Understanding the Person of Jesus

Open your Bibles, if you would please, with me to Colossians chapter 1.

Colossians 1 · chapter mention

! Colossians chapter 1 will be beginning in verse 15 and moving through the next 9 verses to verse 23.

Colossians 1 · chapter mention

This section of Scripture is predominantly about Jesus.

I think it's safe for us to assume or to say that any world religion that you might think of has this doctrine about the Lord Jesus at kind of the center in that they either accept it or reject it.

Their posture towards their understanding of Jesus will either define them as a follower of Christ or will define them as one who is rejecting Christ.

It's about what you believe about Jesus.

In our passage this morning, the Apostle Paul begins with,

He is the image of the invisible God.

He wants this church to understand something about Jesus and it's going to run its way through this passage and kind of fill up our understanding of Christ

to help lay a foundation for faith, for belief, and for life.

We have said a number of times, and I want to continue to bring it to our attention.

We have said, you are what you believe.

You are what you believe.

And I'm not talking about the things that you say you believe.

I'm not talking about the things that you can prove from the Bible.

I'm not talking about the things that intellectually you know to be true.

What I'm talking about is how that belief plays out in your life so that what you really believe is showing up in how you live.

That's what we're after today.

That's what the Apostle Paul is after today.

Laying a foundation for knowledge of God.

And even in his prayer, we see that the Apostle Paul is, I'm always praying for you.

I've not ceased to pray for you.

What are we doing?

We're asking that you might be filled with the knowledge of His will.

Why?

It has a goal.

That knowledge of God, faith in God, truth about God leads to something.

And he says, what's the point of knowledge?

Well, it's so as to have a walk that's worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.

Do you want that?

I tell you, I want that.

I want the kind of life that is so filled up with the knowledge of God and by God's grace applying that knowledge to life.

That wherever I go, whatever words I say, whatever people I'm interacting with, whether it's my family or coworkers or my neighbors or whoever it might be, that God is working, that His word is bearing fruit.

It's increasing.

That I'm bearing fruit in every good work.

Can you even begin to imagine what that would look like?

Bearing fruit in every good work, wherever you go, whatever conversation you have, whatever thing that you apply yourself to, that God by His grace is making you fruitful.

It only happens one way.

It only happens as we as God's people, and this is the next part of the Apostle Paul's prayer.

May you be strengthened with power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy.

That's how it happens.

It happens as we yield ourselves to the power of God working through us to carry out that work that He desires to do in the world in which He's placed us.

I want that.

And so I want my knowledge of God to match my life with God.

And that's kind of the summary statement I have here, that doctrine drives spiritual life.

What we believe will drive the way we live.

Doctrine drives spiritual life.

And so there's no wonder why the Apostle Paul wants us to understand theology and doctrine because it has real life implications in the here and now.

The day by day.

The Monday through Saturday kind of living out life.

It shows up what we really believe about God.

And one of the things that Jesus wanted people to understand about Him,

Jesus wanted people to understand that He and the Father were one.

That when people saw God the Father, or excuse me, when people saw Jesus,

they observed His life, they heard His words, they saw the outworking of His life,

then what they were really seeing was a representation,

the real, accurate representation of God who had come near to them.

Jesus says this in John chapter 8 verse 42.

John 8:42

He's talking to the Pharisees and He says this,

Jesus said to them,

If God were your Father, you would love Me.

For I came from God and I am here.

I came not of My own accord, but He sent Me.

If you claim this morning to love Jesus,

if you claim to love God and you claim that God belongs to you,

your posture towards Jesus will bear out that truth,

whether or not that's true.

Jesus, on the night before He was crucified, drove this point home.

He talks to His disciples about the fact that He's going to leave them.

And they're kind of confused.

You're going to leave us?

Where are you going to go?

And that's what Thomas asks in John 14 5.

Thomas says to Him,

Lord, we don't know where you're going.

How can we know the way?

And Jesus said to him,

I am the way, the truth, and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through Me.

If you had known Me,

you would have known My Father also.

From now on,

you do know Him

and have seen Him.

If you want to know who God is,

just look at Me.

If you want to know where I'm going,

just follow Me.

If you want to have a taste of what God cares for,

if you want to know His heart,

if you want to know His power,

just look at Me.

Philip picks up the question next in verse 8.

He's like,

Philip says,

Lord, show us the Father.

It's enough.

And Jesus says,

Have I been with you so long

and you still do not know Me, Philip?

Whoever has seen Me

has seen the Father.

You look at My life

and you see the Father.

How can you say,

show us the Father?

Do you not believe

that I am in the Father

and the Father is in Me?

The words that I say to you,

I do not speak on My own authority,

but the Father who dwells in Me

does His works.

Believe Me

that I am in the Father

and the Father is in Me

or else believe

on account of the works themselves.

You want to know

who God the Father is?

Just look at My life.

See the priorities that I have set.

Hear the words that I have communicated.

See the compassion

that I have conveyed to individuals.

Look at the works

that God has accomplished through Me.

The totality of My work.

The comprehensive nature

of My work.

Over diseases.

Over death.

Over the natural world.

The wind and the waves.

The division of loaves.

And the multiplying of the fish.

I'm over everything.

Because God is over everything.

Just look at my life.

And of course,

the crux

of Christianity

comes down to our view of God.

Our theology.

Our doctrine,

as it were.

Doctrine matters.

Knowledge of God matters.

And this was the point

that the Apostle Paul

drives home

with the church of Galatia

when he says this

in Galatians 3,

1-5.

Oh foolish Galatians,

who has bewitched you?

And that's kind of like

the word for

who has cast a spell on you?

Who has got your attention?

Who has deceived you?

That you should not obey the truth.

Before whose eyes

Jesus Christ was clearly

portrayed among you

as crucified.

This only I want to learn from you.

Did you receive the Spirit

by the works of the law

or by the hearing of faith?

Are you so foolish

having begun in the Spirit?

Are you now being made perfect

in the flesh?

Have you suffered

so many things in vain

if indeed it was in vain?

Therefore,

he who supplies the Spirit to you

and works miracles among you,

does he do it

by the works of the law

or by the hearing of faith?

Let me try to pull that together

and summarize

what the Apostle Paul is saying.

Doctrine matters.

And here's why.

Because this church

that understood

that salvation comes

through faith in Christ alone

because of the grace of God

in forgiving us,

somehow this church,

they knew how salvation began,

but for whatever reason

they thought that salvation

and their standing before God

would grow

as they continued to put on

works of the law

and this activity of life.

Somehow they're going to

merit God's favor.

theology was broken

in their minds.

If Christ was sufficient

to save

and he's the one

who has declared us righteous

not on our own merits

but on the merits

of Christ's righteousness,

then it's not our merits,

it's not our good works

that incline us to God

so that he looks and is like,

oh, hey,

you did a lot of good stuff.

Now I'm going to listen

to your prayers.

Oh, now I'm going to give you

some good stuff.

It's based upon the merits

of Christ alone.

It's not by the works of the law.

It's not by the,

but it's by the hearing of faith

that we continue to grow

in our life with God.

That's why it says,

the righteous shall live

by faith.

As we continue to know

what God says,

we continue to apply

trust in the things

that God has shared.

You see,

doctrine drives

spiritual life.

Doctrine drives

spiritual life.

And it's not just

what you know.

It's how you apply

that knowledge

to every single day,

every moment,

moment by moment.

So it shouldn't be

any surprise then

that the Apostle Paul

wants to help establish

this foundation

of doctrine

for this church.

And he begins

with the most important person,

Jesus Christ.

We're called Christians

after all

because we're built

on the foundation

of Jesus,

Jesus Christ.

So notice this with me,

okay?

Right there

at the beginning

of this passage,

I want you to see

how the Apostle Paul

drives attention

to Christ.

and you have

on the back

of your outline

kind of my feeble attempt

at trying to describe this,

okay?

He begins with

our identity in Jesus.

He talks about Paul,

an apostle of Christ Jesus

in verse 1.

That Paul is who he is

because of what Jesus

has called him to.

Not because of his own

charisma or giftedness,

but because Jesus

has done something

in his life.

Then he talks about

this church.

They're saints.

Not because they're

got their act together.

We're going to see

in the rest of this book,

they don't have

their act together,

but they're saints

because of what Christ

has done for them.

They're saints

in Christ Jesus

in verse 2.

Then the beginning

of their formation

of this church

happened because

they placed their faith

in Christ

in verse 3.

Epaphras,

who was a faithful

minister of Christ

on their behalf.

We see that in

verse 7.

And then in verse 15,

you have been justified

or transferred,

excuse me,

to the kingdom

of his beloved son

who is Jesus Christ.

You are those too

who have been forgiven

by Christ.

In him,

we have redemption,

the forgiveness of sins.

He moves on

to who Christ is

in that next section

in verses 15 to 18.

He talks about Jesus

who's the image

of the invisible God.

He talks about Jesus

who's the creator

of the universe

in verse 16.

He talks about Jesus

who's the sustainer

of all of life

in the universe itself

in verse 17.

Jesus who is

the head of the church.

Jesus who is

the firstborn

from the dead.

that because of

what Jesus has done

and because of

who Jesus is,

we can enjoy

the benefits

of his work.

And then we see

what Christ has done

in the last part

of this passage

from verses 20 to 23.

He's reconciled us

to himself.

We're going to talk

about what that means.

What does this fancy word

reconcile mean?

That he's made peace

by the blood

of his cross.

That's part

of the definition.

And then in verse 22,

again,

he talks about

being reconciled

in the body

of his death.

And that Jesus

is the one

who's making us holy

and blameless.

This is his goal.

This is his aim.

This is his purpose

for his church

in calling us

to himself.

And so as you can imagine,

these nine verses,

here we are

just dealing

with nine verses,

but they are loaded.

They are loaded.

This heavy concentration.

There is,

we're not going to be able

to scratch the surface

this morning,

but my desire is,

as we walk through

this passage,

I want you to see

how this doctrine

begins to shape

the understanding

of this church

and how that doctrine

is meant to change

the life of this church.

And it's meant

to change your life.

It's meant to change

my life.

That what we know

about Jesus

isn't meant

to just be

some mental,

sophisticated,

intellectual mindset,

but it's meant

to do something

for us.

So there's two parts

of this theology.

And I'm sure

you're well aware

of them.

The first is that

Jesus is fully

God, right?

And then the second is

Jesus is fully

man.

Man,

you are superstars.

Good job.

The Apostle Paul

wants to lay down

this doctrine

because there was

a heresy

that was taking place

in and around Colossae

and they were

kind of inundated

with this false teaching

that wanted to

kind of dismiss

the preeminence

of Christ,

this doctrine of Christ

and try to have them

aspire to know

other things

that would help

to replace

who Christ was

and kind of

fill it out for them.

But the Apostle Paul

wants to kind of

set in their mind

and establish them

once and for all

that Jesus is supreme.

Jesus is first.

Jesus is preeminent.

Jesus is all

that you need.

So in this first section

of Jesus being fully

God,

he starts here

in verse 15.

He is the image

of the invisible God,

the firstborn

of all creation.

Jesus is the exact

image of God.

Simple.

Simple point,

but so important.

Essentially that Jesus

is the embodiment

of God.

This word for image

is the word for portrait

or likeness.

To have the same form,

to have a representative

pattern.

It is the word

essentially that Jesus

is not just a symbol

that helps to reference

who God might be,

but that this symbol

actually came

in the sense

that it was

God in person.

We're going to see that

as we continue

to work through

this section.

We're here in verse 16.

We talk about,

actually verse 15,

the invisible God

becomes visible.

The God who was spirit

becomes material.

He becomes physical

and fleshly.

And that's going to be

really important as well

in this Colossian heresy

where they believe

that those things

that were physical

and material

were wicked,

were evil.

And if God became flesh

in the Colossian heresy,

since Jesus was man

in their minds,

having this physical,

material body

meant that he couldn't

possibly have been God.

And that's why

the Apostle Paul begins here.

Jesus is God.

He is God in every single way.

He is God in every single way.

He is God in every single way.

The writer of the Hebrews

puts it this way

in Hebrews 1, 3

when he says,

He is the radiance

of the glory of God.

I love those words,

the radiance of the glory of God.

He was God in every way.

The glorious God,

the majestic God,

the one that you might see

or imagine somewhere

like in Isaiah chapter 6

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

where Isaiah the prophet

is standing before the throne

and God is exalted

and lifted up.

This is the God

we're talking about.

And by the way,

we find in Jesus' ministry

there in John chapter 12

John 12 · chapter mention

that the image

and the vision

that Isaiah saw there

in Isaiah chapter 6

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

was Jesus himself.

The glorious,

radiant expression of God.

And he goes on,

the exact imprint

of his nature.

He upholds the universe

by the word of his power

after making purification

for sin.

He sat down

at the right hand

of the majesty on high.

Jesus was God

in every way.

And that's why Jesus

could say there

in John chapter 14,

John 14:9

verse 9,

He who has seen me

has seen the Father.

One commentator

puts it this way,

the symbol

was more than a symbol

here in this expression.

The symbol brought with it

the actual presence

of the object.

J.B. Phillips

in his translation

translates this

visible expression.

Jesus was

the vivid expression

of God

in a very physical,

bodily way.

Jesus makes

the invisible

visible

as he has come

to embrace flesh.

So,

Jesus is

the exact image

of God.

in verse 16,

we see that Jesus

is the creator

of all things.

He's the creator

of all things.

And this is going

to be important

especially in this

Gnostic heresy

that would call

material things

or physical things

evil.

As Jesus

is the creator

of all things,

he's creating

physical and spiritual.

And as the perfect

holy God,

he's creating

what is good.

Jesus.

And we find

the totality

of his work here

in verse 16.

By him

all things

were created

in heaven

and on earth,

visible and invisible,

whether thrones

or dominions

or rulers

or authorities.

All things

were created

through him

and for him.

You see

this totality,

this comprehensive

nature of Christ's work,

both the heaven

and earth,

visible and invisible,

material and physical

and spiritual,

all things

were created

by him.

This truth

demonstrates

that Jesus

not only is God

but demonstrates

that Jesus

is first

in priority.

The Colossian

false teachers

viewed matter

as evil

and they argued

that neither

a good God

nor a good expression

of God

could have created it

but here

the apostle Paul

wants to establish

the fact

that Jesus

who is God

himself

in the flesh

did create

a physical world

and of course

it was a collaborative

work of the Godhead

with God the Father,

God the Son

and God the Holy Spirit

all working

in the process

and as we see

in Genesis chapter 1

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

we see day

after day

after day

as Jesus

is creating

the world

the water

and the dry land

and the vegetation

and the animals

and the sea creatures

all of these things

that Jesus created

and the declaration

over those things

was

it was good.

It was good.

And what Jesus

created

was not just

good

but it

demonstrates

the infinite power

the glorious

might

of Jesus

as God

as we consider

the immense

nature

of creation

itself.

Just again

kind of

help you

understand

just a

glimpse

of this

just

consider the sun

for example

the sun

has a diameter

of 864,000

miles

it's 100

times

the diameter

of the earth

and can

hold

1.3

million

earths

in its

volume

inside

okay

just imagine

the immensity

of that

the star

Betelgeuse

which I think

is the biggest

star

has a diameter

at least

the biggest

known star

has a diameter

of 100

million miles

100

million miles

and those of you

who have taken

science

or are taking

science

what is the

distance from

the earth

to the sun

93

million miles

so the

earth's orbit

around the

sun

can fit

within the

diameter

of this

star

Betelgeuse

I mean

just

can you even

begin to

imagine that

how immense

God's power

is through

Jesus

and that's

the whole

point

that the

apostle Paul

is trying

to demonstrate

and then

just think

about this

the speed

of light

it takes

a ray

of light

from the

sun

to get

to the

earth

in about

eight and

a half

minutes

yet

that same

light

would take

four years

to reach

our closest

star

Alpha Centauri

it's

it's

it's

it's

beyond

comprehension

we can't even

begin to fathom

how immense

and that is just

the

the beginning

of the

galaxies

and the other

galaxies

that are

so far away

Jesus

created it

and it was

created through

him

which means

it was by

his power

and it was

created

through

his agency

that he is

the

he's the

the one

that put it

all in place

but but but

this really

important piece

it was created

through him

but also

for him

and by him

I heard that

too

it's created

by him

but also

for him

do you

realize

that

what

what

encouragement

that

all

things

that were

created

have a

purpose

all

things that

were created

have a

function

they have

a design

they have

a goal

and the

goal

of creation

is

Christ

the glory

of Christ

the wonder

of Christ

the majesty

of Christ

it was all

created

for him

he created

it for himself

to put himself

on display

to set himself

as the

the preeminent

one

over all

creation

and so that

in Philippians

Philippians 2:9–11

chapter 2

verses 9 to 11

we understand

that everything

is moving

in that direction

that God

highly exalted

Jesus

bestowed on him

the name

that is above

every name

why

so that the name

of Jesus

every knee

should bow

in heaven

and on earth

and under the earth

and every tongue

will confess

that Jesus

Christ

is Lord

to the glory

of God

the Father

everything

was created

for him

created

for his

benefit

and then we find

in verse 17

that Jesus

is the sustainer

of all things

he's the sustainer

of all things

notice this

and he is

before all things

and in him

all things

hold together

they hold together

the fact that

Jesus is before

things

it relates

to chronology

that he stands

before creation

in terms of time

that he was there

at the beginning

all things were created

by him

and for him

and we find that

there in John

John 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1

the word

was from the beginning

and all things

were made by him

there wasn't anything

made that was

not made by him

Jesus is before

those things

he's preeminent

he's supreme

he's obviously

then the most glorious

and the fact that

all things hold together

by his power

has so many

so many important

correlations for us

we could talk about

laws of thermodynamics

the first and second

law of thermodynamics

we could talk about

entropy

and essentially

entropy is kind of

the downgrade

of energy

we know that

energy can't be

created or destroyed

but entropy

would say

that even when

energy is not

destroyed

it kind of moves

to more disorder

it turns to heat

it's not as usable

as it once was

and so

as the course

of history

will go by

less and less

energy is usable

but even in this

we understand

that God

is holding

things together

Jesus submitted

to the Father

he depended

upon the Spirit

he sustains

the natural

order of things

that Jesus

is holding

things together

so that

even though

the world

might want

to tell you

that things

are coming apart

that the truth

and the doctrine

of Christ

help us know

he's holding it

together

he sustains it

let me give you

an example

Genesis chapter 8

Genesis 8:22

verse 22

this is

Noah comes

right off the ark

there's a

flood that's

taking place

God has

destroyed the world

and judged the world

because of their sin

and God wants

Noah to understand

not only

is he not going

to destroy the world

the same way

but the world

is going to be

preserved

he says

while the earth

remains

seed time

in harvest

cold and heat

summer and winter

day and night

shall not

cease

I don't know

what your view

of global warming

is

I don't know

what your view

on all of these

things might be

that our world

is running out

but here is

the truth

of God

no

sorry

Christ

is sustaining

it all

by the power

of his hand

now it doesn't

mean that we

shouldn't steward

the world

it doesn't mean

that we don't

care about

how we take

care

and this

delegated

authority

that Christ

has given

to us

the stewardship

over this

world

but we don't

have to be

afraid

that seasons

are going

to go away

that cold

is going

to go away

because

seed time

and harvest

cold and heat

summer and winter

it's going to

stay around

and not

because we're

doing anything

about it

but because

Christ

has committed

himself

to sustain

the world

he holds

it together

and then

this is

fascinating

and I'm

sorry for

all the

science

lessons

I want

to put

this little

graphic

up here

and deal

with it

as briefly

as I can

this is

for free

okay

and maybe

some of you

students

can tell

your parents

so you got

your science

lesson on

Sunday

so then

you don't

have to

do homework

this week

in science

I don't

know

it's worth

a try

so this

is just

a model

right

of an

atom

right

and you

see

in the

center

of that

model

there's

a nucleus

the nucleus

has protons

and neutrons

it has

positively charged

particles

and those

that are not

charged at all

and then

spinning around

in kind

of this

cloud

of electrons

these

negatively

charged

particles

that are

driving around

this thing

kind of help

forcing all

this stuff

together

and scientists

still can't

understand

how an atom

stays together

they have

some theories

but then

what blows

it apart

is when

you only

have a

proton

and a

neutron

and not

electrons

they just

can't figure

it out

they're like

the world

should be

blowing up

right now

but guess

what

it's not

and there's

a reason

it's not

because Christ

is holding

it together

now

here's

something

that's also

really fascinating

there is

so much

space

between

electrons

and

the

nucleus

that

there's

not

like

any

real

good

reason

why

we

shouldn't

just

fall

why

you

shouldn't

fall

through

your

pew

right now

because

of all

the

space

in the

atoms

that are

in

the

structure

of your

pew

and the

atoms

that are

making up

your physical

body

and I

want to

just

kind of

make this

really

relevant

as you're

thinking about

this

imagine

Mount Everest

for a moment

okay

Mount Everest

stands at

29,000

feet

that's

five and a

half miles

tall

now

it's volume

the volume

of Mount Everest

is between

1.3

and 1.5

cubic

meters

hold that

to one

side

it's

20 times

the height

of the

Empire State

Building

you can stack

20 Empire State

Buildings

from bottom

to top

20 times

within

Mount Everest

to get

the whole

height

and

there's

1 million

cubic meters

of volume

in

an Empire State

Building

which means

you can fit

1.3

to 1.4

million

Empire State

Buildings

within the

volume of

Mount Everest

okay

you got that

that's like

that's big

that's a big

number

I can't even

wrap my head

around that

number

but

if you were

to collapse

protons

and neutrons

and electrons

all of the

atoms

all of the

molecules

of Mount

Everest

so that

there wasn't

any space

between them

what you

would be

left with

could fit

in an

8 ounce

cup

in front

of you

Mount Everest

in an

8 ounce

cup

collapsing

all the

space

between

electrons

neutrons

and protons

collapse

together

no space

left

and you

wouldn't

be able

to hold

it

obviously

it

could

be

contained

in the

space

of

an

8 ounce

cup

Jesus

is holding

the

universe

together

alright

moving

forward

and I

need to

do this

more

quickly

verse 18

he is

the head

of the

church

he's

the head

of the

church

and what's

amazing

about this

is the

church

as you

know

is made

up of

people

and people

are made

up of

both

a physical

peace

and a

spiritual

peace

and so

God is

over

Jesus

is over

the physical

material

world

and also

the spiritual

world

even as it

relates

to the

church

and as

one who

is head

he is the

one from

whom we

get our

identity

he is the

one from

whom we

follow

instructions

he's the

one who

calls the

shots

we're going

to talk

more about

Jesus

as the

head

of the

church

as we

continue

to move

our way

through

this

letter

but

Paul

wants

this

church

to

understand

Jesus

is first

Jesus

is supreme

Jesus

is head

follow

Jesus

you get

your identity

from him

and then in

verses 19

and 20

Jesus

is the

fullness

of God

the fullness

of God

this word

this Greek

word

pleroma

was a

term

that was

used

by the

Gnostics

to refer

to divine

powers

and attributes

which they

believed

were disseminated

and divided

among various

emanations

of God

so all

of the

different

revelations

of God

wherever

they might

be

the power

of God

is kind

of divided

among them

and the

apostle

Paul says

no

it is not

disseminated

it's not

distributed

it's a

power

that is

fully

contained

in Jesus

and in

Jesus

alone

he has

the composite

power

of all

of God

contained

within

himself

the totality

the full

measure

of deity

the measure

of that

glorious

power

is resident

in Jesus

alone

everything

that God

is

Jesus

is

Jesus

isn't

an incomplete

version

of God

Jesus

is the

representation

of God

and through

his

power

we find

that he

reconciled

all things

to himself

we see

that

verse 18

he is the

head of

the body

the church

he is the

beginning

the firstborn

from the dead

that in

everything

he might

be

preeminent

for in

him

all the

fullness

of God

was pleased

to dwell

and through

him

to reconcile

to himself

all things

whether on

earth

or in

heaven

making peace

by the

blood

of his

cross

that Jesus

in his

power

and for

his purpose

that all

things

exist

for him

Jesus

was the

one

who through

the power

of God

reconciled

all of

broken

humanity

and all

of fallen

creation

he reconciled

it back

to himself

this word

reconcile

is to

is to

make friends

that the

hostility

the enmity

the

the

the division

that we

experience with

God because

of our sin

has been

corrected

and resolved

in Jesus

of course

we know

Romans chapter

five verse

one

where it

says

therefore

since we

have been

justified

by faith

we have

peace

with God

through our

Lord Jesus

Christ

Jesus is

the one

who made

peace with

God

possible

he paid

the debt

of sin

that we

deserved

he's made

peace with

God

available

through

his

penalty

of sin

the sacrifice

that he

made

and inviting

us into

faith in

Christ

and forgiveness

if we had

time we would

talk about how

all things

doesn't just

relate to

humanity

but that all

things also

relates to

creation

that just

as the fall

severed

relationship

between man

and God

and the

fall had

implications

on humanity

we know

as we look

back to

Genesis chapter

Genesis 2 · chapter mention

2

and Genesis

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3

it had

implications

across

creation

in totality

right

we know

that in

the animal

kingdom

the serpent

was forced

to crawl

on his

belly

we know

that in

the kingdom

of the

earth

the thorns

and the thistles

would grow

and we know

that pain

would come

to Eve

in her

childbearing

it would

come

to Adam

and his

working

it affected

the totality

of creation

described for us

in Romans

Romans 8:19

chapter 8

verse 19

it says

for the creation

waits

with eager

longing

for the revealing

of the sons

of God

for the creation

was subjected

to futility

not willingly

but because of

him who subjected

it in hope

that the creation

itself will be

set free

from its bondage

to corruption

and obtain

the freedom

of the glory

of the children

of God

there's a lot

there

but just in

summary

that when

Jesus died

on the cross

he made it

possible

for humanity

to be reconciled

to him

and also

to creation

to be restored

once again

to its rightful

condition

possible because

of what Jesus

accomplished

I want to

just pause

for a moment

to consider

we have the

truth of Jesus

being preeminent

we have the

truth of Jesus

being God

what does that

mean for us

tomorrow

when we say

that Jesus

is preeminent

we can ascribe

that truth

we can see

that truth

what does it

mean

how does that

play out

what does that

do for you

tomorrow

when you think

about Jesus

is preeminent

I want to just

begin with this

it begins

with your posture