Roger's Postings

Friday, July 19, 2013


Colossians 1:15-28.         In Christ we have what is all important   21/7/13

15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 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. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 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. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 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.
21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behaviour. 22 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— 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move 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 of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
24 Now I rejoice in what I am 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. 25 I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— 26 the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. 27 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.
28 He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.

 What a special text this is for me to share with you today. Here our attention is brought to that which is the heart and soul of life for us as Christians and also of that which God has called me to share throughout my time in the ministry. Here again our focus is drawn to that which is vitally important for us all. The centre of life is Jesus Christ himself. Without him our ultimate existence is shot to pieces and life is ultimately meaningless.

 Now by-and-large I would say that most of us here agree to this. We are happy to acknowledge that we are Christian and that Jesus is where it is at. But have we really thought it through and do we know what we are saying when we say what we do about Jesus. Sadly it would seem that most of us haven’t really thought through the implications of what we are saying. For most of us our confidence and hope is not what it should be or what we would like. We are not as sure as we could be and our lives are all over the place.

So here let us from this reading consider again who this Jesus really is. What did our reading begin by saying?
 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 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.

 Just think about what that is saying to us. Here in Jesus is God almighty himself; the creator and ruler of all things. This is not somebody that can be messed with. This is not someone we can use and manipulate to our whims and wishes. Can we, miserable, sinful, creatures tell God what he should be and do, rather than the other way around? Is he here for our benefit or are we here for him?  And if he is God almighty shouldn’t we be living in obedience and awe to him; looking up to him as the one in whom life revolves around?

 These are serious questions that we need to come to terms with; for we are living at a time when the prominent thinking is that I am the centre of the universe. I and what I want is what life is all about. I can do or not do what I think is right and good. All too often,  then God becomes a god of our own making, to do and act the way that I want, rather than the other way around.

 What does Paul say here in this reading: 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. He is Lord. In other words, he is boss; he is what is all important, and we need to take him seriously.

 Here remember what God said to humanity: if we don’t take seriously, him and what he has to say to us, we will surely die. So as we look around us at the troubles, heartaches, tragedies and death all around us we surely are reminded that God is true to his word. We cannot treat God lightly and think that we can get away with it. Thankfully, however, that is not the end of the story. Thankfully, when God deemed that it was the right time, he sent his Son, Jesus into our wold to give us a way out of the mess that we make for ourselves.

For God was pleased to have all his 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.

 Thank God that he did not leave us to stew in our own juice, but sent his own Son to be a human being so that he could take our sin on himself and die in our place. By shedding his blood on the cross we can once again live in peace with God. He took the punishment that we deserve, on himself, so that we can be freed from that horrible guilt that hangs over us all because of our disobedience. Now, together with Christ, we can look God in the eye, without fear of rejection and condemnation.  We have been reconciled to God through Jesus’ death on the cross. God can now look at us through what Jesus has done for us and accept us as holy, without blemish and free from accusation.

 In this regard what did Paul go on to say here in this reading?
Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behaviour.  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 from the hope held out in the gospel.

 Now then we can go forward in faith, trusting that Jesus has done what is necessary for us to be forgiven and accepted once again as a child of God. Now we can get back to seeking to live as God intended for us in the first place. Not so that we can now simply live as we please, and then be able to go to heaven when we have made too big a mess of our own lives. But no, so that we can go forward boldly to live as God deems it good for us to do.

 We can now go forward with a sure hope, knowing that we are loved, forgiven and accepted as God’s own dear children. Come what may, now our lives are safe and secure, so now we can seek to live according to what God himself says is good and right for our relationship with him as well as with our fellow human beings.

 Now surely Jesus Christ will be supreme not only in our thinking but also in our lives. We will want him to be Lord of our lives, not just for a couple of hours on a Sunday but all the time in all that we do. When we fail to live as he would have, we will be deeply sorrowful for it and turn again in repentance and a desire to again live as he would have us.

Here today as I reflect back over the last 60 years I do so with humble awe and amazement at who this Jesus and what he has done in my life. Who would have thought some thirty years ago that I would be here today doing what I am doing. I still strongly believe that it was not humanly possible, but God has been true to his Word. All the good that has occurred over these last years can only be attributed to Jesus Christ and his working in and through one who had and still has little to offer.

 God has worked amazing things for the good of his church. He uses ordinary people to do his important work and somehow turns their ordinary work into that which helps and changes people’s lives. All he has called for is, for people to faithfully look to and point others to Jesus Christ and his death on the cross, then the Holy Spirit does the rest. Amazing, humbling, but vital for his ongoing work and supremacy in our fallen and broken world.

 The challenge has and continues to be for me and surely for all of us, is to make known the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Because he is all important we will want not only ourselves but all people to be connected into and live under this one who is so great and so important for our lives and our salvation.

 As we look at our present day society we are now more and more, seeing the results of life gone horribly wrong for so many around us who have failed to take Jesus Christ and what he has done for us seriously.  More and more we are seeing the whole fabric of our lives and our society unravel, and so many lives lived in turmoil and ruin. Yes we are still trying to put a mask over this tragedy and pretend and tell ourselves that it is not really all that bad. However we don’t even have to scratch the surface any more to see that this is the case.

 In light of this, our task and privilege is to focus our own hearts and lives on this Jesus Christ who is all supreme and then be willing to share this wonderful Good News with those around about us. For again all glory and honour belongs and shall surely go to him and the Father and the Holy Spirit. May he and his blessing be with you and go with you always. Amen

 Pastor Roger Atze
Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish

 

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