CHRIST IS ALL IN ALL

Read: Colossians 3: 1-11

Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. Colossians 3:11

.
Jesus Christ is all and is in all to every person who has truly found Him. He is our Saviour, Redeemer, Deliverer, Shepherd, Teacher, and also the one who sustains us and enables us to do all that we are called to do for the benefit of His kingdom.

Christ is announced as our Saviour in Luke’s Gospel, Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:11)

Jesus Christ is our Saviour, and we meet Him at Calvary, looking on Him as the bleeding Lamb of God first of all. It’s only when we have done this that we can understand all that He has done for us; the depth of His suffering and the intensity of His love. Only after this first meeting can we come to know Him as our Redeemer, our Deliverer and our Shepherd.

I know Jesus as my Saviour, without whom I would be dead in my sins, but I have no knowledge as to who else can make the same claim because I don’t know what is in your hearts. However, one thing that I do know is that Jesus loves each and every one of you and is offered to you all today as your Saviour. The Bible tells us that; He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all (Romans 8:32). God gave Jesus up freely so that we all might be saved through Him. The fact is that we all have a Saviour, although there will be those who choose to reject what He offers, even though their rejection condemns them to the fires of hell and eternal damnation. God’s love is not limited by man’s understanding of it, and I am convinced that Christ died for every person who seeks Him and accepts him, claiming Salvation through Him. Accept Christ and He will accept you; reject Him and He will reject you. God gives for us to receive. It is important then, to firstly know Jesus as our Saviour.

Christ not only saves us but He also redeems us. In other words He ransoms us from the power of sin, and buys us back. Having first saved us from spiritual death, He then watches over us for ever and ensures that death can never touch us. We are slaves to sin, but Christ sets us free and grants us our liberty when He redeems us from the slavery of sin. God says … I, the Lord, am your Saviour, your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob (Isaiah 49:26). The Psalmist says, “For you, O Lord, have delivered my soul from death …” (Psalm 116:8). The Psalmist David tells of the power of God to rescue and deliver: He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand (Psalm 40:2).

God demands that the payment for sin is death, and our only hope therefore of returning from darkness into the light is in finding a means of paying our ransom price. We have such a ransom, and that is Christ Jesus. He will deliver us. Christ is our Redeemer and Deliverer, mighty to save and able to deliver.

Having received the gift of Salvation through Christ we need to know that we can move forward and grow in our faith and trust, and it is here that we see our Shepherd in Jesus Christ. He is the great Shepherd who tells us that “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” (John 14:6). He calls us to follow Him and He will lead us along the right pathway through life if only we look to him, keeping our eyes firmly fixed upon Him.

During the exodus from Egypt, the children of Israel followed a cloud. When the cloud rested then so did they, when it moved forward then so did they. The cloud was their Shepherd, just as Christ is our Shepherd if we choose to follow Him. Often our journey through this world can be perplexing because we can easily lose direction, yet Christ will always lead us along the right path because this world was created through Him (John 1:2). Just as God led the Israelites to safety so He can lead us to safety, because He never changes; we have His word that I the Lord, change not (Malachi 3:6).

We speak of the darkness of sin, and the only thing that can overcome darkness is light. Take a tiny candle into a room that is pitch black and you will see the darkness recede where the light falls.

Not only is Jesus Christ our Saviour, Redeemer and Deliverer, but He is more than that, for He is also our light. He has said “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12).

It’s the privilege of every one of Christ’s followers to walk in the light of His glory! Yet is that what happens in reality? Is it not true that many Christians often find themselves in the darkness created by the world? Why is that? Is it because we are not following Christ as closely as we should be, and therefore often moving on the edge of darkness rather than in the fullness of His light? We need to let Christ in to every corner of our being, and every aspect of our lives. When you give over your life entirely to Christ as He calls you to then you will have plenty of light; so much so, in fact, that He will set us on fire with His light, and it’s then that the world will see us shining out as beacons in the darkness.

When we truly have Christ in us, in control of our thoughts, our hearts and our actions, then His light will shine out so brightly from us that others will know that we belong to Christ without the need for us to tell them. But remember that the world hates the light. That’s why the world sought to extinguish it at Calvary.

The light within us is borrowed light, for when we live as Christ directs then we reflect His light, just as the moon shines with about 12% of the reflected light of the sun. when Moses had been on Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments from God his face shone with a small proportion of the reflected light of God’s glory. Christ’s light will shine in us when we are strong and resolute in our faith.

To be successful soldiers for Christ we must live as children of the light and not as children of darkness. If we cannot demonstrate to the world the joy that we have when we walk with Christ then how can they desire to be like us? We must be determined to keep the light shining brightly in us no matter what situation we find ourselves in. our task is to shine out for Christ, and one day He will lead us to a kingdom where there is no darkness to be found.

We’ve considered Christ as our Saviour, our Redeemer, our Deliverer and our Light, but He’s also our teacher. God has provided a teacher from heaven for us! In the Bible we read, If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him (James 1:5). Jesus bids us to take our cares and concerns to Him and He will give us peace (Matthew 11:28). He tells us, Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me. Whatever we need to know then Jesus can direct us to the right answer.

Are you ready to hand over your life entirely to Christ, right now tonight? Will you hand Him your burdens, laying them at the foot of the cross and leaving them there? Too many people hand over their burdens one minute and then take them back the next, keeping them so close as if they are afraid to let them go for good. Too many people give their lives to Christ one minute and then borrow the back the next.

Tonight is a time for decisions to be made. Tomorrow may be too late. Will you not repent of all the things that are unworthy in your life and commit your life to Christ tonight? Even if you have committed your life before and then become a backslider, it’s not too late to recommit to Him tonight.

This land of ours is in spiritual turmoil; so many people searching for the truth and yet so few prepared to share it with them. Many of our churches are closed because the concerns of those who run them are no different to the world’s concerns. Money and the accumulation of wealth have produced a ’Prosperity Gospel’ rather than the true Gospel. In a land where the poor are infinitely richer in material wealth than many of those existing in Third World nations, so often the Gospel that rule is a Social Gospel. Neither of these gospels can satisfy your true spiritual longing, for only Christ’s Gospel that leads to Salvation and Redemption can do that.

The decision to commit to Christ for ever is not one to mull over, to dwell on or to deliberate about. It’s a decision that you need to take NOW - HERE - TODAY. Don’t put it off for one minute longer.
Amen