All right, let us pray Well, we thank you that
once again together in your name as a body Within
the the sea of those who are gathered today across
the world across our nation across our city Across
our region And we'll be thanking you for all
those places you like hearing me gather around
your word. We ask that you prepare all of our
hearts, including mine, to hear what your spirit
has to say to us this moment. I pray in the Lord
that you would touch this vessel of clay that
I will be able to deliver this word as you would
have it delivered. to your people. Lord, give
us all understanding at the heart level. Lord,
does anyone among us who does not know you, may
this be the day that they hear your spirit calling
them to you, that they may embrace this gracious
reward and begin this journey that will last
for eternity. These things we pray in Jesus'
name. All right. We did hear our text read a
couple minutes ago, but I'm going to reread it.
It is indeed found in Colossians 1, verses 15
through 19. Colossians 1, verses 15 through 19.
It is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn
of all creation. For by him all things are created,
in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible,
whether thrones, dominions, rulers, authorities,
all things are created through him and for him.
And he is before all things, and in him all things
hold together. And he is the head of the body,
the church, he is the beginning, the first born
from the dead. that in everything he might be
preeminent. For in him all foods of God was pleased
to dwell. This is the word of our God. One of
the questions that crossed my mind, and I put
in my notes, is Jesus Christ one among the founders
of various religions? Or is it more than that?
Even the only way to know it? Does religion have
a voice in the matters of the origins and workings
of the universe? Is the whole spiritual thing
an aspect of each individual's private life that
they must decide for themselves? Or Is each individual
situated within the world made by God, the God
of the Christian faith? Yes, I was talking to
a pipeline worker who was digging around our
street about, what do you think about God? And
that's one of the things he said. I'm trying
to figure it out. I'm doing research. Is that
really how this works? So as we look today at
the Colossian heresy that was going on in the
church Colossae at that Colossae at that time
and as we see Paul Addressing what we can discern
of that heresy in the book We'll begin to see
you know there's a lot of things that are still
the same and This word that Paul preached to
wrote to the church of Colossae applies to us
as well today. Now, we want to see four major
truths while communicating about Christ here.
Christ is God, Christ is creator, Christ is sustainer,
and Christ is the head of the church, the new
humanity. Now, I know for some people in here
that might be review, but it's always good to
review those foundational truths of scripture,
but we might not lose our grip on them and see
how they once again apply to our lives. Now,
a lot has been going on in Colossi, and it's
been driven by this heresy, or maybe even heresies,
so we can again only discern What it is what
it was from material in book there is no extra
biblical material Just dig around and find out
what this thing is what we do seem to understand
is that there were young converts under cultural
pressure to conform to the beliefs and practices
of their pagan and Jewish neighbors Paganism
defined by one writer as the idea that the highest
goal of human existence is a healthy, harmonious,
and joyous life. In modern parlance, your best
life now. They were being pushed toward mixing
Christ with other spiritualities and other religions,
that's called syncretism, based on the spirit
of their age that would pollute the purity and
limit the extent of their infaith. The person
in work of Christ was only part of spirituality
from that perspective. There was so much more,
however. In other words, they're thinking that
there's so much more than just Christ. In other
words, Christ is either not enough or he's just
not all that there is. There's more. As you sort
through the various statements made in the letter,
you can discern some of the ideas floating around,
such as maintaining legalistic observances of
certain forms of Judaism, or Greek spiritual
speculation, or the place of angels as agents
of creation, givers of God's wall and other misconceptions,
or any focus on heavenly intermediaries. Ways
to get to God. Or knowledge of the spiritual
elite and their visionary experiences. And the
wish of elemental beings. It's a whole big thing
on that we don't need to get into. Or spiritual
growth through rigorous physical asceticism.
And the left. Just a lot, as you can see, a lot
of stuff going on that Paul had to deal with.
Paul realizes that one reason why they're bouncing
all these things around is they don't really
understand who Jesus is and the awesomeness of
his word and his person. So Paul puts on display
the preeminence of Christ over all this mess,
showing that he is the very creator of and lord
over all these spiritual beings and realities
and entities that they are seeking through various
practices. Despite the time difference between
ancient Colossi and the modern West, you can
tell that there's a certain familiarity, even
though there's not a one -on -one correspondence.
You can bet you have these people seeking things
that are similar, even in our own day. Let me
just make a theological side note. Verses 15
through 20 have a poetic meter about them that
suggests that this may have been an early hymn
-like creed of the church, an early summary,
which Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit, included in his letter. It might also
have been a Jewish creed that Paul repurposed
for the body of Christ. But in either way, it
captures a summary of the person of Christ and
subsequent verses, that is verses 20 through
22, capture the work of Christ. So this brings
us to point one. Christ, which means by the way,
Messiah or the anointed one, Christ is not Jesus'
last name. is God, verses 15a, 17, and 19. Now
Christ is God here in three ways. He is the image
of the Father, two, He preexisted before creation
like the Father, and three, is fully divine,
the fullness of God like the Father. So first
of all, He is the image of the invisible God.
verses 15a. Westminister confession chapter 2
.1 tells us there is but one only living and
true God who is infinite in being and perfection
a most pure spirit invisible without body and
then goes on displaying a host of other attributes
like most holy most wise almighty Most loving,
most merciful. Boy, I can see somebody doing
a rap with that. Not somebody in here can put
that together. Christ is the exact imprint, Hebrews
1 -3 tells us, of this only living and true God
in bodily form. You can hear your testimony over
and over saying, I am God, and your reason to
live. I am God, and your reason to live. He is
more than just a snapshot. Christ fully reveals
God who is this pure spirit, who is invisible
to the naked eye. I can still hear my grand daughter
around to say, but I can't sing. Yeah, that's
the way he is. That's why Jesus came, so we can
see, right? Picture in your mind the image of
a signature on a stamp or an official Roman seal
impressed on wax. And you get the idea of Paul
is trying to get across how much Jesus is the
imprint of the father. Today, it would be something
like a Notre Republic's embossed seal stamped
on paper. Now it's recorded in the gospel of
John verses chapter verse chapter 14 verses 8
through 10 Philip said to him Lord Show us a
father and it is enough for us Jesus said damn
Have I been with you so long and you still don't
know me Philip Whoever has seen me has seen the
father How can you say show us the Father? Do
you not believe that I am in the Father and the
Father is in me? See Jesus shows us the Father's
nature, character, love, will and more for he
is God come in the flesh. Secondly, like the
Father he is before all things. Verse 17a he
pre -existed with the Father before creation
Hence he shares in the eternality of the Father's
nature He has been around from the everlasting
everlasting out of nowhere in John 8 15 57 59
that you said to him You are not quite 50 years
old and you have seen Abraham Really? And Jesus
said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, before
Abraham was, I am. It freaked everybody out.
They start picking up rocks. They were going
to kill his brother. But he slipped out. And
now the temple that your mother picked this time
was not yet. Because see, they understood. The
significance of now is saying, yeah, I saw him
back then. But saying, I am? Really? Yes. Again,
underlining he indeed is God. And thirdly, God
was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in
him. One of the temptations of the early church
was to see Jesus not as having or possessing
the full measure of divine life, divine revelation,
or have complete divinity. Christ was not some
spiritual middleman between God and humanity,
simply controlling access to Him. There's that
intermediary business. God the Father was pleased
to have His full divinity contained in the incarnate
Christ, including all of His attributes and activities.
God's Spirit, Word, Wisdom, Glory, all perfectly
contained and disclosed in Christ. Although his
glory was restrained, because if he had turned
his glory loose, we'd have all been toast. Or
actually, if we were alone, we wouldn't be here
because the world had been toast. The early church
father Athanasius, against the original Jehovah's
Witnesses, the Arians, created a creed to underscore
the fullness of God shared in all three persons
of the Trinity. Which I found out you folks were
sighted. We see it in fully. It's quite a feat
Let me just quote part of it The divinity of
the Father Son and Holy Spirit is one their glory
even their majesty holy China What probably the
father has the son has and the spirit has the
father is uncreated The son is uncreated the
Holy Spirit is uncreated The Father is immeasurable.
The Son is immeasurable. The Holy Spirit is immeasurable.
The Father is eternal. The Son is eternal. The
Holy Spirit is eternal. I'm told. You get the
idea. Jesus is fully divine as well as fully
human. Brings us to point two. Christ is creator.
Verses 15b and 16. Now it turns out that Christ
was as much involved in the creation as the Father.
And that would make sense, since the creation
was a Trinitarian enterprise. The Trinity, of
course, being one God, three persons. Paul wants
to highlight that whatever spiritual entity that
the culture is all excited about, Jesus is preeminent
and the creator of them. Now he does that Four
sub -points, I know this outline is really getting
in there, but you know, it's there. This is a
very rich text. Very rich. So Christ is preeminent
over creation. Christ is the womb of creation.
Christ is the agent of creation. And he is the
purpose of creation. Now when it says the firstborn
of all creation, this is firstborn metaphorically.
He ranks as beloved firstborn son with the priority
of rank over all creation He is not the eldest
or oldest creation of all the created order Contra
did you hold witnesses of today and the Aryans
of the fourth century AD? Nor is he one among
equals is one commentator put it He is both prior
to and supreme over that creation, since he is
its Lord. How can you be the eldest, the oldest
of all the creation, when by him all things are
created? The logic just doesn't work. Second
is the point. By him all things were created.
Now, by him, more literally is translated, in
him. In, and this points to him as the womb of
creation. As we were elected in Christ before
the foundation of the world, so creation was
in Christ first before it became manifested as
it is today. Thirdly, through him. This makes
him the agent of creation. He's the one for whom
the creative process was carried out He was one
two states through him the universe was made
John 1 3 through him all things were made without
him nothing was made that has been made Now I
know about you, but I was growing up. I just
never imagined Jesus being tied into creation
That's when I got older, and I realized, oh wow,
really? It wasn't just the daddy father creating
the world. And then Jesus went in it later and
saved it. He was there from the beginning. What
I have found really interesting lately is that
the creation is also for him. He has the purpose
for creation. He is the ultimate reason, purpose,
and goal for why creation was created in the
first place. He is the heir of all things and
will rule supreme one day over all of it. He
is the Alpha and the Omega of creation through
the praise of his glory. And all things will
be at one point beneath his feet. Hard for us
to grasp since we don't see that right yet. And
Scripture talks about that. It's coming. Whether
we can see it or not, it's coming. Now, this
all means that there are specific purposes God
has to embody in the creation itself. For instance,
purpose is built into the objective biological
creation of the male and female body. We don't
have the right to declare or attempt to erase
or deface our sex and thus set it aside the embedded
creational purposes just because we feel a certain
way subjectively there's purpose built in to
the creation of the subject and we live in a
culture ever since the baby boom when we're trying
to find ourselves a wider ear and all of that
some of that's already been built in And some
of that, and if we pay attention to that, we
can begin to understand something about why we're
here. It's there. How do we get there? Now what
all was created? Passage tells us the seen and
the unseen, the earth and the heaven, but in
other words, all of reality. The seen world,
including the stars, planets, earth, all that
is within it, including the rats and rogues.
which, in my view, are part of the fall. The
thorns in the thistle. The unseen world, the
naming of these various classes of spiritual
beings without identifying hierarchy or whether
they're good or bad, is to bring home the point,
again, contrary to the colossal heresy, that
these supposed intermediaries, thrones, dominions,
rulers, Authorities, angels or demons, excuse
me, were actually created in, through and for
Christ. Again, he's not one among all of this.
This brings me now to point three. So, one, Christ
is God. Two, Christ is creator. Three, Christ
is sustainer. He holds in him all things pulled
together. Conceptually, people at that time thought
that there was, in fact, some overarching power
that kept the world together. You know, it's
only in our day that we decided to just sort
of go there and just sort of hang together. But
Paul identifies this power as the risen frost.
Christ does so through the word of his power,
even one thing. The perfect sense of the verb
here in Colossians, translated, holds together
intelligence that Christ actively and continually,
moment by moment, keeps the universe from flying
apart. I'm seeing a kid about four years old.
Trying to show mommy and daddy how that happened.
They got a Lego set. And then they flam! The
whole thing falls apart, right? Christ keeps
the Lego creation from falling apart. The universe
itself from falling apart. Like that Lego set.
Now Jesus did not create the world therefore.
And stole some high -tech lithium battery. and
then let it run on its own. That's the updated
translation of the definition of deism. They
used to say you wind up the clock, but who winds
up the clock? Rather, he's actively present in
the process of the universe holding again. Lesbianist
Confession Chapter 5 .1 states, God, the great
creator of all things, doth uphold the wrath.
dispose and govern all creatures actions and
things the greatest even to the least by his
most wise and holy providence yeah think about
that because our world says exactly that there
is no providence and that the laws governing
the universe is what keeps it going Do that or
some other kinds of sources? Now, you know people
say well the Bible's not a science book. No,
the Bible does not tell us all the inner workings
of our car work, so to speak. Praise this. But
it gives us, and I'm getting ahead of myself,
but I'm really ahead. It gives us the big, big
picture of how all this got here. It does. Praise
the Lord. That brings me to Point four. Christ
is the head of his body and Lord of his church.
And he is the head of the body of the church.
He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in everything he might have remnants. So
once again, there's a number of things he's covering
here. So not only is he the beginning of the
first creation, he's also the beginning of the
new creation. the new humanity, the next reality.
We are not merely new creatures, we are actually
the new creation, which full manifestation will
be brought into being when we ourselves have
reached the full glory that has been promised
for us. Jesus is said here, the firstborn from
the dead. He's not just the first person to rise
from the dead with a glorified body. He is the
down payment on our own resurrection Because
he rose We will rise again Yes, we've been rising
to those of us that a little closer to the end
and some of y 'all That sounds really good He
is the first fruits of all those who sleep That
is those who are dead in Christ first Corinthians
15 to him He is the preeminent one the first
in rank over all this new creation as he is the
firstborn of the firstborn of the first creation
that is he stands in the place of supremacy over
the new humanity and the new world to come as
he stands over the old So this also underscores
the fact that he's the head. He is both the preeminent
authority and the fundamental source of the body
of Christ. One writer put it like this, the body
of Christ is vitalized by his abiding presence
and energized by his power and directed by his
word and spirit. John 15, 5 says, without him,
we. can do nothing. Christ is God. Christ is
creator. Christ is sustainer. Christ is the head
of the church. So what does this mean for us
today? Well first we indeed see that Christ That
Christ is the God -man, and not simply a man,
that founded a religion. He is God coming to
the flesh to save the world. But this helps us
see Christ beyond just his work of redemption,
being the creator, sustainer, and head of the
church as well. So in discussing Christ as creator,
Paul crosses over into what we would consider
today the science of cosmology, the study of
the origin, structure, and ultimate fate of the
universe. I'm catching up with my notes here.
Many would say that this is the domain of science
and not religion and the superstitions, as some
people would refer to us and what we believe.
On the contrary, The origins, structure, and
ultimate transformations of the universe can
only be understood in its most fundamental level
through revelation given from above and not from
conclusions made from below. Again, you're talking
about big critique here. Science can indeed give
us insight into the workings of the universe
and its structure, but it cannot conclude from
its observations It's origin. Sorry about that.
You can't. One thing that is true, as scientists
continue to dig, they see indications that what
Revelation says about the creations being created
is probably true. That is happening. In fact,
there's the wood in the back alley. Is there
even questions about the whole Big Bang Theory
being tossed around now? That never tossed around
before, in terms of first cause being, again,
something impersonal. The universe is not impersonal.
The universe is personal. Somebody out there,
Dr. Francis Siffman, would say that final reality,
there is nothing in back of God. He is final
reality. When fallen scientists attempt to conclude
exactly what the origins are from the bottom
up, they wind up suppressing the truth of God
woven into the creation, Romans 1, 18 -20, contesting
his ownership of it, denying his continual providential
care over it, rejecting his purpose built into
it. for violating his moral requirements that
govern it and even deny his very existence altogether.
After all, some would say, we cannot see this
creator that you guys declare has done all these
things. I submit to you that Paul complicates
that logic. Because he declares that the Incarnate
Christ who walked among us in history whom John
states they saw heard and touched with their
hands It by virtue of being the second member
of the Trinity himself also created So now How
scientists who have that would say that God doesn't
exist because he's not seen it. Whatever it is,
is not only suppressing the truth in their hearts,
they must dismiss the testimonies of them who
have seen, heard, and touched the living Christ.
Who would you, or what would you rather believe?
The concrete illusions of the modern world? where
the concrete reality of religion trumps. I just
ran across that phrase recently. Concrete illusion.
Something that's concrete, and yet it is illusion.
It comes from somebody that has a thingy in the
bulletin in the past. Pierce Taylor's hips. Concrete
reality. How can something be concrete? and yet
an illusion. The answer to this is, the world
is passing away and the lusts tear up. Yes, the
world is concrete, but this coming day, well
this is going to be gone. Because the 1st Corinthians,
2nd Corinthians 4, 18 says, for what is seen
is temporal, and what is unseen is eternal. So,
You can either stand on concrete illusions or
concrete realities and Jesus makes the invisible
reality concrete because he came in the flesh
on this earth in time and space and living among
us. That's how significant the incarnation really
is. That's an eight -man movie. Here's your dick.
All right, I got ahead of myself. It was reported,
oh, so, let me say this. Because he is who he
is. Faith in him is not an option among others.
He's not a choice left to our personal preference
or our personal research Every knee will bow
every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord
on the last day no matter who you are or how
smart you are We are part of the creation of
God not God a part of the psychosocial creation
of the human of the minds of human count He's
living. We're in history. It's not human hours.
So if you have not made your peace with God as
we used to say, don't wait until the end of time.
Settle matters with God now by faith in the risen
Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Now
is the day of sound peace. embraced it. As reported
back in April 2008, Reverend Jeremiah Wright
was asked, if Islam was a way of salvation, given
Jesus' statement, no one comes to the Father
but through me. His answer? Jesus also said,
of his sheep have I who were not of this fold.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is as close to scripture
-twisting as satan did on the mountain of temptation
to jesus no jesus is the way the truth and the
life and there is no other and from the standpoint
of the black community islam is not the religion
of people of color jesus came for everybody that
is white folk amen I have heard people describe
Christianity as if it's a gentleman's religion.
It actually happened to me in seminary. And when
that person described Christianity the way he
did, which I got to tell you later, what I just
told Judy, I said, you know, thank God for the
Pentecostals, because my grandmother, my grandmother,
would have never got saved. But she did, because
Christ came to everybody. Now I'm tempted you
know, I'm not thinking I'm gonna do it I'm gonna
go there so Somebody one time asked me indirectly
How do you know? That the gospel was for everybody
The answer is when Jesus when John in the revelation
in the book of Revelation as he's writing his
revelation Yeah was told by the angels look He
saw from every tongue and every nation. How myriad
of people, a number that could not be numbered,
praising God and giving glory to the lamb. And
he gave me like a ton of bricks. You know what?
Everybody is going to still be who they are racially
over there. Because John looked at his saws.
Hispanic, Asian, black, white, the whole nine
yards. He came for everyone. So this one is not
I don't remember Right for us the church because
Jesus Christ is also the head of the church He
qualifies to be the center of our individual
and collective lives Repeat that because he is
the head of the church. He qualifies to be the
center of our individual and collective lives
Not our dreams or visions, for our lives. Not
our talent, not our ambition, not our preferences
or wants, not our thoughts, not our intuitions,
not our comforts, not our authentic selves. He
and he alone, his will and his word to us, that
is the center. Period. It is possible to gain
our whole world and lose our own soul. It's possible.
We know Christ is the center, not ourselves.
The good news is, because of this, with Him at
the center, our lives will count for eternity.
Even our sufferings prepare for us an internal
weight of glory in the world to come that will
have no end. Now what does that sound like to
a friend of mine who was born, and I'm coming
to a close, here she comes, who was born with
pain in his eyes as an infant. He was in pain
from the beginning. People talk about why did
this baby fry so much? because he had pain going
on in his eyes. And to this day, 70 years later,
this guy is still struggling with psychic impairment.
Well, if he found out this, he found out that
his life matters. That all of the suffering that
he went through through all the various stages
of life has purpose. And he didn't find that
out like 50 years later. But he did. And now
he knows his life counts. In all of his suffering,
in all the hindrances that went with it, has
purpose. It eternal. And so will yours. Because
Christ is the pre -Innovant One in it. That's
what makes him count. Father in Jesus' name,
may we ask what this description of Christ is.
It's so short, it's so dense, you can read through
it. But now, it is chock full of such significance
that it can change our lives ever. There may
be people in this room who are suffering like
my friend and wonder why I've had to suffer like
this so long. May they know that this Because
you're doing it as unto and with the truth of
the Lord, there is a weight of glory being devout
for them. Through this, from the world to come,
may those who may be tempted to pursue their
own vision of life, to stop and get on their
knees in all their ways acknowledge you. And
if you regret your past, and you're like, maybe
they might not be racial things, but that's okay,
because they're lying. It has a significant significance.
There may be young people in this room that are
called to suffer inhibition feeding in a corner
somewhere in the world that nobody will ever
see but a few people in a village somewhere.
But it's okay. If their lives don't have the
significance they could have, because it's not
about their contains. It's about your preeminence.
Your preeminence is submitted to. Oh my God.
Oh my God. What amazing things can happen for
me to eat her. It can make me see this and embrace
it. and revel in the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ. In the name of Jesus. And if there's
anyone here or online who has not yet been racist,
may they be encouraged to say yes to Jesus instead
of yes to all this other stuff. And allow you
to shave them Roman and Roman. Now, any country
in Jesus. Amen.