Someone has said, and I agree, that the idea of Redemption in a world of sin and tragedy constitutes the noblest concept ever to enter the mind of God or the awareness of a human being. Paul would also agree. The theme of Redemption is woven into the fabric of everything he wrote. He repeats that theme over and over again in Colossians, affirming that God's implementation of his idea of redemption is the love gift of his son Jesus Christ on the Cross. The most amazing truth for you and me today is that we are called to finish Christ's redemptive work.

Now the sermon title may be confusing -- "To Finish What is Finished" -- but it will make sense before we are through.

In the sermon two weeks ago, I dealt with Col. 1: 15-20. We looked at three big themes in that passage: One, the centrali…