Nothing to Fear

19 March 2023 PM – Colossians 1:18-20 – Col23 – Scott Childs
Introduction: When a child awakens from a fearful dream and his mother comes to his side, she calms his heart and gives him assurance that he has nothing to fear.
God has promised us “redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins” (v.14), but sometimes the devil frightens us with doubts like a fearful dream. We wonder if God has forgiven us and still loves us. In our text this evening, Christ comes to our side, calms us and assures us that we have nothing to fear.
Transition: Verses 18-20, give us several assurances that Christ is in control, and we have nothing to fear.
God’s first calming assurance is that …
  1. Christ is Fully Qualified to Help Us (v.18)
a.         He is the head of the body, the church.
1)         Being the head of the body, the church, is a position which no human can hold. Various religious leaders may have founded churches, but Christ alone is the head of the church that is His body. Each biblical local church is a type of Christ’s church.
2)         He is the beginning of the church, His body.
a)         The word “beginning” speaks of origin or the extremity of a thing. No matter how far in any direction you trace the roots of Christianity, you will always find Christ. New life is in Christ alone.
b)         He is the firstborn from among the dead. The emphasis here is not necessarily on Christ being the first to raise immortal from the dead, though that is true. It is on the fact that He is the source and sovereign of the new creation, just as He was of the original creation. When Christ died and rose from the dead, he inaugurated the new creation, the transformation that takes place when a sinner repents and trusts Christ for salvation. (2 Corinthians 5:17) “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.“
b.         This is true that He might have the preeminence.
1)         Christ is the head, the beginning and the firstborn from the dead in order that He might have the preeminence. He is chief. He holds first place in all things.
2)         Christ is fully qualified to help us because of His position. He is at the top. No one’s qualifications trump His.
God’s second calming assurance is that …
2.        Christ is Fully Capable of Helping Us (v.19)
a.         In Christ all fullness dwells
1)         The word “fullness” refers to a filling, abundance, or completion.
2)         This verse does not tell us with what Christ was filled.
3)         Commentators generally think that the filling was with the entire attributes of the Godhead, or the sum total of all the divine power and attributes. However, the same word can apply to humans.
a)         In Ephesians 1:23 the church is called the fullness of Christ.
b)         In Ephesians 3:19, believers are to be filled with all the fullness of God.
c)         In Ephesians 4:13, believers are to strive unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.
4)         Obviously, the word “fullness” cannot refer exclusively to being filled with divine power and attributes, since sometimes it applies to people.
5)         God fully equipped Christ with all that He needs to care for His church. His filling included divine power and attributes, and anything and everything needed. He is fully capable of helping us. He lacks absolutely nothing.
6)         Notice that this fullness dwells in Christ. To dwell means to reside or to remain constantly. He is always fully capable of helping us when the devil causes us to doubt or to question God.
b.         This filling pleased the Father
1)         God the Father did not just permit Christ to be fully capable of helping us, it truly pleased Him.
2)         The word here speaks of one’s good pleasure, to be well pleased with something, or to take pleasure in something.
3)         Think about your own life. There are things you enjoy, and then there are things that please you well. You delight in them. They bring you GREAT joy. This is what God is saying here.
4)         God the Father is truly pleased that all fullness dwells in Jesus Christ. That was His eternal plan.
God’s third calming assurance is that …
3.        Christ is Fully Sufficient to Help Us (v.20)
a.         God chose the means of reconciliation.
1)         To reconcile means to bring back a former state of harmony. At Creation, all that God made was perfect. All creation was in harmony with God. All the animals were tame. The climate was perfect. The weather was awesome. Fellowship with God was sweet. Sin did not exist. All that God created glorified Him.
2)         However, when Eve and Adam listened to the devil and disobeyed God, harmony ceased. Innocence vanished. Problems, heartaches, weeds, pain, sickness, sadness and judgment resulted. Adam and Eve’s sin affected every aspect of God’s creation. (Romans 8:22) “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.” (Romans 5:12) “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:“
3)         God chose to reconcile all things unto himself through Christ.
b.         God chose the blood of Christ’s cross.
1)         The reconciliation of sinners to God came at a terribly high price. God’s holiness demanded a perfect, sinless blood sacrifice.
2)         None but God Himself could meet that holy demand. Yet, God, being a Spirit, has no blood. Thus, God the Son left heaven’s glory to become a human. As the God/Man, He then paid that awful sacrifice on our behalf.
3)         By the blood of His cross, Christ made peace with God for us. He became our propitiation to satisfy the wrath of God towards our sins. He became our Passover Lamb. When His blood is applied to the doorposts of our heart, God’s Judgment will pass over us.
4)         Robert Lowry hit the nail on the head when he wrote, What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh! Precious is the flow that makes me white as snow; No other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus. GH p.212
5)         This is something that we do not talk about much, but Christ, through the blood of His cross, is sufficient to reconcile all things unto God. He reconciled all creation to God. This includes all things in earth and in the heavens.
6)         Christ alone is fully sufficient to help us.
Conclusion: When the devil puts doubts and questions in our hearts about our redemption and forgiveness, and he often does, he wants to make us fearful. However, we have no need to fear. Jesus Christ is not only the firstborn (source and sovereign) of the original creation; He is also the firstborn (source and sovereign) of the new creation. He is fully qualified to help us. He is fully capable of helping us. He is fully sufficient to help us. We have nothing to fear as long as we have placed our faith in Him.
Song: Leaning on the Everlasting Arms 460