Listen to sermons at FreeGraceRadio.com

“Christ is All”

In All the Works of God

Colossians 3:11

Christ is all, in all the purpose, counsels, decrees, and works of the triune God. There was a time when this earth had no being, a time when there was no time, no world, no universe, no angels, and no men, a time when the triune God dwelt alone in the ineffable glory of his holy being, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. — And where was Christ then?

Even then Christ was with the Father, one with the Father, loved of the Father, and set up and accepted by the Triune Jehovah as our covenant Surety and sin-atoning Sacrifice, in whom all God’s elect were “accepted in the Beloved” and blessed with all the blessings of grace (Proverbs 8:22-31; John 1:1; Romans 8:28-30; Ephesians 1:3-6; Revelation 13:8; 17:8).

Creation

Then time began, and there came a time when this earth was created. The sun, moon, and stars, the seas and the land, and all their inhabitants, were called into being, and made out of chaos and confusion. And man was formed out of the dust of the ground. — And where was Christ then? What does the Book say? — “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” — “For by him were all things created.” — “Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands.”

The Garden

There came a day when sin entered the world. Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit and fell. They lost that holy nature in which they were first formed. They forfeited the friendship and favor of God and became guilty, corrupt, helpless, hopeless sinners. Sin separated man from God and God from man. — And where was Christ then?

In that very day the Lord Jesus Christ was revealed to our trembling parents as the only hope of salvation. The very day they fell, they were told that the woman’s Seed would bruise the serpent’s head, that a Savior born of a woman would crush the serpent’s head and obtain eternal salvation for helpless sinners (Genesis 3:15, 21). Christ was held up as God’s salvation in the very day of the fall. The Lord God promised redemption and portrayed it to the fallen pair before he drove them from the Garden. From that day to this, there has never been any name whereby sinners enter into heaven but Christ. He is that one to whom all who are saved look for salvation.

First Advent

There came a time when the world was sunk and buried in rebellion and sin, engrossed in thick darkness, imprisoned by idolatry, and utterly ignorant of God. After 4,000 years the nations of the earth knew not God who made them. Egyptian, Assyrian, Persian, Grecian, and Roman empires had done nothing but spread superstition and idolatry. Poets, historians, and philosophers had proved that, with all their intellectual powers, they had no knowledge of God and that man is utterly corrupt. — “The world, by wisdom, knew not God.” Except for a few despised Jews in a small corner of the earth, the whole world was dead in ignorance and sin. — And what did Christ do then?

He left the glory he had had from all eternity with the Father and came down into the world to obtain salvation for poor sinners by the sacrifice of himself. He took our nature into union with himself and was born as a man. He did the will of God perfectly which we all had left undone. He suffered on the cross all the horrid wrath of God which we ought to have suffered. He brought in everlasting righteousness for us. He redeemed us from the curse of a broken law. He opened a fountain for cleansing from sin and uncleanness. He died for our sins. He rose again for our justification. He ascended to God’s right hand and there sat down, expecting his enemies to be made his footstool. And there he sits now, giving salvation to all who were given to him in eternity, interceding for all who trust him, and ruling the universe for the salvation of our souls.

Second Advent

There is a time coming when our God shall make all things new. Creation will not always groan, being burdened. Sin shall be cast out from the world. Wickedness shall be no more. Satan shall be cast into hell. There is a day coming called “the time of restitution of all things.” There shall be a new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness; and the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. In that day the slime of the serpent shall be eradicated from God’s creation (Romans 8:22; Acts 3:21; 2 Peter 3:13). — And where will Christ be then? What will he do?

Christ shall return to this earth and make all things new. He shall come in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; and the kingdoms of the world shall become the kingdoms of our God and of his Christ. To him every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that he is Lord. His dominion shall be an everlasting dominion. His kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, which shall never be destroyed (Matthew 24:30; Revelation 9:15; Psalm 2:8; Philippians 2:10-11; Daniel 7:14).

Judgment

There is a day coming when all men shall be judged. The sea shall give up the dead which are in it; and death and hell shall deliver up the dead which are in them. All that sleep in the graves shall awake and come forth, and all shall be judged according to their works (Revelation 20:13; Daniel 12:2). — And where will Christ be then? Christ Himself will be the Judge (Matthew 25:32; John 5:22; 2 Corinthians 5:10

Blessed be his name, in that great day, my soul shall rejoice to confess — “Christ is all!” — All My Righteousness! — All My Cleansing! — All My Hope! — All My Plea! — All My Confidence! — All My Desire! In all the eternal purpose, counsels, decrees, and works of the triune God, “Christ is all.” We will be wise to lay these things to heart. It is not written in vain — “He that honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the Father which hath sent him” (John 5:23).

Don Fortner

Pastor Fortner’s