, well, let me encourage you to seek a deeper encounter with Christ in his word. But yes, in this life, it is still partial and fleeting. And today what some of you may feel is more the absence of Christ than Christ in me. That's why Paul says the mystery is not only Christ in you but also the hope of

1:21:34 glory. We meet God in Christ now by faith. But one day, this Christ that we've had a go at trying to get our heads around this morning, one day we will see this Christ in glory. As we were reminded yesterday, the transfiguration is the preview of that. The one through whom all things were made, the one who holds all things together. Right down, even at a subatonic level, the one in whom all the fullness of deity dwells. We will see him face to face and it will be glorious.

1:22:21 Why? So that in everything and forever more Christ might have the supremacy. As we end, let's just bow our heads in silence before him and then in a few moments as the band start to play, let's stand and sing. But just for a moment, let's bow our heads in silence before the Lord Jesus Christ.

1:23:36 [Music] Well, should we respond to what we've just heard? Can I invite you if you're able to stand and sing with us? [Music] Oh most high, king of the aes. Great. I am [Music] God of wonders. By the blood you have redeemed us. Let us through

1:24:23 mighty waters. Our strength, our song, our sure salvation. Now to the lamb upon the throne. [Music] The blessing on the glory powerful the battle you have won. Hallelujah. [Music] Amen. [Music] Oh high dwelling among us.

1:25:10 Son of man, save sinners. [Music] By your blood you have redeemed us. Spousy savior. You live and die. Yeah. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat.

1:25:56 [Music] [Applause] [Music] Yeah. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Oh most high, king of the nations, robed in praise and crown its splenders on that day. Heat. Heat. Heat.

1:26:46 [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Applause] [Music] Heat.

1:27:36 [Music] Amen. Oh, [Music]

1:28:27 heat, heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Yeah. Heat. [Music] Heat.

1:29:15 [Music] Well, do please grab a seat. Uh just to be aware as ever, prayer team are available just down the the front here to your left if you'd like to talk or pray about anything. And do remember to check out some of the lunchtime uh mission plus events happening. There's three different options happening over lunchtime from from 1:30. So just check

1:30:01 the app for information about that. As we close this morning, let me lead us in a closing prayer. our living and our loving Lord Jesus. We confess this morning that uh we feel like we're standing on on holy ground as we've tried to describe that which cannot be fully described and comprehend that which cannot be fully comprehended. It it makes our heads spin and our hearts race to think about what it means for you to be uh for creation to be in you and for you and through you and for redemption to be in you and for you and

1:30:48 through you and for you to be in us the hope of glory. And so we pray that even though our minds cannot fully ever get get the get kind of around all of this, we we ask humbly that by the power of your spirit, you would help us to grow in you, in our love for you, our knowledge of you, our service of you, that you would have the supremacy in everything in our lives. Help us Lord Jesus. Amen.

1:31:46 Sing love [Music] praise and save us for [Music] how great loving kindness. [Music] down to resue us with arms outstretched upon the cross. The greatest gift there ever was of lo [Music] [Applause] kindness.

1:32:31 Oh God of goodness, our joy forever to sing a glad [Music] of grace that saves us a sweet forgiveness. Oh, how great is your love, oh God, how great is your love and kindness, oh God of goodness, our joy forever, [Music] our grace that saved us, our sweet fori,

1:33:20 Oh, how great is loving kindness. [Music] When anious storms,

1:34:06 we will fear the Lord when death and darkness We will fear the Lord. All things will bow his command to bring us good. We resture in sovereign. We will fear the Lord. [Music] Our father

1:34:57 will thank the Lord. How could he now his love? We will fear the Lord. Oh, see our father's love display. [Music] We will fear the Lord. [Music]

1:35:46 We will fear the Lord. We'll look to him for daily bread. We We will fear the Lord. Our father each plead. He has compassion for the weak. He will supply our every need. We will fear the Lord. [Music] As we face the storms of life,

1:36:37 we will fear the Lord. We'll fear the Lord. In you our future is secure. For all your promises our soul. This song will sing forever. [Music] We will fear the Lord. [Music] We will fear the Lord.

1:37:32 [Music] Let's sing of our father of mercies. Father of mercies, the God of all comfort. He draws alongside us in times of

1:38:20 distress. If ever we feel that our God has abandoned, we look to the cross where us Jesus. [Music] All our hope is found in you. You [Music] all hope in you. Father of mercies, the God of my life. [Music] Father of mercies, the wellspring of kindness. He comforts his people and lifts up

1:39:06 their heads. Renewed by the depths of our father's compassion. We offer his love and the hope we possess. All our hope, all our hope is found in you. You deliver us from death to life. All our hope is found in you. Father of mercies, God of my life, we share in the sufferings of Jesus our savior. He knows all our sorrows and shares our

1:39:56 leads will followes [Music] the dead. Trust in the Savior who raises the dead. All our hope is found in you. You delivered us from death to life. All our hope is found in you. [Music] Father of mercy, God of all our hope is found in you. You usful [Music]

1:40:58 God. giving Christmas. [Music] We can't forget

1:41:44 and sight. We have a for our faults and anxious for the fears that we have a [Music] We have a throne. [Music] We sing. Worthy, [Music] worthy is the lamb

1:42:32 who was slain for the world. Royal unfur. We sing glory, glory to the Christ. Your cross our fountain of life. [Music] For our lost and lonely hearts, for our nar and tangle, we have a sheer.

1:43:19 We have a sheer for our list and our thirst for being. We have a stream. We sing worthy, [Music] worthy is the lamb who was slain for the world. Royal

1:44:05 unfound. We sing glory, glory to the Christ. Your cross [Music] for regret and raged years. full sweet and bitter tears. We have a father. We have a father for our tracks through burning

1:44:55 to our home in promised light. This all is done. I got the one we sing. Worthy, worthy [Music] is the lamb who was slave for the world. We sing glory, glory [Music] to the Christ.

1:45:43 Your cross [Music] we sing worthy worthy is the lamb who was slain for the Royal arms. [Music] We sing glory, glory to the Christ,

1:46:30 your cross. [Music] Turn your eyes upon his wonderful praise and the things of earthful.

1:47:19 grow strange in the light of his glory and turn your eyes to the hill where justice and mercy embrace. that the son of God gave his life for us and our measureless death was

1:48:05 Jesus to you our Jesus our glory At the price we adore you, behold you. Our savior ever true. Oh Jesus, we turn our eyes to you. [Music] Turn your eyes to the Lord

1:48:54 and see Christ the lion away. For the glorious fear of death is gone for weus [Music] our glory and our praise. We adore you. Behold you. Ouravior true.

1:49:39 Oh Jesus, we turn our eyes to you. Turn your eyes to the heavens. [Music] Our king will return for his own. Every knee will bow. Every tongue will shout. Oh, glory to Jesus alone.

1:50:29 Jesus, to you we lift our eyes. [Music] Jesus our glory at our [Music] weavior [Music] true. Oh Jesus, we turn our eyes to you. Jesus, Jesus, to you we lift our eyes. Jesus, our glory and our praise. We adore you. Behold you, our savior

1:51:19 ever true. Oh Jesus, we turn our eyes to you.