Jesus Christ- king of the cosmos, head of the Church. (5)
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Jesus Christ’s Church.
Jesus Christ’s Church.
Hey, good morning! We are in the letter to the Colossians this morning.
Hook:
Do-Re-Mi- intro
Explain that it is a hymn for teaching, refuting, guiding worship.
According to several headlines, “[t]he head of the Russian Orthodox Church said that Russian soldiers dying in the war against Ukraine would be forgiven, a few days after the partial mobilization ordered by President Vladimir Putin.”
Patriarch Kirill is an ally of Putin and has supported the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
What we have is an illegitimate representative of God, giving illegitimate counsel, in order to get soldiers to sign up for an illegitimate war.
Only by knowing the truth of the gospel of Jesus would anyone escape this type of manipulation by a religious leader.
It was going on then, it continues today.
That is why this hymn was written. So they would have a cheat sheet, and so would we.
Book: Read Col. 1:15-17 then focus on 18-20.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were 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 firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
Took:
I have three points on your note sheet. They are Christ’s special place in the church, Christ’s special place in the Trinity, and Christ’s special place in God’s pardon of sinners. Those should aid our memory and help us as we breakdown the passage. Beginning with Christ’s church.
Christ’s special place in the Church.- Col. 1:18
And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
Last week we saw how He was before all things, verse 17, and in Him all things held together. Col. 1:17
And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
And we saw that He was
the firstborn of all creation… all things were created through him and for him.
We learned that the word “firstborn” meant that he held the “highest status” in all of creation, not that he was the first created person.
His preeminence over creation means that he exists above all things in creation and continues to today.
In our text this morning, we see how he is preeminent over the church Col. 1:18
Colossians 1:18 (ESV)
He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
Jesus is the beginning and he is pre-eminent in regards to those who will rise up from the dead in the same manner He already has.
The church is the redeemed people of God will experience a resurrection at the end of this phase of God’s unfolding plan.
As a result of going first, Jesus stands over the church possessing the highest of status.
The church is referred to as a body in Christ being the head several times in scripture. It is this organic relationship.
You can’t have a head without a body and you can’t have a body without a head. There is a new creation in Christ, Jesus is the head of that new creation.
Jesus was the first of many who will experience resurrection life. Eternal life. Life that goes on forever in Heaven.
When Jesus spoke to Martha about her dead brother Lazarus He said,
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,
The resurrection will happen “in Him”, there is no Heaven to look forward to outside of Him.
The second thing this text teaches us is about His place in the Trinity.
Christ’s special place in the Trinity.-
Jesus is the second person in the Trinity. It was He who put everything into being, both seen and unseen.
Just like The Father is God, just like the Holy Spirit is God, Jesus is God. God is Triune. We are trinitarian Christians at FBC Martinez.
There are people who pride themselves as having talked Christians out of believing in the Trinity.
Those people know that if they can get us to not believe in the Trinity, our religion falls apart. That is because it is central to who we believe God is.
So as we are talking about Jesus as God, I want to take a moment to talk about the Trinity and His place in it.
(Slide) I have an image on a slide that is an analogy.
Now this is not going to satisfy every question when it comes to how the Trinity works.
This just gives us an idea, a springboard if you will, so that we are in the ballpark when we think about Trinity .
Notice how it is all connected and yet distinct. God the father is not the Son, the Son is not the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit is not God the father, yet all are connected in that they are of the same essence and in fact one God.
The doctrine of the Trinity, has been contested by many heretics and the church has fought hard to preserve the truth about God from these erroneous teachers.
We see the evidence for the Trinity plainly when we study Scripture.
A simple one, a picture given to us at Jesus’s own baptism is found in . Matt. 3:16-17
And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
You have Jesus being baptized. You have the Holy Spirit descending upon Him like a dove. And, you have the Father speaking about Him from Heaven.
Why we are stopping to take a look at this is because it says in verse 19 that all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell in Christ Jesus!!!!
Fullness of God: “dwell” is present tense stressing an ongoing reality”
God will always be in the person of Jesus. When we get to Heaven, Jesus the person will be there and the fulness of God with Him.
In Revelation is says, Rev. 21:23
And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.
This is the same person who was given as a lamb to take the sins of the world in John chapter 1
The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
The Christ was and is a man, yet He is fully God and the fullness of God dwells in Him richly and happily.
Lastly this text shows us...
Christ’s special place in God’s pardon of sinners. -
Some people act like the cross of Christ was an act of love alone.
It was definitely an act of love. But it was a necessary act because of God’s judicial nature.
In order for reconciliation between God and man, a sacrifice needed to take place.
No man could offer that sacrifice because all of mankind and mankind’s works are tainted by sin.
Because of who Jesus is, and the sacrifice he made, he brought peace between man and God on the cross.
This was an event unmatched in all of creation.
This is how creation has been reconciled to the God who created it, Jesus.
The fact that a religious leader would say that men sacrificing their lives earns them God’s forgiveness in this Russian invasion of Ukraine highlights a few things...
One is man’s desire to prove Himself. It is not possible for man to earn God’s favor. If it were Christ would not have needed to die.
Another thing this highlights is how false teachers still appeal to a work’s based religion to mislead people.
There is something in us that wants to earn it, and the devil know that.
We can’t earn it and that is actually good news.
Its good news because it proves that the gospel is true.
It proves that Jesus’s coming was necessary.
It proves that God loves us.
Jesus did it all when it comes to us being able to be forgiven.
All we can do is look to Him.
Because of tall Jesus did and who He is
Big Idea: Jesus takes first place in the creation and in the Church.
Jesus gets the first place trophy because of all we just looked at.
He is the creator of creation and is the redeemer of creation.
Jesus told those who were around Him things like
Matthew 10:37–39 (ESV)
Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
Those are some strong words.
Look:
Jesus being first means we all need to honor Him as such.
So as we look forward the first thing we need to do, if we haven’t already, is honor Him as Lord of our lives.
1. Honor Him.
If you have not yet called Jesus Lord, please do so.
God is not going to force you to call him Lord.
Jesus loves everyone, and wishes that all would come to the cross and receive forgiveness.
You have the opportunity to call Him Lord today.
All you have to do is surrender to Him and receive the gift of His grace, which is His salvation.
vs 20- There is peace with God through the blood of the cross of Jesus.
It is a white flag thing. Just wave it and you are saved.
The church is the people of God. It’s not this building, it’s not our denomination, it’s not our ability to be good enough; it is simply those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
It is those who have waved their white flag and come under the headship of Christ.
The invitation to become a member of His church is before you today. Don’t wait any longer.
Illustration:
A man opens a newspaper and discovers it is dated six months in advance of the time he lives. Reading through the newspaper, he discovers stories about events that have not yet taken place. He turns to the sports page and sees scores of games not yet played. He turns to the financial page and discovers the rise or fall of different stocks and bonds.
He realizes this information can make him a wealthy man. A few large bets on an underdog team can make him wealthy. Investments in stocks that are now low but will go high can fatten his portfolio. He is delighted.
He turns the page and comes to the obituary column and sees his picture and story. Everything changes. The knowledge of his death changes his view about his wealth and priorities.
You see, tomorrow ain’t promised to nobody. You don’t wann get to the pearly gates and have not honored Jesus as Lord.
Don’t wait. It is the only thing you can do to get right with God.
The second thing this text tells me is we can put all of our trust in Him.
2. Trust Him.
Often we feel that trusting Jesus is for salvation alone.
But those who have trusted in Him for the day to day know otherwise.
Illustration:
Karl Marx famously describes religion as the “opiate of the masses.”
Jesse Ventura called organized religion “a sham” and said it is “a crutch for weak minded people”.
People make comments like that because they can see that Christians have peace. A peace that doesn’t make sense. So they write it off as ignorance.
But if you have walked with Jesus any given amount of time you know that trust has been earned and secured by Jesus.
If you have built a life in Him you know He is enough for every hard thing you go through. And that helps us do things we never thought we could do!
The Message Bible paints a beautiful portrait of the reality found in this text.
Colossians 1:15–20 (The Message)
And when it comes to the church, he organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body.
He was supreme in the beginning and—leading the resurrection parade—he is supreme in the end. From beginning to end he’s there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross.
Conclusion:
We have looked at an ancient praise hymn written to help the Colossian church to keep to their knowledge of Christ.
False teachers tried to get them to look elsewhere, to doubt that Jesus was all sufficient for salvation.
They are doing it still today.
When we know Jesus like the back of our hand, we cannot be misled the way the Colossian church was in danger of and many Russian men may be right this very minute.
It is important to know Jesus. Not merely know of him, but to know him.
If someone told me my wife was gossiping around town, I know that the person telling me that would be lying.
How so, because my wife is not a gossip. She doesn’t have a gossip bone in her body. It is just not in her.
Similarly, when we know Christ, we really know Him, we know He is enough.
We know He can get us through anything life throws at us.
And we know what business he is about and we know what business he is not about. Nobody can tell us otherwise.
We won’t know Jesus though, if we don’t make him a priority.
Jesus takes first place in creation and in the Church.
We honor him as such when we surrender to him as Lord, and when we trust Him as Savior.
This week, let’s make Jesus first. Because in all reality- He already is.
Would you pray with me.
Benediction: Eph. 3:20-21
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.