Sermon Tone Analysis

Someone Who Get’s It!

Unfortunately, the pilot selected Romeo, 132 miles to the northeast.

Following indications on the flight computer, the pilots began an easterly turn and slammed into a granite peak at ten thousand feet.

Only 4 of the 156 passengers survived; 152 plus all the crew perished.

The National Transportation Safety Board declared that the crash was due to human error.

The navigational aid the pilots were following was valid but not for the landing procedure at Cali.

In the literal definition of the phrase, this was indeed human error, because the pilot selected the wrong radio beacon.

The computer told the pilot he was tracking precisely to the beacon he had selected.

Unfortunately, it neglected to tell him the beacon he selected was a fatal choice.

Elliot Huck, a fourteen-year-old from Bloomington, Indiana, who had placed forty-fifth out of 250 spellers in semifinal competition, skipped the National Spelling Bee.

The 2007 National Spelling Bee was held on a Sunday.

In Elliot’s eyes, the competition conflicted with the biblical command to rest on the Sabbath.

“I always try to glorify God with what I do in the spelling bee because he is the one who gave me the talent for spelling,” said Elliot.

“Now I’m not going to spell and try to give glory to God in that.”

Dropping out wasn’t an easy choice for Elliot.

He loved his time in Washington, D.C., at the 2006 national competition and was looking forward to more of the same.

Even so, the expert speller concluded, “I have accepted that God knows what’s best, and I’m just going to do what he says.”

This 14 year old boy from Indiana made a choice to identify God has his priority…His relationship with God meant more to Him than the possibility of fame and accolades...He didn’t need to find his sufficiency in fame, he found it in glorifying God…instead of placing his desires first, he chose to honor God...

He didn’t need to find his sufficiency in fame, he found it in His relationship with God

Last week we began a new study in the book of Colossians entitled Finding Our Sufficiency in Christ...

Theme of Colossians — The Supremacy of Christ

Because of the Supremacy of Christ our lives are to be focused on Him and what brings Him glory…focused on finding our relationship with Him to be sufficient for life this side of heaven...

Our text this morning is ... and it is a very important passage of Scripture...

- It leaves no doubt as to Who Jesus is.

Why was this message needed in Colosse?

A false teaching had infiltrated the church that centered on the Person of Jesus Christ...

This heresy centered on the Person of Christ.)

This heresy possessed some elements of Gnosticism, from the Greek word for knowledge...which held that Christ was one of many lesser creations from God…

- Gnosticism, which held that...

- Christ was one of many lesser "emanations" from God.

Matter was inherently evil, thus a good creation like Jesus Christ could never take on a physical body of evil matter.

- Matter was inherently evil, thus a good emanation like Christ

could never take on a body of evil matter.

God could never become a man, thus denying Christ's deity

A secret, mystical knowledge was necessary for salvation beyond the gospel of Christ

beyond the gospel of Christ

...elements of Judaism, which held that ceremonial laws had to be kept in order to be saved.

- ceremonial laws had to be kept in order to be saved.

...elements of asceticism: all pleasure is wrong...If it tastes good, spit it out.

it out.

Most serious charge of the Colossian heresy was that Jesus Christ was not God, the rejection of His deity.

God, i.e. (that is) the rejection of His deity.

In this text, Paul aggressively defends the deity of Jesus Christ against this heresy.

Jesus Christ against this heresy.

By doing so, he tells them...

he holds forth unashamedly the truth of Christ's deity.

Jesus Deserves First Place In Everything!

Read

Five reasons Jesus deserves the highest priority in our life.

1.

He deserves first place because of His relationship to God (15,19).

1.

He deserves first place because of His relationship to God (15,19)

A. He is the image of the invisible God.

A. He is the image of the invisible God.

image" (eikon) -- likeness or image.

We get our word "icon" from this word.

from this word.

Man was created in the image of God (,).

we have mind, wills, and emotion, we were given dominion over the earth...

- we were given dominion over the earth

but man fell into sin and the image of God was marred…our image of God is an imperfect of God.

- the image of God was marred

- ours is an IMPERFECT image of God.

we do not possess omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence

Jesus is the perfect image of God.

It is important to note here that he never became the image of God, but he has always been the image of God for all eternity

notice also the word dwell…to inhabit as ones abode…settled down, to be at home....in reference to Jesus, God would not share His Deity with anyone…with a created being…we see here that God is pleased with Jesus being God.

- has always been the image of God for all eternity

"express image" -- engraving tool or stamp...- the exact likeness of God's nature, i.e.

He is God.

(cf.

= cf.

"Who [Christ] being the brightness of his

cross ref- [God's] glory, and the express image [exact

ence) representation NASB] of his [God's] person [nature]."

"express image" -- engraving tool or stamp...- the exact likeness of God's nature, i.e.

He is God.

- the exact likeness of God's nature, i.e.

He is God.

"He that hath seen me hath seen the Father."

cf.

NASB "Who although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with god a thing to be grasped."

God, did not regard equality with god a thing to be

grasped."

cf.

"He that hath seen me hath seen the Father."

B. He is the firstborn of all creation.

cf.

"And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the

only begotten of the Father."

B. He is the firstborn of all creation.

This is a crucial text in defense of present day Jehovah Witness...

They look at this verse and state that “firstborn” means Jesus was the first "created being" therefore he cannot be God.

for example) present-day Jehovah's Witnesses) interpret "firstborn"?

- first "created being"

- therefore he cannot be God

Let me give you a few reasons why that cannot be the interpretation of "firstborn"...

many reasons:

Refers to rank or position.

i.e.

Christ is first in rank or position.