Sermon Tone Analysis

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is as always a pleasure and honor to stand before to present the Word of God.

In the American War of Independence, the famous Battle of Trenton was fought between George Washington and his American troops, against a group of German Soldiers, hired to fight for the British Empire and led by Johann Rall.

I am far from a historical scholar or a war strategists, but from what I’ve seen there were a lot of war tactics that led to Washington’s victory.

However, despite Washington’s genius, there is a curious story that centers around an inattentive Rall.

It seems Rall was more interested in partying than fighting.

One day before the Battle of Trenton, a spy handed him a note of the American whereabouts, Rall put it in his coat pocket and never read it.

The note was found after he died, in the Trenton battle.

Rall had everything he needed to find victory in that battle.

He could have preemptively struck the American forces and who knows what impact that would have had on the larger Revolutionary War.

But instead, Rall overlooked the information, thinking it unimportant.

It was right there in his pocket, but his refusal to act upon it ultimately led to his demise.

Now as Americans, we are glad for the results that happened from the Battle of Trenton.

We are thankful for the freedoms we enjoy today that trace their roots all the back to moments like that.

Nevertheless, this story of Rall illustrates an important lesson for us.

Simply having access to information does no good.

It is not until that information is read, digested, and properly implemented that gives it its value.

Today as we continue on in our series, “Living the Christian Life” in the book of Colossians, we are embarking on a 3 part mini series on the absolute supremacy of Jesus Christ.

I realize that most in this room know the name Jesus Christ.

You probably have some thoughts or opinions on who He is and what He has done.

But if you would allow me to continue the analogy from the onset, Johann Rall probably had thoughts and opinions about General Washington’s forces.

He had seen the reports and heard the rumors.

But he wasn’t bothered enough, he didn’t find it urgent enough a matter for him to read of Washington’s exact location and scheme.

This ended in catastrophe for him.

I say all of this to say, it ultimately doesn’t matter what your preconceived thoughts and opinions are of Jesus Christ.

What truly matters, is what God’s infallible Word has revealed Him to be!

The only Jesus Christ that saves is the Jesus Christ shown to us in Scripture.

That is the real Jesus.

The Historical Jesus.

The Eternal Jesus.

If anyone comes to you presenting a Jesus that is incongruent with the revealed Son of God in Scripture, or if even your own conception of Jesus is incongruent with the revealed Son of God in Scripture, then first of all beware!

Any other Jesus, is not your Savior, rather that less-than Jesus is your deception and destruction!

The apostle Paul chastized the Corinthian church for listening to false-teachers share messages about a false Jesus!

Why?

Because there is no other named by which to be saved than that of THE Jesus Christ, THE Son of God.

Before we get into our study today, I'd like to return to the final two verses from last week’s message.

I want to point out there is no ambiguity in these verses.

Paul shows us that God himself delivers us from the domain of darkness and transferred us the the Kingdom of God’s Son, that is Jesus Christ.

It is in Christ and in Christ alone that the Colossians, us, anyone, WE have redemption, that is the forgiveness of sins.

There is no other way to having our sins forgiven, to being restored to the Perfect Holy, God than being covered by the blood of Jesus Christ.

That occurs through having faith in Jesus Christ.

Historically, faith has been defined by three elements: Knowledge, Assent, and Trust.

To have faith in something, that something must be knowledge, a definition.

There is clarity in what is to be believed.

For instance Scripture says

There is a basic understanding of facts.

Jesus is the Christ, the Savior.

Jesus is the Son of God.

Faith includes knowledge of specific facts.

But it is not just knowledge.

The second element of faith is Assent.

This is not just knowing a fact but believing it to be certainly true and beneficial.

It is following commands.

The third element of faith is trust.

Without trust, faith would be nothing more than an intellectual endeavor.

Trust is personally knowing Jesus as Lord and actually, willfully following Him and living in submission to His command and desiring to do so.

Let’s use an analogy I found from the people at Ligonier Ministries, to better understand faith.

Imagine that three people are dropped without food or water into the middle of a very large field full of land mines.

Suppose that one of the individuals blindly chooses a pathway through the field and then heads off in that direction without another thought.

This is not an example of faith.

Genuine faith is not blind; it is based upon knowledge.

But suppose that a helicopter appears above the remaining two men and, from the helicopter, an interested party announces the way through the minefield.

One of the men takes this interested party at his word and sets off at once through the field.

Even this is not an example of faith.

Yes, the man's actions are based on knowledge (the interested party's testimony) and assent (the man regards the testimony as true and beneficial in meeting his needs).

But his action still is blind because it is based on insufficient knowledge (that is, the uncertain testimony of a complete stranger).

It also lacks the most important element of faith, personal trust in the one speaking.

Suppose, however, that the remaining two men ask the interested party certain questions in order to discern how he came to know the way through the field, why he wants to help them, and how positive he is that he can safely guide them through the land mines.

Suppose they also ask for references from the interested party to see whether he knows anyone they know or are related to.

Suppose they even try to test his instructions by throwing objects in the direction he suggests to see if it appears to be free of mines.

In doing these things, the two remaining men are gathering enough knowledge to decide whether they can trust the individual in the helicopter.

This trust, which is built upon both knowledge and assent to that knowledge, is what genuine faith is all about.

Such faith is not at all "silly" but wholly reasonable.

With this understanding of faith, I’d like you to turn now, if you haven’t already to Colossians 1. Today and the next two weeks, it will be the mission of this pulpit to either refresh your memory or maybe even introduce you for the first time to the REAL Jesus.

This true Jesus, proclaimed by every page of Scripture is good to know, profitable to follow, and worthy of complete trust.

He is the only one worthy of our faith and the only one through having faith in we are saved.

Let us read of the true, the trustworthy, the glorious Jesus, first looking at verse 15 of Colossians 1.

As we begin this journey through the exposition of who Christ is, we must do so carefully, joyfully, and expectantly.

We must be careful not to superimpose our preconceived notions onto Jesus, but instead see what the Holy Spirit is showing us about Jesus.

We must not shape this Scripture around our views of Jesus, but rather form our views of Jesus around the intended meaning of the Scripture.

We must do this joyfully because it is such a grace that we would be given this opportunity.

It is a joy that we get to look at the character of Christ, that we can grow in our trust of Him because He has made Himself known to us.

And we do all of this expecting to be challenged and to grow in knowledge, love, and obedience for the Lord.

With that said, let us begin engaging with the contents presented here.

We first see Jesus described as the image of the invisible God.

As we work through these descriptions, we will have to explain not only what is being said, but also what is not being said.

Like here: Paul calls Jesus the image of the invisible God.

This means that Jesus Christ is the Physical and tangible representation of the God that cannot by any other means be seen.

This does not mean that Jesus is a less than, subsequent spirit to God.

Many people deny the divinity, the God-ness of Jesus.

In fact as of just 2020, 51% of Americans in one poll said that they believed Jesus was just a good teacher, not God.

Those spreading false beliefs in the time of the Colossians promoted Jesus to be some sort of lesser spirit than God.

But that is the opposite of what Paul is accomplishing in our text today.

Image in this verse does not denote mere likeness or resemblance.

Image conveys the meaning that Christ is whatever God is--spiritual, omnipotent, omniscient, holy--all the attributes of the eternal God.

The idea that Paul is conveying with image is that the glorified Son sets forth, to those who behold Him, the nature and grandeur of the Eternal Father.

Jesus alludes to such in John 14.

In Christ, the invisible God became visible!

Jesus Christ has enabled finite man to see what the infinite God is like.

God is Spirit and is therefore invisible.