Jesus Is...

Jesus Is...

Colossians 1:15

A young college freshman at Morehouse University walked in to his first day of class and settled in for the instruction. The professor of Philosophy passed out a syllabus and explained what would be expected of the students during the course of the semester. The young student grew more and more excited as he listened to all of the great thinkers they would be studyingthroughout the upcoming months.

Suddenly, the professor changed tones and began to speak about one of the thinkers in a different manner. He said, "When we come to the section we will cover on the subject of Jesus you must know this; what you may have heard in Sunday school or at your church concerning Jesus is wrong. Jesus was a great teacher. He was a wise man. He did many good things. He influenced many people during his day and even unto this day, but he was not the Son of God." There was a long pause as the freshmen sat attentively, not daring to challenge the man with Ph.D. following his name.

The atmosphere was so uneasy that it seemed like hours had passed with the silence so thick you could cut it with a knife. Then, a hand pierced the silence in the back of the room as one young man lifted his hand to speak. The professor called on the young student and he said, "Yes, He is!" The professor said, "Now I know you've probably been told other things back home from your pastor or Sunday school teacher, but you need to know young man that Jesus was not the Son of God, he was merely a great thinker. Class dismissed."

As the students filed out of class, one of the young man's friends from back home chastised him on the way out of class. "Alvin, what are you doing? This man is the professor and you and I are just students. Don't ruin this class for the rest of us, just shut-up and do your work." Alvin said, "This man may know a lot about philosophy, but I can tell already that he doesn't know anything about Jesus. I can't just sit back in class and let him try and convince everyone in class that Jesus was something less than He really is. I'm going to speak up."

The next time the class met, the professor started in on his tirade allover again. He pointed out that the Bible was written by biased folks who believed in Jesus, that there were other people in history who were reported to have been born of a virgin, and that Jesus could not have risen from the grave. Then he said, "Jesus was not the Son of God." Alvin's hand immediately shot-up into the air once again. The professor tried to ignore him as he went on with his anti-Jesus sermon, but Alvin persisted. Finally, the professor realized that he would not go away and so he calledon Alvin. The professor said in a demeaning way, "Yes Mr. Jackson, do you have another sermon for us this morning?" Alvin said, "Yes, He is!" The professor turned his attack from Jesus to Alvin, but Alvin continued throughout the entire semester to stand up for Jesus.

Some years later, Alvin Jackson, the pastor of Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis, Tennessee was speaking at the General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). At the conclusion ofAlvin's sermon some of the people came up to speak to him and let him know what a powerful sermon he had preached. When the crowd had dispersed there was one man who stood before Alvin -- his old college professor. The man walked up to Alvin, hugged him, looked him in the eyes, and said, "Yes, He is!"

Yes He is! I've come here this morning just to let you know that Alvin was right, "Yes He is!" He is the King of all kings! He is the Lord of all lords! He is the Lilly of the valley! He is the Bright and Morning Star! He is the Alpha and Omega! He is the Prince of Peace! He is God!

As Paul sat down to write to the brothers and sisters in Colossae, he wanted them to be able to know that there is no other name above the name of Jesus. Paul wanted the believers to have the full knowledge of the glory and majesty of Jesus. He wanted them to know that Jesus was the Creator, Sustainer, and Hope of all life throughout the universe! For the next few weeks we will be studying Colossians 1:15-20, but today we will only look at verse 15. Let's take a look at the entire section of Scripture found in Colossians 1:15-20 so we can set the context for this powerful statement concerning Jesus.