He is Sovereign Over the Consummation of all Things

This is the First Mustang Pulpit Podcast, a podcast of the weekly preaching and teaching at First Mustang. Thank you for joining us.

That's what we're saying to open our worship service. Look those words up. If you've got an old hymnal, don't use that because the old hymnal does not have all the verses. You need to Google the lyrics to The Church Is One Foundation. I think there's six verses. I think only three are in most of the hymnals that have been printed. Look up the lyrics to The Church Is One Foundation and just walk through them carefully, word by word, phrase by phrase.

Verse by verse. And it will absolutely teach you a biblical Christology. You could take all the songs we have sung this morning, and if you would just walk through them and pray through them, look at those lyrics with the Bible open, Colossians 1, Hebrews 1 that we've already read, you would learn what the Bible teaches about Christ. It's been a great, great morning.

Open with me to Colossians 1. While you're doing that, let me ask you to be praying for my family. This week is a big week for us. This is officially wedding week. Benjamin, my youngest, and Mary get married on Friday.

And I just want to say this. I know a lot of you have little ones that are maybe going off to school for the first time this next year in August or maybe going to middle school and you're thinking, oh my goodness, you know, I can't believe my kids at middle school are going off.

For some of you taking kids at middle school for some of you taking kids at middle school. I want to say this week for some of you taking kids to college for the first time this coming semester. Having kids at home is a wonderful thing. Raising your kids is a wonderful thing.

But it is an amazing blessing when your children marry people who love the Lord. I would not trade—I loved being an everyday dad. I loved my boys being home being little.

I wouldn't trade this season of life for anything. Releasing your kids to go be who God made them to be and watching them marry people that you've prayed for long before you even knew their name is a sweet, sweet time.

So, we're excited about this weekend. We're excited about Friday night. And you'll know we survived it because I plan to be here next Sunday morning. So, hopefully I'm here and we survive the weekend.

And if you would pray for us, we'd appreciate it. We're excited about all the Lord is doing in our family and grateful for how the Lord is blessed. Well, just to kind of orient you, it's holiday weekend.

Some of our people are out of town. Some of you may be new with us that are in town because of the holiday. Let me kind of orient you to what we're doing as a church because we've taken a little bit of a detour the last month or so. We're walking verse by verse through the Gospel of Mark.

And in Mark 8, we've come to the place where Jesus says to those who are listening, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.

And we stop to ask the question, who is Jesus to make such a demand? If I were to ask anyone to deny themselves and follow me at all costs, that would be foolishness.

If anybody else were to ever come up to you and say, you are to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow this individual, that would be folly. So, who is Jesus that he is worthy to make such a claim?

He says, unashamedly, that the greatest thing you can do is be his disciple. And to be his disciple, you've got to be willing to deny yourself, come to the end of yourself.

You've got to take up your cross daily, which is a death sentence to yourself. You've got to be willing to die to yourself every single day and follow him. So, who is Jesus to make such a claim?

And so, we came to that section of Mark 8, and what we've done the last several weeks is gone to Colossians 1, 15 to 20, just to deal with that specific question of who is Jesus?

Who is the biblical Jesus that is able to make such a claim that salvation is found only in his name and no other name? Who is Christ that he would be worthy of you to deny yourself and to follow him?

So, Colossians 1, 15 to 20 has been where we've spent this month. Next week, Lord willing, we're going back to Mark 8. But I just want to purposefully linger here in Colossians 1, because I just want to root your soul in a biblical Christology.

I don't want anyone in our church just assuming we know who Jesus is. I don't want us just to assume that we're clear on why Christ can make such a claim.

I just want to root you in solid foundation of who Jesus Christ is. And so, we've looked the last several weeks here in Colossians 1, 15 to 20, and it breaks down very simply in this passage.

It details the supremacy of Christ over creation, and then over the church, and then over the consummation of all things at the end.

So, what you see is the greatness of Christ, the supremacy of Christ, the superiority of Christ, the sufficiency of Christ over the creation, because he's spoken into existence, over the church, because he's the head of the church, and then at the end of all things, the consummation of all things, his greatness is displayed there.

Beginning, the church, and also at the end. And so, we've been looking here at this amazing passage that just helps us know who Christ is.

We looked last week in verse 18 at his supremacy displayed in his authority over the church that says he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead.

And I want to go back and spend just a moment with this. You'll remember from verse 15, he's the firstborn of all creation. The word here is prototokos. It's an important word.

Prototokos can refer to first chronologically, or it can refer to first as in the highest rank, authority, status.

And the context always helps us to know which is in view. So, in verse 18, when it speaks that he's the head of the church, it says he is the firstborn from the dead.

Now, in which way does the scripture mean? He's firstborn, or prototokos. Are we talking firstborn chronologically, firstborn from the dead, or are we talking firstborn in rank or status, superiority?

Well, we know that Christ is not the first person raised back to life. He himself raised people back to life. You'll remember that Jesus himself goes to Jairus' home, the synagogue ruler, and grabs the hand of his little girl who has died and says, Talitha kum, translated, little lamb, I say to you, arise.

Likewise, we know that Jesus goes to the tomb of Lazarus and speaks, Lazarus, come forth, and he is brought back from the dead. So, in that sense, he's not the firstborn from the dead chronologically, though he is firstborn in term of his superiority.

But, there is a nuance here. Jesus is the firstborn to be brought back from the dead in his glorified body, never to die again.

Jairus' daughter is brought back to life, but not in a glorified body. Precious as that event is, she will one day die again. Lazarus brought back from the dead, but not in a glorified body.

As amazing as that event is in the Gospel of John, he will one day die again. Christ alone. Christ alone is brought back from the dead in his glorified body, the firstfruits of all of us.

In that sense, Christ is the firstborn prototokos. He is first chronologically, first to be raised back to life in a glorified body. And, he is prototokos, firstborn in rank and status, in that he is the preeminent one as well.

And so, what you see in Colossians 1, is just this building up to this crescendo, that Christ is greater than all, over all. He is superior, and he is supreme at creation.

He is supreme over the church. And now we pick up in verse 19, that he is supreme and sufficient in his authority over the consummation of all things.

Verse 19, For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, Christ is worthy of your worship.

Christ is worthy for you to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Him, because He's supreme in creation. Christ is worthy of you to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Him, because He's the head of the church and the one that's the preeminent one, verse 18.

And Christ is worthy of you to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Him, because at the end of all things, He is the one who still rules and reigns for all time.

It says that in Him, the fullness of God was pleased to dwell and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things.

I've got great encouraging news for you, friends, this morning. In the end, all things will be made right. In the end, all things will be brought into alignment.

In the end, all things will be brought to its proper submission. The righteous, the redeemed, will be rewarded in heaven. The unrighteous, those who have rejected the gospel, will be judged.

And even the fallen angels themselves, Revelation 20 says, will be punished. In the end, all things, in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, all things will be brought into alignment, into perfect submission to Christ.

But it's not just the faithful. It's not just the unrepentant. It's not even just the angelic realm that will be made right.

Even creation itself will be restored. Listen to the words of Romans 8. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.

For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in hope, that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption, and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. One day, all things are made right.

And Christ rules and reigns for all time. Everything brought into its proper alignment. Even creation itself is going to be made right.

If you go back to the very beginning in Genesis 3, verse 17, it's the context of the curses and all the things that are changed because of sin. And there's a change to the animal realm.

There's a change to men. There's a change to women. And there's even a change to the earth itself. Genesis 3, verse 17 tells us that the ground is cursed, and that because of that curse, the ground will produce thorns and thistles.

Those thorns that are there in the ground are there as a response to the fall. But one day, even the creation itself will be restored.

We sing about this, usually at Christmastime, by the hymn that Isaac Watts wrote, No more let sin or sorrow grow, nor thorns infest the ground.

He comes to make his glory known far as the curse is found. We sing that song, Joy to the World, at Christmastime. But when you get to heaven, when you meet Isaac Watts, and you tell him, I loved your Christmas song, he won't know what you're talking about.

He didn't write that for Christmas. He wrote that as a response to the psalm, speaking of the second coming of Christ. That when the Lord returns and all things are made right, all things in the end will be brought into its proper alignment, even creation itself.

So if you look at verse 16, for by him all things were created, and you look at verse 20, through him to reconcile himself to all things, what you see is that in the end, everything fits together.

Christ created all, and all things will be in proper submission to him. The fallen angels sinned, and it impacted the spiritual realm.

The curse on the earth because of sin impacts the physical realm. The sin of humanity impacts the human realm. And one day, all things will be made right.

Philippians 2 verse 8 says, Being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father.

One day, every knee will bow. For believers, we bow in joyful, worshipful awareness and recognition of what we've already proclaimed throughout our life, that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Even the unbelievers, this will not be for salvation. At that point, it's too late. But even the unbelievers will recognize and acknowledge and declare that yes, Christ is Lord.

There will be no one for all eternity that is confused about who Jesus Christ is. Every knee, in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, will know and acknowledge the sufficiency of Christ.

all things will be restored. There will be no more rebellion, no more sin, no more curse. All things will be restored.

Now, right now, we don't, we don't see that. Because right now, what we see are people who reject the gospel.

Right now, what we see are people who live out evil intentions of their heart. Right now, what we see is an earth that seems to be falling apart and ripping apart at the seams.

But, it is still Christ who holds all things together. go back to verse 17 we looked at two weeks ago. He is before all things and in him all things hold together.

Whenever you watch the news, you ought to have Colossians 1, 17 on your mind. Whenever you hear what's going on in the world, you ought to have Colossians 1, 17 on the forefront of your thought.

that Christ is upholding all things. And no matter how broken the world may be, Christ still upholds all things.

And he's still worthy of your worship and worthy for you to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow him because he is the one who upholds and sustains all things.

And one day, when everything is brought into its proper place and its proper alignment and its proper submission to him, those who have declared him as Christ and as king on this earth will understand on that day better than you even understand on this day just how worthy of your worship he is.

Hebrews 2, now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him.

But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death.

In the death of Jesus Christ, in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, he shows once for all that he rules and he reigns over every single thing.

That is why when he says, if you want to come after me, deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow me, that's why he can make that claim and that's why it's worth it to follow him no matter the cost because he alone rules over everything.

Verse 20, at the end says he's making peace by the blood of his cross. Through him to reconcile himself to all things and make peace by the blood of his cross.

It's through his work on the cross that he shows his absolute supreme greatness. Now, don't misunderstand Colossians 1 verse 20. You have some cults that arise out of Colossians 1 verse 15 because they don't understand the language and the context and you get all kinds of crazy, aberrant beliefs about who Christ is.

You also get some very dangerous teaching that comes out of Colossians 1 verse 20. Colossians 1 20 is not teaching that in the end everybody goes to heaven.

It's what we would call in theology universalism. That no matter what you do, no matter how you live, that in the end there's not really a hell, there's not really a place of judgment. In the end everybody just goes to heaven.

It's not what Colossians 1 20 is teaching. In context what we see Colossians 1 20 saying is two things. One, that there's a restored relationship for those who are converted and two, there's a pacification, there's a putting down of rebellion for those who are not.

That in the end Christ rules and reigns supreme over all things. And as I mentioned a couple of weeks ago you were made to glorify the Lord and in the end everybody will.

Either by repentance and mercy you glorify His grace or even in your rejection and in your judgment you glorify His wrath.

So in the end those who believe and those who reject all will bring glory to Christ because they will magnify either His mercy or His justice.

But it matters a lot for your life by which way you glorify Jesus. And in the end because of the cross and because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ He has proven that He alone has power over sin and death and the grave.

He proves He is the judge He is the King of kings and He is the Lord of lords and so what you do with Christ has everything to do with your entire eternity.

That's why when Jesus says if you want to come after me deny yourself take up your cross daily and follow me that's why your answer must be yes because He has proven that He alone is the way to salvation and that He alone is the preeminent one over all things.

In the cross Christ defeats His enemy. In the cross believers are cleansed and in the cross we see the power of God over all things.

So look at this text all together. Who is Jesus to call you to follow Him? Here's who He is. He is the image of the invisible God the firstborn of all creation.

For by Him 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.

And 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 the firstborn from the dead that in everything He might be preeminent for in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things whether on earth or in heaven making peace by the blood of His cross.

He is sovereign over creation. He is sovereign over the church and He is sovereign over the consummation of all things.

The one who can create all things uphold all things and bring all things to their appointed end is worthy for you to take up your cross and follow Him.

But just as assuredly as He's worthy of that listen to me friends nothing less than Him should call you in your life to abandon all and pursue it.

Do not sell your life to gain anything of this world. It's not worth it.

And this is the very word of Jesus back in Mark 8 where we just took this little excursion from. Because in Mark 8 the Lord has just said what good is it if you gain the whole world and yet forfeit your soul?

What could you give in exchange for your soul? So you protect your soul and you entrust it only to the one who is strong enough to create sustain and bring to its proper end.

So let me just take the last month here that we've spent in Colossians 1 and give you a few questions to consider as we close next week Lord we'll jump back to Mark 8.

Number one Christ is to be first place in all things so just ask yourself is this true in my life?

Is Christ first place in all things? Is he first place in your marriage? Is he first place in your job?

Is he first place in raising your children? Is he first place in your ministry? Is he first place in your finances?

He is to be the preeminent one over all things. Make sure Christ is first place in every single part of your life.

Second, if every knee is going to eventually bow and recognize his greatness, ask yourself, am I submitting to his rightful place of ruler even now?

Am I submitting to his rightful place of ruler even now? Is there any part of your life that you're trying to hold on to control?

Is there any part of your life that you know what his will is but instead you exert your own will? Is there any part of your life where you've read his word and you know his command and you know what he calls of you but for whatever reason you've decided to hold on to your will and your way?

And then finally, ask yourself, does my life display the joy of Christ?

Does my life display the joy of Christ? If you back up just a little bit in Colossians chapter 1 here in verse 11, it says, may you be strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for all endurance and patience with joy giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

the text tells us that because of our salvation because of Christ because of who he is and because of what we have in him that we ought to have endurance verse 11 we ought to have patience and we ought to have joy.

My friends if this world has robbed you of your joy set your mind on Christ. If this world has beaten you down and robbed you of your hope set your mind on Christ.

Go back home tonight and read Colossians 1 reread Hebrews 1 read John 1 and just flood your mind with the greatness of who Christ is because when you know Christ and you think of his work and you think of his salvation and what he has given to you what he provides for you is patience and joy in verse 12 the ability to give thanks for all he has done friends we should be the most thankful joyful people anywhere not because life is easy but because Christ has won not because our lives are pain free but because Christ has won and the more that you set your mind on the things of

Jesus and the more that you understand what he has accomplished and who he is the less you see things of this world have a hold on you and so when you talk to people and they begin to say things like what a horrible time to be alive or what a terrible time to raise kids or who would want to have kids in a world like this here's who would people who know Jesus Christ that's who because Christ rules over all things and Christ has spoken creation to existence he upholds all things and he brings all things together in the end that's the Christ we serve and so as I've been saying in a lot of conversations recently if the Lord would have wanted you to raise children 50 years ago he would have had you raising children 50 years ago you know he's sovereign over your life you have to understand that if you're off on sovereignty if you're off on

Christology it's going to create all kinds of fear in your life if the Lord wanted you raising children or having grandchildren two generations ago he would have put you there but he put you here and if he put you here it's because it's his design and it's his purpose so how foolish for us to think I mean God can create the world and he can save me and he can keep us secure for all eternity but I really wish I would have just randomly been born two generations ago you weren't randomly born you were knit together in your mother's womb by the hand of God on purpose by design and he has you living now and yes the world is hard but let's not let's not pretend that there's no history here the world's always been a hard place for believers there's a reason why we need to know a little bit of church history because if you think this century in the

U.S. is as bad as it's ever been then we just don't know our history it's never been an easy time to take up your cross and follow Jesus but it's always been the right time to take up your cross and follow Jesus you know what I don't find in my life I don't find people who are in their Bibles consistently who think about Christ who talk about Christ who are in his word who meditate on Christ I don't find people that do that that walk around in despair I don't what I do find are religious people who may still go to church but they fill their mind with the world seven days a week and walk around with no hope what you fill your mind with matters and

I'm just saying to you that if you want to know where according to Colossians 1 verse 11 might patience joy and gratitude where they come from it comes from a mind that meditates on the greatness of Christ and never walks away from it I don't think I need to remind you that the human instrument the Holy Spirit used to write much of our New Testament including this letter to the Colossians is a man who knew what it was to be shipwrecked and beaten and imprisoned his life was not easy he was persecuted and martyred and yet he spoke of victory and joy and hope why because he never recovered from his encounter with

Christ he never got over it he never moved beyond it and my brothers and sisters this morning I want to say to you joy and hope and victory and gratitude exist for those who never get over meeting Christ in the Old Testament the prophet Isaiah said the same thing he just said it this way he said you will keep in perfect peace he whose mind is steadfast because he trusts in you in the New Testament the purpose and the plan of

God is revealed to us in the person of Jesus Christ the preeminent one who is over all things so when he says to you in his word if you want to come after me deny yourself take up your cross and follow him and you wonder is it worth it here's why the answer is yes he is sovereign over creation he is the lord of the church and he will bring all things into submission under his feet let me end where we started three weeks ago do not be wrong on jesus lord thank you today for your word and pray that your spirit would accompany it with power and we would be able to believe and understand and obey we ask it in jesus name amen if there is a way that we can serve you help you or pray for any way guests or member would you please use that connection card complete that drop it in one of the giving boxes on the way out let us this weekend be mindful of men and women who have given their life for our freedom one of

God's good gifts to us is the privilege of living in a nation for worship a privilege given to us by the hand of God and secured by the lives of faithful men and women let us be thankful and grateful for that