Colossians 1:15-23 -
Would the real Jesus please stand up!
By James Galbraith
First Baptist Church, Port Alberni.
September 23, 2007
Text
Col 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Col 1:21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22 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— 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
Introduction
If you say the name “Jesus”, in a conversation,
you might be surprised by the reaction you get.
Here in church we have a fairly consensual agreement as to who Jesus is, but when you talk about him in the rest of the world we live in, you can come across all kinds of different ideas about who Jesus is or was.
Here are just a few of the possible “Jesus’” you may encounter:
1. “Fictitious Jesus”
- Jesus was a figment of someone’s imagination
- not a popular sentiment anymore,
since Jesus as an historical figure is very well documented
- mostly Christian sources, but also Jewish and Roman sources
2. “Historical Jesus”
- man in history, but certainly not the divine Saviour of the Christian Church
- “Jesus Seminar” attempts to render Jesus into what can be proven historical or explained scientifically
- miracles discounted or explained away, teaching edited
-what they end up teaching is that Jesus was
“an important historical figure”
- teacher, leader, self-aware – many admirable things,
and some not so admirable, such as cult leader, renegade
3. “Ultimate Man Jesus”
- most self-accomplished man, but only a man
- we too can become like Jesus if we focus our efforts on self-awareness
4. “Phantom Jesus”
- Jesus came as the gospels said, but he didn’t really become a man,
he just looked like one!
- based on belief that matter was evil,
and since Jesus was evil in no way, he could not be physical matter
5. “Prosperous Jesus”
- Jesus came to make you healthy, rich, care-free, physically fit, whatever you want, you get from Jesus if you have enough faith,
(and if aren’t all these things, it’s your fault for lack of faith, not his!)
Confusing, eh?! And that’s just the tip of the iceberg!
It’s no wonder that even those who call themselves followers of Christ don’t always understand who it is that they are following!
The apostle Paul was writing to a church that was very confused about who Jesus was.
They had bought into the original gospel message of Christ come, Christ died and Christ resurrected, but they had allowed some untruths to creep into their new-born knowledge of the Saviour.
Paul’s going to address those specific concerns soon in the letter,
but he starts by laying the foundation for understanding who the real Jesus is.
This passage is one of the best descriptions we find of Jesus in the New Testament - each clause tells more of his nature, character or mission. There’s a lot here, and I’m going to work through it clause by clause.
Vss. 15-20 Who he is
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
image – what can be seen,
invisible God – who has not been seen by man
put two together – the visible representation of what man has longed to see – his God!
- when you see Jesus, you are seeing God
- firstborn – not just reference to birth order, but to position of authority
- the first born was the one to whom authority was given in the family
- Jesus is over all creation – not a part of it but over it, just as we are over what we have made…
For by him all things were created:
things in heaven and on earth,
visible and invisible,
whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities;
all things were created by him and for him.
- not only is he over all of creation, he also played an active role in the creation - Genesis 1:26 – “let us make…”
- he was with God in the beginning, as a co-creator
John 1:1 In the beginning was the word (Jesus), and the word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
- not just physical, but spiritual creation as well
Jesus was not created at all,
he was present at the beginning of all things.
He allowed himself to become flesh in order to bring salvation to us.
It was his choice, not his fate.
He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
- some scientists speak of a “cosmic glue” that holds matter together
- some Buddhists and Aquarians have picked up on this and used this label for what they believe is a nameless force that holds the universe together
What I think the Apostle Paul is saying here is that this “cosmic glue” has a name - Jesus – and it is he who is holding creation together.
Without the presence of Christ in the world today, I think it would simply cease to be. It wouldn’t be a catastrophe, it just wouldn’t be.
And he is the head of the body, the church;
- Paul has spoken of Jesus’ place in creation and the universe,
now he addresses the place of Jesus in the church
- he is the head – the one in charge, the ruler
- we are the body, each playing a part in the overall work of the church – a thought which Paul develops in other places
- when we serve each other in the church, we keep in mind that ultimately we are all serving Christ
he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead,
- having explained his role in the world and the church, he touches upon his role amongst what Greeks believed was another world – the world of the dead
- He is not buying into the Greek beliefs, but he is explaining Jesus in a way that the Greeks would understand.
- we do this when we try to relate Jesus to people who have
nothing to compare him to –
we try to find something in their culture to start with,
and then we bring them to Jesus through it
We know Jesus rose from the dead, so he has experienced death and defeated it, making him the ruler over death
So what Greeks called the underworld, Jesus called “Hades”,
and in his resurrection he emerged victorious from it
– death has no power over him
so that in everything he might have the supremacy.
- whether it be creation, physical and spiritual, or even death itself, Jesus is over it all!
- these things have no power to influence his work, his choices
For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,
and through him to reconcile to himself all things,
whether things on earth or things in heaven,
by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
- the role Jesus played in His-Story was agreed upon by Him and the father from the very beginning
- I believe they knew where man would go, and made us anyway, anticipating our eventual need for a Saviour
The Son and the Father agreed to a partnership of equals,
with Jesus voluntarily taken a servant role
- true power can serve, it doesn’t always have to be served!
Mark 10:45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served,
but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Jesus intended all along to make peace,
to reconcile, all of the fallen creation,
back to God through his sacrifice and resurrection
Those last five verses carry quite a punch,
and trying to bring them all in isn’t easy.
I believe Paul knew this, and decided to explain why all this information about Jesus matters to us.
If the first five verses are about Jesus himself, the last three are about:
What this means to us!
Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.
- sin, which all have fallen victim to and given in to,
separates us form God and turns us into enemies of God
- God cannot tolerate sin, nor can it cannot survive in his presence, so it must be kept thoroughly separate from him
- therefore, as sinful people, we are kept separate from God, in life and in death
- and just in case you’re feeling picked on, like I’m talking about just you, relax. These verses are about you, but they’re also describing the person next to you, in front of you, your parents, Bill, me, my parents etc. etc. etc.
Romans 3:23 reminds us that :
Ro 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
We’re all in this sin thing together.
“I’m pastor Jim, and I’m an sin-aholic, and so are you”
22 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—
- the real, physical, come to Earth Jesus changed all that power sin had
- this reference to real, physical body of Jesus is a prelude to one of the main errors in the Colossians thinking
- they were becoming convinced that he was just a spiritual being, and not a real man, that he appeared real but was only spirit
- this is the early stages of a later belief in the complete evilness of all physical matter
- Paul deliberate alludes to the flesh and blood nature of Jesus to counteract this emerging error
The physical AND spiritual Jesus – Jesus of Nazareth –
suffered death so that we could be brought back into peace with God,
if we will simply believe in Jesus as he reveals himself to be.
23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.
Nothing but faith in Christ can bring us back to God.
Paul doesn’t say - “continue in your works…
good deeds…payments…suffering…knowledge…attendance…giving…
He says IF YOU CONTINUE IN YOUR FAITH!
Established and firm, not moved
- faith is made firm by using it!
You want more faith? get into situations in which you really need it!
If you’ve been coming to church for a long time, it doesn’t always take faith to come in and sit down.
Maybe you need to move past attendance and into participation,
and bring church into a conversation,
share with a friend what you think Jesus has done for you,
pour a cold cup of water in Jesus’ name,
or somehow go out a limb a bit where you’re not sure what the reaction will be.
Paul now wraps up his train of thought by getting personal,
showing where he personally sits in all this –
This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
- the phrase “every creature under heaven” is at first problematic,
since we know that not everyone has heard the gospel yet,
- even in our technological age there are still remote pockets of people not connected to “the grid”
We can read this phrase two ways –
1. it is an exaggeration used to make a point, (ie. the gospel is for everyone, not just a certain few)
or something deeper
2. - every creature will be held accountable for that which they know
- so if they only know a bit of Jesus, if they put their faith in that, they will be saved!
Either way, Paul declares himself to be a servant to this gospel message, and the glorious Saviour that it reveals to us!
Paul isn’t just slinging the word at us, he is living them,
making his life a servant to the gospel and the Saviour who brought it.
What does this mean to us today?
1. We can see the real Jesus, if we open our eyes to him.
The gospel message of Jesus Christ is reliable and accurate,
despite all those who would say other wise.
Jesus can be known. He has revealed himself to us.
He is not superman in Jewish form,
a vending machine for all our wants
or a figment of our world’s collective imagination.
He is real, tried and true.
We may not understand the whole package,
but we can know enough to put our trust in him and his unfailing love.
And we can always work to learn more.
2. We still need the real Jesus to stand up in our lives.
We, just like the people described in our passage,
are separated from God through our own sin
unless we invite him to come into our lives, forgive us and save us.
Sin is not an ancient concept, it is a current reality,
and only Jesus can give us true freedom from sin,
through his work on the cross and his life-giving resurrection.
3. We can share the real Jesus with those who need to know him.
If we do know “the real Jesus”,
we can help those who don’t know him better
It may feel like the blind leading the blind,
but as we share more about him, we also come to know him better too!
There’s no better way to get to know Jesus more
than to try and share what you do know with someone else!
And is we don’t know the real Jesus, He is ready to reveal himself to us.
He can be known, and he would love you to get to know him more.
If you want to be introduced, just talk to me after the service.
Let’s pray…
