Christ First

Why do we owe our allegiance to Christ? Why is Christ our King? Josh Howes answers those questions and more in this article

A sermon written and delivered by Joshua S Howes,
host of the weekly live-streamed show Christ First

At what point did you allow Jesus Christ to have authority over your life? When I was about 17, I made a conscious decision to reject Christ’s authority. I thought that I was the only one who had any right to say how I should live my life. But I was wrong. I had forgotten that God had set me apart as a Christian to live a Holy life. In Colossians 1:15-23, Paul calls on the Church in Colossae to live Holy lives that are set apart, because Christ has authority over them. He then calls on them to keep trusting in and spreading the gospel of faith in Christ, knowing that nothing else can forgive them of their sins. Today, I’m going to expand on what Paul is saying, and how we can apply it in our lives. I’ll begin by describing why Christ has authority over us, and what it looks like to live that out. Then I’ll outline why Christ’s death alone saves us, providing ways we can respond to this in continued faith and evangelism.

To begin with, Christ has authority over our lives because he created us. This is exactly what Paul is saying in verse 16. Look at it with me. He says that “For by him all things were created.” At the end of this verse he says that “all things were created through Him and for Him.” Jesus isn’t just someone who we obey because he’s right. He’s someone who we obey because we’re His. Just as we’d expect our child to obey us because they’re ours, Christ expects us to obey Him because we’re His. This also means allowing ourselves to maintain a personal relationship with Him, just as a child has a personal relationship with their parents. In doing so, we can grow closer to Him, and better understand what it looks like to obey Him.

Having created all things, Christ is not only lord over us, but also over the things we possess. Whether it be our wealth, relationships, or time, all of it is to be used as he sees fit, because all of it is owned by him. If all of these things are created for him, as the end of verse 16 states, they are able to be used for his glory. Money can be donated to so many Godly endeavours, including mission organisations, Churches, and ministry trainees. Ultimately though, we really must allow Christ to be the master over our money, otherwise our money will become a master over us. Our relationships likewise are under God’s dominion. As we’ll see later, the preaching of the gospel is not a task restricted only to the apostles. Christ expects us to be doing this towards our friends, co-workers and family, because once again, not even our relationships are for us alone. They’re also for him, because he created them. The way that we spend our time covers all sorts of things, including our money and relationships. We also only have a finite amount of it, which means that we’re forced to prioritise certain things. Many things previously mentioned, like being generous with our money, or dedicating ourselves to loving friendships, can be good ways to use our time. That being said, God actually gives us things that can help us to use that generosity or friendliness for his glory, and not our own. Bible reading and prayer is all about directing our hearts and minds in ways that acknowledges that Christ created us and has authority over us.

If Christ is our King, then like any King, he has provided us with a set of instructions on how we should live our lives, which makes up much of the Bible. However, his word isn’t only a list of rules. It also proclaims the good news, otherwise known as the gospel. The word gospel was almost exclusively used in the ancient world to refer to the proclamation of the birth of a future king. If we recognise the gospel as the proclamation of Christ as King, then reading the Bible, all of which points to the gospel, is a necessary way for us to treat Christ’s kingship as a reality. So too is prayer. If Christ isn’t someone who has supreme authority over our lives, why should we pray to him? What use are our prayers asking for Christ to act on things if Christ doesn’t hold all things together, as verse 17 outlines? Look at it with me. Verse 17 clearly states that “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” It is necessary, before we pray, to recognise that Christ really is supreme over all things, and that he really can hear our prayers. That we have been given the gift of asking God and thanking God for all good things, just goes to show that Christ is truly sovereign.

The question of obedience to government authority is more relevant than ever in light of the lockdowns, mask mandates, and vaccination requirements that we’ve all experienced over the last few years. God’s word tells us that Christ has greater authority, even over the government that rules us, the government that should be obeying Him. Look with me again at verse 16. It tells us that “whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.” This means that when we’re forced to make a decision between obeying God, and obeying the Government, we must obey God, under all circumstances. It is also true that God has given us governments to stabilise society, and preserve the existence of all good things. Please turn with me to Romans 13:3-4. Paul writes here, saying “For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad… do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good.” So if government has authority over us because it exists to preserve good, how much more authority must Christ have, who in verse 17 of Colossians “holds all things together?” Please turn with me to verse 7 of Romans 13.

Here, referring to the government, Paul is telling the Church to “pay to them all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honour to whom honour is owed. The government deserves only a share of this, because like all things that aren’t God, it isn’t perfect. Christ, being fully God and therefore fully perfect, deserves all of our respect and honour. Therefore, because the government is supposed to mirror God and his law, it has authority only to the extent that it does this. Please turn back with me to Colossians 1, and look at verse 15. It says that “He, referring to Christ, is the image of the invisible God.” Because Christ, unlike the government, is the perfect image of God, and therefore the perfect follower of his law, he is to be obeyed at all times.

All of this means that in response, we should live Holy lives, acknowledging that as Christians, we have been set apart by God. What this really means is that we ought to respond by living as people who have been saved from death to life. This involves obeying him, and turning away from the very sin that we were once dead in to begin with. Look at verse 21 with me. Paul explains how, “You once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds.” This is now a life that Christians no longer live. That isn’t to say that we never sin. But, when those who have repentantly put their faith in Christ’s forgiveness of sin, his sacrifice pardons them of it. Can you imagine what it would be like to not be pardoned of your sin? To not be right with God? Comparing God’s authority to the government’s lesser authority, that would be like being public enemy number 1 – but worse! That is the state that those who have not accepted Christ are in. The end result of this state is death, and eternal punishment for our sins in what the Bible calls Hell. As we’ll see, that’s why it’s important for those who are already saved to present the gospel, in the hope that others may accept it and likewise be spared of this terrible fate. Praise God that we have been rescued from death to life – from being Christ’s enemies, to being His friends.

Continue along with me to verse 23. It says that this friendship with Christ requires us to be “continuing in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard.” Christians have repented of their sins and put their faith in Christ for the forgiveness of them. Christians likewise continue to repent of their sins and put their faith in Christ for the forgiveness of them. I won’t pretend that I came up with the following analogy, but Douglas Wilson, a Presbyterian minister, puts it this way. It’s not putting a lifejacket on that saves you from drowning – it’s keeping that lifejacket on. If you’re unable to swim, and you put a lifejacket on, then immediately take it off, you won’t be any closer to being saved, and you won’t be any further from dying. In the same way, faith isn’t about a one-off decision we made or a prayer we said one time. It’s something we continuously dedicate ourselves to – not because we’re scared of losing our faith, but because our faith should spur us on to want to grow in it.

So as we’ve seen, obedience and submission to God as his holy people is a good thing. There’s just one problem. Time and time again, not matter how hard we try, we’re always going to fail to live that out perfectly. Now come with me to verse 22. Paul is saying here that “You 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.” The only reason Christ died for us was so that we could be right with God. There is nothing we could do or can do to achieve this, because we are ultimately unable to live perfect lives. If our obedience or submission to God could be perfect, then Christ’s death would have been meaningless, because it would not then be the only thing that could save us. Christ’s death is the only thing that can save us, because Christ is the only one able to perfectly submit to and obey God. Again, in verse 23, we see that the only thing God asks of us it that we “continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel” Even our faith is a gift from God, and not something to boast in, because if it weren’t for Christ’s sacrifice, we wouldn’t have anything to put our faith in. And not everyone has this good gift either. This is what it means to be Holy, or to be set apart. The Holy of Holies was the inner room of the Tabernacle, where God’s presence dwelt with his people. We, being God’s Holy people, have God the Spirit present in us as a seal of our faith. While we were once separated from God, he’s now united us with Him.

When we’re fully united with Him in paradise however, we won’t be presented blameless in our own right or because of anything that we’ve done in this life. We will be presented blameless because of what Christ has already done through his death. It isn’t that living holy lives presents us blameless before God. It’s that we should do our best to live holy lives in response to Christ already promising to present us blameless, as we’ve seen in verse 22. God’s gift of faith in Christ’s death and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins, and the acknowledgement of him as our lord, is what allows us to be presented holy and blameless before Him. That’s why the only action that Paul calls on the Colossians to undertake is continuing in the faith. Continue in your faith in Christ’s sacrifice, remembering that it’s God’s undeserved gift, and enough to forgive you of your sins. Don’t despair of your sin, but rejoice that you recognise your sin for what it is, and that Christ has forgiven it. We should all respond to our sin in repentance, and proclaim the good news of forgiveness to those not yet forgiven.

Turning back to verse 23, Paul reminds us of the importance of doing just that – spreading the gospel of faith and repentance in Jesus Christ to those who haven’t put their faith in Him. Look at it with me. The apostle tells us that “The faith of which he has become a minister, has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven.” Even though creation means that no-one has an excuse for not having faith in God, Paul still chooses to minister it to those who have not yet accepted it. This ministry is a mission that every Christian is expected to accept, even in their day-to-day life. Not every Christan has to enter into full-time ministry of course. But, by communicating the gospel in how we behave around others, and what we tell others, we can live as people so clearly set apart from the rest of the world.

We are reminded of what this very gospel is when we arrive at verses 19 and 20. Please read along with me. “For in Christ, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. In our modern society, the Gospel is offensive to many people. We know this because God’s word says so. Why don’t you turn with me to 2 Corinthians 2:15-16. It says; “For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life.” Christ’s authority over us should move us to preach the gospel to all people, even if some think that what we’re really bringing to them is death. We, and those who God has chosen to accept the gospel we bring them, know that it is life. It is life because it is peace with God through Christ’s death in our place. This is what verse 20 is talking about when it refers to “the fullness of God, in Christ, being pleased to reconcile to himself all things.” Reconciliation doesn’t only involve two parties ceasing from fighting each other. It means them being united and on close terms. In other words, Jesus’ death hasn’t only stopped us from being God’s enemies – it’s made us his friends. We have an intimate relationship with Him.

Christ commands Paul and the rest of the apostles to preach the gospel. Likewise, he tells them to teach us to obey all that he has commanded of them. This is seen in Matthew 28, verses 18-20. Please turn to it with me. Matthew writes about how; “Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” All of this means that while Jesus set the apostles apart, our role is to still be the same as theirs. Everything Jesus commanded of his apostles, he has also commanded of us. Just as the apostles were zealous to share the gospel to those who were hostile to them, we too should share the gospel with that same zeal. Notice what the therefore at the start of verse 19 is there for. Before commanding us to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations”, Jesus says “all authority on heaven and earth has been given to me.” Clearly Jesus is only able to command us to spread the good news because he has been given supreme authority.

As people who have been given the authority spread the gospel by him who has all the authority, this is a task that we shouldn’t take lightly. It should infect every aspect of our life, specifically our relationships. Because our relationships, like everything, have been made through and for Christ, we must be intentional when it comes to sharing the gospel with those who we know. God has given us friends, family, and colleagues, all to glorify Him by making believers. Since Christ has ultimate authority, we shouldn’t allow what others think of the gospel to prevent us from spreading it to them. It matters much more what our Lord thinks of us than what those who are under him think of us. So be bold. Proclaim the gospel, just as Paul proclaims the gospel in verse 23 of his letter to the Colossians. Remember that in doing so, you are proclaiming the future coming of Christ the King.

If you were to ask me why I stopped rejecting Christ’s authority over my life, and instead submitted myself to Him, I would tell you that it was because I recognised why Christ is worthy of our submission. He is worthy of our submission because he created us, and because we were created for him. Before I recognised this fact, I didn’t bother trying to live a life in obedience to Him. Once I began trying to live this life, I did so remembering that it was impossible to do this perfectly. I was reminded of my own sinfulness, but also the forgiveness of my sin through Christ’s death in my place. I continue to trust in Christ’s forgiveness, knowing that he has commanded me to make the gospel clear to those who don’t know him. If you only trust in Christ’s forgiveness and continue to trust in Christ’s forgiveness, you can be assured of your salvation, and that Christ has commanded you to spread that salvation to the end of the earth.