The message opens with two puzzles: the “mystery” of a covenant-keeping God who binds himself to Abraham’s descendants, and the “paradox” of a Lord who is both utterly transcendent, dwelling in unapproachable heights (“heaven, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you,” 1 Kings 8:27), and wonderfully immanent, drawing near as Immanuel, God with us. Colossians 1 brings the two together in Christ, in whom, through whom, and for whom all things were created, and who holds all things together.
Because Christ is Lord over creation by nature, his obedience even to death on a cross was not forced but the eternal, willing obedience of the Son, learned through what he suffered so that he might become the source of salvation for all who obey him. The sermon then turns this outward: since no one can serve two masters, God and money, believers who have been called out of darkness must offer God whole-hearted obedience rather than the “neutral,” half-obedience of a divided heart, being holy as the One who called them is holy.
The second part presses the point. Many people imagine they can remain neutral toward God, quietly declining either to obey or to openly rebel. This sermon dismantles that illusion, showing from Scripture that no such neutral ground exists: whoever is not with Christ is against Him.
Before Christ, every person is already a slave, either to sin or to righteousness, with no third option in between. The good news is that Christ’s own perfect obedience is credited to those who trust Him, freeing them from sin’s mastery. Because His righteousness is already ours, believers are called to offer themselves willingly as slaves to righteousness, not to earn God’s favor, but because it has already been secured for them.