“The Gospel Changes Everything”
Colossians 1:3-8
Series: The All-Satisfying Christ (Colossians)
Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD
Henderson’s First Baptist Church, Henderson
I invite you to take your Bibles and open to the passage that was read for us earlier in Colossians, chapter 1.
Last week we began a new series of messages—verse by verse—through this little letter, just 4 chapters, 95 verses, a brief letter Paul wrote to the church at Colosse.
We said that, in a word, the Book of Colossians is about Jesus. We’re reading about Jesus Christ, who He is, what He has done, and how our knowing Him affects who we are and what we do.
In this letter the Apostle Paul describes the preeminence of Christ—Christ’s superiority, supremacy, greatness. The preeminence of Christ is both a fact and the key to experiencing true life. To have Jesus Christ is to have everything. Lasting peace, lasting joy, real purpose, and meaning are found exclusively in Him, the “All-Satisfying Christ.” As Paul puts it in chapter 2, Christians are “complete in Him.”
Writing of Jesus Christ, Paul says in Colossians 2:9-10Open in Logos Bible Software (if available), one of the key passages in the letter, Paul says:
9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;
10 And you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.
• Before we go any further, let’s go to Him in prayer.
This morning’s passage, verses 3 through 8, breaks down into three little sections, three blessings for us to consider together. These three blessings concern three key words—gratitude, gospel, and growth. So I want to talk about these three words this morning—gratitude, gospel, and growth—and then, after we have studied the passage, I want to give you a couple take-home points to think about, to ponder, and talk about later today and this week.
Okay, so first let’s:
I. Consider the Blessing of Gratitude (3)
After Paul’s general introduction in verses 1 and 2, he writes specifically now in verse 3: “We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,” and Paul is expressing his gratitude to God for what he hears about the Colossians. We note that truth in the following verse, verse 4, Paul says, “since we hear of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all the saints…”
So Paul is thanking God for what he hears about the church at Colosse. He is expressing his gratefulness to God for what is happening in and through the Colossians. “We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
He hears about these Christians and it causes him to say, “Thank you, God.” What he learns about the Colossians leads to his gratitude to God.
And that gratitude to God leads to his praying for them. “We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you.” And the prayer that he prays is the subject of a future sermon, a future message, deriving from verses 9 and following. You’ll see that there at verse 9: “For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom,” and so on.
Paul’s gratitude to God for the Colossians is expressed in prayer for the Colossians.
Now, what happens when you think of your brothers and sisters not in this church in Colosse, but this church in Kentucky? Are you grateful for this church? Do you thank God for your church family?
More personally, how do you suppose others think of you? Does your name evoke a sense of gratitude to God? Someone hears of you and says, “Thank God,” and it’s for a good reason. It’s not, “Thank God he’s gone,” but, “Thank You, God;” gratitude. “We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you.”
The blessings of gratitude. Secondly, let’s:
II. Consider the Blessing of the Gospel (4-5)
Paul writes in verse 4 and following: “We’ve heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints;—verse 5—because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel…”
There is so much here in verses 4 and 5. Some of you keen observers will have picked up on the three popular terms Paul lists in these two verses—faith, hope, and love. You see that triad there in verse 4: “We’ve heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints;—verse 5—because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven…” Faith, hope, and love.
Paul likes these terms a lot. Most of are familiar with his mentioning them in 1 Corinthians 13, the so-called “love chapter” of the Bible. Paul concludes 1 Corinthians 13 with: “And now abide faith, hope, and love, these three…”
And there are other places in the New Testament where Paul strings together these three virtues.
Here, in Colossians 1, Paul is using “faith, hope, and love” in their relation to the gospel, the power of the gospel, the good news. So let’s examine these three terms in the order they are given to us in verses 4 and 5, faith, love, and hope.
Look again at verse 4. Paul says he his thanking God for the Colossians, praying for them—verse 4— “Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus…”
Faith is a popular word, but there is a faith that is empty. That’s how many people use the word. There’s no object of the faith. It’s just “faith,” like, “I have faith; I am optimistic that everything will be okay.” Well, that is not Christian faith. Christian faith has an object and the object is Jesus Christ, and the power of the gospel.
Paul says in verse 4, “I have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus.”
So you can say you have faith, but not be saved. Remember James from not too many weeks ago. “Someone says he has faith.” And James teaches that there is no good in faith, just in and of itself. What good is faith if there is no obedience that springs forth from faith?
“I have faith, but I don’t go to church. I’m not a member. I don’t go to worship. I don’t need to do that.” Well, wait a minute. Christian faith is a faith that changes one’s heart and inclines one’s heart to desire to obey the things of God and the Word of God. So Hebrews 10:25Open in Logos Bible Software (if available) says, “Don’t stop going to church and live like a non-Christian. That’s how the Gentiles behave, how the pagans reason. Let us not forsake the assembling of ourselves together.” If we have faith we want to obey God’s Word. We want to assemble with our church family because we’ve have been given the gift of faith. And obedience springs from saving faith.
So just acknowledging there is a higher power does not save a person. Scoring a touchdown and pointing to the sky does not make one a Christian. Saying at a major awards ceremony that you wish to thank God does not in and of itself mean that one is a true believer. We are saved only by grace, through faith in Christ Jesus. Faith.
Then Paul writes of love. He says, “We thank God and we pray for you—verse 4—“since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints.”
Love for all the saints—note the connection between verses 4 and 5—it is “because of,”—verse 5—“because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before int he word of the truth of the gospel.” That is, it is because of the power of the gospel that you “love all the saints.”
The gospel makes possible a love for all the saints.
Now remember that anyone who is a Christian is a saint. Anyone who has repented from sin and turned to Christ and has received Christ into his or her heart; this is what qualifies one to be called a saint.
You don’t have to wait a hundred years after you’ve died and some committee forms and reviews your life and votes on whether you can be called a saint. The New Testament teaches that anyone who is a Christian is a saint. You could call me, “Saint Todd.” And you are, “Saint John, Saint Mary, Saint Bob.”
And Paul says that the Gospel makes possible our love for all the saints, all the saints, including the ones easy to love and not-so-easy to love, people just like you and me.
I like how Hal Seed put it in the discussion guide back when we were in our series, “I Love Sundays.” He said there are some people in the church who are really sweet—and they’re easy to love—and then there are some people who are kind of salty—perhaps not as naturally endearing to us, but we love them nonetheless because of the power of the gospel. We have a love for all the saints.
We love all the saints in Henderson’s First Baptist Church and all the saints in every other church in Henderson, and all the saints in every church in Croatian, Iran, Korea, the Sudan, and Syria. All the saints. We have a Christian family all over the world, a family that comprises every tribe, tongue, and nation. A love for all the saints.
Faith, love, and now hope, verse 5. Paul says, “We thank God as we hear about your faith, and your love for all the saints,”—and how? How is that love for all saints possible?—verse 5, “because of the hope” which you have. Paul says it is a “hope which is laid up for you in heaven,” and he goes on to say that this hope is a hope “of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel.”
In the Bible, hope is not so much an action as it is an object.
It’s not like the popular English word we use today in our conversation. When we use the word “hope” in everyday conversation, it always contains an element of uncertainty. You know, “I hope the weather is nice,” may or may not happen; uncertainty. “I hope the car starts…I hope the teacher forgets about the assignment…I hope there’s ice cream in the fridge…I hope the preacher is finished soon,” may or may not happen; uncertainty.
But when the Bible speaks of hope it is not an action, it is an object. And the hope of the Christian is not an uncertainty, but an absolute, guaranteed fact.
Christian hope conveys confidence, assurance, certitude, a definite factual reality. There is no uncertainty; you can count on it; you can bank on it. It will happen.
And the hope specifically is everything God has in store for the Christian; everything. The hope about which the New Testament speaks is the sum total of all of God’s promises to us in Christ Jesus.
For example, in 1 Peter 1:3Open in Logos Bible Software (if available)-4 Peter writes of the Christian’s, “living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,” he says a hope defined as, “an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you…”
Hope. Certainty. Fact. Future reality.
And Paul goes on to say in verse 5 that this hope is a hope you heard about when you heard the gospel.
The word “gospel” means what? Good news. In classical Greek the word “gospel” referred mostly to the good news of a reported victory of some kind. The good guys won in the battle. When that was reported that was “gospel,” that was good news.
Now note that Paul says in verse 5 that this “hope which is laid up for you in heaven,” this future inheritance, is a hope, “of which you heard before in the—what?—word, “the word of the truth of the gospel.”
So if you want to grow in your understanding of the truth of heaven and your inheritance and all that awaits you, read the Word. The Colossians had heard the word. They listened to the word, studied the word. You want to grow in your understanding of spiritual things including the future blessing of heaven, then listen to the Word. Don’t waste a lot of time listening to or reading about somebody’s so-called experience or conjecture about what they think heaven is like. Read the Word.
The blessing of gratitude; the blessing of the gospel. Thirdly:
III. Consider the Blessing of Growth (6-8)
Writing of the gospel, Paul says in verse 6, the gospel “which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit,”
The gospel causes growth. It is not church marketing that causes growth. It is the gospel that causes growth. It is not a special kind of worship service that causes growth. It is the gospel that causes growth—true growth—a growth of the church Paul describes in verse 6 as, “bringing forth fruit.”
The older manuscripts say, “bringing forth fruit and growing.” The gospel causes growth—true growth—life-changing growth; bringing life to that which was dead. The gospel changes a person and then goes on changing a person increasingly over time. The blessing of growth.
And that growth is seen not just in an individual person, but in an among various people of the world. Paul says this gospel—verse 6—“has come to you, as it has also in all the world.”
He’s talking about all kinds of people wherever the gospel is preached, wherever the gospel is shared. He’s talking about the work of evangelism and missions. He’s talking about our obedience to the Lord’s commission to share the gospel in Jerusalem and the uttermost parts of the earth, from the community to the continents.
This is why we are committed to missional partnerships. Henderson’s First Baptist Church is sharing the gospel in Henderson, sharing Christ with neighbors and co-workers, family and students. We’re sharing the gospel this week in eastern Kentucky on our mission trip to Whitley City. We have ladies from this very congregation sharing the gospel in China and Kazakhstan. We have a family from this very church sharing the gospel today in modern Turkey, not too very far from ancient Colosse. And we have missional partnerships in Thailand, and Laos, and Brazil.
The gospel causes growth. It is a growth that comes from—verse 7—hearing and knowing the grace of God in truth. And Paul goes on to say that these Colossian people had heard and learned the word from a missionary named, “Epaphras.” See him there in verse 7: “as you also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf.”
Epaphras is the short form of the name, “Epaphroditus.” Epaphras is mentioned again in the closing of Paul’s letter in chapter 4 where Paul describes him as, “one of you.” Epaphras was from Colosse. So Epaphras had heard and learned the gospel—probably from Paul in Ephesus—and then went back to Colosse and shared the gospel with others; a true missionary!
And then Epaphras reported back to Paul how these new Christians in Colosse we’re getting along. Paul says in verse 8 that Epaphras “also declared to us your love in the Spirit.”
These new believers had genuine love, a “love in the Spirit.” Christian love is not natural. You can’t drum it up. Christian love is supernatural. That is why we must really stop and think about whether we have such love. Christian love is one of the fruit-bearing characteristics mentioned by Paul in Galatians 5:22Open in Logos Bible Software (if available). In fact, it is first. “The fruit of the Spirit is love…”
There is a sense in which Christian love is evidence that one is a true believer. Such love comes from God. Paul does not say, “I thank YOU all, you Colossians for your love.” Remember he says, “I thank GOD for your love.” Christian love comes from God. It is a gift from God by way of His Holy Spirit.
Now having considered these three blessings in the text: gratitude, gospel, and growth, let me give you two take-home truths about how this gospel that changed the Colossians 2,000 years ago is the same gospel that can change Kentuckians 2,000 years later.
••Two Take-Home Truths:
The Gospel Changes Your Future Destination
(What happens in death)
This is a truth most people acknowledge but few people actually embrace.
Jesus says in Matthew 7:13-14Open in Logos Bible Software (if available):
13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
The Gospel has the power to change your future destination. The Gospel has the power to grant you the joy and privilege and blessing of heaven.
Paul describes that future reality in verse 5 as, “the hope which is laid up for you in heaven.” The Christian’s eternal inheritance in heaven is a fact, an assurance, a certainty. Christian hope is not an action; Christian hope is an object. If you have turned from your sin in repentance, and have turned to Christ in faith, you may be assured of that wonderful hope.
The Gospel changes your future destination. Second take-home truth this morning:
The Gospel Changes Your Present Situation
(What happens in life)
Since the majority of us this morning profess to be Christians, then let this truth in particular get down deep within you:
The truth of the gospel has the power not only to change your future destination, but also the power to change your present situation. The gospel is not only about death; the gospel is about life.
The gospel has the power to change our perspective. It changes the way we think about things, how we spend our time, what we value, and so on.
Paul will show us this application more pointedly in the second half of the letter but, as a foreshadow of what’s to come, consider again what he says at the beginning of chapter 3, Colossians 3:1-3Open in Logos Bible Software (if available):
1 If then (or since then) you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.
2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
Now I got pretty fired up last week about verse 4, “When Christ who is our life appears,” but this morning look again at verse 2. Paul says, “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.”
What happens when you “set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth?”
It changes the way you look at things. It changes the way you live in the present. A heavenly perspective changes your present situation.
You start focusing on things above, you start regularly contemplating what you have in Christ, you start thinking about where you’re going one day when you breathe your last breath on planet earth, and it changes everything. The gospel changes everything.
You set your mind on things above and not on things on the earth and…
You become more loving, more caring, more generous, more at peace.
You become less irritable, less worldly, less prideful, less jerky.
You become more forgiving, more outward-focused. You become less selfish, less self-centered. Why? Because you are setting your mind on things above.
The writer of Hebrews talks about this in Hebrews 10. He says when you consider what you have in the heaven, it makes you a more thoughtful person here.
He writes of Christians in Hebrews 10:34Open in Logos Bible Software (if available):
34 for you had compassion on the prisoners in chains [you visited those who were imprisoned], and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods [you didn’t mind if people stole your possessions], knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven.
If you set your mind on things above and not on the things of earth, you can even accept the plundering of your goods—why—because you know the all-satisfying Christ and you know you have a better and enduring possession for yourselves in heaven!
You set your mind on things above and not on the things of earth and you can endure suffering.
2 Corinthians 4:17-18Open in Logos Bible Software (if available):
17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
The Gospel changes everything. The Gospel changes what you value, how you spend your time, what you do for others. Remember what Jesus taught in the parable in Luke 14?
12 Jesus said to the one who invited Him, “When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, or your rich neighbors, because they’ll invite you back, and that’s how you’ll be repaid. 13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind. 14 And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you—but you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”—Luke 14:12-14Open in Logos Bible Software (if available).
The Gospel changes your values. You set your mind on things above and not on the things of the earth and it changes your “hereafter” as well as what you’re “after here.”
The all-satisfying Christ!
I’d rather have Jesus
than silver or gold
I’d rather be His
than have riches untold
I’d rather have Jesus
than anything this world affords today
• Stand for prayer.
COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER: The text contained in this sermon is solely owned by its author. The reproduction, or distribution of this message, or any portion of it, should include the author’s name. The author intends to provide free resources in order to inspire believers and to assist preachers and teachers in Kingdom work.
Resource Info
