The God Worth Celebrating Part 2

Part 2: Colossians 1:19-29

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 behavior. [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, not moved 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 was suffered 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 saints. [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] We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. [29] To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.

Last week I talked to you on the subject "The God Worth Celebrating". This was in continuation of our series from the book of Colossians. If you are joining us for the first time and you want to catch up on this series, I advise you to get the tapes on our Colossians series. We have talked on "The Church Worth Celebrating". We have also talked on "A life Worth Celebrating", as well as, "The God Worth Celebrating Part 1". Now we want to talk on the part 2 of "The God Worth Celebrating." In the part one of this topic, we looked at Colossians 1:15-19 and we discovered some of the truths that make our Lord Jesus Christ the only GOD worth celebrating. Actually, we looked at one side of the truth. We looked at His deity. We discovered that Jesus Christ is worth celebrating because

He is God V. 15. He is not one of many gods, but He is God. The image of the invisible God.
He is the designer of all things. V. 16 says "For by Him all things were created...All things were created through Him and for Him." Because All things were created by Christ and for Christ, we do not to worry about what others may say about us and we do not have to worry trying to be somebody else. We were made by Christ and for Christ.
He is the sustainer of all things. He is the one who holds all things together.
He is the head of the church. Because of this fact He should have preeminence in our lives
All God's fullness dwells in Him.

Today I want to pick it up from there. Let us read from verses 19-23 of Colossians chapter one. "... and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross." V. 20 I read this verse again to show you what Christ did and why. Many times I have read that verse and yet I do not understand what it means. However, I believe that God showed me what this verse means. Anyway, let me say to you that our Jesus Christ is worth celebrating because:

1. He restores order into chaotic and disorderly situation. I know that many of us have asked why God has not destroyed evil in the world? I am here to tell you that this verse of Colossians is giving us a glimpse into the agenda of God the Father through God the Son. You see when Adam and Eve fell in the Garden; chaos was brought upon the earth. Mankind was thrown into chaos and the whole creation was thrown into disarray. But Jesus Christ through the shedding of His blood on the cross has brought order and peace into the chaotic situation. When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden the whole creation was subject to curse and when Christ died on the cross, the whole creation is also subject to freedom that the blood of Christ purchased for mankind. Romans 8:19-22 "For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits 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; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now." We have all asked the questions; Why do the good suffer? Why do bad things happen to good people? Why does injustice reign at times? Why are innocent children raped, tortured, and killed, or Why were thousands of people died in Africa? Etc. You see God is unfolding His agenda. He is saying that a day is coming when Jesus Christ will put an end to all that atrocities. A day is coming when every hurt will be resolved when every tears will be wiped away, every pain will be relieved. A day is coming when the hostility of evil against righteousness will be brought to a sudden halt. Evil men and angel will find themselves unable to function in their enmity against God. They will be subdued, and will cease their rebellion. At last the whole universe will live in peace and harmony with one another. The great thing about this fact is that it is through the blood of His cross that He brings order. Therefore, I need not to worry about the situation that confronts me today no matter how chaotic it may seem I know that Christ is the Lord that brings order to chaotic situation and He will bring order to my situation. You see the word reconcile means among other things to restore to ideal or to bring back to reality. When the Lord created you and I, we were perfect. It is His goal to bring us back to the place of reality. The place of reality is the place of his perfection. Any other place is deception.
2. He restores me back to Eden. V.21-23 "And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight.." Jesus Christ is worth celebrating because through Him I regain Eden. What do I mean by that? You see I am made to function in Eden. If a fish is taken out of water the fish will die because water is the natural enviroment, which fishes could live. When God made man He puts man in Eden. When man was in Eden he was not malfunctioning. He was functioning according to the manufacturer's intent and design. However, when man sinned and was driven out of Eden, then he started to malfunction. The only solution is to bring man back to Eden. (Man's natural environment). The question then is, what is our Eden today? The word Eden means "delight" It then means, for me to function properly as designed by God I must come back to the place where God delights in me. Since I cannot come to that place on my own, Christ shed His blood for me and paid for me to be brought back to the place where I can live a delightful life again. A place where God is delighted in me. He brings me back to Eden, the place of delight. Now that He brings me back to Eden the place of delight, I am blameless and above reproach in His sight. How many of you believe that Christ is worth celebrating for restoring us back to Eden where we can freely without fear enter into God's presence. Hebrew 10:19-22 says "Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Are you ready to enter His presence with boldness this morning? Now let us consider what happens to man when he/she is restored to Eden as described by this passage.

a) There is a total change of outlook towards God. The continuous alienation from God has distorted our outlook on God. We've always thought we don't need God. We started each day and ended it without God. We did not want to have anything to do with Him. Paul describes our minds as "enemies toward God and hostile to Him" Did you remember how you felt? You avoided God because you thought He would interfere with your plans; He will not let you enjoy life. Because you were enemy of God you became enemy of God's people. You behaved in many evil ways. You carry your hurts around for many years and you specialize in hurting other people since you did not have the peace of God in you. You were very difficult to deal with and many people just tolerate you. But now, Paul says, "We are reconciled to God." Something has happened within us. It occurred when we saw that the death of Jesus was for us, that somehow he had done something to set aside our estrangement, our brokenness and hurt, and that if we came to Him in faith He would deliver us. So we came. Something happened then to our inner attitude. We were changed in the way we thought. We no longer saw God as an enemy and a Judge, but as a loving Father. The cross was no longer a symbol of failure but a symbol of victory for us. Thus our whole life was changed. We have been restored to Eden! We become a delight to be with.! b) There is a hunger to make God known. V. 24 "I now rejoice in my sufferings for you..." Because your outlook on God has changed, you have no problem rejoicing in suffering when you are living for Christ. There is a hunger in you that want to make God known to all men, which no persecution and suffering can kill. As one who preaches the Gospel, you now see yourself as servant. You count it a delight to be used of God. You understand that serving God involves much pain and sacrifice. There is a hunger to make God known in your life that you are willing to sacrifice your body from lusts, from sexual immorality, from drunkenness, from deceptions of the world around us, from lies etc. You are willing to sacrifice your food and your pleasures in order for Christ to be made known. You are willing to sacrifice you finances to see that Christ is preached all over the world. Because you know that "Christ in you, is the hope of glory." V.27. Christ in you is the place of Eden it is the place where God delights in you. Without Christ in you, you cannot reside again in Eden. You will still be searching for answers to life. You will still be trying to find out why you are malfunctioning. But now that Christ is in you, you have found the destiny planned for you as God's children. You can now function as originally planned and designed by God. You are now blameless before God and these are why our Jesus Christ is the ONLY God worth celebrating. Therefore let us celebrate Jesus now!.

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