Christ is Supreme

Have you ever tried to tell someone that has never seen your favorite show about that show? Or your favorite book? Or a trip? I try very hard to whittle down the details but it’s an almost impossible task. Because for me to convey it properly I need to give you some context of why I love this thing.

I think that is one of the reasons it is sometimes difficult to tell others about Jesus. Because it’s really difficult to convey just how good He is, how he has poured out his grace in my life, without the proper context. Which, by the way, is why our testimony is so important. If I am in a life threatening situation, like on a boat that’s sinking, I wouldn’t just start with, “the boat was sinking.” I would say where I was, what tipped me off, how others reacted, what I did.

So how do we communicate effectively who Jesus is? Or perhaps for you today, you really don’t know, and that’s what you need to hear. Who is this Jesus, really?

Imagine you’re living in the 1st Century. There have been prophecies of a messiah for a long time. And just like us today, there are different groups that believe certain things. How it will play out. How exactly to interpret scripture. One thing we do know is that the common understanding was that of a military leader who would lead the nation in fighting back against it’s Roman occupation.

Which makes sense, doesn’t it. Throughout it’s history, we see time after time God raising up leaders, judges, kings...warriors. To push back Israel’s enemies.

But then we get...Jesus. A traveling preacher from Nazareth. He heals the sick. Confronts the pharisees and saducees. Stirs up the people. But he is clearly not a military leader. And yet they call him a king. He ends up killed on a criminal’s cross.

All these people start saying something crazy. He’s alive. He is still the messiah. Even though many watched Him die, He is the messiah. He conquered death itself. They’re willing to die rather than say anything else.

Obviously many people believed them. We have churches all over the world. My whole career is based around the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We meet here every week in order to celebrate the resurrection.

And yet it can still be a challenge to fully articulate who Jesus is when pressed. We see this incredibly important encounter between Jesus and His disciples in the book of Matthew. Jesus often referred to Himself as Son of Man, which was a title regarding this coming figure in the prophetic book of Daniel. He asks his disciples about it.

Matthew 16:13–14 NIV

13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” 14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

Matthew 16:15–16 NIV

15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

It’s immediately after this that Jesus calls Simon... Peter, or rock. And tells him “on this rock I will build my church.”

He recognized Jesus as more than a leader. More than a teacher.

People all over the world have different views of Jesus. They did then, they do now. These are general statements, as it obviously varies between different groups and individuals.

Muslims believe Jesus was a great prophet. Born of the virgin Mary, and performed miracles. But they reject the crucifixion and divinity of Jesus. Although they do believe he was taken up to heaven and will return before the day of judgement.

Hindus see Jesus as a holy man, or even an avatar (divine incarnation), similar to Krishna or Rama.

He's often admired for his compassion and spiritual wisdom.

Buddhists - Jesus is sometimes viewed as a wise teacher or bodhisattva (enlightened being).

Emphasis is placed on his ethics and teachings on compassion.

New Age / Spiritual but Not Religious

Often see Jesus as a spiritual master, mystic, or enlightened teacher.

Focus on love, consciousness, and inner peace rather than atonement or sin.

Atheists / Secular Humanists

Views range from seeing Jesus as a myth to acknowledging him as a moral teacher or historical reformer.

Some admire his teachings on love, nonviolence, and inclusion.

Jews

Orthodox Jews: Generally see Jesus as a false messiah.

Secular / Cultural Jews: May view Jesus as a historical figure or moral teacher, but not divine.

Messianic Jews: Believe Jesus (Yeshua) is the Jewish Messiah and follow Him while maintaining Jewish identity and customs.

Many of you are aware of Ben Shaprio, who is an orthodox jew. In an interview with Joe Rogan, Shapiro put it this way.

“I think Jesus was a jew who tried to lead a revolt against the Romans and got killed for his trouble.”

Every single person who hears the gospel must wrestle with who Jesus was and is. And it was a question within the new churches sprouting up all over the world in the 1st century.

In the church of Colossae, they had these same questions. And in this church, there were those that were questioning the divinity of Jesus. It’s one thing to say a miracle happened. To say God did something. But quite another to claim that this Jesus, a real flesh and blood person, who walked the earth, who was hungry and thirsty, who got headaches, who experienced all that a human being experiences, this human being was one with God. The creator God. And this is all new. A new understanding. But Paul and the disciples continually lay out the fact that all of scripture was pointing to this moment.

So Paul is under house arrest in Rome. He hears about some of the questions and false teaching arising in this new church. After beginning with greetings and encouraging prayers, and saying at the beginning that God is the father of the “Lord Jesus Christ,” he comes to the matter at hand.

Christ, by the way, is a title, not His last name. Christ means “the anointed one.” So the question...

Who is Jesus, really?

Colossians 1:15–16 NLT

15 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, 16 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.

Jesus was not created in the same way all other things in creation were created. All things were created through Him and for Him. He’s putting Him in the rank of God.

Colossians 1:17–18 NLT

17 He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. 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.

In everything he might have the supremacy. He is not second to God the father. He is equal. He was present before God created the heavens and the earth. Calling to mind the very beginning of the Holy Scriptures.

Colossians 1:19–20 NLT

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.

We use the phrase fully God and fully man because of verses like this one. Calling back now again to the beginning, to the sin of Adam and the fall of mankind. God was please for His entirety to dwell in Jesus, and through Jesus to make right and bring all creation back to Him by making peace. That’s what the sacrificial system was. A way to make peace. This system that the readers are familiar with. Paul is driving home, yet again, that Jesus was the sacrificial lamb on the cross.

Jesus is supreme in all things. Sometimes I wonder why so many reject Him. But the answer is really not difficult. They don’t know him like I do. Not yet, anyway.

We were at family camp at Covenant Hills this last week. We have services in the morning and the evening. Amelia and Grace have now reached the age where they don’t go to children’s church there. They do not like that. To quote them “I’m bored!”

When we weren’t in service, I was talking to Amelia about it. Telling her I remember being bored a lot when I was a kid in church. How I still get bored sometimes. How I have even, if I may be completely honest, been bored in my own sermon before.

I told her how I would sit there. And then one day...I started listening. The preacher said something that hit in my soul. And the more I listened, the more I started to understand, the more I heard the Holy Spirit speaking to me. The more I started to love, and feel loved, by this Jesus of the bible. I told her that over the years, as life as happened, some good, some bad...as I have messed up and needed forgiveness, I begin to understand the importance of what Paul is saying here. That the fullness of the creator God came into the world and dwelt among us. That the eternal God outside of time understands what it means to be human. That I can have the question of “why do people suffer” and know that God in and through the person, the human, Jesus of Nazareth knows what it is to suffer. That somehow in this perfect relationship of father and son that the God of Abraham, the one true God, gave up His son and knows that pain.

I can’t fully articulate who Jesus is because He is everything. He is my rock. If you are drowning and someone saves you, you can tell others about it, and they’ll say “sounds like a cool guy.” But I was there. I saw the love in His eyes. I saw what it cost Him. I saw nails in His hands. I know what it feels like to fall into His arms when He pulled me up.

I know He is supreme in all things, because He saved me.

And I can’t fully tell you what that looks like for you. Only for me. I can’t make you reach out your hand to Him, only you can.

He is not a great teacher. He is not a cool guys that was just like “be nice to everybody, man.”

We all must answer the question. Who is Jesus? What would you say to someone who asks? What would you say to Jesus Himself, were He to be standing here. He locks eyes with you and asks “who do YOU say I am?”

Let’s close with the end of this sections of Paul’s letter. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.

Colossians 1:21–22 NLT

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.

Colossians 1:23 NLT

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. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it.