November 24, 2013
Colossians 1:11-20
A few years ago, I received notice that I was about to receive an inheritance from a rich uncle whom I did not know was rich! One of my father’s brothers had died and left the remainder of his estate, after other obligations, to his nieces and nephews. I never had received an inheritance! This was so cool. While it was not that much—$1,500—it allowed my wife and me to take a vacation in Boston that year. I was humbled that my uncle remembered me and my cousins, and I expressed thanks to God.
Paul reminded the Colossians they had been enabled to share an inheritance—an inheritance of the saints. It came not as the result of some rich uncle, but as a result of their heavenly Father, whose riches surpass any earthly relative or official. He noted they had been transferred into a kingdom not of this world—one that is not characterized by the darkness of evil.
Years ago, the pastor who baptized me, J. Norman Ellis, illustrated this idea of transfer with a line from the TV series “Star Trek.” Anyone who watched the show was familiar with the line, “Beam me up, Scottie.” My pastor said we’ve been beamed up. We have been transferred from one realm to another in the present moment. The kingdom to which we’ve been transferred is that of the Father’s beloved Son, Jesus.
On this Christ the King Sunday, which concludes another Christian year, the church is reminded of its inheritance. It is shared by all who have faith in Christ, who is King of all kings. Given this Sunday is also the one prior to Thanksgiving Day in the United States, it is good to remember, with thanksgiving to the Father, that we have a share in the inheritance as a result of our being beamed up. It is also good to remember some things about this beloved Son, the Guarantor of our shared inheritance with the saints in His kingdom. Consider…
He Is the Imagine of the Invisible God Who Is Creator and Sustainer
Whenever I return to my hometown, those who remember my father, who is among those saints who rests from their labors, tell me I look just like him. Jesus looks just like His Father, who in the Old Testament was considered invisible. If one wishes to see God the Father Almighty, then all one has to do is look at Jesus. As believers, we are to model Christ, thus reflecting Him in this world of darkness. Our inheritance calls us to do just that. We are to live life in such a way that others see something of the invisible God who is visible through the beloved Son.
We do this because He is the agent of creation. He was right there with the Father “in the beginning when God (the Father) created the heavens and the earth.” His imagine is on creation and because it is, He rules and reigns over all other kingdoms. This is why we are to abandon the small selfish kingdoms we’ve created with our greed and arrogance because we’ve been transferred into another realm.
As someone put it, Jesus is the divine glue that holds everything together. Because He is, we are to live with thanksgiving knowing He holds the saints together for eternity.
He Is the Head of the Church in Whom God Fully Dwells
He is the Leader of the church. The church is not brick and mortar; rather, it is flesh and blood human beings who’ve been delivered from the realm of darkness into the kingdom of light as a result of the blood of the Leader, shed on the cross. The church is made up of saints who share an inheritance one with another from the Father.
As one Christian year ends today and another begins next Lord’s Day, let us remember with thanksgiving the Leader of the church in whom God fully dwells. May we allow Him, the Source of our inheritance, to dwell fully in us.
Let us be grateful for a share in the King’s inheritance.