Colossians 1-15-25

Colossians 1:15-25

He is the image of the invisible God

Firstborn of all creation

By Him all things were created

All things were created through him and for him

He is before all things

In him all things are held together

He is the head of the body, the church

He is the beginning

He is the first born of the dead

In him everything is preeminent (before, superior, surpassing)

In him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell

He came to reconcile all things to himself

He made peace through all things by the blood of his cross

Outline

Today’s Sermon – What’s First at First

Idea of 3 places – home, work, 3rd place (explain)

Battle for the 3rd position

Church 3 places – comfort in our traditions, contentment with out preferences, 3rd place The will of God playing out in our church and lives

Here is the key issue – God does not want to be 2nd or 3rd, he wants to be first.

Colossae – was part of Rome – the Roman god system in the pantheon that we have talked about before was a place where the gods were displayed and honored. But on top of the pantheon was a statue of Caesar that said King of Kings and Lord of Lords. You see the issue with the Roman god system was that you could create any God that you wanted and were free to believe in it, but you were unable to state that your God was greater than all the gods because if you did that you would place yourself higher than everyone, even Caesar and they were not going to go for that.

How does this relate to us today – This relates easily to us today as it seems to be the way this world works. You can believe anything you want as long as your beliefs do not infringe on the beliefs of other people…. That has now become the world’s definition of tolerance, although I disagree with that.

How the church is being influenced by the culture

The church is not immune from being influenced by the culture, not only the culture of the world, but also the culture of the church. You see sometimes the mindset of “the way we’ve always done it” because culture in the church, even overshadowing the mission of the Gospel many times.

So the question is, how then do we as believers put God first in our lives and in our church? We will be addressing the first part of this question about our lives this morning and we will be diving more in depth to answer the second question this evening and I encourage you to join us, I promise it will not be nearly as cold as it is outside right now.

Read Colossians 1:15-20

What does it mean to say that he was the image of the invisible God?

15

1 John 1:1-2, 14 - In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him and without him was not any thing made that was made. 14 – And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Although we do not see God, he was made visible to us through his son.

John 14:9 – He who has seen me has seen the father

The firstborn of all creation

When we hear the word firstborn we think of our firstborn child. We think of our oldest. For me it is my daughter Amelia. It is also easy to read this and think to see that if Christ is the firstborn of creation the question begs… Was he created? NO

Here firstborn does not mean that, it means preceding and over. In the same way we are going to see that it is mentioned that Jesus was the firstborn of the dead. This is not to say that he was the first person to be resurrected from the dead was he? Of course not we have multiple instances of this in the old and the new testament. He is the firstborn of the dead as he is now the original of a new resurrection, one in which we are all made part of where we are made whole again, as we were created to be.

16

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.

CHRIST IS OVER ALL. In him all things are created and for him all things are created.

Jesus is not the most beautiful thing that God created, he in fact is that by which all things in existence were created.

Newsflash – if all things were created for him, we need to stop and look at what was not created for you. The church was not created for you it was created for HIM. If you are coming here trying to find fulfillment in your expectations, your preferences, your own personal desires, then you are coming for the wrong purposes. We are not here to accomplish out vision, but rather his vision.

JESUS IS FIRST

He is not just part of the story in this book that happened to appear halfway through.

Genesis 1:26 – Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.

We see him appear to Abraham, Joshua, Jacob, he is in the furnace with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

He was there in the beginning, he is not a last ditch effort to save humanity, the entire old testament is pointing towards him, it starts out with creation and we read here that creation was through him!

17 – He is before all things and in him all things are held together.

If you hear scientists talk about the earth you here them say things like if we were one mile closer or one mile further away it would be too hot or too cold for this planet to be habitable. That Everything at all times are in a delicate balance and we have to work to make sure the balance is not mesed up, well just to let you know, Jesus is that balance in which all things are held we see it right here.

JESUS WENT FIRST

He is the firstborn of the dead. He was not the first one resurrected, we see many cases of this in the Old Testament.

JESUS IS PREEMINENT

IN EVERYTHING he might be PREEMINENT

He must be first place in everything.

What does that mean for our lives and our church?

If he is going to be preeminent – first, superior, and surpassing everything else hoe does this effect our lives.

Although it effects every single area of our life lets look at 3 today.

What gets your best?

1 – Time

How are we spending our time. I mentioned earlier at the beginning of the service that there are 3 places. What gets the bulk of your time? After work, or does work dip into the time that God has given you?

2. – Talents

Our gifts that we have should be leveraged for him. The jobs that we have as individuals should be leveraged for his good and his glory

Do you leverage what God has for you for your own benefit or are you leveraging it for the kingdom?

3. – Money

How is your money spent? Do you give your first and your best to God, or do you give him what is left over?

College Tuition, a new car, a new house, a vacation, how do these things effect our ability to be generous with what God has given us? I

Stop and ask yourself, what gets your best?

When we look at the life of our church can we say that we as a church have been stable and steadfast not shifting from the hope of the Gospel that saw this place built on this hill?

First at First

Understanding Colossae

(Roman God system) cultural influence

We have cultural influences

3 PLACES

Church 3 Places

Comfort in our Traditions

Contentment in our preferences

What is 3rd? Boldly following God’s will

God does not want to be 2nd or 3rd

He wants to be first

How do we as believers put God first in our lives and in our church? Answer 1 this morning

READ COLOSSIANS 1:15-20

Image of the invisible God

John 1:1-2, 14

In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him and without him was not any thing made that was made. 14 – And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

God is made visible through his son

John 14:9 – He who has seen me has seen the father

15 - Firstborn of all creation (Amelia)

Position rather than creation

16 – All things were created by him and for him

CHRIST IS OVER ALL

Christ is not the most beautiful of God’s creation, because he was in the beginning, he is that by which all creation was made

Everything was created for him.

This church – not created for you – that means if you are coming here for your preferences, your entertainment, for you he be admonished, you will not find that here.

This is a place created for Christ.

17 – Before all things

JESUS IS FIRST

He is not a last effort, he was from the beginning

Genesis 1:26 Last us make man in our image, in our likeness

We see him before the new testament through Christophanies to Abraham, Joshua, Jacob, in the furnace with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

All things are held together

This world and distance

18

He is the head of the church, the body – he calls the shots – Great Commission

Our mission – is to make disciples and reach the lost PERIOD

Firstborn of the dead

Others resurrected, first in a new resurrection

JESUS WENT FIRST

JESUS IS PREMENIENT

Preeminent – first, superior and surpassing everything

What does this mean for our lives – he came to reconcile all things to himself, including us, making peace by the blood of his cross.

How should our lives be reflected in this manner?

3 ways

Our Time

How are we spending our time? Is he getting our first and our best or simply leftovers?

Our Talents

What are we doing with the talents that he has blessed us with? Are we only leveraging them for financial gain, or for the kingdom?

Our Finances

God doesn’t want or need your money. But at the same time Jesus spoke about money more than Heaven? Why because he knew that as long as you were satisfied in yourself and what you were doing on your own, heaven would never be your destination.

So the question to ask you today is this, is Christ first in your life???

How does this world, your life, your family, this church change if you place Christ at the center of it all? If you think it doesn’t, you need to change the way you see God.

Look around, what will happen if this group of people offer themselves afresh and anew for what God has in store for your lives and this church? How are you going to respond in this season to what God is calling you to do?