All Things Were Created Through Him and for Him

let's pray together father I ask for your help now as we come from the praises of your name to the preaching of your word and I ask that it would have its powerful effect in our lives you would make us strong in our witness loving and humble and broken and courageous in our service of our fellow man and effective in the way we magnify your son Jesus Christ so father don't leave me to myself or any of us sitting here to our own resources but by your spirit grant me to be faithful to your word grant us to feel affections that correspond to the worth of Christ and grant that a work would be done in our hearts and in our minds and in our lives that would make a difference for Christ and his glory in this city and around the world I pray that the ripple effect of our gathering this morning would be beyond what any of us can imagine in terms of decades till Jesus comes in terms of miles to the other side of the globe in terms of depths of reconciliation and healing and good that will be done in marriages and parents and single people and old people and young people take this little five loaf message and multiply its effect to feed thousands I pray magnify yourself in this moment of our service and bring us to the end of this message ready to lay down our lives for Christ and serve Him in one of these 55 ways that are highlighted in this building here or others I ask you for your help now in Jesus name Amen this is the first of a series of messages seven of them Lord willing under the title spectacular sins and their global purpose in the glory of Christ so God willing we'll be on this theme till September 23 so let me tell you where it's coming from the impulses that have fed into this topic there are four impulses that came together in my thinking and praying that brought me to this seven part message number one sitting on a porch in Asheville North Carolina end of July reading second chronicles with many of you who are who are reading through the Bible on the Bible reading plan that some of us are on no once a year I read 2nd chronicles and every time I do I get hit between the eyes by the amazing truth that story after story describes faithful sinful behaviors of Kings which are under the control of God Almighty for his good purposes for example Jeroboam rejected the wisdom of the old men remember that and he said my father discipline you with whips I will discipline you with scorpions he said that to his own people and then the writer the inspired writer says the king did not listen to the people for it was a turn of affairs brought about by God that the Lord might fulfill his word so he didn't listen to the good advice of the old man because God didn't let him King Ahab enticed by false prophets to go up and fight against the Syrians was a stupid move then McKay I the true prophet comes and says this now therefore behold the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these your prophets the Lord has declared disaster concerning you third example joash the king of Israel gave wise counsel to amaziah king of Judah do not go out to battle against your own people Israel the Amazigh refused to listen to the Good Counsel and the inspired writer says but a messiah would not listen for it was of God in order that he might give them into the hands of their enemies because they had sought the gods of Edom so once a year I sit on porches and I read second chronicles and get hammered between my eyes with this amazing God who somehow inscrutably unfathomably governs the sinful acts of his kings without himself sinning or doing anything unholy or unwise that's the first impulse that feeds into this message you sit there and you read that year after year and you say why do you want us to know this this is just trouble this is just a problem why is this in your Bible why don't you just conceal this and just tell us easy things that's the impulse number one number two whether it's July on a porch or any other month of the year calamity fills the news both at home and around the world Newark New Jersey since 1998 a 50% increase in murder rate and last week an execution-style murder of four teenagers on their way to college Utah look this morning to see if there was any breakthrough I don't think so yet six minors 1800 feet underground no word from them every effort being expended praise God may they be found alive may we celebrate as a nation but maybe not Heartland Minnesota 35w bridge and day by day we taste the fuller extent of its painful effects and then because we are so insular as a people and are so consumed with our own news has anybody even read that twenty million people have been displaced from their homes in Bangladesh northern India and Nepal and dozens have been swept away most of them little children in the last two weeks so whether it's July on a porch or whether it's reading second chronicles or whichever across the world and across our nation there is suffering and I have to ask does that have anything to do with Jesus Christ who said all authority in heaven and on earth is mine third impulse the Bible says that in the last days times are going to be very difficult let me read that to you 2nd Timothy 3:1 understand this that in the last days there will come times of difficulty the word is unusual it is severity severe times will come before Jesus returns for people will be lovers of self lovers of money proud arrogant abusive disobedient to their parents ungrateful unholy heartless unappeasable slanderous without self-control brutal nuh loving good treacherous reckless swollen with conceit lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of god having the appearance of godliness how could he say that after that list having the appearance of godliness but denying its power now I can't see my role as a pastor in such days as entertaining you I simply can't do it I think of my role in such times as trying to help you have a super Fischer cheerfulness so that you just like to come to church it's a little bit of a relief from the severity of the times that cannot be my goal not if I care rather as I understand my job my calling in this church as the main preacher is to put ballast the ballast of truth the ballast of of weight he glorious doctrine in the belly of your little boat so as you try to navigate these strange days and these kinds of winds batter your life you won't capsize but rather you will make it all the way to the harbor called heaven with your faith intact and your joy overflowing that's my job ballast in your boat others can decorate the decks I don't have time to do it all I do hope the decks are clear and Sun shines on us from time to time those are easy days I'm here to help the ballast keep the boat from tipping in the hard days taking on too much water so that it goes down that's impulse number three here's impulse number four it's the one we're going to focus on from Colossians 1 the glory of Jesus Christ in the last two weeks I have spent a lot of time last part of vacation first week back writing a paper it's about 18 pages now on a vision for Bethlehem for the next eight years I'll meet up on Wednesday with the lead team and lay it before them one of the things I have done to think through what God might call us to for the next eight years as a church three campuses now more God willing is to go back over the last 27 years I went into my 28th year here in July and amazingly it's so embarrassing sometimes you can listen to me preach 27 years ago and I went to my first candidate examine January 27 1980 and I listened to an excerpt at desiring God org because I remember the text and I wanted to see what did I say about it because it has to do with the glory of Christ the text was math Philippians 1 verses 20 following my eager expectation and hope this is what I was laying before 300 people most of whom are in heaven today it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not at all be ashamed but that now as always Christ will be magnified in my body whether by life or by death and I thought to myself as I'm writing this paper nothing has changed in my heart about that nothing has changed it is my eager expectation at 61 not 34 that now as always I might never be ashamed of the Bible but cherish this book love to preach this book and if by any means Christ might be magnified in this church and in my life whether by life or by death in the severus of times nothing has changed so the fourth impulse remains after 27 years how shall we some minister how should we so love how shall we so witness house we so do 55 ministries such that Jesus Christ is magnified made to look glorious in these twin cities and beyond so that's the fourth impulse and now I want us to turn to Colossians chapter 1 for the first message in the 7 part series how is it that Christ can be magnified in the second Chronicles world in Newark in Utah in Bangladesh in Minneapolis in the fall of Satan from his first perfect position from the fall of Adam in the whole human race coming down in the Tower of Babel and the fracturing of all of the languages in humanity the sale of Joseph into slavery in Egypt the treason of God's people asking for a king to be like the nation's when God is their king and finally the betrayal of Judas these spectacular sins all of which serve the glory of Jesus Christ how can that be that's where we're going God has not answered all the questions that we have about sin and misery in the world Deuteronomy 29:29 says the secret things belong to the Lord there are secrets that you will not know Paul says in first Corinthians 13 now we see in a mirror dimly then face to face now we know in part then we shall know fully even as we are fully known you sit there and you are only looking in the mirror what I'm speaking to you is like child babbling compared to what you will know someday concerning Jesus Christ and yet God has not been silent second Chronicles is in the Bible Colossians is in the Bible and he means for us to know these things and love these things and live by these things and not tip over in this troubled world when the waves batter our lives Colossians chapter one if you're there with a Bible you can see it with me he begins to pray for the church in verse nine I hope you all memorize Bible prayers so that you don't just pray your own Warren rutt prayers which is what I do if I don't use the Bible to pray I fall into ruts again and again and again say the same thing over and over again with a mindless chatter but if I start taking Bible prayers on my lips then I feel myself caught up into God's purposes for the church in the world and you will too so he begins to pray for them he prays that they would be filled you see this verse 9 10 they would be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord fully pleasing to him bearing fruit in every good work increasing in the knowledge of God when he's done praying that they would increase in the knowledge of God and lead lives that are Christ exalting and people loving then he begins to extol Jesus and that's what we've been doing all morning and he does it in 15 statements and I'm gonna read them to you and number them and are number them so that they'll mount up like they do for me when I write them down No verse 14 number one in him we have redemption the forgiveness of sins number two verse 15 he is the image of the invisible God number three he is the firstborn of all creation number four by him all things were created in heaven and on earth visible and invisible whether Thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities we'll come back to that number five all things were created through him number six all things were created for him number seven he is before all things number eight in him all things hold together nine he is the head of the body the church 10 he is the beginning 11 he is the firstborn from the dead 12 in everything he is preeminent nine thirteen verse 19 in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell 14 verse 20 he reconciles all things to himself whether on earth or in heaven and 15 he makes peace by the blood of his cross this is probably the most dense concentrated acclamation of the Son of God in all the Bible and I commend you to memorize it I do if that's one takeaway from today's message it would be verses 14 to 20 of Colossians memorize it so that if any person or any power or any wisdom or any love awakens your admiration or your amazement or your joy let it be the greatest person and the greatest wisdom and the greatest love and the greatest power Jesus Christ everybody on this parking lot is moved at some time or other to be admiring or amazed about somebody or something you all have capacities for amazement and admiration and love and I just want to plead with you memorize those 15 things about Jesus so that your heart will rise with affections for him that correspond in some measure to the worth that he has as our treasure we naturally get amazed at television or movies or bridge collapses or great natural phenomena we do not by nature feel amazement at the most amazing reality in the universe which was just described to you that means we have to pray we have to meditate we have to deny ourselves we have to plead for new hearts for our purposes we're focusing on verse 16 by him by Jesus Christ all things were created in heaven and on earth visible and invisible whether Thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities all things were created through him and for him Jesus made the world Jesus made everything they were created through him because he was in the beginning with God and he was God and all things were made through him and without him was not anything made that was made he is God and thus he created he's with God the Father and they came through him and most amazingly perhaps of all everything exists for him from the bottom of the oceans to the top of the mountains everything exists for Jesus nothing in the universe exists for itself you exist to make Christ look great so does that sky so do the trees everything exists for Christ not that he needs it but that it displays his glory from the most boring school subject to the most fascinating science from the smallest particle to the biggest star from the ugliest cockroach in a cave to the most beautiful human being from the greatest saint to the most wicked genocidal dictator everything exists and will serve the glory of Jesus Christ whether they know it or not every knee will bow and acknowledge that Jesus is Lord all things now just think of this now get this of the millions of things that Paul could have paused to mention specifically what did he pause to mention in verse 16 what does he choose to mention sky human eyeball with its amazing wonders animals sees mountains what did he choose of all the things he could choose to say these Christ made and these exist for Christ answer Thrones dominions powers rulers authorities what's that Paul knows what he's doing here Paul knows what he's going to say in chapter 2 verse 15 you might want to look at it those last two things rulers and authorities they pop up throughout Paul's letters who are they what are they they are supernatural demonic powers that long to deceive and destroy this world chapter 2 verse 15 Jesus disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to an open shame by triumphing over them in him you all know many of you do anyway what he said about them in Ephesians chapter 6 we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but events against principalities against powers against rulers against authorities against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places against the powers of darkness made by him and for him where do they come from by him all things were created in heaven and on earth visible and invisible whether Thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities and why do they exist all things were created through him and for him be careful it does not say he made them evil he just made them the little book of Jude gives us a clue and we'll be here next week Lord willing on the fall of Satan the little book of Jude gives a little clue with its reference to angels who did not stay within their own position of authority but left their proper dwelling Nepal knows that he knows that these rulers and authorities that Jesus Christ nullified at the cross fell and he knows something else that we're going to see in the next few weeks that has greater implications he knows that Jesus Christ knew before they fell that they would fall and knowing what would become of these angels in their demonic reality knowing full well all that they would be and do he planned redemptive history with that in view such that they would totally serve his glorious saving purposes to magnify his power and to magnify his grace so I'm left this morning with this question why does Paul tell us this why does he not just say God the Christ created all things created all things for his glory leave it at that why does he go out of his way to bring up the fact that he made rulers and authorities and powers and then tell us who they were in chapter 2 they are the evil ones that Jesus nullified by his cross so that they could not destroy his people they can hurt us they cannot destroy us because our sins are forgiven and Jesus righteousness is imputed to us why does he tell us these things and that's what this series is about why does he think it's good for us I don't think there's a line in this Bible that is not good for us because I believe God loves me and calls me to believe every word of it calls me to meditate on it day and night and tells me that if I do if I don't leave anything out I will be like a tree planted by streams of water that brings forth its fruit in its season in everything he does he prospers if that's true then he loves me with this book and every line of it should be preached believed and honored so for seven weeks we're just going to try to understand why God would tell us these things and I close by answering that question from Colossians this morning in five brief statements so here we are on our way to the conclusion why does Paul go out of his way not to speak generically about the creation by Christ of all things and that all things serve him but rather highlight rulers and authorities which are evil answer number one because it's objectively true and nobody's subjective opinion there are many people that you rub shoulders with every day who do not believe in objective truth what's true for you it's true for you and what's true for me is true for me this book stands as a bulwark against that way of understanding reality it has a meaning and the meaning never changes our understandings may change our applications may change what God intended when it was written never changes there is such a thing as objective reality and the first three sin why Paul tells us things is to bring us into our wareness of reality number one number two these truths make clear that Christ is the only being worthy of your worship the reason I highlight that is because behind this church of colossi there were false teachers what they were saying according to chapter 2 verse 18 is that we should all make our way through a gradation up to the Living God by worshipping angels he said do not let anyone deceive you calling for the worship of angels that's why he wrote verse 16 the way he did do not worship angels worship the one who laid the Angels that's the point of verse 16 over against the false teaching behind this book number three he is very concerned and it is so modern and so relevant that the church in Colossae not be captivated by high sounding heresies listen to verse 8 of chapter 2 see to it that no one take you captive by philosophy or empty deceit according to human tradition according to the elemental spirits of the world and not according to Christ if Paul were here today if he just landed here and didn't know anything about the 21st century one of the things he'd say is don't be deceived you must be getting near the end deceivers will be everywhere man-centered teachings will abound religious ways will multiply you will turn here and there will be this odd new book and you'll turn here in an odd new movie everywhere you turn there'll be a beckoning after your mind and your soul and he said I wrote Colossians so that 2100 years later you would not be taken captive by philosophies or traditions or traditions it's alright I'm almost done that's number three number four these are reasons why Paul spoke the way he spoke he wanted it to be crystal clear that when we pour fragile weak frightened vulnerable human beings and I'm not making that up I don't know why I'm wired the way my but I get afraid I look bold in the open I know that don't be deceived I'm just a little Johnny from Wade Hampton High School who has many of the same old junk that I have to deal with morning after morning so I have some measure of empathy with just simple ordinary run-of-the-mill first grade Christians who feel like they're just overwhelmed with opposition and stuff in their life that they wonder can I even deal with it can I make it and surely what Paul was doing in verse 16 of Colossians 1 was drawing attention to the fact that okay you got enemies you got problems let me take the worst ones let me take the principalities and the powers and the rulers and the authorities and tell you about them Jesus made them they exist for Jesus Jesus died to put them to not if your worst enemy is taken care of no sweat the others I think he wanted to say to the simplest person out there who has a hard time being a Christian and wonders can you make it in these sophisticated Twin Cities where so many false things are said about God I'm tempted here to go off on a tangent about the multi faith service that was held which I attended after the bridge collapsed but I will not number five and I'm done Paul wants you to know that your salvation is invincible he wants you to know that when you're saved and you're in Christ by faith alone you're there to stay nothing can separate you from the love of God in Jesus Christ so let me read first of all I read a closing verse when I asked a question just practically I want to make sure that I ask it of you whether you're on the grass on the chair standing on the wall have you trusted this great Christ who created the world designed the world to magnify his glory so that those who trust in him could have his joy forever the one who died for our sins who lived a perfect life so that in him we would be swallowed up in his perfection have you trusted him have you turned away from reliance upon yourself or tradition or being a Baptist or a Catholic or Methodist or Presbyterian or whatever Christian home baptized those are not saving realities trusting Christ as our sin forgiver and our perfection provider is the only way have you trusted and if you have I want to read you a word from Colossians owing to what we've seen that is true about you so that as we close with a song you'll be able to sing it with all your heart this is Colossians chapter 3 verse 3 you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God when Christ who is your life appears you will appear with him in glory there's no if and or buts if he has destroyed the one whose design is to deceive you and kill you and destroy you then nothing can separate you from the love of God in Christ neither death nor life nor Angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor anything else in all the world will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord all things were created by Jesus Christ even your worst enemy it is not Christ but they who were shamed at the cross according to Colossians 2:15 in the end everything serves to magnify the glory of Jesus Christ let's pray Almighty God and Heavenly Father I praise you for Christ who loved us from the depths of the sea to the creation of all things from the highest of heights creation revealing your majesty from the colors of fall to the fragrance of spring every creature unique in the song that it sings all exclaiming indescribable uncontainable you placed the stars in the sky and you know them by name you are amazing God all-powerful untamable awestruck we fall to our knees and we humbly proclaim who has told every lightning bolt where it should go or seen heavenly storehouses laden with snow who imagined the Sun and give source to its light yet conceals it brings us the coolness of light who created the rulers and powers on high then permitted their fall and their sway in the earth until you in the fullness of time came to die and in triumph to show forth your infinite worth indescribable uncontainable save the perishing strengthen the Saints make us contrite send us to those fifty-five boosts with a passion I will not waste my life I will not sit in my house watching clean videos night after night after night after night after night I will lay my life down in this city for those who know so little of this great glorious Christ so Lord as we lift our voices and sing this song indescribable not just to God in general but to you Jesus fill us with a passion for your supremacy in all things for the joy of the city come and help us to worship you

Channel: Desiring God

Views: 12,535

Rating: 4.884058 out of 5

Keywords: Sermon, John Piper, Desiring God, Bethlehem Baptist Church, Christian, Christianity, Church, Bible, Jesus Christ, God, Scripture

Id: YEc5-YzlD5E

Length: 44min 8sec (2648 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 28 2013