Colossians 1:15-20

Right, folks, let's pray. Heavenly Father, would you open our hearts to hear your word this evening. In Christ's name, Amen. Well, good evening, folks. Welcome to church. My name's Aaron, if you haven't met me. So today's sermon, as Ryan said, is going to be a little bit different.

It's in two parts because these are family services. So I'm going to preach for a couple of minutes on Genesis, and then Isabella's going to come and do the second reading in Colossians. I'm going to preach for a couple of minutes then. So that's the first difference. Two short sermons. Second difference is they're basically their kids' talks, but I'm thinking adults will get something out of it as well.

So let's just crack on, shall we? Genesis chapter 1 in a few minutes. And kids, I want you to know I am very good at kids' talks. I want you to know that I am very good at kids' talks.

All right, children, Genesis chapter 1. We need to take a literary hermeneutical approach to biblical interpretation. All right? I'll say that one more time slowly so you understand me. A literary hermeneutical approach. I think I've lost them.

I think I've lost them already. Ryan, did you bring any books with you to work today that I could... Okay, this is good. Just to keep... just to be helpful. All right, this is good. Are you got another one? Oh, great. Okay.

Here we go. All right, children. Here we go. Let me ask you a question. I've got two books here. This is a recipe book. And this is a storybook. Two different books. Recipe book, storybook.

If I want to bake a cake, kids, what book do I use? This one. Of course, this one. Because the purpose of this book is how to cook things.

One teaches you how to cook things. One tells you a story. Now, let's think about the purpose of Genesis chapter 1. The purpose is to tell us why the world was made and who made it.

Why and who. Now, some people will say, well, Genesis chapter 1, it's about the creation of the world. But it doesn't sound very science-y. So how can it be true?

Well, it's not a science book, is it? In the same way that this is not a recipe book. It's got a different purpose. Chapter 1 of Genesis is more like a true, beautiful poem about why and who made the world.

Nothing wrong with science books. But the purpose of science books is to tell you how this amazing creation works. And the purpose of Genesis 1 is to tell us who made the world and why the world was made.

All right. Children, do you know what you've just learned right then in that 30 seconds? Do you know what you've just learned? You have learned a literary hermeneutical approach to biblical interpretation. Well done.

Some people spend a lot of money learning this. And there it is for free. For free. Okay. So what does Genesis say about who and why the world was made? Well, if you remember when Isabella read it, you remember she said some things, some of the same things over and over again in Genesis 1.

It says, God said this and God said that and God said this and God said that and God said this and God said that. Repeatedly. It says, God saw this and God said that and God saw this and God saw that and God saw this.

So what's the big idea? Very simple. The world is created by God. God speaks and things happen. Let there be light and there's light and let the earth swarm with living creatures and it happens.

God speaks and things happen. And you know what else it tells us? That God doesn't just make the world and then disappear and back off.

He doesn't just make it and then walk away. Hands off. Kids, have you ever begged your parents for a cat over and over again for months and months and months and your dad didn't want a cat?

But you said, Dad, I promise I'll look after the cat. And then you got the cat and you didn't look after the cat. This is a terrible story, isn't it?

And actually then the cat got fleas. And then you went to a vet and dad took the cat to the vet. And it turns out that dealing with fleas costs $550.

And you can't possibly imagine why it costs that much money. And you're trying not to be bitter about it. Kids, have you ever done that? No, me neither. Me neither, to be honest. I don't know why I gave you that example.

But something to do with cats, I believe. And you know what it is? Here's where I brought this up. Saying you'll take care of something you're not.

See, God's not like that. God made the world and he loves it. He loves it and he wants to look after it. He wants to be involved. You know where we see this? Right in verse 2. It says the earth was without form and void in darkness.

And then it says the Spirit of the Lord was hovering over the waters. What's something that hovers? Hover. It's an interesting word, hovers. What's something that hovers? Hover. Hover. Hover. Hover. Like this. Like this. A bird.

A bird hovers. So it's an interesting word in the Bible, isn't it? Hovering. Later on in the Bible, in a book called Deuteronomy, it says that word again. I think it's the only other place it says it.

And in it, it's a passage in Deuteronomy, and it talks about a bird hovering over a bird's nest. And it's trying to say something about God. By the way, for you guys, you guys, you guys were at Bible camp?

Do you remember the play? Do you remember the bird in the play? I was that bird. Oh, was that bird. Yeah. Oh, was that bird.

I made the costume myself. Did you know that? Made the costume myself. I was a northern flicker, which is a woodpecker. I was very good, I thought.

This is my fourth year playing an animal in a play. What was the phrase that people have used to describe my work in that play? It was epic, unforgettable. A generational talent.

That's what it was. A generational talent was the bird. Anyway, we're talking about birds. Anyway, hover. So this picture of what God is like in the world, hovering.

It's hovering over creation. It's like a mummy and daddy bird hovering over a nest, protecting the little baby birds. That's what God is like. A mummy and a daddy caring for the babies.

That's what God is like. He made the world, then he hovered over it. He wanted to be with the world. He wanted to look after it. He wanted to protect it. So, so far, what have we learned? Genesis is not a science book. We've learned that.

It's about who made the world and why they made the world. God made the world. He wants to look after it. And the last thing I'll say is God wants the world to flourish. He wants the world to do well, which is why he made it super organized.

Do you notice in it when he made the world, it's like everything's very organized that these certain types of creatures and these certain types of creatures, and we're separating things out. It's very organized. And in verse 22, God says, be fruitful and multiply.

The story starts off, the world is without form, like Play-Doh, you know. And then he makes it into something beautiful, super organized, and something good.

And he makes it into something good because God is good. So, what have we learned about Genesis chapter 1 so far? God made the world. He wants to be with the world. He's not away from the world.

And he wants it to do well. He designed the world to work really well. So, why does this all matter? That's a good question. Why does this matter? Well, lots of reasons. Here's one reason.

There's a friend of mine in my neighborhood who was trying to sell their house. They were a bit nervous about it. And she said to me, she goes, I'm a bit stressed, but I'm trusting the universe. I'm manifesting this sale to the universe, right?

And I thought, well, it's very interesting. And I hear people say this a lot, actually, in my neighborhood. And I think what's going on, kids, is I think people want to believe there's a big purpose in the world.

There's a big purpose. Their heart wants to believe this. They want to feel like they're being looked after by some force that's interested in them. But they can't see the personal aspect of it.

And if I was just speaking to the adults tonight, I would say something like this. They want providence. Their heart wants providence. But they want it without God. And Genesis reminds us that there is a person behind the universe.

There is a being. There's a person behind the universe who is good and who is powerful. And, man, I'll take that over manifesting. Because there's a big difference between saying the universe has a plan for my life and saying your heavenly father has a plan for you.

And he does have a plan for you. And he's right there. And he's with you. And that's some of what Genesis chapter 1 is about. All right.

Part 2, folks. Part 2. So I said in my previous sermon that there is a person behind the universe who's in charge of the universe. And in Colossians, it gives that person a name.

And the name is Jesus. So let's have a look at this passage. All right. So 2,000 years ago, there's this little church in a place called Colossae. This is a true story.

And there are some people who started going to that church. And some of those people in that church were saying things like this. They were saying, you know, Jesus is cool. But if you want to be a real Christian, you need more than Jesus, which is crazy.

So that's the background, which is crazy, right? And the Apostle Paul heard about this. And he wrote a letter saying, more than Jesus? What do you mean you need to do stuff more than trusting Jesus? That is completely bonkers.

Let me tell you how awesome Jesus is. And if you understand that, you realize you don't need more than Jesus to know God. So let's look at what Paul says about Jesus.

And he says three really big things. The first thing he says is that Jesus is God. It's a really important thing to know, isn't it? We see that in verse 15. He is the image of the invisible God.

Which means if you want to know what God is like, get to know Jesus. Isn't this brilliant? We don't have to be foggy about God.

We don't have to wonder what God is like. We're not left with just our opinions about God. Because we have Jesus. And when we read about Jesus, we're reading about what God is like.

So that's the first big thing. Jesus is God. And the second big thing is Jesus is the creator. So everything that, when it talks about God making things in Genesis 1, it's talking about Jesus.

It says it right here in verse 16. For by him all things were made in heaven and on earth. Visible and invisible. That's everything, isn't it? Jesus made everything and he's the boss of everything.

Do you remember in the gospel stories, children, when Jesus did amazing things? Do you remember there's a story about Jesus is in a boat and a storm comes up and everyone thinks they're going to die. And Jesus says to the storm, stop.

And the storm stops. Jesus can do that kind of thing because he's the boss of everything. So what have I said so far? I've said Jesus is God and he's the creator.

And then the passage says we should keep believing in Jesus. And I'm going to jump a few verses. So after what was read about Jesus creating everything, it says in verse 23 this. It says, continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard.

And Paul is simply saying, because Jesus is so awesome, because he's the creator, because he is God, because he died on a cross for you, stick with Jesus.

2,000 years ago, people were saying in that little church, they're saying, Jesus isn't enough. Which kind of makes him smaller, less important. And this Colossians reading reminds us is that Jesus is so big and so amazing.

You can build your whole life on him and you can trust him with every single thing in your life. So don't stop trusting Jesus. Amen.