Monday, September 10, 2018

2018.09.10 Hopewell @Home ▫ Colossians 1:13-22

Questions for Littles: From what has God conveyed us (v13)? Into whose kingdom has God conveyed us? What do we have in Him (v14)? Through what? What is this redemption? Of what is Jesus the image (v15)? Over what is He the firstborn? What was created by Him (v16)? Where? Especially which ones? What is Jesus before (v17)? What do all things do “in Him”? Over what is He the head (v18)? Who is the beginning? From among whom is He the Firstborn? Why? In whom did it please God to make all of His fullness dwell (v19)? What did God decide to reconcile to Himself in Christ (v20)? Through what did Jesus make peace? How were we alienated and enemies (v21)? What has happened to us now? In what condition does He plan to present us (v22)? 
From the Scripture for this week’s sermon, we were introduced to the whole of Scripture by the words, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Then, in Colossians 1, we read that all things were created by Christ. All things were created through Christ. All things were created for Christ.

The One who has qualified us for our inheritance is Himself the heir over all creation—the firstborn over all creation. The One who shed His blood to redeem us—who shed His blood for the forgiveness of our sins—is the One who created us, who created blood, and against Whom we had sinned.

The marvelous thing is that God chose to give His Son the first place over all things precisely by making peace for us through the blood of His cross.

We were God’s enemies—committing wicked works. Man brought the entire creation under curse. And God’s response? To reconcile all things to Himself through the blood of Christ’s cross—all believers from all ages, and even the very earth that had been cursed because of us.

Taking all of these things together, in this passage, we learn something extraordinary. Salvation is not some plan B because things had gone unexpectedly.

Creating us, knowing what we would choose and do, was plan A. Because saving us at the cost of Himself was plan A. He put His glory on display in the creation—in part, to die for our despising of it… because the ultimate display of His glory was to come as our Redeemer!
Have you given yourself up to the Creator who died to redeem sinners?
Suggested Songs: ARP130 “Lord, From the Depths to You I Cried” or TPH431 “And Can It Be”

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