JESUS: SUPREME AND SUFFICIENT

JESUS: SUPREME AND SUFFICIENT Colossians 1:15-23 October 21,  2001 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introductory Probably my favorite form of presenting the Word of God is what is called expository preaching. Expository preaching is, more or less, teaching through whole books of the Bible, interrelating each individual teaching to the whole. I like it because it honors the Word by keeping it in context. By that I mean that there is far less temptation for the teacher to stray into his own stuff, because the text itself provides the outline and direction of the teaching. I also like expository teaching because it makes it easier for all of us who are studying the scripture together to stay in the "flow" of what was originally being taught by the inspired writer. Obviously there is still freedom to make more modern applications of the truths being taught, but with expository style study the Word more easily speaks for itself. There is one other personal reason for preferring expository preaching - for me, it's easier. For others, that is not the case, I'm told, but I find it easier to not have to try to decide exactly what I need to speak on each week. I can follow the outline of what the Holy Spirit already said in the text, then the next week pick up where I let off. I hope you like it, too, because we're getting ready to dive into the Book of Colossians, expository style. When I mentioned that I don't have to decide what to preach each week, I didn't intend to imply that I don't therefore seek the Lord for his direction-I do. For me, most of the time, He directs me to whole books of the Bible for expository preaching. And I am grateful, because I like it-or, maybe I like it because I am confident He is leading me in it(?!) Colossians - the Big Picture Let me try to avoid the possibility of boring you with a lot of superfluous detail, but I would like to present a couple of pertinent facts about the believers in the church of Colossae. This letter was written by the apostle Paul, who wrote more letters/books of the New Testament than any other single author. What is different about this letter is that Paul had never been to Colossae personally, nor did he found the church there, unlike so many of the cities to which he wrote. The church was probably started by Epaphras, who is mentioned by name in the letter and who had visited Paul in prison to share an update on how the church was doing. As we will see, he had some questions about some of the suspect teachings that had been cropping up in Colossae. So here we have Paul, in prison for preaching the gospel, doing his apostolic duty as he sits done to pen a letter to the Colossian Christians and send it home with Epaphras. The nature of these teachings that were being passed around in Colossae, about which Pastor Epaphras was concerned, is clear from even a cursory reading of the text of Paul's letter as he responds to them. There are a couple that stand out clearly. First, the identity of Jesus as the divine Son of God and all-sufficient savior was evidently being called into question. Paul speaks to that issue directly and in no uncertain terms. We'll touch on this one this morning and once or twice again in the coming weeks. While we're at it, we'll see some dramatic parallels between modern cults and the so-called Colossian heresy. Another related issue had to do with what we'll call "legalism". Some were teaching that being saved by grace through personal faith was not enough to ensure people would be accepted by God. They said there were other traditions and behaviors that needed to be obeyed as well. Most of these things were ascetic behaviors (self-denial, restrictive rules and even mind-over-matter stuff). You can already see, this is related to the sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice. Basically the false teaching boiled down to this-that Jesus' sacrifice on behalf of people just wasn't enough and had to be supplemented by strict adherence to laws. Another brand of heresy, which at first sounds like just the opposite of asceticism, was being taught in Colossae, and some of the believers were also falling victim to it. That teaching basically gave license to followers of Christ to live immoral lives. Paul addresses this issue as well as He brings Spirit-inspired balance to the believers concerning the place of moral behavior. There was also a weird form of mysticism going around which advocated the worship of angels and the pursuit of secret knowledge in order to "qualify" for status in the kingdom. These aberrant teachings stemmed from a mixture of Judaistic legalism, Greek mythology and Eastern mysticism. Perhaps the clearest underlying error is the fundamental Hellenistic (Greek) teaching known as "dualism". Basically, dualism is the belief that all matter (from the material world, including the human body and even the behaviors involving the human body) is evil; but all spiritual things (intangibles like thought, feeling, God [or gods], wisdom) are good. A dualist would naturally have trouble with the whole idea of the incarnation of Christ. The very idea that God could/would become a man was a preposterous notion. So these teachers clearly had problems with the basic Christian teaching that Jesus was fully human and fully divine. And that's where most of the false teaching that was concerning Epaphras started-in the attack on the nature of Christ. The apostle's methodology for addressing these erroneous teachings is not to jump in and go head-to-head with them. Under the inspiration, He wisely lays a strong foundation of truth first. You know, it's easy to get caught up in arguing with people about their wrong doctrine or ideas, and it seems you never get anywhere. Far better to just speak the truth in love, and let listeners decide on the merit of what you say. I understand it is part of the training of some federal reserve bank workers, during their training in counterfeit recognition that they spend literally hours on end doing nothing but handling money-not counterfeit, but genuine bills (twenties, fifties and hundreds). Inevitably one of the bored trainees will ask "Why are we handling good money when we are supposed to be learning to recognize counterfeit?" That's when the teacher tells them the secret-that they will be handling genuine money for four days, then they will slip in a couple of counterfeit bills. "Why?" because after handling the real thing, you will recognize that which is not real. And they do! So it is that, at the beginning of Paul's approach to correcting error about the person and work of Jesus, he sets forth the pure, unadulterated truth. Than, only after handling the genuine truth, does he introduce the wrong ideas in order to deal with them. Nowhere in the scriptures will you find a more exalted picture of Jesus than in Colossians 1:15ff. There Paul introduces the genuine truth about Christ: His supremacy and His Sufficiency. "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning ant the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross." Colossians 1:15-20 Christ in Relation to God He is the revelation of God Paul says that Jesus is the "image" (EIKON) of God. Roman passports in New Testament days would help authorities certify the true identity of a person through a notation on their papers that listed various distinguishing marks on the body of the person (big nose, deformed arm, birthmark on the right cheek, etc.) Jesus is God's "great visual aid" to the world, telling them what He is really like. Heb 1:1-3 - "In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son ins the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word." Once Jesus was talking with His disciples just days, if not hours before He was to die by crucifixion, and He said, "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father." 2 Cor 4:4 explains that Christ is "the image of God" John uses the term the "Word" to define Jesus. This term is actually one of the words the Hellenistic teachers used in their false teachings to describe wisdom. John turns it on them and, in essence, says, "You want to see wisdom? Here is wisdom personified in the person of Jesus, the Son of God!" Now, wisdom was prophetically pictured in the Old Testament as a person. There, in the Proverbs (vs 1:20), wisdom "calls aloud in the streets and raises her voice in the public squares…" 1 Cor 1:30 says, "Christ Jesus, who has become for us the wisdom of God"   1 Cor 1:24 reads - "Christ, the power of god and the wisdom of God" Read through Proverbs 8:22-36  for example, and see how Wisdom has been with God from the beginning.  And John picks up on that theme magnificently in the first chapter of his gospel: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning." John 1:1-2 He is the regal One of God. Paul says Christ is the "firstborn over all creation" (verse 15) At first blush this looks like Paul is saying Jesus was the first creature among all creatures. But that cannot be what he means, because in just the next verse he says Jesus is the creatOR of all things. The creatOR cannot be one of the creatED. No, what the term firstborn here means is "primacy" or exalted status. He is the reconciler of God and man (Colossians 1:20). That is, through Him men and women can become friends with God again. Jesus, by His sacrifice at the cross, has paid the debt we owe; He has removed the barrier of sin and guilt between us and God, because He has purchased our forgiveness. This same theme is picked up at 2 Corinthians 5:17-19 -"If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them." Thank God that, when He sent His Son to save us He really sent Himself. That is quite a mystery to us, but to God it's not a problem. He is the reality of God, God himself. Jesus told His disciples that He and the Father were ONE. They are BOTH DIVINE (as is also the Holy Spirit). This is the Christian doctrine of the TRINITY that is so well-attested in the Bible. In Romans 9:5 reference is made to "Christ, who is God over all". Jesus was the audible, visible Word who expressed the heart of the inaudible, invisible God. In the third century, Origen told of a village with a huge statue-so immense you couldn't see exactly what it was supposed to represent. Finally, someone miniaturized the statue so the people could actually see the person it honored. Origen: "That is what God did in his Son." Christ is the self-miniaturization of God, the visible icon or image of the invisible God. In Christ we have God in a comprehensible way. In Christ we have God's own personal and definitive visit to the planet" He is God come in the flesh - John 1:14 - "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." Anything said about Jesus that is different from this perspective is HERESY. 1 John 4:1-3- "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist…" There is an enormous, significant truth here - that Jesus is in relation to the Father in a very strong unity. Not only Father and Son in a way we could never fully appreciate, but both God, divine. God come in the flesh to reveal who He is and to reconcile wayward man to Himself. When the angel Gabriel told Joseph he was going to have a stepson, he said His name would be called Emmanuel - "God with us". Jesus Christ in relation to Creation (vss 15-18) Jesus is the CREATOR 1 Cor 8:6- "and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live." The Word clearly teaches Jesus is the Creator (Heb 1:2; John 1:1-3) Bumper sticker: I believe in the "big bang" - God spoke, & BANG it was! By the way, the world was not an accident or a chance occurrence - you talk about a theory that requires a lot of faith! No one ever answers the obvious, logical question, "Where did that alleged first cell come from?" In the late 1940's, Frank Sheed, a catholic apologist, author and publisher, spoke several times at the famous Hyde Park "Speaker's Corner" He was known to be devastating to hecklers who regularly came to Hyde Park to try to disrupt things. Once, after Sheed had described the extraordinary order and design to be seen in the universe, a persistent challenger retorted by point to all the world's ills, and ended shouting, "I could make a better universe than your God!" "I won't ask you to make a universe," Sheed replied, "But would you make a rabbit-just to establish confidence?" When people fail to recognize that God is the creator/owner of all things, we get ourselves into trouble. He is the SUSTAINER (vs 17) Modern science has been working steadily to try to answer the question of cohesion-what is it in the universe that holds all things together? What is the glue of the cosmos? They want to know what keeps the neutrons and protons of an atom from flying apart on their own, what energy is at work to maintain gravity, magnetism. I have an idea-they could find the guy who invented the vacuum-sealed plastic packaging for toys and cameras…he's close to the answer for the glue of the universe! The Bible says it is JESUS - that "by His Word" all things cohere. The same Word that spoke into the void of pre-existence and brought forth something out of nothing-that same Word keeps the planets from colliding with the sun, keeps sub-atomic matter in perfect balance and, if we let Him, keeps our lives from flying to pieces. Jesus is the Word of God and the cohesion of all that exists in the created order. Conclusion He is the CREATOR-SUSTAINER, but He is also the Savior. Mark it well-when you turn in faith to Jesus, you are turning to the living God. Jesus said,"I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me." This One who made mankind in His own image, watched mankind rebel against Him in sin, then sink deeper and deeper into His own evil consequences-this same One, then, out of love for those He made, came as a man himself, died in their behalf and offers to make them new again. In fact Colossians will teach us that He is willing to restore anyone back into His perfect image, if we will let Him.     [Back to Top]