Walk in Christ

Well, good morning Church it's good to be with you again here and Silicon Valley Reformed Baptist Church.

It's a pleasure to Spend time with you and your families again, and I appreciate it once again the hospitality of the

Saints here and the Saints from Sturgeon Bay greet you and send their greetings to you in the name of the

Lord Jesus Christ If you have a Bible, please turn to Colossians chapter 2 the

New Testament epistle written by Paul the book of Colossians the second chapter

Starting in verse 1 and we'll be examining verses 1 through 10 this morning Hear ye the word of the

Lord Colossians chapter 2 starting in verse 1 For I want you to know how great a struggle

I have for you and for those that later to see ya And for all who have not seen me face to face that their hearts may be encouraged being knit together in love to reach all the riches of full assurance of Understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery which is

Christ in whom are hidden all the treasures of Wisdom and knowledge and I say this in or that no one may delude you with plausible arguments

For though I am absent in body yet. I am with you in spirit

Rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ Therefore as you received

Christ Jesus the Lord so walk in him rooted and built up in him

Established in the faith just as you were taught abounding and thanksgiving

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and emptied the seats according to human tradition

According to the elemental spirits of the world and not according to Christ for in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily and you have been filled in him who is the head and rule of all authority

Father God, I ask that you to bless the preaching of your word this morning They would go forth and power authority and it would not return on board

But indeed Lord that it would fulfill all that you desire for it to accomplish in the hearing the preaching of your word

May the Saints receive that which you have placed before us in Jesus name. Amen Church I Want you to know this morning that life can and will be a struggle

I Look at this writing from Paul in Colossians 2. I Notice that Paul was a man whose life was marked by many struggles many intense struggles

This is a man who grew up in Judaism Who ended up?

Devoting his life to his religion and So zealous did he become for his religion they when this new group?

Started to arise within his own faith This sect that was called Christianity as they began to see this rise of of this

Messiah This this Jesus Paul became so zealous for his faith that he decided he was going to use his life to persecute the

Christians to persecute God's people little did he know as They were laying coats at his feet for the martyrdom of Stephen That he would have his own encounter with the risen

Lord of history The Lord Jesus Christ and on the road to Damascus he encounters the living

Jesus And it changed his life as a result of this his life didn't become any easier

Instead it became far more difficult his life was marked with difficulty and struggles and Highs and lows this is a man who would become shipwrecked a man who would suffer

Almost being murdered outside the city gates and walls. This is a man who would now spend his life in pursuit of Christ and his kingdom and Him writing to the church in Colossi says in Colossians chapter 2 verse 1 for I want you to know how great a

Struggle I have for you The struggle is a struggle that he says

I have for you and for all those that lay to see ya and for all those Who have not seen me face to face the

Apostle Paul relays his great struggle for the church Designed that their hearts Would receive something in verse 2 it says that their hearts may be encouraged being knit together in love

To reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is

Christ Paul relays again his great struggle for the church desiring that their hearts would be

Encouraged maybe some of you today are in need of some encouragement. I But be be assured of this

God knows your struggles God even cares for your struggles and it's intimately

Wants to be involved in the struggles of your life so that you may be encouraged and knit together by love and This is not a just purposeless euphoric love that God wants you to experience, but it's on to a greater purpose

His love his encouragement his knitting together that he wants for you is in order that you may reach all the riches of full assurance of Understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is

Christ You see God desires for you this morning Not simply to cease your struggles.

That's not what he's asking of us But rather that in your struggles it would lead you to a place of encouragement being knit together by love

Receiving the fullness of the measure and assurance and understanding and knowledge of God's mystery

Maybe some of you like to read mystery books I don't like to read mystery books like to watch maybe mystery movies or documentaries about Unsolved mysteries those things always seem to captivate me and yet God is revealing to us a mystery that is in the

Greek a sacred secret a secret that is a Held by the prophets and the

Apostles and there was a secret beginning from the beginning of time When Adam and Eve fell into sin, the

Bible says that God would send forth a Savior He says in Genesis chapter 3 verse 15 that there would be a seed there would be promised who were crushed ahead of the serpent that serpent being

Satan the devil our enemy and The secret was held throughout the ages and revealed and and also a glimpses of its glory was manifested onto the prophets onto the

Israelites onto the patriarchs and Finally we have in the New Testament writings a revelation of God's mystery, which is

Jesus Christ brothers and sisters life Can and is a struggle

Now Christian ministry can be a struggle as Paul relates yet. Our struggle is not meaningless

Nor without purpose rather it is in our struggles that we find the encouragement based upon love the love of God so that we may be empowered to withstand all the difficulties and stresses of This life

Paul again was a man who was marked with many difficulties yet. He never looked back Never did he look back to his former life and says man

I wish I can go back to those old times when I had not a care in the world But instead he looked forward steadfast unshakable unmovable in the work of the

Lord He says again in Colossians chapter 2 Reading again verse 2 is that their hearts may be encouraged

There's an encouragement waiting for you and for me in God's Word. What is this encouragement?

This encouragement is Being knit together in love to reach the full riches of assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery

Again there's a mystery at play here God's love. However, it's not just a euphoric emotion, but it is intended to help us reach the riches of full assurance

That kind of assurance is the assurance that we have in Christ, which we believe is eternal security

Here's the good news. I want to share with you today Saints if you are in Christ this morning You are in the safest place

Possible to be there is nowhere better to be than in the arms and the hands of our capable

Savior the Lord Jesus Christ, so regardless of your circumstances Jesus holds you in your circumstances and you will be unshakable and unmovable there because the one who holds you is

Greater than all things the Lord Jesus himself says in John chapter 10 that my sheep hear my voice

And they listen to me and no one can pluck them out of his hands

Safe and security are do we experience in the hands of our merciful?

wonderful Savior Jesus Christ So regardless of your struggle the one who holds you is greater and bigger than your struggles

So rest assured that you are in a safe and secure Secure Location in the hands of Jesus Christ who is

God's mystery and yet? It also tells us that there is a full assurance This eternal security of understanding and knowledge that is in Christ in God's mystery

Why is Jesus the mystery of God? well because Jesus Christ is the one whom all the prophets and all the scripture points to if you were to Sum up sum up the

Bible the Bible could be summed up in this it is the story of God's redemption In and through the person and work of Jesus Christ the

Bible from Genesis to Revelation is all about Jesus amen it's all about him and Because of that truth some of the most of the

Old Testament prophets as they prophesied about Jesus they were looking at things through a hazy

Metal mirror they couldn't see in full and yet at the proper time and at the right time

God sends forth his Son into human history born of the

Virgin To live the life that you and I could not live the Bible says a he was perfect.

He was holy he was sinless The Bible also says that he died the death that we all deserved sinful sons and daughters of Adam We are all rightfully deserving of the wrath of God and yet by God's infinite wisdom his love for Humanity and for the outpouring of his purpose upon the cosmos

He sent forth his son to be a propitiation for our sins a sin offering an atoning sacrifice

So that those who would put their faith in Jesus Christ should not perish But have everlasting life.

This is the mystery that God has brought to light in the New Testament That Jesus Christ is the promised

Messiah of his people that Jesus Christ is indeed God come into human flesh the one of whom the prophets said

Unto us a child shall be born and the government shall be upon his shoulders and his name shall be called the mighty

God the Prince of Peace and to the increase of his government there shall be no end

This mystery has been revealed and manifested on to us through the pages of the New Testament That this

Jesus who was the word who was in the beginning didn't come and was manifested on to us this word that was in the beginning who was with God and was

God has now come into that which was his own and yet his own did not receive him and Because of that he now gives the right to those who put their faith and trust in him to become the children of God What a wonderful Mystery that has been unraveled that we are now beneficiaries of through the gospel of Jesus Christ in him verse 3 of Colossians 2 in Whom this is

Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge in Christ brothers and sisters are hidden that is concealed and only to be understood through all the treasures and the wisdom and the knowledge of God are in the person of Jesus Christ the

Lord Jesus Christ is indeed a great treasure to behold He is the greatest treasure that there is because all the wisdom all the knowledge all the answers to your problems

Every question you've ever asked every thirst and quench for knowledge that you've ever desired is to be found in Jesus you see the

Bible says of Christ that in him all things were created in heaven and on earth whether things visible or invisible and He's the one who's above all rulership and authority

He is before all things and in him all things Hold together and consist

I want you know today of the grandeur and the greatness and the awesomeness of Jesus That he is the one who made you who fashioned you he knows your inner heart

He knows the answers to your questions that he knows your future. Not only does he know it, but he holds it

He holds it in his capable and sovereign hands so as a result of this this is to whom we are to pursue all the treasures of Wisdom and knowledge in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

It says in verse 4 and 5 I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments for do

I'm absence in the body Yet I am with you in spirit Rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ You see what

God's Word is Communicating to us is that the Lord the God of heaven and his infinite wisdom and plan ordained and chose

The eternal word the Lord Jesus Christ To be the concealer and the administrator of the triune

God's purpose will wisdom and knowledge You see Jesus Christ is indeed the treasure of the ages

Jesus Christ is the one in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are concealed in if you have a thirst for wisdom a thirst for knowledge

There is no greater pursuit to fulfill that desire than in Christ Jesus now

I get it We live in a really smart place. I mean most of you guys have more knowledge than I could even imagine

You have software engineers. You've got engineers. You've got educators. You've got people from all spectrums of life and education and backgrounds and Yet, there's no wonder

Where some of the most brilliant men to have ever lived and the most brilliant women to have ever lived

Even they at times struggle with what seems to be the futility of this knowledge What's the purpose of knowing all these great things making all this money in Silicon Valley?

having all this prestigious degrees What is the perp and yet not be able to answer the very basic questions of humanity?

What is the purpose of life? Why am I here? Who am I? Who made me?

What is my purpose? What is my reason? You see Google cannot answer that question

You can ask the question on the Google search bar, and it'll give you lots of different websites

It'll give you lots of different options But with no level of certainty can it answer the deepest questions of the longing of the human heart

But you know who can? the Lord Jesus Jesus Christ stands ready and willing to Answer and to satisfy the deepest longings of your soul and of your heart because in him is hidden concealed all the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge

Jesus Christ is indeed worth pursuing Because in him is all the treasure that you seek and he himself is the treasure that we need

Jesus Christ is in himself sufficient Jesus Christ in himself is worthy because he is the one to whom

God has entrusted the administration of his will of his wisdom and knowledge all in the person work of Jesus Christ When Jesus Christ is your treasure

You will find all your desires and your answers in him Therefore do not forsake the full treasure that he offers

That you will find to him and the desires and the answers that are in him Do not forsake the full assurance of this treasure for plausible arguments

For that which could be which may be but is not for sure that is not assured to us

Notice again what Paul says in verse 4. I say this In order that no one may delude you with plausible

Arguments You know, there's a lot of plausible arguments out there About the answers to the questions that you so desperately seek.

It's a lot of plus possibilities It's not plausible. They could you know, they could be you know there are companies here in Silicon Valley who are actively spending millions of dollars trying to unlock the key of immortality and Yet Here it is

Free of charge for you and me the key to immortality is in the person of Jesus Christ It's all in Jesus hidden in him they won't find that you know reminds me also of the stories of when the

Spanish conquistadors were exploring the new world and they heard of this mysterious fountain of youth and of life and So they so desperately spent

You know lots of gold and money and resources and lives and men to seek after that treasure yet They were not able to find it because they were not finding it in Christ Only in Jesus will you find the answers that you seek?

Christ is indeed the answer to all of these questions and and our desires and yet it says don't be deluded with Plausible Arguments, let me give you an example of what a plausible argument may sound like in the 21st century

Well plausible argument as well. You don't really need God You don't need God because we have theories that account for Creation that account for the human processes like evolution

We've got the Big Bang and and that accounts for for creation So we don't need God anymore.

God is it's kind of an old -fashioned antique idea and you don't need to pursue that anymore We've got science now

You know the word science, you know what the root word of science is Anyone know? It's knowledge.

It's knowledge to know. It's knowledge You know that all the fullness of knowledge is in Christ The reason why all things are held together and consist is because of Christ now, of course, we believe that he uses natural order and law to Keep things together so things such as gravity yet.

You know, what's interesting is that all the original founders of for instance even The theories of gravity these are all he's talking from Christians.

He's talking from believers, you know, even the Big Bang that came from a Catholic Astrologer someone who clearly believed in the creation of God a matter of fact when he discovered that the universe was actually

Expanding and that means that if it's expanded that means that they had to come a point in time Which actually came to be so the universe

Although Einstein would have loved for it to be a static eternal universe The evidence was mounting that it was not and as they discovered that the universe is actually

Expanding which is kind of what the Bible says that the that the Lord is stretching out the heavens like a curtain And as the

Bible and as the Bible says that God brought and spoke all things into existence He's the original

Creator and he is the origin of all things and so yeah if the world wants to say well we have a

Big Bang Well, I have the one who made the Big Bang and his name is Christ He spoke all things into being and he holds all things according to his powerful might

Don't allow anyone to delude you with plausible arguments, which actually lack the depth and riches of Christ It also says in verse 5

For though I'm absent in body. Yeah, I'm with you in spirit Rejoicing to see your good order in the firmness of your faith in Christ you see again man's wisdom dwells on that which is plausible

God's wisdom rests on the full assurance of Christ and here I see in verse 5 every pastors dream and That is this to see you

Rejoicing and receiving the good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ I believe firmly that your pastors here and this church

Desired greatly to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ Increase and abound evermore and That is every pastor's heart and desire for the people that they serve.

It's to see Them continue to grow in the firmness of your faith in Christ.

Let me tell you something this area of the country this place in which

God has planted you and it requires much faith on your behalf To live here to breathe here the life here to do ministry here

It will require much firmness of faith And so brothers and sisters

Though you may have great struggles don't mean you may have lots of questions

Though you may even struggle with some doubts. I want you to know this that in Christ lays all the treasures that you can possibly need and We want to see your faith

Continue to grow and be firm in Christ So that you may be able to withstand all the plausible

Arguments all the new age all the new things that they're coming up with They'll be raised against the knowledge of Christ that you may have the power to take it captive on to the obedience of Christ So continue dear brothers and sisters pursuing the firmness of your faith in Christ verse 6 of Colossians chapter 2

The Apostle Paul writes these words therefore as you have received

Christ Jesus the Lord So walk in him rooted and built up in him

Established in the faith just as you were taught abounding in Thanksgiving Christians are those who have received the

Lord Jesus Christ We are the ones who are commanded to walk in him being rooted in him like a firm tree and established in the strong foundation of the faith abounding in Thanksgiving I Want you to know this?

the most important phrase of Your Christian life and of the history of the cosmos will be and is this

Jesus Christ is Lord Jesus is Lord The Lordship of Jesus Christ is central to all

Christian thought life morality and theology No one and I mean no one can make

Jesus Lord Jesus Christ is Lord unto the glory of God the Father.

Amen. No one makes him Lord Instead there are those who receive him as Lord That is to say who?

Recognize his Lordship his sovereignty his might and power and his right to rule over our lives

It is something to be Acknowledged to be received then it's something that is not something that we make

You know, there are preachers that out out there that say well, you've got to make Jesus the Lord of your life

You've got to make him Lord so he can come inside your heart. And and yes, we we want Jesus inside your heart

We certainly want that But you don't accomplish that by making him

Lord He is Lord unto the glory of God the Father. He's Lord whether you recognize it or not

He's Lord whether you receive or not. He's Lord whether you have received it. He is Lord regardless of your circumstances

He's Lord regardless of your struggles He's Lord in every high and every low and every mountain top and in every valley and every depth and in every part of creation

Jesus Christ is Lord. He's Lord over your life over your circumstances over your pain your sorrow

You're rejoicing your happiness Jesus Christ is Lord.

This is the foundational statement of Scripture and of human history And one day and hopefully that day will come soon all of creation will stand before the risen

Lord of history and Acknowledge him as Lord to the glory of God the

Father We will one day soon be in endless praise and endless worship Serving the master and the

Lord who has saved us from our sins. And so brothers and sisters just as you have received Christ Jesus the

Lord So walk in him Walk in him this great

Jesus that I just Presented to you this Jesus who rules and reigns over the nations this

Jesus who reigns over creation is Calling you to walk in Him walk in him now walking in Jesus Is it simply to say well?

I'll walk with him when it's convenient. I'll walk with him when I want to I'll walk with him when

I can Brothers and sisters, this is a walking with him in every aspect in every moment of life

That you are to live your life under humble submission and humble adoration of the one

Whom every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess This Jesus is so marvelously worthy of walking with and in Verse 7 tells us why so that we may be rooted and built up in him this idea being rooted

It's like a tree a tree that is firmly Rooted into the ground receiving the nourishment of the rich soil and the water that comes by the washing of the

Word of God We want to have our roots Deeply within the good soil of Jesus Christ Receiving the nourishment of the washing of his word

So that when the storms of life come and rage against us

We are not like the tree that bends and and breaks over But instead that we will be firmly established in him because as Christians we recognize this truth it's not about if the storms of life come it's when they come because they will come and Jesus Christ stands ready and willing

To stand with you in the midst of that storm as the sure anchor for our souls as one who holds us together in times of great difficulty and also in times of triumph

Jesus Christ is indeed ready to hold you if you are rooted built up in him and established in the faith just as you were taught

Abounding in Thanksgiving You see the reality the centrality of Christ Lordship Beckons us to walk in him.

You see a lot of people want God to walk with them When the reality is

God wants you to walk with him Everyone wants God on their side

Everybody wants God to walk with them, but few are the ones who are actually walking with him

You see walking with him means that we follow him we are obedient to his words

We are growing holiness and stature abounding in Thanksgiving in love But so many people want the easy way out.

They want God to serve them not to serve God and that is where the great division lies between those who are truly called and are

Christians and are born again and those who simply want a Little bit of religion a little bit of God a little bit of superstition if you notice things like on Facebook I have a pet peeve

Anytime someone posts this like on Facebook or like a repost it says Post this if you if you if you want

God to bless you And of course, you'll see all the pagans reposting it because it's what pagans do they like tradition or they like to Feel like they have a little charm in order for them to receive

God's blessing But rather God's blessing is not in a repost on Facebook, but rather it's in knowing

Jesus Christ and when you know him you will walk in him be rooted in him

Establishing the faith just as you were taught abounding in Thanksgiving I Want you to find yourself today rooted in him finding your inner being being deep underneath this the the the soil of God's Word Be established on a solid foundation of Jesus Christ who is the rock of ages our firm foundation for every other foundation is sinking sand

Now here's a question. I think That we all need to ask ourselves. How can I?

Walk with Christ. I don't want to just spew the this these this rich Teaching of theology at you about giving something you can hold on to and and grasp and also apply in your life

So I'm going to give you three things that you can do right starting today to walk with Christ first and foremost

You have to read and study the Word of God if you're not a Christian today

You need to read and study the Word of God for this purpose because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the

Word of God God's Word is so powerful that it could save you from your sins by bringing you a knowledge of your sins

And a knowledge of your Savior Jesus Christ You know on in a couple days from now

I'll be celebrating 12 years of being a

Christian 12 years of knowing Christ and walking with him and What I remember so greatly on that evening when

I received the Lord Jesus Christ is I had no preacher next to me I Had no church nearby

It was just me in my bedroom reading the Word of God Because God's Word is sufficient

God's Word is mighty and it's powerful And so I want you to find yourself walking with Christ by reading

God's Word daily this book Here is not cake for special occasions

This is bread for daily consumption if you're not Regularly in the

Word of God and you're a Christian, you know what you're gonna find yourself in you're gonna find yourself a very weak state

Because if you do not eat You know, you'll start to get Irritable you'll start to get

Frustrated easily you'll you'll get Headaches and migraines and and you get all these symptoms of weaknesses in your life

The same is true spiritually brothers and sisters if we're not Feasting on God's Word daily, then we are lacking in our fight against the world the enemy and our own flesh

Therefore feast on God's Word read it study the Word of God so that you may find yourself a worksman that is approved

This requires dedication This requires your time your resources

Be dedicated unto God By reading and studying his most precious word number two

Do not forsake the Christian gathering Don't forsake the fellowship of God's people the

Saints that happens every time we gather in the Lord's Day Happens throughout the week as you meet together in your small groups happens in our prayer meetings

Do not forsake Christian gatherings Also, it can be something as simple as spending time with the brothers and sisters

Last night some of the brothers and I went out for dinner and got to fellowship and talk about God's Word and ministry

Don't forsake those opportunities to be with God's people find yourself receiving the affirmation that God gives through his

Saints and through the preaching and teaching of God's Word through the church and So receive good instruction

Not forsaking the Christian gathering as the Bible says in Hebrews chapter 10 So many have already made the habit of doing so one of the terrible things about this pandemic is

It has given many people an excuse to not come in person to church They say well, it's not safe brothers and sisters.

We just established the safest place you can be is in Christ The safest place you can be is in Christ And the safest people with whom you may be with are those who love

Christ And so do not forsake the gathering even in times of great trials and difficulty even during a pandemic do not forsake the

Christian gathering that is where we receive our affirmation and Teaching so that we may live boldly for Christ in this wicked world.

The third thing I want to point out to you is to do God's kingdom work of Disciples if you want to walk with Christ if you want to see what it means to be a

Christian It means not simply being a hero of the word But a doer of the word that means that when we come together we are on mission living wholly and righteously confronting sin

Growing in fullness and stature and also being obedient to the mission that God has called us all in Which is the

Great Commission work to make disciples of people of all nations Which is what we learned earlier today in our

Sunday school God is calling you to partake in this great kingdom work of making disciples.

This is where we find the application of our Christianity is In living it out

Loving your neighbor and loving God This is where we see the outflow of our

Christianity where it spills over not just on Sunday mornings But into the week where we're living it out.

Not just on Sunday, but on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday Be dedicated read the word

Receive the affirmation of God's people and apply your Christianity so that you may walk with him who has called you out of darkness

And into his marvelous light back in Colossians chapter 2

We examine verse 8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty the seat according to human tradition according to the elemental spirits of the world and not

According to Christ brothers and sisters be on the guard be alert

That you're not taking captive by human tradition or the spirit of the age

Instead reject the emptiness of this age for the security of Knowing and receiving he who has all the fullness in bodily form

Notice what it says in verse 9 for in him that is in Christ is the fullness of deity and dwells bodily in Christ is the fullness of deity in bodily form praise

God brothers and sisters there are some ideologies and philosophies and even religions

That teach that instead of receiving fullness you should receive emptiness

This is one of the tenets of Buddhism as you see that they are trying to reach a state that they call

Nirvana You know what Nirvana means? means emptiness nothingness

The world will desire for you and I to receive a nothingness and emptiness

When people practice a lot of Eastern meditations and yogas what they're doing is they're trying to clear their minds

So their minds may be empty Brothers and sisters what a contrast we have in the

Lord Jesus Christ who desires us not to be empty but to be full and To receive the fullness that he offers and gives

By he by him being the one who fills all things as the one who is truly the divine one in bodily form

See Colossians 2 9 is teaching us something of great importance The Lord Jesus Christ is the

God man He is fully man and fully God He is not part

God and part man He is not a demigod of some sorts rather The scripture teaches us that in Christ dwells the fullness the word fullness in Greek is pleroma pleroma literally means that which it's like a think of a

Of a vessel that you fill with water or wine, and it's it's full overflowing the fullness of That which makes

God who he is. It's what the word deity means in the Greek. It's the Greek word Theodos The Greek word

Theodos literally means that which makes God God It's a nature of God the essence of God that which makes

God who he is the fullness thereof dwells in the person and work of Jesus Christ Jesus is rightfully the

God man the beginning in the end the Alpha and the Omega the one who created you who fashioned you the one who stepped into creation to die on the cross and to Ray and to be raised from the dead so that you may have eternal life

This Jesus is indeed Lord, and he is Lord because he is God He is the

Almighty God Clothed in human flesh and not only was he

God and human flesh when he came on the earth But the Bible teaches that on the third day he rose again, and he triumphed over death and he was raised

Bodily and so Jesus is not in heaven as a disembodied ghost instead He stands forevermore as the

God man fully man fully God son of Adam and the Son of God So now all the cosmos and all of history will be reigned

By he the incarnate one the one who is the Son of Adam and also the

Son of God You know I had a debate with a Unitarian a well -known Unitarian last year during the pandemic and it's on YouTube and the question that we were debating was is

Jesus the God man and this text was my main premise and He says well you

Jesus can't be God Because it just simply says he has a fullness of God Which is we all have the fullness of God to look at what verse 10 says and you have been filled in him

Who is the head and rule and the head and the head of all rule and authority? He's what you see

Jesus Christ is is it's only in a sense that he has all fullness because he gives us that fullness, too

So does that mean you're God in the flesh, and I say you're missing a big point here my friend The big point that you're missing is that when it says and in him the fullness of deity dwells bodily

Again the Greek word theodos meaning the that which makes God who he is That dwells bodily there's a restraint to it

Christ is the visible Manifestation of God that's why the scripture says he is the image of God now the point that he may as well

We're in the image of God Ness. Yes notice the difference. We are created in God's image

Jesus is God's image a man. He is that perfect image and So he is truly the only one of whom it could be said that he is the

God man God and Human flesh verse 10 again says and you have been filled in him who is the head of all rule and Authority praise

God brothers and sisters Jesus is God and Faithfully walking in Christ is a bulwark against being led captive by the empty deceit and the philosophies of this world you know what a tragedy it would be if We exchange the fullness of Christ deity that fills all things

For the hollow and fleeting things of this world what a sad thing that would be to exchange the immortal

God He who stands forevermore For the things are quickly fading away and crumbling even beneath the culture's feet

Jesus Christ is worthy to be followed He is worthy of our worship.

He is worthy of our adoration He is worthy of all things for the Bible brings out this wonderful imagery in the book of Revelation in chapter 5 or these scrolls are being held and and and heaven begins to weep because there is no one who is found worthy to open its seals and Yet out of nowhere comes one who is described as the

Lamb of God And he is found worthy and as he begins to open its seals heaven

Begins to sing its song worthy is the lamb who was slain

Worthy is he to be followed why that says because he ransomed a people for God and redeemed people of all nation tribes and languages

This is the same Christ that we see Paul proclaiming is the one who is the head of all rule and authority as a result of this truth.

I Don't know what your struggles are this morning Maybe some of you are tired. Maybe some of you are worn out

Maybe your cup is empty Be sure of this truth That he who fills all things

Who is the proper and only sovereign head and ruler of all things will not fail in filling you

If you have received him by faith Brothers and sisters if you have received the

Lord Jesus Christ go on walking in him Being rooted and established in the faith if you are here this morning, and you have not received the

Lord Jesus Christ it's a very Important thing that you hear this word then if you've never known or received

Christ as Lord not that you're making him Lord, but receiving that truth into your life

The Bible tells us what is required of you. The first thing is that you repent the

Bible now I know that the word repent sounds like a really ugly word Sometimes if we think of the word repent, maybe we think of a street preacher in San Francisco with a big sign

Repent or burn or turn or burn or something to that degree and it sounds very judgmental

But can I tell you something the word repentance is the most wonderful word you can hear

Because it is not a word of judgment. It is the escape of judgment If you want to escape from God's wrath and judgment repent which means to turn away from your sin turn away from your wicked way and Turn to the cross of Jesus Christ where you will find forgiveness acceptance love and a transformation that will give you a new life and a new heart and the

Bible says if You confess of your mouth the Lord Jesus Christ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead

You will be saved it is an assurance for which

Christ died to set you and me free And so I want you to know today if you have not made a decision to know

Jesus Christ that you would make that decision today simply by turning from sin and Receiving confessing of your mouth.

There's two aspects of that in Romans 10 9 Confess of your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead

Now one is easier than the other and that would be the confessing part Anyone can read those words an actor in Hollywood can read those words and say

Jesus is Lord But it takes also a confession of the heart

To know that yes, he is the one who was raised from the dead

He is the one who was Lord of history. And so it's not just a confession of the mouth

But it's to receive and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead And I promise you you will have the assurance of salvation and on to eternal life if you receive the

Lord Jesus Christ through faith and for those of us who have received them by faith my word and encouragement to you this morning is

This as I leave this pulpit with this benediction That you may all be encouraged knit together in love

Reaching the riches of full assurance of the knowledge and wisdom of God Namely he who fills all things

Even the Lord Jesus Christ to whom be glory both now and forevermore