Peace With God

Thank you for reading this sermon from Christ Fellowship. I hope and pray that this sermon will be a blessing of grace and truth to you. With that said, let me encourage you not to use this sermon as a replacement for your local church. Christ Jesus did not establish his Church simply for us to consume content. Instead, He calls us to be part of a real, covenant family.

We’re continuing our Advent series on “Peace” this morning. And today, I want us to think differently about the way we use Bible words like peace. The same thing is true of words like “love” or “hope”. The Bible doesn’t treat these words like they are philosophical concepts.

In 1 Cor 13, Paul personifies love with action verbs. “Love is patient, love is kind, love does not envy or boast, love is not arrogant or rude.” He talks about love as if love is a person, because He is. God is love.

Paul also personifies the word hope in 1 Timothy 1. He does the same thing with the word “peace” in our text this morning, Colossians 1. Peace is not a concept. Peace is a Person.

We’re going to talk about why that matters. Let’s begin reading in verse 15:

15 He (that’s Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

Jesus is the exact representation of God. He made the invisible God visible. Jesus shows us God exactly as God wants to be known by us. When we see Jesus, we see God’s heart for us.

“Firstborn” here is not about birth order. It’s about rank. Jesus isn’t the first creature. He’s the most important Person.

This matters because early Christians had a lot of competing influences when it came to their spiritual lives. A lot of these influences were beginning to creep into the church in Colossae, and that’s why Paul sends this letter.

We don’t get to invent our own spirituality. We look to Christ.

16 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.

If Jesus created all things, then Jesus Himself is not a created thing. He’s God. There were probably people denying this.

We suspect from the rest of the letter that there were three problems in this church. Some people were encouraging Christians to pursue mystical experiences. Some were encouraging strict rules and diets. Others were encouraging prayer to angels.

All this stuff resulted in less of an emphasis on Christ and more of an emphasis on spiritual fulfillment through personal effort.

Paul is trying to draw their attention back to Christ.

17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

This is very significant. Paul intentionally says two things here about Jesus that can only be said about God. Jesus exists outside of time and Jesus holds everything together. He’s the Creator of time and space AND He’s the reason atoms stay connected.

If Jesus removed His hand, everything would collapse. What is Paul saying? He’s saying that these Christians have underestimated the Person of Christ. They have reduced Jesus to a smaller role in salvation than He is meant to have.

We still do that. That is our natural tendency, to move on to “bigger and better things” in the Christian life. But there is nothing bigger and better than Jesus.

18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

Jesus created the universe and He created the church. Jesus holds the universe together. He also holds the Church together.

In other words, your Jesus is too small. Whatever you think of Him, it isn’t enough.

19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,

This verse hints at another growing problem in the church, which would come to be known as Gnosticism.

Gnostics believed that the physical world was inferior and that God was far away in the spiritual realm. They taught that true salvation comes from having secret knowledge and mystical experiences. They called this spiritual upgrade “the fullness”.

Paul is attacking this false belief by saying that all the fullness is found in Jesus. We don’t need to graduate to some other teaching or experience to know God. He’s found in Christ who, by the way, has a real body!

20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

God cares about the physical world and the spiritual world. He’s reconciled Himself to both in Christ. And here, Paul introduces the word “peace”. God has made peace on earth and in heaven by the blood of his cross.

Everything we’ve read up until now is one long, intricate sentence in Greek. This is all one big idea pointing to this reality: Jesus IS our Peace!

He didn’t just achieve it. He IS it.

If we think of peace here as merely a concept, we will miss the significance. This is more than a truce or a treaty. This is God is restoring stability and healing things on a cosmic scale. And the cost to do so was immense.

Paul goes on to explain:

21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,

Remember the problem? You were cut off, and rightly so. Inside and outside, we were to blame for the lack of peace in the world. You who were once alienated…

22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,

This is a complete re-creation. And according to Paul, Jesus could not accomplish this without physical death. Peace could only be accomplished if Jesus is both God AND human, flesh and blood.

This is HOW God restores stability to the universe and specifically to people like us.

In other words, peace is not found in rising above your humanity. Peace came down to us and became human with us. It’s not something we strive for. It’s something we continue in. And that’s exactly how Paul ends this section:

23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Some people would read this verse in isolation and start asking very anxious questions – “What if I don’t continue in the faith? What if I don’t remain steadfast? What if I shift?”

But that’s completely missing the point of this chapter. Paul is very intentionally trying to correct our anxious attempts to add something to the work of Christ, which has already been accomplished and applied to His people.

It’s not something you need to acquire for yourself or strive to keep. It’s something you continue in because God is already at peace with you! And in the same way Jesus is holding the atoms in the universe together, He is also holding His people to Himself.

It is our anxious self-focus and pride that works us up into pursuing better practices and mystical experiences when we already have everything we need in Christ – the One who created us, sustains us, saves us, and secures us for all eternity!

Jesus is our peace not just because of what He did, but because of who He is!

We think peace will come from a better life… a better system… a deeper spiritual experience. But the Bible says peace comes from a Person, and that Person holds the universe together.

Think about the solar system we live in. Everything in our solar system has an orbit around the sun. The planets don’t really have a choice in the matter. They are stuck in orbit, because the sun’s gravity is stronger. But that’s a good thing because it creates stability!

This is Paul’s argument. You don’t need to strive for peace. You just need to keep walking in it. It’s already true. It’s like gravity. You’re in orbit around Jesus. It may not feel that way, but it is true.

Have you ever tried teaching a child how to swim? At first, you have to hold them up while they try to learn. And most of the time, their attempts at swimming look more like thrashing or flailing. And what do you have to say? “Calm down. Slow down. I’ve got you.”

This is how we approach the Christian life. We panic. We flail around. We’re trying so hard to keep ourselves afloat spiritually. But the only reason we’re not drowning is because Jesus is holding us up.

Peace is not a feeling you chase. Peace is not a technique you master. Peace is not a circumstance you create. Peace is a Person, and that Person holds the universe together.

If He is strong enough to hold galaxies in place, He is strong enough to hold you in place.

Keep going… not anxiously, but confidently. Continue in what is already true. Continue in the One who reconciled you by His own blood.

We all have our anxious moments. Some of you have experienced some deeply troubling things in your life. You might be in it right now. And the holidays may not be helping… they might be amplifying the pain.

Will you look to Jesus? Rest in Him. Walk with Him.