so this is the promise that christ rules over all things he rules over kingdoms he rules over kings he rules over even every dirt molecule that falls to the earth christ rules over it there is not an inch in this world in this universe that christ cannot say mine this morning i want to start off in a kind of a unique a different way usually i like to start off my sermons and i want us to get as quickly to the throne as quickly as us getting to think about the glories of heaven as possible because look i know you're in a life where you've got co-workers that are driving you crazy i know that you've got certain struggles and things that are driving you crazy and it just feels like you're just in a bloody battle and sunday morning you're coming in for a little bit of a relief right and so i understand that that that happens yeah i also know that you are part of a local church and that you're a member or should be uh we'll talk about that later a member of a local church that you have committed yourself to and so i just want to come before you this morning and i wanted to talk about us as the oasis church uh where we were where we are and kind of where we are headed and so i want us to think about our church for just a moment uh four years ago in a few weeks i guess four years and a few weeks ago um i came to this church and i had one question for the oasis church what the heck do you want me to do what do you want me to do and they all said we want one thing and one thing only we want to get younger i said okay i can do that and and no one knew at that time but i said i can do that and in my mind i'm going i have no idea how to do that i have not the slightest idea and so i go to mark and dennis and go hey i just told the church i can do this but i have no idea how to do this and they said well just remain faithful and i'm like that's it that's that's your big plan for me that's your big strategy remain faithful they said yep just remain faithful and then we brought on seth and he said what do you want me to do i said just remain faithful that's it you're supposed to have a plan yeah it's remained faithful and then um in what we all thought was one of the worst things imaginable cove had happened
cove it happened and it blessed our church because it gave us a look it led us to relook at what what we who we are what we can do and we said here's what we're going to do we're going to blow up this back wing and we're going to make room for children and this is the direction of the church is we're going to start thinking about children and then god graciously blessed us with stephanie and i handed the reigns to stephanie and debbie and said i don't even want to think about kids i want you all to just run as fast as you can you just tell me how much money you need and man did they build and create an area in the back
and i was thinking about that because last week we talked about we made the mention that you can know the maturity of a christian by how much they give thanks and you can know an immaturity of a christian by how much they gripe and complain amen i mean you want to meet an immature christian they'll gripe and complain what about me what about i what about me what about i and it's annoying to the believer because like grow up bro
and so we talked about that last week and paul we made the mention says five times to the church of colossae five times y'all be thankful oh what a great command that is be thankful and as i was thinking as i was thinking through this as i was walking through this i could spend this whole next hour just talking about the amount of things we have to be thankful for as a church i mean just unbelievably and we could keep going and going and going on this
we have amazing elders we just have great elders men who come alongside seth and i who give us wisdom who you get to call when you think we're out of line and they get to either say you're right or wrong man we're so excited to have dennis back y'all just four more sundays hang on with me and he'll be back i promise so excited to have that brother back so thankful for mark when he stood before the men yesterday and he said guys we are going to define biblical manhood and we're going to start walking that way come with me i love that call man that's a great call
and there he gave the statistic that less than one percent of men are actually interested in being a part of the men's ministry because they think it's a waste of their time and yet when we see men start to walk and start to lead we grow strong churches and so i'm so thankful for them i'm so thankful for brother sethridge who gets to do all the little knickknacks and make this place look beautiful and screens and and then run a worship team and everything else that he does so thankful we have a lot to be thankful for but one of the things i'm most thankful for is the fact that we get to hear the cries and the laugh of children isn't that just a great noise when you get to hear kids you know what's the worst thing to hear in a church is silence not hearing those things is the worst thing you can hear and then i started to think about noise you know the churches that are the loudest the ones that say put me in the game coach here i am let me serve put me in god those churches are the loudest and they have the most impact but those quiet churches are the ones where people just kind of sit and and are just like what about me what about i no one's caring about me no one's caring about me no one's caring about me those are the quiet churches that will go nowhere and i'm so thankful for a loud church and i'm so thankful to be a part of a loud church and most of all i'm thankful for you church because every week i feel the gravity of coming before you and teaching you god's word because if i do not i know i won't make it to next week because y'all will have me run out of town and i thank you for that and so i wanted to come before you church and just tell you we have a lot to be thankful for as a church and i hope you're encouraged because here's why this church is headed as moving is growing multi-generational which means what i need the gray hairs as much as i need the little babies and i need us together because i've got a lot to learn from the older the wiser i called one of one of probably the oldest people in this church and i said here my life's falling apart here's what's going on doing what they told me well you know what the bible says right romans chapter eight all things work together for the good of those who are called according to this purpose you've quoted it to us a million times why aren't you walking that out all right let's go right like i love that i need that right i called mark and i said man i got the whole church mad at me i've done this this and this and he goes hey bro uh you you do realize if that's the worst thing that happens to you this year you probably have the best password of anyone in the world right all right i guess i'll get back to work but so we're so thankful for people who've gone not only days not only weeks only months not only years but decades with the lord and are calling us remain faithful because i know these kids are going to grow up and then they're going to become teenagers and that's when the mouths start running and i'm going to need them remain faithful brother sister remain faithful and so i want to thank you church for being a church that i am beyond blessed to be a part of i mean i get to stand here and do this i mean that's my dream job and i get to do it in front of you is the grace of a grace of a grace so i want to thank you for that colossians 1 let's go to work collections one is going to be our text i want you all kind of put your seat belts on we got a lot to do this morning and not a lot of time so we're going to just dive right into prayer we're going to look at this glorious beautiful tightly wound paragraph that's just going to explode for us this majesty of who god is and so i know you've been reading through colossians and i know that you've been excited to talk about this paragraph because this one is one that is ignited you and you've got all the questions and so i can't guarantee i'll answer all your questions but i'm going to give it my best shot so i need the lord's help though because if i'm doing this without god we might as well send y'all home and go to lunch because i'll probably better for you all right so uh we need god's help would you pray with me
father god we thank you for your word god we thank you for the cross god we thank you that you are the god of gods the king of kings the lord of lords that we come god we thank you for the church god we thank you for the people of god who are here for the worship and the praise of god and so father god we lift up this morning to you god we praise you for this morning god teach us your way o lord that we may walk in your truth unite our hearts to fear your name and let us give thanks with our whole heart that we may praise your name to all the corners of the world now church says pray for me pray that i'll be helpful this morning pray that god will hide me behind beneath his cross this morning
now church says pray for yourself pray that god will open up your ears your heart your mind to hear from him this morning
our father was this time is yours god we ask that you make yourself known so we may make you known we praise things your son's holy and righteous name through spirit that's alive and active within all who believe amen there are four chapters in the new testament four chapters that if you knew these four chapters you have the most comprehensive view of jesus in the bible and what i love about these four chapters is they span over the of the course of three different authors and the four chapters of this john chapter 1 philippians chapter 2 colossians chapter 1 and hebrews chapter 1. well those are your four chapters right if you know those four chapters you'll have the most comprehensive view of jesus i'll give them to you again john chapter 1 philippians 2
colossians 1 hebrews 1. if you know those four chapters you will get such a beautiful wonderful view of jesus and who jesus is and so what i get to do this morning is i get to look at one of those and that's where we're at in colossians 1 verses 15 through 20. and so i i gotta do something though this morning because this isn't one you just kind of dive into but this is one where we have to understand the backdrop the background of the whole old testament and see what paul is getting at you see the reason is most people come to this chapter and they won't think about the old testament and therefore they'll miss what paul is actually getting him so here you go we're going to go genesis to revelation i hope you all packed a lunch because we'll just go right through lunch this morning so genesis chapter 1 in the beginning god created right so god created not because he was lonely not because he needed you god created for his glory that his glory may be on display so his greatness may be on display and on the sixth day he created man from the dirt he knelt down and breathed life into dirt so men women ladies whoever people scott hudson in this room may i remind you if you ever think you're something great remember you're dirt right so don't get off thinking you're something that you're not because that's where you start and what does god do he breathes life into his creation the pinnacle of his creation he doesn't breathe life into any other creation but man this is why it says you me in my mother's room you knitted to me together in my mother's womb i praise you for i'm fearfully and wonderfully made fearfully wonderfully made and what paul wants you to understand wants you to think in this text that we just read aloud from genesis chapter one because we're going to see three times in genesis 1 this word image let us make man in our own image you're gonna see that three times in genesis chapter one so what paul is doing here when he talks about the image of christ he wants us to think into genesis one and then this beautiful wonderful thing happened where god looks at adam and he says what it is not good for man to be alone so he creates a helper for him suitable for him
men i gave you an amen opportunity and you missed it shame on you i'm going to say again god created for man a helper suitable for him praise god amen now here's what we must do we must understand that that is not just about marriage it's not like that doesn't apply to the single person does it do you know why because what does man and woman create they create they god creates man god and they from man he gives woman and then what they do they have kids they create a community so the single person doesn't get to look at that and say well i guess they get a helper and i don't get a helper no why because god has given a community of believers to you the church right it's not good for us to be alone he creates a church a community for you so that's why we remember if you heard us last week we said what right that be fruitful and multiply has so much more to do than bearing kids which means what that if you're past the age of bearing kids you still have a responsibility to be fruitful and multiply how you should be adopting spiritual babies man bringing them into your home teaching them the word of god give a responsibility you have a call on that you're not just done and so he creates for him a helper adam and eve tempted by the serpent in the garden they fall they fail cast out of the garden fast forward god's people is in slavery in egypt god frees them from slavery they walk across the red sea they go to mount sinai right god in his sovereign electing purpose chooses for himself a nation the nation of israel and says you will be my people i will be your god right and then he brings them into the promised land they go into the promised land right and they start staying up there they're the in the in the promised land they're like yep this is us this is who we are we're god's people and then something goes a little fishy what goes a little fishy they look around they say you know what god we want to be like every other nation may i remind you church it is dangerous and terrifying when god's people say man i want to be like the world that's danger whenever you and i go we want the things of this world not you know more than we want the things of god that's danger and god says what pick your guy so they go and they go on a nationwide search get all the resumes and then get the best of the best of the best saul strongest best looking smartest whatever and he's what an epic failure just like in your life in my life when what when you and i do things our way instead of god's way what happens failure follows and so what does god do in his graciousness he says fine i'm going to give you the runt of the litter and he's going to be my guy so i go get this tiny like puny little kid named david and he says that's my king why because god doesn't bless talent he blesses those who fear him and so they get david david kills goliath great story go read it's wonderful um love that story we often miss that but that's in the sermon for another time and then they're like yep that's our king that's our guy that's our man and then one of david's friends a guy named ethan writes a hymn writes a song right so i want you all to remember this 50 times in scripture is the command of god to sing right singing is part of praise to god and so we have a whole song book in the bible called the psalter called the psalms and so he writes to him and one of those hymns you know it as psalm 89 and in psalm 89 he writes one of this one of the greatest psalms about the anticipation of the king that would have a forever reign on the throne hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years later a young 16 year old girl unplanned pregnancy virgin mary she has a child and she names him jesus which means what yahweh god saves and he grows in wisdom and in stature and i love how luke just really helps us through this right luke tells us that he goes to the jordan river with crazy john crazy john says all right let's dunk him he dunks jesus brings him out and the spirit of god anoints christ what is that anointing about that's king language kings were anointed with oil jesus was anointed with the holy spirit he comes out and the god calls from heaven this is my son in whom i'm well pleased listen to him and it's on battle and war is ready to go jesus gonna go take over hell but wait luke does something so strange he stops his story and gives a list of names a genealogy now most of us when we get to the genealogy we go okay and skip pastor's not going to test us on those yet think about it if you were making up a story if you're making up a fiction a fable you would not interrupt a story a fable with a list of names would you and he goes he takes this list name and goes from jesus all the way back to a guy named adam where we started and the very next statement luke says is and jesus was taken by the holy spirit into the wilderness in order that he may be tempted by the devil ah and then it says he fast for 40 days so why does luke do this think about it for a second you got adam and they've got wilderness temptation what is he wanting to do he's wanting you to compare adam and jesus adam was totally in the garden gardens are wonderful jesus was in the wilderness scary terrifying monsters adam had what eve a helper jesus all alone adam full of food jesus fasted for 40 days
and what does jesus do he says no to every temptation satan throws at him he says no by how he combats them with the word of god and in the pinnacle temptation is satan saying taking jesus to the highest mountain saying all the kingdoms of the world i will give you if you would just bow down to me what does jesus say you'll worship the lord god and him alone away from me satan that temptation is i think the most important temptation because what satan is offering jesus is what the world without the cross the world without suffering that's a temptation for me i'd go through this life no suffering sign me up bro and jesus said no i'm gonna do things god's way not my way do you hear what israel did god we're to do things our way not your way jesus i want to do things god way god's way not my own way and then jesus hung on a cross and on that cross he had that final temptation where god's people were coming down and saying you want us to believe in you you want you want you want us to believe in you then prove yourself and get down from that cross and jesus said nope i'm staying here because my father told me to be here and i'm going to follow him because man i would want to get down and say boom here i am bow down but christ in it why because there's something greater he's crushed on that cross by the father not by the romans crush on that cross buried in a rich man's grave as scripture said he would be and on the third day he marched out that great grave holding sin and death in his hands victory in his hands and the church the people of god who call christ king they hold that power sin you have no place here death i'm not afraid of you for christ is my king and he has conquered you oh death where is your sting it is swallowed up in victory praise be to god and this is the gospel this is what the whole bible is about that's what it's all about and john picks up this so majestically in revelation when he says what he's holding the scroll history future everything he's weeps where there's no one worthy to open the scroll and one of the other says behold the line of judah behold the king he looks and he sees what a lamb standing as though it had been slain and that lamb is worthy to open the scroll and so a whole bible is about one thing god is sovereign and in control and the church has a responsibility to cry out be reconciled to god and that's where paul's sitting at in colossians 1. so there's your intro here we go 15-17 he christ is the image of the invisible god the firstborn over 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 and he is before all things and in him all things hold together i am often asked not by you because y'all are wonderful um i'm often asked by people why is theology important why do we need to study it then just can't you just tell us what to do pastor that'd be so much easier again not by y'all and may i put this before you this morning if you are a christian you are a theologian if you are a christian you are a theologian why because theology just means what the study of god and so if i'm in relationship with god if i'm in relationship with god i want to study him how do i know that because i study my wife if she's like man i like chocolate what do i want to do get her chocolate right thank you and so we study god so we may know god and we know god so that we may walk as god has called us theology is for everyone because theology will ultimately lead you to understanding who god is and when we understand who god is we then know how to walk you cannot walk with god without knowing god
and so therefore we must hate action that neglects theology and we must hate theology that neglects action theology and application theology and action are happily married and they have no desire to ever separate don't say man i've got works you got your theology no no action and theology are together why because god is not truly known where he is not truly adored there is no knowledge of god outside of adoration of him if you think you know god you can know if you know god by how much you adore him and adore his word
and this is the call of the church to know him and to serve him the most theological statements in the bible have deep implications into application and the most applicable statements in the bible have deep implications into the theology the study of god so the question is well how can we know god and this is a great question you know god through three ways prayer to god word of god people of god that's how you can know god but to peel this back even further because because we're getting a unlimited view here is think about the question how can we know god who is god god is an all-knowing all-powerful all-present translation he is infinite which makes you and i what finite think about that for a moment how can the finite know the infinite and paul's answering that question because that's what bothers you and that's what bothers me the problem is we think we all know god but we forget he's infinite and we're finite therefore we are always learning about who learning about god i've never met anyone that's like i know it all about him the more mature you are the more you want to know about him and so here we have he is the image of the invisible god he is the exact the perfect manifestation of who god is john chapter 14 right jesus he's given the final his final instructions to his disciples as they're having dinner the last supper right and then philip he gets fed up and i'm so glad jesus is so much more patient than tonight it says quit with all this just show us the father and we'll be satisfied and jesus i mean look if it was me i'm like bro you're asking the preschool question in the doctorate level class he says if philip if you have seen me you have seen the father if you want to know who god is you look to christ you study christ no one has seen god because he's infinite
but jesus is the image of him moses had the same problem how i see your glory show me you god hides in the cleft of the rock passes by puts his hand over the cleft of the rock jesus sees the hindsight the trail end of his glory and what he glows it comes down isaiah right and you're we all know isaiah 6 in the year king uzziah died isaiah went to church right you all know that the glory of god filled the temple and he sees the train of the temp the train of the glory of god and he says what what was me i have undone i'm dead it's over for me
and so christ is the perfect manifestation of god truly god truly man perfectly divine perfectly human this makes him the perfect intercessor between you and me between the limited and the unlimited between the sinful and the holy and so the writer of hebrews tells us why this is important he tells us why this is important because he was made with he was made like us yet without sin why is this important friends because you and i don't get to look at god shake our fist at god and say you don't know what i'm going through you don't get to look at god and say you have no idea how i feel you have no idea what i'm walking through you don't know because god gets a yes because christ was made like you in every respect yet just without sin which means like you don't get to look at god and say god you've left me i'm all alone say what yeah what happened at the garden of gethsemane everyone left christ you don't get to look at god and say my friends have betrayed me sure he knows judas you don't get to look at god and say man i've lost so much sure christ i'm suffering so bad the cross
the reason why the reason why this is important paul says this in philippians chapter 2 although he christ had equality with god he did not count equality as something to be grasped rather taking on the form of the servant he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even death on a cross therefore god has highly exalted him and given him the name that is above every name so that at that name every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that jesus christ is lord understand this church when christ came to this earth he did not lose some of his divinity he didn't leave some of his divinity some of his holiness with god and say you got to hold on to that while i take on human form no no he was truly god truly man all the fullness of god pleased to dwell in him and so we know god because we've seen christ we saw this this past week first john if you miss home group this last week shame on you you missed a blessing first john is one of those books i think every christian needs to read at least once a month the building blocks of christianity first john 3 16 for this is love that christ laid down his life for us therefore we lay down our lives for the brethren do you know what love looks like do you want to know what love looks like do you want to know if you're loving your spouse loving loving your fellow church member look to the cross next is the statement where paul makes in here and he says he is the firstborn of all creation pay attention here this is why theology matters because you'll have false religions you'll have cults that hate god that will lie to you jehovah's witnesses and mormons will take this text and they'll say see here firstborn of all creation that means what that he is a created being do you know what the problem with that is is two things they haven't read the rest of it and they don't know what the old testament says so first off how do we know christ isn't a created being what his firstborn of creation means because next he's gonna say what all things were created by him for him through him so let me give you a little greek lesson this morning in greek all means all so there's no exception right all means all so that means including christ it's not like paul forgot about it right all means all and so he could not have been created because everything was created through christ which means he's pre-existent so what is going on here what does firstborn over all creation what does that mean first it is a reference to the old testament when when when god calls israel my first born remember luke he said he's getting that jesus is the better adam matthew gets it what jesus is the better israel the perfect israel so psalm 89 27 and i will make him the firstborn of all creation the highest of the kings of the earth firstborn overall creation is a call is a statement of the king of kings the lord of lords so why do we need to know this why is this important besides going out and debating this with with the cults of the world the answer because when it says firstborn it means preeminent means king of kings lord of lords in charge of all things and so when you have like a city of colossae very similar to what you and i are walking through where it's multiple religions at work and everyone everything everyone's religion is good until you start saying he is king of kings and lord of lords this is the encouragement that no matter what happens christ is in charge firstborn is to say it's to remind you and i and yes i'm stealing this from verse 16 and 17 that christ is the initiator the sustainer the completer and the goal of all creation let me say again christ is the initiator the sustainer the completer and the goal of all creation so this is the promise that christ rules over all things he rules over kingdoms he rules over kings he rules over even every dirt molecule that falls to the earth christ rules over it there is not an inch in this world in this universe that christ cannot say mine he says it's all mine it all belongs to me which means what think about what the church is going through they're going through persecution they're going out and they're saying what they've been called to say christ is king and persecution is following
why is this important because the book of colossians is a missional book you cannot read colossians and not be ignited to go take the gospel to the furthest ends of the world you cannot truly read colossians and not want to go tell everyone about the supremacy of christ and so what we see here john picks this up in revelation is at the end of time there will be though every tribe tongue nation language will be what around the throne room which means what that there will be tribes tongues nation languages that would be cast into the pit of hell friends there's only one kingdom in this world that you and i are ever concerned about one kingdom and that is the kingdom of god there's only one kingdom that will stand and that is the kingdom of god kingdoms rise kingdoms fall but christ remains this is our hope our king is on the throne and he there is not up for reelection
and so the whole book of colossians is a missional book this causes you and i to do what causes you and i to get off the couch and start saying what christ is king bow down to him or suffer can i can i just talk to you for a moment about the importance of that statement um we've talked about prayer in this church last few weeks because it's central to paul's theme and colossians a lot of people struggle in prayer because their prayers are too small i think one of the scariest things for me is we spend so much time praying people out of heaven oh god heal heal heal heal heal heal and not enough time praying people out of hell we're so worried about physical sickness that we neglect the spiritual sickness and look i understand physical things are important i'm not trying to diminish that please understand that but i want you to hear if you want a vibrant prayer life start praying for eternal things don't pray about little things that are temporal pray for the eternal things as well as the the temporal things i understand those are good don't misunderstand me but it scares me we pray so much more getting keeping people from heaven and keeping people from hell
and so the next part of this is paul says that he in him all things are 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 i want you to see that what i say all means all so what else is at work against the church colossal what else is that working in your life in my life satan this is highly important that's a very bold statement all things including satan is under christ's rule and reign i love how martin luther says it satan is god's dog on a leash i love that statement how do i know that because this is so beautiful that satan is not because this is so against what the culture is of colossae right because they have zeus and hades good versus evil what is the bible god is sovereign over all and he's saying be reconciled to me or be cast out into utter darkness
and so here's the truth god is sovereign and in complete control over satan how do i know i've read the book of job what does satan do he has to ask god's permission think about how even satan is used for the glory of god now how can that be how can this evil satan be used for the glory of god let me tell you about this thing called the cross jesus in john 8 said what satan is a murderer from the beginning what happens on the cross christ through the hands of lawless men is murdered and this works for the glory and the majesty of god so what do we get to do as the church we get to look at satan and as james promises we say flee from me draw near to god and he'll draw near to you resist this devil and he will flee you you see why because god's sovereign over it he's in control of him what do we do we come before him and we bow and worship so we have nothing to fear because if christ is defeated sin and death what is there to fear not satan he has no argument because satan's always had only had one argument look how sinful these guys are like god needs to be reminded and what's the cross i've paid for it there's no more debt left to be paid for the christian for the church
and so satan may kill you murder from the beginning but that all works for god's glory again i want to point back to revelation if you read revelation carefully what is the final act that brings brings about god's final judgment on this world the prayers of the martyrs if you read the book of acts you'll see that as the church gets persecuted it what it grows like because when persecution comes in when persecution comes in the fake believers they take off but the real people they stay and god uses that for his glory finally i want us to see that he holds all things together think about the importance of that text when jesus was being whipped by the romans he gave permission for that those leather straps to go through the air breaking the sound barrier and taking the flesh off of his back he gave permission for the soldiers to hawk a loogie gave them actually the breath and the loogie to hawk the loogie that would be thrust upon him he let the nails be driven into his hands and his feet why because he trusted in the plan of god because it was a perfect plan our king rules and reign from the cross
verse 18 through 20. and he is the head of the body of the church he is the beginning the firstborn from the dead that in everything he might be preeminent for in him the fullness of god all the fullness of god sorry all the fullness of god was pleased to dwell and through him to reconcile to himself all things whether on earth or in heaven making peace by the blood of christ
um you may be in here this morning and you may be wondering and arguing with me in your mind and i know how you argue because i'm like that so i argued with myself this week how can the russian ukraine conflict bring any praise to christ maybe you're thinking i don't see how cancer i don't see how my wayward child i don't see how church leaders nullifying their ministry through sin how that ever brings glory to god i don't see it pastor i don't feel it so therefore you must be wrong
and let me tell you i don't care what you and i feel i care about what god's word says let me give you a text second corinthians chapter 4 says we look not to the things that are seen but the things that are unseen for the things that are seen are passing away but the things that are unseen are eternal i can't see how god's gonna get the glory from this well of course you can't what are you you're the clay he's the potter as i said last week you're a fruit fly bro
he is eternal and infinite who are you old man to tell god what you do and do not see your child is to say i trust you god i trust you and everything that in everything you're going to be preeminent that you're going to get the glory in all things because you create all things and you're the goal of all creation to the praise of his name
and so yeah you may be in here walking through a struggle and i don't see and i encourage you brother or sister trust none what you can see or don't see earn your feelings but what in god has declared in his word when you cannot see put your head on the pillows of the promises of god brother and sister beloved and then he goes on to talk about the church and the reconciliation of the church again second corinthians chapter five i think it's one of the best marching orders for the church that we have a ministry of reconciliation that's your ministry that's my mission that's your job that's my job understand that so understand how this work how did god reconcile the enemies of god and make them friends sons daughters kingdoms how they conquer they did they conquer through how destruction they'd go they'd conquer they take out the military forces and then they'd go to the civilians and they'd hold a sword to their neck and say here's the deal obey us or die you make your choice but what did christ do he did the opposite he said i will die so that you will be reconciled to me and so the church takes on that same ministry that same thought i will take it on myself so when someone sins against you in the body what do you do i'll take it i forgive you why because christ did that for me
and this is central to the church and this is not a feel-good type of a thing is it and this will stand in the face of consumer christianity um our culture is that of consumerism um you go to your restaurant you don't like the meal you go down to the next restaurant right i don't like starbucks so man i'll go to viva coffee house or wherever your choice is right that you have you have the freedom to do that you have the good things to do that praise god that we can do that but church is not that way the church doesn't get to be the consumers that's not the call of the church the church is the givers because we've consumed the holy spirit we've been given the holy spirit and so you don't get that you don't get to go to church and get them get say you know what it didn't work for me you didn't fill me up but didn't do this for me no no no what do you do you are a member of a church and you dig in and then you ask the question what does god require of me consumer christianity is a christianity that cannot last it will not last consumer christianity will destroy your view of god you will never see the majesty of god if you have a consumer mindset and you'll go from church to church to church always being able to point out the flaws and never looking at the flaws in your own heart
reading the mail y'all
which means what that if you think you are mature in christ you're able to know your maturity by by how not how much you consume but how much you sacrifice not how much you receive but how much you give because when you give christ gives unto you
and so god does what is totally opposite of human nature does he not humanity is this you sinned against me so you owe me reparations what does god do you sin against me so i will pay for your sin and the church takes us on
and this is first john and this is love not that we have loved god but but that god has loved us and has sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins god took the first step
and so what we all we don't we don't when we get frustrated and upset we don't take our ball and go we dig our heels and then say let us serve one another for the glory and the majesty of god
may i remind you that the only way you see this is if you cast your eyes on the cross he had all the power to stop it and he chose not to why because he trusted in that glorious plan of the father
and so paul says something so fascinating here and i i absolutely love this the fullness of god pleased to dwell that sounds really familiar to you doesn't it john 1 14 and the word became flesh and dwelt among us better translation tabernacled among us the dwelling place of god so this is an old testament thing he wants you to understand this he wants you to get around this in the old testament right when they were traveling from egypt into the promised land and wandering for decades they carried what the tabernacle where the presence of god the presence of god pleases well and how could you approach the tabernacle through sacrifice and then they build then they build the temple and the temple becomes a place of sacrifice and sacrifice so that you can go into the presence of god you can commune with god jesus comes fullness of god pleases well anyway he becomes the tabernacle and the sacrifice so that as hebrews says what the priests stand daily offering sacrifice day after day they looked more like butchers than they did pastors but christ has offered himself once and for all and he is what seated at the right hand of god
and this presence dwells where in his church
in his church and the people of god because of what christ has done he is the sacrifice paul picks up the same thought that there is no worship without sacrifice you can't look at me and you can't you can't say i'm worshiping and no sacrifice it doesn't exist how do i know romans chapter 12 says what offer your bodies as living sacrifices holy and pleasing to the lord for this is worship because there's nowhere nowhere nowhere in the bible where you will find worship without sacrifice because when you sacrifice your bodies worship follows he fills up what is lacking when we get low
and so god gave of himself and so we give of others and when this happens the knowledge of god will cover the earth like the water covers the sea and so therefore the whole purpose of growing in god is that i may decrease that he may increase
so we have gathered we have grown how do we go how do we take this high and lofty truth to the heroes of tucson first satan is real he is a created being and he's under the control of god satan is not some sort of lab experiment that went wrong
because we read this in first john greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world christ has defeated satan he's defeated satan through one area in one area only the cross therefore when satan comes and says you're not worthy you're not good you're not this you're not that you take that and you stand at the foot of the cross and kneel before christ and satan will run and flee because that's where he was ended so what do i tell you to do preach the gospel to yourself each and every morning let me tell you you should hear me preaching to myself in the shower it's great preach the gospel to yourself next listen to this wisdom and maturity do not come because you've lived the longest wisdom and charity come not from how many years you have lived wisdom and maturity come from how many feet you have washed
wisdom and maturity come not from your feelings but from god's word wisdom and maturity not come because you have something to say but you have something worthy to say most people think because i can say something i'm therefore wise dear friends that's facebook that's not wisdom
do not listen to anyone who finds it okay to have a whole conversation and not declare the glories of god you will know the maturity of someone by how they talk about their king and savior you will know how wise and mature someone is by how they talk about the word of god and if they're ever okay never talking up never bringing up the glorious the majesties of greatness and thanking god and all things run from that person because they're clearly not mature you know who i want to surround myself with people who ignite me to see the glories of christ that's wisdom and maturity and i don't care how old you are finally true worship does not happen without sacrifice true worship does not happen without sacrifice you will never see know and savor the majesty of christ without sacrifice consumer christianity will never ever ever grow you but what will sacrifice because that's what christ has done for us and so therefore we offer our bodies as living sacrifices holy and pleasing to the lord because that's what our king has done church may i remind you that this is not a call to the world and we're not in negotiations we have one message be reconciled to god or hell awaits you
that's the only message we have because he is totally worth it and he is worthy and he is king let's pray father god we thank you for this morning god we thank you for this text god we thank you for the glories of the cross father god we ask you to move in our hearts god that we may see the supremacy of you in all things god that we may see the glory of you in all things god help us get low so that you may be lifted high and mighty god take your gospel god and resurrect dead hearts for your glory god help us not be consumers but sacrifices unto you and god let us sacrifice our bodies so that you may be glorified we pray these things your sons holy and righteous name amen hi i'm pastor scott pastor of the oasis church listen we are so excited that you decide to join us for the preaching and teaching of god's word we just pray that this will stir your affections towards christ but we have one encouragement we want to leave you with please do not allow this to take the place of the local body of believers we pray that you will be involved in a local congregation a local church that you can find yourself submitting under the eldership and the leadership of a local church we pray that you will find yourself stirred towards christ and that your joy in christ will be ever increasing