{"id":8675,"date":"2015-10-03T18:50:34","date_gmt":"2015-10-03T22:50:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=8675"},"modified":"2015-10-23T11:44:58","modified_gmt":"2015-10-23T15:44:58","slug":"the-supremacy-of-christ-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=8675","title":{"rendered":"The Supremacy of Christ- Part 1 (9\/27\/15)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pastor Jim is beginning a three part series on a look at our Lord and Savior- Jesus the Christ.\u00a0 He is above all others, all other things, and He’s all we need.\u00a0 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.
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Click the “Play” button to start the recording, then scroll down to follow along.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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The scripture was from Colossians 1:15-20.\u00a0 Open the below drop down box to read along with Pastor Jim… and the congregation.\u00a0 We read from the New King James version (the first drop down), but the New Living Translation is also included (second drop down) below…
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COLOSSIANS 1<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell,<\/p>\n

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.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>

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The Living Bible Translation<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t

15 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.\nHe existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,<\/p>\n

16 for through him God created everything\u00a0 in the heavenly realms and on earth.\nHe made the things we can see\u00a0 and the things we can’t see\u2014\nsuch as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.\nEverything was created through him and for him.<\/p>\n

17 He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.<\/p>\n

18 Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning,\nsupreme over all who rise from the dead.\u00a0 So he is first in everything.<\/p>\n

19 For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ,<\/p>\n

20 and through him God reconciled everything to himself.\u00a0 He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/p>\n

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In John 8, Jesus told the Jewish leaders, “Before Abraham was born… I Am.”\u00a0 The words “I Am” were not lost of the Pharisees.\u00a0 They understood exactly what Jesus was saying.\u00a0 He was claiming to be God!<\/p>\n

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It’s All About Jesus!<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

CS Lewis said that Once you embrace the true Jesus Christ, there’s no going back.\u00a0 When you’ve had a sweet taste of the divine, you want more.\u00a0 You keep hungering and thirsting for righteousness.<\/p>\n

Teachers and pastors come and go.\u00a0 Only Jesus Christ remains the same.\u00a0 He is the focus of every area of life!<\/p>\n

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A theological college in the United States invited to their annual conference, a renowned professor as their guest lecturer.\u00a0 He spoke for two and a half hours establishing “proofs” that the resurrection of Jesus never took place.\u00a0 The professor quoted scholar after scholar and book after book.\u00a0 He concluded that since there was no such thing as the historical resurrection, the religious tradition of the church was groundless.<\/span><\/p>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

After this verbal dissertation he moved back from the lectern and asked if there were any questions.\u00a0 After about 30 seconds, and elderly pastor with a head of wholly white hair stood up in the back of the auditorium.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Doctor, Professor, I have one question<\/span>“, he said as all eyes turned toward him.\u00a0 He reached into his bag lunch\u00a0 and puled out an apple and began eating it.<\/span><\/p>\n

CRUNCH<\/span><\/em><\/strong>… “My question is a simple question<\/span>… \"Apple_apple-805819_640<\/a>\n<\/span><\/p>\n

CRUNCH<\/span><\/em><\/strong>… now, I have never read the books you’ve read<\/span>…<\/span><\/p>\n

CRUNCH<\/span><\/em><\/strong>…\u00a0 and I can’t recite the Scriptures in the original Greek<\/span>,<\/span><\/p>\n

CRUNCH<\/span><\/em><\/strong>…\u00a0 I know nothing about Niebuhr and Heidegger.<\/span>“<\/span><\/p>\n

CRUNCH<\/span><\/em><\/strong>…<\/span><\/p>\n

He finished the apple and said, “All I want to know is:\u00a0 This apple I just ate.\u00a0 Was it sour or was it sweet?<\/span>“<\/span><\/p>\n

The professor paused for a moment and answered in a scholarly fashion:\u00a0 “I cannot possibly answer that question for I haven’t tasted your apple.<\/span>“<\/span><\/p>\n

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.<\/span>”<\/div><\/div>
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Friends, It’s All About Jesus<\/span><\/strong>!<\/p>\n

Once you’ve tasted the Truth that’s in Jesus, you’ll accept no impostors.\u00a0 Jesus will make all things new in your life.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Many of the Colossians that Paul was writing to were unable to Taste the real Jesus.<\/p>\n

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Jesus:\u00a0 The Image of God<\/span><\/h3>\n

This Christmas, we will hear the song, “Mary Did You Know?”\u00a0 Mary- did you know that when you held that baby that you saw the face of God?<\/p>\n

In verse 15 Paul ways that Jesus, “is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.”<\/p>\n

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)…<\/p>\n

1<\/span><\/span> In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.\u00a0 He was with God in the beginning.\u00a0 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made… <\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

14<\/span><\/span> 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.<\/span> <\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Let’s stop for a moment.\u00a0 let this one little verse sink deep into our hearts and minds for just a moment…<\/p>\n

Paul, in unmistakable terms,\u00a0 says that when you look at Jesus you are looking at God Himself!<\/p>\n

It’s All About Jesus…<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Look at John 14:9-10…<\/p>\n

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’? \u00a0 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.<\/span><\/em><\/strong>“<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The invisible God came to earth.\u00a0 When we see Jesus, when we hear Jesus… we see and hear God.\u00a0 If you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus!<\/p>\n

When Paul says that Jesus is the “image of God, what does he mean?\u00a0 Genesis says that you and I are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27)…<\/p>\n

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So God created man in his own image,<\/span><\/em><\/strong>
\nin the image of God he created him;<\/span><\/em><\/strong>
\nmale and female he created them.<\/span> <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

… so does Paul mean that Jesus is merely one of us?\u00a0 Created like we are?\u00a0 Not hardly.\u00a0 We see God because He put on flesh… Jesus is God with skin on.\u00a0 He emptied Himself of all but love, but the love and power and obedience of Jesus shows us God.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

The word Paul uses for “image” is a unique word that occurs only 6 times in the Greek New Testament: “Icon.”\u00a0 This word expresses two different ideas: Likeness and Manifestation.<\/p>\n

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Looking Like Jesus…<\/span><\/h4>\n

Paul is trying to teach the Colossians that Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God.\u00a0 God is invisible and therefore we can’t see God, but we can see Jesus,\u00a0 the one who lived and moved among the masses and it is He who is “the exact representation of all that God is.”<\/p>\n

When we are called to “look like Jesus” we’re also being called to be God’s mirror image in the world.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 As the old saying goes, “You might be the only Bible that someone will read today.”<\/p>\n

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,\u00a0 that the world may believe that You sent me.<\/span><\/em>”<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 The truth is that we’re totally dependent on Jesus.\u00a0 Jesus isn’t just some nice teacher.\u00a0 Which Jesus are you following?<\/p>\n

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Being Like Jesus…<\/span><\/h4>\n

You and I both heard enough flowery sermons on love, but they will never even begin to compare to BEING\u00a0 Loved.\u00a0 We can hear scholars enunciate the finer points of compassion, but they will never begin to compare with HAVING someone show us compassion.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

We need to taste the apple and be the Apple!<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Jesus is God with Skin On.<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Do you have “skin in the game”?<\/p>\n

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Conclusion<\/span><\/h3>\n

Jesus is God “with skin on”…\u00a0 We as people don’t do so well with those things that we can’t see, taste, tourch, or hear.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

Someone was written that Jesus is:<\/p>\n

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  • The King of kings, the radiance of God’s glory…<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n
  • the Lord of the fabulous. <\/span><\/em><\/li>\n
  • Infinite universe,\u00a0 <\/span><\/em><\/li>\n
  • omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, <\/span><\/em><\/li>\n
  • unspeakably holy…<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n
  • Dwelling in light, unapproachable<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n
  • changeless…<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    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<\/span><\/em>.”<\/p>\n

    Jesus is God with Skin On.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

    It’s a paradox; how could God the Creator put on skin and become one of the creatures?\u00a0 And yet, Jesus’ life was one of paradoxes…<\/p>\n\n\t\t

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    \n\t\t\tJesus (God in human flesh) came to His own… and His own received Him not.\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t
    \n\t\t\tThe loftiest and most exalted… became the embodiment of humility and simplicity.\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t
    \n\t\t\tThe richest became the poorest… that the poor might become rich.\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t
    \n\t\t\tHe feasted with sinners… so that they wouldn’t starve in their sins.\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t
    \n\t\t\tHe starved for 40 days in the wilderness… so that we could feast on His Bread of Life.\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t
    \n\t\t\tHe taught us to love our enemies… to do good to those who treat us badly.\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t
    \n\t\t\tHe emptied Himself of all but love… that we might be filled.\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t
    \n\t\t\tVast armies can’t subdue the world… He conquered with simple agape love.\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t
    \n\t\t\tThe Lion of Judah became The Lamb… that we might be shepherds.\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t
    \n\t\t\tHis heart was broken… that He may bind the broken-hearted.\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t
    \n\t\t\tHis body was crushed… that we may become whole.\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t
    \n\t\t\tWe came into the world to live…\u00a0 He came into the world to die.\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t
    \n\t\t\tThe purest One… was called illegitimate by guilty sinners.\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t
    \n\t\t\tThe Lord of Lords… became a lowly servant.\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t
    \n\t\t\tThe Man of Sorrows… became the Joy of the World.\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t
    \n\t\t\tHe was rejected… that we might be accepted.\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t
    \n\t\t\tHe was bruised… that we might become healed.\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t
    \n\t\t\tHe was condemned… that we might be justified.\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t
    \n\t\t\tHe was deserted… that we might find access to the Father.\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t
    \n\t\t\tHe died as the Innocent One… that the guilty wouldn’t be forsaken.\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t\n

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    Have you trusted THIS Jesus?\u00a0 The infinite love of God for you and for me was made known in Jesus the Christ.\u00a0 Jesus came so that we might know God and truly live in God’s great love and compassion. \u00a0 Jesus has come to make God known to each of us.<\/p>\n

    It’s All About Jesus!<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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    \u00a0Quiz Time!<\/span><\/h3>\n

    As you reflect on what you’ve just heard\/read, give this quiz a try.\u00a0 If you don’t understand an answer (or if you disagree with the “correct” answer, post a comment)…<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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