Colossians 1:1-2
Ephesians 1:3-10
Who are you?
A lot of people are asking the question these days…….Who am I ?
There is a whole TV series dedicated to this topic- called – A show called: Who do you think you are?
I must confess, I have only seen the show once.
It is a show where a famous celebrity, asks themselves the question- who am I ?
And as the show looks back at their family tree, and research people and places of their past, they visit various places which were associated with their past, and they often meet up with distant relatives or relatives of the past.
And as these famous celebrities dig further and further back, they discover more about who they are now. They discover how the things of the past have shaped them now.
And there is no denying that things of the past shape who we are now.
I speak with this Pommie accent because I was born and raised in England.
There is also no denying that our present circumstances shape who we are now. I live in Wingham with my wife and 4 of my kids, I serve in 3 local congregations- these responsibilities shape who I am.
I have the labels, Christian, husband, father, pastor- these are just labels of who I am.
And I must admit, I am not that precious about people addressing me, by my right labels, I don’t insist that my children call me father, or my wife calls me husband, or my parishioners call me pastor, or if anyone calls me a disciple of Jesus, and yet we know that some people today, are very precious about the labels that people address them by, and if you get the wrong label – “watch out”……..
But not only do things of the past shape who we are, and things of the present shape who we are, but what we strive for in the future also effects who we are.
Whenever you listen to the stories of top professional athletes, they often recall how at a very young age, they imagined, dreamed of becoming a professional soccer player, a professional cricket player and so on…..and that vision they had for their future shaped who they came to be.
And yet today friends, I want to remind you, that no matter what has shaped you in the past, whatever labels you are known as today, or whatever you are striving for in the future, the only thing, the only person that defines you: the only one, who labels you, is God himself.
It is the one who formed you in your mother’s womb, who defines you, it is the one who knew you in eternity past that defines you, it is the one who has your future in his hands that defines you.
Your created knitted you together in your mother’s womb, you were fearfully and wonderfully made, He made you in His image, He made you to reflect his glory, He made you to worship him, he made you to enjoy relationship with Him.
Who you are is totally dependent on your creator, because He is the one who created you and labelled you.
When the apostle Paul wrote this letter to the church at Colossae, he started the letter by defining who he was and there is no surprise that Paul’s identity was wrapped up with Jesus.
Look at verse 1 with me:
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother.
Each and every word the apostle Paul used to open his letter, had significance.
He firstly addresses himself as Paul.
He was no longer calling himself Saul, but he was now calling himself Paul and why?
Because after Jesus had met him on that road to Damascus and changed his life, he was no longer a person who persecuted Christians but he was a person who loved and followed Jesus. After Saul met Jesus, He was a new creation, the old had gone the new had come.
Now, Paul didn’t cancel or erase his past life before he met Jesus, since he talked about his past life in some of his letters, but he made it clear that it wasn’t his past that defined who he was, but it was Jesus, and as he met Jesus, his life changed and it changed for the better. His new name was a marker to show people that his life changed when he met Jesus.
Jesus gave Simon a new name- Peter, to show that his life changed when he met Jesus.
The second label Paul gave himself as he opened this letter to the church in Colossae was
An apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God
Paul often stated that he was an apostle. Now the word apostle in Greek is Apostolos, and it literally means a “sent one” – or messenger- and so Paul was a sent one by God, he was a messenger of the good news. And so in one sense we could all call ourselves apostles, since we too are called to be tell people the message of the good news.
However, Paul was not just a messenger like us, but he was one of the apostles upon which the foundation of the church was built upon. The apostle Paul had seen the risen Jesus, the apostle Paul was chosen, hand-picked, to do that specific job that all the founding apostles were chosen to do, to lay the foundation of the church, which of course was built upon the rock of Jesus.
Ephesians 2:19-20 , sums this up when it says….
19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,
The apostles and prophets represent the bible, since it was the prophets whom by the Holy Spirit wrote the Old Testament scripture and it was the apostles like Paul who wrote the New Testament scriptures.
Paul was also making clear in his introduction of his letter, that his apostleship was not something that he eagerly sought for himself, but he was made an apostle by the will of God. And we know from reading his conversion account in Acts chapter 9, that Paul’s call to follow Jesus was definitely by the sheer will of God.
When Paul became a follower of Jesus, he wasn’t seeking Jesus, he was seeking to kill his followers. When Paul became a follower of Jesus, Jesus made him blind for three days, so he could think about the call of God on his life.
Jesus never bargained with Paul, who was now as Saul, he just told him to go to Damascus and follow the instructions of Ananias.
Now, Paul’s conversion was the most dramatic in history and yet it also symbolises all people who come to follow Jesus. All people who come to follow Jesus are called by God, and God draws them in to his kingdom of light- he rescues them from the kingdom of darkness. It may not be as dramatic as Paul, but all people are changed and changed for the better when they respond to the call of Jesus.
Now, Paul also started his letter by labelling himself an apostle of Christ Jesus, because he often needed to let the churches know, whom he was writing to, that he spoke with the authority of Jesus – the Messiah himself.
In this case, Paul was writing to a church in Colossae which he had never been to.
We know from verse 7 that it was a man named Epaphras who had planted the church in Colossae and was shepherding the people there. We know from chapter 4 verse 12 that Epaphras was a local from Colossae and so it would be reasonable for us to assume that Epaphras was probably one of Paul’s converts as he ministered in the nearby city of Ephesus.
Paul ministered in Ephesus with his son in the Lord- Timothy for 3 years and so probably during that time, Epaphras responded to the call of Jesus on his life and then took that good news back to his home city of Colossae.
Paul would probably use the title an apostle of Christ Jesus, because he wanted the Jews who also responded to the call of Jesus on their life, that they were not neglecting their roots, but Jesus was in fact the Christ- which means the promised Messiah, the promised saviour that king David and others wrote about.
Paul used the title an apostle of Jesus Christ, to help cement the truth, that in Christ and through Christ and because of Christ, God’s people are no longer two distinct groups of Jews and Gentiles (non-Jews) but they are now one people in and through Christ.
And this leads me to the second part of this sermon.
Not only did Paul label himself with his identity intertwined with Jesus, but he also labelled the church at Colossae, his brothers and sisters, as being rooted in Jesus.
Look at how he addressed the church in Colossae in verse 2
To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ at Colossae.
The word saints in Greek is hagios, and so saints could be translated “Holy ones”.
To be Holy means to be set apart.
The nation of Israel was Holy, because it was set apart by God to be his nation. Out of all the nations on the earth, God set apart the nation of Israel.
God is Holy Himself, which means there is no other like God.
God does not fit any category, God has a label all of his own and so we cannot define God, since he defined us. Remember when Moses asked God for his name and God replied, I AM WHO I AM- in other words, God was telling Moses and also us, that God cannot be defined by man, He is God, He is like no other.
And yet, here is the really awesome thing- God calls us to be holy too, he calls us to be set apart for Him.
And so when Paul labelled the church at Colossae “saints” he was telling them that God had called them and set them apart for Him, just as God had called Paul and set him apart.
Unfortunately, some sections of the church have not been helpful by using this word saint incorrectly.
Tragically some parts of the catholic church have labelled only dead people, saints.
These dead saints have been praised for their good life and faithfulness, so much so, that people are encouraged to pray to these dead saints.
Unfortunately the concept of saint has been linked with a person’s faithfulness, whereas a saint is linked with God’s faithfulness to the person, as God has called them and set them apart.
Finally, the last label which Paul gives to the people at Colossae and one which we will spend a little time on today, is the label,
In Christ at Colossae
Paul wanted the church at Colossae to know that they are IN CHRIST.
And what does it actually mean to be IN CHRIST?
Many things……
In Christ means we are a new creation, In Christ means we are now seated with Christ in the heavenly realms, in Christ, means we now belong to the kingdom of light, not the kingdom of darkness, in Christ means we are now alive in the second Adam- Jesus and we are no longer dead in our sins of the first Adam.
Being in Christ means we no longer march to the beat of our sinful nature, but we march to the beat of the spirit of Christ, who works within us.
Being in Christ, means that we now live for Jesus, it is Jesus who lives through us.
And so brothers and sisters of Wingham/ Krambach/ Old Bar, I want to let you know today, that God has labelled you in Christ, He knows your past, He knows your present and He knows your future.
In Ephesians 1:4 it tells us this:
He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be Holy and blameless before him.
And so brother or sister, you can put your name in here…..God chose Paul in Christ before the foundation of the world.
Wow, I cannot look any further back, before anyone was created, he chose me- He chose you.
He chose Paul to be Holy, that is to be set apart for him, to be blameless in his sight.
Wow, just think about that, God chose Paul chose you before the foundation of the world to be blameless before him.
Blameless before Him- really?
But I know I am not blameless, I know the sins of my past, I know the sins I struggle with now, I know that I am not blameless- and yet here is the good news for me and for you, IN CHRIST we are blameless in his sight.
When God looks upon you, he sees you through the lens of his son, he sees his son’s blameless life in you and so, this means, yes we acknowledge the sins of our past, we acknowledge the sins we struggle with each day and we bring them to God and ask for forgiveness, but we also remember that our sins do not define us- it is who we are IN CHRIST that defines us.
Let me encourage you today to stop trying to figure out what God has specifically called you to do, whether that is being a missionary in Tanzania, whether that is a chef in Old Bar, whether that is a cleaner in America, the most important call on your life is to know that you belong to Jesus, he has set you apart for Him.
Throughout the rest of the letter, Paul describes in detail who this Jesus is and how he is supreme over all.
Over the next 9 weeks, we will get to know more of this Jesus, know more of his supremacy and as we do, I pray that you will be encouraged more and more to be the person- Jesus has called you to be!
Let us pray.
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