Worthy to be Worshipped

Qualification for a King

King Arthur is one of those classic British legends.

His legend contains the sorcerer Merlin, the knights of the round table.

In the 12th century Sir Lancelot was added to the tales as well as the search for the holy grail.

What qualified Arthur to be king was his sword, Excalibur.

The myth is that in the churchyard of ancient London there was a rock with an anvil on top of it, with a sword magically inside the anvil.

Merlin had said that only true king could pull the sword from the stone.

A 15th century version of the story said, “Whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil, is rightwise king born of all England.”

People would travel from all over the country to test their strength and pull the sword, hoping to be king.

But none had whatever it took.

One day, Arthur, a knight’s squire came by the sword.

He pulled on the sword and it slipped out as easily as a knife from butter.

The sword came out of the anvil gleaming.

A bright light flashed in all of London.

That teenage boy, held Excalibur in his hands.

He became the heir to the throne.

If someone were to ask, “Why is Arthur qualified to lead?”

The answer would be because he pulled the sword from the stone.

“Why?” is a good question to ask.

This afternoon, we will ask another “Why?” question.

That is, “Why Jesus?”

Why do we worship Jesus?

There seems to be some confusion of Who Jesus is.

Ligonier and Lifeway recently teamed and did a study on the State of Theology in evangelicalism.

The study revealed some shocking things about the church, and shows that we need to answer “Why Jesus?”

One of the questions asked was is Jesus the first and greatest being created by God.

40% strongly agreed with that statement.

And another 15% somewhat agreed.

Created being.

That means 55% of Christians don’t see Jesus as creator, and eternal, but as the created and having a point where He came into existence.

Another statement was “Jesus was a great teacher, but he was not God.”

31% of evangelicals strongly agreed with that, and another 22% somewhat agreed.

Over half of those asked said Jesus was not God!

Just in those two statements, over half of evangelicals are confused over who Jesus is.

It makes you wonder Who they are worshipping on Sunday, because if Jesus isn’t God they why are they worshipping Him?

Because they are worshipping Jesus Who they don’t believe to be God.

For the next few weeks we will be in Colossians 1.

I don’t want you to be an idolater.

I don’t want you to be wrong about Jesus.

I want to introduce you to Jesus and Who the Bible says that He is.

This morning we will be in Colossians 1:15–18.

Go ahead and open your Bible to Colossians 1:15–18.

In this text we will see 3 qualifications of Jesus that prove He is worthy of your worship.

Let’s read the text now.

Read Colossians 1:15-18

Colossians 1:15–18 NASB95

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. 18 He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.

The first qualification for Jesus to receive your worship is His relationship to God (v. 15)

Colossae was victim to a gnostic heresy.

Gnosticism taught that matter was evil.

This means flesh is evil.

Humanity is evil.

What is created is evil.

And if that is true, that matter and flesh are evil, then there’s no way Jesus could be human and be composed of matter.

They denied the humanity of Jesus.

If any thing he was a lesser spirit being.

They denied His divinity and they denied His humanity.

That’s why verse 15 is so important.

It is a direct assault upon any heresy that diminishes and lessens the person of Jesus Christ.

Paul said that Jesus “is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.”

Look at the first description of Jesus, the image of the invisible God.

This alone should sound strange.

God the Father is invisible.

John 1:18 says, “No one has seen God at any time … ”

Yet, Jesus is said to be the image of the invisible God.

No one has seen God … yet Jesus is the image of HIm.

How’s that work?

It means that Jesus, possesses all the attributes of God Himself.

When you see Jesus, you are seeing God.

The Colossian heresy, the gnostics denied Jesus being divine.

They said if He’s physical, if He’s human, He can’t be God.

They also thought that if we see Him, then He can’t be fully divine.

But what is Jesus.

He is visible.

And He is human.

He’s fully man

But He’s also fully God.

He is the image of the invisible God.

The New Testament affirms.

Hebrews 1:3, “And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. …”

The nature of Jesus is divine.

Philippians 2:6, “who, although He existed in the form of God …”

Jesus, while fully human is God.

Jesus Himself even uses this language.

John 14:9, "… He who has seen Me has seen the Father …”

And of course John 10:30, “I and the Father are one.””

What does this mean?

It means when evangelicals are asked is Jesus God … they better say yes!

Paul says that Jesus is the firstborn of all creation.

This isn’t teaching birth order.

And it wouldn’t make sense considering in verse 16 its going to say that Jesus created everything.

How could be be creator and created, that wouldn’t make sense.

It is talking about Christ’s position over Creation.

This is about honor and rights.

He receives the rights of a firstborn.

For example, think back to the Old Testament, Jacob and Esau.

Esau was born first, but it was Jacob who received the honor and rights of the firstborn.

Jesus is not created, but He receives the honor that belongs to the firstborn.

As Paul confronts the gnostic heresy, he establishes Who Jesus is.

Because if you get Jesus wrong, you get everything wrong.

The ancient creeds began with a description of Jesus.

The Nicene Creed said of Jesus that He is “God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.”

Why?

Because if you get Jesus wrong, you get it all wrong.

There are lots of religions that have abhorrent ideas about Jesus.

Jehovah’s witnesses are nothing more than a reincarnation of this ancient heresy.

They deny that Jesus is God.

Yet Paul said that Jesus is the image of the invisible God.

You get Jesus wrong … you get everything wrong.

There are very moral religions.

Mormons promote good family values.

Yet they say Jesus is created.

But if you get Jesus wrong … you get everything wrong.

And these damning doctrines have wormed their way into the church.

How can over 50% of evangelicals say that Jesus was a good teacher but not God?

Be clear … He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

This makes Jesus qualified to receive your worship.

The second qualification for Jesus to be worshipped is His relationship to Creation (v. 16–17)

Verse 16 continues “For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”

All things were created by Him.

Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

Colossians 1 gives us some clearer understanding.

God is Triune.

Father

Son

Spirit

It was God the Son, Jesus Christ.

Everything that there is was made by Christ.

Things in heaven and earth, visible and invisible.

They are made by Christ.

The sun that rises so faithfully every morning, was created and put into motion by Jesus.

Those things that we see everyday, made by Christ.

What’s fascinating is that there are things we still haven’t discovered.

There are planets and stars that have yet to be seen.

Next time you hear of scientists discovering a new planet and they wonder how it got there.

You can with full confidence say, “Oh yea, Jesus made it.”

The gnostics rejected the divinity of Jesus.

They said that He was a spirit being.

According to this passage Who is Jesus?

He’s the one who created all things in the heavens and on the earth, things visible and invisible, thrones, dominions, rulers and authorities.

Ephesians closely parallels Colossians.

They were likely written at the same time.

They were facing the same issues.

In Ephesians 6:12 Paul says something similar, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

Paul uses the same language and many of the same words describing spiritual forces.

He says there are spiritual forces in heavenly places, powers, and rulers.

That helps us better understand Colossians 1.

Ephesians 6 Paul is talking about spiritual things.

Angels.

Demons.

Colossians 1 is using that same language.

This means Colossians 1 is also talking about spiritual being.

Jesus isn’t an angelic being … He’s the creator of the angels and demons.

Paul continues saying that all things were created through Him.

This means that Jesus is not an observer of creation.

He’s not a watcher.

He’s not a neutral party watching His creation like a child watches an ant farm.

“That’s interesting, look at what those people are doing.”

He is the creator of creation.

He is the means that God the Father used in creating ex nihilo.

Not only were all things created through Jesus, but all things were created for Him.

Everything that has been created is for Jesus.

Jesus claims ownership of all things.

But He also claims purpose for all things.

Abraham Kuyper once said, “There is not a square inch, in all the universe, over which the risen Christ does not say, ‘Mine!’”

“Mine!”

All of it … Christ’s.

The old explorers would discover a new bay and claim as their own.

Jesus says, “It’s mine.”

Psalm 50:10-12 “For every beast of the forest is Mine, The cattle on a thousand hills. “I know every bird of the mountains, And everything that moves in the field is Mine. “If I were hungry I would not tell you, For the world is Mine, and all it contains.”

How good it is to know that when the dawn of a new morning arrives, you can be confident that today exists for Christ and His purposes.

Remember the context of this passage and verse 16.

Verse 16 is speaking of spiritual beings.

Angels.

Demons.

Even Satan.

They exist through Jesus and for Jesus.

Proverbs 16:4 says, “The Lord has made everything for its own purpose, Even the wicked for the day of evil.”

Martin Luther once said of Satan, “Even the devil is God’s devil.”

This means that even Satan exists for Christ.

Satan is:

A rebel

He is wicked

He is evil.

But Jesus has a purpose for that devil.

He’s not completely free.

The Colossian heresy said all matter is evil.

God says that what He created was originally good, and if it exists today it serves His purpose.

This should comfort you, and remind you that what we really need is patience and endurance.

To trust that Jesus has a purpose in what He has created.

And finally verse 17, “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”

He is before all things.

Genesis 1, “In the beginning ...” and you know what’s next, “God created ...”

The beginning wasn’t the beginning of God, He was already there.

God was already there when the beginning arrived.

John 1:1-2 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.”

In the beginning of it all, there was the Trinity, they were already existing, because they’ve always existed.

And in Him all things hold together.

In Revelation Jesus is called Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.

He’s the start of it all.

And He’s the end of it all.

A to Z.

If He is the alpha and the omega -

If he’s the beginning and the end -

He’s also there for everything in between.

At times it may seem as if the world is falling to pieces.

The law of thermodynamics means things are breaking down.

I’ll tell you what, I don’t have a problem with there being climate change and environmental change, because I know that this world is finite.

The air that you breathe, and the ground that we stand on was never meant to be here forever.

It has a starting point.

And it will have an end point.

But what I do know is that in Jesus He holds all things together.

Creation is naturally unravelling from an organized state to a disorganized state.

But Jesus Christ holds all things together until His plan is fulfilled.

He will not allow the sun to cook this earth … until every jot and tittle of His will is accomplished.

He will not allow the sun to burn out resulting in a frozen planet … until the smallest prophecy is realized.

2 Peter 3:10 says “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.”

This day will not come until Christ ordains for it to come.

Because He holds all things together.

Jesus is fully man and He’s fully God.

The Creator who entered His creation.

The Creator who revealed Himself to His creation.

The Creator who is qualified to be worshipped.

The third qualification for Jesus to be worshipped is His relationship to the Church (v. 18)

Verse 18, “He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.”

Notice how this passage keeps getting more and more in focus like a kid with a magnifying glass bringing the light of Christ into a single point.

We first saw that Jesus is God in a broad sense.

Then He is God over His creation.

And now its in focus to its smallest point, He is over the church.

Christ may be sitting at the right hand of the Father, but He does have a presence on earth, the church.

We are called His body.

And Christ functions as head of that body.

The use of head means source and authority.

Jesus is what gives the church any of its authority.

He is the beginning of church.

He its founder.

He its builder.

He is its foundation that all of our religion is built upon.

Christ is critical and necessary for the church.

We preach a message … there is peace with God through Jesus.

Man has sinned.

God is angry at the sinner.

Because of sin you have earned Hell.

Through the life and death of Christ there is peace with God.

The only way for man to be reconciled to God is by Jesus.

There’s no other way.

Remove Christ -

If you say He’s not very God, but just a teacher.

If you say He’s not Creator, but created.

Remove Him being the foundation of the body.

- The Church loses everything.

We are nothing without Christ.

We become a social club.

We become a volunteer group.

Paul then says that Jesus is the firstborn from the dead.

Being the head of the church, being the chief shepherd of the church, means He leads the church.

Jesus died on the cross.

Then victoriously, burst out of the grave becoming the firstborn from the grave.

He ascended to the Father and took His place as ruler.

But behind Him ...

Behind Him are all those who He died for.

Jesus leads a parade of sinners now saints to the presence of God.

One day we will die, but there is a resurrection.

And we follow Him Who was the firstborn from the grave, Jesus Christ.

Jesus is qualified to be worshipped because He is the head of the church.

Jesus is worthy of your worship

In London there was a sword in an anvil upon a rock, and people wondered, “Who will be our king?”

Who is worthy to be our king?

In Revelation 5, John is wondering the same thing.

Evil is present on earth.

There is little fear of God.

Creation needs a king.

But who can it be?

There is a book with God’s judgment, but it is locked tight with 7 seals.

And like Excalibur, only He who is worthy can open those seals to restore creation.

John starts crying, Who is worthy to open this book?

Revelation 5:5, “and one of the elders said to me, “Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.””

Verse 7 “And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.”

Verse 9 “And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.”

Heaven recognizes Jesus as worthy.

Jesus is worthy of worship.

He is qualified for worship.

He is divine.

Fully man and fully God.

He is creator

He is head of the church.

He … is … worthy!

Shame on evangelicalism for what they’ve said about Christ.

He is the image of the invisible God.

By Him all things were created.

All things were created through Him and for Him.

He is the head of the church.

He is worthy.

He alone is worthy of your worship.