Colossians 2:6-7 - Embracing the Gospel at a Point in Time
Rescued from the Deep
Wow. I’m about to cry here. I don’t even know if I can do this now. That was so encouraging. Let’s have a word of prayer, and then we’ll get into our text tonight.
Father God, thank you so much for the privilege and the opportunity to be here with your people and open your Word. We’re thankful for this summer teaching series, looking at foundations that help us grow in a healthy love relationship with you that we can do together in community. Lord, as we talk tonight about embracing the gospel, many of us in this room have believed in the truth of the gospel many years ago. Lord, would you stir in us afresh a sense of awe that you would know our name, that you would intentionally send your Son to die in our place, and that you would rescue us from certain death. I know there are some here who have not yet embraced the gospel. They have not yet reached a place of 100% certainty that they are in a right relationship with you. Lord, I pray they would hear your truth, your love, and your grace tonight, and that they would respond. Open their hearts even now. I express my dependence on you as we spend this time in your Word. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
My grandfather, James Hawley, was a combat Marine in World War II. He was actually at Pearl Harbor when it was attacked and survived. Later, in 1942, he survived the battles of Midway and Guadalcanal. In the Battle of Midway, he was a tail gunner in one of the SBD bombers, and his plane was actually shot down. He found himself on a life raft with his pilot unconscious and bleeding. As he looked out, he saw shark fins beginning to circle his raft. He was facing certain death—either by the sharks, being picked off by the enemy, or becoming a POW.
You can imagine the joy, the gratitude, and the good news when he saw the US Navy coming to rescue him. At that point, he wasn’t worried about the rivalry between the Marines and the Navy; he was just thankful he had been rescued. It was good news. Today, that is what we are talking about. We are talking about good news as we kick off this series in Foundations. We’re talking about the gospel, which literally means “good news.”
Two Aspects of the Gospel
The starting point for the next two weeks will be from the book of Colossians. Paul writes in chapter two:
Colossians 2:6-7 (NASB)
Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, [so] walk in Him, having been firmly rooted [and now] being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, [and] overflowing with gratitude.
You’ll notice in these words that there are actually two aspects to the gospel. There is an embracing of the gospel at a point in time, but there is also an embracing of the gospel that happens over time.
When we look at the language of “receiving Christ as Lord,” it speaks to a point where you recognize Jesus truly is who he says he is, and you bow at his feet, worshiping him as Lord and Savior. But then, this language of “walking in him” and being “rooted and built up” speaks to a process over time—like a tree growing and sending its roots deep. There is an embracing of the gospel at a point in time, which the Bible calls justification by faith—the moment of salvation. Then there is sanctification, which is walking with Christ over the years, as God uses the gospel to continue transforming us from the inside out.
This week, we are talking about embracing the gospel at that point in time. Next week, it will be about embracing the gospel over time. Now, when you hear me say those words, some of you might think, “I don’t know the exact moment when I embraced the gospel.” You might not even have a particular season of life in mind. You might think, “I don’t know when that happened; I kind of grew up with it.”
It is okay to say, “I don’t know when my moment of salvation came,” as long as you can say, “But I do know that he is my Lord, and I do know that he is my Savior right now.” What we don’t want to do is say, “I know I’m a Christian because I was born that way.” The Bible actually says something different.
Psalms 51:5 (NASB)
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.
We aren’t born Christian; we are born sinners. We also don’t want to say, “Well, I grew up in a Christian home and I’m a good person,” because while that’s great, it isn’t the gospel. So what is the gospel? We’re going to look at what Jesus himself said about it in John chapter three.
Jesus is meeting here with Nicodemus, a ruler of the Pharisees and a very important religious leader. Nicodemus is fascinated by Jesus, and Jesus tells him this:
John 3:16-18 (NASB)
’For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. ’For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. ’He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
In these words is the core of the gospel. Jesus is God the Son. The Bible teaches that there is one God who has eternally existed in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. John chapter one tells us that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God and was with God.
John 1:1-3 (NASB)
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
That “Word” is the Logos, the mind of God. This Word is proclaimed to be the Creator of everything. Then, in verse 14, we read that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
John 1:14 (NASB)
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Jesus was born into this world in obscurity. He proclaimed himself as the Messiah—the Anointed One foretold in the Old Testament. The Jews were looking for a conquering king to overthrow Rome, but Jesus said, “I haven’t come to establish a physical kingdom, but a spiritual one to win hearts for God.” He came to save people not from an empire, but from their sin. He didn’t come as a conquering king, but as a suffering servant.
Mark 10:45 (NASB)
‘For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.’
The Gospel Starts with God
Within three years of his ministry, Jesus was arrested, beaten, and crucified. Why did this happen? It goes back to verse 16: “For God so loved the world.” God loves the world because he created it. God is the righteous creator of all that is, and that is where the gospel begins.
The gospel starts with God. Sometimes we hear the gospel and it starts with us—how broken we are or how God has a wonderful plan for our lives. Those truths are important, but that’s not the starting point. The first words of the Bible are “In the beginning, God.”
In his book, What is the Gospel?, Greg Gilbert says, “Everything starts from that point, and like an arrow fired from a badly aimed bow, if you get that point wrong, then everything else that follows will be wrong too.” Because God created the world, he owns the world. When you look at the vastness of the ocean, the land animals, and the birds, it was all created by his power.
Hebrews 11:3 (NASB)
By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.
Psalms 19:1 (NASB)
For the choir director. A Psalm of David. The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.
Romans 10:20 (NASB)
And Isaiah is very bold and says, ‘I WAS FOUND BY THOSE WHO DID NOT SEEK ME, I BECAME MANIFEST TO THOSE WHO DID NOT ASK FOR ME.’
If you’ve ever stood at the base of a 2,000-year-old redwood tree, or looked at the snow-capped Sierra Nevada mountains, or seen the miracle of a child being born, then you know these words resonate. Creation cries out: “You are not all that there is.” There is a Creator. And God didn’t just create the earth; he created humanity in his own image.
Genesis 1:27 (NASB)
God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Everything in the universe has a purpose. We are not the result of genetic mutations or chromosomal accidents. We are here because God created us on purpose.
Psalms 139:13-14 (NASB)
For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.
Every person you look at has value and purpose. In each of us, there is a longing for that purpose—a filling for the emptiness inside. The problem is that we don’t always understand that because God is our Creator, he gets to dictate our purpose. We weren’t created to be our own gods, yet that is the message of our culture: “Choose your own destiny; write your own story.” We will never find joy or peace in that narrative. We were created to know God, walk with him, and worship him. If we aren’t worshiping the one true God, we will worship something else, and it will leave us empty.
The Problem of Sin
Clearly, something went wrong. It doesn’t take long to look at the headlines to see that the world is broken. Jesus says people are perishing, and the reason is sin. The gospel starts with God, but it continues with the glaring need of humanity, the sinner.
Romans 3:23 (NASB)
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Sin is not a popular word today. Unless you’re in church, you don’t hear it. Our culture has replaced the word “sin” with the word “mistake.” We don’t commit sins; we “make mistakes.”
When a politician is caught in multiple affairs or harassment, he says, “I’ve made some mistakes.” When a CEO swindles elderly people out of their life savings in a Ponzi scheme, he says, “I’ve made some mistakes.” Something inside us says, “That doesn’t sound right.” I make a mistake when I take the wrong exit off the freeway or miscalculate a bill. If someone plans a crime for ten years and covers it up, that’s not a mistake. It’s a sin.
When we use the word “mistake,” we can blow it off: “My bad.” But when we say, “I sinned,” there is ownership. There is no wiggle room. Our culture hates the word because it demands blame. We all agree we make mistakes, but will we agree we commit sin?
Maybe you aren’t a Ponzi scheme guy. But have you ever been driving on the freeway—maybe even on the way to church—and given a fellow driver a certain “hand signal” that wasn’t a blessing? Have you ever told a half-truth? Have you ever looked at someone who wasn’t your spouse with desire? If the answer is yes, then the Bible says we have sinned. To sin is to miss the mark of God’s perfection.
Romans 6:23 (NASB)
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Jesus said people are perishing because there is a physical death and a spiritual death—a separation from God for all eternity. Because God is loving, he is also just.
Exodus 34:6-7 (NASB)
Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, ‘The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave [the guilty] unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.’
Sometimes we are surprised that God would punish sin. We think that doesn’t sound loving. But God’s love doesn’t cancel his righteousness. God is not a moral coward; he does not hide from sin. He confronts it and destroys it. Even people who say God shouldn’t punish sin usually want justice for terrorists or serial killers. We want God’s wrath for those people, but not for ourselves. We don’t get to determine where justice falls.
Jesus raised the bar even higher. He said, “You’ve heard it said don’t commit adultery, but I say don’t even lust in your heart. You’ve heard it said don’t murder, but I say don’t even hate.” He wants us to understand the bad news so we can embrace the good news.
When we refuse to use the word “sin” and use “mistake” instead, we take away the need for true forgiveness. And when you take away the need for forgiveness, you take away the possibility of redemption. That is why we have “cancel culture.” If you offend me, I cancel you. You are done. There is no hope for you to be forgiven. But we don’t need to cancel people; we need grace, truth, and redemption.
The Substitute
How does a loving God forgive sin without leaving the guilty unpunished? He resolves it through the death of Jesus on the cross.
John 3:17 (NASB)
’For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
Thank God the bad news isn’t the end of the story.
Romans 5:8 (NASB)
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Christ chose to die in our place while we were still sinners. He knows those dark secrets you don’t want anyone to know, and he still chose to die for you. His plan was to absorb the wrath of God and share his righteousness with us.
2 Corinthians 5:21 (NASB)
He made Him who knew no sin [to be] sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
On the cross, the Father treated the Son as if he had lived like you and me, so that you and I could be treated as if we had lived like the Son. God doesn’t watch our struggle from a distance; he gets into the dirt and the details. Jesus lived the perfect life we couldn’t live. He was filled with compassion. He hung on that cross and bore the weight of all human rebellion.
But he isn’t in the tomb; he is risen. Paul spells out the gospel clearly in 1 Corinthians:
1 Corinthians 15:1-4 (NASB)
Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
Twice Mine
God is our Creator, but he is also our Redeemer. He made you, and he also bought you. It reminds me of a story about a young boy who built a model sailboat with his dad. He loved that boat. One day, the wind and currents carried it away on a great lake. He was distraught and searched for it every day but couldn’t find it.
Months later, he was in town and saw his boat in a store window. He ran inside and said, “That’s my boat! Can I have it back?” The owner said, “I’m sorry, son. I paid a fisherman a lot of money for this. If you want it, you’ll have to pay the price.” The boy worked every job he could find and scrounged together the money. Finally, he went back and bought his boat. As he held it in his arms, he said with joy, “You are twice mine now—because I made you, and I bought you.”
Friends, that is what Jesus says to you. “You are twice mine. I created you, but I also bought you with my own blood.”
A Point in Time
This message demands a response: faith and repentance.
John 3:18 (NASB)
’He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Jesus leaves no room for fence-sitting. You either receive him as Lord or reject him. That is what it means to embrace the gospel at a point in time. For me, this became real when I was 19. I had been raised in church, but I hadn’t embraced Christ. I was like the prodigal son. My last name is Hawley, and by the time I graduated high school in 1991, people were signing my yearbook “Alco-holly.” That described my lifestyle.
But at age 19, I heard the gospel again, and something inside me said, “This is true.” I felt the weight of my sin and the way I’d offended God. I cried out for him to forgive me, and at that moment, I felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. I began to walk with God.
The question for you today is: Have you responded? Could you say today that Christ is your Lord and Savior?
Hebrews 3:15 (NASB)
while it is said, ‘TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS, AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME.’
If you hear him calling, don’t harden your heart. God wants you to be free from the punishment of sin. He wants to bring redemption to your life.
John 1:12 (NASB)
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, [even] to those who believe in His name,
Would you join me for a word of prayer?
Heavenly Father, I come before you in the beautiful name of Jesus. For many of us, we have already embraced this gospel. Give us a sense of gratitude and awe that you would rescue us. Give us a heart for others who don’t know you. But Lord, for those here who don’t have that certainty, I pray they would respond now.
If that is you, I invite you to pray this in your heart: “Father, thank you for creating me. I agree that I have sinned and stand guilty. I believe Jesus died as a substitute in my place and took my punishment. I believe he was raised to life. Forgive me, fill me with your Spirit, and take control of my life. Help me to follow you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”