Sermon Tone Analysis

I received one of the greatest gifts of all time.

Why do bananas have to put on sunscreen before they go to the beach?

Because they might peel!

The rotation of earth really makes my day.

Last night, my wife asked me if I'd seen the dog bowl.

I said, "I didn't know he could."

My wife asked me to stop singing "I'm A Believer", by The Monkees because she found it annoying.

At first, I thought she was kidding...But then I saw her face…(now “I’m a Believer”)

Today we are going to discover God’s View of You.

I have talked with a lot of people who seem to have a mangled misunderstanding of how God views them.

One of those people is the guy I see in the mirror everyday.

Did I Get It Right?

I grew up in church.

I prayed a sincere prayer of faith as a young boy.

But as a junior in high school I walked through the halls with a question echoing through my mind all day long.

“If I die today…for real…what happens to me?”

Upon returning home, my mom knew something was wrong and I eventually shared my struggle with her.

I was looking for her to answer my question, and my Mom wisely responded, “Jackie, I believe you understood with childlike faith.

There seems to be evidence in your life that you follow Jesus.

But only you and God really know.”

I hit my knees that late afternoon and prayed, “Lord, if I don’t know You, I want to.

I don’t want to wonder any more.”

I was struck by the Scripture in Romans 10:9 that says, “If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

I realized something that day: I needed to stop trusting me and start trusting God at His word.

I also had to come to the realization that I had a messed-up view of salvation…somehow thinking it was about praying the right prayer, a moment of sincerity - getting the formula right.

But that’s not salvation.

Salvation is MORE like a Marriage than a Wedding.

It’s about a WAY OF LIFE more than a WONDERFUL EVENT.

WEDDING PIC Can you imagine talking with a married couple that goes on and on about their WEDDING but has little to say about their MARRIAGE?

What would you say to the husband or wife who is flirting with another person, yet you confront them - they point back to the fact that you were at their wedding?

But because many people treat salvation like a WONDERFUL EVENT rather than a WAY OF LIFE, we wonder if we got the FORMULA just right instead of looking at the FRUIT of our lives.

So, let’s begin this retreat getting some clarity on the condition of our souls and ask this question: “Whats God’s view of YOU?”

2 iPhones - Using these iPhones as visual examples, which one would YOU say better represents God’s view of You - busted and broken OR clean & ready to do what you were created to do?

I find that many who don’t follow Jesus view themselves as somehow having cut a deal with the ‘big man upstairs’; as long as their good outweighs their bad, the God who loves them will certainly let them into heaven.

Consequently, they might identify their lives as being represented by the phone with NO CRACKS.

On the flip side, many who claim to be Christians act or think as though they haven’t been fully forgiven, still wallowing in their past, hoping they will make it into heaven, but only by the skin of their teeth.

As such, they don’t have confidence in Christ and identify themselves as being represented by the phone with LOTS OF CRACKS.

In just a moment, we’ll discover God’s View of You according to the Scriptures.

But before we do, let’s get a glimpse at Who Jesus really is and what He has done for us.

Colossians 1:13–14 (CSB)

He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son He loves.

In Him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

❖ “transferred us into the kingdom” Jewish people would no doubt think of being released from the darkness of slavery under Pharaoh and being transferred into the kingdom of Yahweh.

The Jewish people were further familiar with how conquering kings would remove people from their homes and transfer them closer to the king.

Remember Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, & Abednego being transplanted from Israel to Babylon?

❖ “redemption, the forgiveness of sins” Redemption is a term used of captives who are either ransomed or released from slavery.

In other words, the new master has bought the slave and brought the slave into his kingdom.

QUESTION: How is It that all this occurs?

It is through the DEATH of the Son He loves that all this occurs?

As just in case you misunderstand and think of Jesus, God’s Son, as God’s kid - Paul writes these weighty words:

Colossians 1:15–16 (CSB)

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

❖ “image of the invisible God”

First, Jesus is the image of the invisible God.

This same Greek term “image” is used when referring to

the stamped portrait of Tiberius Caesar found on first-century coins (e.g., Mat 22:20, Mk 12:16, Lk 20:24).

If you were to pass that coin around in Jesus’ day and ask, “Whose face is this?”

They would say, “Caesar’s”.

It is the image of Caesar.

Many people had seen Tiberius Caesar or his likeness on a coin, but the Old and New Testament both teach that no one has ever seen God.

Consequently, God’s people were commanded to NEVER to form a statue or coin to represent His image (Ex 20:4).

In fact, you might remember that while God told Moses to put cherubim (angels) on the Ark of the Covenant, he was to leave a blank space in between called the “mercy seat” - representing the THRONE of God, the place where God would meet and speak with Moses.

It was to have NO IMAGE OF GOD (Ex 25:18–22).

So, while Paul calls Jesus “the image of God”, one of Jesus’ closest disciples opens his gospel with this crystal clear description of Jesus.

John 1:18 (CSB)

No one has ever seen God.

The one and only Son, who is Himself God and is at the Father’s side—He has revealed Him.

In other words, the God who has never been seen by human eyes, is seen in Jesus.

Paul’s 1st incredible claim about Jesus: “He is the image of the invisible God”.

Next, Paul says that Jesus is...

❖ “the firstborn over all creation”…so what’s THAT mean?

First, let me tell you what it DOESN’T mean.

This is one of the first passages that a Jehovah's Witness will twist to try to dilute the deity of Jesus.

They take that to mean that Jesus is ‘first created’ by “Jehovah” (Yahweh is God’s true name).

In fact, they teach that Jesus was first known CREATED as Michael, the Archangel…to which I always respond, “Show me THAT in the Scripture" - it’s not there.

The early church did not believe that Paul intended “firstborn” to mean first created - as in chronological birth order.

In fact, Paul could have used a word to mean just that (Greek prōtoktistos “first created”), but he didn’t.

Firstborn does not always refer to the one BORN FIRST, but to one who is in authority over others.

Psalm 89:27 uses this same word - firstborn, referring to King David:

Psalm 89:27 I will also make him my firstborn, greatest of the kings of the earth.

Here’s what is interesting.

David wasn’t even the firstborn in his family!

Chronologically, he was the LAST BORN (1 Sam 16:3-13).

Clearly, firstborn isn’t referring to birth order but to supremacy over all others - the One to whom all others must submit to.

We might say it this way: Jesus is the “first born” = Large and In Charge!

Watch how that fits the context with the rest of this passage!

Colossians 1:16 CSB

For everything was created by Him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities— all things have been created through Him and for Him.

Jesus created everything in the universe - heaven and on earth, what is visible (stuff we see - e.g.

trees) and invisible (stuff we don’t see - e.g.

oxygen).

He created the sun, planets, moons, and stars.

JESUS is CREATOR of all things that astronomers, biologists, zoologists, botanist, hematologists, archaeologists, and lots most ‘gists’ and ‘nists’ study!!

Jesus is the CREATOR of all thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities - visible kingdoms on earth and in the invisible authority of angels - and even those angels who rebelled and now stand against him, including Satan.

As you read the gospels you’ll be blown away to see how demon-possessed people submit to Jesus out of fear.

He tells them to shut up and they get quiet.

He tells them to get out and they abandon ship!

You see, ALL thrones, dominions, rulers, & authorities…are UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THEIR CREATOR = JESUS!

Further, all things have been created through him and FOR him!

Can you IMAGINE that claim being made about YOU or ME?