Eli Brayley emphasizes the pleasure of God in the Gospel of His Son, highlighting that it pleased the Father to have all fullness dwell in Christ and to reconcile all things through His blood. He explains that God's pleasure in the Gospel is not based on our worthiness but stems from His love and grace, as He willingly sacrificed His Son for our redemption. Brayley encourages believers to understand their acceptance in Christ, emphasizing that they are presented holy and blameless before God, not by their actions but through the grace of Jesus. The sermon calls for a deeper appreciation of God's mercy and the joy of being reconciled to Him through Christ's sacrifice.

Please stand with me as we read the word together, and turn with me to Colossians chapter 1. And I've titled this, The Pleasure of God in the Gospel of His Son. The Pleasure of God in the Gospel of His Son. So verse 19 to 22 in chapter 1 of Colossians. For it pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell. And having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself. By Him, I say, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven. And you that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works. Yet now has He reconciled in the body of His flesh through death. To present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in His sight. May God bless the reading of His word. Thank you, you may be seated. So let me just ask the question to you this morning. As we just seek to break this text down. What are some things that bring you pleasure? What are things that please you? Just think about it. I suppose that your answers that you could give could range from the comments of the bizarre, right? I'm sure we all have some bizarre pleasures. But more commonly, we might say, well, a particular relationship brings me pleasure. When I'm in the company of another person, that brings me pleasure. Or maybe a certain activity that you enjoy brings you pleasure. Some people might say, I really love to read. I love to just kick back on a Sunday afternoon and read a good book with a tea by the fire. Perhaps you take pleasure in music. I have a friend, you might know him, his name is Bob Bolton. And he lives here in this valley. But he bought this stereo system for his living room. And he loves to turn on Beethoven or Bach. And just sit back and just enjoy the music and take great pleasure in that. Actually, he told me, there's a few things I get more pleasure out of than listening to this music. So what are some things that bring you pleasure? And there's people in this world that actually receive pleasure from unrighteousness. We can receive pleasure from things that are good, that God gave us, it says, to enjoy. And then there's things in life that men receive pleasure from that are unlawful in God's sight. So some people take pleasure in putting other people down. I don't know if you've ever done that before. You receive some measure of pleasure when you see someone else fail. Because it makes you feel better about yourself. A common problem in schools is you have bullies who take pleasure in beating up other people or calling other people names. It's just very common, we've all been involved in that, right? But pleasure can also be not just something you enjoy, but also it can deal with your preference. Or something that you want or choose. So for instance, when I was younger and I lived at home, my mom might say to me sometimes, your father and I are going out tonight, so you may eat whatever you please. So I get to eat what I please. So involved in there is both my choice, I get to do what I want, what I prefer, but also I get to enjoy that also. Oh, it's alright. It's fine. Yeah, it's good. But here, in Colossians 1, look with me. We're looking at pleasure. Someone's pleasure, here in this chapter. Now, whose pleasure is in view here, in this chapter? It says, it pleased... my translation says, it pleased the father. It pleased the father. Some of you here might say, it pleased God. That in Him should all fullness dwell. It pleased the father that in Him should all fullness dwell. So what is this saying? Who is Him that is so pleasing to the father? Well, in context, it's talking about the Lord Jesus Christ. God is pleased that in Christ all the fullness should dwell. And we look back in context here, because we're kind of just jumping into the middle, but in verse 12, the father's in view. It says in verse 12, we give thanks unto God, the father, who has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. So we're giving God thanks, the father thanks, who has delivered us from the power of darkness and has translated us into the kingdom of His dear son. His dear son. The son whom He's pleased with. In whom, in the son, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. And then from verse 15 to 18, Paul takes a little break. And he takes a little detour and begins to describe the son. Saying, just so you know, just for those who think that Jesus was just a man, because there's many people who think that Jesus was just a man. He was just a man like you and I, who God chose to use to save men. But there was nothing more than that. And Paul says, no, this isn't the Jesus that I know, and this isn't the Jesus that I preach. The son whom the father loves is, in verse 15, the image of the invisible God. So God is invisible, but Jesus is the visible representation of God. Jesus is God, visible to our eyes. That's who He is. The firstborn of every creature. Well, there was a huge controversy in the early centuries of whether Jesus was created by God because of this verse. It says, He's the firstborn of every creature. So this man named Arius argued and said that, well, there it says that Jesus was a part of God's creation, right? He was the first of God's creation. But that's not what Paul's saying at all. If you look in the next verse, it says, in verse 16, by Christ are all things created. But He's not the first of creation because by Him, all things were created. And what Paul meant in verse 15 when he wrote, He is the firstborn of all creation. What Paul is saying is this, is that firstborn, meaning His rank. When someone is a firstborn, He has all the rights and all the privileges of the inheritance. Due to His incarnation, when Jesus Christ became flesh, He was preeminent among all the creation. And it wasn't saying that He was created and at one time never existed. That He's first. He's the first and only begotten Son. He's the first in rank above all God's creation. And all things were made by Him. And all things were made for Him. So this is a huge panorama of Jesus Christ. The One who has saved us. This man we read about is more than a man. He's the Son of God. And the image of His person. And so that was Paul's epoch. So now we come back to verse 19. As if he came on from verse 14. He was just saying on. He said, in Christ we have redemption through His blood. Even the forgiveness of sins. And verse 19. For it pleased the Father. So what is Paul saying here? He's saying, why do we have redemption through His blood? Why? We're giving thanks to God. I grant that. We thank You Lord. We give thanks to You for saving us. We give thanks to You for saving us out of the power of darkness and translating us into the Kingdom of Your Son. We thank You for the redemption that we have in Christ Jesus. But the big question is, why did God do that for us? What was the reason that He did that? Because we acknowledge He did it. But why? And the answer is. Because it pleased the Father. Did you know that the whole reason we have a Christian gospel to preach. Is because of the pleasure of the Father in saving us. God did not send His Son to die for us. Because we were deserving that. Or because we pleaded that. It was our pleasure. It wasn't so. It wasn't because we said to God. Well God, we're in a bad situation with You. It's true. There's reconciliation needed here. It would please us Lord, if You sent Your Son Jesus to die for us. It's not talking about our pleasure. It's talking about His pleasure. It pleased Him to do that. The gospel of His Son is pleasing to God, the Father. We're not twisting God's arm with a bribe. Actually, it's the other way around. He's surprising us by His grace. And there's two things here I want to point out. That it pleased the Father that in Christ all the fullness would dwell. And, if you notice in verse 20 it starts with the word and. It should in your Bible anyway. In verse 20 it says and. And sometimes we read this and we think it stops at verse 19. The pleasure of the Father. So it pleased God that in Christ all the fullness would dwell. But it doesn't stop there. And, it says in verse 20. And it pleases Him that by Christ He would reconcile all things to Himself. So two things. It pleased God that in Him the fullness would dwell. And that by Him He would reconcile all things to Himself. The pleasure of the Father flows on into verse 20, 21 and 22. And it culminates where it says. He presents us holy and unblameless in His sight. This is the Father's pleasure. He's happy to do this. But first, in Him all the fullness should dwell. This is an explicit statement of the Incarnation. And when I say Incarnation, I mean when the Word became flesh. When the Son of God took upon Himself the form of a man. And the fullness of God. The fullness of the divine nature was embodied in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. The man Christ Jesus. Verse 19 is talking about the Incarnation. That's what's in view. Not talking about Christ before the foundation of the world. But Christ in His body. For it says all the fullness would dwell or would tabernacle in Him. It would tabernacle in His flesh. And this is said also in another way in chapter 2 verse 9. You'll see in chapter 2 verse 9, it says it like this. In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Or of the divine nature. Or of divinity or deity. It dwells in Him. This word fullness means it's replete. It can't get any more full. It's like having a cup and you fill it up to the brim. And it cannot contain any more. Jesus has got all the fullness of the Godhead dwelling in Him. He's got all the fullness of the divine nature dwelling in Him. And dwelling permanently in Him. As the word suggests. So His Incarnation. But John sheds a little bit more light on this. And if you turn to John chapter 1. Turn with me to John chapter 1. When John speaks about the word becoming flesh and dwelling among us. And John helps us see really that Paul is saying the same thing. He's talking about His Incarnation. There's a reason why Jesus took upon Himself flesh and blood and bones. And was full of the fullness of God. There's a reason. There was something in view when He did this. And in John chapter 1 verse 14. And I'll read verse 14 and 16. It says in John chapter 1 verse 14. The word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory. The glory of the only begotten of the Father. Full of grace and truth. And verse 16. And of His fullness have we all received. And grace for grace. What that means is. Everything that we have received from God. Everything we have received from the fullness that was in Jesus Christ. Of His fullness or from or out from. His fullness have we all received. So the intention for filling Christ with the divine nature and the Incarnation. Was so that it could be received by us. Isn't that wonderful? God filled Jesus Christ. God sent Christ to earth. God became incarnate and took on flesh and bones. So that we might receive grace. So that we might receive of His fullness. That was the intention. Incarnation to the view of redemption. To the view of blessing us and giving us grace. So the Father put everything into Him. So that we could receive from Him. Isn't that a wonderful thing? Jesus did not come. In the fullness of the Father. Simply to set an example for us. To say at a distance and say. Oh now you copy me. You copy the fullness of the Father. Okay. Here is the fullness of the Father. Here is the express image of the invisible God. Now you mimic me. Do you want to get to have. That was not why Jesus came. And it's true that because God is holy. There is a demand that we be holy too. It says be holy as your Heavenly Father is holy. That's true. But the reality is that all have sinned. And come short of the glory of God. And it's true we ought to be holy. But the reality is none of us are. And God sent His Son. Filled Him. With all His fullness. So that we could receive grace for grace. Back in Colossians. Chapter 1. And verse 20. The second thing. By Him. So it pleased God to do this. To fill Him with all the fullness of Himself. But the second thing. It was God's pleasure that by Him. He might reconcile all things to Himself. Now why is there need of reconciliation? The word reconcile. Just assumes. Takes for granted. That there is a breach in relationship. That there is a need for reconciliation. Between God and men. And here Paul tells us in verse 21. And he says and you. And I ask you to make it specific to yourself. You. Whether you need to be reconciled to God. Whether you need to be reconciled to God. Reconciliation is a factor in your life. It's an issue here in your life. This isn't just for the Colossians. 2000 years ago. Or for the people who seem to need Jesus. But this is for us. This is for you and I. It says you were sometimes alienated. You were alienated from God. You were a stranger to God. You were far from God. You remember when Jesus says on that day. You will come and say Lord, Lord. Thinking they're close. And you'll say. Depart from me. I never knew you. I don't know you. You are. You're a stranger to me. You're alienated. This is what Paul is saying here. At one time. If you're a Christian at one time. You were alienated from God. You were a stranger to his. Covenants and his promise. You were without hope. And without God in this world. And if you are not a Christian. That is. Your situation. You are alienated from God. And the reason why. There is alienation. Is because of the enmity for the. You are an enemy of God. In your mind through wicked works. The Bible says in Romans 8. That. The natural man. The natural mind is at enmity with God. It cannot be subject to God. It's at enmity with him. The mind is the seat within you. That is the imaginations. Or the thoughts of your heart. And your intentions. And Genesis. We get a window of this in Genesis. When it says. God looks upon the world. And all the children of men. And he sees. That there. All their imaginations of their heart. Are evil continually. And he saw them long ago. But the point is that he saw them. That in that place inside of them. The spring. Of all their actions. There was an enmity against God. There was a hatred of God. There was a. A resistance to submit to him. And so it naturally. Produces evil works. Wicked works. Simply come from a hostile mind. Against God. Anyone who is not a Christian. I was a Christian at one time. Naturally. We were resistant to God. We were an enemy of God. It says. We were his enemy. We hated him. We would not submit to him. And because of that. We were under great judgment. And so this is why. Reconciliation is needed. Because. Of the enmity. And how. It says. Explicitly. He made peace. Through the blood of his cross. The blood. Is mentioned. Why? And why blood? What does blood have to do with this? It's interesting. That in Hebrew. This word in this idea of pleasure. Comes up all over the place. And particularly. In regards to sacrifice. And atonement. You find right from the beginning of Leviticus. In chapter one verse four. That God says. The priest will lay his hand upon. The sacrifice. And it will be accepted. For him. For atonement. And that word accepted is actually. Delight. God will delight in that. God will be pleased with that. God will look favorably upon that. The blood was given. By God. Paul isn't saying something out of the ordinary. To the Jewish mind. Paul isn't saying something out of the air. He's saying something that has a history with God. The idea of blood sacrifice. But we also find. In Psalm 51. David says. God you do not delight in. Sacrifices of animals. Leviticus just said. Well the blood will be acceptable. God will be pleased with it. And David. In a revelation says. God you do not delight in the sacrifices of animals. The prophet Jeremiah. Saying to the people. You sacrifice to God. Animals. Bullocks rams. God will not accept them. God will not be pleased with them. Because of your sin. You will not be pleased with those things. And we learn that God is not pleased. With the sacrifices of animals. But with the blood. Of his son. Jesus Christ. Everything else was just a shadow of that. And have you come to that realization. That God is not pleased. With anything else. But with the blood. Of his son Jesus Christ. That there is nothing you can offer God. That will be accepted. By him. To make reconciliation. For your sins. You say I know I'm a sinner. I know I'm a sinner. But God will be pleased with. You know. My money I give to the church. My attendance I give to the church. Even my worship. My singing. Those are good things. But those don't please God. To make atonement for your soul. It's only the blood of the cross. And there's nothing else. In Hebrews chapter 10. Jesus says, God, you don't delight in the sacrifices of animals, but you've prepared for me a body. His body. He says, it's written in the volume of the book, I come to do your will. I come to do your pleasure. I come to do your delight. I come to offer myself, Jesus says, your will for sinners. That's what you delight in, that's what you're pleased with, that's what you will accept. And there's no alternative. That night Jesus was betrayed and the night he was taken away to the council, he prayed, Father, if it is possible, take this cup from me. If it's possible. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done. It says it's not possible. It's not possible for the blood of goats to take away sin. It wasn't possible. That was the only way. It was either we all are damned for our sins, or Jesus Christ takes the cup. God, is it possible? No. It's either we die or he dies. It's either we die or he dies. That's the only option. And the Father chose. He did what he pleased. I think it was a year ago, there was a film produced in Eastern Europe, in Czechoslovakia. It was a short film and it was called Most. Now, not most the English word, but most the Czech word. And the word means the bridge. And the film was actually a film about a common allegory that people over there used to explain the death of Christ. It's a common allegory in that part of the world. And so the film produced it based on this allegory. And what it is, is there's a man, and he is in charge of a drawbridge that raises and lowers a train, a train drawbridge that a train drops over. His job is when the train is coming, to pull the lever, and then the bridge, the drawbridge will lower so that the train will go across safely. And the Father has this son whom he loves dearly. And the son loves the father dearly, and they have a beautiful relationship together. And the son asked the father one day, Daddy, can I go to work with you today? Can I go to work, can I go with you? And he says, sure, sure, that would be great. You can come to work with me, son. And so the son comes to work, and somehow or other, the son falls into the gears of the drawbridge beneath. And the train is coming. And the father is horrified, and he has to make a decision now, at this moment, he doesn't have much time to think. As he sees the train coming closer, a train with hundreds of people on it, he knows will die if that drawbridge does not lower. And he knows his son is in the gears. And he now has to make a decision. What's it going to be? Who am I going to choose? And the father pulls the lever, crushing his own son, to save this train full of people. And he's weeping, he's broken, totally distraught as he pulls it, knowing he kills his own son to save the train load of people. And as the father stands there by the train after having pulled it, and the train goes by, and he's standing there with tears in his eyes, just totally distressed. The people on the train are totally ignorant of what happened. And they're going by, and as they're going by, some ignorant clown on the train, perhaps wanting to impress his friends, looks out the window and sees him and gives him the finger, just as a joke, totally ignorant of the fact that he had just saved his life by killing his own son. Now why? Why would God send his son to die for ignorant enemies? Who hate him. As it says here, because we know he did it. And the answer Paul gives is because it pleased the father. It was God's good pleasure to crush his son for our sins. Even though we're totally ignorant of what that all involves, and we were his enemies, it pleased him to do that. He preferred that. He chose that. He did what he pleased. And he preferred that to save us, because he loves us. And that is a wonderful thing. And I can't even begin to communicate all that meaning. But the Gospel brings God pleasure. And it says in Isaiah 53, It pleased the Lord to crush him. It pleased the Lord to crush him for us. God was glad to do that for you. Do you know that? He didn't do it begrudgingly. We didn't twist his arm. It wasn't our idea. God was glad to crush his own son for you and for me. A preacher once shared that scripture from Isaiah to a group of inmates in a prison. And he asked the question, Who killed Jesus? Who was it who killed Jesus? And the prisoners suggested a few things. Well, the Romans killed Jesus. The Jews killed Jesus. Someone maybe a little more thoughtful said, Well, we killed Jesus because of our sins. No, it was us. All those things are true. But the preacher told these inmates, The Father killed Jesus. And when he said that, that place went silent. And they wanted to know why. Because in their mind, and from their past, and from their experiences, when a father abuses a son or kills a son, it's always abuse. It's always a bad thing. They can't understand why would the father do that to Jesus. Was the father being cruel? Because that's all they knew. And the preacher, as he began to explain, No, the father crushed the son, and the son obeyed the father. Jesus willingly said, Yes, Lord. And he did it because he loves us. And the inmates, their tears came down their face and they realized that. Wow. I'm totally unfamiliar with that. That's amazing. God loved me so much that he crushed his own son for me. And having made peace through the blood of his cross. Let those words have their full weight this morning. He made peace through the blood of his cross when he died there. The peace that we have with God is the peace that comes through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The punishment of our peace was upon him, Isaiah says. And so we are right with him. But I want you to know this morning that God did this and it was his good pleasure. Jesus said, Fear not. It is the father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. And I want to just tell you this morning that God is pleased to accept you. He gave his own son for you. He wants you to come. And he's pleased and happy to present you holy and blameless and unreprovable in his sight. And sometimes we walk around and think, Oh, I'm just getting in by a sliver. God forgave me, yes, but he kind of did it begrudgingly. Because I believed on his son, he has to forgive me. He doesn't really want to, but he does. Or maybe my blamelessness depends upon my actions. And if I sin, I've lost it and God is just upset with me. But I want you to know that the fountain of the grace of God in the fullness of Jesus Christ, when he gave his life on the cross and shed his blood, that was the father's pleasure. That was the father's design. And he wants to forgive you and he wants to accept you and he wants to embrace you. And you can confess before God and stand by faith in his forgiveness, knowing that you're holy and blameless in his sight. No sins count against you anymore. And you don't have to be ashamed of that. You can rejoice in that, that he's accepted you. Because he's pleased with you. And he calls you his own. He did it because he wanted to do it. And he wants to receive you. So if you feel heavy with guilt this morning, come to God, because he sent his son to die for you and he wants you to come. If you stand forgiven, rejoice in that. Be pleased. Accept what God has done for you. Don't try to add things to that, think it's not enough. Well, I need to go to church, I need to give tithes more, I need to maybe pray more. Those are all good things. But God isn't pleased with you when you do those things. He's pleased with you because of his son, of his fullness, Jesus have received. And it says in Colossians 2, verse 9 and 10, All the fullness dwells in Jesus and you are complete in him. Isn't that a wonderful thing? Colossians 2, verse 10, All the fullness is in him and you are in him and you are complete, replete, in him. So the gospel of his son is his good pleasure. So let's just revel in that and glory in that and enjoy that because God died for us that we might. What a thing to meditate upon this morning. That's amazing. Let's pray. Father, we're just truly just paddling just on the outskirts in the puddles, Lord, around the ocean of your grace and your love. Lord, we don't understand the depth of the love that you have for us and that it pleased you to crush your son for us. Lord, I pray that this morning would begin in us, Lord, a revelation that would just increase more and more of your pleasure in the gospel. That you preferred to save your enemies. You desired that. You delight in showing mercy, O God. And we want to know you more. We thank you, Lord, for crushing your son for us. We thank you for the blood of your cross that was shed for us. We thank you that this morning we can stand holy and unblameable in your sight because of the grace that we've received. We thank you, God, and we offer to you the calves of our lips thanksgiving for your great, abundant love for us, Lord. Thank you so much for these precious words of Scripture. We give you praise. We rejoice in your salvation and glorify your name. In Jesus' name, Amen.