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Northside Church
May 14, 2023
Colossians #2
Jamey Mills
My name is Jamey Mills, I’m the lead pastor here at Northside.
It’s always great to be with you.
Happy Mother's day! Shout out to my Mom who I’m sure is watching… Miss ya, love ya… it’s hard being your favorite, but someone has to.
Last week was a little traumatic… we had a young lady faint during the service… Thank God she’s doing well and was able to go home the same day.
I just wanted to say it again… several of you who are trained did such a fantastic job of getting jumping in and helping out… I just wanted to say thank you… Just one more reminder and the many ways God has blessed Northside… I know mom and dad are incredibly thankful too.
STOCK that you knew was going to hit… what would you do… invest
Have you ever been on a boat that looks like this (SLIDE)? Listing Ship
I’ve heard this is problematic…
In danger… when it starts to lean… it impacts the way that it travels…
We are in our second week of a new sermon series on the NT letter of Colossians… we are calling it Nothing more/Nothing Less (SLIDE)
Paul wrote it while in a Roman prison… after getting a visit and update from the guy who planted the church… Epaphras…
Paul was excited to hear about them… and how well they were doing out of the gate with their great faith in Christ and the way they loved each other so well…
We need to know how much that matters to God… Jesus called that the greatest commandment…
But there was a issue growing in the Church…
Last week I mentioned the role that the Roman Roads played (SLIDE) in bringing new cultures, philosophies, ideas, and even religion close…
And it was infiltrating the Church in Colossae… corrupting their view of Jesus…
Causing them to put their hope in things that could never hold it.
They call it Syncretism…
Syncretism = adding and omitting, making the gospel reflect more of what you think, feel, and what culture says than what God has actually said.
and feel… and what culture says… than what God has actually said… forgetting that it's not our’s to change.
And it is alive and well today.
God is the one that forms and chances us… we don’t form or change Him.
The Gospel was being diluted…
That Jesus was simply an emanation of God… (major religions in the US that still believe that today)...
Because of that, they were beginning to believe Jesus was not enough… that we cannot be saved in Christ alone.
And so
It created this Jesus + movement.
(SLIDE)
Jesus + doing all the right things, being a better guy than my neighbor, giving enough, saying the right things, following the right rules
I need a couple volunteers…
Have them stand shoulder to shoulder… pointed in a slightly different direction. (explain to them what's up)
“Would you agree they are basically standing in the same place”?
Having sound doctrine and accurate theology matters… and it centers on… Jesus.
Here is just one reason why… Take five steps straight forward… the way that you're facing.
WHen we move forward… live out our lives with bad theology… a bad understanding of Jesus... We end up in a very different place.
It’s our view of Jesus… our relationship with Jesus… our willingness to know that life is found in Him that drives the way we live our lives… the way we think… treat people…
If I were to have these guys continue to take steps… eventually… one would be at the beautiful shores or our ocean and the other would be in Portland… and who wants that?
Matthew 7:13–14 (ESV)
13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
It’s hard to travel straight… if you're leaning the wrong way…
That’s why God gave us His word… and why should be in it… students of it everyday.
It's why God gave us His Church… and we should be active and not passive within it.
It’s a serious Issue and Paul's confronting their bad theology by teaching the truth…
And in doing that…
Paul answers three of the biggest questions humanity can ask…
Who is Jesus?
Who am I?
Why am I here?
Paul is going to give us several things that should anchor our view and to Jesus really is…
One author said it like this… “All scripture testifies to Jesus… but the doctrine and person of Christ might be more clearly seen and stated here than just about any other passage in the Bible.”
So let's jump in…
Colossians 1:15 (NLT)
Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.
He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,
15 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.
He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, (firstborn of all creation)
1. Jesus is the Visible Image of the invisible God
(SLIDE)
Paul is saying… Jesus is not some emanation of God…
Hebrews 1:3 (ESV)
3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.
Paul is saying
If you want to know who God is and what God’s like, His values, priorities, morality, His heart, His forgiving nature and His justice… Look to Jesus.
How do we know that God cares for you, that He’s forgiving and just, that He’s patient, an knows what is truly good for you, how He responds to you, If He has time for you, His view on sin… Look at Jesus.
If you’ve done that… taken the time to look at the life of Jesus and know that it is God… and God’s heart toward you… it is overwhelming… it will change your life.
And we see that…
As Jesus stood before the accusers with the lady caught in adultery… and told her to go and sin no more.
When Jesus sat with the women at the well… cared for her… while dealing with her broken history with men.
You see it with Jesus confronted the religious leaders of the day… for misleading His people… calling them white washed tombs… looking good on the outside, but containing death on the inside.
You see it when he drove the money changers out of the temple.
You see it when David… called a man after His own heart… on multiple occasions… faced severe consequences for sin.
That is the heart of God.
In Jn 14:9 Jesus said… anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. And there are many passages like it.
As I was preparing this week… I had a hard time getting away from this thought…
One of the coolest things Jesus did for us outside of salvation was to give us a visible image of the almighty God.
giving us a visible image of God. Something we can look at… and say… yea, I know Him.
When we look at Jesus… and his character… priorities… values… what He said and did… We are looking at God Himself.
Don’t reduce the reality of who Jesus is.
#2 Jesus is the firstborn of all creation
This is the statement that’s been used by many… and is behind some of the cults in America today. This idea of being “firstborn” of all creation… people have used that to suggest that Jesus was a “created” being…
That is extremely poor linguistic, cultural, and contextual work.
Not only does that stand against what we learn in a ton of Scripture…
John 8:58 (NLT)
Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I Am!”
58 Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I AM!”
He claims to be eternal and God
John 17:5 (NLT)
Now, Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began.
5 Now, Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began.
John 1:1–5 (NLT)
In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He existed in the beginning with God.
God created everything through him,
and nothing was created except through him.
The Word gave life to everything that was created,
and his life brought light to everyone.
The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can never extinguish it.
1 In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
2 He existed in the beginning with God.
3 God created everything through him,
and nothing was created except through him.
4 The Word gave life to everything that was created,
and his life brought light to everyone.
5 The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can never extinguish it.
There are tons of passages like this…
The term firstborn was a term used in Greek and Jewish culture that has to do with rank… importance… authority… being exalted… privilege
It was often given to the firstborn son… but that is not the only way it's used in Scripture… in fact on multiple occasions, God calls Israel the firstborn among nations.
This went on to be such an issue that the council of Nicea gathered in the early 300’s AD… to sort of confront this very thing… Here is part of what that gathering produced about 1700 years ago…
“We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.”
The truth about Jesus is… He existed before creation… and is supreme over all of creation.
#3 Jesus created it all and holds it all together.
for through him God created everything
in the heavenly realms and on earth.
He made the things we can see
and the things we can’t see—
such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.
Everything was created through him and for him.
He existed before anything else,
and he holds all creation together.
For through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth.
He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. 17 He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.
Jesus was there before creation and is responsible for ALL of creation.
Physical and spiritual
Seen and unseen
The micro and the macro
Not only is Paul dealing with the huge question of who Jesus really is…
He’s also answering
Who am I?
Why am I here?
You are the creation of the one who created it all… that’s who you are.
Psalm 139:13–17 (ESV)
13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. 17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!
I love that… this picture of the intentionality and complexity of the way that Jesus made you… and the fact that the same one who created all that was, is, and will ever be… thinks about you in uncountable ways.
To think that all that Jesus is… He formed me, thinks of me, is for me, and lives in me…
Genesis tells us that you were formed in the very image of God…
at the very core of who you are… there is likeness… a part of you that reflects your creator… that's been marred by sin… and that those that Jesus is restoring… in those of us who are in Christ… becoming… “like Christ”.
That is the highest compliment you’ll ever get.
Who are you?
The very creation of the most high… Purposefully made and intimately known
Why are you here?
For Him… Jesus is really what it's all about… to do life with Him. To glorify and worship Him. To be found in Him. To do life with Him and be found in Him and to be His hands and feet.
All the stuff that this world chases is meaningless… the real value, real truth, real life and real freedom is found in Christ and in Christ alone.
Does your life, your theology, your behavior, reflect this… most important and amazing truth that you will ever hear?
That’s what Paul is calling them… and us back to.
There is a lot of movement among modern day microbiologists, physicists, biochemists and researchers… even among those who still deny God… that is pointing to the overwhelming evidence of intelligent design… of a creator.
Just a couple of thoughts on that…
One scientist said it like this…
It is a sort of Goldy Locks mindset to think that all of the fundamental forces of physics were happening at just the right time, with just the right strength, with just the right matter, in just the right configuration, with just the right energy to even make life possible….
This alone is problematic… and yet this does nothing to address the far harder question of the organization and operation of a sustained universe let alone humanity over thousands if not hundreds of thousands of years.
Another said…
There are dozens of known and widely accepted scientific principles that have become problematic for an organized chaos view of existence. For instance… the properties of gravitational forces and planetary orbit alone… happening by “chance” would be like pulling one specific elementary particle blindfolded not just out of our universe… but out of 10 billion universes its size.
Just the tiniest margin… would cause a catastrophic imposition or explosion… of the entire universe.
Did you all see the video that Louie Giglio made some time back…
About this cell adhesion molecule… called Laminin… (SLIDE)
“ laminins critically contribute to cell attachment and differentiation, cell shape and movement, maintenance of tissue phenotype, and promotion of tissue survival.”
The basic idea went something like this…
You are knit together… stamped… and held together… by the creator of it all
At the core of all that holds you together is the cross.
For me…not only do I look around and see intelligent design around me and in me… it takes far less faith to believe in Jesus as a creator and sustainer than it does any other theory that's out there.
#4 Jesus is the head of His Body, which is the Church.
Christ is also the head of the church,
which is his body.
He is the beginning,
supreme over all who rise from the dead.
So he is first in everything.
For God in all his fullness
was pleased to live in Christ,
and through him God reconciled
everything to himself.
He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth
by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.
18 Christ is also the head of the church,
which is his body.
He is the beginning,
supreme over all who rise from the dead.
So he is first in everything.
19 For God in all his fullness
was pleased to live in Christ,
20 and through him God reconciled
everything to himself.
He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth
by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.
He is not just some far off power… that's sort of running things behind the curtain… unattached… pulling levers kind of manager…
He lives… and we are to be led by Him… both as individuals and as a Church.
It is not some Jesus + kind of thing.
Our lives, values, priorities, compassion, our relationships…
Fall under His authority… they align with His.
Paul closes this section like this…
This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.
But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it.
21 This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. 22 Yet now He has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.
23 But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News.
That is your story… and mine.
Paul is reminding them that the best ideas of humanity… or the best things that culture can produce… can do NOTHING for what you need most.
Despite the truth about you… because of Jesus… standing before the Holy God blameless… without fault… accepted… and not condemned…
And it all hinges on Jesus..
Paul reminds us He is the beginning… and the end.
Jesus says it this way…
Revelation 22:13 (NLT)
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”
13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”
(SLIDE)
He is the beginning… Sustainer And the end
|------------------------------------------------Us----------------------------------------|
Alpha we are somewhere in here Omega
What you chose to do with Jesus between here and there…
Matters more than you’ll ever know.
What you chose to teach and train up your kids concerning Jesus is more important than you’ll ever know.
WORSHIP TEAM AND CHAD
There will be a day…
Philippians 2:10–11 (NLT)
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Peter tells us in 1 Peter 3:15…
In your hearts, set apart Christ as Lord… and always be ready to give a reason as to why…
Because He’s always been
Because He created all there is
Because even know your heart beats at his command
Because He holds it all together
Because He knows me… lives in me… and redeemed me
Because life is found in Him.
Will the ideas of humanity and culture form your theology
Or
Will you stand open hearted, open handed, and open minded before the Lord… giving Him authority… following His lead…
I couldn’t encourage you enough to settle that issue once and for all… Who do you say that Jesus is? How are you living it?
In what you believe… and the way that it impacts your life and relationships…
This is big… are you ready for it…
Pray
Communion with CHAD