Slave or Free
Colossians 2:9-15
4 Questions to Determine If You are a Captive
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Sermon Introduction:
In the 1740’s the slave industry was thriving. A slave trader, sea captain, or ship owner could amass a fortune in his business. This attracted a young man by the name of John Newton, who at the time was a crewman on a naval ship. In 1745 a slave trader paid off a naval captain to let young Newton work for him. As Newton’s biographer says at this point, “Newton was brimming with so much confidence in his new employer that he had not doubts about his good faith. In that spirit of hope mingled with greed Newton traveled with [his new employer] to the Plantane Islands just off the coast of Sierra Leone. His career as a slave trader had begun.
However, through a miserable turn of events by his 21st birthday in 1746 Newton who had hoped to become a wealthy slave trader had now himself become a slave. He was enslaved by the very employer that promised him wealth and luxury. He was promised splendor and the freedoms of financial security but in reality he wound up a slave.
I share that story because it is often our story. We may not have physical chains but we often are taken captive. This is Paul’s warning to the church at Colossae in Colossians 2:8. See to it that “no one takes you captive”; his words echo what happened to a young John Newton. This is exactly what the false teachers in Colossae where doing. Promising fullness and in reality enslaving the people. Look at what Paul calls it; “empty deceit”.
Their teaching is according to “human tradition and elemental spirits” and not “according to Christ”. We could go into quite a bit of detail about what this teaching is and we could get really specific and try to draw some similarities with our own day. Some of the superstitions, the weird belief systems, the continual preaching of tolerance as the greatest virtue, and on and on we could go. Yet, it is summed up the best by seeing what it is not in accordance with—Christ. Therefore, it is any teaching that does not line up with Christ and what Scripture says about who Christ is. As one commentator put it, “the basic principles of the world” cover all the things in which humans place trust apart from the living God revealed in Christ; they become gods, and humans become their slaves.
The truth is that anything but Christ is going to lead you enslaved. Sin enslaves. Jesus sets free. There are four evidences, or reasons, that Paul gives to encourage the Colossians not to be tricked into slavery. These are four things that Christ has done in the lives of believers. Therefore, what Paul is saying here extends far beyond the Colossian church.
The question for us tonight is whether or not we are enslaved or if the benefits of Christ have been purchased for us. You are either free tonight or you are enslaved. I pray that these four questions may help you to determine the truth.
Question 1: Are you enslaved to deceit or are you made complete?
Paul begins by reminding the Colossians of who Christ is. Contrast verse 9 with the heresy that was running wild in Colossae. We really have a difficult time discerning precisely what this heresy is; but one thing that many believe is that the false teachers were throwing around the word “fullness” quite a bit. In ancient Greece (where Colossae was) they believed in, and often feared, the pleroma. The pleroma was the totality of divine powers. It was all the spirit beings that the Colossians would have probably feared—or at least had a great deal of respect for. This was, more than likely, part of their philosophy that was according to the elementary spirits of the world. But remember what Paul used in verse 8 to describe this teaching? Empty--the exact opposite of fullness. Now notice what word Paul uses in verse 9. In Him, that is Christ, the whole “fullness” (the Greek word pleroo, which is where pleroma came from) abides permanently. And so that we can see the beautiful picture of who the unique Jesus Christ is, 100% God and 100% man, Paul adds the word bodily. He is fully God in the flesh.
What then is Paul saying? He is looking at all of the false gods and angels that are controlling the Colossians lives and the false teachers are teaching whole doctrines based on this pleroma. Then Paul says, in Christ the entire pleroma of deity dwells. Meaning Jesus Christ is fully God. Why then are you worshipping all of these inferior things? Why give your life to something that is not the ultimate. This is a similar argument to what Paul was giving in Colossians 1:27 and 2:2-4. If Christ is the storehouse of all treasures and pleasure then why bother going somewhere else?
Now, Paul extends this thought even further. He says that in Christ we have been made complete. The Colossians were being tempted to look in other places for their Christian growth and even for their salvation. Paul is saying that because of their union with Christ (the fullness) they are made full. In other words you do not need to do all of these things that the false teachers are telling you to do. It will add nothing to your Christian growth and it will add nothing to your salvation.
Why go through other mediators? Why would you pray to an angel or a departed saint when you have direct access to the Father through Jesus? Why would you trust in anything but Jesus for salvation? Why would you trust in your baptism? Why would you trust in your church for your salvation?
“A Christian, therefore, knows that if he were to die tonight and stand before God, and if God were to say, ‘Why should I let you into my presence?’ the Christian would say, ‘You shouldn’t let me in. I have sinned and owe you a debt that I cannot pay back.’ But he wouldn’t stop there. He would continue, ‘Yet, because of your great promises and mercy, I depend on the blood of Jesus Christ shed as a substitute for me, paying my moral debt, satisfying your holy and righteous requirements, and removing your wrath against sin”.
Trusting in anything other than Christ for your growth or salvation is nothing more than empty deceit, and it will leave you enslaved to that.
Question 2: Are you enslaved to depravity or has your sin nature been stripped?
Verse 11 and 12 are very difficult verses to understand. It talks about a few things that are very foreign to our culture. There are words and concepts that have very little meaning to us today. We probably know what the word circumcision means at least biologically? But what significance does the word circumcision have? What is this body of flesh that is referred to? I will try to do this in as non-graphic as I can.
Circumcision literally means to cut off around something. Typically circumcision is a removal of the foreskin of the penis. In the Old Testament God commanded that every Israelite male be circumcised as a sign of His covenant [agreement] with them. It was to serve as a graphic symbol to the Israelite of sin. As pastor John MacArthur suggests: "God selected the reproductive organ as the location of the symbol for man’s need of cleansing for sin, because it is the instrument most indicative of his depravity, since by it he reproduces generations of sinners.”
Circumcision then was to symbolize a putting off of sin. It is a physical way of showing what is to take place inwardly. As God said to the Israelites in Dt. 30:6, “And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live”.
Now lets take that understanding into Colossians 2. “In him (that is Jesus) also you were circumcised (so we know that somehow in Jesus our sinfulness has been dealt with)…and now notice this, “with a circumcision made without hands”. What does that mean? It means that God fulfilled his promise in Dt. 30:6. Circumcision is something that is done with physical hands. It is something that we can do. The type of circumcision here is something that God does. It is not man-made or done by man, it is done by God.
Now we are ready for the how he does it; as it says in verse 11, “by putting off the body of the flesh”. Remember what circumcision means in the physical sense? A cutting off of the flesh. Now what does it mean in a spiritual sense—“done without hands”? A putting off of the flesh. What does “flesh” mean in the spiritual sense? When you see the word flesh in Scripture most often it refers to self-righteous humanity apart from God. It refers to the drive that man has that is opposed to God. Romans chapter 3 is an accurate description of the flesh; read Romans 3:10-20.
But what has Christ done? Whatever this “circumcision of Christ” is a reference to we know that the effect is that it has stripped away this sinful nature. So, that as a believer that is united to Jesus Christ we do not still have the same wicked heart. We do seek God. We are given understanding. We have not turned aside. Our throat is not an open grave. We know the way of peace. We do fear God. All of these negative statements are turned upside down. Our nature is completely and totally changed.
This is what we see in Paul’s next phrase in verse 12, that we have been buried with him in baptism. More than likely this is not talking about the actual act of baptism. This is—like the circumcision—that which is done without hands. It is speaking symbolically here; saying that somehow when we are linked to Christ we are also linked to his death. So that when Christ died it did something to our fleshly nature and it too died.
How then do you know the answer to our question? Or another way to ask that is to say is Romans 3 still true in your life? Are you enslaved to the depravity of Romans 3 or has your sinful nature been stripped?
Well what are your desires like? Do you desire and seek after God? Do you want to be pleasing to Him no matter the cost? Do you long for Christ? Is your worship passionate or is it dead and formal? A good question here is not, “do you sin”; it is what happens when you sin? Are you broken by it? Is your heart pained because of the potential for broken fellowship with Jesus? Is your love for Christ so great that it hurts you when you fall into sin? Or do you treat sin lightly? Is it, “really no big deal everybody does it”? Do you try to fix it yourself? Or do you run to Christ with it? What happens when you mess up? Do you even consider that you have messed up? Is there even a conviction for sin?
In the life of a believer sin will be foreign. It will go against your new nature. It is incompatible with your new life. It will burden you, and it will pain you. If you are enslaved to depravity then you will not think about sin. It will come to you as second nature. Even if you try to “be a better person” you will have very few victories. And even if you do have “victory” it will not be done in thankfulness to Christ and in dependence upon Christ.
Oh, do not hear this and “try harder”. Do not hear this plea and run to yourself. Run to Christ in the midst of your sin and depravity. If he does not change your heart it will not be changed. You cannot change it. This must be a work of Christ.
Question 3: Are you enslaved to death or have you been given new life?
It would be one thing for Christ to strip our old nature from us. It is quite another for him to raise us to new life. Imagine with me for a moment that a soldier is gravely wounded in battle. His clothes are filthy with his own blood. The site of him at this moment would be deplorable for his family members to see. It would be a deep grace for someone to remove his filthy clothes. Yet it would be an even bigger grace for someone to put new clothes on him. This is similar to what we see God doing here in this text.
He is removing the filth of our sin—but not only filth but the source from which it flowed. He is changing our very heart. This is where our metaphor breaks down. Because what God has done is so much more significant than simply changing a dead mans clothes. This is taking a dead man and bringing him to life; a God hating dead man that God Himself rises to life.
This is the second half of what we see in verse 12. Not only were you buried with Christ but you were also raised with him. Baptism is a symbol of that. Baptism has no saving power of its own. Baptism is a symbol—a very special, gospel preaching—symbol, but it is a symbol nonetheless. Baptism is a wonderful picture of what God has done. First of all we died to our old selves. He put off our sinful nature by the circumcision of Christ, and by grace through faith we are given a new life.
I am not sure—actually I am certain—that we do not fully know what it means for us to be new creatures. Do you really believe that you have been brought from death to life? This is not almost dead. This is totally dead. And this is not even comparable to a man that has died and gets a new lease on life because someone administered CPR. I say it is not comparable because that man was raised from death to life only to die again. This that we are talking about is eternal life.
This is being introduced to Psalm 16:11. “You make know to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Now, what if this verse is true? Of course I believe it is. But lets set our hope on this and do a little dreaming. “Fullness of joy”, that to me is mind-blowing, pee-your pants, I can hardly contain this I am so overflowing with joy right now times infinity type of joy. It is holding your wife’s hand for the first time multiplied by a million. It is the exuberance of seeing someone come to Christ multiplied to the tenth power. The greatest joy that you could fathom right now, pails in comparison to this joy expressed here. Now “pleasures forevermore” that means that they are forevermore. Unending. Never going to stop. Now, lets match this up to John 17:3, “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” So, what is eternal life? What is this life that we are raised to? It is knowing the God in whose presence is fullness of joy. It is being at his right hand where there are pleasures forevermore.
This thought is not original with me, but imagine with me for a moment the most mind blowing joy that you possibly can imagine. Let me give you a picture of heaven. If what you are imagining right now is something other than God then you are way off. Now, lets pretend that there are days in heaven. Day one you drink from the fountain of this fullness of joy. Your mind is blown with how much joy there is. It is stretched to its capacity. You cannot contain the joy it is so full. Wow, this is amazing. The next day God increases your capacity for enjoyment. And then fills it up. You have more joy today than you had yesterday. Yet, somehow both days were full. Every day is like this. Stretching and filling with more of God Himself. He is inexhaustible in His glory and our enjoyment of Him. This is life. And when does this begin? This begins once we know Jesus Christ. This is what is being referenced here in verse 13, that God made alive together with him”. What does that mean? It means that you have been given new life—eternal life.
And you tell me that believers are missing out on life? I love what the Puritan John Flavel said, “All of the delights in the sensual life are but as the putrid waters of a corrupt pond where toads lie croaking and spawning, compared to the crystal streams of the most pure and pleasant fountain”. Life is found in Jesus. As Flavel would later point out Scripture says that those not in Christ are dead. “Some think it a rare life to live in sensual pleasures, while Scripture will not allow so much as the name of life to them, but tells us they are dead while they live.”
What about you? Do you have life?
Question #4: Are you enslaved to debt or has your debt been conquered?
Verses 13-15 are some of my favorite verses in Scripture. It shows what stands in between us and God and how that is conquered. First let’s look at what stands between us and God. We can lump all of the first three points into one—you are enslaved to deceit, depravity, and death. That can really all be summed up by saying that you are dead spiritually. You do not desire Christ, your heart is deceitful above all things, and you will never come to treasure Christ. Because of our wicked heart we are sinful. We sin against a holy God. And sinning against a holy God is never wise. He created us. He created us to be holy. We have rebelled. He has every right to wipe us out the second that we sin. Because we stand guilty before him, and because of this two other things stand against us and Paul discusses them in verse 14 and 15. First the “record of debt” stands against us.
What is that record of debt? It is the Law of God. It is Law that is revealed by God in the Old Testament. We could tone it down by going through the 10 Commandments or we could even simplify it the way Jesus did. “Love God perfectly and love others completely”. We can see clearly by going through the 10 Commandments that we do not have righteousness. We have failed. We have transgressed against the Law. And every sin is written down. God knows everything that you have ever done and he has written it in heaven. And each sin is enough to throw you into hell apart from the goodness of God for all of eternity.
As Galatians 3:10 says, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them, now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law…” Let’s take just a moment to focus on this. Think of something that you have done wrong. It can be the biggest thing and it can be the smallest thing. It would probably be better for your sake if you can think of the biggest thing…that big ugly stinky sin; the one that if God can forgive, then He can forgive anything. If you cannot come up with one then put your pride or your offensiveness to God for not even being concerned enough about holiness to think about your sin. That sin is enough to separate you from God and all that is good forever; that mind-blowing joy and life that we spoke of earlier, forget about that. Joy and Pleasure is found in God. You will not know the joy and pleasure of God separated from His goodness. You will only know His wrath and His anger and this too for all eternity. This because of that sin. This because of your entire list of sin and because of your offensiveness to a holy God.
Now, that is not the only thing that stands between you and God. It is also these rulers and authorities that are mentioned. More than likely this is talking about demonic forces. Probably the ones that the Colossians were afraid of and trying to please to get to go away. But the chief is Satan. Satan as it says in 2 Corinthians 4 is in the business of blinding the mind of unbelievers so that they cannot see the beauty of Christ. That means that if you do not treasure Christ one of the reasons is because Satan is blinding you. He is using your depravity and death to spiritual things and blinding you from seeing the beauty of Christ. Therefore, you continue in sin and continue to not treasure Christ. You are cool with your depravity. You believe not a word I am saying and continue on in sin. This you will take lightly and perhaps forget.
Now how will they be conquered? How are any of us saved? By the work of Jesus Christ. Look at what he has done here in this text. He has “forgiven us all our trespasses”, he has “cancelled the record of debt”, he “set it aside nailing it to the cross”, and he disarmed the rulers and authorities, and shamed them.
It seems like I have quoted Martin Luther numerous times in the last few months, but here is yet another story that helps illuminate the beauty of the gospel. Luther often envisioned himself battling with Satan. In one particular battle, Satan was reminding Luther of all his sins. Luther asked Satan to bring out the scrolls and show him all of his sins. Satan brings out a scroll, very long. After laboring for a long time, they finally completed the scroll, sin after sin after sin. You can imagine some of the sins on there: lust, anger, pride, rebellion, gluttony, murderous thoughts, not treasuring God and many of these multiple times over. Certainly, Luther could have been replaying in his mind those sins. Some may have even caught him off guard. As they came to the last sin on the scroll, Luther looked at Satan and said, “Is that all?” Satan, surprised by this, goes in the back room and brings out another very long scroll. They go through the same process; Sin upon sin, upon sin. Treacherous sins. Vile sins. Secret sins that nobody even knew but Luther. All are exposed before him. He certainly would have felt the pain of many of them. But he stood and took every one of them. Finally, again after a long time had passed they arrive at the bottom. Again, Luther asks, “Is that all”? Satan, quite shocked by this question again, goes into the back room and brings out another very long scroll. They continue the labor, sin after sin. Each an offense. Each requiring the death penalty. Each enough to separate Martin from God for eternity. Even the smallest offense enough to bring about the full wrath of God. Finally, after a long time passes, they get to the last one on the scroll. Luther, to Satan’s frustration, but perhaps with exhausted glee, asks “Is that all?” This time, Satan trying to hide the wry smile from his face, says, “Yes, Martin, that is everything”. Now, Luther tells Satan to grab ink and a pen. Now, Satan, write upon every one of those, “The blood of Jesus Christ his Son covers all sin”.
Can you claim what Luther did?
Are you united to Christ or are you not. I close again with Mark Dever’s quote.
“A Christian, therefore, knows that if he were to die tonight and stand before God, and if God were to say, ‘Why should I let you into my presence?’ the Christian would say, ‘You shouldn’t let me in. I have sinned and owe you a debt that I cannot pay back.’ But he wouldn’t stop there. He would continue, ‘Yet, because of your great promises and mercy, I depend on the blood of Jesus Christ shed as a substitute for me, paying my moral debt, satisfying your holy and righteous requirements, and removing your wrath against sin”.
Are you united to Christ, do you trust the promises?
Showing posts with label Jesus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jesus. Show all posts
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Friday, February 22, 2008
Jesus Christ, The All-Sufficient Treasure
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” Or, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”
What could be so precious and valuable that a man would sell everything to buy a field, and so have the treasure buried therein? What could be such a marvelous pearl that an intelligent merchant would sell everything just to buy it? Certainly, we know that this treasure is Jesus Christ. We know that this is a reflection of the gospel. But why is Jesus so precious? What makes Jesus such a sufficient treasure? You do not sell everything and risk homelessness unless you see this pearl as more valuable than anything else you currently have or will ever attain. What about Jesus is so valuable? We say that the Gospel must be enjoyed, and by that we certainly mean that the Christ revealed in this Gospel is to be enjoyed; but, why? Why is Jesus so precious?
Tonight is going to be very difficult for me to preach. It is as if I am holding the most beautiful and costly diamond and I have only a short amount of time to show you all of its intricacies and beauty and splendor. Not only that, but I cannot fathom all of the beauty in the diamond which I am holding. Nevertheless we will attempt to do this.
We could easily spend hours discussing all of the various qualities of Jesus. We could discuss his perfect humanity, we could discuss the fact that He is God—which would lead to a discussion of all of His attributes, we could talk about his mercy, his love, his justice, all of these things. But tonight I want us to focus on one facet of this beautiful diamond; the benefits that come to us through the work of Christ. What has Jesus accomplished for us?
So, if you want to picture this; everything we discuss tonight will be under this big heading of Substitution. Then we will discuss 5 different benefits of substitution. All of these are so intertwined and it is difficult to separate each one, but we can make distinctions in each of these.
Tonight we will look at Jesus Our Righteousness, Our Redeemer, Our Reconciler, Our Reward, and Our Ruler.
Throughout this message we will be using a particular phrase--the work of Christ. What does that mean? When we use that term we are pointing to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Specifically we are referring to Christ work of substitution. He took the punishment of our unrighteousness and gave to us His righteousness. It is known as the great exchange. If this has happened in your life this is the reason you are saved, the work of Christ. It is the ground for every one of these benefits. The first of which is:
Jesus Christ, Our Righteousness, has fulfilled the Law
The first place for us to turn is Romans 8:1-4. As you are turning there you must know the background. There are 7 chapters before this that builds the foundation for this beautiful verse. Paul has labored to show that man is not righteous before God. There is none righteous, no not one. Paul has beautifully shown that both Jew and Gentile stand guilty before God, as he says in 3:19, “Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world be held accountable to God.” Paul has then masterfully shown that our righteousness comes through faith in Jesus Christ. But this leads to a very important question. What do we make of the Law? Are the Old Testament and the Law of Moses (like the 10 Commandments) meaningless? In Chapter 7, Paul is showing that those that believe in Jesus Christ are released from the Law. Jesus has fulfilled it. The Law was only there to display our sin; the Law (as we learn in Galatians) was there to point us to our deliverer. The Law, as good and holy as it was could never save, it could only expose sin and provide condemnation. It is at this point, after Paul cries out, “who will deliver me from this body of death”, that we find ourselves in chapter 8, verse 1.
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit”. What does all of that mean? It means that, though I was under the curse of the Law, Jesus Christ took my place. He did what the Law could not do—save me. He did what the Law was powerless to do—produce righteousness in hopelessly depraved sinners.
Oh, do you see the beauty in this verse? Do you see what Jesus Christ has done for you? The Law was pointing a sentencing finger of death over you. You stood under the curse of the Law. We all stood condemned before the Law; without hope of any of the blessings of God. But God made him who knew no sin, to become sin on our behalf.
It seems like I have quoted Martin Luther numerous times in the last few months, but here is yet another story the helps illuminate the beauty of the gospel. Luther often envisioned himself battling with Satan. In one particular battle, Satan was reminding Luther of all his sins. Luther asked Satan to bring out the scrolls and show him all of his sins. Satan brings out a scroll, very long. After laboring for a long time, they finally completed the scroll, sin after sin after sin. You can imagine some of the sins on there: lust, anger, pride, rebellion, gluttony, murderous thoughts, not treasuring God and many of these multiple times over. Certainly, Luther could have been replaying in his mind those sins. Some may have even caught him off guard. As they came to the last sin on the scroll, Luther looked at Satan and said, “Is that all?” Satan, surprised by this, goes in the back room and brings out another very long scroll. They go through the same process; Sin upon sin, upon sin. Treacherous sins. Vile sins. Secret sins that nobody even knew but Luther. All are exposed before him. He certainly would have felt the pain of many of them. But he stood and took every one of them. Finally, again after a long time had passed they arrive at the bottom. Again, Luther asks, “Is that all”? Satan, quite shocked by this question again, goes into the back room and brings out another very long scroll. They continue the labor, sin after sin. Each an offense. Each requiring the death penalty. Each enough to separate Martin from God for eternity. Even the smallest offense enough to bring about the full wrath of God. Finally, after a long time passes, they get to the last one on the scroll. Luther, to Satan’s frustration, but perhaps with exhausted glee, asks “Is that all?” This time, Satan trying to hide the wry smile from his face, says, “Yes, Martin, that is everything”. Now, Luther tells Satan to grab ink and a pen. Now, Satan, write upon every one of those, “The blood of Jesus Christ his Son covers all sin”.
Luther could have easily told Satan to write Romans 8:1. There is no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus. Only those of you that have spent time staring at these scrolls will feel the sweetness of this verse. Only those that feel even an ounce of the weight of even one of these sins will treasure the great that there is now no condemnation.
We could use many words in this section to describe the benefits of Christ. Clean. Freedom. Though our sins are as scarlet, they are now white as snow. Holy. Pure. Blameless. Forgiven. Right with God. This alone would be enough to encompass our eternal worship. Yet this is not the only benefit that Christ has purchased. There are yet four more we will cover tonight. The second of which is:
Jesus Christ, Our Redeemer, has delivered us from the bondage of sin
The second place for us to look tonight is Ephesians 2. At the beginning of Ephesians 2 we see a very bleak outlook. We are dead in our trespasses and sins. I am not sure that we really understand what this is saying. Earlier we read the words of Jesus, “You must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect”. God’s standard is absolutely high. We must be perfect in all that we do. We must be perfectly righteous. Everyone in here probably knows that they are not 100% righteous. But I am not certain that you understand what this text is saying. This text is saying that not only were you not 100% righteous you weren’t even 1%. Furthermore you were so dead in your sin that you could not even muster up 1%. The biblical picture is that no man on his own initiative will ever seek God. Even if God is mercifully offering forgiveness, without God first doing a work in our heart we will not even come to Him for this mercy. We are dead in our sin.
This is a reference to human inability. We are so in love with our sin that we will not come to Jesus. There is not a soul in here, saved or not saved, that woke up one morning of his own initiative and said, I think I want to love Jesus now. No, we love Him because He first loved us. Or to use the words of Paul here in Ephesians 2, “we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” The Puritan, John Flavel, has a rather striking comment to say about this. “The blood that runs in our veins is as much tainted as theirs in hell”. We, like every soul in hell today, at one time were in bondage to sin. We loved sin. We treasured it. We refused to come to the light. This is our state without the work of God.
But listen to verse 4. But God…oh, what wonderful words…But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved…” What does this mean that God has made us alive together with Christ? It means that just as the power of God raised Jesus from the grave, so the power of God raises us from our state of death. Meaning we are no longer in bondage to sin.
Listen to what Paul says in Romans 7:24-25. “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” The body of death that Paul was talking about was the slave body; the one that is a slave to sin. But thanks be to God, he has made us alive with Jesus Christ.
To really catch what is taking place here we must take our minds back to the prophet Hosea. Remember in Chapter 3 when God urges Hosea to buy back his harlot wife. The idea of “buying back” is the concept of redemption. This is what God is now doing with us. We are in bondage to our sin. We have prostituted ourselves. We have run away and rebelled from our Creator. And now, we, like Gomer, and the people of Israel she symbolized, are empty, alone, and hopeless.
Yet listen to the amazing love of God. “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. And there I will give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.” At this point we see that God speaks of a covenant that He will establish. This is how he will buy back his wife, this is how he will betroth her to Himself forever; it is through the Redemption that Jesus Christ has secured.
What does this mean for you? It means that if you are in Jesus Christ then you are free from the bondage of sin. That means you do not have to sin any longer. You choose to sin. It’s almost like you have to work to sin. You have to make it intentional. You have been freed from its treachery. Because of the work of Christ you now have the ability to see and savor Jesus Christ. What a wonderful blessing. These two would be enough to secure our happiness for all eternity. But they are only faint reckonings of two aspects of this precious diamond. We still have three more.
Jesus Christ, Our Reconciler, has brought us back into fellowship with God
For this point we will be looking at Romans 5:10-11, 2 Corinthians 5:18-21, and Colossians 1:21. There is an assumption behind this. That man is not currently in a state of fellowship with God. Mankind, apart from Jesus, are not in a right relationship with God. We have offended God. We have set up obstacles to our relationship with God. He cannot dwell among sin. His holy wrath and anger must be poured out upon sin, and the sinners that it encompasses. Therefore, we are most definitely God’s enemy.
We have looked in the past at the fact that we are not merely mad at God; He is infinitely ferociously mad at us. We are by nature objects of wrath. We are not born into this world having intimate fellowship with God. This is the background to Romans 5:10-11:
“For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” We were enemies and yet God reconciled us. What was the obstacle? Sin. “And you once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds”. But what has God accomplished in Christ? “he has now reconciled [you] in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him…” What has Christ done? He has reconciled us with himself. We have been adopted as Sons. We are now in fellowship with the King.
Do you realize what this means? Do you know what it is to be the son of a King, the daughter or Royalty? Let me ask you this, if you have a Father that is very much in love with you…and he has the intent to lavish all of these gifts upon you…and he is passionate about your joy…what do you think that means for you? The God that owns everything, the Creator that hung the stars, we are now in fellowship with Him. We are his children. We are reconciled to Him. Can you imagine the benefits?Now, lest I be misunderstood as to be preaching a prosperity gospel, part of this fellowship is also a fellowship of suffering. At least that is the way it is at this point. But even suffering is used by God to further our joy. Oh, it is difficult joy. It is painful to have things you love ripped from you. Yet we have fellowship with God.
Only those of you that already have a relationship with God understand how wonderful this is. While you are not reconciled this does not sound appealing to you. This sounds boring. But, for those of you that know God, this is wonderful news. But we are not finished.
Jesus Christ, Our Reward, has lavished upon us gifts instead of wrath.
For this point turn to Romans 8:31-32. This section will serve to close out the first part of the book of Romans. Paul has gone from Romans 1-8 and has shown our helplessness before God and that we are under wrath. By chapter 8 the gospel has been unveiled for us to see and rejoice in. As Paul closes out what God has done, and gives us confidence that God is going to complete His work, he says this:
“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”
If you understand this verse in light of what Paul has revealed to us thus far it is astonishing. If you really understand that we are by nature objects of wrath. We are enemies of God. We are guilty of putting Jesus on the Cross, the vilest act any human could commit. We would kill God if we had the power. It is for worms that God is doing this. For dust, the Son of God would come and die.
This is Paul’s argument. What is the most difficult thing for God to do? Now certainly, it is risky to talk in such a way. But Paul is doing this. He is saying, if God can (and will) do the unthinkable--give His Son for His enemies—then what do you possibly think He will withhold from you. How will he not give us all things? What are these all things?
I would venture to say that they are all of the gifts of the gospel. It is peace. It is joy. It is freedom. It is spiritual giftedness. It is blessing upon blessing. But more than any of this it is the gift of God Himself. That is where Paul leads us to at the end of chapter 8, “For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” That is the goal that Paul is moving us toward. As Piper has eloquently put it, “The greatest gift of the gospel is God Himself.
Oh, we will receive countless blessings. There are fringe benefits to this. There is peace that transcends understanding. There is joy that is inexpressible. There is hope in the midst of suffering. There is love that is lavished upon us. But all of these are but rays of blessing that are emanating from the source. If all of these little gifts are enough to cause us great joy and sustain us. If these gifts are attractive enough to adulterate into idols, how much more precious must be their source?
And all of these are given to us. They are given to us in Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ, Our Ruler, has brought us into His Kingdom
For this last benefit, turn to Colossians 1:13-14. This last point is very crucial. It helps us see something very important about all of these blessings, they are conditional. Another place to put your finger will be Matthew 10:34-39. Before we turn there, lets look at Colossians 1:13-14. We see here something very drastic that Jesus has done.
“He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Again you can see here some of the themes that we have already touched upon. You have forgiveness. You have redemption. You have deliverance. Assumed in the text is reconciliation. In order for us to be “transferred” and “delivered” it must be assumed that we are not already in His kingdom. And we must understand from the Scriptures that the benefits that we have been talking about are only for those that are in the Kingdom of God. Only those that have been “transferred” enjoy these benefits.
Forgiveness is not found outside the kingdom. Righteousness will not be given to those that are not within the kingdom. Unless Jesus is your King he is not your Savior. You are not reconciled to God unless you are reconciled under the throne of King Jesus. You are not redeemed unless you have been delivered from death and transferred into this glorious kingdom. You cannot say to have the reward of Christ or any of the secondary benefits if you are not in his kingdom. You can not have the benefits of citizenship in America unless you are a citizen. So, it is in the Kingdom of God, unless you are a citizen you do not have the benefits.
And this takes us to our conclusion; our main application of this sermon.
One other fruit of the work of Christ, might be seen as a negative one. But it is necessary nonetheless. It is that of division. If you turn to Matthew 10, you will see this. “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father and mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it”.
Jesus divides men. Either you are for him or against him. If you are not willing to break from even the most basic familial relationship for the sake of Christ then obviously you do not see Him as a sufficient treasure. Obviously, you do not want Him as your King. If He is not your King then He is not your Savior. He must be your Ruler as well as your Redeemer. But if He is your Ruler then you should rejoice because all of the benefits of the Kingdom are yours. Eternal life, righteousness, redemption, all of this. And the most precious gift of all—God Himself.
This is what Jesus Christ has secured for all those that are in His Kingdom. What are you exhorted to do tonight? If you are in the Kingdom, then act like it. Live like it. Live like you are redeemed. Live like you have been broken away from the bondage of sin. Do not present your bodies to death anymore, live in holiness. If Jesus is your King, then act like it. If you are reconciled to God then enjoy that. If you’ve been given the righteousness of Christ then live that out. Enjoy the Gospel.
If you are not certain tonight whether or not you are in Christ, then hopefully God has opened your heart so that you can see tonight Jesus as a sufficient treasure. Your application is straightforward, you need to be in the Kingdom. How is all of this appropriated, or applied to you? It is by grace through faith. It is believing that Jesus has done these things. It is by crying out to God for mercy. It is by trusting in what Jesus Christ has done. It is by asking Him to be your substitution. Cry out to God.
What could be so precious and valuable that a man would sell everything to buy a field, and so have the treasure buried therein? What could be such a marvelous pearl that an intelligent merchant would sell everything just to buy it? Certainly, we know that this treasure is Jesus Christ. We know that this is a reflection of the gospel. But why is Jesus so precious? What makes Jesus such a sufficient treasure? You do not sell everything and risk homelessness unless you see this pearl as more valuable than anything else you currently have or will ever attain. What about Jesus is so valuable? We say that the Gospel must be enjoyed, and by that we certainly mean that the Christ revealed in this Gospel is to be enjoyed; but, why? Why is Jesus so precious?
Tonight is going to be very difficult for me to preach. It is as if I am holding the most beautiful and costly diamond and I have only a short amount of time to show you all of its intricacies and beauty and splendor. Not only that, but I cannot fathom all of the beauty in the diamond which I am holding. Nevertheless we will attempt to do this.
We could easily spend hours discussing all of the various qualities of Jesus. We could discuss his perfect humanity, we could discuss the fact that He is God—which would lead to a discussion of all of His attributes, we could talk about his mercy, his love, his justice, all of these things. But tonight I want us to focus on one facet of this beautiful diamond; the benefits that come to us through the work of Christ. What has Jesus accomplished for us?
So, if you want to picture this; everything we discuss tonight will be under this big heading of Substitution. Then we will discuss 5 different benefits of substitution. All of these are so intertwined and it is difficult to separate each one, but we can make distinctions in each of these.
Tonight we will look at Jesus Our Righteousness, Our Redeemer, Our Reconciler, Our Reward, and Our Ruler.
Throughout this message we will be using a particular phrase--the work of Christ. What does that mean? When we use that term we are pointing to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Specifically we are referring to Christ work of substitution. He took the punishment of our unrighteousness and gave to us His righteousness. It is known as the great exchange. If this has happened in your life this is the reason you are saved, the work of Christ. It is the ground for every one of these benefits. The first of which is:
Jesus Christ, Our Righteousness, has fulfilled the Law
The first place for us to turn is Romans 8:1-4. As you are turning there you must know the background. There are 7 chapters before this that builds the foundation for this beautiful verse. Paul has labored to show that man is not righteous before God. There is none righteous, no not one. Paul has beautifully shown that both Jew and Gentile stand guilty before God, as he says in 3:19, “Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world be held accountable to God.” Paul has then masterfully shown that our righteousness comes through faith in Jesus Christ. But this leads to a very important question. What do we make of the Law? Are the Old Testament and the Law of Moses (like the 10 Commandments) meaningless? In Chapter 7, Paul is showing that those that believe in Jesus Christ are released from the Law. Jesus has fulfilled it. The Law was only there to display our sin; the Law (as we learn in Galatians) was there to point us to our deliverer. The Law, as good and holy as it was could never save, it could only expose sin and provide condemnation. It is at this point, after Paul cries out, “who will deliver me from this body of death”, that we find ourselves in chapter 8, verse 1.
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit”. What does all of that mean? It means that, though I was under the curse of the Law, Jesus Christ took my place. He did what the Law could not do—save me. He did what the Law was powerless to do—produce righteousness in hopelessly depraved sinners.
Oh, do you see the beauty in this verse? Do you see what Jesus Christ has done for you? The Law was pointing a sentencing finger of death over you. You stood under the curse of the Law. We all stood condemned before the Law; without hope of any of the blessings of God. But God made him who knew no sin, to become sin on our behalf.
It seems like I have quoted Martin Luther numerous times in the last few months, but here is yet another story the helps illuminate the beauty of the gospel. Luther often envisioned himself battling with Satan. In one particular battle, Satan was reminding Luther of all his sins. Luther asked Satan to bring out the scrolls and show him all of his sins. Satan brings out a scroll, very long. After laboring for a long time, they finally completed the scroll, sin after sin after sin. You can imagine some of the sins on there: lust, anger, pride, rebellion, gluttony, murderous thoughts, not treasuring God and many of these multiple times over. Certainly, Luther could have been replaying in his mind those sins. Some may have even caught him off guard. As they came to the last sin on the scroll, Luther looked at Satan and said, “Is that all?” Satan, surprised by this, goes in the back room and brings out another very long scroll. They go through the same process; Sin upon sin, upon sin. Treacherous sins. Vile sins. Secret sins that nobody even knew but Luther. All are exposed before him. He certainly would have felt the pain of many of them. But he stood and took every one of them. Finally, again after a long time had passed they arrive at the bottom. Again, Luther asks, “Is that all”? Satan, quite shocked by this question again, goes into the back room and brings out another very long scroll. They continue the labor, sin after sin. Each an offense. Each requiring the death penalty. Each enough to separate Martin from God for eternity. Even the smallest offense enough to bring about the full wrath of God. Finally, after a long time passes, they get to the last one on the scroll. Luther, to Satan’s frustration, but perhaps with exhausted glee, asks “Is that all?” This time, Satan trying to hide the wry smile from his face, says, “Yes, Martin, that is everything”. Now, Luther tells Satan to grab ink and a pen. Now, Satan, write upon every one of those, “The blood of Jesus Christ his Son covers all sin”.
Luther could have easily told Satan to write Romans 8:1. There is no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus. Only those of you that have spent time staring at these scrolls will feel the sweetness of this verse. Only those that feel even an ounce of the weight of even one of these sins will treasure the great that there is now no condemnation.
We could use many words in this section to describe the benefits of Christ. Clean. Freedom. Though our sins are as scarlet, they are now white as snow. Holy. Pure. Blameless. Forgiven. Right with God. This alone would be enough to encompass our eternal worship. Yet this is not the only benefit that Christ has purchased. There are yet four more we will cover tonight. The second of which is:
Jesus Christ, Our Redeemer, has delivered us from the bondage of sin
The second place for us to look tonight is Ephesians 2. At the beginning of Ephesians 2 we see a very bleak outlook. We are dead in our trespasses and sins. I am not sure that we really understand what this is saying. Earlier we read the words of Jesus, “You must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect”. God’s standard is absolutely high. We must be perfect in all that we do. We must be perfectly righteous. Everyone in here probably knows that they are not 100% righteous. But I am not certain that you understand what this text is saying. This text is saying that not only were you not 100% righteous you weren’t even 1%. Furthermore you were so dead in your sin that you could not even muster up 1%. The biblical picture is that no man on his own initiative will ever seek God. Even if God is mercifully offering forgiveness, without God first doing a work in our heart we will not even come to Him for this mercy. We are dead in our sin.
This is a reference to human inability. We are so in love with our sin that we will not come to Jesus. There is not a soul in here, saved or not saved, that woke up one morning of his own initiative and said, I think I want to love Jesus now. No, we love Him because He first loved us. Or to use the words of Paul here in Ephesians 2, “we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” The Puritan, John Flavel, has a rather striking comment to say about this. “The blood that runs in our veins is as much tainted as theirs in hell”. We, like every soul in hell today, at one time were in bondage to sin. We loved sin. We treasured it. We refused to come to the light. This is our state without the work of God.
But listen to verse 4. But God…oh, what wonderful words…But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved…” What does this mean that God has made us alive together with Christ? It means that just as the power of God raised Jesus from the grave, so the power of God raises us from our state of death. Meaning we are no longer in bondage to sin.
Listen to what Paul says in Romans 7:24-25. “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” The body of death that Paul was talking about was the slave body; the one that is a slave to sin. But thanks be to God, he has made us alive with Jesus Christ.
To really catch what is taking place here we must take our minds back to the prophet Hosea. Remember in Chapter 3 when God urges Hosea to buy back his harlot wife. The idea of “buying back” is the concept of redemption. This is what God is now doing with us. We are in bondage to our sin. We have prostituted ourselves. We have run away and rebelled from our Creator. And now, we, like Gomer, and the people of Israel she symbolized, are empty, alone, and hopeless.
Yet listen to the amazing love of God. “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. And there I will give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.” At this point we see that God speaks of a covenant that He will establish. This is how he will buy back his wife, this is how he will betroth her to Himself forever; it is through the Redemption that Jesus Christ has secured.
What does this mean for you? It means that if you are in Jesus Christ then you are free from the bondage of sin. That means you do not have to sin any longer. You choose to sin. It’s almost like you have to work to sin. You have to make it intentional. You have been freed from its treachery. Because of the work of Christ you now have the ability to see and savor Jesus Christ. What a wonderful blessing. These two would be enough to secure our happiness for all eternity. But they are only faint reckonings of two aspects of this precious diamond. We still have three more.
Jesus Christ, Our Reconciler, has brought us back into fellowship with God
For this point we will be looking at Romans 5:10-11, 2 Corinthians 5:18-21, and Colossians 1:21. There is an assumption behind this. That man is not currently in a state of fellowship with God. Mankind, apart from Jesus, are not in a right relationship with God. We have offended God. We have set up obstacles to our relationship with God. He cannot dwell among sin. His holy wrath and anger must be poured out upon sin, and the sinners that it encompasses. Therefore, we are most definitely God’s enemy.
We have looked in the past at the fact that we are not merely mad at God; He is infinitely ferociously mad at us. We are by nature objects of wrath. We are not born into this world having intimate fellowship with God. This is the background to Romans 5:10-11:
“For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” We were enemies and yet God reconciled us. What was the obstacle? Sin. “And you once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds”. But what has God accomplished in Christ? “he has now reconciled [you] in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him…” What has Christ done? He has reconciled us with himself. We have been adopted as Sons. We are now in fellowship with the King.
Do you realize what this means? Do you know what it is to be the son of a King, the daughter or Royalty? Let me ask you this, if you have a Father that is very much in love with you…and he has the intent to lavish all of these gifts upon you…and he is passionate about your joy…what do you think that means for you? The God that owns everything, the Creator that hung the stars, we are now in fellowship with Him. We are his children. We are reconciled to Him. Can you imagine the benefits?Now, lest I be misunderstood as to be preaching a prosperity gospel, part of this fellowship is also a fellowship of suffering. At least that is the way it is at this point. But even suffering is used by God to further our joy. Oh, it is difficult joy. It is painful to have things you love ripped from you. Yet we have fellowship with God.
Only those of you that already have a relationship with God understand how wonderful this is. While you are not reconciled this does not sound appealing to you. This sounds boring. But, for those of you that know God, this is wonderful news. But we are not finished.
Jesus Christ, Our Reward, has lavished upon us gifts instead of wrath.
For this point turn to Romans 8:31-32. This section will serve to close out the first part of the book of Romans. Paul has gone from Romans 1-8 and has shown our helplessness before God and that we are under wrath. By chapter 8 the gospel has been unveiled for us to see and rejoice in. As Paul closes out what God has done, and gives us confidence that God is going to complete His work, he says this:
“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”
If you understand this verse in light of what Paul has revealed to us thus far it is astonishing. If you really understand that we are by nature objects of wrath. We are enemies of God. We are guilty of putting Jesus on the Cross, the vilest act any human could commit. We would kill God if we had the power. It is for worms that God is doing this. For dust, the Son of God would come and die.
This is Paul’s argument. What is the most difficult thing for God to do? Now certainly, it is risky to talk in such a way. But Paul is doing this. He is saying, if God can (and will) do the unthinkable--give His Son for His enemies—then what do you possibly think He will withhold from you. How will he not give us all things? What are these all things?
I would venture to say that they are all of the gifts of the gospel. It is peace. It is joy. It is freedom. It is spiritual giftedness. It is blessing upon blessing. But more than any of this it is the gift of God Himself. That is where Paul leads us to at the end of chapter 8, “For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” That is the goal that Paul is moving us toward. As Piper has eloquently put it, “The greatest gift of the gospel is God Himself.
Oh, we will receive countless blessings. There are fringe benefits to this. There is peace that transcends understanding. There is joy that is inexpressible. There is hope in the midst of suffering. There is love that is lavished upon us. But all of these are but rays of blessing that are emanating from the source. If all of these little gifts are enough to cause us great joy and sustain us. If these gifts are attractive enough to adulterate into idols, how much more precious must be their source?
And all of these are given to us. They are given to us in Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ, Our Ruler, has brought us into His Kingdom
For this last benefit, turn to Colossians 1:13-14. This last point is very crucial. It helps us see something very important about all of these blessings, they are conditional. Another place to put your finger will be Matthew 10:34-39. Before we turn there, lets look at Colossians 1:13-14. We see here something very drastic that Jesus has done.
“He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Again you can see here some of the themes that we have already touched upon. You have forgiveness. You have redemption. You have deliverance. Assumed in the text is reconciliation. In order for us to be “transferred” and “delivered” it must be assumed that we are not already in His kingdom. And we must understand from the Scriptures that the benefits that we have been talking about are only for those that are in the Kingdom of God. Only those that have been “transferred” enjoy these benefits.
Forgiveness is not found outside the kingdom. Righteousness will not be given to those that are not within the kingdom. Unless Jesus is your King he is not your Savior. You are not reconciled to God unless you are reconciled under the throne of King Jesus. You are not redeemed unless you have been delivered from death and transferred into this glorious kingdom. You cannot say to have the reward of Christ or any of the secondary benefits if you are not in his kingdom. You can not have the benefits of citizenship in America unless you are a citizen. So, it is in the Kingdom of God, unless you are a citizen you do not have the benefits.
And this takes us to our conclusion; our main application of this sermon.
One other fruit of the work of Christ, might be seen as a negative one. But it is necessary nonetheless. It is that of division. If you turn to Matthew 10, you will see this. “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father and mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it”.
Jesus divides men. Either you are for him or against him. If you are not willing to break from even the most basic familial relationship for the sake of Christ then obviously you do not see Him as a sufficient treasure. Obviously, you do not want Him as your King. If He is not your King then He is not your Savior. He must be your Ruler as well as your Redeemer. But if He is your Ruler then you should rejoice because all of the benefits of the Kingdom are yours. Eternal life, righteousness, redemption, all of this. And the most precious gift of all—God Himself.
This is what Jesus Christ has secured for all those that are in His Kingdom. What are you exhorted to do tonight? If you are in the Kingdom, then act like it. Live like it. Live like you are redeemed. Live like you have been broken away from the bondage of sin. Do not present your bodies to death anymore, live in holiness. If Jesus is your King, then act like it. If you are reconciled to God then enjoy that. If you’ve been given the righteousness of Christ then live that out. Enjoy the Gospel.
If you are not certain tonight whether or not you are in Christ, then hopefully God has opened your heart so that you can see tonight Jesus as a sufficient treasure. Your application is straightforward, you need to be in the Kingdom. How is all of this appropriated, or applied to you? It is by grace through faith. It is believing that Jesus has done these things. It is by crying out to God for mercy. It is by trusting in what Jesus Christ has done. It is by asking Him to be your substitution. Cry out to God.
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