New Creator

[0:00] Open to Colossians chapter 1. Colossians chapter 1. And while you're turning there, let me ask you a very, very important question.

[0:12] If you're going to play in Texas, you've got to have... I just needed to know the answer to that question. I don't agree with it, but that's okay.

[0:25] But you can't have one without the other is the focus and the point of that. And we're coming into verses 18 through 20. And here's the thing.

[0:35] 15 through 17 portrays Jesus as the creator. As the creator. And verses 18 through 20, I'm saying, portrays Jesus as the new creator.

[0:48] Because he is remaking this world. So I'm going to read for you verses 15 through 20. And see if you can spot how it divides out.

[0:59] And then we'll come back to this new creator idea and walk through all this. So beginning in verse 15. He is the image of the invisible God.

[1:11] The firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created both in the heavens and on earth. And he's visible and invisible. Whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities.

[1:23] All things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things. And in him all things hold together. He's also head of the body.

[1:36] The church. He's the beginning. The firstborn from the dead. So that he himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in him.

[1:51] And through him to reconcile all things to himself. Having made peace through the blood of his cross. Through him I say whether things on earth or things in heaven.

[2:04] Father thank you for your word. And I pray that we would understand it. I pray that we would love it. I pray that we would be encouraged. Convicted. And drawn towards you.

[2:16] In all praise and honor. And we pray this in Christ's name. Amen. So verses 18 through 20 does not portray Jesus as the creator.

[2:26] But what I would call the new creator. Because he is the redeemer. As a matter of fact. You're familiar I think. With the verse of scripture from 2 Corinthians. Chapter 5 verse 17.

[2:39] That if anyone is in Christ. He is a new creation. So it's by the work of the cross. That he recreates.

[2:50] So what you have is. In the creation. You have God creating the world. You have a man. Who is supposed to fill the world.

[3:02] With the image of God. And in the new creation. The God man. And God is creating. A new creation. By the cross. And he is filling the earth.

[3:13] With the glory of God. It is a truth. About Jesus. As this new creator. As this one. Who is head of the church. As this one. Who is first born.

[3:24] From the dead. That. My prayer this morning. Is that. It kind of captures. It kind of captures. Our attention. A little bit. We begin to see. Something of.

[3:35] Who he is. And what that means. For us in here. And. That it prepares us. To come to the Lord's table. This morning. We're coming to the Lord's table. This morning. Because we're commanded.

[3:46] To take the Lord's supper. As a matter of fact. It's a command. Given to a specific. Local church. In first Corinthians. Chapter 11. And so we assume. All local churches.

[3:57] Are supposed to be doing this. But. It's commanded. To the church. To do. So if you're not a Christian. If you're not a Christian. Then what we would say. To you is. Don't partake.

[4:08] If you're not sure. You're a Christian. We would say. Don't. Don't partake. Because the Lord's supper. Gives a warning. That there is judgment. That is upon the one. Who takes it. But doesn't understand it.

[4:19] And so we want to be careful. No one will point you out. Nobody's going to say anything. But we just encourage you. To not take it. If you are not sure. Of these things. But as we then.

[4:30] Come to this. We're coming to verse 18. Because it gives us. Three things. About Jesus. As this new creator. And the church. How the church. And Jesus. Sort of work together.

[4:41] Because his new creation. Is. The church. If you will. And we're going to look at these three phrases. And then as we. Finish this. We're going to come directly.

[4:51] Into the Lord's table. So. So let me give you these three things. Number one. The church. Belongs. To Jesus. The church. Belongs. To Jesus. It says there.

[5:02] In verse 18. That he is the head. Of the body. Namely. The church. That's what this is. Saying. Is that the body. And the church. Are the same thing here. The word head.

[5:13] Here means. That he is the source. Or he is the. Ruler. Over. It's much like. The first creation. Jesus. Has then created the church.

[5:23] By his work on the cross. So the church. Belongs. To him. Because he. Created us. He's their source. He's our head. And we need to understand. Something about the church.

[5:33] For just a second. We need to understand. Two things about the church. The first. Is that the church. Has two parts to it. Okay. And you may not recognize this. Or know this. Once I say it. Then you'll be like.

[5:43] Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I remember that. But in first Corinthians. Chapter one. Verse two. This is a greeting. That Paul gives. And he says. To the church of God. Which is at Corinth.

[5:54] That is a local. Church. That is a single. Church. So to them. To those who have been. Sanctified in Christ Jesus.

[6:05] Saints by calling. With all who. In every place. Call in the name of our. Lord Jesus Christ.

[6:15] Their Lord. And ours. So Paul goes. From talking about. The church of Corinth. To anybody. And everybody else. In all other places. That also call. On the Lord Jesus Christ.

[6:26] That would be the. Universal. Church. So let me just. Talk about that. For a second. There is the. Universal. Church.

[6:37] The universal. Church. Is anyone. Who has been saved. Anywhere. In the world. At any time. When you are saved. You are. Incorporated. Into.

[6:48] The universal. Church. Of God. There's not a membership list. There's no hierarchy. There's no. Leadership. In this church. They don't meet together. It's just.

[6:59] All Christians. Of all times. Everywhere. And you're a part of that. Because you became. A. Christian. But the local church. Is an expression.

[7:11] A local. Visible. Expression. Of that universal church. Here. As a matter of fact. Both of these. Are called. The body. Of Christ. And.

[7:22] Honestly. Most often. The body of Christ. Is more. Associated. With a local. Group. Than. With the universal. Although. It is. It is. Both of them.

[7:32] But let me give you. Just one example. First Corinthians. Chapter 12. Verse 27. It's interesting. To me. First Corinthians. Chapter 12. 13. And 14. That speaks.

[7:43] About spiritual gifts. And charismatic. People love. To focus in. On the. Spiritual gifts. And they kind of. Missed the point. Of why. Chapter 12. 13. And 14. Are there. They're there.

[7:54] Because there was. An abuse. Of spiritual gifts. There was a misunderstanding. Of spiritual gifts. And they were being. Corrected. And the. Large point. Of the three chapters. Is that there's.

[8:05] One church. And we are. All members. Of the one body. Right. That's the kind of. The big point. So that's what he says. In 27. Now you. First. The Corinthian church. Are Christ's.

[8:16] Body. And individually. Members. Of it. So when you. Come to Christ. When you. Are saved. You are. Part of the universal church.

[8:27] But at some point. In time. You must also. Make a commitment. To a local. Church. Body. As well. You're to be a part. Of both. The local church.

[8:38] Is to sort of. Exemplify. The universal church. Do you understand. What I'm saying. What I'm saying. Is that there's a lot of people. Out there. Who want to say this. They want to say this. Well I'm a Christian. I was saved. I'm a part of the universal.

[8:48] Church of God. Why do I need to join. A local church. Because. Most of the commands. In scripture. Are given to local churches. And that's the way. We practice out.

[8:58] So. So for example. You cannot. At all. Do as. The book of Hebrews. Tells us. That says. Submit to your leaders. If you do not submit. To a local church.

[9:09] Where there are leaders. To submit to. So. You're a part of the universal church. And you ought to be a part. Of a local congregation. As well. But I told you. There were two things.

[9:19] About the church. I wanted to tell you. That's the first. The second thing. I want to tell you. About the church. Is that the word church. Now what do you think. What do you think. That the Greek word. For church. What do you think it means.

[9:30] What have you been told. That it means. You probably have been told. That it means. The called out ones. Because the word. Ekklesia. The Greek word there.

[9:42] Has it. Has this word in it. That means out. And it also has the word call. But it means more. Than just called out. Ones. It means. Those. Who have been summoned.

[9:54] To form an assembly. Those who have been summoned. Those who have been called out. To form an assembly. As a matter of fact. In the Greek translation. Of the Old Testament.

[10:04] When it talks about. The congregation. Of Israel. That's the word. Ekklesia. The called out. The summoned. Together ones. In other words. The word church.

[10:15] Which is from some sort of. Old English idea. Kirk. The better way. For us to describe ourselves. Is that we're a congregation. A congregation.

[10:27] That matches who we are. We are a congregation. So. So you really don't have a church. Unless they come together. And meet. Together. So. So here's the thing. Christ. Is the head of the church.

[10:38] His body. That's what he's saying here. And as head. Being the source. And the ruler. Of the church. If there is to be a church.

[10:49] We must be connected to Christ. Christ. Because the life of the church. Comes from Christ. And we ought to do. That which he has commanded us to do. He has commanded us in his word.

[11:02] How we ought to live. We talked about this in Sunday school. In relationship to the authority of God's word. For our lives. And so many people think. That the way we choose to live.

[11:13] Is up to us. We just have our ticket to get to heaven. We've trusted Jesus. That's all we need. God's word doesn't have anything to say. To anything else in our lives. But that's not true at all.

[11:24] God's word tells us. What life is to be like. It tells us what marriage. It tells us what parenting. Is supposed to be like. It tells us. Who can be pastors. And how many pastors. And elders a church ought to have.

[11:36] And it gives us directions. About men and women. It gives us directions. About the worship service. And how we're to worship together. It gives us directions. About how we're to partake. Of the Lord's supper.

[11:48] He is the head. Head of the church. The source and ruler of it. And we are to submit. And to follow. And to obey him. In all that he's commanded us to do.

[12:01] The church belongs to Jesus. The second thing. Is the church follows Jesus. Now. I don't mean it. The way you think I mean it. What I mean here.

[12:14] Is that in verse 18. The second half of it. The first half. You remember is. He is the head of the body. This church. And then it says. He's the beginning. Firstborn from the dead.

[12:26] And I'm focusing in on this word. Beginning. Because beginning and firstborn from the dead. Beginning and firstborn. Are not the same thing. The point.

[12:36] That both of these words are making. Are different. The word beginning. Means the first one. And there's a hint. In this word. That it's the first of a group. Or there's the expectation. Of more to follow.

[12:48] The firstborn. It's a little different. It's this idea. Like from verse 15. Of the one who's the. The. Has the responsibility. Of the family. He's been put in charge. Of the family. He's the one who's supposed to.

[12:59] Rule over. The family. So. Christ. Being firstborn. Over all creation. Back in verse 15. Is the idea. He has the rights. And responsibility. For the creation.

[13:10] And Jesus. Is the firstborn. From the dead. Is the one responsible. For the family. Who's coming. From the dead. But the word beginning. Means that he's the first of. Some.

[13:21] The first of. Many. And what this means. Is that as. Christ rose up. From the dead. There is going to be. Those who will follow him.

[13:31] In rising from the dead. As a matter of fact. He is the one. Who is the first fruits. From the dead. And the church. Follows Christ. Because as Christ goes. So goes the church.

[13:41] He died. We died. He rose. We will rise. As a matter of fact. First Corinthians. Take a look at this verse. Three. Three verses.

[13:53] Twenty. Twenty one. And twenty two. Says. But now Christ. Has been raised. From. The dead. The first fruits. Of those who are asleep.

[14:03] By first fruits. You think of a harvest. And at harvest time. They would go gather. The first of the harvest. And have a celebration. Because the first fruits. Were those that came. Off first.

[14:14] There's still more. To come. Of the harvest. But this is what comes. Off first. So Christ. Is the first fruits. Now we could say to ourselves. Well wait a minute. What. Didn't Lazarus. Rise from the dead.

[14:26] Didn't Jesus. Raise this lady's. Son. From the dead. Who was at the funeral. Didn't. Like Elijah. Or Elisha. One of them. Raise somebody. From the dead.

[14:36] It's like. Yes. But those all died again. Jesus is the first. To rise from the dead. Never to die again. Because he was. Given a glorified body. So he was.

[14:48] Raised from the dead. He's the first fruits. Of those. Who are asleep. Verse 21. For since by a man. Came death. Who's that man? Adam. By a man.

[14:59] Came death. By a man. Also. Came the resurrection. Of the dead. Verse 22. For as in. Adam. All die. So also.

[15:10] In Christ. All will be made alive. Now here's the way you understand this. If you are in Adam. Then you die. And if you are in Christ.

[15:21] Then. You will be made alive. All of us were born. In Adam. So we die. But not all of us are in Christ. The church.

[15:33] Is in Christ. Christ. And because Christ. Has been raised from the dead. So. Must the church. Be raised. From the dead. Death. Could not hold him back. Because sin.

[15:44] Had no hold on him. And since sin. Had no hold on him. Death. Is no master. Of him. Yet he walked. Through the valley. Of the shadow. Of death. For us. And he arrived.

[15:55] At the bosom. Of his father. He was seated. Before his enemies. At the table. That his father. Laid out for him. And his father. Is subjecting. To his footstool. All of his enemies.

[16:06] Till one day. He will subject. The final enemy. And that is the enemy. He's already defeated. That is. Death. And when he does that. The church. Will follow Christ. He died.

[16:17] So we died. He rose. So we. Will. Rise. He is seated. In the heavenly places. We. Are seated. In the heavenly places. Which then.

[16:29] Should make. Our coming. To the Lord's table. And partaking. Of the Lord's table. That much. More. Of. A joy. You see. Jesus.

[16:40] Told his disciples. That he would not. Partake. Of the Lord's supper. Again. Until we were. All together. Again. The whole. Universal.

[16:51] Church. Once we all. Arrive. Together. To be. With the Lord. That is when. He would partake. Of this supper. Again. So as we. Partake of it.

[17:03] It is a. Statement. Of waiting. It's a symbol. Of us saying. One day. We will rise. One day. This. This flesh. Is going to be buried. And then one day.

[17:13] It's going to rise again. Glorified. Perfected. As we take the Lord's supper. It's to remind us. Of all that Christ. Has done. To remake us.

[17:24] As our new creator. We're to encourage. One another. With these thoughts. Because the afflictions. Of this life. Though they are light. And momentary. Compared with the glory. That is to come.

[17:37] We sometimes. Get down. We sometimes. Get distracted. We sometimes. Face sadness. And so. We're to encourage. One another. That we're following.

[17:48] Christ. Which means. That we're going. To be raised. From the dead. So Paul. Ends his whole. Section. In first Corinthians. He says. Therefore. My beloved brethren. Be steadfast.

[17:58] Immovable. And always abounding. In the work of the Lord. Knowing that your toil. Is not in vain. In the Lord. The church belongs to Christ.

[18:09] The church follows Christ. And lastly. The church. Is for Jesus's supremacy. In all things. I couldn't say that. Any shorter. But the church.

[18:19] Is for. The reason the church exists. Christ. Is for Jesus's supremacy. In all things. I want you to look at the end of verse 18. Look at that in your Bible.

[18:33] It's got the little words. So that. So that. Is a statement of purpose. So that. Is a Greek structure. That tells us. The next thing.

[18:43] Is the purpose. Of what came before. And the purpose. Is that Christ. Might be. Preeminent. In all things. Is that Christ might become. First place. In all things.

[18:54] That Christ might have. Supremacy. In all things. And what. What came. Right before. So that. What is it.

[19:04] That's right before. The so that. Because whatever's right. Before the so that. That thing. Is for. The purpose. Of Jesus. Having supremacy.

[19:15] In all things. And there are two things. He's the head of the church. He's the head of the body. He's the head of the church. And as the head of the church. Jesus has become.

[19:25] The head of the church. So he might become. Supreme. In all things. It says that he's the first born. From the dead. Jesus. Raised from the dead.

[19:36] Was raised from the dead. He awaits for us. To raise from the dead. To defeat death. So that he might become. Supreme. In all things. Did Jesus.

[19:49] Die. And rise from the grave. For us. Yes. But ultimately. For his own sake.

[20:03] For his own glory. So that he might be. Supreme. In all. Things. He must have supremacy. In all things.

[20:15] So he rose from the dead. That did things for us. So that he might be. Supreme. And this is. This is. This is. Our hope. I just want to.

[20:26] I want to hit on this. Because this is not. A normal thing. That people. Think about. Talk about. But it's right here. In the scriptures. And we need to understand it. Because this is.

[20:38] This is the hope. We have of heaven. Any hope. We have. Of. Of. A better life. One day. Is built on. Jesus. Being supreme. In all things.

[20:48] How is this? Let me see. If I can show you. The scriptures. Are very clear. That no one. Will be able. To be in heaven. With. God.

[20:59] Who doesn't have. Perfect. Righteousness. And go to Psalm 24. You can go to several places. And see. Who can stand. On the hill of the Lord. Only those. With clean hands.

[21:10] And a pure heart. Without law. Perfect. Righteousness. We cannot be. With God. In heaven. We must have. A law. Perfect. Righteousness. To be with God.

[21:20] Forever. Yet. None of us. Are able to. Have. Develop. Or acquire. Law. Perfect. Righteousness. On our own. None of us.

[21:32] So you got to have it. To go there. But none of us. Can have it. So it seems like. It's kind of a hopeless. Situation. But that's why. Jesus came into the world. Because he lived.

[21:43] A perfect life. And I want you to think about that. For just a second. As the second person. Of the Trinity. He was righteous. But taking on flesh. He had to learn obedience. He had to obey.

[21:54] His father. In everything. He had to earn. That law. Perfect. Righteousness. The way Adam. Should have earned it. By not eating. Of the tree. But Christ.

[22:04] Did learn it. And think about it. What did Jesus. Obey. That his father. Commanded. Jesus. Obeyed things. Like you shall have. No other gods. Before me. You shall not make.

[22:16] For yourself. A graven image. Or even the greatest. Commandment. You shall love. The Lord your God. With all your heart. Soul. And mind. Beloved.

[22:28] But if God. Does not love himself. More than he loves humans. Then he ceases. To be righteous. I'm going to let that hang in the air.

[22:39] For just a second. That ought to disturb you. If you've never heard that before. It ought to disturb you. It's the truth. But we don't like to think about it.

[22:51] Because we like for God. To make much of us. And he does. As a matter of fact. You come Christmas Eve.

[23:03] You come Sunday morning. Christmas Eve. We won't have Sunday school. But we'll just have worship service. You come. And I'm going to preach a message. That just. That shows you. Just how much.

[23:14] God loves us. Because when you take this into account. And it kind of boggles the mind. And you're thinking to yourself. Wait a minute. God doesn't love humans. More than he loves himself. This doesn't sound right.

[23:24] That's because we have a tendency. To push humanity. Back on God. And say. God must be like me. For me to understand him. But he is not like us. He is uncreated.

[23:36] He is transcendent. He is glorious. He is majestic. He is holy. So I can't look at how I would interact with somebody. Because if I loved me more than I loved you.

[23:47] That would be a problem. Because I'm not really worth it. But God. God.

[23:59] Is the most glorious being. If he does not love himself more than he loves us. Then he ceases to be righteous. Christ. Christ.

[24:10] Would be supreme in all things. That's why he's the head of the church. That's why he came. And brought us salvation. That's why he died upon the cross. So that we. Might make much of him.

[24:23] That he might be supreme in all things. So we come to the Lord's Supper. And think about it. What's happening here at the Lord's Supper?

[24:35] Whose flesh does this bread represent? Jesus' flesh. And whose blood does this cup represent? Jesus' blood.

[24:47] It doesn't represent mine. It doesn't represent ours. And as we come to the Lord's table. We're not supposed to be thinking about our grocery list.

[24:58] Or we're not supposed to be thinking about what we're doing for lunch today. We're not supposed to be thinking about anything but Jesus. He is to have first place in all things. The reason he's the head of the church. The reason that he's raised you from the dead.

[25:10] Is not so that we could take the bread and think about our grocery list. He's done that so that we might take the bread and think of him. And because of that, some of us need today to repent.

[25:29] Because we love other things more than we love Jesus. And it's evident in finances. It's evident in your calendar. It's evident in all kinds of things.

[25:41] And for the first time in your life, you need to repent of loving other things more than Christ. And turn to him. And even those of us who have trusted Christ.

[25:53] We struggle to keep Christ at the center of our own affections. Other things satisfy us. Other things bring joy to us more than Christ. But he's the head.

[26:07] He's the firstborn. That he might have supremacy in all things. Well, let's take a look at this.