Christ-Centered Means Total Surrender

1. Christ-Centered, Community-Concerned?

Our church’s mission-vision statement — both. Much reflection. What does this mean? What does this look like in our personal daily lives and our church life? How does being Christ-Centered and Community-Concerned shape our thoughts, attitudes, words, and actions? Not mere, empty words — move from our minds to our hearts to our hands and feet. Sermon series — Colossians but focus on 3:1-17, summarizes well — window/door through which we will explore this — go to rest of the book and other passages. Memorize 3:1-17 and read the whole book. Purpose of this series — help us grow spiritually so that in our personal lives and as a church we become truly Christ-Centered and Community-Concerned.

To be Christ-Centered is important and essential. Three reasons. First, it’s the only way to grow as a Christian. Only in Christ is it possible to live the kingdom life. Second, these days ideologies, politics, philosophies, and cultural beliefs are mixed with Christian truths so that they sound good and true but actually are heresies, false teachings, and idolatries. The only way to remain in the truth and stay on course — be Christ-centered. When we are Christ-centered, no one will deceive us with fine-sounding arguments, and no one can take us captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ (Col 2:4,8).

Third, we are in a spiritual war. There is a raging battle going on. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph 6:12). A.W. Tozer said that in this world we are not on a playground but on a battleground. And the only way we can stand against the devil’s schemes is to put on the full armor of God, and so be Christ-Centered.

To be Christ-Centered is to know, understand, and believe who Jesus is, what He has done, is doing, and will do. Thus, to be Christ-Centered is to know, believe, live out, and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. In the opening of his letter, Paul says, “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people—the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace” (Col 1:3-6). He goes on in verse 23, “if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven …” We need to hear the gospel repeatedly because we are distracted by worldly affairs and become preoccupied with worldly things. When we remain grounded in Christ and his gospel we will not shift, we will not drift away.

Therefore, to be Christ-centered is to surrender totally all of our lives to Jesus and to trust Him absolutely with our lives as our Lord and Savior. Let’s read Col. 3:1-4 — “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

Set your hearts on, seek the things above — We should set our desires, our deepest wishes, our passions on to seek, obtain, and possess the things above, that is, God and his kingdom — seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness (Mt 6:32). Set your minds on things above — we should think about them, reflect, and focus on them. What is in our hearts and minds controls our will and actions. Therefore, body and mind, soul and spirit should be set on the things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God — that is being Christ-centered.

2. Jesus Christ is Lord of All Creation

We are Christ-Centered, setting our hearts and minds on things above, because Jesus Christ is the Lord of all creation, of the whole universe. Col. 1:15-20 & 2:9-10 — “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him …  For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.”

Jesus Christ is God — He is the image of the invisible God. In Him all the fullness of God lives. He became fully human to reveal God to us. He is seated at the right hand of God, in the place of supreme honor and authority. He possesses God’s almighty power and majesty. He is equal with God the Father.

Jesus Christ is the Creator God — in Him, through Him, and for Him all things were created. As Lord of creation, He is preeminent and supreme over all creation. He is Lord over all human powers and rulers. He is Lord over all cosmic powers. He holds it all together. He is in control. Jesus Christ is also Lord of the new creation. He is coming back to bring about the new heavens and earth.

Jesus Christ is real and alive. He is not a figment of our imagination. He is not merely a theological idea, concept, precept, or doctrine. He is the eternal, all-powerful, supreme, living Lord and because He is the Lord of Creation He is the only one capable of saving the creation. Because Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, fully God and fully human, He is also the Lord of salvation.

3. Jesus Christ is the Lord of Salvation

We are Christ-Centered, setting our hearts and minds on things above, because Jesus Christ is the Lord of salvation. “… the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Col 1:12-14).

“And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation …” (Col 1:18-22)

“For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.” (Col 2:9-15)

Through faith in Christ as our Savior, we have been justified freely by God’s grace. Through his blood and death on the cross, we have been redeemed, purified, cleansed, and sanctified. All our sins are forgiven. We have been rescued from the kingdom of darkness and brought into the kingdom of the Son. Through our faith in Christ, we have died with Him, we have been raised with Him, and given a new life. We share in his power and authority. We are seated with Christ and rule with Him as his ambassadors in this world. And when He returns, our fullness, our perfect lives in Christ, which is now hidden with God, will be revealed with Him in glory.

We have been bought with a price. We are now God’s possession, his children, his family. We are God’s chosen, holy and dearly loved. We are his temple. We are the body of Christ, and as the Lord of salvation, Jesus is also the Lord of his Church. Think about all this of what it means. We are saved! We are kingdom people, citizens of heaven. Awe, wonder, thanksgiving & joy. No matter who you are and what you have done if you believe in Jesus Christ you are saved, all forgiven, new life.

4. Total Surrender to Jesus Christ as Lord & Savior

Jesus Christ is central to God’s creation, mission, salvation, and the new creation. Therefore, He must be central to our lives here and now. He is the absolute supreme Lord of all. He is all-sufficient and He is our sole sufficiency. We need nothing more and nothing else than Jesus Christ. Nothing else and no one else can save us. Therefore, we must give up ourselves and live in total surrender to and absolute trust in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

We must surrender to Jesus as Lord. We must crown Him as the Supreme Lord of our lives above and before everything else. We must not seek refuge in or alliances with anything else. We must surrender to Jesus as our Savior. He is the only way to forgiveness of our sins, reconciliation, and peace with God the Father. Only through faith in Him can we have and experience the new, eternal kingdom life.

We surrender to Jesus totally by denying ourselves, taking up our crosses, and following Jesus. We die to self. We put to death whatever belongs to our earthly nature. We take off our old self with its practices. We put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its Creator (Col 3:5,9-10). Christ is the fullness of God, the image of God. Christ is what we must become like. We must become perfect in Christ so that his fullness can be restored in us. Jesus Christ is the only source and power for living the kingdom life.

Therefore, we must become disciples of Jesus; not just followers but students, apprentices. That is the only way we can learn to become like Christ. We must learn from Jesus how to become and be like Him, live, love, and serve others like Him. In this series, we will learn how to be his students, and how to die to self and set our hearts and minds on things above; how to make God and his kingdom the first and top priority in our lives.

We will also learn that to be Christ-Centered is to be Community-Concerned. To be disciples of Jesus is to make disciples of others. Our love for God must translate into love for others. We are the hands and feet of Christ in this world. However, being Christ-Centered and Community-Concerned begins with total surrender to and absolute trust in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. Next week we will learn what total surrender means.