Jesus, Agent of Redemption
Notes
Transcript
Review
Last time: We look at the first portion of this Colossian hymn and from that we read that Jesus is Lord Over All Creation. Everything that was created was created through him and for him.Because of that the takeaway was that all of our lives should be used to glorify Jesus.
He were the reason why you was created. Thus everything we do should be done for his glory.
But there’s a problem, the creator has expectations of his creation. We call this law. While his law has been written in Word. God has also written his natural law on the hearts of men. This is the sort of law that, we describe as our conscience… the knowledge that murder is wrong, that human life should be protected, that children should be protected and loved, that we should be kind to others, that marriage is beautiful and infidelity is wrong.
One of the main points from the previous sermon is that Jesus is eternal. He has no beginning. Each of us came into existence at the moment of our conception.
When he stepped into time and space and was conceived of the Holy Spirit in Mary’s womb, Jesus added human flesh to his eternal divine nature.
In short, Jesus has a birthday, but he does not have a beginning.
There was a time when Jesus wasn’t human, but there has never been a time when he was not God.
And that’s important to our topic for today. Jesus is Lord of Creation, but he is also Lord of the Church.
Read the text:
In order to redeem the church, to redeem humanity, Jesus had to be human.
But before we get into what it means for Jesus to be redeemer. We need to ask why we need to be redeemed.
Our creator has given us a law and expected us to follow it. We have broken that law.
We deserve wrath.
Previously, I had described this part as the second portion of the bridge of the Colossian hymn. Following the statement that Jesus is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Paul now writes:
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.
Though Paul is primarily teaching his audience who Jesus is, here he also defines the church.
I want to pose a question for reflection:
What defines our church? If someone asks you about the church you attend how do you describe it? What is the first thing to come to mind?
Are they biblical?
Here in verse 18, we are given two important characteristics of the church.
The Church is a Body.
The Head of that Body is Christ.
Concerning that first point:
The Church is a Body
The Church is a Body
The church is a body, not a business, not a building. Nor is the church a denomination, or an organization.
It’s necessary to make a few distinctions here. The New Testament uses the word church in two specific ways. The word simply means gathering or those called out (by God).
The church is a body. The church universal is defined by all those who believe in the Lord Jesus, and have been born again.
The local church would refer to individual churches. We see individual churches referred to in Paul’s letters, and even in Revelation 2-3. However, a local church is not defined by its address, or its building.
When a church’s identity is shaped by being a business, or a building rather than a body the church will lose her way.
A church should never define itself by it’s building, its meeting times, or it’s programs.
Maranatha Baptist Church is not 1320 E Saguaro Dr. It is not this building. It is the people who make up the church, a group of baptized believers who are committed to partner together to carry out God’s will.
Identity Crisis…
Example: I had a friend in college, who after graduation began attending a church in bar. While I’m sure that makes some of you uncomfortable - there’s nothing in scripture that immediately condemns that - but when the church defined it self as “Bar Church” or the “Church in the Bar” it sets itself up for an identity crisis.
Consequently, to give another example. I was an interim pastor at a church in a barn (with an N) in Norco, California. One of the challenges this church had is that because it met in a barn, they had to worry about zoning rights. And avoiding too much attention by the city. However, unfortunately whenever you change a church’s location you do change a church’s identity.
Each separate, true church, thus should be defined by their Savior, not by any other means. There will be important distinctions that every church has - that is inevitable. Such as baptist - but first and foremost the church’s definition should be by their redemption by Jesus Christ.
We gather as a body of believers because we are here to know Jesus, and to make him known.
People come to church for all sorts of reasons, but the correct reason is to glorify God, to know him better, to fellowship with other believers, and be obedient to his commands.
Now on to the second statement that Paul makes concerning the church here is that:
The Head of the Church is Christ
The Head of the Church is Christ
Church here certainly refers to the Universal Church, all Christians every where. But it should also pertain to all true local churches.
Paul makes plain who the head of the church is in his letters. Both here, as well as in Ephesians 5:23, Paul writes that the head of the church is Christ. Peter is not the head of the church, the Pope is not head of the church, no priest, pastor, elder, deacon or committee - but Christ himself is our head.
Head has two meanings here.
The Church belongs to Christ.
Jesus is the source of the church.
The church is the bride of Christ, whom Jesus has purchased with his blood. Jesus has posses all authority over the church.
If we allow anyone else to take the role of head of the church, we will quickly lose the purpose and intention of the gathering.
When you lose the head, the body dies. For a while it may run around like a chicken with its head cut off, but after it is done floundering the headless body will die.
While few Christians would argue that anyone else is the head of the church - in many cases - we do not operate our churches with that mindset. In some churches, the real head of the church is the most senior member, or the person with the strongest personality, or someone else.
I heard a story from another pastor a while back, where he made an announcement about some change, or some event, I cannot recall exactly what the change was but I recall that it was a biblical change… but upon announcing this many of the congregants eyes shot to one woman in the church - and she wasn’t in favor of it. So no one went along with it, and the change didn’t occur.
Now this person probably would never admit to being the head of the church. But they might be glad to call themselves the neck. But if Biblical decisions in a church rise and fall on an individual and not on the Word of God - then they have turned from their head.
The Lord has given appropriate men: pastors to serve as shepherds of his church - but their guidance must be done in a manner that glorifies Christ first and foremost.
The church must stay connected to the head. Later in this letter, Paul will warn the church in Colossae of the danger of being disconnected to Christ, the head.
Now to that second definition of head, Jesus is the source of the church. This means that Jesus supplies their life. This is why Jesus can tell the church in Ephesus that he will come and remove their lampstand unless they repent of abandoning their first love. Their first love being love of God and love of neighbor, (1 John 2:9-10, 4:20).
Before I move on:
Questions of application:
How do you view the church? Is it a body? A building? a business?
Do you have a biblical understanding of what a church is?
What happens when a church cuts itself off from the head?
What does it look like for a church to separate herself from Christ?
Our decision making as a church should be not based upon any mere man, but in order to glorify the God-man Jesus Christ.
We cannot make decisions as a church to please or attract man, but only to bring glory to God and to make him known.
That needs to drive everything we do as a church. How we structure our service. How we plan events. How I preach. How we do outreach. The attitude with which we unlock the doors in the morning, to the energy with which we turns the lights off as we leave. All of this should be governed by the truth that Jesus is the Lord of the Church.
The remainder of our text for this morning stems from this. The church is the Body. The head of the body is Jesus. How did Jesus become the head of the church? He died for her.
Jesus is the Only Redeemer
Jesus is the Only Redeemer
Two weeks ago, I used the statement that Jesus is the Agent of Creation, which means that all things that have been created have been created through him and for him. In the same way, Jesus is the Agent of Redemption… everyone who has been redeemed has only been redeemed through Jesus.
As Paul moves from the statement that Jesus is the head of the church, Paul then adds that Jesus is the beginning. In verse 17, Paul stated that Jesus is before all things, meaning that Jesus was present and working when time began.
Now Paul is stating he is the beginning. Jesus was there before all things, and Jesus is the beginning of salvation. Jesus’ role as Creator and Jesus’ role as Redeemer are so closely connected. (inextricable)
Jesus is the firstborn from the dead.
Just as we saw before, firstborn here refers to his rank or status as King.
Others were resurrected from the dead in the Bible before Jesus.
Jesus’ resurrection accomplishes something that the others did not. Jesus’ resurrection was not the first, but it certainly was the first of its kind. In Jesus’ resurrection, he conquered death - Jesus himself laid down his life and picked it back up again.
Jesus’ resurrection proves his preeminence. Preeminence is a great word, but we don’t use it much. Other translations help us by translating this as “First place in all things.” This appropriately fits with the theme here. Jesus is the Firstborn of Creation, Jesus is the Firstborn from the Dead. Jesus is the First in all Things.
To bring this all down from the theological and to move to the practical for a moment. If Jesus is first in all things… in creation and in redemption… and if all things, including us were created in him and for him, what should that mean about human beings? That our entire lives ought to be devoted to bringing him the glory that he deserves.
Jesus didn’t raise from the dead that he might be an afterthought in your life, or in our church.
Then in the end of this hymn, Paul anticipates a question… how could the man Jesus of Nazareth, born in Bethlehem… be first in all things, how can be be firstborn of all creation, how can he be firstborn from the dead?
19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
“All” and “fullness” here mean the same thing so in a sense what Paul is saying might seem redundant however, he is doing this intentionally. Paul is using this repetitive language to make sure his point gets across.
He is making a clear statement concerning Jesus’ divinity.
Jesus is not so demigod, or lesser god, Jesus was not a man who ascended to godhood. Jesus’ divinity was at no point acquired, or granted to him, nor was it at any point limited.
Jesus did not become God at his baptism.
The Son of God has always been God. The Son of God has not always been man, when Jesus stepped into time and entered into Mary’s womb by the conception of the Holy Spirit he became man, but he never became God.
Jesus in his incarnation remains truly God and Truly Man. He emptied himself, by taking on a human body. But he remained divine.
All the fullness of God.
This is the same sort of language that is used to describe the tabernacle and the dwelling place of God, as well as what John writes in the beginning of his gospel. It is not just that Jesus bears God’s glory but everything that God is dwells in him.
Whatever it means to be God, Jesus is that.
And in verse 20 we find the end of the hymn with:
20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
The act that defines Jesus as Lord of the Church. He has brought reconciliation.
All things were created through him and for him. But because of sin, man was alienated from him. So we need to be reconciled back to him, or condemned for our sins.
Our sins have created a separation between us and our God. So how are we reconciled? Peace was made by the blood of Jesus. The terrible act of violence that was enacted upon Jesus is an act of peace.
The enmity that was between us and God because of our sins has been replaced with peace for those who believe in Jesus, because he laid his life down, and he picked it back up again.
Paul wants to impress on his readers that Jesus alone is the author of reconciliation - there is no one else who has been crucified for us. There is salvation in no one else, no other name given under heaven by which we must be saved.
We do not need to make Jesus preeminent, we do not need to make Jesus king, we do not make Jesus Lord - he already is those things. God has placed all things under Jesus’ feet. Consider the great commission which Jesus begins with “all authority on heaven and earth has been given to me”.
He is first in all things.
It’s a statement that demands a response. You can respond in rebellion, or reverence.
To respond in rebellion is to continue living in sin, and disregard for God’s existence and his law.
To respond in reverence is marked by repentance is to turn from your rebellion and sin, and instead with faith in Jesus Christ, life you life in a manner where he is first - living your life to glorify him, because he lived a perfect life. Because he died on the cross for our sins. Because he rose from the dead. Because he is Lord.
Do we live our lives in a way that demonstrates that we understand that Jesus is first? Who is first? Are you first in your life, or is Jesus first?
And to tie this together with the first part: Who is first in the church? How do we demonstrate that?
Since Jesus is Lord of all Creation. Our lives ought to be lived to glorify him.
SINCE, Jesus is Lord of the church then what we do here on Sunday mornings must be guided by his word, and things must be done to his glory. This means that we have no place to cave to adopting the trends of this world just to bring in more people. I would rather be at a dying church that is faithful to Jesus words, than a church whose pews are packed because they promised to give away an iPad after service.
But we also must ask the question are we being faithful to our Lord and Redeemer?
Since Jesus is Lord of the church, then how we as those he redeemed living out the truth of Jesus being first in all things?
BENDICTION: Revelation 1:4-8
