Alive! (Easter 2018)
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No other King…
You see Easter is all about Jesus. And my goal in the next few moments is that you would know Who He Is, What He Did, and How You Should Respond to Him.
Join me this morning in Colossians 1 - Pew Bible ___
The book of Colossians centers on two major themes: the identity of Christ and the importance of adhering to the truth of the gospel.
Paul is writing to group of believers in a small agricultural town that was steeped in all sorts of differing religious beliefs and practices. From paganism, mysticism and bodily mutilations, on the whole, Colossi was a town of syncretism - the blending of multiple beliefs and practices.
With this setting in mind, Paul writes to identify who Jesus is, what He did, and how we all should respond.
Who Jesus Is
Who Jesus Is
15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
In these verses we learn that Jesus is Preeminent or Superior to all.
We see in v. 15 that he is the image of the invisible God.
IMAGE here implies that Jesus enables us to see what God is like.
9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Also, Jesus is the firstborn of all creation
Simply put, Jesus has the priority of position in His eternal relationship with the Father.
He was not created, because He is eternal. This is not speaking of His birth but of His relationship.
Further, in v. 16 we learn that Jesus is Creator.
Jesus is the person within the Godhead that did the creating. Paul conveys differing thoughts with each preposition.
All things were created BY Him - the power to create was in His being
All things were created THROUGH Him - He is the agent in creation
All things were created FOR Him - He is the One for Whom all things were created - the goal.
36 For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.
And in v. 17, that Jesus is also our Sustainer
• is before all things - He is eternally existent
• in Him all things consist - All that He created is sustained by Him.
So, Who is Jesus?
He is Our Superior
We are not superior ourselves. Jesus Is.
He is Our Creator
We didn’t create ourselves. Jesus did.
He is Our Sustainer
We don’t sustain ourselves. Jesus does.
What Jesus Did
What Jesus Did
Paul then transitions from the preeminence of Christ to what He accomplished in the Gospel.
He contrasts what they were before meeting Jesus to what they were after they believed in Him.
13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
v. 13 - And you, being dead in your sins
Paul is hitting on our reality before we came to know Christ. Before we trusted that He was who He said that He was.
12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
Before trusting Jesus, John says, you were dead in your sins. You did not have life, because you did not have the Son!
This is why Jesus said in
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
because you are dead spiritually, you must be born spiritually.
Those who were dead in their sin
uncircumcision of the flesh - referencing the reality of being outside of God’s chosen people
Not only were you hopeless, and dead, but you were rejected...
Paul is clear of our condition before submission to the person of Jesus - we are hopelessly dead and rejected.
BUT! - (the next part of v. 13)
He makes those who were dead and rejected ALIVE!!!
Those who were hopeless, rejected, dead - God regenerates.
He takes the hopeless and gives them hope.
He takes the rejected and gives them acceptance.
He takes the spiritually dead and gives them spiritual life!
But, HOW?
Finish v. 13 with me… HAVING FORGIVEN YOU ALL TRESPASSES!
How does Jesus make those who are hopeless and rejected and dead alive?
THROUGH FORGIVENESS
Forgiveness is defined as the wiping out of an offense.
What is God wiping out?
v. 14 -
14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
Record of Debt - two interpretations
• the Mosaic Law - That Christ took the law and fulfilled it’s purpose
• Specific Individual’s sins
Regardless it has the same significance.
Jesus took what is against us and nailed it to His cross.
Record of our debt
We don’t trust and know God as the only God
We elevate other things and people as most important
We dishonor God’s name by our words or deeds
We don’t worship and rest like we should
We don’t love and honor our parents like we should
We hurt, hate, and are hostile to our neighbor
We are immoral in our actions, looks, words, thoughts, and desires
We take without permission that which belongs to someone else, and withhold good from someone we could benefit.
We lie and deceive
We are discontent, envying or resenting what God has given them or us
This record of debt - these misplaced affections that all of us struggle with - Jesus forgives.
In this light, forgiveness is the pardoning of sin. It is when God absolves the sinner from the condemnation of the law, and that on account of the work of Christ, he removes the guilt of sin. The sinner is by this act of grace for ever freed from the guilt and penalty of his sins.
So how is this freeing of guilt and the penalty of sin applied?
THROUGH FAITH
Description of faith - Heb. 11:1
1 Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.
First, you must believe the Creator God.
1 The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.
You are created. You aren’t in charge. You and I don’t set the rules, God does.
Second, know that you are a sinner.
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.
Third, realize that Jesus came to pay the penalty of your sin.
10 for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Finally, trust Jesus as your only hope.
24 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
You see, this preeminent Jesus came to give hope to the hopeless, acceptance to the rejected, and life to the lifeless through forgiveness of the record of your wrongs.
This forgiveness is not obtainable through good deeds, or attending church, or getting dunked in a body of water, or having Christian parents - forgiveness is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone.
And if you genuinely come to Christ by faith - He makes you, who once was hopelessly dead - miraculously alive!
NOW,
We know who Jesus is - He is superior, creator, sustainer
We know what He does - He makes those who are dead - alive
So, How should we respond?
How We Should Respond
How We Should Respond
1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.
2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
v. 1 - If you’ve been born again. If you’ve been given life by the life giver. If you have been freed and forgiven - seek things that are above.
What’s above?
It’s where Christ is.
If you have experienced the life-giving realities of Jesus - then live like it.
v. 2 - Set your mind on things above - not on things on the earth.
Be consumed with eternal matters, not the temporal.
Your image, and your stuff, and the career ladder you’re climbing won’t last forever.
Set your mind (concentrate) on eternal things.
WHY?
v. 3 - because you have died.
When we come to Jesus in our hopelessness, in our rejection, in our shame in our death - the old man is crucified. The old man, the person I was before coming to Jesus is dead. The affections and desires positionally are dead.
And Christ gives new life in Him.
So, how do we respond to this Creator/Sustainer who came and died a substitutionary death and who rose victoriously over death, hell and the grave?
We come in faith to the only one
Who can vanquish wars and
breaks the dominion of darkness and the tyranny of evil
with a reign of grace and a kingdom of peace
To He alone who gave his life as a redemption for rebels
His wealth to welcome the outcast
Jesus is this One.
The king of glory, Son of the Living God
Not just another king, not just another prophet
Not just another teacher
He is the one the world was waiting for
the one who came to deliver us from captivity
The Son of David and the one in Abrahams chosen seed
He is the fulfillment of the Mosaic Law
Yahweh in the flesh
He is the One to establish God’s rule and reign
to heal the sick, give sight to the blind,
give freedom to the prisoners, and proclaim good news to the poor
This Jesus is the Creator who came to earth
and the beginning of a new creation
He embodied the covenant, fulfilled the commandments
and reversed the curse
This Jesus is the one God spoke of to the serpent
the one prefigured to Noah in the flood
the one promised to Abraham
the one guarunteed to Moses before He died,
The one promised to david during his reign
The one revealed to Isaiah as a suffering servant,
The one predicted through the prophets and prepared by John the Baptist
He is the Father’s Son, the Savior of the World
The substitute for our sins
More loving,
More holy,
and more wonderfully terrifying than we ever thought possible
He is our Jesus
And there is no other like Him.
He is our God, our glorious savior, the reason we gather today
This is the Jesus of the Bible - How will you respond to Him today?