Untitled Sermon (4)

Joyeux Noël ! Depuis trois semaines nous regardons ensemble à ce que c’est d’être la famille de Dieu—d’appartenir à la famille de Dieu, de vivre comme la famille de Dieu, et de se multiplier en tant que la famille de Dieu. Et évidemment nous parlons de tout ça pour nous amener ici. Demain, c’est Noël—le jour où nous nous souvenons de la naissance de Jésus.

Now, why is he preeminent?

Nous existons en tant que famille pour parler de Jésus aux autres, pour nous réjouir en Jésus, pour chérir Jésus plus que tout. Mais parfois il est difficile pour nous de nous souvenir pourquoi nous devrions faire ça, et comment.

19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Si vous demandiez aux chrétiens pourquoi nous devrions aimer Jésus plus que tout, la plupart des chrétiens diraient : « Parce qu’il est mort pour nos péchés. » Et même si c’est absolument vrai—comme on verra—la bonne nouvelle de l’évangile, c’est que nous avons beaucoup plus de raisons que cela.

He is preeminent, first of all, because in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. Like we saw before: when you look at Jesus, you see God. You don’t need anything else. As hard as that is for us to understand, in this ordinary human being, everything God is—all of his power and might and goodness—was contained and made visible for everyone.Secondly, Jesus is preeminent because through him, God reconciled the world to himself, making peace by the blood of the cross. Jesus came, and he lived the perfect life we should have lived, and he died the death that we all deserved, and he was raised from the dead, in order to reconcile us to God. Kids, you know what it means to reconcile with someone. If you’re disobedient against Mom or Dad, and they’re mad because of that disobedience, what happens? They show you grace and forgive you—and what happens when they forgive you? If your family is anything like mine, they crouch down, and they open their arms, and they wrap you up in a big hug. That hug is what reconciliation is like—I was mad before, but I’m not mad anymore. I love you. I am for you.This is what God did for us in Jesus. Because we are sinful and disobedient, God has every right to be angry at us. Disobedience deserves punishment. But because Jesus was punished in our place, God isn’t angry at us anymore. God poured out all his anger against our sin on Jesus, and there’s no anger left for us. And because of that, he opens his arms, and he pulls us in, and he never lets us go.And here’s why he did it:

21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him...

Alors nous serons dans Colossiens 1 aujourd’hui, pour voir quelques unes des raisons pour lesquelles Jésus est digne d’être célébré comme cela—et ensuite nous verrons comment nous faisons cela dans l’église.

D’abord, regardons à Jésus lui-même

Before, we were disobedient and separated from God; but now, because of Jesus’s sacrifice, we are reconciled to God. And he did it in order to present us holy and blameless and above reproach before him. Do you know what this means? It means that when we are cruel to someone, and they love us and forgive us anyway, that love changes us. When we know that someone is really good, we don’t want to hurt them. We don’t want to do anything to make them angry or sad. When God reconciles us to himself in Jesus, he helps us see how good he is; and that changes our desires. The sinful things we liked before, we don’t like so much anymore. The evil things we wanted to do, we don’t want to do them anymore. He sent his Son to live and die and rise for us, to reconcile us to himself; and he did it all so that he might make us more like him.

Partie 1: Jésus est.

Our Hope in Jesus

Jésus est Dieu.

So we’ve seen that Jesus is God; he created all things; he holds everything together; he has reconciled us to God in his life, death and resurrection; and he is the head of the church. That’s what Jesus did.So what do we do? He tells us here in v. 23—all these things are true for us—

Colossiens 1.15:

23 ...if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

So here’s what we have to do: we have to remember that. We have to continue in the faith. We have to remember the hope of the gospel. You see, at Christmas we don’t mainly celebrate family. We don’t mainly celebrate each other. We don’t mainly celebrate presents, or trees, or hot chocolate, or fun movies, or songs. At Christmas, we celebrate the hope of the gospel. This baby who was born in a stable and laid in a manger, this baby Jesus is God. This baby created all things. This baby holds everything together. This baby will grow up and reconcile us all to God through his life, death and resurrection. This baby is now the head of the church.We celebrate Christmas because Christmas helps us to remember the hope of the gospel.And we need help to remember the hope of the gospel, or the Bible wouldn’t remind us to remember it so often. What Paul says here is very close to what the author of Hebrews said in the text we saw last week ():

15 Le Fils [Jesus] est l’image du Dieu invisible, le premier-né de toute la création.

23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.

Combien d’entre vous sont parfois frustrés qu’on ne peut pas voir Dieu ? (ENFANTS?) Parfois j’aimerais tellement pouvoir ouvrir mes yeux et voir Dieu juste devant moi, comme je vous vois.

And he told us how to do this—how to hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, how to continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel. V. 24:

Mais Dieu s’est toujours montré à son peuple. D’abord il s’est montré à eux dans les choses qu’il faisait (comme les secourir de l’esclavage en Egypte) ; et il s’est montré à eux par les choses qu’il disait (comme la loi qu’il a donné à son peuple, qui leur a dit à quoi il ressemblait).

24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Mais c’est quand même pas pareil, n’est-ce pas ? Je vis loin de mes parents et de mes frères ; je peux leur envoyer des lettres et leur parler au téléphone—et maintenant je peux même leur parler sur Skype, et les voir en même temps. C’est quand même pas la même chose que d’être dans la même pièce avec eux.

Alors au bon moment, Dieu est devenu un homme—un homme qui s’appelle Jésus. Et l’apôtre Paul dit que cet homme Jésus est l’image parfaite du Dieu invisible. Quand on regarde à cet homme, on voit Dieu.

We help each other do this by spending lots of time together and by encouraging each other to remember that hope, to remember what Jesus did.So to close today I want to give all of us something to do for the rest of this day, and tomorrow, as we celebrate Christmas.First of all, adults: remember that this is no mere bank holiday. There are those who will talk about the origins of Christmas—how the church reappropriated a pagan holiday and made it their own… Who cares? In many ways it’s become a pagan holiday once again—a holiday which celebrates our consumerism and avarice and greed. So let’s reappropriate it once more. Make the most of this opportunity to remind one another of the hope that we have in Christ. Don’t let yourselves get distracted by the trappings of Christmas, and don’t let yourselves become jaded. Make the most of this opportunity to remind each other, and to tell others, about who Jesus is and what he did. Be open; be available; encourage one another to look beyond the corporate holiday and to see Jesus. And kids: at Christmas, maybe more than any other time, we need you. Your parents need you. So here’s what we need you to do. Remind us—remind your parents—about Jesus this Christmas. Find a grownup around you and bug them to tell you about Jesus. Ask us lots of questions. Ask us to tell you the story. Because that’s really good for us. Grownups forget important things really easily—we remember things that don’t matter much, like schedules and bills and what we need to get done… But we forget what’s really important very easily. So one of the best ways you can help us is to ask us to tell you the story again. If something about the story of Jesus is confusing to you, or doesn’t make sense, bug a grownup about it! Get them to explain it to you! Or, if you’re with a grownup who doesn’t know Jesus, then tell them what you know—even if you don’t understand it all. You’ll probably get presents tomorrow, and it’ll be fun. But don’t forget that we give presents to help us remember THE present—the best gift God ever gave us: Jesus Christ. That little baby was God; he created all things; and in him all things hold together; he is the head of the church; and he is always the most important thing. So help us remember that.

Alors, on n’a pas vu Jésus de nos yeux—il est venu il y a longtemps, dans un lieu différent—mais beaucoup de gens l’ont vu, et ils ont écrit ce qu’ils ont vu. Les gens qui le connaissaient ont parlé aux autres de Jésus, et ils ont écrit ces histoires pour nous. C’est pour cela qu’on lit la Bible : quand on lit dans la Bible qui Jésus est et ce qu’il a fait quand il était sur terre, on voit Jésus aussi clairement que ces personnes, à cette époque-là.

Now, why is he preeminent?

19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

On ne le dirait pas, peut-être—mais l’Esprit Saint a inspiré les auteurs de la Bible à écrire ce qu’ils ont écrit, et il travaille en nous quand on lit la Bible. Il vit en nous, et donc quand on lit la Bible, quand on lit des choses sur Jésus, on le voit très clairement.

He is preeminent, first of all, because in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. Like we saw before: when you look at Jesus, you see God. You don’t need anything else. As hard as that is for us to understand, in this ordinary human being, everything God is—all of his power and might and goodness—was contained and made visible for everyone.Secondly, Jesus is preeminent because through him, God reconciled the world to himself, making peace by the blood of the cross. Jesus came, and he lived the perfect life we should have lived, and he died the death that we all deserved, and he was raised from the dead, in order to reconcile us to God. Kids, you know what it means to reconcile with someone. If you’re disobedient against Mom or Dad, and they’re mad because of that disobedience, what happens? They show you grace and forgive you—and what happens when they forgive you? If your family is anything like mine, they crouch down, and they open their arms, and they wrap you up in a big hug. That hug is what reconciliation is like—I was mad before, but I’m not mad anymore. I love you. I am for you.This is what God did for us in Jesus. Because we are sinful and disobedient, God has every right to be angry at us. Disobedience deserves punishment. But because Jesus was punished in our place, God isn’t angry at us anymore. God poured out all his anger against our sin on Jesus, and there’s no anger left for us. And because of that, he opens his arms, and he pulls us in, and he never lets us go.And here’s why he did it:

Et quand on voit Jésus, on voit Dieu lui-même. Il est l’image du Dieu invisible, le premier-né de toute la création.

Jesus a tout créé.

21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him...

16 En effet, c’est en lui que tout a été créé dans le ciel et sur la terre, le visible et l’invisible, trônes, souverainetés, dominations, autorités. Tout a été créé par lui et pour lui.

Before, we were disobedient and separated from God; but now, because of Jesus’s sacrifice, we are reconciled to God. And he did it in order to present us holy and blameless and above reproach before him. Do you know what this means? It means that when we are cruel to someone, and they love us and forgive us anyway, that love changes us. When we know that someone is really good, we don’t want to hurt them. We don’t want to do anything to make them angry or sad. When God reconciles us to himself in Jesus, he helps us see how good he is; and that changes our desires. The sinful things we liked before, we don’t like so much anymore. The evil things we wanted to do, we don’t want to do them anymore. He sent his Son to live and die and rise for us, to reconcile us to himself; and he did it all so that he might make us more like him.

Laissez-moi vous poser une question—quelle est ta chose préférée ? (ENFANTS)

Our Hope in Jesus

So we’ve seen that Jesus is God; he created all things; he holds everything together; he has reconciled us to God in his life, death and resurrection; and he is the head of the church. That’s what Jesus did.So what do we do? He tells us here in v. 23—all these things are true for us—

TA COULEUR PRÉFÉRÉE ? TON PLAT PRÉFÉRÉ ? TON ANIMAL PRÉFÉRÉ ?

C’est difficile de choisir. J’aime beaucoup le café, le steak, les très grands arbres, les grandes montagnes, une bonne histoire, ma femme, mon fils…

23 ...if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Alors pensez à tout ce que vous aimez—toutes ces choses ont été créées par Jésus. Il ne parle pas généralement, en disant que « Dieu » a créé ces choses. Jésus a créé ces choses. Alors quand j’apprécie une bonne tasse de café, quand je pars dans la forêt pour voir les grands arbres, quand je passe un bon moment avec ma famille… Jésus a créé toutes ces choses !

So here’s what we have to do: we have to remember that. We have to continue in the faith. We have to remember the hope of the gospel. You see, at Christmas we don’t mainly celebrate family. We don’t mainly celebrate each other. We don’t mainly celebrate presents, or trees, or hot chocolate, or fun movies, or songs. At Christmas, we celebrate the hope of the gospel. This baby who was born in a stable and laid in a manger, this baby Jesus is God. This baby created all things. This baby holds everything together. This baby will grow up and reconcile us all to God through his life, death and resurrection. This baby is now the head of the church.We celebrate Christmas because Christmas helps us to remember the hope of the gospel.And we need help to remember the hope of the gospel, or the Bible wouldn’t remind us to remember it so often. What Paul says here is very close to what the author of Hebrews said in the text we saw last week (Hebrews 10.23-25):

Tout ce qui existe, Jésus l’a créé. Et voici le truc—il n’a pas créé tout ça principalement pour nous.

23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.

And he told us how to do this—how to hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, how to continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel. V. 24:

Tout a été créé PAR lui et POUR lui.

Je ne sais pas pourquoi j’aime bien savoir que les choses que j’aime, qui sont bonnes, Jésus les aime aussi. Jésus aime le café, parce qu’il l’a créé et il sait que c’est bon. Jésus aime les montagnes, parce qu’il les a créés et il sait qu’elles sont bonnes. Même ces choses que quelqu’un d’autre a fait, comme une bonne histoire, viennent de lui—parce que quand une personne fait ces choses, il reflète l’image de Dieu en lui. Jésus a mis en nous la capacité à faire toutes ces choses, alors quand on les fait bien, il est heureux.

24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

We help each other do this by spending lots of time together and by encouraging each other to remember that hope, to remember what Jesus did.So to close today I want to give all of us something to do for the rest of this day, and tomorrow, as we celebrate Christmas.First of all, adults: remember that this is no mere bank holiday. There are those who will talk about the origins of Christmas—how the church reappropriated a pagan holiday and made it their own… Who cares? In many ways it’s become a pagan holiday once again—a holiday which celebrates our consumerism and avarice and greed. So let’s reappropriate it once more. Make the most of this opportunity to remind one another of the hope that we have in Christ. Don’t let yourselves get distracted by the trappings of Christmas, and don’t let yourselves become jaded. Make the most of this opportunity to remind each other, and to tell others, about who Jesus is and what he did. Be open; be available; encourage one another to look beyond the corporate holiday and to see Jesus. And kids: at Christmas, maybe more than any other time, we need you. Your parents need you. So here’s what we need you to do. Remind us—remind your parents—about Jesus this Christmas. Find a grownup around you and bug them to tell you about Jesus. Ask us lots of questions. Ask us to tell you the story. Because that’s really good for us. Grownups forget important things really easily—we remember things that don’t matter much, like schedules and bills and what we need to get done… But we forget what’s really important very easily. So one of the best ways you can help us is to ask us to tell you the story again. If something about the story of Jesus is confusing to you, or doesn’t make sense, bug a grownup about it! Get them to explain it to you! Or, if you’re with a grownup who doesn’t know Jesus, then tell them what you know—even if you don’t understand it all. You’ll probably get presents tomorrow, and it’ll be fun. But don’t forget that we give presents to help us remember THE present—the best gift God ever gave us: Jesus Christ. That little baby was God; he created all things; and in him all things hold together; he is the head of the church; and he is always the most important thing. So help us remember that.

Jésus a tout créé.

Jesus soutient tout.

17 Il existe avant toutes choses et tout subsiste en lui.

C’est un peu plus dur à comprendre, mais c’est très beau—les choses que Jésus a créées, Jésus soutient. Il y a beaucoup de femmes enceintes dans l’église à ce moment. Ces femmes ont des bébés dans leurs ventres. Alors pensez-y : Jésus a créé ce petit bébé ; il a créé son petit corps ; il a créé son petit cœur qui bat. Et à partir du moment où ce petit cœur commence à battre, Jésus fait que ce cœur continue de battre.

Et quand ce bébé est né, et commence à grandir, Jésus fait que ce bébé continue de grandir. Et si ce bébé devient un adulte, et vit jusqu’à ses cent ans, chaque battement de cœur de cette vie sera soutenu par Jésus.

Les enfants, ça risque d’être plus facile pour vous que pour les adultes. Les adultes ont été beaucoup déçus dans leurs vies. Les choses ne se passent pas comme on veut. Et donc il est facile pour un adulte d’avoir le sentiment que même si Dieu a créé le monde, il en est détaché—comme s’il l’a créé, puis s’en est retiré les mains et dit : « Bonne chance ! »

Mais non—Jésus soutient tout. Il n’y a pas un battement de cœur qu’il n’ordonne pas. Il n’y a pas un souffle qu’il n’ordonne pas. Les liens qui tiennent nos molécules ensemble sont gouvernés par lui. Si vous avez l’impression que Dieu est distant, que Jésus est absent, c’est faux. Il existe avant toutes choses et tout subsiste en lui.

Voilà le Sauveur que nous adorons—Jésus est Dieu, il a tout créé, et tout subsiste en lui.