Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction:

Last week we discussed the first three points of this two part sermon.

We saw that we can envision the invisible through the...

Last week’s points:

The Firstborn - The Preeminent Christ Who is Above All

The Founder - The Cornerstone of all Creation

The Fastener - The One Who Holds Everything Together

This week we are going to continue in this discussion.

We will continue learning about how Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God.

Join me as we read God’s Word:

Let us pray.

Prayer

Today we are going to discuss three more ways we can envision the invisible God.

The first is…

I.

We Can Envision the Invisible Through...

The Foundation (18)

Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd.

He is the head of the body - namely the church.

I am an under-shepherd.

The church is Jesus Christ’s church.

Pastors are only servants under Him.

What our church should do missionally or in discipleship or in teaching is to be led by Jesus Christ through His Word.

It isn’t anyone else’s job to come up with truth.

Jesus is the way and the truth and life.

My job is to shepherd our church to follow the One who is the Truth.

Oftentimes, pastors and other leaders in the church miss this huge point here.

Jesus Christ is the head.

This Greek word for head here, kephalē (keff-a-lay), means “one who is supreme over.”

How our culture feels or how we feel about any Scripture doesn’t matter.

We aren’t in charge and so we must submit to the one who is in charge - Jesus Christ.

Our churches must be founded on Jesus Christ and His Word.

For He is the Word (John 1).

The head is the one who directs the body and gives life to the body.

The body only functions properly when attached to the head.

Take our human body for example.

The arm normally moves when neurons from the brain fire and make it do so.

The same is true for the legs.

When the legs or arms are moving apart from the brain, it is a sign that something is wrong.

There is a neurological malfunctioning going on somewhere.

Our churches can be like this.

Sometimes the arms or legs or hands or feet start moving without direction from the head.

And what results is oftentimes chaos and even pain.

If we want to maintain unity as a church body - we must find our unity in our Head - namely Christ.

We must approach his Word with a similar humility and truly want His will over our own.

As J.B. Lightfoot once wrote:

Jesus “is the inspiring, ruling, guiding, combining, sustaining power [of the church], the mainspring of its activity, the centre of its unity and the seat of its life.”

J.B. Lightfoot

I pray that He is just that for CrossPointe!

Next we see in verse 18 the same idea that we discussed last week - that Jesus is the beginning, the firstborn, the preeminent above all.

His resurrection was the most important event in human history because it meant that all of those who would put their trust in Jesus Christ and repent of their sins could experience freedom from the cords of sin and eternal death.

Note that Paul states that in everything he might be preeminent.

Jesus reigns over all of creation.

It isn’t just one aspect.

He is above, superior, and over all of creation.

Everything relies on His power and might in order to continue.

As we discussed last week, he holds together everything by the Word of His power.

Nothing that exists is above or beyond Him.

He is not only the central figure of the Scriptures - He is the central figure of creation.

Everything exists for Him.

So how do we respond to this very fact?

Does our life mirror this fact?

Do our decisions show that Jesus is preeminent and above all?

Do we manage our time, finances, priorities with Him being the centerpiece or cornerstone?

If not, I pray that we repent and reorganize our life upon what truly matters.

I pray that our life is full of decisions that make eternal significance and not only focusing on the temporal.

Scripture References: 1 Corinthians 12:12

II.

We Can Envision the Invisible Through… The Fullness (19)

We also discussed last week that Jesus Christ is the complete revelation of God.

Here we see that the fullness of God was pleased to dwell in Christ.

This is easy to gloss over but be sure that you take in each of these phrases.

First we see “all the fullness of God.”

The Greek word for fullness is plērōma (play-err-roma) and carries and idea of totality.

This phrase means the totality of God - the complete measure of God - the sum total.

Again we see that no part of God was absent from Christ.

Although Jesus was begotten as 100% man, Jesus still remained 100% God.

Last we see the phrase “was pleased to dwell.”

The Greek word for pleased is eudokeō (ev-though-kay-o) which means pleased or take delight.

God was pleased and delighted in the placing of His fullness in the form of man.

This is obviously referring to the incarnation of Jesus at conception in the womb of Mary.

It must reiterated that Jesus had always existed and had no beginning as we have discussed already from John 1.

He had always existed as God and the fullness of God was always in Christ because Christ is God.

Yet we see that Jesus took on human flesh at the miraculous incarnation in Mary’s womb.

At that point, the Holy Spirit miraculously combined the fullness of God and the substance of man.

This is what this verse is referring to.

Although Christ was always 100% God, He came to dwell in human form at his miraculous conception.

This teaching is the heart of Christianity.

Sadly, many today attack this very doctrine with everything they have.

They make seemingly kind comments about Jesus as a “good man,” a “great teacher,” or a “great prophet.”

However, by using these terms they seek to undermine who Christ truly is.

What should be our answer to such comments from our lost world?

(Read slide here)

Just in case we missed it in verse 19, Paul reiterates this same concept in chapter 2 verse 9.

The important teaching to understand here is that Jesus continues to be fully man and fully God.

Jesus did not quit being man when He died on the cross and rose from the dead.

He continues to be fully God and fully man.

The difference is that He has a completely glorified and resurrected body now.

He is fully God and fully glorified man.

Christ now has an imperishable and glorified body.