The Supremacy of Christ- Part 2 (10/4/15)

Posted by on Oct 13, 2015 in Sermons | 0 comments

Pastor Jim is preaching a three part series on a look at our Lord and Savior- Jesus the Christ.  He is above all others, all other things, and He’s all we need.  In this morning’s sermon, we continued our look at Colossians chapter 1 and considered that Jesus is the Word that created the world.  And not only that, He is actively involved in the details of our lives and He continues to sustain all of creation.

Click the “Play” button to start the recording, then scroll down to follow along.

 

The scripture was from Colossians 1:15-20.  Open the below drop down box to read along with Pastor Jim… and the congregation.  We read from the New Revised Standard Version; the New King James is shown below.

COLOSSIANS 1

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.

17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.

18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell,

20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.

Today is world Wide communion Sunday, and after the sermon we celebrated the Lord’s Supper.  But before the sermon, Pastor Jim led us down a less serious (albeit not more humorous) path.  Pick which story (or stories- if you’re daring) that you want to hear…

No Jokes. Just get into the Word!

One particular Sunday a church was celebrating Holy Communion. During the Chilren’s Sermon the minister was explaining as best he could what Holy Communion was all about.  The minister said, “The Bible talks of Holy Communion as being a ‘Joyful Feast.’  What does that mean?”, he asked.

One of the wise children reasoned…  “Well, ‘joyful’ means ‘happy’, right?  And a feast is a meal.  So a ‘Joyful Feast’ is a ‘Happy Meal’.  And what are the three things we need for a Happy Meal?   And so, communion means that we’re having a cheeseburger, fries, and a milk shake!”

One beautiful Sunday morning a pastor announced to his congregation, “My good people, I have here in my hands three sermons… a $100 sermon that lasts five minutes, a $50 that lasts 15 minutes, and a $5 sermon that lasts a full hour.

Now,  let’s receive the offering and see which one I’ll preach!”

(Don’t say we didn’t warn you…)

 

God with Skin On!

Last week we began looking at this passage and determined that all of life is summed up in this statement:  “It’s All About Jesus!”  We saw that Jesus is Himself God and even as He visited earth as He wore human flesh, He was Still God.

Jesus was God!!! This isn’t some crazy idea not supported by scripture.  In fact, this is consistent with church doctrine throughout history.

One ancient church father commented:

The New Testament actively proclaimed the full deity and full humanity of the Lord.

Orthodox Christianity for centuries has embraced the deity of Christ.  Zacharius Ursinus wrote:

Scripture repeatedly portrays Jesus Christ as one person, a single subject  self, and undivided personality in whom these two natures are inseparably united.

Jesus is God- but how can we wrap our heads around that?  So Jesus came to earth and revealed God to us.  Jesus put on human flesh, lived with us, was tempted just like us, and yet embodied all that God is.  Jesus walked this earth as “God with Skin On.”

One of the groups opposing Paul in Colosse was the Gnostics.  Gnostics believe that anything related to human flesh is evil.  Therefore they believe that it’s impossible for a totally holy God to become human.

 

It’s All About Jesus!

Our physical world and our spiritual life revolves around Jesus. If Jesus isn’t divine; if He didn’t rise from the dead, we’re lost. Everything falls apart.

But that’s not the case!  Jesus isn’t just some good teacher who lived 2000 years ago. Jesus really is God- the One who created us!  The One who keeps us going!

 

Everything was Created Through Jesus

In Colossians 1:16 we read (in Eugene Peterson’s The Message):

For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels — everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him.

It’s created by Him and for Him!  The message is consistent…

All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.   John 1:3

 

This is what the Lord says— your Redeemer and Creator:
“I am the Lord, who made all things. I alone stretched out the heavens.
Who was with me when I made the earth?   Isaiah 44:24

If you take Jesus out of the mix, who are you going to go to?

Noted scientist Stephen Hawkings observed: “The eventual goal of science is to provide a single theory that describes the whole universe.”

But anyone who has received Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord knows what that “Theory” really is.   In fact, it’s not a theory as it is a reality; it’s not a theory as much as it is a person- the Person of Jesus the Christ.  It’s all about Jesus!

An easy to use tool… Read it for yourself and don’t believe “the bald guy”…

The world was created by Him and for Him.  This theme is repeated in the first chapter of many of the Bible’s books…

Genesis 1

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters… Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him.

John 1

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made….

He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.  He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him…

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Colossians 1

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.  For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.  And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist….

For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell,

Hebrews 1

God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power,

But to the Son He says:

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.”

And:

“You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands.

Revelation 1

Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne,  and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth…

Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands,  and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band.  His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire;  His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters…

out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength.

And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last.   I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.

It takes more faith to believe that evolution and the Big Bang could turn nothing into something than to believe in God!  Take a look at Genesis chapter 1.  Over and over you’ll see the phrase “And God said.”  Creation was spoken into existence.  Is it any coincidence that John refers to Jesus as The Word???

Creation is for Us to Enjoy!

When’s the last time you took the time to marvel at God’s creation?  We miss so much because we’re “too busy.”  Are we really embracing the moment that God is giving us?

In Psalm 8, King David writes:

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,
What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You visit him?

In Psalm 19 he writes:

The heavens declare the glory of God;
and the firmament shows His handiwork.
Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard.
Their line has gone out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.

Do we take the time to marvel at our Awesome God?  Do we marvel at the grace, love and power of Jesus???

 

Jesus Has the Whole World in His Hands

The sun is over 93 million miles away.  But if it were just 2% closer, life on earth wouldn’t exist.  Life doesn’t happen by chance!  God isn’t like a watchmaker who winds things up and walks away.  God is intimately involved in all of life’s details.  Jesus is with us always.

Psalm 139 puts it this way…

O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.
You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways…

For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.
I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

 

Jesus is the Glue that Holds it All Together…

… If not, we are Hopelessly Lost

God is intimately involved in all of the details.  Check out how He describes it to Job:   Job 38-39

Consider these verses…

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

-Genesis 1:1

“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.

-Acts 17:24-25

For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.

-Colossians 1:16-17

In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways,  but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

-Hebrews 1:1-4

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

-John 1:1-3

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.  I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. – Revelation 1:17-18

 

Either Jesus Christ is God in Human Flesh.  Either He is the Creator who continues to hold it all together.  If not, we’re lost.

Have you made this commitment?  Which conclusion do you make?

 

 Quiz Time!

As you reflect on what you’ve just heard/read, give this quiz a try.  If you don’t understand an answer (or if you disagree with the “correct” answer, post a comment)…

 

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