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The Transforming Power of the Gospel
Sunday, August 6, 2023
Pastor Jojo Ma
Weekly Bulletin | Worship Lyrics
Colossians 1:1-8
J.C. Ryle: “No person has ever thought too much of Christ.”
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. 3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing --- as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf 8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.
I. Praise God for His sovereignty over all things [v1]
II. Praise God for our union in Christ [v2]
III. Praise God for the transforming power of the gospel [vv3-5]
IV. Praise God for the fruit of the gospel throughout the world [v6]
V. Praise God for believers who taught you the gospel [vv7-8]
I. Praise God for His sovereignty over all things [v1]
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother.
If you visit a church and the pastor calls himself an apostle and he claims to have the office of apostleship, I have 3 words of advice for you: Run, don’t walk.
Paul is a man under authority and he is a man who knows and believes that God is absolutely sovereign over all.
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother.
R.C. Sproul: “If God is not sovereign, God is not God. If there is one maverick molecule in the universe, one molecule running loose outside the scope of God's sovereign ordination, there is not the slightest confidence that you can have that any promise that God has ever made about the future will come to pass.”
Ps 115:3 Our God is in heaven; He does whatever pleases Him.
II. Praise God for our union in Christ [v2]
2 To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.
This grace isn’t saving grace because they are already believers. It’s more a kind of sustaining grace.
2 To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae.
We are at some place all of the time. We are at home, at work, at church, at some city in southern California. But we are in Christ. That’s way more important. Not location but position.
Everything about our salvation and our lives points to this great reality of our union with Christ, that we are together with him. We are his and he is ours.
III. Praise God for the transforming power of the gospel [vv3-5]
3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel.
This is a good reminder to us that we should be a people here at CrossLife that is practicing gratitude and also encouraging those around us. Less grumbling, more gratitude; less tearing down, more building up.
4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints.
That is the order, first faith, then love. You can’t truly be loving in the New Testament sense apart from faith. You need to exper the forgiveness and kindness of God first, received by faith, and from that faith, you can then learn to love.
True faith will lead to a heart of one anothering, which is the ethos of the entire New Testament. In the New Testament, the Christian life is the church life, and the church life is a life of one anothering and loving and fulfilling the law of Christ.
5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel.
Biblical hope is not something we wish for, it’s something we actually have. Biblical hope isn’t mere optimism, it’s future realism.
Worldly hope is mostly wishful thinking. Biblical hope is a guaranteed possession. Paul says in v5 our hope is “laid up” in heaven. It’s locked up and waiting. It’s a done deal. So live today in light of that hope.
5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel.
IV. Praise God for the fruit of the gospel throughout the world [v6]
6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing --- as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth.
Mk 4:8 And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.
The gospel began in Israel and has spread all over the world. It was never meant to stay in the Middle East. The good news was always meant to be a global message, a salvation for every people and tribe and nation.
“The Word of God is the only seed that can be planted anywhere in the world and bear fruit.”
6…as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth.
The gospel changes us immediately. The moment someone believes, they begin growing and bearing fruit. They have new desires, especially for God and God’s people.
6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing --- as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth.
The gospel is not just for unbelievers but also for believers. It is how we are saved and how we grow. It isn’t the ABC of Christianity, it’s the A-Z. There is no time we live the Christian life apart from the transforming power of the gospel, the grace of God in truth.
V. Praise God for believers who taught you the gospel [vv7-8]
7 just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf 8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.
Who will learn the gospel from you? If everyone learns the gospel from someone, who will learn the gospel from you?
I. Praise God for His sovereignty over all things [v1]
II. Praise God for our union in Christ [v2]
III. Praise God for the transforming power of the gospel [vv3-5]
IV. Praise God for the fruit of the gospel throughout the world [v6]
V. Praise God for believers who taught you the gospel [vv7-8]