Christ is ALL

Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond norfree: but Christ is all, and in all. (Col. 3:11)

In the modern day preaching of a watered down gospel we hear clichés preached more than scriptural truth. One such cliché that we often hear is, “Let Jesus come into your life”. The unscriptural idea behind this cliché is that the Lord Jesus Christ desires to blend in to your identity and assist you in the life that you want to lead. In other words, He just wants to make your life better so that you can have, “Your best life now." That is the title of a book written by the popular motivational speaker Joel Osteen. In that book he wrote, “God wants to make your life easier. He wants to assist you, to promote you, to give you advantages. He wants you to receive preferential treatment.” I am sure that he has the bumper sticker that says, “God is my co-pilot” on his Rolls Royce. 

Many will let Jesus be a part of their life if it means He will help them accomplish their dreams and then take them to heaven when they die. Modern evangelism is man-centered instead of Christ-centered. It appeals to the selfish and religious nature of man. Everybody in their right mind wants to go to heaven when they die and they will gladly say a prayer to receive that ticket to heaven. But not everybody wants to be saved from sin and reconciled to God, nor are they willingly to trust Christ alone for salvation. False preachers claim that Jesus wants to come into your life and become your servant. The Bible declares that salvation is regeneration (new life) and that believers are God’s servants. 

Nowhere does the Bible teach that Jesus wants to become part of our life! The teaching of scripture is that when Christ saves us, He becomes our life (Col. 3:1-4; Phil. 1:21; Gal. 2:20)! Immediately upon salvation we are all baptized by one Spirit into one body of which Christ is the Head. We are in Him and He is in us by the Spirit. He is our identity (1 Cor. 12:12-13). 

In v.11, the apostle Paul is saying that earthly distinctions mean NOTHING when it comes to our standing before God. Under the Law dispensation being a law-keeping Jew gave you an advantage over the Gentiles and a standing before God that they did not have. BUT NOW, in this present dispensation of GRACE, that is all done away with. Nothing we are or can do gives us any standing before God because our standing is IN CHRIST alone (2 Cor. 5:16-17; Gal. 3:27-28). ALL members of the body of Christ have the same complete and perfect standing before God. 

Christ is ALL! The name “Christ” is used 26 times and the word “all” is used 32 times in this short epistle (15 are direct references to Christ, e.g., 1:19; 2:3, 9). Colossians was written to correct false doctrine that detracts from the supremacy and all-sufficiency of Christ as the Head of the Church and the blessed truth that all believers are complete in Him. For example, Paul warns against a mystical philosophy that claims superior knowledge, denies the incarnation of Christ, and teaches works-based salvation. In the first main passage of this epistle he declares the preeminence of Christ (1:18, not first among other competing things but superiority over all things). Christ is more than first in the body, He is everything! Without Him, we are nothing. If you take Christ out of the true church it does not and cannot exist! That’s why in the church Christ alone must receive all the glory (Eph. 3:21). There is NO true wisdom and knowledge that is found outside of Him (2:3). 

Let's consider some specific things mentioned in this epistle in which Christ is all.

I. Christ is ALL in Creation (Col. 1:16) 

If you take Christ out of creation, nothing would exist! This is a vital truth because it means that Christ is the Creator and not a creature. Jesus Christ is God and this truth is constantly under attack. False teachers try to use Col. 1:15 to prove that Christ was created, but it actually proves the opposite! He is the visible image of the invisible God. This means that He is God in a visible body. The title of “firstborn” is one of rank and authority (Ps. 89:27). He was not the firstborn AMONG every creature but ABOVE every creature, i.e. He has superiority over every creature because He is the Creator (also firstborn of the Spirit and from the dead). 

“Firstborn of every creature” – (v.16-17 explains v.15) He is the Head over creation because:

A. By Him were all things created (Gen. 1:26; John 1:1-3; Eph. 3:9)

B. All things were made for Him (Rev. 4:10-11)

C. He is before all things (Rev. 1:8; Isa. 44:6)  

D. By Him all things consist (Psalm 75:3; Heb. 1:1-3)

All this proves the deity of Christ. He is all-powerful. In creation we know something of God’s power (Rom. 1:20). 

II. Christ is ALL in Revelation (Col. 1:28; 2:8-10)

We don’t preach dead philosophy but a living PERSON! To take Christ out of the Bible would leave you with no Bible at all! He is central in the Bible and is found in every one of its 66 books. He is found in the first verse of the Bible (Gen.1:1 has 44 letters, 17 vowels, and 27 consonants) and in the last verse (Rev. 22:21 has 44 letters, 17 vowels, and 27 consonants). We see God’s power in creation, but we can only know His truth through the divine revelation of His word. To know Christ is to know truth, it is to know God (1 Jn. 5:20). Creation is a partial revelation of God, but the word of God is His perfect revelation (Ps. 19). 

The Bible presents many different personalities, but its purpose is to reveal one main person, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible is God's perfect revelation of Himself to man. Bullinger wrote, “The one great subject which runs through the whole Word of God is Christ: the promised seed of Gen. 3:15. This verse marks the depth of the ruin into which man had descended in the fall; and it becomes the foundation of the rest of the Bible. All hope for man and for creation is centered in Christ; who in due time should be born into the world, should suffer and die; and, in resurrection, should become the head of a new creation, and should finally crush the head of the Old Serpent, who had brought in all the ruin. Christ, therefore, the King, and the Kingdom which He should eventually set up become the one great subject which occupies the whole of the Word of God. Hence, He is the key to the Divine revelation in the Word; and apart from Him it cannot be understood. The contents of the Bible must therefore be seen and arranged with reference to Him. The counsels and purposes of God are all centered in Christ.” 

The Son of God is called the Word of God (Rev. 19:13) because He reveals and declares the Father (Jn. 1:1-3, 14, 18). Yet, what would we know of the Son of God apart from the written word of God? The written word of God reveals and declares both the Father and the Son and it was given by the Spirit's inspiration and only understood by His illumination. God has revealed Himself through the incarnate Word and the inspired word. Both are given the same titles and attributes. 

 

Jesus Christ is CENTRAL in the Scripture (OT - Lk. 24:27, 44; NT - Jn. 14:26; 16:12-14):

• OT - Preparation - promises, prophecies, and pictures of the coming Christ

• Gospels - Manifestation - Fourfold presentation of the person and work of Christ    

• Acts - Propagation - "they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ" 

• Epistles - Explanation - doctrine and application concerning what Christ accomplished 

• Revelation - Consummation - purposes of God in and through Christ consummated 

  

Jesus Christ is the King and God purposes to establish His Kingdom on the earth:

•   OT - The King and His Kingdom promised and prophesied

•   Gospels - The King and His Kingdom presented and rejected

•  Acts - The King and His Kingdom offered and rejected (transition away from kingdom)

•   Pauline Epistles - The King in royal exile, Head of one new spiritual man, Kingdom postponed

•   Hebrew Epistles - The King and His Kingdom once again anticipated

•   Revelation - The King returns and His Kingdom is established 

Revelation is progressive. God gave the scripture over a 1,500 year period and it covers God’s dealings with man for all of human history. In this age there is only one gospel, but in different ages God has given man different messages of good news. How can a holy and righteous God offer ANY good news to unholy and unrighteous sinners? The answer is the “mystery of the gospel” (Eph. 6:19, i.e. secret). The full meaning of what Christ accomplished through His death, burial, and resurrection was purposed and planned by the Godhead before the world began, but was kept secret until Christ from Heaven revealed it through His chosen instrument, the apostle Paul. This demonstrates God’s great wisdom (Col. 1:25-2:3). 

III. Christ is ALL in Salvation (Col. 2:10)

Take Christ out of salvation and there is no salvation available to sinners! We know of God’s power through creation. We know of His truth and wisdom through revelation. We can know His love and grace through salvation! Either your salvation is all of Christ or you are not saved at all. We are saved by grace through faith plus NOTHING (Eph. 2:8-9). There is NOTHING more to it! To add ANYTHING to the finished work of Christ is to pervert the gospel of grace!

The apostle Paul called the message that He received by revelation of Christ the gospel of the grace of God. What is the BASIS for this grace? It is God’s riches at Christ’s expense (preaching of the cross). 

Col. 1:14; 20-22:

A. Redemption – to buy back with a price (sin, death, hell, Satan)

B. Forgiveness – all sins removed from God’s sight (2:13)

C. Peace – were enemies, now members of His body (Rom. 5:1)

D. Reconciliation – made right with God

E. Justification – declared righteous (holy, unblameable, unreproveable) 

How do we receive salvation (Col. 1:4)? How do we live the Christian life (2:6)? By faith we depend fully on Him. 

Christ is all, but is this truth real in our HEARTS?