“The Knowledge of God in Christ,” Colossians 1.1-14, Pentecost 8C, July ’16

1.                   Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  The message from God’s Word this morning comes from Colossians 1:1-14 and is entitled, “The Knowledge of God in Christ,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.                   Gianna Jessen was born alive after a failed saline abortion. A nurse on duty called 911, and Gianna was taken to a hospital. She weighed only 2 pounds, and the abortionist had to sign her birth certificate.  At 17 months, she was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, resulting from oxygen starvation during the attempted abortion. Doctors said she would never be able to raise her head. But she proved them wrong. They said she would never be able to sit up, crawl, or walk, but today she does all that and more—competing in marathons and sharing her story of survival before the United States Congress and the British Parliament.  As a child,  Gianna was bullied in school and endured the taunts of classmates. When she was 16, a stranger told her that people with disabilities were a burden on society, but Gianna refused to believe it. Today, she speaks of her cerebral palsy as a gift, and she admits that she has more joy than she can express because of the obstacles God has enabled her to overcome.

3.                   Gianna’s story is truly an inspiring one for all of us.  The fact that God could use this young woman to show to the world that greatness isn’t found in how healthy our bodies are, but that God’s power is made manifest through human weakness.  Gianna’s story reminds us that life’s challenges can cause us to remember our inadequacies.  But, Paul reminds us here in Colossians that God alone qualifies us to enter eternal life and to meet the challenges of daily life.  When our instinct or false teachers tell us we must do something to be adequate, the voice of Jesus releases us to his finished work alone to save us from our sins and give us eternal life.  WHEN WE HAVE THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD IN CHRIST, WE REALIZE THAT OUR ADEQUACY IS FROM HIM.

4.                   What was the occasion that Paul was writing to the Christian church at Colossae?  Well, Paul was writing because there was false teaching there. He shows that this false teaching lies in its inadequate view of the person and work of Jesus Christ. The false teachers in Colossae wouldn’t direct their hearers solely to Christ and his finished work of redemption as the basis of salvation. Instead, they directed their hearers to Christ and the works of the Law (JUST LIKE WE LEARNED IN PAUL’S LETTER TO THE GALATIANS).  These people were insisting on circumcision, dietary restrictions, and observance of the Jewish festival calendar, among other things.

5.                   Paul spoke against this false teaching in Colossae with a high Christology, declaring that all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ, and that through Christ alone, Christians are already perfect (1:28) and reconciled to God (1:22). Not only were the works of the Law unnecessary additions to Christ’s work, but also they were totally ineffective in producing the good works that the Law requires (2:23). Only the risen Christ, who imparts spiritual life in Baptism (2:9–12), enables Christians to rise to newness of life and to do good works (3:1–17).

6.                   When we have the knowledge of God in Christ we realize that our adequacy is from Him.  Let’s look at what Paul says about that.  Colossians 1:9-10 says, “⁹And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, ¹⁰so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”  Here we see from the Apostle Paul that the knowledge of God in Christ produces glorious effects in each person who has received Jesus as their Savior and Lord.  As soon as the knowledge of God in Christ is revealed to you that God has loved you from eternity and that He so loved you that He became a man and died on the cross for you.  When you come to know the love of God in Christ you love this good God in return.  You also have a holy fear of offending your gracious God and Father in heaven by any sin.  And you have a holy desire to live to please God in everything and to love your neighbor and do good to him.

7.                   Paul continues in Colossians 1:11 saying, “¹¹May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy.”  Here the apostle Paul gives us the second result of a living knowledge of God in Christ.  The might and patience for the glorious perseverance in the cross.  The person who hasn’t learned to know God as His Father in Christ will find it impossible to joyfully endure many sufferings and afflictions.  In our opening story we learned how Gianna Jessen had come to know from God how to endure her present sufferings and afflictions of having cerebral palsy.  She had come to realize that God wouldn’t let her fall.  Dear friends, when you have the knowledge of God in Christ you believe that God intends good for you and that your afflictions are fatherly disciplines rather than punishments.  These disciplines lead to salvation, heaven, blessedness and glory. 

8.                   Speaking about Godly discipline the author of Hebrews writes in chapter 12:3-6 & 11, ³Consider Christ who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. ⁴In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. ⁵And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him.⁶For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives…¹¹For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”

9.                   Colossians 1:12-14 concludes in saying, “¹²giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. ¹³He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, ¹⁴in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”  Here we find the third effect of a living knowledge of God in Christ.  It’s a constant, fervent, thanks.  Praising and thanking God should be the most precious occupation of all people here on earth.  This is what distinguishes people from animals:  people demonstrate their enjoyment of the gifts of God by thanking the Giver, in contrast animals know nothing about the Giver.  As long as a person doesn’t know God as His Father, His heart is cold in praise and thanks.  In fact, no matter how much he already has, he remains without happiness and thinks there’s much more that he needs to acquire to attain that happiness.  But, when he discovers the source of true happiness, namely the knowledge of God in Christ, he finds himself so overwhelmed with the blessings of God that he must praise him even in the midst of poverty, shame, pain, sickness and death. 

10.               Dear friends when we have the knowledge of God in Christ our hearts can’t help but thank God for delivering us from the power of darkness.  We praise God that He has brought us into Christ’s kingdom of grace through the precious blood that He shed on the cross for our sins.  Amen.