We had ANZAC Day yesterday. We thought about war, about people giving their lives up for our freedoms. And that is valuable for us to remember.
But war or not, we all still die, unless Jesus Christ comes back soon. War does not increase the number of people who die. War or no war, 100% of people still eventually end up dead. War just makes death more efficient.[1] It brings death forward for our young men, and now, women. It’s not pneumonia at 80 or heart attack at 70 or cancer at 60 or stroke at 50 or car accident at 40 or suicide at 30. It’s a bullet at 20.
I remind you about these depressing things so that you might begin to understand why a rescue is necessary. We all understand death, at some level, even though we don’t like to think about it. But according to Jesus, it is not the worst thing to befall humans. Jesus said, Luke 12 verses 4 to 5:
4 "I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. 5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.
So can you understand why I am a bit desperate for you to see our problem? Death is bad enough. But Jesus says there is something worse than even death – it is hell. But that’s why Paul wrote this letter. He wrote because there was a way out of death and hell. And it is through Jesus and his gospel, the good news about him.
Paul is in jail for preaching Christ and writing to people he has never met. Paul had never been to Colossae. They live in an unimportant country town in modern day Turkey. But this little group of Christians, which had been together for about 10 years, matters to God and Paul. Epaphras had started the church in Colossae. Epaphras heard the gospel from Paul in Ephesus and then took the gospel back to his hometown.
And now, this morning, I’m telling you the gospel, the good news of Jesus, too. We are blessed to get to hear the good news. There is a time of future wrath and anger coming, but the fact that I’m speaking to you now means it has not happened yet. You still have an opportunity to submit to Jesus Christ. As Paul explains in verse 6:
All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth. (NIV)
What’s happening in our world? Well lots of stuff which are distractions. But the main things is this. All over the world the gospel is bearing fruit and growing.
The gospel travels fast. The gospel outruns any one human. No one can keep up. The gospel often follows well-worn paths ploughed by relationships. The natural ties of love and affection lead to you hearing about Jesus Christ in this church on this morning. And now, you are hearing the gospel from me. And through me, just a sinful human like you, God is offering you salvation and rescue now, as I am about to tell you the way to be rescued.
And the same thing happening now happened in this rural village of Colossae in modern day Turkey, one thousand nine hundred and fifty years ago. Epaphras went to the big smoke in Ephesus, and got more than he bargained for. He went to the lecture hall of Tyranus, heard the message of Jesus Christ. Epaphras was never the same, and neither was his home town. Because Ephaphras returned to Colossae with the gospel. And what he learned he taught his beloved friends and family. Verse 7:
You learned it [the gospel] from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf (NIV)
And the rest, as, they say, is history. These greek speaking country shepherds have a new identity, a new family and a new set of relationships, with God and others. Chapter 1 verse 2:
To the holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Colosse (NIV)
The identity of the Christians at Colosse is threefold. First, they are now holy. They are different and set apart because they trust in Christ and his death and resurrection.
Second, they are faithful. They have faith in Christ Jesus, and continue trusting in him. They hang on to Jesus Christ when it is hard.
And third, they are family. They are brothers and sisters. No matter whether they are rich or poor, Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free, male or female, they are all sons and daughters of God. They are all brothers and sisters of Jesus through trusting in him.
And this new identity has come through the gospel, the message that Paul preached.
But what is the content of this gospel? What is this that Paul preached, but he couldn’t keep up with?
The gospel is a message with a particular content. Paul sprinkles the content of the gospel message throughout this letter. And we see the content of this gospel message shine through particularly in verse 13 and 14. Verse 13 and 14:
13 For he [God] has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves [that’s Jesus Christ], 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
The gospel, the good news, is that there has been a rescue. A rescue has happened. And since there is a rescue, there is a rescuer, a Saviour. A lifesaver, a savior, has come to us, bringing much needed aid from above. The disaster is of our own making. It has come about from our rebellion against God, and is called sin. We are all part of the sin problem. The result is the judgment of death. I do weddings, baptisms, AND FUNERALS.
Worse, we were citizens of an evil kingdom, a dominion of darkness, with Satan and the demons ruling us, calling the shots. We don’t see it that way, but it is, after all, ‘a dominion of darkness’. The Dark Lord Satan likes to keep his subjects in the dark, so its not surprising if his subjects don’t know they are his subjects. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the situation would only worsen into God’s wrath and an eternal Hell of endless punishment if an urgent rescue mission had not arrived. (Colossians 3:6)
So God, our loving creator and sustainer, at the right time, intervened. God lowered himself down to the scene of our wreckage in the person of the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, the very image and reflection of God, through whom and for whom all things were made, became fully human, like us in every way except sin. God was pleased to have in the man Jesus Christ all his fullness dwell in him, for in Christ all the fullness of the deity dwells in bodily form. And after a life of welldoing and keeping the law of God and loving his fellow human, the Lord Jesus Christ turned his face to the cross, and embraced his sacrificial death for us and our salvation. And then on the third day he rose again as the firstborn from the dead
And the result of all of this was a mass airlift. Just like a rescue helicopter winches down a rescuer, who clips helpless humans to himself to pull them up to the safety of the chopper overhead, so too does Christ. Christ lowered himself down to our disaster and attached each and every believer to himself, and then has spiritually airlifted each believer from the dominion of darkness. And securely fastened and united to our savior and rescuer Jesus Christ, God has raised us up with him to where he is, into his kingdom, and our rescuer and savior seated us there with him, in the heavenly realms, far above all rule, power and authority.
There has been a realm transfer. We were once in Satan’s kingdom. Through Christ’s work, we have been airlifted into his kingdom, the Kingdom of the beloved Son. We cannot yet see it in all its fullness. But it has occurred, and we apprehend it through faith in Christ.
And so our allegiance has been transferred. That’s why all who are baptised, or their sponsors on their behalf, renounced ‘the world, the flesh and the devil’. They said they no longer wish to be in the dominion of darkness and want to be citizens of the kingdom of the Son of God.
And Paul gives us an insight into how this rescue worked in verse 14: Look at verse 14 with me again.
in whom [that is, in Jesus Christ] we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (NIV)
First, what is redemption? Redemption is to purchase something again, to buy something back. Suppose you have a great debt, far greater than you could pay. Or suppose you are captured in war. In either case you are captured, kindnapped, a prisoner or a slave. Such things happen in our world, even now. Muslim extremists are experts at it. But then out of love and compassion someone who loves you pays the demanded ransom or redemption price. You are then freed from your captors or slave masters.
That’s what Jesus Christ did. Jesus purchased us and bought us back by his precious death on the cross. We had sold ourselves to sin, and death, and the devil. And Jesus at the cost of his own life, took our record of sins, our bad record with God, our charge sheet, and nailed it to the tree, with him, as he was nailed to the tree. He stripped Satan of his power over us, his power of accusation. So that even though each one of us are sinners deserving hell, Satan has nothing to say. After Jesus’ death for our sins, Satan has nothing on us. For Jesus Christ has taken our punishment for us. And having triumphed over the devil and his minions, Jesus Christ then punched a hole through death, defeating death in the flesh. Jesus Christ is now alive, having risen from the dead.
And now, as a result of this redemption, those who have faith have been graciously forgiven of our many many sins. I believe in the forgiveness of sins. Sins wreck life now, and if unforgiven, God will punish us for them. But if you have put and continue to put your faith in Christ, you are forgiven of your sins.
The director of a large mental institution in England is quoted as having made this startling admission: ‘I could dismiss half my patients tomorrow if they could be assured of forgiveness’.[3] If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, I have good news. You have forgiveness. If you are outside of Christ, have not trusted Christ, have not repented of your sins and not fled to Christ, you do not have forgiveness. But if you repent of your sins and believe in Christ, you have forgiveness.
Forgiveness, free forgiveness, is sweet. It was purchased at a high price, the death of God the Son. But to you and me, it is free. It is part of the much needed rescue package.
Don’t take free forgiveness for granted, for it cost so much. Take hold of it, prize it, cherish it, cling to it, let free forgiveness change you and transform you and enable you to walk in the many good works God has prepared for you. Let free forgiveness energise your life of good works. Do it all and more to say thank you to God, who paid for your forgiveness through the life-blood of his precious Son. And keep preaching this gospel of forgiveness of sins to yourself and to others. Verses 13 and 14 again:
13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (NIV)
Notice this forgiveness is found in and only in Christ. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. In Christ, in union with Christ, there is safety. Outside of Christ there is only chaos, wreckage and carnage. That’s what you have to be rescued from.
If you know Jesus Christ, do not depart from him, or take your forgiveness for granted, but instead continue in him, growing more and more in your knowledge of Christ. And if you do not have a personal relationship with Christ Jesus as Lord and Saviour, receive him now. Receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour now (Colossians 2:6). You have heard the gospel today from Colossians.
He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (NIV)
This week I took a funeral on Thursday and went to one on Friday. Thursday’s one I thought was good. I did it, after all. I just followed the prayer book. And it was full of reality and bible. But the funeral I went to on Friday had little or no hope in it. The minister was not allowed to mention God or Jesus, or eternal life. We were told about drinking nice wine, eating nice food, having nice manners, wearing nice clothes, travelling to nice places, being good at your work, and being true to your self. Is that it? Is that all? That funeral was completely backward looking, earth bound, without God, without Christ, and without hope.
By contrast, the Colossians had hope. Every Christian has hope beyond death. Hope is forward-looking faith. Hope means having something to look forward to. Of course, whether it is a reasonable hope depends on what you hope for. But if someone trustworthy has promised to give us an inheritance, we have good grounds for our hope. Look with me at Colossians chapter 1 verse 5, and see the power of hope. Verse 5:
the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about (NIV)
Faith in Christ and love for other Christians springs from hope. Christians, believers in Christ, have hope. We are promised an inheritance, a treasure in heaven. It is the Kingdom of God’s beloved Son. Jesus Christ is seated on the throne. It is a Jesus-centred place, and a God centred place. There is a place where there is no more death or mourning or crying or pain.
Friends, the stuff that you and I gather around ourselves is not true wealth or riches. We needed bits and pieces around us to keep our lives going. But you and I will lose every last bit of it. Naked you entered this world, and naked you will leave it. The littlest child here today is born into a world of death. If Jesus doesn’t come back soon, our babies and little ones will have a funeral. So now, if we have food and clothing and shelter, we will be content with that. Death is coming. I went to two funerals this week. Death happens. And it will happen to you too. You and I are going to die, for some of us, sooner than later. And all your stuff will be either chucked out or given to someone else.
So Paul rejoices that the Colossians have their treasure is in heaven. Their treasure, their inheritance, is with Christ and with God. No one can steal this treasure. And death cannot take this treasure away. Verse 12, the Father:
has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. (NIV)
If you have faith in Christ, you have more to look forward to than just the suffering, sickness and death to which you are heading. Beyond the grave, if you are Christ’s, you have a part and share of an inheritance. Jesus Christ said, ‘In my Father’s house are many rooms, if it were not so, I would have told you, and I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me’ (John 14). Frankly, you really don’t have much choice. I reckon you better throw your lot in with Jesus quick smart.
If you have understood the grace of God in truth, don’t stop there. You need to keep going. You need to dig deeper, and dig even deeper. That is what Paul prays. That those who have understood God’s grace might, verse 9,
be filled with the knowledge of his will by having all spiritual wisdom and understanding. (NIV)
Have a hunger and thirst for more God, more bible, more Jesus. That’s why we keep coming to church. But all this knowledge of God’s will has a very practical outcome. We don’t study God’s word and will merely to know more. There is a purpose. Verse 10:
in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work (NIV)
Our deepened knowledge of God leads to us wanting to please him more and more. Our hope in the future inheritance leads to love of others. And our love leads to good works. We want to live up to the expectations of our God and Father, our big brother Jesus Christ, and the high calling we have received. We want to keep going in faith in Christ and not give up. Verse 11, we want to have great endurance and patience. We want God to enable us to persevere in the faith, no matter what suffering he sends our way. May that be the case for each of us here.
Let’s pray.
[1] http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-24/moore-what-do-we-make-of-finding-religion-in-foxholes/6415738.
[2] Paul probably wrote Colossians while under house arrest from Rome about AD 60 or 61. Aristarchus is with Paul (Colossians 4:10; Acts 27:2).The town of Colossae by this time was not particularly important or significant. The people in Colossae have not met Paul personally (see Colossians 2:1). Between AD 52 and 55, Paul had rented the lecture hall of Tyrannus (cf Acts 19:10), and that is the most likely scenario by which Epaphras heard the gospel and took it back home.
[3] John Stott, Confess Your Sins, 1964, 73, citing Jack Winslow, Confession and Absolution, 1960, 22.