Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

A W Tozer said- “what you believe about God, that is the most important thing about you.”

We could say what you believe about Christ, that is the most important thing about you.

Paul wrote this letter to the Church at Colosse.

The church there was being put in danger by a heresy that tried to belittle the character of Christ.

Paul recognised that the Church needed a proper view of Christ in order to have a proper view of anything.

In order for people to be saved they need to trust in Christ, in order for people to trust in Christ they must know that He is trustworthy.

If people do not believe correctly about Christ their soul is in danger.

John Newton, the famous hymn writer, wrote-

What think ye of Christ? is the test.

To try both your state and your scheme; You cannot be right in the rest, Unless you think rightly of him; As Jesus appears in your view, As he is beloved or not, So God is disposed to you, And mercy, or wrath are your lot.

To try both your state and your scheme;You cannot be right in the rest,Unless you think rightly of him;As Jesus appears in your view,As he is beloved or not,So God is disposed to you,And mercy, or wrath are your lot.

You cannot be right in the rest,

Unless you think rightly of him;As Jesus appears in your view,As he is beloved or not,So God is disposed to you,And mercy, or wrath are your lot.

As Jesus appears in your view,

As he is beloved or not,So God is disposed to you,And mercy, or wrath are your lot.

So God is disposed to you,And mercy, or wrath are your lot.

And mercy, or wrath are your lot.

A right view of Christ is paramount for the eternal well being of your soul.

In our text this morning Paul reminds the Colossians about who Jesus Christ is.

This section; is believed by many to be a hymn about Jesus Christ, that Paul used in his letter.

Whether it was original to Paul or whether he used and adjusted it we don't know, but we do know that it was written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Hymn can be split into two parts.

I. V.15-17 Jesus is Lord of creation

II.

v.18-20 Jesus is Lord of salvation

In this hymn we have several truths about who Jesus Christ is.

As mentioned a moment ago, what we believe about Jesus has eternal consequences and so the truth about Christ in these verses are important for each one of us here to grasp.

I. Jesus is Lord of creation v.15-17

Firstly then we will look at the first part of the hymn.

v.15-17.

The title for this section could be Jesus is Lord of creation.

In this section we find three truths about who Christ is.

We see that Jesus is the image of God, He is the Firstborn over all creation and He is the creator of everything.

The first truth.

1.Christ- The image of God

Verse 15 begins with these words “He is the image of the invisible God”

Paul begins by telling the Church at Colossae that Jesus Christ is the visible expression of the invisible God.

The word image used by Paul is the same word that Jesus Christ used in when he was being tested by the Pharisees and they asked him whether they should pay taxes to Caesar.

Jesus told them to bring a coin and said these words “Whose likeness and inscription is this?”

They replied Caesar’s.

The word likeness is the same word as image here.

On a denarius there was an image of Caesar.

Paul is saying when we look at Christ we see the image of the invisible God.

Paul is saying to the Colossians that Jesus Christ has all the attributes of God.

He is the exact representation of the invisible God in bodily form.

That is why Jesus in could say “whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”

Describes Jesus like this “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature”

This is what Paul is saying to the Colossians.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version.

(2016).

().

Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

This shows that Jesus Christ is God.

He is the perfect representation of the invisible God.

The Bible tells us that God is Spirit.

Here Paul tells the Colossians that though God is Spirit He has revealed Himself to us in Jesus Christ.

App: The obvious application of this truth to us here this morning is that if you want to know what God is like look at Jesus.

Read the Gospels.

See how Jesus had mercy and compassion on people, that’s what God is like.

See how Jesus had righteous anger over sin, that’s what God is like.

There are many today who have a mistaken idea that God the Father is angry but that God the Son, Jesus Christ is loving.

That is not true.

They both have the same attributes, they both feel same about sin, they both have the same love for people.

The First truth that Paul gives about Christ is that he is the image of the invisible God.

The second truth is also found in verse 15.

2. Christ- The Firstborn of all creation.

The second truth about Jesus.

Christ- The firstborn of all creation.

Look with me at verse 15.

“He is the image of the invisible God, the Firstborn of all creation”

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Here Paul is reminding the Colossians about the preeminence Jesus Christ has over the things that have been made.

The Word Firstborn needs to be explained.

This verse through out history has been used by false teachers to teach that Jesus Christ was created and therefore not eternal and so couldn’t be God.

This is often done by the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

I have spoken to many in the past and they try to use this verse to prove their false beliefs about Jesus.

They point at the word Firstborn and say look Jesus was the first to be created.

Maybe you have come across this when speaking to them yourselves.

But that is not what this verse mean.

So what does the word Firstborn mean in this verse when Paul used it?

Well in the Bible the word firstborn can be used to mean the one who was physically born first.

We see this in lots of verses , are just two examples.

But the title can also be given to people who were not physically born first.

In Hebrew culture the Firstborn son was the one who was the heir to the Fathers wealth.

The Firstborn would get the inheritance.

The Firstborn was classed as first in rank over the household.

The term first born then can be used to refer to a person who has the privileges of the firstborn son even though they were not physically born first.

It can be used as a title to show prominence, they have prominence over the others in the household.

We see that this term can refer to position or rank with out referring to physical birth in the Bible.

speaks of the Messiah, the coming Saviour and God says this about Him “And I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.”

Here in this verse it clearly isn’t speaking about being physically born first because although Jesus Christ has always existed as the eternal Son of God.

When he entered space and time 2000 years ago there had been a countless number of kings before him.

The verse itself explains that the word Firstborn is referring to rank, it says he will be the highest of the kings of the earth.

the highest of the kings of the earth.

It is in this sense that Paul uses the word Firstborn in and the strongest evidence for this is found if we just keep on reading.

In v.16-17 Paul gives the reason for why Jesus Christ is the first born.

He says because he created everything seen and unseen.

Everything was made through Him and for him.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version.

(2016).

().

Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

So if he created all things then he cannot be created because he obviously didn’t create Himself.

v.17 says that he was before all things.