Stand Firm! | Colossians 1:15-28

Takeaway Verse: Colossians 1:27

For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.”

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Transcription:

Narator: [00:00:00] Purposely. Your life God’s purpose. Listen at onpurposely.com.

Erica Parkerson: Welcome to The Bible for Busy People. I’m Erica Parkerson. This is the place where we meet up to read half a chapter of God’s word together, and remember how loved we are. Jesus extends an amazing invitation to us in the Bible. He says, come to me and I WILL give you rest. This is us RSVPing: Yes!! to that invitation. So take a deep breath and let’s get started.

Today’s episode is called, “Stand Firm”. I have good news for you today because although the world feels wobbly, God’s promises are firm enough to stand on. We’re gonna be diving into the book of Colossians, chapter one, the second half. Paul is writing to the church of Colossi. He didn’t know them, but he was still writing to [00:01:00] encourage them. He heard about their faith. So take every word as if he is writing to you, as if you received an email or a text from the apostle Paul.

Before we dive in to this wonderful half chapter that is so focused on the Lord, you’re gonna love it, let’s say a little prayer. Father, we come to you in the name of Jesus. We invite you to open our hearts and open our eyes to what you want us to understand and see in your word. Right this minute, in Jesus name, we pray. Amen.

Okay, so let’s open our text from the apostle Paul. Here we go. The book of Colossians, his letter. Second half of chapter one, “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is Supreme over all creation. For through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. [00:02:00] He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see. Such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him.” Oh, I love this part. “He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.” I just wanna drop in here and say he is holding you together. If you feel like you are falling apart, the God who holds this world and all of creation together is holding you together. You are secure in his arms today. You’ve got backup. That’s how loved you are.

” Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything. For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ.” Listen to me, if you are [00:03:00] empty today, let the fullness of Christ dwell in you. He is here to fill you up with his love and his hope today. That is why we are gathered here. “For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ and through him, God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. This includes you, who were once far away from God. You were his enemies separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions.” I sure was.” Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.”

You may have heard these words, Jesus [00:04:00] Christ died for you. He died on the cross to take away all the evil things you’ve ever done. All the things that you’ll ever do. And I know what it feels like to feel full of sin, but it was his death on the cross that takes all of that away. And he opens the door, as it says here, “to bring you back into the presence of God.”

And all you have to do is tell him, Lord Jesus, I believe that you died on the cross and took away my sins. I confess with my mouth and I believe in my heart that you died for me and raised from the dead. And that is how you and I make peace with God. It’s beautiful.

“But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Yes. Stand firm. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the good news. The good news has been preached all over the world and I, Paul have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it. I am glad when I suffer for you [00:05:00] in my body, for I am participating in the sufferings of Christ that continue for his body, the church. God has given me the responsibility of serving his church by proclaiming his entire message to you. This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to God’s people. For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles too.

“And this is the secret,” this is it this is our takeaway verse today, “Christ lives in you.” Oh, this is why we can stand firm today. I’ve got goosebumps. You can stand firm because Christ lives in you, the secret’s out.

“This gives you assurance of sharing his glory. So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone, and teaching everyone with all the [00:06:00] wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ. That’s why I work and struggle so hard depending, on Christ’s mighty power that works within me.”

Oh, this is good news. And the apostle Paul is encouraging you and encouraging me not to drift away from the assurance that you and I received when we heard the good news that Christ lives in us. He took away our sins through his death, so he could live in us. This is why we stand firm. He is in us. We can rejoice today in that reassurance.

When I was a little girl, my parents would take my sister and I to Point Pleasant Beach in New Jersey. We went for like two days a year. It was just one night and it was very, very, very special. But I remember my sister and I would jump in the waves and we would look back and it seemed like my parents’ beach chairs [00:07:00] were far away and I’m like, well, wait, they didn’t move their beach chairs. No, it was I who moved. I drifted away with the tide. You know, the tides of the news and the things of this world can pull us away, but God never moves. And consider this right now. You can stand firm. You can be imovable in your faith today because Christ lives in you. That is so powerful, especially in the kind of world we’re living in today. Okay. We have now completed Colossians chapter one. Can’t wait to dive into Colossians chapter two with you tomorrow.

Thank you so much for listening to the Bible for Busy People. If you need prayer or you’re ready to go a little deeper in your faith, we’ve posted some resources for you in our show notes. We’d love for you to share this podcast with a friend and leave us a review. It helps us reach even more people with the hope of [00:08:00] Jesus. This podcast is part of Purposely, a podcast network designed with practical podcasts to help you find and live in God’s purpose for your life. Find more podcasts that will recharge you at onpurposely.com.