Colossians 1:13-20
Behold Christ the King!
For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. (NIV1984)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
“Behold!” That used to be one of my favorite words in the Bible. Every time I came across the word “Behold!” it was like the God of heaven was shining a spotlight on something important, something glorious, something miraculous, something that He wanted to make sure we paid attention to! “Behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord”! (Luke 2:10-11). “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). “Behold the man!” (John 19:5). “Behold the place where they laid him” (Mark 16:6).
Our sermon text for today contains one of the most exquisite descriptions of Christ contained in the Bible. While it does not contain the word “Behold!” it proclaims important truths, glorious truths, miraculous truths, truths we would all do well to pay attention to! For that reason, let’s study our text for today under the theme: Behold Christ the King!
Paul begins by saying to us: Behold Christ the King— the One through whom God the Father has done glorious miraculous things for us! Look at what Paul says in the opening verses of our text “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
The Bible very often uses the picture of “darkness” to describe Satan’s “domain.” As the tyrant of the “dominion of darkness” Satan is an expert at deception and temptation and fear. Since his actions would look frightening and hideous and repulsive in the light, he does everything he can to keep them from being exposed. This picture of Satan’s “domain of darkness” reminds us that when we were a subject of this kingdom— which all people are by nature— we either could not see the traps that Satan had set for us or we were terrified at the thought that somewhere out there in the darkness lurks a powerful predator whose only goal is to destroy our soul for all of eternity!
Even as Christians we know that Satan is still lurking in the darkness looking for ways to deceive us and destroy us. Just look back on your own life, my friends. Think back to how many times Satan has tried to convince you that neither he nor sin is really all that dangerous. “Everyone deserves to live as their ‘authentic’ self.” “Everyone has the right to choose what they want to do with their own body.” “Is it really all that wrong to believe that people can be worshiping the same god that you do, they just call him or her by a different name?” Or Satan might go in the opposite direction and strive to deceive you into thinking that you are “so bad” and “so sinful” that God could never forgive someone like you!
In sharp contrast to the tactics and the goals of the tyrant who rules over the “dominion of darkness,” Paul calls on us to behold Christ the King and see the glorious miraculous things that the Father has done for us through Him! Through the work of Christ our King God the Father has “rescued” us, He has “delivered” us from Satan’s “dominion of darkness” and “brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.” Since we are completely unable to “rescue” ourselves from the “dominion of darkness” God did it for us! We might say that God Himself has “transferred” our spiritual membership from the “dominion of darkness” to the “kingdom of his Son” —which can rightfully be described as the “kingdom” of Light! It’s worth noting that the verb tenses that Paul uses here emphasize that this “rescue” is an historical event that has already taken place! God has already “rescued” you! God has already “brought you into” the Kingdom of Light, the Kingdom where Christ the King is reigning supreme!
When did God do this? God did this when He sent His beloved Son to suffer and die for you — right there on the cross of Calvary’s hill! (Pointing to the cross) There on the cross the Son of God crushed the head of that serpent Satan. There on the cross the Son of God destroyed the power that the tyrant Satan once had over you. The result of what God has done for us is that through Christ the King we have “redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Through the power of the Sacrament of Baptism and/or through the power of His holy Word, Gods has taken the result of everything Christ the King has done for this entire world and given it to you as a free gift! The fact that we have been “redeemed” through the holy, precious, innocent blood of Christ the King means that all the sins we’ve toyed with because we thought that they really couldn’t hurt us “that much”— they have been forgiven! It means that all the sins that we tried to rationalize in our own little minds— they have been forgiven! It means that even all the sins we knew were wrong, even all the sins we knew were deadly to our soul, even all the sins that the tyrant Satan uses to torment our soul with guilt— they have all been forgiven! The “redemption” price was sufficient. The rescue was complete because of what God has done for us through Christ our King! That, my friends, is the joy and the comfort, the confidence and the happiness that is ours when we follow Paul’s encouragement to “Behold Christ the King!”
As we behold Christ the King we are indeed able to see and to experience that our King is reigning as the Victor over sin, death and the devil. What gives our King the right to reign? Paul’s exquisite hymn of praise answers that question when it assures us that as we behold Christ the King we will see Who He is! Look at what Paul tells us, “He (Christ the King) is the image of the invisible Gold.” God is indeed “invisible,” isn’t He. Scripture very clearly teaches that God is a “spirit.” He does not have a visible tangible body like us. Scripture also very clearly teaches that no mortal sinful human being can see God’s face and live! Think of how God put Moses in the cleft of a rock and placed His hand over him as “the LORD” passed by declaring His Name! God told Moses that once He had passed by, “Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.” (See Exodus 33:12-23) God’s power and God’s majesty and God’s perfection is so overwhelming that trying to look at Him would produce the same result as trying to walk on the sun,. When we behold Christ the King, however, we see the “image of the invisible God.” How is this possible? The only reason it is possible is because of what Paul tells us in verse nineteen of our text, “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him.”
Think about what this means, my friends. When we want to “see” God— we look at Jesus, His Son! When we want to “see” God’s compassion— we look at Jesus, His Son! When we want to “see” God’s power— we look at Jesus, His Son! When we want to “see” God’s love for this world— we look at Jesus, His Son! Jesus is the “image of the invisible God.” Without Jesus we could never know who the true God is and what He has done for us. (Pointing to the cross) With Jesus we “see” the “fullness” of God in visible form!
Paul’s exquisite hymn of praise does not end there, however. Paul goes on to assure us that when we behold Christ the King we are able to see the Creator of all things! Paul writes, “He is the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.”
Does the fact that Paul describes Christ our King as “the firstborn over all creation” mean that Christ is the “first creature” that God brought into existence? This is indeed what some churches teach. No, it does not mean that at all! Paul clearly reveals that this is not what he means when he immediately goes on to say, “For by him all things were created.” Then what does Paul mean? Let’s let Scripture interpret Scripture. In Hebrews 1:6 we are told, “When God brings his firstborn into the world he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.’” Here we see that when Scripture describes Jesus as God’s “firstborn” it is emphasizing the fact that Jesus is the “only-begotten” Son of God. Therefore when God the Holy Spirit led the apostle Paul to describe Christ the King as “the firstborn over all creation” He was having Paul emphasize Jesus’ rank, His power and His authority!
This understanding is supported when Paul goes on to remind us that when we behold Christ the King we behold the One who sustains and preserves all things— including the Church! Paul writes, “He is before all things and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.”
As the One who reigns “supreme” Christ the King is the one who sees to it that “all things hold together.” The universe and everything in it could not continue to exist unless Christ the King were sustaining it by His almighty power. If He were to withdraw His hand, absolutely everything would descend into chaos and be destroyed. As the One who reigns “supreme” Christ the King is also the One who sustains and preserves His Church. He is the One who established His Church on the confession of the apostle Peter, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:15). He is the One who continues to build His Church on the “foundation of the apostles and prophets” (Ephesians 2:20). And He is the One who continues to rule as “the head of the body, the church.” Because Christ the King reigns “supreme” His physical resurrection from the dead is what guarantees that everyone who believes and trusts in Him will also rise from the dead— to rule with Him for all of eternity!
And finally, Paul assures us this morning that when we behold Christ the King we see the One through whom we have been “reconciled” to God. Paul writes, “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”
No ordinary human being could ever possibly “reconcile” themselves or anyone else to God. Only the One who is both true God and true man could offer a “ransom” that was sufficient to pay the debt that we owed to God. Only the sacrifice that Christ the King willingly offered on the cross (Pointing to the cross) was sufficient to satisfy God’s righteous anger over our sins and make us “at peace” with the Almighty. Even if you or I do not always “feel at peace” with God when we behold Christ the King we are guaranteed that through faith in Him we are at peace with the one and only Living God.
At the beginning of this sermon I stated that the word “Behold!” used to be one of my favorite words in the Bible. Unfortunately, the version of the Bible I now use, the version of the Bible that we use here at church no longer translates that word as “Behold!” For example, the NIV now says, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” While the NIV may not include the word “Behold!” I still hear it in my head every time I read these portions of Scripture.
My prayer this morning, is that even though our text for today does not include the word “Behold!” that every time you hear these inspired words of Paul you will see the God of heaven shining a spotlight on something important, something glorious, something miraculous, something that He wants to make sure we paid attention to! Let these words lead you to Behold Christ the King! Behold the One through Whom God the Father has done miraculous things for you! Behold the One who is the “image of the invisible God”! Behold the One who is the Creator of all things! Behold the One who sustains and preserves all things— including the Church! Behold the One who has “reconciled” us to God!
To God be the glory!
Amen
