He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and


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1 Good morning! Being in this building brings back a lot of memories for all of us who have been a part of Grace for more than 2 years. One of my favorite memories is when the Jaquess family visited for the first time here and right when they walked in they were asked to teach Sunday school that Sunday. Our parking situation was never great here either. We basically just used every parking lot within walking distance. One time Andy was leading worship and he could see over everyones’ heads that the tow trucks were all coming in. He had to make a split second decision as to what the higher priority was: worship or preventing people from having their cars towed. When we first moved into this building, we were told this room could hold 350 chairs and the elders at the time said, “350! That room is going to feel cavernous! Let’s just put out 150 chairs. I doubt we will even fill that!” It was unthinkable when we moved in here that we would one day have 3 services in here and completely outgrow it. There was actually one Sunday when we had 120 people outside who couldn’t fit inside. I know if you talk to the people who were here from the beginning about this church, there is one statement I hear over and over again. I hear some variation of “I can’t believe that all actually worked.” And when they say it, there is this deep sense of the reality that God sustained this church. And if you ask any of them what their most helpful contribution to the growth and longevity of Grace, they will tell you they prayed. Prayer was the most helpful contribution. I’m constantly convicted in the busyness of my own life that if there is one think I know I could do more for this church, it’s prayer. If there is one think that we can ll do more of for this church to continue to grow and flourish, it’s prayer. And in our text, we have Paul telling us how he prayed for the Colossian church. As Matthew pointed out when he preached on this text, this church was likely younger than Grace when Paul wrote this letter and he wrote it from prison where he certainly had plenty of time to be praying. So what I want to do this morning is fairly simple. I want to look at how Paul prayed this church and see how it can shape the way we pray for Grace and for any other church on our hearts. As I looked at this prayer, it became clear to me that there are three parts to it. Three things Paul is praying: That they would see the King, that they would know the King and that they would be transformed by the King. I.

That they would see the King

Verse 13 says He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son…So we are now a part of a new kingdom and the King of that kingdom is Jesus. But, this July 4th week we all basically celebrated the fact that for 241 years, we haven’t had to submit to a king. We all blew stuff up to celebrate the fact that we put our foot down and started our own country where we

2 make the rules, not a king. So for us, the idea of having a king isn’t one we instantly relate to. That there is a Heavenly King is obviously hotly debated. But Paul is saying there is a King who created everything holds it together and his prayer is that we would see this clearly because not seeing this clearly leads to all kinds of confusion. Look at verses 16-17: For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities - all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things and in him all things hold together. When you look at the universe on the largest of scales and the smallest of scales, when you look through the telescope or the microscope, you see order. First, you see physical order. All our science is based on the idea of the uniformity of nature. We have laws of physics that depend on this order. We know that things freeze at certain temperatures and melt at another or become gaseous at another. And we know that what we observe today in the same conditions will happen the same way tomorrow. We know that if we weigh in on a scale at one weight one day that the next we won’t suddenly be 20 pounds lighter. That is uniformity of nature. This is the reason we can fly a plane. We have constant rules of aerodynamics that will operate the same tomorrow as today. The same with hydrodynamics. And this has posed problems for atheist philosophers, scientists and sociologists. They have to answer the question, “If the universe is the result of an accidental collision of molecules, why would there be order?” David Hume, a very well-known 18th century non-Christian philosopher went so far to say this: “I’ll tell one thing. The orderliness of the universe is so inexplicable, you certainly can’t disprove God. Nobody can be sure there is no God when you have this [order].” And when David Hume said this he was being honest about his confusion. Because when you observe something without all the facts, it can be confusing. If there was a foreigner in America this past weekend watching our parades and fireworks without having all the facts about the 4th of July, it would have been confusing. Non-Christian, well educated people can see that there is order and that something is keeping everything together, but they can’t explain how. So, many scientists of many different world views would say that the order of the universe is a huge problem for atheism. But Christians don’t have that problem. We know from this passage and others that there is a king who created and holds all things together. That’s just physical order. The order we see. But what about a different order that we can’t see? What about moral order? Modern secular people say there is no creator God, and therefore, there is only the visible. There is no invisible. There is no supernatural,

3 no eternity. Only the visible. They would say that things like love and joy are really just chemical reactions that have evolved throughout time for the benefit of society. 1 There is a huge problem with that though. If love and joy are no more than chemical reactions, then so are cruelty and prejudice. Any feeling that you have that says one thing is morally better than another is nothing more than a chemical reaction. So, then one of the most hypocritical things you can do is try and promote both atheism and human rights. So when you don’t acknowledge a Cosmic King it brings confusion to things like morality. Years ago I was eating with a student at the number one university in Italy (so he was a very smart guy). But didn’t believe in any kind of God. He was trying to deny the moral order and said that some things are right of you, but not for me and some things are right for me, but not you. There really is not a moral design so you can’t try and universalize what you feel. And as he was talking I began to eat from his plate. He didn’t say much when I started eating his tater tots, but then I picked up his burger and started eating it. I know it’s a very Italian lunch. Then he said, “what in the world are you doing?” I said, “if there is no moral order and this seems right to me, then who are you to question it…unless there is in fact a moral order?” Here is another example of the confusion we experience when we can’t connect our moral order to the universal King. Do you know that if a pregnant woman decides she wants to have an abortion, that’s fine, that is allowed in our laws. But if she were to drive her car and someone hit her and that accident caused the baby to die, that’s bad. The driver of the other car can be charged with manslaughter. Does the baby have value or not? That’s not really a situation by situation answer, but the less we see that there is a King who has ordered the visible and invisible, the more confusion we experience. Is it random that our planet just happens to be in this perfect small part of space where we are nestled up to a star, not too close where we would burn up, but not too far where we would freeze? Is it random that against all the laws of thermodynamics more complicated life has come to be? Is it random that we love? Is it random that we care about people and causes beyond ourselves? No, it’s all part of the way the King has ordered it. If we don’t see that there is a Cosmic King, the result will be confusion. But Paul doesn’t just want us to see the king, he also wants us to know the King. II.

Know The King

This King isn’t just a King to be acknowledged or a King to be obey, but a King to be known. And to the degree that we know Him, to that degree we will experience the order He intended for us. Look at verse 9: And so, from the day we heard, we have not

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Credit Tim Keller for the content on physical and moral order.

4 ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual understanding. This word ‘knowledge’ here isn’t just knowing about something, but knowing someone. Having a personal acquaintance. Now, some of you might be wondering why Paul would pray for these people to know King Jesus when they are already believers. Because this King desires more than just an introduction, he desires a relationship where you grow in your knowledge of the other person. The decision to know King Jesus isn’t a decision that you make one time and don’t ever have to think about again. It’s not like the decision to plant a tree in your yard. That’s a decision you make one time and walk away from. But a relationship is different. A relationship requires work. It’s like the decision a man makes to marry his wife. There was a day when that decision was formally, publicly and permanently made, but you work the rest of your life to know that person more and more so your marriage can flourish. That’s what Paul is praying for. That we would be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual understanding. That we would know our King more and more over the rest of our lives. And I need to answer two questions at this point. How you can have a relationship with the King and what kind of relationship is that exactly? How do we know Him? How do we have a relationship with the King? It’s a good question, because there is one big problem for humanity. Deep down, we want to be king. We want to do things the way we want to do them. We want to call the call the shots. We want to be king of our life. There is an order to the universe and every time we break that order we declare ourselves king. We declare ourselves king when we lie. We declare ourselves king when we follow our sexual desires rather than honor His design and purposes for the. We declare ourselves king when we are a jerk to our family members instead of loving them the way our king demands. And do you know what it is called when there is a rightful king and you declare yourself king in His place? High treason. We have been celebrating this week the fact that the leaders of our nation committed high treason against the king of England. And we justify it by pointing to his shortcomings as a king. But we all need to realize that we have all committed high treason against the Perfect King of the universe The sentence for high treason against an earthly king is death, but the sentence for high treason against an eternal king is eternal death. And you might think, “Wow, that just escalated quickly. I mean we were just talking bout lying and now we are at eternal death. How does that work?” The issue isn’t the type of sin we commit, the issue is who we are sinning against. If you hit me today, what would happen? Maybe you might have some charges pressed against you. Maybe you’ll get a right hook back. But, let’s be honest, you’ll be back home in time for dinner and sleeping in your own bed. But what happens if you hit the Governor? Same offense, but this time the person offended is more important so the consequences increase. You are going to do some time. What then, would happen if you somehow gained access to the President of the United States and hit him? You might never see the light of day again. The more important the person offended, the

5 more significant the penalty. So what is the consequence when the person offended is the Designer of the Universe? The consequence is the absolute chaos of hell. So there is is this huge barrier we have put up between us and our King. And the way that barrier is removed is what makes Christianity different than all other world views and religions. And it comes down to one word in verse 12: qualified. giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. This word ‘qualified’ makes what Paul is saying different than every other world view that has ever existed. Every other world view has some system by which you, through your devotion and good works qualify yourself to approach and know God. Islam has the Five Pillars, Judaism has the Mosaic Law, Hindus are qualified through life after life of good works. But I’m guessing those systems aren’t really tempting to many of us. We are surrounded by a different system of qualification. We are surrounded by agnostic secularism that believes there is probably some sort of God and we just need to do more right than wrong to appease that God, to qualify ourselves for heaven with him. But logic tears this idea down pretty fast and pretty hard. Think about it this way, if someone was brought into a court for treason and admits to treason, but appeals to his work with the homeless to get off. Would that appeal work? No! It holds no weight. You can do a million good works, but the crime still stands. But, in Christianity God qualifies us! God isn’t standing at the top of a stairway looking down and saying, “You can do it! Come up and you’ll be qualified.” The King has come down the stairway and qualified us. He has made us worthy. How? The answer is in these two unbelievably important two words ‘in whom.’ Look at verses 13 and 14. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins…. And phe is before all things, and in him all things qhold together. These could be the two most important words in our passage. These two words answer both how we know the King and what kind of relationship we have with him. I know probably most of you in this room have heard people talk about having a relationship with Christ. Do you know exactly what kind of a relationship that is? It’s called a federal relationship. He is your federal head. It means that he is now our representative. It might be a new term for you, but it isn’t a new idea to you. Let me give you a few examples. If you are a in a labor union, you elect a negotiator. That negotiator represents you to the powers that be. If the negotiator is savvy, you get a savvy contract and everyone benefits. If the negotiator is an idiot, you get a lousy contract and everyone is hurt. In this situation, you are in a federal relationship with that negotiatory. The qualities of that negotiatory come on you.

6 Or marriage, in general, if a husband and wife both have their names on the same house, if they both have their names on the same bank account, then the debts of one accrue to the other and the prosperity of one accrues to the other. This is another example of federal headship.2 I overheard two women talking a month or so back and one was complaining that she had to work. She was dogging her husband because she didn’t like her job and her friend said, “Listen, you aint married rich and you gonna have to work. It aint his fault, it’s your fault you aint married rich.” I was thinking, “That’s a federal relationship!” Here is a third, if you are going to court and have a defense attorney, that defense attorney is in a federal relationship with you. If he does a good job, then the benefits of his talent and hard work fall on you. If he does a bad job, you’re screwed. That’s the law. In a federal relationship, whatever is true of your federal head, is true of you. You get the benefits or drawbacks of that person.This is why we have all these phrases in the Bible like ‘crucified with Christ,’ ‘seated with Christ,’ ‘raised with Christ’ and so on. If you believe in Jesus, you enter into a federal relationship with him and God looks at you as if you were Him! That’s how we are qualified. By the merits of Jesus Christ, our federal head. Our King, the perfect man who never sinned. But do you know what makes this federal relationship possible? The King paid the sentence of high treason for us. He paid the debt so it could be possible that we could know him. And here is the beauty and brilliance of it. The King of the universe remains loving and just. No other world view can say that about their deity. There is an old story, I doubt it’s true, but it shows us the beauty of it really clearly. There was a king back in the middle ages and he was known throughout the land for being he wisest, most just and most loving king around. One day he found out that someone had been taking money from his treasury. So he addressed his kingdom and said, “Listen, if anyone needs something, come to me and I will help them, but stealing will not be tolerated. 10 lashes if this happens again.” The next day someone told the king that more money was missing. So he went to the kingdom again and appealed to them to allow him to help if there is need, but no stealing could be permitted. The penalty was then raised to 20 lashes. The third day the same thing happened and the penalty was raised to 30 lashes. Finally on the fourth day the culprit was caught and it was the king’s wife. So all throughout the kingdom, people waited to see if he was going to be loving and let her go or just and punish her. If he let her go, how could he continue to enforce the law. If he punished his own wife with 30 lashes though, who could ever love and respect this ruthless king again. So, he came out and announced that his wife would receive the punishment due: 30 lashes. So all the people came out and she was tied up to a pole and just as the whip went back the king stood in front of his wife facing her. The man with the whip obviously confused, paused and the king shouted at him, “You give this

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Credit Tim Keller for the three illustrations of federal headship.

7 woman the punishment she deserves.” And every lash was given to the womna, but absorbed by the back of her husband, her federal head. That is how we can know our King and that is the kind of relationship we have with Him. We stand faultless in front of Him because of our federal head, Jesus. In the same way King Jesus holds the universe together, when we know Him, he holds our lives together by knowing Him. And this kind of relationship can’t help but transform us. III.

Be Transformed By The King

Paul’s hope is that from seeing the King and knowing the King that we would be transformed by the King. Verses 10 and 11: so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him; bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy… Our King wants obedience. He wants us to change. But more than He wants our obedience, He wants our heart. Another way of saying this is that He wants our obedience by capturing our hearts. He doesn't just work on changing the outside, He transforms us on the inside. I remember back when I was dating Angela. We were staying with my parents and my brother asked me to get him a drink. I was like, “Get your own drink.” Then I begrudgingly went and got him a drink. But a few minutes later Angela doesn’t even ask for a drink, but mentions the fact that she is thirsty and I immediately ran to get her something to drink. What’s the difference? My giving my brother a drink was just compliance which unfortunately so many people think Christianity is. But our king doesn’t just want our compliance, He wants our heart. If your heart is bound up in that person, it changes everything. When there is so much admiration and desire for that person…when you so deeply desire that person to be happy that making them happy makes you happy….when that person’s happiness is your happiness, then you get a picture of what Paul is praying for. That’s the kind of transformation God wants for us! And knowing the King will get us through any kind of trial life throws at us. Knowing the King doesn’t mean that nothing bad or hard will happen to us. Trials will still come. That’s why we get strength and patience and endurance. Health issues will come. Relational issues will come. Financial issues will com. You might actually have more trials in some ways if you know and follow King Jesus. I had lunch yesterday with some missionaries from a very sensitive part of the world where almost everyone is Muslim. There were telling me about a man who through some crazy set of events and dreams became a Christian. Eventually word got out and his father-in-law came to him with a gun and took the man’s wife and child away permanently. They are gone until the man decides to return to Islam.

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How can you get through something like that? Nothing less than knowing the King Himself will do. Because the love that comes from knowing Him bring us into the order He wants for us. And this order will bring a peace and calm that can get us through any chaos this world might bring. Before I finish though, I want to ask this: have you made Jesus your King? I never want to assume that everyone in this room has. If you haven’t I want to you to think of this continuum, this line where you have perfect order on one end and total chaos on the other. The more you are the king of your life, the more you drift toward the chaos end of the spectrum in this life and that chaos will be made permanent in the next. But when we make Jesus our king, we begin to more more toward the order he want’s us to enjoy…an order that will be perfected in eternity with Him. The only thing we need to do is to admit that we are terrible kings and follow him. Conclusion: Is it clear how Paul is praying for this church? That they would see the True King, that they would know the True King and that the True King would transform them. The more this prayer is prayed and answered, the more we will experience the internal order the King has designed us to have. Very practically, I want to ask you to do one thing. If Grace is your home, would you consider praying this prayer of Paul’s for this church? Maybe dedicate the next 30 days to praying it. You can just print it up and put it on your mirror or in your car. Make it your wall paper on your phone. Pray the prayer Paul prayed for our church. Or, you can just write on a piece of paper or a mirror: “See the King, Know the King, Be Transformed by the King.” I know that would be a prayer we would all benefit from. 
 Let’s pray.