Introduction:
We come now to our second week unfolding our new vision here at SonRise. If you were not here last week, I’d encourage you to go back and listen to that message because in it you’ll find what our new vision is as well as the reasons why we’re refining and refocusing our vision.
To briefly state it again: our main vision is three words: Christ is All. Meaning, Jesus Christ, His Person and His Work, He Himself is our vision. What does this vision look like as its displayed here in our life together as a church? First, we desire to see Christ in all the Scripture. Second, we desire to honor Christ in all of Life. And third, we desire to spread Christ to all the World. These three phrases present three distinctives, or values, or pursuits that have formed and fueled us here at SonRise for the past decade and we’re eager to see them continue to thrive.
Today we’re focusing on the first pursuit in the vision. Since we’re a people who believe Christ is All, we desire to be a people who ever strives to see Christ in all the Scripture.
To explore this today, I’d like to take you to Colossians 1:28-29, “Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all His energy that He powerfully works within me.”
Because I desire t unfold the first pursuit in our vision today, I’ll spend most of our time on the first three words in v28, and briefly cover the rest of the passage. See first…
The Content of Paul’s Message (v28a)
As v28 begins we see three words that summarize the preaching of Paul, “Him we Proclaim.” These three words are loaded with meaning. They reveal the great heart of the Apostle Paul. There at the center of all of Paul’s preaching and there at the center of all of Paul’s teaching is the Person of Jesus Christ. Whethear in Colossae, or Ephesus, or Philippi, or Corinth, or Galatia, or wherever he is, whether Paul is preaching to Jew or Gentile, and whatever topic or issue under the sun Paul’s focusing on, he puts Christ at the center of it. So, Paul’s entire aim is to proclaim Christ.
Where did this come from? Was this Christ-centered focus something Paul made up? Was Paul just being creative or innovative here? No, not at all. Paul learned this Christ-centered focus from Christ Himself. Remember Jesus’ conversation on the road to Emmaus after His resurrection? There in Luke 24 two men are traveling toward the village of Emmaus, and while traveling they’re discussing all the recent events that had occurred in Jerusalem. Jesus drew near these two men, joined in their discussion, but kept them from recognizing Himself. The men spoke of Jesus, saying He was a great and mighty prophet, they spoke of their great desire for Him to be the One they were waiting for, that He would redeem Israel once and for all, but his death on the cross seemed to bring it all to naught, and now no one can find His body. These were the things they were discussing. Well, as they were conversing Jesus spoke up and said this in v25-26, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets had spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into His glory?” Then Luke tells us what happened next in v27, “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.”
The grand and glorious truth to notice here is how Jesus handles the Scripture. He didn’t view the OT as a Jewish book, solely reserved for Israel. When Jesus taught these two men on the road to Emmaus about Himself, where did He go? He opened up the books of Moses and opened up the Prophets (shorthand for the whole OT) and taught them about Himself, pointing out that He was the golden thread woven throughout all of Scripture.
I think we’ve got an answer to our question about where Paul got his idea about seeing Christ throughout all the Scriptures. He learned it from Jesus. Evidence of this abounds in the NT. As Jesus was on the road to Emmause, so was Paul before so many of his hearers. In Acts 28:23 we read of Paul’s method, “From morning till evening he expounded to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets.” So, when Paul says in Col. 1:28, “Him we proclaim…” he means exactly that. In all the Scriptures, it is Christ who Paul proclaims, because Christ is the heart of all the Scripture.
But, is this really true? Doesn’t Paul say he taught other things than Christ? Can’t we see evidence of that all over his letters? Well, yes. Paul did teach on many things. Acts 20:27 says it explicitly, that Paul did not shrink back from declaring the whole counsel of God. How does that square with Colossians here? Did Paul proclaim Christ in all the Scripture, or did he teach the whole counsel of God? I think we can answer this simply. Certainly, Paul preached and taught and wrote on many things. Certainly, Paul deeply cared for every doctrine found within the Word of God. But in all those doctrines, from Genesis – Revelation, there is one thread he sought to pull through it all, Christ!
We can see this everywhere in Paul. In Romans 5 Paul is teaching on sin and the faithlessness of the first Adam. Does Paul stop there and warn us against being like Adam? No, he carries on to the faithfulness of the Second Adam, Jesus, and the redemption we have in Him. In 1 Corinthians 10 Paul is teaching on sin and the faithlessness of Israel in their wandering? Does Paul stop there and warn us against sin? No, he carries on to the faithfulness of Christ, even calling Him the rock in the wilderness that gives living water to weary saints. Perhaps most telling is in 1 Corinthians 2 where Paul says he “…knew nothing among them except Christ crucified.”
In other words, in all Paul taught he was seeking to show Christ. Why? Because Christ is the heart of all the Scripture. Thus, Christ stands at the center of Paul’s ministry.
Now, the Christian life, the Christian Church, and our vision here at SonRise comes into view. This Christ-centered focus present in the Scripture and present Paul’s ministry, we desire to be present here. When we read in Col. 1:28, “Him we proclaim” we see the model for how we all must handle the Bible personally in our own reading and our own study. And more, when we read in Col. 1:28 “Him we proclaim” we see the model for how we handle the Bible as a congregation, in all our teaching and preaching, from the pulpit here, to the Sunday school classes and nursery, and beyond. No other issue, no other concern, no other doctrine, or topic, or controversy, debate, or emphasis should ever be allowed to diminish or detract from the Person and Work of Jesus Christ. HIM WE PROCLAIM means Jesus Christ is the heart of all the Scripture, so Christ must be the heart of our ministry and message here at SonRise.
So rather than reading about Noah’s ark and thinking the story is about a floating zoo, or reading about David and Goliath and thinking the story is about facing our giants, we believe these aren’t just individual stories in the Bible, no. We believe each of these stories are a part of the larger story of the whole Bible.[1] So we believe the Bible isn’t just a collection of rules, or a book about heroes, no. It’s a book that tells stories, yes, but all the stories are telling one big story, and it takes the whole Bible to tell this whole story, and at the center of the story is a Person, the Lord Jesus Christ.[2] The OT then is like a room full of treasures but dark and dimly lit. “It’s filled with prophets that predict Him, patterns that preview Him, and promises that anticipate Him.”[3]
So when we read the Bible, teach the Bible, handle the Bible, interpret the Bible, and preach the Bible, we want to see not just the rules, the lessons, and the heroes, we want to see the One Hero standing above them all. I’m not just saying we should end all our sermons with a gospel presentation, I mean Christ must be the substance of the messages we preach and teach. For example…[4]
When we come to Adam in those first chapters of Genesis, we don’t want to just see the first man and his work in the garden…we want to see Jesus, the last Adam who completes what the first Adam failed to do.
When we come to Abel, we don’t just want to see the first sad murder…we want to see Jesus, the greater innocent Man slain, whose blood cries out a better word.
When we come to Abraham, we don’t just want to see a man who stepped out in great faith to go to a land he didn’t know…we want to see Jesus, the Descendant of Abraham who brings God’s blessing to the whole world.
When we come to Isaac, we don’t just want to see a son almost sacrificed by his father…we want to see Jesus, the Son of God sent by the Father and sacrificed to show God’s love to us.
When we come to Joseph, we don’t just want to see one who was falsely sold into slavery and experienced all kinds of evil in order to bring about great good during a famine…we want to see Jesus, the One who endured the worst evil and brought about the greatest possible good, redemption.
When we come to Moses, we don’t just want to see the deliverer who led God’s people out of slavery in Egypt…we want to see Jesus, the greater Deliverer who led God’s people out of a greater slavery in sin, from a greater Pharaoh in the Devil.
When we come to Aaron, we don’t just want to see the first priest who stands in the gap between God and His people…we want to see Jesus, our true and great high Priest, who ever more stands in the gap as mediator between us and God, who on the cross is both Priest who offers a great sacrifice as well as the sacrifice itself.
When we come to Job, we don’t just want to see an innocent sufferer who has stupid friends…we want to see Jesus, the truly innocent Sufferer who saves sinners and makes them His friends.
When we come to David, we don’t just want to see a brave young boy becoming a good king who wins victory after victory for God’s people…we want to see Jesus, the true King who wins the greatest victory which becomes our victory even though we never lifted a hand to accomplish it.
When we come to Esther, we don’t just want to see a gutsy woman who takes a great risk for her people…we want to see Jesus, who didn’t just risk His life, but willingly gave His life to save His people.
And when we come to Jonah, we don’t just want to see a wayward prophet cast out into a storm…we want to see Jesus, the true and better Jonah who was cast into the storm of God’s wrath so we could be brought in to the safety of God’s rest.
You get the point, yeah? We could on and on here. This is how we must handle the Bible. The OT anticipates Christ, the gospels proclaim Christ, the book of Acts and the NT letters explain Christ, and finally the book of Revelation shows us the consummation of Christ.[5]
When the Metropolitan Tabernacle Charles Spurgeon preached in was first built, Spurgeon’s first words from his pulpit were this, “I would propose that the subject of the ministry of this house, as long as this platform shall stand, and as long as this house shall be frequented by worshippers, shall be the Person of Jesus Christ… A sermon without Christ is an awful, horrible thing. It is an empty well, a cloud without rain, a tree twice dead plucked up by the roots. Sir, have you preached a sermon without Christ? You may as well speak of a loaf of bread without any flour in it…The best sermons are the sermons which are fullest of Christ.”
Church, we will miss the beauty of Scripture if we reduce it to a textbook, or a book of rules, or a book of morals. But we’ll see, be stunned by, and savor the beauty of Scripture if we seek to handle it as a book about Jesus![6]
“Him we proclaim” was Paul’s message, and what we’re saying here in our vision is that “Him we proclaim” shall continue to be our message as well.
The Manner of Paul’s Message (v28b)
v28 continues with the manner of Paul’s message, “Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone, with all wisdom…” Note here briefly that Paul does not adopt or advocate the human wisdom of the Greek philosophers so prevalent in the city of Colossae. He does not speak in tune with the worldly song of humanistic thinking. He never taught according to the fad or the trend of the day. He never declared the tenets of vague pluralistic religion. He never asked his hearers to take on a more positive form of thinking and never sought to be a motivational speaker. No, Paul preached Christ by warning and teaching, in all wisdom. Warning because Paul’s hearers need to hear the urgent warning to repent and believe. Teaching because Paul’s hearers need to understand why there is wrath to come, and why they should respond in repentance and faith. And Paul spoke in and with all wisdom, because Paul knew who he was speaking to. He knew the Greeks on Mars Hill would respond differently to the gospel then the crowds in Ephesus. He knew the Gentiles in Galatia would respond differently than the Jews in Jerusalem. So knowing the variety of his audience, he would preach and teach, not always sounding the same, but while keeping the centerpiece of his message the same. In this manner Paul preached Christ.
The Purpose of Paul’s Message (v28c)
v28 ends by giving us the purpose of Paul’s message, “…that we may present everyone mature in Christ.” I love the wide scope here. Three times in v28 we read the word everyone. Paul really did want to reach far and wide didn’t he? Warning everyone, teaching everyone, to present everyone. Though this was true, Paul didn’t preach Christ to receive praise from men. Paul didn’t preach because that was his 9-5 job. Paul didn’t even preach because he loved preaching. He preached Christ because he longed for his hearers to grow in Christ. He preached Christ because He longed for his hearers to become mature in Christ. Through the preaching of the Word Paul knew God was going to act and do the very thing he himself cannot do, grow the Church. While many preachers throughout history have tried to grow churches by attracting people with man-made formula’s, excellent branding, or culturally appealing programming, ironically they leave behind the very thing God intends to grow His Church, the preaching of His Word. There’s a lesson for us here that we would do well to take to heart. H.B. Charles said it well, “It is the will of God, to have the Spirit of God, use the Word of God, to make the children of God, look like the Son of God.” This is what Paul did, and this is what we must do and continue to do as well.
The Energy of Paul’s Message (v29)
v28 shows us all of what Paul did, now v29 shows us how Paul did all of this. It wasn’t according to his might or his power, no. v29 says, “For this I toil, struggling with all His energy that He powerfully works within me.”
Why was Paul able to do so much for the Church? Was it because he was a master planner? A great strategist? A creative and innovative genius? No. Paul did so much for the Church because, deep down, he knew he could nothing on his own. Don’t you love the contrast here in this verse? Paul did much. He toiled, he struggled, and eventually gave his life for the gospel. That word struggled there in v29 is the Greek word agonizomevos, which is where we get the English word agony. Paul willingly dove into agony for the Church. But how did Paul toil, struggle, agonize, and labor? With all…what? “…with all God’s energy that He powerfully worked within him.”
So the gist is not: look at Paul and all these amazing things he did for the Church. The gist is: it was Christ in Paul working for His glory, among His people.
Conclusion:
So we’ve said the main thrust of our vision is three words: CHRIST IS ALL. And now we’ve begun to see how we actually intend to live this out as a people. The first pursuit of this vision is a commitment to see Christ in all the Scripture.
Church, just as Paul preached Christ, we want to preach Christ. Why? Because Christ is the heart of all the Scripture, so we long for Christ to be the heart of all our ministry.
[1] Matt Smethurst, Tim Keller on the Christian Life: The Transforming Power of the Gospel (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2025) 10.
[2] Sally Lloyd-Jones, Jesus Storybook Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Zonderkidz, 2007) 17.
[3] Smethurst, Tim Keller on the Christian Life, 11.
[4] Smethurst, Tim Keller on the Christian Life, 17-18.
[5] Smethurst, Tim Keller on the Christian Life, 13.
[6] Smethurst, Tim Keller on the Christian Life, 25.
