Who Is Jesus? - Colossians 1:15-23

three. I'll read it out and once I read then I'll just pray for Alan and Alan will

will teach us from from this passage. So verse 15.

The sun is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things

were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers

or rulers or authorities. All things have been created through him and for him. He is before all

things and in him all things hold together 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.

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. Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior,

but now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you wholly in his sight

without blemish and free from accusation. If you continue in your faith established and firm and

do not move 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.

Father God, we thank you for blessing this church with your servant, Alan. We pray for him now that

it would be your words that he speaks to us and your truths that he teaches us. And we pray for each one

of us that we would listen well and learn how to put it into practice into our everyday lives,

that we don't just leave it here on a Sunday and forget about it when we walk out the door,

but that we remember that Jesus is for every day of the week. In Jesus' name, amen.

Thanks, Alan.

All right. Well, it was a dark and stormy night one night on the Sea of Galilee,

and the small boat out there was tossing around in the waves. The winds were whipping, the rain was pouring

down. Being Irish, you can imagine what that's like. The waves were crashing against the sides of the boat.

The fishermen in the boat were panicked. They were experienced men on the sea, but this was a storm

unlike most they'd ever seen. They were panicked, and yet somehow somebody in the boat was sound asleep.

They woke this man in the boat. They said, Jesus, you better get ready because this could be the end.

And Jesus responded, peace, be still. The disciples thought he was talking to them,

but it turned out he was talking to the storm in the sea. The storm stopped. The rain let up.

And the sea calmed.

Who is this Jesus? They asked. That the storms and the seas obey him.

Sometime later, this same man was teaching, and a large crowd had gathered, so large that nobody could

even get to the place where he was teaching. And so some friends of a paralytic, they cut a hole in the

ceiling, and they lowered this paralyzed man down into the room where Jesus was teaching.

Seeing the faith of the man's friends and having pity on the man, he looked at him and he said,

my friend, your sins are forgiven.

And the religious teachers of the day, they thought to themselves. They didn't even say out loud.

They just thought to themselves, who is this Jesus that he thinks he can forgive sins?

And knowing their thoughts, he said, I'll show you that I have the authority to forgive sins.

And he looked at the paralyzed man and he said, get up, take your mat and go home.

And the paralyzed man stood up, picked up his mat and went running out the door, rejoicing and praising God.

Who is this Jesus? They asked.

Who is this Jesus?

Sometime later, this same Jesus was sitting majestically, yet humbly on a donkey.

He was being led into the city of Jerusalem, which had swollen up to 10 times its normal size because of the feast of the Passover that was coming up.

And as this Jesus rode into Jerusalem, the crowds, they lined the streets, they placed their cloaks on the ground,

they waved palm branches, Hosanna in the highest, they said, here is the coming King.

He is the son of David. He's come. He's the Messiah.

He's going to restore Israel to its prominence in the world.

Here is King Jesus.

And as they got in the city, the crowds got excited.

The whole city was stirred up.

Who is this? They asked each other.

This is Jesus was the response.

Who is Jesus?

The question has been asked ever since he walked planet Earth.

Who is Jesus?

In 1994, Life magazine even had on their cover, Jesus.

Who is he?

Musically, everyone from Kanye West to Green Day to Carrie Underwood to even U2 have sung songs about Jesus,

saying who is Jesus and giving their own interpretation.

Jesus is on t-shirts.

There's a Jesus is my homeboy t-shirt out there.

Even the fashion industry is trying to figure out who is this Jesus?

What can I call him?

How should I refer to him?

In fact, a Google search that I did this week in less than one second gave me 6.5 million answers to the question,

who is Jesus?

Who is Jesus?

That's the question Paul sets out to answer here today.

And he does so in the form of a poem or a song.

And as any poem of his day would have gone,

it's got a rise and then a crescendo and a fall with an echo.

And in verses 15-20 of Colossians 1,

Paul answers the question, who is Jesus, via this poem.

And at the very top of it, he says,

He is the one in whom all things hold together.

And as he builds his poem, he's speaking of creation.

He is the image of the invisible God.

The firstborn over all creation.

In him all things were created.

Things in heaven, on earth, visible, invisible,

whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities.

All things have been created through him and for him.

He is before all things.

And then he hits his crescendo.

In him all things hold together.

And he's speaking about creation.

All of creation comes from,

is done by,

was made through,

and for,

Jesus,

who holds it all together.

And then from that point,

he comes down into new creation.

He says,

In Jesus, all things hold together,

including the church.

He says,

He is the head, the body, the church.

He's the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead.

So that in everything,

he might have the supremacy.

For God was pleased

to have all his fullness dwell in him,

and through him to reconcile to himself all things.

Whether things, again,

on earth or in heaven,

by making peace through his blood shed on the cross.

This is Paul's answer to the age-long question,

Who is Jesus?

And there's many answers provided in this little text.

In order to not be here until Monday morning,

we're going to look at three of those answers today.

Okay?

Just three answers in here.

And again,

three of many things that are in this text.

It's packed.

First,

we're just going to look at the fact that

Jesus is the beginning of all creation.

And that's the left side,

or the rise in the poem,

the beginning of all creation.

And he is the beginning of new creation.

Okay?

When we say new creation,

we're talking about Christians.

And we'll unpack that a little bit.

Okay?

So,

in the same way that Jesus is the beginning of all creation,

He's the beginning of new creation.

Paul says in verse 15,

The Son is the image of the invisible God,

the firstborn over all creation.

Now,

He does not mean

He's the first to be created.

We want to be careful there.

That's not what Paul's saying.

He's not the first to be created.

In fact,

the word has nothing to do with birth.

It has everything to do with rank.

He ranks above all creation.

He's the one from whom all creation came to be,

which is why he follows up in verse 17,

with He is before all things.

That is,

all of creation finds its beginning in Jesus.

So,

before there ever was anything that could be called creation,

visible or invisible,

Paul's very,

very sure to cover it all,

visible or invisible,

in heaven or on earth,

before any of that existed,

there was Jesus.

Father,

Son,

and Spirit,

eternally,

one God,

outside of space and time,

Jesus,

the Son of God.

And in a similar way,

to how He's the beginning of creation,

Paul says,

in verse 18,

He's the beginning of new creation.

He's the head of the body,

the church.

He's the beginning,

and again,

we hear the word firstborn,

from among the dead.

Okay,

He's called the firstborn from among the dead,

because the resurrection of the dead is from Him,

and after Him.

Okay,

so Jesus,

He's in heaven,

He actually exists outside of space and time,

He creates heaven,

He creates earth,

He creates everything that's visible and invisible,

and then,

everything goes wrong because of sin,

and so Jesus takes on bodily form,

we call that the incarnation.

He's born a virgin birth through Mary,

and He takes on flesh,

the incarnation.

He lives a perfect life,

that's important to know.

He never sins.

He fulfills the law in its entirety,

and yet lays down His life in the crucifixion.

He allows Himself to be strapped to a cross,

and He bears the wrath of God that we were supposed to take,

the crucifixion.

Then three days later,

He rises from the dead,

and it's a historical fact.

Even non-Christian historians write that this man,

Jesus,

was crucified,

and three days later,

He rose from the dead,

the firstborn of new creation.

That's why Paul will say in 2 Corinthians 5,

if anyone is in Christ,

he is a new creation.

So before creation,

there's Jesus,

and in the same way,

before there's ever a single Christian,

there is Jesus.

So now we ask,

why does Paul say he's the head of the church?

What does it have to do with Christians?

Well, the church is simply the community of all true believers.

It's a community of all true believers for all time.

Believers in what?

Believers in who Jesus is.

That He is a Son of God,

that He's creator of all things,

by Him,

through Him,

for Him,

that He came to earth in the incarnation,

He died on the cross in the crucifixion,

He rose again in the resurrection.

Anybody who proclaims to believe that,

we say Christian.

And then the church is the gathering of the Christians.

So the global church,

for all time and in all places,

would be the gathering of all Christians

who've ever lived coming together.

That would be the church.

But then that gets broken down into smaller churches.

So we're at Karageline Baptist Church,

the local gathering here in Karageline

of true believers in Christ.

Jesus is the head of this church,

just like He's head of every Christian church.

So Paul says,

He's the head of the local church,

He's the head of the global church,

and in this case in Colossians,

he's speaking to the church in Colossae,

and he's speaking truth that still applies to us

right here in Karageline Baptist Church.

So there's creation,

and then there's new creation.

And new creation doesn't happen without Jesus Christ.

It's important to know that,

that you cannot become a new creation

without Jesus Christ.

And it starts with His resurrection.

That's why the resurrection is so important.

You can't say,

I'm not sure if Jesus rose from the dead

and claimed to be a Christian.

He's the firstborn from the dead,

and everything we claim

follows His resurrection from the grave.

So if we say we're a Christian,

if we say we're a new creation,

we're claiming,

my identity is in Christ,

who rose from the dead.

And I too, like Him,

will rise from the dead someday.

Ladies who have been married,

they probably get this new identity concept

better than any of us.

A lady who gets married

and takes the last name of her husband,

she literally oftentimes gets a new identity.

I know that my wife,

we've been married 16 years,

she got a new driver's license,

she got a new passport,

and it no longer said Cassie Howard,

it said Cassie Giles.

And nowadays, if you said,

hey, Mrs. Howard,

she'd probably think you were talking to her mom.

But if you said Mrs. Giles,

she would turn.

She's a new person.

She has a new identity.

We had a lady get married

at a place I once worked,

and a friend of mine,

he was trying to congratulate her

when she got back from her honeymoon.

He called her up

and he asked for her by her new last name,

is Mrs. Jenks there.

And the poor lady,

she put him on hold

and was scrolling through the roster

looking for Mrs. Jenks

until it finally dawned on her

he was asking for her.

She had a new identity

and then she,

I remember she picked up the phone

and kind of changed her voice a little bit

and said,

oh, this is Mrs. Jenks.

It was a funny thing,

but it was just an illustration

of the fact that

that because of her marriage

she had a new identity.

Her new identity was Mrs. Jenks.

That didn't happen without a start.

It didn't happen without a marriage.

In the same way

a Christian is a new creation,

has a new identity,

it begins with Christ.

So in the same way

all of creation began with Christ,

all of new creation

begins with Jesus Christ.

But more than that,

Paul adds that Jesus is

the one through whom

all things came into existence

and the one through whom

Christians came to be.

From him and through him.

In verse 16,

Paul says,

In him all things were created,

things in heaven and on earth,

visible and invisible,

thrones or powers

or rulers or authorities,

all things have been created

through him.

And it's worth noting,

he also says,

for him.

Through him and for him.

And that's all of creation.

Nothing is exempt.

There's nothing you can see

and there's nothing that's invisible.

There's nothing here on earth.

And think about this,

there's nothing in heaven

that came to be

apart from Jesus Christ.

In the same way that all things

have been created

through him

and for him

and creation owes its existence

to him,

so too all Christians

owe our existence

to Jesus Christ.

Paul says in verse 19,

God was pleased

to have his fullness

dwell in him

and through him

to reconcile

to himself

all things

by making peace

through his blood

shed on the cross.

And when Paul says

all things were created

in him

and through him,

he's clearly saying

there's nothing that came to be

without coming through his work.

And in the same way,

you cannot become a Christian

unless it's through Christ.

You can't bring yourself

into Christianity

in the same way

that you couldn't bring yourself

to be born into this world.

I can guarantee you

there's nobody in here

whose first memory was

I'm going to be born today.

I'm going to make myself

a person today.

Nobody,

if you have that memory,

come see me afterwards.

We're going to get you on TV.

You're going to be

a multi-millionaire.

We're all going to know

you're lying

because nobody has the memory

of I'm going to make myself

a person today.

In the same way,

you couldn't just

make yourself a person.

You can't just make yourself

a Christian apart from Christ.

There's a movie,

Aladdin,

that just came out.

Has anybody seen

the remake of Aladdin?

My kids have seen it.

Some have seen it.

I haven't gotten to see

the remake,

but I asked the kids

and they assured me

it hasn't changed much.

And the story of Aladdin

is interesting

because he's got to be

a prince,

but he's not born

from a king.

And in order to marry

the princess,

he's got to be a prince.

And so since he wasn't

born from a king,

he's not a prince.

So either someone

has to change the rules

or he's got to get someone

to prince him,

so to speak.

And I feel like

somewhere a prince

would be happy for me

saying prince somebody,

but Aladdin needs

someone to prince him.

He's either got to be

adopted by a king

or in his story

he finds a genie

and he makes a wish

and what's the wish?

Make me a prince.

He knows he can't

just prince himself.

He can't just decide

to become a prince.

He needs someone

to make him a prince.

And it's just an echo

of what happens

in Christianity

is you can't just say

Christian now,

but we need someone

to make us a Christian

and that's through Jesus

that that happens.

You can't be a Christian

apart from the saving grace

of Jesus Christ.

There's no other way

to heaven

but through Jesus.

Muhammad cannot get you

into eternal paradise.

Buddha can't help you

get enough karma

to get there.

You cannot prince yourself.

You cannot Christianize yourself.

You cannot do enough good works.

You can't earn enough merit.

You can't pay enough penance

to make yourself a Christian.

It is only by Jesus,

in Jesus,

through Jesus,

and for Jesus

that we become

new creation in Christ.

all of creation

comes into existence

through Jesus,

for Jesus,

and in the same way

all Christians

are brought into His body

by Him

and through Him

and for Him.

And finally,

Paul says

He's also the one

who holds

all of creation together.

He's the one

who holds us

all together

as well.

The crescendo there

in the second half

of verse 17

is loud and bold

because of the way

the poem is written.

That this is

the truth.

This is the point

that Paul's trying to make.

That in Him

all things hold together.

And if you think

of the structure

of the poem,

in Him

all of creation

is held together

and in Him

all of Christianity

is held together.

In Him

all of the universe

is held together

and in Him

all of the church

is held together.

In Him

all of planet Earth

is held together

and in Him

every Christian

is held together.

Both and all

are held together

by Him.

He holds together

all things.

Science tells us

there are at least

30 cosmological parameters

that hold the universe together.

30 that we have figured out.

So if you think about

the universe

which we are

a tiny part of.

If you think about

the universe

and you think about

30 cosmic dials

that have to be

just the right setting

for the universe

to exist.

Science tells us

that the odds

the precision

I should say

of those dials

that needs to be set

to 1 in

5300 million

billion

billion

billion

billion

billion

that's the precision

by which

those 30

cosmological dials

have to be set

to

for the universe

to maintain

its existence

if one dial

just accidentally

gets nudged

a little bit

the entire universe

implodes on itself.

It's an enormous universe.

It's a finely tuned universe.

It's a well designed universe.

And so too is planet Earth.

One scientist,

he writes,

Earth's location

in the universe,

its size,

its composition,

its structure,

its atmosphere,

its temperature,

its internal dynamics,

its many intricate cycles

that are essential

to life

testify to the degree

to which

our planet

is exquisitely

and precariously

balanced.

that if Earth

were just to be

shifted a little bit

off its axis,

it's game over.

If we're just being

moved a little bit

closer to the sun

or brought further

from the sun,

that's the end of humanity.

It's precariously

balanced.

And Paul says,

it's being held there

by Jesus.

But he doesn't

stop at creation.

He also comes

to new creation.

He says,

if Jesus is holding

the universe together

like that,

and if Jesus

is holding

planet Earth

together

the way He is,

then aren't we

okay to rest

in His finished work

on our behalf?

Won't He

hold us

together

better than

we could even

hold ourselves

together?

Amen.

Paul takes

this poem

and he immediately

applies it here

in verses 21-23.

He says,

once we were

alienated and

hostile in mind

doing evil deeds.

But Jesus

has reconciled us

in His body

of flesh

by His death

in order that

we might be

presented holy

and blameless

and above reproach

if we continue

in the faith

stable

and steadfast,

not shifting

from the hope

of the gospel.

And again,

the gospel is

the true message

that Jesus

Christ

really is

the beginning

of all creation.

That in Him

and through Him

and for Him

all things

were created

and that He

holds all things

together.

And then the same

for new creation

that the beginning

of Christianity

is His resurrection

from the dead

and that in Him

and through Him

and for Him

people are brought

to new life

in Christ

and that He

holds His church

together.

Paul says

we should never

shift from that.

We would be foolish

to decide

we're going to

step outside

of our universe

to just someone

that we've come up

with on our own.

And the same way

we would be foolish

to step outside

of the universe

that Jesus holds

together,

we would be foolish

to step outside

of the faith

that He authors

and He perfects

and He holds together.

We are not the beginning

of all creation.

Jesus is.

We are not the ones

by which all things

came into existence.

Jesus is.

I think we would all

agree we are not

holding the universe

together.

Jesus is.

And if we really

want to be honest

with ourselves,

we don't even hold

our own lives together

very well, do we?

But Jesus does.

I've been in

Karagaline

for just under

a month now.

So I don't know

every detail

of every life

in here.

I couldn't

know that much.

But I can make

some educated guesses

because it's very

similar to a lot

of churches

because we're

similar people

all across the planet.

And we have people

from all around

the planet

in here in this room.

So we can make

some guesses.

Educated guesses.

I would say

you're probably busy.

You're probably tired.

If you're single,

you're probably hoping

that you'll find

that perfect person.

If you're married,

you've already found

out that they

weren't perfect.

I know because

you didn't marry

my wife.

That's the only...

Maybe you want

kids, but for some

reason God hasn't

given them to you

yet.

And if you have

kids, they're

growing up too fast.

And you feel like

you haven't quite

given them everything

that they need

for the life

that they're not

to be called

out to yet.

If you don't

have a job,

you're probably

losing hope

you'll ever find one.

If you have a job,

you wish you

had a different job.

Work is stressful

and exhausting.

If you have

co-workers,

they probably

anger you.

Your boss is

probably too hard

to please.

If you're lonely,

you probably wish

you had more friends.

If you've had

friends, you've

probably been burned

and betrayed

by friends.

If you're alive

and you're breathing

today, your life

at times probably

seems like it is

spiraling out of

control.

Probably not

every day.

Probably some

days are great.

But there's

probably times

where you just

go, I can't

even hold my

own life together.

If you're not

a Christian,

you probably

don't know

where to turn.

If you are

a Christian,

perhaps you've

even forgotten

the Savior you

first came to

love.

You probably

sit there and

say, give me

something practical,

Pastor.

Give me

something I can

do.

Give me some

way to fix this

mess I've made.

Give me some

way to get my

life under

control to

hold all

these moving

parts, to

properly juggle

all the things

that I'm

juggling.

You'd probably

say, give me

some hope.

We sang the

song earlier,

our hope is

built on

nothing less

than Jesus'

blood and

righteousness.

Our hope is

in heaven.

Our hope

created heaven.

Our hope

came to earth.

Our hope

lived the perfect

life that none

of us could

ever live.

Our hope

died the death

that all of us

should have

died with the

wrath of God

being poured

out on him.

Our hope

went into a

tomb.

Our hope

rose from

that grave

three days

later.

Our hope

ascended back

into heaven.

Our hope

is in Jesus.

He is in

heaven.

He is preparing

a place for

us and he

holds all

things together

for his

glory.

Our hope

is to fix

our eyes on

Jesus.

To read

about him

in scripture.

To talk

about him

with others.

To worship

him in song.

To pray

through him

and to rest

in his

finished work

on our

behalf.

That's our

hope.

Who is

Jesus?

He is the

image of the

invisible God.

He is the

first born

over all

creation.

He is the

creator of all

things.

He is

before all

things and

in him all

things hold

together.

And because

in him all

things hold

together and

because he

rose from the

dead he is

the head of

the body of

the church.

He is the

beginning and

the first born

from among the

dead so that in

everything he

might have

supremacy.

And God was

pleased to have

all his fullness

dwell in him and

through him to

reconcile to

himself all

things including

you and I.

life.

Therefore let

us continue in

the faith.

Stable and

steadfast.

Not shifting from

the hope we have

in Jesus.

That's our call

this week.

That's our call

today.

That's our call

this week.

That's our call

this year.

That's our call

for life is just

fix our eyes in

Jesus.

Our hope is built

on nothing less.

Let's pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Father we

acknowledge that

when it comes to

creation we bring

nothing to the

table.

We bring no

ability to create

what you have

created or even

a fraction thereof.

We admit that in

fact we have

largely ruined your

creation.

We have rebelled

against you.

We have chosen

our own way.

We have shaken

our fists at you.

We have squandered

the gifts that

you have given us.

We have placed

the part of the

fool.

We admit God we

are naturally

enemies of yours

by birth.

We are estranged

from you by our

own sins.

And that we are

utterly unable to

do anything about

it.

Yet Lord we

praise you that you

did not leave us in

our sins.

That you sent Jesus

to rescue us.

We praise you that

you created all

things by him and

through him and

for him.

And out of your

love towards us you

made us a new

creation by him and

through him and for

him.

We praise you and

thank you that

through Jesus Christ

you hold all things

together.

together that every

breath we take that

we can even take

because he holds all

things together.

We thank you for

calling us into new

life in him.

Making us a new

creation.

And we trust that you

will hold us together

in him.

That you will hold our

faith strong and secure

in him.

That you will hold

Kerrigline Baptist

Church together in

him.

That you will hold

the global church of

all Christians for all

time together in him.

Lord may you never

let us stray from the

hope we have in Jesus.

Please fill us with

your spirit and cause

us to serve you this

day as well as this

week and with all of

our lives.

For Jesus'

sake.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

năm.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.