Pastor Jim is beginning 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. This is so important; we need to wrap our heads and hearts around this if we’re going to have an abundant and fruitful bearing life.
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 King James version (the first drop down), but the New Living Translation is also included (second drop down) 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.
The Living Bible Translation
15 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,
16 for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him.
17 He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.
18 Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything.
19 For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ,
20 and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.
In John 8, Jesus told the Jewish leaders, “Before Abraham was born… I Am.” The words “I Am” were not lost of the Pharisees. They understood exactly what Jesus was saying. He was claiming to be God!
It’s All About Jesus!
CS Lewis said that Once you embrace the true Jesus Christ, there’s no going back. When you’ve had a sweet taste of the divine, you want more. You keep hungering and thirsting for righteousness.
Teachers and pastors come and go. Only Jesus Christ remains the same. He is the focus of every area of life!
A theological college in the United States invited to their annual conference, a renowned professor as their guest lecturer. He spoke for two and a half hours establishing “proofs” that the resurrection of Jesus never took place. The professor quoted scholar after scholar and book after book. He concluded that since there was no such thing as the historical resurrection, the religious tradition of the church was groundless.
He said that it was all emotional mumbo-jumbo because it was based on a relationship with a RISEN Jesus, who, in fact, never rose from the dead in any literal sense.
After this verbal dissertation he moved back from the lectern and asked if there were any questions. After about 30 seconds, and elderly pastor with a head of wholly white hair stood up in the back of the auditorium.
“Doctor, Professor, I have one question“, he said as all eyes turned toward him. He reached into his bag lunch and puled out an apple and began eating it.
CRUNCH… “My question is a simple question… 
CRUNCH… now, I have never read the books you’ve read…
CRUNCH… and I can’t recite the Scriptures in the original Greek,
CRUNCH… I know nothing about Niebuhr and Heidegger.“
CRUNCH…
He finished the apple and said, “All I want to know is: This apple I just ate. Was it sour or was it sweet?“
The professor paused for a moment and answered in a scholarly fashion: “I cannot possibly answer that question for I haven’t tasted your apple.“
The elderly preacher dropped the core of his apple into his crumpled paper bag, nodded his head up and down, looked up at the professor and said calmly, “Neither have you tasted my Jesus.”
Friends, It’s All About Jesus!
Once you’ve tasted the Truth that’s in Jesus, you’ll accept no impostors. Jesus will make all things new in your life. The Gnostics in Colosee weren’t able to let go of their beliefs which prevented them from accepting that Jesus, even though flesh and blood, was still the sinless and holy God in our midst. Many of the Colossians that Paul was writing to were unable to Taste the real Jesus.
Jesus: The Image of God
This Christmas, we will hear the song, “Mary Did You Know?” Mary- did you know that when you held that baby that you saw the face of God?
In verse 15 Paul ways that Jesus, “is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.”
Paul was led by the Holy Spirit to pen these words even before the Apostle John expressed the same truth in his Gospel (John 1:1-3, 14)…
1 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…
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Let’s stop for a moment. let this one little verse sink deep into our hearts and minds for just a moment…
Paul, in unmistakable terms, says that when you look at Jesus you are looking at God Himself!
It’s All About Jesus…
Look at John 14:9-10…
Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.“
The invisible God came to earth. When we see Jesus, when we hear Jesus… we see and hear God. If you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus!
When Paul says that Jesus is the “image of God, what does he mean? Genesis says that you and I are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27)…
So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
… so does Paul mean that Jesus is merely one of us? Created like we are? Not hardly. We see God because He put on flesh… Jesus is God with skin on. He emptied Himself of all but love, but the love and power and obedience of Jesus shows us God. When Paul says that you and I are created in the image of God he’s saying that God is inviting us to be His flesh in the world.
The word Paul uses for “image” is a unique word that occurs only 6 times in the Greek New Testament: “Icon.” This word expresses two different ideas: Likeness and Manifestation.
Looking Like Jesus…
Paul is trying to teach the Colossians that Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God. God is invisible and therefore we can’t see God, but we can see Jesus, the one who lived and moved among the masses and it is He who is “the exact representation of all that God is.”
When we are called to “look like Jesus” we’re also being called to be God’s mirror image in the world. When we’re filled with the Holy Spirit…. when we’re in Christ… when we “look like Him”… WE become the image of God in the world. As the old saying goes, “You might be the only Bible that someone will read today.”
In John 17:21 Jesus prayed that “they all may be as one, as You, Father are in Me and I in You; that they may also be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent me.”
If you’re trying to earn your way into heaven, realize that you can’t spend enough time doing good to pay your own way. The truth is that we’re totally dependent on Jesus. Jesus isn’t just some nice teacher. Which Jesus are you following?
Being Like Jesus…
You and I both heard enough flowery sermons on love, but they will never even begin to compare to BEING Loved. We can hear scholars enunciate the finer points of compassion, but they will never begin to compare with HAVING someone show us compassion. We can study day after day the methods and models of prayer, but they can’t benefit us nearly as much as HEARING someone pouring his or her heart out before God.
We need to taste the apple and be the Apple!
Just as Love, compassion, and prayer with “skin on” will always leave a more lasting mark, so God with “skin on” will touch us in a deeper way than mere standards and procedures handed down from on high.
Jesus is God with Skin On.
Do you have “skin in the game”?
Conclusion
Jesus is God “with skin on”… We as people don’t do so well with those things that we can’t see, taste, tourch, or hear. God in His infinite wisdom has made Himself known to us through His Son so that we can tangibly cometo know His deep love, compassion, care, and power for each of us.
Someone was written that Jesus is:
- The King of kings, the radiance of God’s glory…
- the Lord of the fabulous.
- Infinite universe,
- omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent,
- unspeakably holy…
- Dwelling in light, unapproachable
- changeless…
And yet He condescended to become enclosed in lowly human flesh, to be born to a simple Judean woman in a filthy stable, without fanfare or pomp.”
Jesus is God with Skin On.
It’s a paradox; how could God the Creator put on skin and become one of the creatures? And yet, Jesus’ life was one of paradoxes…
Have you trusted THIS Jesus? The infinite love of God for you and for me was made known in Jesus the Christ. Jesus came so that we might know God and truly live in God’s great love and compassion. Jesus has come to make God known to each of us.
It’s All About Jesus!
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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