[Start the sermon with Scene 3 from the movie, The Passion of the Christ]. There are innumerable connections between the Old Testament and the New Testament, especially as it concerns the Lord Jesus. This scene from the movie, The Passion of the Christ relates part of the suffering of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane just before He was arrested. In this scene, a powerful connection is made between the first promise of salvation from the Old Testament – Genesis 3.15 – and the suffering and torment of Jesus in Gethsemane. As we see Jesus crush the head of the snake, we are powerfully connected to the very first Gospel Lesson given by the Lord God when He told the serpent, “I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and hers. He will crush your head, but you will strike his heel.”
Another issue that we face is simply the notion that God seems so abstract for us that it is difficult to relate to His promises of being constantly with us. When Jesus says, “I will be with you to the very end of the world,” (Mat 28.20b) it is hard for us to relate to that because we want a Jesus with skin. Here’s where a relationship with Christ through his Word can become powerfully tangible and real to us.
As we saw last week, both the Old and New Testament have one central message and focus, Jesus Christ. That is what the Bible’s main message is all about. Martin Luther, in fact says: The Bible is the cradle where Christ is laid. It is the Bible that brings us the Christ and that lets us look upon Him and get to know Him. That is a powerful role for the Bible. Another way of saying this is: “The Bible is the manger in which the baby Jesus lies.”
The Bible is the vehicle that brings Jesus to us. That is why God gave us the Scriptures. Saint John tells us: “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” (1 John 5.13) And Saint John also writes: “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20.31) And Saint Paul writes: “From infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 3.15)
The Bible opens us a richer fuller relationship with Christ for us. We can come to know our maker and Creator more intimately by connecting to Him in his Word. He will veritably jump out off the pages of Scripture for us. But there are some things that we do need to be careful about. First – it is Christ – the living Word - that we worship. We do not worship the vehicle that brings us Christ – that is the pages and the ink and the binding of the Bible. We have to be careful not to let our love and reverence for God’s Word to turn into reverence for the physical book – that would be idolatry.
Another concern we must engage is to understand that we have lots of information coming at us in the Bible. Some portions of the Bible are beautiful and full testimonies full of truth about Jesus. However, there are portions of the Bible that do not speak as clearly to the role of Christ. When portions of the Bible do not point to Christ or reveal who Jesus is, these sections of the Bible are simply not to be considered as important as those that do.
My hope today is to introduce you to this picture of Christ in the Scriptures: Jesus Christ the eternal Word through Whom everything was made. To do this, let’s open our Bibles to Genesis, chapter one. That is where everything starts. In fact, the very first words of Scripture are: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1.1) This refers to the time before any human eye was around to record or to investigate. In the verses that follow, we get to see how God engaged the task of Creation. I’d like for us to focus more on the “How” – that is the process God used rather than the “What”. To do this, I’d like for us to zero in on a few words repeated time and again:
• Gen 1.3: AND GOD SAID ... and there was light! (day & night) – day 1
• Gen 1.6: AND GOD SAID ... and the waters were divided! (Expanse separates the waters above from the waters below) – day 2
• Gen 1.9: AND GOD SAID ... and the water and land were divided! (sea & land & vegetation) – day 3
• Gen 1.14: AND GOD SAID ... and sun, moon and stars were put in place! – day 4
• Gen 1.20: AND GOD SAID ... sky populated (birds, etc.) and seas filled (teeming fish)! – day 5
• Gen 1.24: AND GOD SAID ... and filled the land with living creatures, including the first people! God gave dominion to of the Creation to man. – day 6
Here, in Genesis, we have an account of how everything came to be. We see that God was involved first-hand in the Creation of the world and that it was not an accidental process. God spoke everything into being. His will and creative power were effected by things God speaking them into existence. So, everything that is came into being through the Word of God!
But, what is this Word of God? How can we wrap our hearts and minds around this concept? Maybe the best way to do this is to see what the Apostle John writes about this at the beginning of his Gospel. Let’s read the first three verses of the Gospel of John:
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. (John 1.1-3)
Here, in John’s Gospel, we have God’s Word spoken of in a different way than in Genesis. It is personified. It is given an identity. The Word, or the Logos, is described here as more than simply divine self-expression. It is, in fact, closely tied to the person of Jesus Christ. So we begin to see that Jesus Christ is the Logos – the Word – that was there right at the beginning of time, pre-existent, and the active power through Whom everything was made! The identity of Christ as the eternal Logos is nailed as we look at this part of Scripture. Verse 14 speaks to this and leaves no room for doubt: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1.14)
So now, after reading the Apostle John’s testimony about Christ, we have a clearer concept of what happened at the beginning. We see that the “Logos” – Jesus Christ – was the active and powerful force that effected Creation. He is God’s Word and the power that brought everything into existence! And that Word has an identity and a name – Jesus Christ.
Does any other part of Scripture speak to this? The answer is, “Yes!” Let’s take a look at how Saint Paul talks to this in Colossians:
Col 1.15-17: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 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. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”
Many Bibles include a subheading just prior to this section of Scripture and it is usually titled, “The Supremacy of Christ.” It speaks to Jesus’ identity and to his role in the Creation. We read that Jesus is the image of the invisible God. He isn’t just a man – nor just a person who died on a Cross. He is God Almighty Who became like us to die on the Cross. (v15) We read how Jesus is the Creator. (v16) And we read about how, even now, all things hold together in Him. (v17)
One day, while reading about the notion that in Jesus all things hold together, it occurred to me that this is quite an incredible passage. You see, it took me back to the Chemistry courses that I took in college. I remembered that when the atom was described, we were told that the nucleus of the atom was made up of protons and neutrons. (Like charges are supposed to repel. - What holds all these positive charges together?) In Chemistry classes, the explanation given was simply that there is a “strong nuclear force” that keeps the nucleus of the atom together. In fact, when this nuclear force is released it has the potential to create a chain reaction called a “nuclear explosion”. (Conversation with Dr. Mason Okubo – PhD Physicist turned theologian.)
Now, think about this – the Scriptures tell us that it is Jesus – the Logos who holds all things together. What if Jesus lets go? What would that look like? Maybe we can look to the testimony of scripture for that: 2Pe 3.10-12:
“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.”
Now – I’m not teaching this as a doctrinal treatise, friends, I’m simply pointing out to you how in the Scripture we can get a fuller understanding of who Jesus is and how the Scriptures are, indeed, the cradle that brings us Jesus Christ!
What a blessing to have a Savior who is that powerful. Importantly, what a Savior Who loves us that much. Having all this at his disposal, Jesus chose the way of the Cross, for you and for me!!
Ok, two more quick passages:
• 1Jn 1.1: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.”
Just another perspective of Jesus the “Word of Life” – our Savior Who was there from the beginning!
• Rev 19.11-16: “I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. "He will rule them with an iron scepter." He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.”
Here we see Jesus presented as, “The Word of God”. We see the image of the sharp sword – a picture of the power of God’s Word – power to save, power to defend, power to destroy its enemies. And we see one more picture of Christ: King of kings and Lord of lords.
Let’s bring today’s lessons to a conclusion. The points that I want to make sure that we take away are these: 1) We meet Jesus in the Bible! The Bible is the Cradle that brings Jesus to us. It is full – through and through – with Christ and his role in our lives. And, 2) When you spend time in the Bible, it is Your Time with Christ! Want to know Jesus better – look for Him where He can be found!! Make time to spend time with Jesus, our loving Savior. Amen.
