COLOSSIANS 1:13-29 WHAT I HAVE IN JESUS2019 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Colossians 1:13-29 What I Have In Jesus

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2019. Well, this evening we're going to be here in Colossians chapter 1. A couple weeks ago we began the book of Colossians and looked at the first 12 verses and we

Tonight, we'll pick up from there and continue our way through the rest of the chapter. But I wanted to begin by reading some of the verses that we covered two weeks ago as we looked at the prayer of the Apostle Paul as kind of an introduction to the things that Paul will be addressing this evening as we continue on in verses 13 through the rest of the chapter. Here in the book of Colossians, we're continuing the series, The Foundations for Christian Living.

And we've been going through these different letters of the Apostle Paul to really get a good foundation, to lay before us something solid that we can walk on, something that we can live out in a way to express our faith.

in our lives and apply to the things that we do, the decisions that we make. And so through the book of Galatians, we focused on the grace of Jesus and we're encouraged to do grace. You know, that is to draw near to God no matter what and to never stay away from God, but to continue to know him and pursue him and walk with him.

Then in Ephesians, we learned about our identity in Christ, who we are and who God has declared we are. And there's a lot of battles trying to, you know, get us to believe something else about ourselves internally and externally. And, uh,

what we have there in the book of Ephesians is God's declaration. This is who you are. And then as a result of that, this is how you are to walk. This is what a believer in Jesus looks like. And so our identity in Christ there in Ephesians. And then in Philippians, we saw the priority of Jesus and how important he is and the need for him to be first, the primary passion before anything else that we would really put him first in our lives, in our hearts, and in our minds.

Well, now as we finish up this series, looking at the letter to the Colossians, we're going to be focusing on my completeness in Jesus. And there's a completion that we have. There's a completeness that we have because of who Jesus is and his place in our lives. And a great reminder so that we don't go scrambling and searching all over everywhere else is

but to recognize that what we need most is him and that we are complete in him, that we have everything that we need in knowing Jesus and walking with him. And so that's the focus, the emphasis as we work our way through the book of Colossians. Now let's jump into verses 9 through 12 and read that prayer that Paul prayed for the Colossians as a means of working our way into the passage that God will have us walk through this evening. All right, Colossians chapter 1 verses 9 through 12 says this,

For this reason, we also, since the day that we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.

strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, for all patience with long-suffering and joy, giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.

Here, Paul records for us his prayer for the Colossians. And it's a powerful prayer, full of really great insights into, well, who we are, what we have, and our completeness in Christ. He's praying that they would be strengthened with a little tiny bit of might. No, no, with all might, right? According to his glorious power, that they would be fully pleasing to God.

And the crazy opportunity, the crazy possibility, the crazy idea that we could be living in a way, walking in a way that is fully pleasing to God, it's unfathomable. At the same time,

Paul prays for it because it is God's will for us and it's in reach for us because of who Jesus is and his place in our life. And so an incredible prayer here for us to pray and to understand we can be praying this for others, but

but also for us to understand and recognize the place that Christ has for us and the things that he has to offer to us, the impact that he has on our lives. As we talk about our completeness in Jesus, you need to understand that my completeness is not based on me. And that's really the point of the book of Colossians, that it's not based on me, it's based on Jesus. And I have lots of weaknesses and frailties and failures today.

But I'm complete in Jesus because all of those gaps and all of those weaknesses and everywhere that I fall short, Jesus, he fixes all of that. And in him, I have a fullness. I have a completeness. And so here, as we work our way through the remainder of the chapter, Colossians chapter 1, verses 13 through 29, I've titled the message, What I Have in Jesus.

And here we have some intense doctrine about Jesus, the deity of Jesus, the creator Jesus. And we're not going to get into all of the details and nuances of all the doctrine that's here. You can spend some time digging into that, but anyway,

But understanding who Jesus is and getting a glimpse of that will help us understand what we have in Jesus. And so five things that we'll take a look at that I have in Jesus as a result of him in my life. There's some serious results and demonstrations of that in the life that I live. And so we're going to begin in verses 13 and 14. Here's point number one this evening. In Jesus, I have redemption.

Here's the first thing that I have in Jesus as Paul is writing these things. I have redemption. Verse 13 and 14 says this. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the son of his love in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. Here, Paul concludes his prayer with this declaration of redemption.

what God has done for us. And here as he begins in verse 13, he's talking about the Father. He has delivered us from the power of darkness. He's referring to the Father at this point. The Father delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son. So the Father delivered us and then conveyed us into the kingdom of Jesus, the Son of his love, the Father.

Only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. And so God has done this work of delivering us and bringing us into the kingdom of Jesus. Now, notice the past tense, right? He has delivered us from the power of darkness. Sometimes we can forget that because we see darkness everywhere.

around us. We see darkness at work in our lives, and sometimes, well, we are convinced that the darkness still has a hold of us. But in Christ, I have redemption, and I have been delivered from the power of darkness.

At one time, I was in the grips of darkness. I was under the spell of darkness. I was unable to deliver myself from darkness. But the Father has stepped in through Jesus Christ to bring that deliverance, to bring a release, to set us free from the power of darkness.

And he doesn't just, you know, set us free and then leave us there in enemy territory, right? And then, you know, we're just going to be shot and killed because we have no defenses and here we are. We're delivered, you know, we're the POWs, but, you know, we got out, but we're still stuck there in enemy territory. No, he conveyed us into the kingdom of the son of his love. So he delivered us from the power of darkness. We were under the dominion of darkness, but now we're in a different dominion, right?

Now we belong to the kingdom of the Son whom the Father loves. We're in the kingdom of Jesus. He has conveyed us. He put us on the conveyor belt, right? Now, what's interesting about a conveyor belt, you know, you go to the grocery store and you take out your stuff out of the shopping cart, right? And you put it on the thing, right? You put it on the counter and then your groceries, you know, use their legs and your broccoli like walks itself to the register, right? No, no, no. The conveyor belt...

takes that broccoli from where you put it to the register, right? It is taken. The broccoli doesn't have to walk. In a similar way, he has delivered us and then he conveyed us into the kingdom of the son of his love. In other words, we don't have to work our way or walk our way into the kingdom of Jesus. We

We're conveyed into it. He put us on the conveyor belt. He ushered us into the kingdom of Jesus. We are under his dominion now. He rules over. He is responsible to protect, to provide. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the son of his love in whom we have redemption. And that word redemption, it means to purchase something.

Jesus purchased us with his own blood. Through his blood, he says. He purchased us. That's what Peter tells us in his letters, that we need to be remembered that we weren't redeemed with precious metals, right? Valuable things of this life, but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. That it was his blood. He gave his life. He shed his blood in order to purchase us back. To purchase us back.

and paying the price and the penalty, the punishment for our sin that we deserve. But now through him in Jesus, I have redemption. I've been bought back. So I'm no longer part of the dominion of darkness. I'm not subject to darkness. I'm a citizen of the kingdom of the son of his love, redeemed and forgiven of sins. And so in Jesus, I have redemption.

It's already taken place. Again, notice the past tense. We have redemption. We have been delivered. We have been conveyed. This is where we are. We are standing in the kingdom of God, washed and cleansed, having right relationship with God as if we had never sinned because of Jesus. That's our position in him. This is what I have in Jesus.

Well, moving on to verses 15 through 18, the second point we'll consider this evening is that in Jesus, I have completion. I am complete in Jesus. Without Jesus, apart from Jesus, I am incomplete. As I was talking about, you know, there's the faults and frailties and failures and gaps and issues that I have and things that I lack. But in Christ, there is nothing to lack.

Nothing is missing. In Jesus, I have everything that I need to be complete. Let's read verses 15 through 19. It says, He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him, all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through him and for him.

I read a little bit extra there in verse 19. But here we see Jesus as the creator.

Jesus in his deity. And this aspect of Jesus, the fact that Jesus is God, the fact that Jesus is the creator, the fact that he is the head of the body of Christ, all speak to what that means for me having Jesus in my life. You see, Jesus is not just some additional supplement that like helps a

Having Jesus a part of my life means I have God, the Almighty, the all-powerful, the creator of the heavens and the earth as part of my life. Paul says he is the image of the invisible God. Again, there's a lot of doctrine here that we could get, you know, into great detail, but I don't want to dig into all the details here, but

But to just kind of scratch the surface, the fact that he is the image of the God means he's the exact representation of him. Not that he's like a model that's inferior, but that he perfectly, completely, and fully reveals and demonstrates God the Father to us. The author of Hebrews has a similar declaration in Hebrews 1, verse 3 says,

Saying that Jesus is the brightness of the Father's glory and the express image of his person. That he perfectly and fully represents the Father and declares the Father. No one has seen the Father, right? But the only begotten has declared or revealed the Father to us. Remember Jesus told Philip in John chapter 14, right?

Show us the Father, right? Philip said. And Jesus said, hey, haven't I been with you for a while? If you've seen me, you've seen the Father. Because I am the image of the invisible God. I perfectly reflect all that the Father is. The fullness of his nature, the fullness of his character, all that he is, it's found in Jesus.

And that speaks to the deity of Jesus, that he's not just man, he's not just good man, he's not just good prophet. He is fully God. That's the only way to fully represent God and be the image of the invisible God. Paul goes on to say that he is the firstborn over all creation.

And talking about the firstborn gets some people confused. Some people look at this and think, well, the firstborn over all creation, that means that Jesus was the first thing that the Father ever created.

And there are those who believe that Jesus is a created being and that he was the first of the Father's creation. But don't get too hung up on the idea of the firstborn because we use that perhaps, you know, to only refer to literally the first one to come from the womb, right? But firstborn for them was a position, not just the order or, you know, the...

Not choreography. What's the chronology? It's not just speaking about chronology, but the firstborn was a position within the family. It was a position of who would receive the double portion of the inheritance and would be responsible then to delegate the inheritance to the rest of the siblings and who would be responsible to make decisions for the family. It was a position. Maybe, you know, we might...

Refer to someone and say, you know, you're the man of the house, right? Now, you might say that to a little boy, right? Or perhaps the wife is the man of the house in some ways. But we understand the point, right? That it's a role, it's a position, it's something to be filled. It's not literally necessarily. And in a similar way, this word firstborn, it's a position, right?

And what this means is that he is over all creation. He is responsible for all creation, that he is above all creation, that he is the most, you know, power and authority over all things that are created. And he goes on to explain the reason why he has this position of being over all creation. Verse 16 goes on to say, for by him all things were created.

He is the firstborn over all creation because he is the creator. So he's not part of the creation. He's not one of the things created. He is the one who created all things, which gives him that permanent place of having full authority over all creation. And so Jesus is the creator.

by him all things were created. And just to make sure it's clear, make sure that, you know, there's no like little loopholes that, you know, we try to squeeze in or think about. Or Paul goes on to say, by him all things were created that are in heaven or that are on earth, visible, invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. Now, there's two kinds of things that are created. The

Things that are visible and things that are invisible. And Jesus created them both, right? Whether you're talking about, you know, spiritual plane invisibility or microscopic plane invisibility, right? The things that are visible, anything that you can see, anything that you can touch, anything that you can taste, anything that is visible, Jesus created that.

But the things you have no idea about and the things you can't see, the wind and, you know, the spiritual realm, the things that are outside of our view in the galaxy, right, in the universe, the things that we cannot see, Jesus created those as well. There's two kinds of things that were created, things that are in heaven and things that are on earth. And Jesus created both.

Whether it's principalities or powers or dominions or whatever the case is, all spiritual forces, all spiritual things, all physical things, all things that exist ever were created by Jesus. But not just that he is the creator. Verse 16 goes on to say, all things were created through him and for him. It's not just that he made those things, but that, well, those things exist for him.

He created those things for him. Those things exist for him. It's one thing to create something, right? You might make a good meal. But if you make a good meal for me, well, now it's for me, right? I'm the one who it belongs to. It's special for me, right? In a similar way, all of creation exists for Jesus. It's for him. It's for his purposes, for his plans, for his glory, for his pleasure, right?

Verse 17 goes on to say he is before all things. Again, he's not the first of things created. He is before all things because he is the creator of all things. But not only that, he goes on to say in verse 17, in him all things consist. So he was here before anything else was here.

He was here before here was here, right? He was before all things, but then also in him all things consist. So it's not that he created and then, you know, now it just operates on its own and it just, you know, continues on. And there is that idea sometimes, you know, he just spun the top and, you know, now it's all just...

Continuing on in, you know, the initial inertia that, you know, he put into it. No, no. In him, all things consist. Literally, it's he's holding everything together. The only reason why creation still exists is because Jesus holds it all together. The only reason why we're still here. The only reason why the visible, the invisible, all those things still are realities is because in him, all things consist. And so Paul here makes it very clear that

He is God. He's equal to God. He perfectly represents God. He is the creator of everything without exception. He is the sustainer of everything. But then he goes on in verses, or verse 18, to say he is the head of the body, the church. Kind of makes a little bit of a turn. He is the creator, you know, like real big, you know, scope going all the way back to the beginning. But now, like, making it more personal to us, understanding as I look at the church and

believers in Jesus Christ are the church, the body of Christ, well, is such that he is the head. He's the head in the sense that he's in charge. He's the head in the sense that he is the first, the foremost. He is the beginning, he says, the firstborn from the dead. Now again, firstborn, it's not just talking about chronology, but it's that he is the most important person

You can look at it in one sense that Jesus was the first to rise from the dead in that glorified condition. Other people like Lazarus, he raised from the dead, but it was, you know, a temporary raising of the dead that he would die again, you know, in the near future. But Jesus rose from the dead in a different sense to never die in a glorified state. Although he is the first in that way, again, this idea of firstborn is,

it's not primarily talking about that chronology. It's talking about the fact that he is the head of the body. He's the most important of those who will ever be resurrected. He stands apart. He's above. He's in charge of, responsible for. He's the head of the body. He concludes saying that in all things he may have the preeminence. That word preeminence, it speaks of his superiority, surpassing all others.

Essentially, Paul is saying, look, whatever arena you want to look at, you want to look at creation, you want to look at the church, Jesus is first. He's foremost. He's the firstborn, the position as head over all. He brought it into existence. He continues to sustain it. And it's all for him.

Now, the reason why, as we're looking at Jesus as the creator, Jesus as the head of the body of Christ, the reason why I have looked at these verses and come to the point in Jesus, I have completion. I'm going to borrow a little bit from Colossians chapter two, verse nine and 10, where Paul will tell us in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And then he makes the point, he applies it and you are complete in him and

who is the head of all principality and power. See, the point of recognizing and understanding who Jesus is, the fact that he's creator, the fact that he is God, the fact that he is the head of the body of Christ, understanding these things, it's important doctrine, and we need to have a good grasp on the doctrine, but it's also not just doctrine so that we know facts and figures about Jesus. It's doctrine so that we understand who it is that we're related to. Listen, when Jesus is in your life,

The creator of life is in your life. The sustainer of all life is in your life. The one who brought all things into existence. The one who is the head of the body of Christ. The most important person in the church is Jesus. He's in your life. You know, sometimes people like to approach others for prayer, you know, with this kind of idea, like you have a really, you know, good connection to God. That, oh man, if you pray for me, that prayer is going to be heard. But

But in doing so, many times we forget that you have Jesus in your life who is the head of the church, right? You already have the best mediator. You have Jesus in your life. You're complete in him. You have everything that you need because he is the creator of life. He's the sustainer of life and he's in your life. As you have believed in him, he takes up residence. You've been conveyed into his kingdom and he has all power. He sustains all life and

He is the head of the church. There's nothing that you need that Jesus is unable to provide. There's nothing that you need that Jesus is not willing to provide. There's nothing that you need that Jesus will not provide. You're complete in him. He has everything that you need. Whether you're talking about physical things, he's the creator. You need food? He can create you food. Or he can just, you know, deliver it to the grocery store and have you go pick it up. That

However he wants to do it. He's able to do it. He can meet your needs. You're complete. Emotional needs, he can meet those. He's the creator of all things visible and invisible. He can meet those needs. Financial needs, he can meet those needs. You have everything that you need. Spiritual needs, you need to grow. You need friends in the Lord. You need disciples. You need to serve. You need to whatever it might be. You're complete in him. You have everything in him.

that you need. And there are times that we forget this. And we go chasing after other things, forgetting that the one who can fulfill our need is Jesus himself. We don't have to turn to something else. Now Jesus can turn us to things, right? He can use a variety of means to meet our needs, but we need to not forget that it's still Jesus.

who makes us complete. Peter, in writing his letters, tells us that we have everything that we need for life and for godliness through the knowledge of him. And it's in knowing Jesus, we're complete. We really do have everything. Everything that I need to be a husband, everything that I need to be a pastor, everything that I need to be a programmer, I have that in Jesus. I'm complete in him. Everything that I need for my spiritual life, everything that I need for my home life, for my work life, everything that I need,

for decisions, for direction, for whatever I may face. I have Jesus in my life. He's the creator, the full representation of God, the head of the church. I don't lack anything. Sometimes I feel like I lack, but I don't really. I don't actually. Sometimes we feel like we lack. And instead of running to Jesus with that lack, we chase after something else. Pastor Sandy Adams says it this way. He says, you know, sadly,

I know Christians who are always going off on tangents. It's as if Jesus is not enough. It's not enough for them to walk with Jesus. They need a hobby horse, angels, or fasting, or feasting, or some other kind of peculiarity. He says, don't forsake Jesus for anyone or anything else. Jesus is all that we need. I wish I could say it in his voice. He says it much better. Jesus is all that we need.

And there are people who are unsatisfied and they think, if I only, you know, could get this, if I could only, you know, achieve that, accomplish this. And in our dissatisfaction with whatever is happening in our lives or in our heart or how we feel, we chase after things

Well, if I get into that relationship or if I, you know, reach this level of fitness or if I, you know, reach this level of career, whatever, that this amount of savings and we're chasing after those things and those things can never fulfill us, that we will not be complete even if we obtain those things. We are complete in Jesus. I was thinking about this for myself because, well, every month over at

Calvary Chapel, Chino Valley, there's a pastor's meeting that takes place on Tuesday afternoons. And I used to be part of that, but now my schedule prevents me from being part of that. And I got the email this week, and that's why it's on my mind, because I got the email like, hey, next Tuesday is the event. And I'm like, I wish I could go, but I can't go. And I could think of myself as missing out.

I mean, go hang out with Pastor David Rosales. Who says no to that, right? It's like, that's an awesome opportunity. I could think of myself as missing out. I don't have the opportunity to fellowship and be fed in the way that I used to. But you know what? Jesus is the head of the body of Christ. I mean, I could hang out with David Rosales or I could hang out with Jesus. Like, I might pick David Rosales sometimes. But Jesus, he has what I need. Jesus completes me.

That meeting, that fellowship, or you could substitute any other thing for that, right? It was just on my mind because I got the email this week. Sometimes he chooses fellow laborers to do that completing work in us and provide what we need. But don't confuse those fellow laborers as the, you know, resource that that's what you need. No, no, it's Jesus working through them. Jesus is the head. I have what I need in him.

And he may meet my needs in any method that he sees fit. But whatever method he chooses, I have everything that I need in him. And so do you. In Jesus, I have completion. I have redemption. I have completion because he is the creator. He is God. He is the head of the body of Christ. You might think, well, if only I had this Bible study, or if I only had that event, or if I only had... And maybe, yes, maybe the Lord wants to use those in your life. But then also, sometimes...

We just get distracted and forget that it's actually him that is the one that completes us. Well, moving on to verses 20 through 23, we get the third point this evening, and that is in Jesus I have reconciliation. Sorry, not verse 20, but verse 19 through 23. It says,

Having made peace through the blood of his cross, and you who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and blameless and above reproach in his sight. If indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister."

Here is Paul goes on again. He reiterates the fullness dwells in Jesus. The fullness, the completion of all things is in Jesus. And I have Jesus. So guess what? I'm complete. I have everything that I need. And by Jesus, the father has chosen to reconcile all things to himself. And again, he makes sure it's clear things in heaven, things on earth. It's all being brought together. It's all accomplishing God's plan by the cross.

Because Jesus has made peace through the blood of his cross. And making it a personal example, he says, you who once were alienated and enemies in your mind. Now, he's not singling out some people who were, and there are others that Paul wasn't addressing at this point. No, that's every one of us. We're alienated from God. We were enemies in our minds by wicked works. We were opposed to God. We were at odds with God by our sinfulness. And so here we were in this condition, alienated,

fighting against, but now he's reconciled. He's brought into fellowship. He's made harmony between us and the Father. We were separated, alienated, at enmity against, but now he has healed that relationship.

Now, in thinking about that reconciliation, Pastor Dave Guzik has a good point. He says, in the work of reconciliation, God didn't meet us halfway. God meets us all the way and invites us to accept it. He doesn't say, let's compromise. I'll go halfway. You come the other half. You, you know, get righteous and then I'll meet you halfway. He goes all the way. He completes the full need of righteousness, the full need of forgiveness, right?

He meets us all the way and then it's like, you know, walking all the way and then just sticking out his hand like, all you got to do is accept it. Good job you accepted it. Reconciled, right? We were fighting earlier and we really are reconciled. No, I'm just kidding. Reconciled. He's right there.

Having done the full work, he's filled the whole gap himself, crossed the whole gap himself, and made the possibility of real relationship with the Father by his work for us upon the cross. While we were enemies, while we were opposed, while we were estranged, again, this work of reconciliation, the work that he does, it's not contingent upon us. It's not that he does most of it and we just have to lift a little, but it's his work that

In Jesus, I have reconciliation. I have it. It's mine. I have full access to God. I may not always recognize it. I may not always live as if it were true, but it's true nonetheless. He did this reconciliation, verse 22, in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and blameless and above reproach in his sight. Not only is this relationship to God restored, but through his broken body, through his death,

He is now able to present you, me, as holy and blameless and above reproach. Now, those are some big words. Not so much that they're long, but would you normally present yourself as holy? Right? Here I am. I'm holy. Just want you guys to know. I'm blameless and I'm above reproach. Like that's inviting, you know, some scrutiny of your life and behavior and attitudes and words, right? Like, I don't want that kind of scrutiny.

But what Christ has done, regardless of the fact that I do sin and fall short, regardless of the fact that I do have failures, His work on my behalf, His work of reconciliation is so great. He's able to present me holy and blameless and above reproach because my sins have been washed and the full penalty has been paid. It's not contingent upon me being holy for Him to present me holy. He presents me holy because He's able to

He did the work for me upon the cross. I don't have to be blameless for him to be able to present me blameless. Now that's not an excuse to go, you know, be unholy and be blameful and be below reproach or whatever those opposites are, right? It's not an excuse to go live in sin. But the point is, even though I don't measure up, even though I do fail, again, he meets us the whole way. He doesn't require us, okay, you be 50% holy and then I'll make up the other half.

No, I'm going to be 100% holy on your behalf. You believe in me and receive that, and you're reconciled to God through faith in Jesus Christ. If indeed you continue in the faith. That word if can also be translated since. And so there's some discussion about this verse. Is this saying, all right, well, here's the contingency. You live up to your end of the bargain, and you continue to believe in Jesus. Or is it saying, since you continue to believe in Jesus,

You're not moved. You're not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which you heard, which is preached to every creature into heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister. That's the stance that Warren Wiersbe takes. He says, we are not saved by continuing in the faith, but we continue in the faith and thus prove that we are saved. It behooves each professing Christian to test his own faith and examine his own heart to be sure he is a child of God. The scriptures teach great confidence for us to be able to rest in trust and

in the work of Christ, but also provide some warnings for us to make sure that we're not just deceiving ourselves and thinking we're reconciled when we're not actually. And so there's a balance here and there's some room for us to wrestle with these things. But believing in Jesus, I have reconciliation. Well, I've run out of time. So I think I'm just going to

Put a stop to it there, and then we pick up in chapter 1, verse 24 next week and continue on. So what I have in Jesus, part one. We'll call it part one now, okay? So in Jesus, I have redemption. In Jesus, I have completion. And in Jesus, I have reconciliation. I'm complete. I have everything that I need. Right with God, perfect relationship with the Father. I'm going to be presented holy and blameless and above reproach. He has given me

everything that I need. My job, according to Paul there in verse 23, is just stay grounded and steadfast in the faith. Do not be moved away from the hope of the gospel. Come back to, grasp hold of, refresh yourself in the hope of the gospel, faith in Jesus Christ. And every time you have a need, every time you have a thirst, every time you have a craving, every time you have an unsatisfied aspect to your life, run to Jesus.

He's the one who can meet all of your needs. Let's pray. Lord, thank you for the good reminder this evening of what we have in you. I pray, God, that you would use these things to instruct us, to encourage us, to help us, to continue to run to you and turn to you and rely upon you, to submit ourselves to you and to seek you, Lord, for every need. It's not different than that verse that we all know. We're not to worry, but we're to seek first your kingdom.

That's where we are. We're conveyed into your kingdom. You've done that work in us. And yet, Lord, sometimes we get distracted and we try to meet our own needs, scrambling around and thinking we're responsible for and it's up to us and we have to work it out. We have to come up with a plan and come up with the agenda and figure out how things are going to work out. Lord, you want to remind us that in you we have everything that we need. And you're going to direct us and you're going to provide for us in a variety of ways.

But our first and foremost responsibility is to know you, to love you, to respond to what you've done for us. And so Lord, help us to do that. Help us to draw near to you and remember how much we have in you. We thank you, God. We praise you for your work in us. Draw us near to you, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.