Colossians Talk 6. Proclaiming the Gospel of Christ – what, why, where
This is the sixth talk in our series on Themes from Colossians.
So far we’ve considered:
- The Supremacy of Christ – who he is (Talk 1)
- Freedom in Christ – what he has done for us (Talks 2&3)
- Living for Christ – what we should do for him (Talks 4&5)
Our final theme is:
Proclaiming the Gospel of Christ – what, why, where, how
Today we’ll consider:
What is the gospel – what?
The purpose of the gospel – why?
The universality of the gospel – where?
Next time, how?
What is the gospel? – what?
Colossians 1:6
All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth.
The word gospel means good news.
It’s the good news of God’s grace.
God’s grace is God’s unmerited favour shown to us in the forgiveness of our sins on the basis of Christ’s sacrificial death on our behalf. This is made clear in Colossians 1:22-23.
Colossians 1:21-23
- Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behaviour.
- But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation-
- if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature (in all creation) under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
So we were enemies by our attitude and actions (21)
But Jesus died for us and we have been reconciled to God (22)
This all started with God’s grace (6)
We received it by faith (23)
As a result we will be presented holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation (22)
This is conditional upon our continuing in our faith. We must not move from the hope held out in the gospel (23). Our salvation is by faith from first to last (Romans 1:17).
The Purpose of the Gospel – why?
Colossians 1:28-29
- We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.
- To this end I labour, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.
What does Paul mean by present everyone perfect?
Note the word everyone. The saved and the unsaved. His purpose is twofold:
- To proclaim Christ (28) to those who do not yet know him
- and to those who already know him.
It is only in Christ that we can be presented perfect.
We must come to Christ and continue in Christ.
Jesus died to cleanse us from our sin
When we received him as our saviour we were washed (made clean), justified (declared righteous) and sanctified (made holy) (1 Corinthians 6:11)
But our sanctification is an ongoing process
So Paul labours to present everyone perfect in Christ
He does this by proclaiming Christ, admonishing and teaching everyone
The universality of the gospel – where?
Colossians 1:6
All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing,
Colossians 1:23
This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature (in all creation) under heaven
Matthew 28:18-20
Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’ (Compare Mark 16:15, Luke 24:47, Acts 1:8).
How seriously are you taking this command of the Lord Jesus? Our aim should be the same as Paul’s, to present everyone perfect in Christ.
Next time we’ll be considering how.