Scroll to 22:34 for beginning of sermon
Colossians 1:15-23
We’re going to read some scripture, and this is from Matthew chapter 16, verses 13 through 16. You can follow along as I read these verses. Matthew writes, when Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, who do people say the Son of Man is? And they replied, some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and still others, Jeremiah, one of the prophets.
What about you, He asked, who do you say I am? Simon, and Peter said, you are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.
All right, Book of Colossians.
If you want to turn your Bibles there, Colossians chapter 1. We gave an introductory message a couple weeks ago. And then last week, we looked at three principles of prayer from Colossians chapter 1. That gratitude should be at the core of our prayers and our worship. That our prayer life should be persistent and consistent.
Paul’s praying for the Colossian church, and he says, I thank God every day for you. These are people that he’s never met before. And he’s praying for them on a daily basis.
And then thirdly, that the focus of our prayer life should be on the spiritual welfare and growth of others. This morning, we’re going to look at Colossians chapter 1, verses 15 through 23. And we sang that great song about it this morning as we opened up.
Life’s Most Important Question
We’re going to think about life’s most important question. Life’s most important question. There are a lot of mundane questions that we ask.
The last few days, we’ve been asking, well, how much snow are we going to get? I don’t know about you, but I get a little frustrated with my weather app. It says 1 to 3, and then the next day, it goes to 3 to 5. And then this morning, I saw one weather report, 1 to 9 inches is what you’re going to get. How much snow are we going to get? Mundane questions like, and maybe this is male brain.
And guys, maybe you can relate to this. But I have to admit, when I’m finished with breakfast, I start thinking about, what am I going to have for lunch? What’s for lunch? There are a lot of important questions that we ask that are much more important than that. Especially as we get a little further on in our life’s journey and graduate from high school and we face questions like vocation, military, college.
If I go to college, what major? Where are we going to live? Are we going to buy? Are we going to rent? God’s will for my life, marriage or single? What about kids? What about education of kids? All these important questions that are vital to our life. But by far, the most important question in life is the one that we read in Matthew 16, where Jesus is up in Caesarea Philippi. It’s as far north as He ever got in His ministry.
And He says, who do people say that I am here? What’s the word on the street? Who is Jesus? Maybe He’s Jeremiah, maybe He’s Elijah, maybe He’s one of the prophets. And then Peter gives that right answer. No, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Jesus says, flesh and blood hasn’t revealed that to you, but my spirit has. And on this rock, which we believe is on this confession that you made, Peter, I’m going to build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. And so, we’re going to think about life’s most important question, and it really is, who is Jesus? Dr. Erwin Lutzer, pastor emeritus of Moody Church in Chicago, a number of years ago wrote a book entitled Christ Among Other Gods.
He attended the World Parliament of Religions in 1993, that people came from all over the world to Chicago, and they had like a week-long conference of the world’s religions, and it was really kind of an ecumenical movement to have all the world religions unite. And Dr. Lutzer attended that, and this is what he wrote about that convention from 1993 of the Parliament of World Religions. Let me read a couple paragraphs for you here.
What place did Christ have in the more than 700 workshops that were available during the eight-day conference? At times, Christ was variously admired, quoted, and favorably compared to other religious teachers, ancient and modern. He was seen as one more stage in the evolutionary development of religion. Indeed, He was a very necessary and important stage, but He was only one enlightened man among many.
And he goes on to say things have not changed since then. If anything, we’ve even become more religiously tolerant than we used to. What I saw and heard at that conference is a microcosm of your school, your business, and your community.
The people who left next door and your associates at work most likely believe that it doesn’t matter what God you pray to, because every deity is ultimately the same deity shrouded in a different name. A Pew Research Center survey indicated that most Americans agree with this statement, that many religions, not just their own, can lead to eternal life. Among those who are affiliated with a religious tradition, seven in ten say many religions lead to eternal life.
In one sense, that problem of who is Jesus is what led the Apostle Paul to write the book of Colossians. And if you’re hearing our introductory message, you remember that the church at Colossae wasn’t started by the Apostle Paul, it was started by a man by the name of Epaphras. And Epaphras is in Colossae, and there’s this new fledgling church, and in comes false teachers who begin to teach false doctrine about the person of Christ and the way of salvation.
And so Epaphras travels 1,100 miles from Colossae to Rome, whose Paul’s under house arrest in Rome, to talk to Paul and to get some advice and to tell him what’s going on in the church. And then Paul, in response to that, writes the book of Colossians. Dr. Warren Wiersbe in his commentary says, the false teachers in Colossae, like false teachers of our day, would not deny the importance of Jesus.
They simply would dethrone Him, giving Him prominence, but not preeminence. Probably no paragraph in the New Testament contains more concentrated doctrine about who Jesus is than Colossians 1:15 through 23. And so why is Paul addressing this? Paul’s addressing this, who Jesus is, because he’s trying to combat the false teachers that had infiltrated the church at Colossae, who was saying, well, Jesus is just like one more step of enlightenment in the way to eternal life.
8 truths about the person of Christ
And Paul writes and tells us who Jesus is. So, this morning, and we won’t do this justice, because we’re going to just simply run through this passage and think about eight truths that the Apostle Paul says about who Jesus is, eight truths about the person of Christ. So, let’s work our way through, beginning in verse 15.
1. Jesus is the image of the invisible God
We’ll just make a comment briefly on a couple of these, on most of these. Here’s what Paul says. The Son, Jesus, is the image of the invisible God.
And so, Jesus is the exact image. The Greek word is eikón, from which we get the English word icon. He is the image of the invisible God.
The likeness of Jesus is the perfect image of who God the Father is. And that’s all through Scripture. John chapter 14, Jesus is talking to His disciples, and He’s at the end of His three-year ministry, and He’s asked a question by Philip, Lord, show us the Father, that will be enough for us.
What does Jesus say? Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I’ve been among you for a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. He’s saying, if you’ve seen me, Jesus, God in the flesh, that’s the exact representation of God the Father. And so, Paul begins his defense of who Jesus is by telling us that Jesus is the image of the invisible God.
And the author of Hebrews drives that point home for us in Hebrews chapter 1, verse 3. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being. So, if you’ve seen Jesus, you’ve seen the Father. Jesus is the image of the invisible God.
2. Jesus is the firstborn over all creation
Notice what else the apostle Paul writes about the person of Christ. He’s the firstborn over all creation. Now, don’t think about the word firstborn in the thinking about chronology.
He’s talking about importance, the firstborn, importance, talking about the preeminent one. Jesus is the firstborn over all creation. Psalm 89:27, I will appoint Him to be my firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth.
And so, Jesus is the preeminent one over all creation, and that’s why we worship Him. Because He’s the firstborn over all creation. But then notice what he says in verse 16.
I love the Scriptures because it answers for us life’s three most important questions. Where did I come from? Why am I here? And where am I going? And here Paul answers that first question, verse 16. For in Him, in Christ, all things were created.
3. Jesus is the creator of all things
So, the third thing he tells us about who Jesus is, that He is the creator of everything. If you go back to Genesis chapter 1, verse 26, notice the verbiage. It says, let us make man in our own image.
And so, the Trinity was involved in creation. And Jesus is the creator of all things. The Apostle John emphasizes that in the opening verses of his gospel.
For in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made.
Without Him nothing was made that has been made. And so, we see that Jesus is the creator of all things. Everything you look at, this pulpit, this piano, this table, the pew, everything you look at has a designer.
Someone designed it. That’s true of creation as well. Jesus is the designer.
Jesus is the creator. He is the creator of all things. And so therefore when we see the beauty of creation, when we see that beautiful sunrise or that beautiful sunset, one of our responses needs to be to worship and thank God for that.
Jesus is the creator of all things. The fourth truth he tells us about who Jesus is in this text, verse 17. Let me read the rest of verse 16 because it’s a great verse.
For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities, all things have been created through Him. Don’t skip that next phrase. And for Him.
So, I was created for God. I was created to bring God glory and bring God pleasure. That’s the very purpose of creation.
4. Jesus sustains all things
But verse 17 says He is before all things and in Him all things hold together. So, Paul says Jesus sustains everything. The reason we woke up this morning is because God woke us up.
The reason our heart’s still beating is because God’s keeping that heart pumping. God’s sustaining the universe and the order of the universe. And again, that’s the last part of Hebrews 1:3. Jesus is the exact representation of God’s glory, of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word.
Apart from Christ, this world and universe would disintegrate. Jesus is the sustainer of all things.
I think that maybe you’ve seen this before. It’s an older clip by Louie Giglio.
And he was giving a conference speech to a lot of young people. And I hope you’re familiar with Louie Giglio, but he is giving a speech about Colossians 1, about Jesus being the sustainer of everything.
Maybe you’ve seen it before, but it’ll be good to be reminded of what Louie has to tell us. Louie got excited about laminin, and maybe you’ll get excited about it too, that Jesus Christ is the one who sustains the universe.
5. Jesus is the head of the body, the church
Well, we’ve got four more to run through before we’re done this morning, so we’ll keep moving along. And fifth truth about Christ here in this passage on who Jesus is, verse 18, and He, Jesus, is the head of the body, the church. So, Paul reminds us who the head of the church is.
It’s not the pastor. It’s not the church board. It’s not some ecclesiastical structure.
It’s not the pope. It’s not some hierarchy. Jesus Christ is the head of the church.
That’s all through the book of Colossians, Ephesians, where Paul’s talking about the family, and he says Christ is the head of the church. In 1st Peter 5, He is the chief shepherd. So, Jesus Christ is the head of the church, the body.
6. Jesus is the firstborn from among the dead
The sixth truth, he goes on to say, verse 18, He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead. Now again, firstborn, don’t think chronology. He’s talking about importance.
And so, the most important person that was ever raised from the dead is Jesus. Jesus was not the first person to be raised from the dead. If you read through the Old Testament, Elijah raised the son of a widow in Zarephath.
Elisha raised the son of a Shunammite woman. Jesus raised the son of a widow in Nain. Of course, He raised the daughter of Jairus.
He raised Lazarus in John chapter 11. So, He’s not the first one in chronology to be raised from the dead, but He is of first importance. Why is that? Because the resurrection of Jesus from the dead guarantees our future resurrection.
Because I live, you shall live also. Because I conquered death and the grave, someday your bodies will be resurrected again. And if you know Jesus, they’ll be created into a body that is just like His physical body.
It’ll be a wonderful, remarkable body. No more sickness, no more pain, no more sorrow. It will be just like Him.
Jesus is the firstborn from among the dead. Well, two more in Paul’s description of who Jesus is. He’s the head of the body, the church.
He’s the beginning of the firstborn. He’s the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy. So, Paul’s emphasizing the supremacy of Jesus, the preeminence of Christ.
7. In Jesus dwells all of God’s fullness
Then he goes on to tell us and remind us that in Jesus dwells all of God’s fullness. He’s emphasizing this over and over again because the Colossian false teachers were saying that Jesus is just one step to God. And no, he’s saying, no, Jesus in Him dwells all of God’s fullness.
Verse 19, for God was pleased to have all of His fullness dwell in Him. The word fullness is the Greek word pléróma. It’s used eight times in the book of Colossians because Paul’s emphasizing the fullness of Christ and who He is, and He’s the exact representation of God.
In chapter 2, verse 9, he repeats this truth, for in Christ all the fullness of the deity lives in bodily form. So, one of the false teachings that crept into Colossae and became very popular in the decades to follow was Gnosticism. The Gnostics said that anything physical was sinful and anything that was immaterial was spiritual.
And so therefore God could not have a physical body because physical things represent sin. And so, Paul emphasizes that in Christ all the fullness of the deity lives in bodily form. Now here’s how Paul concludes this passage, and Louis just summarized it in his brief talk that we listened to.
8. Jesus is the reconciler of all things (by making peace through His blood)
Number eight, Jesus is the reconciler of all things by making peace through His blood, verses 20 through 22. And through Him, through Jesus, He’s to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth, in heaven, how by making peace through His blood shed on the cross. And he reminds us before we came to know Christ, our before-Christ situation.
Once you were alienated from God, and you were enemies in your mind because of your evil behavior, but now He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in His sight without blemish and free from accusation. In other words, when Christ died on the cross, when He became our sin substitute, 2nd Corinthians 5:19 through 21 says the righteousness of Christ, the perfection of Christ gets credited to our account. So, when we receive Christ as our Savior, He looks at us positionally as justified, just as if I’ve never sinned, because Christ’s righteousness is credited to our account.
Andy Stanley asked the question; how good do you have to be to get to heaven? The answer is perfect. God is holy. Therefore, there’s the problem.
That’s why Jesus came. That’s why He lived a perfect life. That’s why He went to the cross.
That’s why He took on our sin, your sin, my sin. And when we put our faith in Him, His perfection, His righteousness is credited to our account, and those of us that were separated from God can now be reconciled to God and made at peace with Him through His shed blood on the cross. Quite frankly, He’s not only reconciling people to Himself, but if you read scriptures, you discover that ultimately all of creation is going to be reconciled.
We’re living between Genesis 1 and 2, and the fall of man in Genesis 3, and Revelation 21 and 22, when there’s going to be a new heaven and a new earth, and all of creation is going to be renewed, and the lion’s going to lay down with the lamb, and we’re going to go back to what it was in the Garden of Eden. That’s why Paul says all of creation is groaning, waiting for that day. So, Jesus is the reconciler of all.
So, who is Jesus? Well, Paul tells us eight truths this morning. Jesus is the image of the invisible God. Jesus is firstborn over creation.
He’s the creator of all things. He’s the sustainer of all things. He’s the head of the body, the church, the firstborn from among the dead.
In Him dwells all of God’s fullness, and He’s the reconciler, not only of you and me to God, but all of creation. Well, as we think about who Jesus is and what He’s done for us, we think about what it means to be in Christ. So, if you’ve received Christ Jesus as your Savior this morning, and you’ve been reconciled to Him, let me remind you of 12 statements that describe your identity.
If you’re in Christ, and I won’t quote the Scripture verses here at all, just read the phrases, you’re a new creation in Christ. God has chosen you to be His very own. You are fearfully and wonderfully made.
You can have the peace of God that passes all understanding. You have living in you the one who is greater than he who is in the world. You can have the mind of Christ and can live free from anxiety and depression.
Your God will supply all of your needs according to His riches in glory. You can do all things through Christ who gives you strength. You will be firmly rooted and built up and established in your faith and overflowing with gratitude.
You are strengthened with all might according to God’s power. God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. And lastly, you are an overcomer by the blood of the lamb and the word of His.
That’s just a little bit of what it means to be in Christ. But what is life’s most important question? Who is Jesus? And as Josh McDowell writes in his book, and evidence that demands a verdict, calls it the trilemma entitled, Lord, Lunatic, or Liar? When you examine who Jesus is, who He claimed to be, you are put into three different categories. You either say He is who He claimed to be, He’s the Lord, He’s a lunatic who went around claiming to be God, or He’s a liar.
And when we examine the claims of Christ, there’s one right response. It’s to receive Him, receive the gift of His salvation, and it is to worship. So, I’m going to close by reading one of the great verses in all Scripture, and it’s from Philippians chapter 1, and then we’re going to close with prayer.
Here’s what Paul writes, again, about who Jesus is. He says, therefore, God has exalted Him to the highest place and given Him a name above every name, that the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.