Embracing the Eternal Jesus: A Journey into His Identity

Well, good morning, good morning worship team.

Thank you all so much for leading us.

Braden, thanks for being here over at this campus with us today.

Kids, why don't y'all head down the hall?

Let's give it up for our kids Is.

They're rolling out this morning And as our kids are heading out, let's pray together today.

Father, we thank you.

We thank you for your goodness and your grace.

God, we thank you that your mercies are new every morning.

We thank you that you hear us when we pray.

You hear us when we worship.

You have your eyes on us, father.

That's true for every single one of us in the room today.

You see us, you know us, you love us and you're calling us on this path called discipleship, with the goal of helping us to become more like Jesus every single day.

So, father, as we open your word today, we ask now that, by the power of your spirit, you would speak to us.

Help us to tune out distractions, to put aside the narratives that maybe have been swirling in our mind all week, or the lies that the enemy is trying to feed into our heads.

Father, help us today to hear your voice louder than anything else, so we can know the way that you're calling us to walk.

God, we love you and we thank you in Jesus' name, amen.

We've got one goal today.

One goal We're gonna ask and answer one simple question.

Do me a favor it's 9.20 in the summer Say one question, there we go, there we go.

So that's a little trick I use with youth all the time Make sure they're focused, awake, you know, not playing video games on their phone.

They tell me they're taking notes, but I know better, you know.

So, one question, one question here.

It is Who is Jesus?

One question who is Jesus?

Now, if you've been in church the second, you hear that question, you're like well, i know who Jesus is.

I've heard about him my whole life.

But my challenge to you, whether you think you know exactly, you probably could preach this better than I could today.

You probably can, that's probably true.

But lean in anyway And let's see what Paul tells us today about Jesus, because what Paul wants us to understand is that as we know more of who Jesus is, we will trust him more.

As our knowledge of his character and his person increases, so does the strength of the relationship.

Let me let me try to illustrate it.

So two boys at my house.

They're six and three Noah and Judah It's chaos, wwe 99% of the time.

The other time they're sleeping And there's this new thing that they do.

I don't know where Noah learned it, but he learned it and he will say trust, fall.

And whatever he's on or climbing he will fall off of, with the understanding that when he says dad, trust, fall, he's trusting me, that when he falls I'm gonna catch him.

He's done it off the side of my truck.

He's done it out of the Magnolia tree in the backyard.

He's done it off the play set.

It's like, hey, dad, trust, fall.

And then he's like I got two seconds to get there And yesterday it progressed a little bit because he taught his brother.

And now, like you know, noah, as Noah's gotten older, he's gotten a little more like self-awareness.

He's a little more aware of his mortality.

You could say Like he doesn't like pain, you know.

And so he's at least gonna like make sure I'm looking before he falls.

He's gonna say trust, fall.

Then he's gonna like watch to make sure I'm at least moving toward him.

Judah, yesterday, he's on his bunk bed.

We have bunk beds in the room, probably not the best idea.

They're way too close to the ceiling fan and all sorts of other objects.

But Judah's on the top bunk and he's like, hey, dad Noah taught me this trust fall.

And he rolls over the rail on the top bunk and I called him like as he's just dropping, and I'm like, wow, don't tell your mom about that one, you know.

But like that's a new phenomenon, it's really interesting.

And here's what I hope.

I hope that the reason both of those little fellas feel confident in their trust fall is because they know that dad is gonna catch them.

They know I want what's best for them.

They know I want to protect them and keep them safe.

They know that I love them And so when they call my name and they say, trust fall, i'm trusting you literally with my life.

They're counting on me to get there.

I hope I'm not sure, but I hope they wouldn't just randomly point at somebody out and about and be like, hey, trust fall.

Because outside of the context of a deep, abiding family relationship, the idea of a trust fall is a little bit frightening, right.

But because the boys know that I'm their dad and there's this relationship, there's this history there, there's this experience there, they know what I've said and then they know that we love each other and I'm with them.

They feel confident in falling off of whatever object they're currently climbing.

And see, that's what Paul knows too that trusting Jesus comes from walking with Jesus, from knowing Jesus, from learning about his character, learning about who he is.

On the flip side, when we lose sight of who Jesus is, we will struggle to trust what he says.

When we know Him and we know who He is and our eyes are fixed on and we're remembering His goodness and His grace and His mercy, our trust will increase.

But when the noise of the world gets louder, the volume of the enemy and our minds gets turned up and we lose sight of who Jesus is, we forget for a moment, like we all do, that He is the Savior, he does want what's best, he is speaking to us, he is leading us, he is our shepherd.

When we forget, we'll have a hard time trusting what He says.

So last week we said that on this journey of discipleship, this path of discipleship, that Jesus is both the starting point and He's the center as we go.

So He's the access point to this path of life and He's also the fuel for our continued growth.

And today, as we look at Colossians 1,.

Paul wants us to know who Jesus is.

If he's gonna be the starting point to this new life and if he's gonna be our fuel on this journey, we need to know who He is.

We said last week that discipleship is this journey of head, heart to hands.

In other words, we need to know some things, develop some conviction about some things, so that then we can live in obedience Head, heart, hands And today it's gonna be a lot of head and heart on the front end, but we're gonna get to the hands at the end.

Paul wants us to know some facts about Jesus, to know some truth about His character, so we can develop some conviction in our hearts that will then impact how we live.

So Colossians, chapter one we're gonna read 15 through 23.

Or if you're ready, say ready, here we go, i'll tell you what, i'll tell you what.

Let's stand while we read this, if you're able this morning I feel like this is a good stand in church and read type of scriptures.

This is what Paul says about Jesus.

He, jesus, is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, for 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, and He is before all things and in Him all things hold together.

And Jesus is the head of the body, the church, He's the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything He might be preeminent, that He might have the highest place, the place of honor, for in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell and through Him, to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on heaven or on earth, or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross.

And you who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds.

Jesus has now reconciled in His body of flesh by His death, in order to present you wholly and blameless and above reproach before Him.

If indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, paul, became a minister, you can have a seat this morning Head, heart, hands.

Another way to describe this process of discipleship could be information, revelation and transformation.

We learn some facts, so God can reveal Himself to us in a way that challenges us and convicts us, and confronts us and calls us to a deeper faith, and then we are transformed into the image of Christ in the earth.

I heard somebody describe the process of preparing to teach scripture as like wrestling and octopus to the ground and putting it in a straight jacket, And this passage is one of those that kind of feels like that, like there's a lot happening in this passage.

We could spend days and days talking about the theology of Jesus that Paul is giving us here, but today what I wanna do for the next 20, 25 minutes, i wanna give you four he is statements that Paul makes about Jesus, and then we're gonna talk about the and you Four he is, is and an and you for us this morning.

The first he is that Paul gives us here is in verse 15.

Paul says that he is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

Who is Jesus?

Jesus is the image of the invisible God.

He's the God that is beyond our comprehension and our understanding, the God of the Old Testament who told Moses you cannot look at me and live.

Jesus is the invisible God, made visible.

Isn't that powerful?

I mean, can you imagine being in Jerusalem a couple thousand years ago and walking to the market one day to get your food for the day And all of a sudden you hear this stirring in the city and somebody's like hey, this carpenter out of Nazareth is coming.

Who's this carpenter?

What's he about?

Well, there's these stories about him doing miracles, healing people, and he's teaching the Torah, the law, in ways we've never heard.

And there's a rumor going around that he even thinks that he's God.

Eugene Peterson, translating John chapter one, says that the word became flesh and moved into the neighborhood.

I love that.

Right Like this is the invisible God living next door.

He's come near, he's come close.

God did not look at humanity in our brokenness and stay far off, but God came on a rescue mission to the planet.

God put on skin and bone and moved in to the neighborhood.

The invisible God is made visible in the person of Jesus.

Who is Jesus?

Jesus is the eternal, uncreated God made flesh.

John chapter one.

It starts.

John says it like this In the beginning was the word, the Greek word.

There is the Lagos, and the Lagos.

The word was with God and the word was God.

He was in the beginning with God.

All things were made through him and without him was not anything made that was made.

So what John and Paul are agreeing on here is that that this Jesus, who put on flesh and moved into the neighborhood 2000 years ago in the Middle East, has always existed.

He's always existed.

He's eternally existent.

He was not created in the sense that you and I were created, that the heavens and the earth were created.

He's always been God.

He'll always be God.

There's a doctrine that develops from the scriptures, called the doctrine of the Trinity.

It's how God has revealed himself to us And again, we could spend hours and hours talking about this this morning.

But what we know about God from his self-revelation in scripture is that God is Father, son and Spirit.

One God eternally existent in three persons.

Now, there's been some discussions about this throughout the ages.

This was a big source of discussion and controversy in the early church as they tried to wrestle with that, because, let's just be honest, it's beyond our comprehension.

One God existent eternally in three persons.

Every human metaphor falls short to describe that.

You know whether you're talking about the ice, water vapor metaphor, like.

If you start putting metaphors on God as Trinity, you end up in heresy really, really quickly.

So our responsibility is to operate in this realm by faith, seeking understanding, right.

We believe God is three in one one person, three persons, one essence eternally existent.

And one day, when we see him face to face, he can explain it.

But what's true and what's clear is that all the way back in Genesis, this is who God is.

John says it in John one.

Paul says it in Colossians one.

Genesis is clear In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Verse two the spirit of God hovered over the surface of the waters.

Genesis one, 26 and 27,.

God said let us make man in our image.

Who is us?

Well, it's Father, son and Spirit.

So when Paul says that Jesus is the invisible God made visible, what he is telling us is that Jesus, who has existed eternally as the Son of God, he's uncreated with no beginning, no end.

He's come to this planet to show us who God is.

If you wanna know what God is like, look at Jesus.

If you wanna know how God thinks of you, look at Jesus.

If you wanna know how God would act if God were walking on this planet, look at Jesus.

He's fully God and he's fully man, and we'll talk more about that in just a moment.

He's the eternal, uncreated.

God made flesh.

But Paul calls Jesus something interesting here.

He calls him the firstborn of all creation.

You might be James.

I thought you just said that he wasn't created.

He wasn't.

He's existed eternally.

The Greek word for firstborn is prototokos.

Can you say that this morning?

Prototokos, your turn, there you go.

You learned a little Greek at 9.36 on a Sunday morning.

And it can mean first in order of birth, but it can also mean first in place and significance and honor.

And here how Paul is using prototokos is to say that when it comes to the creation order, jesus reigns supreme over it all.

He is primary, he is preeminent, he is the most significant of all.

That is significant.

It is all about Jesus.

What Paul is saying here is hey, if you wanna put a banner over everything, the banner has to read Jesus, because he's in charge.

It all belongs to him.

He's the image of the invisible God, the firstborn, the prototokos of all creation.

He's sovereign over all kings and kingdoms on earth, over every angel, every demonic spirit.

He's sovereign over our pain, our anxiety, our depression, our fear.

He is over all, and not only that.

Verse 16 says that by him all things were created.

So he's overall, he's the creator of all And watch this.

All things were created through him and for him.

So he's the reason for it all, he's overall, he's working in all things and he's the reason that it all exists.

The second he is statements in verse 17,.

He is before all things And in him all things hold together.

Translation Jesus is the ultimate source and center.

He's the source of creation as we know it.

He was the center of eternity past, long before we were ever existent, and also in the future.

Guess who's gonna be at the center of eternity forever?

King Jesus.

He's before all things and in him all things hold together.

Who is Jesus?

He's the one who has the power to hold not just the universe together, but to hold your life together.

Isn't that powerful?

today, the image of God.

God made visible.

The ruler and sustainer of all things, the creator of it all, who holds it all together, came close to people like me and you, who were far from God, dead in sin.

Jesus came close.

Number three he is the head of the body.

He's the head of the body, which is the church.

So not only is he the ultimate source and center of it all, he's the leader of the church.

You know, for the last nine months this is nine months to the day, by the way since we launched this Pinewood campus we've had a goal.

We've had a goal and the goal is to say, hey, we wanna build a church, not around our gifts and our talents and our personalities and it's taken a lot of gifts and talents and personalities to make this happen But the goal is to build a church on the one who is the head of the church, whose name is Jesus.

Because here's the thing our worship team is phenomenal and they lead us so well, but they can't save us and they can't change us.

And I can't save you and I can't change you.

And our tech guys, as great as they are, they can't save you and they can't change you.

And our kids men can't save you and change you.

But guess who can?

The one who is the head of the church.

He's the big story, he's the main character, he's the final authority, he's the aim and the goal, he's the reason we're here.

It's all about Jesus And if can I just say this if it ever stops being all about Jesus, then we've stopped being Jesus's church.

And so if you are here and you're like James I think you've missed the point, then we need to have a conversation, because if it's not Jesus' church, it's not the church.

And if you leave this place and you're thinking about Jesus and you're more in love with Jesus and you're in all of Jesus the word of God made flesh then we functioned well as the church that day.

And that's our aim is to say, hey, it is all about Jesus.

Jesus, he's the one we need on a Tuesday afternoon when the week has fallen to pieces and we're trying to pick it up and put it back together.

He's the one that we need.

He's the one that we need when we get the phone call or our kids are going crazy or we don't know how to reconcile and make sense of life.

Jesus is the one that we need.

He's the head of the church, he's the beginning, number four, the firstborn from the dead.

He is the beginning, the firstborn, the proto-tocos there's the word again from the dead, and in this case Paul uses the word to mean the opposite.

He said not only is Jesus the beginning of all creation, he's also the source of new life.

He's the beginning, the firstborn.

In this case, jesus is the first of many who will be raised to resurrection life.

See, this is where this gets really good for me and you, because without Jesus we're dead in our sins, we're destined to physical death and spiritual death and eternal separation from God.

But Paul says no, i've got good news.

The one who was in the beginning with God, who was God from eternity past, who will be God into eternity future, he became flesh.

He moved into the neighborhood.

He's the source of all things, the one holding it all together.

He's ruling and reigning over his church today.

And not only that.

He's the first one who was raised to resurrection life.

But he's not the only one who's gonna be raised to resurrection life.

He's the firstborn of many.

Isn't that good Translation?

the life that lives in Jesus can live in me and can live in you.

That's why the word became flesh.

That's why he moved into the neighborhood.

Who is Jesus?

He's the source of new life.

Because he's fully God and fully man, he can pay the price for my sin and your sin.

Because he's fully God, he's got the ability to take all the wrath of God on his shoulders and still overcome death, hell and the grave with resurrection power.

Because he's fully man, he can live life, be tempted, experience what we experienced, but go through it without sin and pay the price that I could not pay and you could not pay.

And when Jesus walked out of a tomb on Sunday morning, the price for sin had been met And the promise of resurrection, life was in motion.

He's the beginning, the firstborn from the dead.

That in everything Paul says he might be preeminent.

Where does Jesus want to be first place?

in everything?

And I say, here's the thing, i want to be first place too, and so do you.

But I want to be first place because I'm arrogant, and so do you.

Jesus wants to be first place because that's where he belongs And that's what's best for me and for you.

When I take myself off the throne and say, hey, jesus, i'm trying to occupy a seat that is not mine, this belongs to you.

Only he can sit there on the throne of my life and do it.

Well.

And we've all tried, have we not?

We've all tried to be preeminent, first place in our own lives, and it just doesn't work.

Maybe for a season, like, as long as everything else stays where it's supposed to stay and does what it's supposed to do, we can all feel like we've got it put together for a little while.

But y'all, there's gonna come a time and place in our life where we go hey, you know what?

I don't sit well on my own throne anymore.

I need the King of eternity past, of eternity future.

I need the King of kings on the throne.

Jesus belongs there.

In everything he might be preeminent.

Why?

for in Jesus, 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.

This is who he is And that's what he's done.

He's made peace.

He paid a high price to make peace by the blood of his cross.

Be one thing to stop there, and that's amazing enough.

Is it not just to sit here and go wow, this is who Jesus is?

This is some head stuff that can become some heart level conviction, some revelation of the Son of God.

But I love that it doesn't stop there.

Let's read the first two verses of 21 together, if you've got your Bible.

Paul says, and you Can, we just say that together this morning, and you So.

This Jesus, the Son of God, made flesh, born to shed his blood, give his life and make peace.

This Jesus wants to invite and you into his story.

I love that.

Paul's like hey, you need to know, this is a massive story.

It's the story of history, the story of God's plan to redeem the world, and you have a part in the story.

You're like James you don't know my life, you don't know my week, you don't know my thoughts, you don't know what's going on on the inside.

I know, but Jesus does, and he still is inviting you into his story And he says this is who we once were.

We were alienated from God.

So there was a distance, there was a golf, there was a gap between us and God and we were hostile in mind towards God.

We were doing God's work.

We were hostile in mind towards God, we were doing evil deeds.

So we were physically separated from God, spiritually separated from God.

We were anti God in our thoughts and we were living out evil deeds in disobedience to God.

But Jesus has now reconciled us in his body of flesh by his death.

And now what Paul's about to tell us is that there is now a new description over your life, you who once were alienated and hostile in mind and doing evil deeds.

There's now a new description over your life because of the king of kings, paul says you are now presented before God wholly.

You're holy.

Can we just let that sink in for a moment?

This is the end.

This is the end.

You.

When God looks at you because of the blood of Jesus, he sees holy, sacred, pure, set apart.

He doesn't see the mistake that you can't get away from.

That haunts you when you close your eyes.

He didn't see it.

Jesus' blood has covered it and there's peace now.

He sees holy.

Sometimes I think we need to remind ourselves that, hey, we're not our past because of what Jesus has done.

I think it's possible sometimes that we have more memory of our sin than God does.

There's more grace available in the person and work of Jesus than there is ability in you to separate yourself from God.

Do you believe that today, that God can cover your sin and, by the grace of Jesus, call you holy?

The scene here that Paul is giving, he says, present you.

It's this picture of a bride prepared for wedding day.

Presented holy, but not just holy.

You're presented before God as blameless, unblemished.

The stain of sin has been removed from your life.

So not only have you been justified, called holy, declared holy before God, the markings and the effect of sin has been washed away in the blood of Jesus.

Now I don't want to make it sound like this morning that because we've now been presented before God as holy and blameless, that our struggle with sin is going to end, because it's not because we're human and we all got it in there, right, you know what I mean.

Like it's just sometimes it's like, where did that come from?

It's just in there.

And we're all on this journey, this path of discipleship, becoming more like Jesus.

And on this journey, here's what's happened because Jesus has shed his blood, made peace on our behalf before God.

We've now been declared holy and blameless before God.

We now have the freedom to fight sin and be victorious over sin, whereas before we were dead in our sin, we were a slave to sin.

We had no ability to get ourselves out of it.

We were simply led by our flesh, doing whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted, however we wanted, and we couldn't have stopped if we wanted to.

What Paul is saying here is that, because of Jesus, you are no longer a victim of your sin.

You have a chance to find victory.

In Jesus Christ, you've been presented holy and blameless and above reproach.

I love that last word words, two words above reproach.

What Paul is saying is hey, when the enemy comes to you to remind you of your past, to tell you that you'll never be free, that you are still a victim, a slave to your sin, following the deepest desires that are just natural, paul says no, you're above reproach, you're unaccusable because God has declared you right in the name of Jesus, holy, blameless and above reproach.

How about that?

And then Paul goes on in verse 23,.

Here's the challenge that's now been issued, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation, under heaven, and of which I, paul, became a minister.

So Paul says I want you to make sure you understand this is who Jesus is And this is what Jesus has done.

He's made peace by the blood of his cross.

And for you, that now means there's an opportunity for you to have a new description over your life holy, blameless and above reproach, if you continue in the faith.

See, this question of who is Jesus.

It's not just a question that we have to ask in theory, but it's a question that we have to ask personally Jesus.

I think we talked about this last week a little bit.

Jesus was having a conversation with his disciples and he looked at them and said hey, who do people say that I am?

Peter speaks, i'll be well, you know.

Some people say Elijah.

Some people say your prophet, you know.

Some people say you're a good man.

Some people say you're a good teacher.

Oh, we hear all those answers today, do we not?

Now, jesus was just a good teacher.

He had some good ideas.

He had some crazy ones too, but he had some good ideas.

You know, he was a man.

There's no way he was fully God.

He was a good man.

Who do you say Jesus is?

That was Jesus's question to his disciples.

Who do you say that I am?

And Peter's response was Jesus.

You are the Christ, the Son of the living God, the access point.

Paul talks about the hope of the gospel, the access point to the hope of the gospel.

The hope of the gospel is the person and work of Jesus Christ.

And your access to the hope of the gospel, to the holy, blameless, above reproached life available in Jesus, has everything to do with your answer to that question.

Who is Jesus to you?

He is the King of kings, he is the savior of the world.

He is the Son of God, the Word made flesh the perfect sacrifice for our sin.

He is the resurrection life.

He is the returning King.

He will rule and reign forever.

But is he savior and Lord to you?

And that's the question on the table for all of us today.

Do you know Jesus as savior and Lord?

has the peace available from God become your peace?

Has the hope of the gospel, the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, and the promise of life found in that gospel?

Has that become your hope?

And for all of us today, that invitation is on the table.

Paul puts it like this in Romans, chapter 10.

Romans 10 · chapter mention

I'm gonna flip there just for a moment.

Paul says it just like this The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart, because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved, and I love that.

Not you might be saved, not, we'll see at the end how it all shakes out and if the scales get balanced right.

No, because of who Jesus is, if we confess him as Lord and believe that God resurrected him from the dead, paul says you will be saved.

You can bank on it today and forever Holy, blameless and above reproach because of Jesus.

And so today, do you know Jesus as savior and Lord?

Who is Jesus to you With every head bowed and every eye closed?

I just wanna put that question on the table for a moment and ask you today, do you know Jesus as your Lord and savior?

Or today, as we've been talking through the he is statements and Colossians and reconciling who we are with who Jesus is and what Jesus has done?

If today, for the first time, you say I need to give my life to Jesus, i wanna invite you right now to pray this prayer with me Jesus, i believe that you are the Son of God and the resurrected savior.

I confess you as Lord.

I ask you to forgive me.

I want to follow you.

Today you prayed that prayer for the first time.

When we stand and sing in just a moment, i wanna invite you to come down front and grab me and let me know.

We'd love to celebrate that with you this morning.

But again, the promise of Romans 10 is that if you confess Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart, you will be saved.

You are a child of God, today and forever.

Today and forever.

And if you're here today and you know Jesus is savior, just wanna challenge you Remember who he is.

You can trust him today and forever, no matter what you're walking through, no matter the pain maybe life's great You can trust him with that too.

You can trust, fall into the arms of Jesus.

He wants what's best for you.

He wants to lead you and guide you.

Worship team, you guys go ahead and come back.

I'm gonna pray over us and then we'll stand and sing together.

Father, i thank you today for the reminder from your word That Jesus is a man, but he's not just a man.

He's fully God, fully man.

He is the Son of God, the Word made flesh.

Father, may that become more than just an idea or some facts that we hold in our head.

May that be revelation that anchors itself deeply in our hearts And, father, that leads us to transformation, to obedience in the way that we live.

God, we need you as we walk this life.

We don't have the strength, we don't have the answers.

We need to be able to trust you, to know you, to walk with you.

So, father, i just pray that all across this room as we stand and sing this morning that you will work deeply in our hearts.

Help us to encounter you in a real way So that we can be led in obedience to you.

In Jesus' name, and everybody says together amen.

Let's stand and sing and respond.

This is your moment.

If you need to pray the author's open, you need to give your life to Christ?

We'd love to have that conversation.

You wanna join the church?

This is your moment to respond.

But let's respond to Jesus today.