We are in possession of a powerful secret.
Do we realize the incomparable, unsurpassed, unrivaled power of our secret? Our secret is so powerful that it turned a murderer into a missionary in a single afternoon (the apostle Paul). It is so powerful that it took a small first century farming village like Colosse and transformed it into a community of faith, hope, love, and grace. It took a forgettable no-name like Epaphras, and made him a hero of our Christian faith for all ages.
We are talking about a secret that is undeniably powerful. Our secret can move the largest mountains. It can achieve in mere moments what science, medicine, education, psychology, sociology, governments, politicians, philosophers, and even religious movements have failed to achieve since the dawn of time.
How foolish we are to keep this secret to ourselves. We are foolish to be ashamed of it, to be apologetic about it, and to keep it under wraps behind closed doors. Thank God for men like the apostle Paul and Epaphras, who took the greatest secret of all ages and proclaimed it from the rooftops. Our secret is so powerful that all we have to do is whisper it in someone's ear andhis life will be changed for eternity!
Are you hearing me? You don’t have to be educated. You don’t have to be special. You don’t have to be Mr. Dynamic or Mrs. Charismatic. All you have to do is be faithful and share the secret, and this terrific power gets unleashed in the lives of others. Churches spend billions of dollars on buildings, on state of the art technology, on curriculum, on hymnals, on websites, on advertising, and on programs. We think all of this stuff will somehow add more power to our secret. Well,don’t you believe it for a second. Our secret is at its greatest power and it is at full force when it is simply spoken one person to another.
Remember what Paul says in Colossians in 1:6 (NIV)."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."
Once our secret takes root, it thrives and it multiplies.
But don’t you worry for a second. Here at Lakeside, we’ve not been left in the dark. There aren’t any secrets being kept in this church. The secret has been revealed to us. It's been fully exposed, and now the power of the secret is at full force.
We just barely scratched the surface last week talking about how this secret provokes men to reach out to God in faith for the salvation of their souls. We spoke of its power to cause self-centered people to spontaneously love one another with unmatched concern and generosity. And we spoke of its power to provide a hope that transcends even death.
If you look in your Bibles, in Colossians when Paul starts talking about our secret in Colossians 1:9, he doesn’t even try to catch his breath again until Colossians 1:20. In the Greek,this passageis a single uninterrupted sentence, packed with insight, spontaneous praise, and intercession.
Consider Paul's words in Colossians 1:9-14.
Let’s just consider one half of Paul’s sentence. Colossians 1:9-14 (NIV) tells us, "For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfullygiving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."
How can we even begin to unravel these verses? These verses are describing something that was previously unattainable. We're talking about the total redemption of sinful man and woman. We are talking about grace, a new beginning, a fresh start, a new birth, a new life, and we're talking about recapturing all that was lostduring our sinful rebellion against God. Good luck doing that without Christ!
First, redemption always begins with the initiative of God. In Colossians 1:13 (NIV) Paul says, "For God has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."
God has taken three actions on our behalf.
In particular, God has taken three actions on our behalf through Christ. First, God has rescued us from the dominion of darkness. Realize what life is like without Christ. Before Christ, we were living under the dominion of darkness. Before Christ, the power, the authority, the control, and the tyranny of darkness could not be broken.It’s not that we were incapable of being good people apart from Christ. It’s that we couldn’t stop sinning. Our hearts were rebellious. Our behavior was evil. Sin dominated us, controlled us, dictated its will to us, and corrupted us.
The only thing more powerful than the dominion of darkness is the dominion (the kingdom) of God’s Son. In Christ, God rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. We are no longer under the dominion of sin. We're under the dominion or lordship of Jesus Christ. We have a new master. Sin shall not be our master.
It’s not as if we become incapable of sinning the moment we enter God’s kingdom, or when we accept Christ as Lord. It’s that under the dominion and lordship of Christ,the control that sin once had in our lives becomes broken. The chains fall off and we become free to choose righteousness and to live a life pleasing to God. And this is what man has been incapable of achieving since dawn of time. It'sfreedom from sin andfreedom from the control of darkness.
And as we live this new life, we are assured of our redemption and we are given the forgiveness of sins. In this new kingdom, if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. So as we learn to live under the lordship of Christ, God’s loving us and forgiving us and purifying us and sanctifying us and restoring us and blessing us.
All of us need to be rescued from the control of sin.
So let’s put this in perspective. All of us need to be rescued from the control of sin. We are slaves who need to be set free. If you haven’t been rescued, I have one question for you. Are you tired of being a slave to sin? Are you frightened of where the impulses of your fleshare leadingyou? Are you tired of hating? Areyou tired of fighting, being addicted, drinking problems away, being greedy, being self-centered, being unhappy, being a jerk, being a gossip, being insecure, being alone without God, not having hope, wasting your life, or wondering what your purpose in life is? Are you tired of being corrupted? Has sexual immorality led you down one dead-end street after another? Does the dominion of sin need to be broken in your life? Do you need to be rescued?
Let me tell you what God is ready to do if you say "yes". God is ready right now, this morning, to set you free! Allyou have to do is ask him to rescue you and bring you under the dominion of the Son he loves. Are you ready to be totally dominated by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control? Are you ready to be restored, forgiven, and reconciled to God once and for all?
God changes our desire for sin.
Colossians 1:9-10 (NIV)describes the inner change that takes place the instant we cry out to God to be rescued."For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way."
When God rescues us, he gives us a new desire! Remember, our old desire was to sin. "I want to smoke my marijuana. I want to get drunk. I want to transgress God’s law. I like having sex out of wedlock, disobeying my parents, cheating on taxes, stealing copyrighted music, and lying to my boss.I want a divorce. I want to hate. I don’t want to forgive. I don’t want to worship. I like this music. I like this porn. I like the way I feel when I am immoral. I like the excitement of sin."
But when Christ rescues us, he gives us a new desire. He gives us a new heart and new Spirit. And this new desire says,"I want to know God’s will. I want godly wisdom. I want spiritual understanding. I want to live a life worthy of what God’s done for me in Christ. I want to please God more than anything else in my life, and I want to please him in every single way that I can! I want to please him in how I talk, in how I work, in my marriage, in my family, in my service, in my sexuality, in what I eat and drink, in how I treat others, and in how I treat my body. I want to be pure.I want to exude the fruit of the Spirit.I want to see other people rescued from the dominion of sin."
I’ll you a secret, but promise me it will be a secret no more. Promise you’ll shout it from rooftops. First, God takes the initiative in Christ. He rescues us. He transfers us from darkness into the kingdom and dominion of life. And as he redeems us from the destructive influence of sin, he forgives all along the way.
You don't get a new heart and lose your desire for sin until you come to Christ.
But here is the secret. You don’t get a new heart, this new desire, until you first come to Christ. This new desire is God’s gift to you through his Holy Spirit. You call out to God in faith to be rescued.You repent and turn away from darkness. You confess that your life is under a new authority; under the lordship and authority of Christ.And in baptism, God washes away your sinful past and gives you his Holy Spirit to seal you, lead you, guide you,convict you, purify you, and sanctify you!
God has already taken the initiative. In Christ, God offers to give you a new heart and new mind and new Spirit. And in the moment of receiving Christ in baptism, a change will take place. It will no longer be impossible to do good. You will find it increasingly impossible to keep on sinning! Christ will govern your new life! This new desire will take root and grow and bear fruit, just as it is doing all over world, from the first day until now!
The change will not begin in your behavior. The change will begin in your desire. But make no mistake about it. Eventually your redemption will work itself from the inside-out until your whole life is set ablaze for the glory of God.
You will begin pleasing God when you allow him to rescue you.
Colossians 1:10-12 (NIV) describes what your new life in Christ will look like. You will begin pleasing God in four areas. "...bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfullygiving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light."
First, you will bear fruit in every good work. I tell you, every relationship you have will be changed. You will love your wife like you never loved her before, and your children too. You will be looking for opportunities to do good to people at work. You will forgive people and become a peacemaker. You will share your possessions. You will give to people in need. You will be so generous that you will scare people.
Second, you are going to grow in the knowledge of God in Christ like never before. You will read your Bible and not be able to fall asleep at night because you're overwhelmed by the goodness and greatness of God. You will learn things in days, weeks, and months that most people don’t learn in their entire lifetime. God just keeps showing you stuff, challenging you, and blessing you. And you will be so overwhelmed that you won’t be able to keep it to yourself. God will touch your tongue.
Third, you are going to be strengthened with all power according to God’s glorious might so that you will have endurance and patience. God is going to give you true staying power and endurance. No more of this impulsive, living in the flesh stuff. God is going to give you his Holy Spirit. You’re going to be doing things tomorrow you never thought possible today. The righteousness that seemed impossible yesterday will seem effortless tomorrow.The Holy Spirit will be like a gigantic breeze lifting your sail, gently carrying you wherever God so leads.
Last, you are going to be joyfully giving thanks to your Father who has rescued you from dominion of darkness, andwho has brought you into this new kingdom, and who has forgiven you. Is anyone ready to be rescued? Is God calling you into his kingdom today?