Made Holy in Christ

Suffering is a part of every person’s life. Some of us complain about being mildly inconvenienced, but that is not really suffering. Others of us talk about physical pains ranging from hangnails to hernias, but even they may not be true suffering. True suffering has an element of anguish or frustration. There may also be an element of injustice. While much of life is spent striving, sometimes without result, a life of suffering involves toil or heartbreak on an extreme scale. The suffering may further involve a loss, without reward or hope, of loved ones, jobs, houses, and other things dear to us.

Some of us may be blessed to suffer for the sake of Christ’s gospel. We may experience the anguish of being persecuted or ridiculed because we proclaim that Jesus died on the cross for sinners in order to reconcile them to God. We may be chastised or hated for believing that Christ is the only way to God. We may be ostracized by friends or family because we stand with and for Christ.

When that occurs, we should rejoice, as Paul said he did in Colossians 1:24:

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church,

Paul rejoiced in his suffering for the gospel because he understood it was for the sake of others. Believers must proclaim the truth of the gospel to the lost world. That is God’s means of bringing salvation to all those who are lost. Even when they reject it and persecute us for proclaiming it, God can use the message we declare to save them.

For example, in India today, there are Hindu families who are coming to Christ following the martyrdom of over 100 Christians at the hands of Hindus in 2008. The boldness that other Christians have shown in sharing the gospel after that tragedy has been used by God. Most of us will probably never have to give our life for our faith. But even if we should lose friends, jobs, or family ties because of the gospel, the sacrifice we make may be used by the Lord for the salvation of those very ones who persecute us.

Paul rejoiced in his suffering for the gospel because he saw it a continuation of Christ’s suffering. As Peter said, “But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.” (see I Peter 4:13) That attitude was in Paul, and it should be in each of us as well. Jesus promised that just as He was hated, so the world would hate us (see John 15:18-19). Jesus explained that believers in Him are not part of the world, but chosen out from the world. We are alien, foreigners, to the world, just as Christ was.

We take the message of a holy and merciful God into a sinful and vindictive world. As Christ brought salvation to the sinful world that rejected Him, so He calls us to bring the message of salvation to that same sinful world, though it rejects His truth. He suffered for their salvation, and we are called to suffer to bring them the message of salvation. Our calling is a continuation of His work.

Paul rejoiced in his suffering for the gospel because he knew it was for the benefit of the church, the body of Christ. When we suffer as Christians, we are not alone. We are united by our suffering. The entire Body of Christ is with us. “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.” (see I Corinthians 12:26)

Paul saw his own suffering as the means that God used to bring him into closer fellowship with Christ, saying “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.” (see Philippians 3:8-10).

We can rejoice in suffering, as Paul did. Our suffering may take the form of giving up an afternoon of leisure to speak about Christ to a stranger. It may take the form of being punished because we spoke about the gospel during our lunch hour. It may take the form of making a long unpleasant trip back home to share the gospel with a dying relative. It may take the form of death at the hand of some religious zealot. Whatever the form, let us remember “that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” (see Romans 8:18)

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Fear is powerful. It can prevent us from doing what we otherwise would want to do. It can keep us from doing what we know we should do. The fear of nature, the fear of men, the fear of the unknown, all can paralyze us.

But what are the things that compel our fear? How are they formed? Where does their power come from?

The answer is in Colossians 1:17:

And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (ESV)

Christ, we are reminded, is before all things. The Greek actually says (in present-tense indicative, if that matters) that He “is in existence prior to all things.” That is, He both now exists and existed before anything else existed. No power or force existed before Christ. No earthquake, no hurricane, no tidal wave, no storm was unleashed prior to Him.

What is more, we are told that in Him all things hold together. That is, they are combined together as they are and continue to be what they are, by Him. They are put together by Christ and do what they do because of Christ.  The power or force that any thing exerts is put there by Christ. Every earthquake, each hurricane, every tidal wave, each storm is placed where it is (and does what it does) by Him.

Our understanding of that is crucial. It means that the things we might fear are not powerful in themselves. Our fears are misplaced if our fears are directed against nature, men, or the unknown. They may have power, but all their strength really comes from and through Christ, who exists now as He did before they did, and who continues to hold and distribute their power as He sees fit.

Our fear and awe should be not of the things around us, but of Him.

The disciples of Jesus were frightened on several occasions. One of them is reported in Luke 8:22-25, (also Mark 4:35-41 and Matthew 8:23-27). One evening, near the Sea of Galilee, Jesus got into a boat with the disciples and told them to go to the other side of the sea. Jesus fell asleep, and a tremendous storm came up, causing the boat to fill with water. At this point, the disciples, many of whom were skilled at navigating these very waters in all kinds of weather, became alarmed that they were going to die. They woke Jesus up with the words “Master, Master, we are perishing!” Jesus then rebuked the wind and the waves, bringing calm to the sea. After rebuking nature, Jesus rebuked the disciples, asking, “Where is your faith?” The response of the disciples to this is interesting. Luke 8:25 says that THEN the disciples were afraid!

Even though they thought they knew Jesus, they learned then that He was utterly and completely in control. That frightened them.

The Man who fell asleep in that tiny boat that evening existed before the Sea they floated upon was formed. He formed that Sea, and the power of its waves was the power that He imparted to them. He existed before the wind that blew so fiercely that evening, and the force in the wind was the force that He imparted to it.

The other men in that tiny boat on that vast Sea learned that truth that evening, when the things that He had commanded into existence obeyed Him again. At that moment, those men understood that the things they might have feared were under the command of Christ. Now He, rather than those things, became the object of their fear, awe, and wonderment.

We must learn that lesson. The things we fear did not exist before Christ, and He exists and will exist even after they have spent all their force and power. The things we fear have no existence and no strength outside of Christ, and His power and strength will continue even after He stops sustaining those things.

Whether we fear storms or disasters or men, the things we fear only exist and do what they do by His authority and His design. Let us not fear what they can do, but what He can do.

The same Christ who commanded the sea and wind said “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.” in Luke 12:4-5 (ESV).

But, He also offered comfort to all those who, like the disciples, call out to Him, “Master, we are perishing!” He said, “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows. And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God.”-Luke 12:6-8 (ESV)

He is still “before all things.” All things still “hold together in Him.” He still calms the Sea when He is called upon. And, after He has done so, He still asks, “Where is your faith?”

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The highest, most exalted position in a family is that of the firstborn. This was especially true in ancient times, when the firstborn son of a king was the heir to the position held by his father. He was the one who would inherit the rights and privileges of his father. The firstborn had priority over all his brothers.  He was a part of the family, and he was one of the brothers, but his place was first among all those with whom he shared the family name.

This is the sense in which we learn of Christ that

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. -Colossians 1:15-16, ESV

What does this tell us about Christ?

Christ is the highest and most exalted because He is the image of the invisible God.

That is, as the Son, He is like His Father. He is the likeness of His Father in every respect. Only He can make that claim. As Jesus said of Himself, “I and the Father are one.” (in John 10:30) To know Jesus is to know His Father, as He said, “If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him” (in John 14:7, ESV). To see Jesus is to see His Father, as He said, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (in John 14:9, ESV). Jesus is in the Father and the Father is in Him (see John 14:11).

Christ is the highest and most exalted because He is the firstborn of all creation.

This does not mean that Christ is a created being, but rather that He is the rightful owner of Creation.  One might have called the son of a king “the firstborn of the land” but that would not mean that the king’s son sprang up out of the ground! Rather, to call the king’s son “the firstborn of the land” would have been acknowledging that the son of the king had the right and authority to rule and possess the whole land in which he lived. Similarly, to say that Christ is the “firstborn of creation” does not mean that He was created or came out of the creation. Rather, to call Him “the firstborn of all creation” is to say that He is the rightful possessor and ruler of the Creation into which He came to dwell in the flesh. As the firstborn Son over all Creation, Jesus Christ has the ownership of and authority over all of Creation. Jesus declared ( in John 3:35), “The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.” He also made His right to rule and possess all creation clear when He said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me,” (in Matthew 28:18).

Christ is the highest and most exalted because everything was made by and through Him.

Before taking on flesh and entering His creation, Christ, as the eternal Son of God, was active with His Father in the process of Creation.  John 1:3 says, “All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.” (ESV)  Nothing is left out. Everything created that you can see– stars, planets, asteroids,  oceans, whales, elephants, puppies, mosquitos, amoebas –could rightfully be stamped “Made by Him.”  All the created things that you can’t see– black holes, angels, gravity, strong and weak nuclear forces, atoms, muons, the vacuum of space — were made by Him, too. What is more, all the thrones, dominions, and rulers were made by Him; all the spiritual, political, economic, and social powers in the world are His creation. Since He is the maker of everything, it is all under Him and exists due to His power and His control.

Christ is the highest and most exalted because everything was made for Him.

The universe and everything in it was made so that Christ could possess it. It was made as a kingdom for Him to rule. All of history is leading up to the climax of His possession of His kingdom. As Revelation 11:15 says, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”

But, of course there is something else that makes Christ the highest and most exalted.

This exalted Christ–  the perfect likeness of God, the heir of all creation,  the one by whom, through whom and for whom all creation was made– set aside His exalted firstborn status.  He came into His creation for the sake of those whom He created. What is more remarkable, He came into His Creation to save the very ones  who rebelled against His rule and authority over Creation. He lowered Himself to the status of one of His creatures, and then lowered Himself further by dying as one of them. This was all so that those who turn from their rebellion against Him and trust in Him to save them would be saved from His wrath by His work.

If you have not turned from your rebellion against God and trusted in the exalted firstborn, what He has done should show you how serious it is to remain in rebellion. His call is to repent and believe in what He has done, because “…there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (see Acts 4:12)

If you have turned to Christ and trusted in the sacrifice of the exalted firstborn of Creation, then meditate upon Who He is, and marvel at what He has done for you.

Exalt the Firstborn of Creation.

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God is invisible. That fact creates speculation and misinterpretation.

People who don’t know better think that God is invisible because He does not exist. They liken Him to an “imaginary friend,” who lives only in the thoughts and hopes of the deluded faithful.

Even those who say that they believe in God suspect, although they may not say so, that God is invisible because He is in some sense less “real” than the visible world around us. They reason that He is spirit, and that spiritual things exist as sort of shadows of the more tangible and solid physical world.

Both of these ideas are incorrect. The truth is simple.

God is invisible because of His mercy.

God knows that no one can see Him and live, (see Genesis 33:19) and so in His mercy, God prevents us from seeing Him. If we did see Him, we would die.

Even Moses, to whom God spoke as one would speak to a friend (see Exodus 33:11), was prevented from actually seeing Him. On Mount Horeb, Moses asked God to show him His glory (in Exodus 33:18). God then declared to Moses His mercy, saying that He will be gracious to whom He would be gracious, and will show mercy to whom He will show mercy (in Exodus 33:19). Mercifully, He then immediately reminded Moses that no man could see Him and live. Instead, God offered to make all His goodness pass before Moses, without allowing Moses to see His face  (in Exodus 33:20-23).

The next day, the Lord passed before Moses and proclaimed Himself, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty…”  (-Exodus 34:6-7, ESV)

We are reminded of the mercy of the invisible God in Colossians 1:14-15, when we are told of Christ,

…in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God,… (ESV)

In Christ, in Whom are the redemption of God and the forgiveness of God, we “see” the image of the invisible God. The glory of God that Moses beheld, we can see in Christ. He is the perfect likeness of the merciful God who makes Himself invisible in His mercy. In Christ, we see the the God who is merciful and gracious. In Christ, we see the God who is slow to anger. In Christ, we see the God who forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin without clearing the guilty. In Christ, we see the God who abounds in steadfast love (grace) and faithfulness (truth).

As John says,

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known. (-John 1:14, 16-18, ESV)

Because God is merciful, we cannot see Him. In His mercy, He has made Himself known to you, however, in Christ.

What is more, by receiving Him and the mercy of God, you can be given even more than a glimpse at the invisible God.

… to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God… (- John 1:12, ESV)

If you have received Him and believed in His name, you have seen the glory of God. You are now the child of God.

Declare the mercy of Christ, the image of God, Whose glory you, like Moses, have seen by the mercy of God.

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Children are frequently afraid of the dark. The dark hides all kinds of things. To a child they are mysterious, terrible, and frightening.

Most adults are not afraid of the dark. Maybe we should be.

On the first day of Creation, God called light into existence. In Genesis 1:3-4, God called the light He created “good,” but He made no such pronouncement upon the darkness. Instead, He separated the light that He made from the darkness.

From that point on, Scripture associates darkness not only with the absence of light but also the absence of God’s presence and work.

Not frightened yet?

1 Samuel 2:9 says “He will guard the feet of His faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness.” Psalm 107:10-11 says, “Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and in irons, for they had rebelled against the words of God, and spurned the counsel of the Most High.” Isaiah 8:22 says of those who don’t trust God, “And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness.”

Feel any twinges?

In Matthew 8:10-12, Jesus said that those who reject Him “will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” In His parable about the Kingdom of Heaven in Matthew 22:2-14, Jesus spoke about the interloper who was not clothed properly for the Heavenly Wedding. Describing that man’s fate, He said, “Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness.’ In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth”

But, for those who trust in Christ, the Father has done something marvelous, as Colossians 1:13-14 tells us:

 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.

We once belonged to the domain of darkness. The place that Jesus described as “outer darkness” was once our place. We were in the realm in which we would be weeping and gnashing our teeth.

But the Father has delivered us from that domain.
We are rescued.
He has drawn us out from that terrible and frightening region. As a man might pluck a bound and helpless child from the squalid dark hiding place of his kidnappers, He has pulled us out of the mirky darkness of our wrath.

He has transferred us to the Kingdom of His beloved Son.
We are now safe.
He has placed us into the trusted arms of the Heir of Creation, and made us His subjects, His very own precious possession. We are secure, in a home that will stand forever, in the Kingdom that shall never end, in the arms of the King who will always reign.

In Him, Christ, we have redemption.
Our rescue is compete.
Not only are we no longer in the darkness, but because His Son has paid the ransom, the bond, the obligation holding us in darkness, the darkness has no further claims upon us or strength to retake us.

In Him, Christ, we have forgiveness of sins.
Our future is secure.
The sins of the past that made darkness our home are all forgiven, and thus darkness is no longer our lodging. The sins of the future, which we might fear will send us back to darkness, are all forever forgiven as well.

We need no longer fear the darkness, because in Christ we have complete forgiveness, forever.

If you have not trusted in Jesus Christ, the Son God sent into the world to die for the rescue of those who are in darkness, think. You may be rescued.  As 2 Corinthians 5:18-21 says, “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (ESV)

For all who are in Christ, Peter describes our new position, and what we are to do, now that the fear of darkness is forever dispelled.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. – I Peter 2:9 (ESV)

Let us remember where we once belonged, and rejoice in the condition we now enjoy, praising forever the One who has done it all!

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