EVERY MAN'S CHRIST

COLOSSIANS 1:2

A. "WHOM WE PREACH, WARNING EVERY MAN, AND TEACHING EVERY MAN IN ALL WISDOM; THAT WE MAY PRESENT EVERY MAN PERFECT IN CHRIST JESUS"
  1. No one can read this text without noting that the emphasis is laid:
    1. On every man
    2. Warning every man, teaching every man, presenting every man perfect in Christ Jesus
  2. With these sweeping aims of the apostle:
    1. He has set for himself a certain objective to preach and teach to lead men to Christ and to the perfection in Christ Jesus
    2. That is the great objective of the plan of redemption B. CHRIST FOR EVERY MAN
  3. Christ for every man:
    1. He died for all men - 2 Cor. 5:15
    2. He represents the human race in heaven and thus He represents every man before God - I John 2:1-3
    3. "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me" - John 12:32
  4. He seeks to save every man:
    1. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish but have everlasting life" - John 3:16
    2. All men have sinned and, therefore, are lost; Jesus Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost - Luke 19:10
  5. Every man for Christ:
    1. Christ has a rightful claim on every man born into this world - Rom. 14:7-9
    2. That makes every man accountable to Him - 2 Cor. 5:10
  6. The whole of Christ for every man:
    1. The righteousness of Christ for every man - I Cor. 1:30-31; Jer. 23:6
    2. The power of Christ for every man - Rom. 1:14-17; Phil. 2:13; 4:13
    3. The ministry of Christ for every man - I John 2:1-3; Heb. 4:15-16
    4. Immortality, coming through Jesus Christ for every man - John 3:16; Rev. 22:17; John 7:37-38 C. AND FINALLY AND GLORIOUSLY - EVERY MAN PERFECT IN CHRIST
  7. What a sweeping vision had the apostle Paul:
    1. To him the work of the gospel was not completed until the man claimed by Christ was completed
    2. To him the plan of salvation included a complete work for man and in man
  8. Let us see how sinful men can be complete in Jesus Christ:
    1. Through faith we accept the perfect righteousness of Christ - it is reckoned unto us. Compare Romans 3:22 with chapter 4:6; 5:17; I Cor. 1:30
    2. Through faith and the operation of the Holy Spirit the righteousness of Christ is implanted into our hearts - we become partakers of the divine nature - 2 Pet. 1:2-8
    3. Actually, the Holy Spirit writes the law of God into our hearts and that makes us spiritual minded beings - Heb. 10:15-16; Rom. 8:1-7
    4. Writes the apostle, "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord" - 2 Cor. 3:18
  9. There is but one condition to the sweeping effort to claim all men for Christ and Christ for all men:
    1. The success of such an undertaking is conditional, depending upon all men to come to Christ of their own free will - Rev. 22:17
    2. Men are free moral agents, they have it in their power to accept or to reject
    3. Here is the one great problem of the efforts the gospel workers - not all are even willing to listen to the claims of the gospel - Rom. 10:16
  10. Our Saviour sees humanity moving on the highway of life, the largest number of them travel on the broad road, and only a few select to enter the straight gate and travel the straight and narrow way - Matt. 7:13-14. Are you dear reader one of the few?


Design © John Bryant 2011