Mary's going to come, she's going to read scripture for us.
She's going to read from Colossians chapter 1, verses 15 to 23.
!
He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things,
whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,
he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death,
in order to present you holy 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.
Well, we're breaking into our series in James in the morning
to turn to this very famous passage in Colossians chapter 1 this morning.
It's a big passage about a big saviour.
There's a lot in it, and we're going to try and get through it,
but more as a kind of helicopter view of the passage,
we could be in these verses in a long time.
But we're not going to do that this morning,
although you may beg to differ by the end of this sermon.
Many years ago I read a book entitled The Glory of Christ
by a minister down in England, a guy called Peter Lewis.
And in the beginning of the book he tells a story
about visiting a church, I think in Wales.
He's on holiday with his family,
and there was a lay preacher bringing the message that morning.
And the preacher concluded his sermon with these words.
He said,
I got to know him personally.
He was a keen angler, and I used to go fishing with him.
And on those occasions I was able to observe him
from an entirely different viewpoint.
I got to know the man, not merely the image.
And the nearer I got, the smaller he became.
But God eventually led that downcast schoolboy to a new hero.
And I've walked with my Jesus for 35 years now.
And in that time I've often disappointed him.
But he has never disappointed me.
I've got to know him better.
And that the nearer I get, the bigger he becomes.
The nearer I get, the bigger he becomes.
Now here in Colossians chapter 1,
it is evident that for Paul,
Jesus Christ was quite simply a massive figure.
Perhaps there are a few places in his writings
where we see this so clearly as here in these verses.
Here is Paul up close and personal with Jesus.
And in these words he spreads out before us
something of the majesty and splendor
and greatness and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
These verses are really a doxology.
Worship.
Paul wants the hearts of his hearers to be warmed
and to be filled with Jesus Christ.
He wants our minds to be taken up with Jesus.
He wants our faith to be rooted in this Jesus.
He wants us to be strengthened by a personal knowledge
of this man, Jesus Christ.
He wants us to draw close and see just how great
and glorious and wonderful he is.
He wants us to see that Jesus Christ is indeed a big Savior.
And I want to highlight just four things
that Paul wants us to understand here
about the greatness and glory of Jesus Christ,
our big Savior.
And we'll go through them fairly quickly.
The first is this,
is Jesus and his unique relationship to God.
Jesus and his unique relationship to God.
One of the most basic religious questions
that people ask is this,
what is God like?
And Paul's answer here,
and indeed the answer of the Christian faith,
is this,
God is like Jesus.
He is the image of the invisible God.
That's quite an unusual phrase.
The Colossian church to which Paul was writing
was made up of both Jews and Gentiles.
The Jews worshipped, if you like, the invisible God,
and the Gentiles were known for worshipping images.
And Paul puts those two ideas together
when he says that in Jesus,
the invisible God became visible.
God's nature perfectly revealed in Jesus Christ.
Now, that was an outrageous claim
way back in the first century,
just as it is today.
How can flesh and blood
accurately reflect the eternal God?
And that's why some wanted to say
that Jesus wasn't really a man.
They suggested he was a spirit
or some kind of apparition or angel.
But Paul is very clear in these verses
that Jesus was a man of flesh and blood.
In verse 22, he talks of his body of flesh.
The language he uses couldn't make it clearer
that Jesus is to be understood
as being truly human.
Of course, there are many that object to that.
Those who say, well, if he was fully human,
he couldn't really be fully divine.
Maybe he was somebody who was anointed by God
in a special way,
or he was temporarily, temporarily filled
with God's Spirit.
Maybe he was just someone who was used by God
in an exceptional way.
But again, the language that Paul uses
in this passage makes it clear
that that could not be the case.
Verse 19,
For in him all the fullness of God
was pleased to dwell.
Jesus was truly God,
truly divine, and truly human.
The life of God that dwelt or resided
in Jesus was not something temporary
or partial,
but something permanent and complete.
The fullness of God dwells in Jesus Christ.
It's hard, really, to think
how Paul could make that any clearer,
that Jesus is both truly human
and truly divine.
And we might say, well,
maybe that's just Paul.
Maybe that's just one of his strange ideas.
But this dramatic claim
to a unique relationship with God
is one that Jesus himself made.
And we see that in the Gospels,
most notably in John's Gospel,
the 14th chapter of John's Gospel.
John 14, from verse 8,
we read these words.
Philip said,
Lord, show us the Father,
and that's enough for us.
And Jesus said,
Have I been with you so long
and you still don't know me, Philip?
Whoever has seen me
has seen the Father.
How can you say,
show us the Father?
Do you not believe
that I am in the Father
and the Father is in me?
The words that I say to you,
I do not speak on my own authority,
but the Father who dwells in me
does His works.
Believe me that I am in the Father
and the Father is in me,
or else believe
on account of the works themselves.
The unequivocal claim
of the New Testament
is that the very form, image,
and glory of God
belong to Jesus
in exactly the same degree
as they do to God the Father.
Jesus Christ has a unique relationship
to God
because He is truly God.
I came across these words
of John Owen
writing on this,
the image of the invisible God.
He writes this,
This is the foundation of our religion,
the rock on which the church is built,
the ground of all our hopes
of salvation,
of life,
and immortality.
All is resolved into this,
namely,
the representation that is made
of the nature and will of God
in the person and office
of Jesus Christ.
Here is Jesus
and His unique relationship
to God,
truly God,
truly man,
God in the flesh,
the image
of the invisible God.
That brings me
to the second thing here,
and that is Jesus
and His unique relationship
to creation.
The firstborn,
He says,
over all creation.
By Him,
all things were created.
Heaven and earth,
visible and visible,
thrones,
dominions,
rulers,
authorities,
all things created
through Him
and for Him.
He is before all things,
and in Him,
all things hold together.
Paul calls Jesus
not just the image
of the invisible God,
but the firstborn
of all creation,
the Lord of creation.
Now,
some suggest that
these words mean
that Christ was a creature,
the first created being,
indeed a heresy
that developed
in the first centuries
of the church
did just that.
That was known
as Arianism.
And today,
those who take such a view,
generally speaking,
liberal Protestants
or Jehovah's Witnesses.
But Paul does not say
that Jesus
is the first created.
He says,
firstborn.
And in the ancient world,
this title
was a designation
of supremacy.
The law of primogeniture
means that the firstborn
was the inheritor
of a father's wealth,
power, and status.
And so,
calling Jesus
the firstborn of
or over all creation
is actually just another way
of saying that Jesus
is equal with God the Father.
Jesus shares equally
in the Father's power
and authority
and supremacy
over creation.
He is incomparably great.
And that thought
is developed
in the verses
that follow.
You notice how Jesus
is described
as the agent
of creation.
By Him,
all things were created.
Now,
if all things
were created
by Jesus,
it stands to reason
that He Himself
could not be
a created being.
All things
were created
through Him.
He is the creator
of all things
and therefore Himself
not a created being.
Jesus is not
part of creation
at all.
How can this be?
Because He is
truly God.
every last corner
of this universe
was created
by Jesus Christ.
He is sovereign
over all that He has made.
Even those unseen powers
and authorities
in this world
were made
and controlled
by Him.
He rules over all things.
And Jesus here
is not just the agent
of creation.
He is the sustainer
of creation.
He is before all things,
verse 17.
In Him all things
hold together.
And the claim here
is that Jesus
sustains,
preserves the very
fabric of the universe.
Why we live in a cosmos
and not a chaos?
Because Christ
holds all things
together.
Because of Him
there is structure,
order,
stability.
So,
behind all that there is,
it's not some
grand
unifying theory,
some abstract
mathematical principle,
but a divine personality.
It's Jesus
who gives order
and structure
and coherence
to the universe
He's made.
In Him
all things
hold together.
He sustains everything
by the power
of His Word.
And so,
as we explore
this universe,
as we enjoy
this world
that He has made,
as we work in it,
as we discover
more of its grandeur
and beauty,
we come to see
that it's all really
the theater
of His glory.
Jesus is the agent,
He's the sustainer,
and also here
the goal of creation.
All things were created
through Him
and for Him.
The universe
has a purpose
or a goal,
it is for Him.
Jesus Christ
is the key
to unlocking
the mysteries
and the deepest
secrets
of the universe.
It's because of Him
that there is purpose
and meaning
in any of it.
As human beings,
we have embedded
deep within us
an intuition
of destiny
and purpose.
No matter
how hard we try,
some today
are trying very hard,
we cannot erase
or eradicate
that sense
of ultimate
significance.
Consistent
atheists
like Richard Dawkins
and others
say that even
to ask
the question
about purpose
and meaning
in human existence
is stupid
and irrational.
Everything is
a cosmic accident.
And theirs
is an unbearable
and,
I think,
in the final analysis,
an unlivable
perspective.
Whether or not
we believe
in a Creator
makes a profound
difference
in how we look
at ourselves,
how we look
at other people,
and how we live
our lives.
It makes all
the difference
in the world.
And Paul asserts
here that
everything
that exists
finds its origin,
existence,
and purpose
in Jesus Christ.
And that is true
for you
and for me
today.
Jesus Christ
is the only place
where you can find
eternal meaning
and purpose
in life.
Tim Keller
once wrote,
if you don't
let your thinking
lead you to
Jesus Christ,
it will end
in despair.
Jesus is the Lord
over all creation.
That is a dramatic
and outrageous claim,
an astounding claim.
Jesus and His unique
relationship
to God.
Jesus is truly God.
Jesus and His
unique relationship
to creation.
He is the Creator.
Thirdly here,
Jesus and His
unique relationship
to the church.
Verse 18,
He is the head
of the body,
the church.
He is the beginning,
the firstborn
from the dead,
that in everything
He might be
preeminent.
Jesus is forming
a new community
around Him,
the church of Jesus Christ.
It comprises all those
who have been joined
to Him by faith.
The Lord of creation
is the Lord of the church.
Jesus is ushering
in a new creation.
And one of the marks
of that new creation
is the formation
of this new people.
Excuse me a second.
The New English Bible
translates to
Corinthians 5, 17.
When anyone is united
to Christ,
there is a new world.
The old order is gone
and a new order
has already begun.
In other words,
Christ's people
belong to a new humanity
of which Jesus Himself
is the head.
Now, that picture of Christ
as head of the church,
Paul uses it
in places like
1 Corinthians 12, 12,
Romans 12, 5.
And there he often
is emphasizing
the mutual dependence
of the body.
But here,
the significance
he is emphasizing
is Christ as the head.
This is as men and women
are connected to Christ
that they come
to belong to one another
in this new community
of faith
we call the church.
He alone
is head of the church.
The church is dependent
on him
for its life
and health.
Westminster Confession
says,
there is no other
head of the church
but the Lord Jesus Christ.
Christ alone
rules and reigns
over his people.
all must be in submission
to him.
He is preeminent.
He is the beginning,
the firstborn
from the dead
that in everything
he might be preeminent,
says Paul.
And when Paul speaks
of Jesus being
the firstborn
from the dead,
he is clearly
referencing the resurrection.
Jesus was the first
to rise from the dead,
a pioneer
gone before us
into death
and then out of death.
He has conquered death,
drawn its sting.
And so,
what is true for the head
is true for all
in the body.
What is true for Christ
will be true
for his people.
our very mortality
is sucked up,
is, if you like,
hoovered up
in Christ's resurrection life.
He is our only hope
in the face of death.
And yes,
there's much
in this life
that we can avoid
and evade,
but we cannot avoid death.
We cannot outrun it.
We cannot defeat it.
But the good news is this,
that Jesus Christ
has triumphed over death.
He is its victor.
He is its conqueror.
He is its king.
And because Jesus
has been raised,
so then all who are joined
to him by faith
will also be raised.
He has been led out
from death,
and so also will we be.
He partook of our flesh
and blood
to deliver us
from death.
He walked
into the valley
of the shadow
and came out
the other end
in resurrection power.
And so in Jesus Christ
there is good news
for a world
under the curse of death
because this Jesus
is still able
to lead his people,
his church,
through the valley
of darkness
and into the light.
Jesus,
his unique relationship
to God,
his unique relationship
to creation,
his unique relationship
to the church
as its king and head.
But there's a fourth thing
here about Jesus
and why he is such a big
or such a great Savior,
and that is because
of his unique work
upon the cross.
Verse 19,
In him all the fullness
of God was pleased
to dwell,
and through him
to reconcile to himself
all things,
whether on earth
or in heaven,
making peace
by the blood
of his cross.
You who once
were alienated,
hostile in mind,
doing evil deeds,
he is reconciled
in his body of flesh
by his death
to present you
holy and blameless
and above reproach
before him.
And the key word
that Paul uses
in these verses
is this word reconcile.
We use it,
don't we,
when we're describing
the healing
of a restored,
or restoring
of a relationship
after some kind
of breakdown
or fallout.
And here Paul speaks
of the whole creation,
of all things,
being reconciled
through Jesus
and through his blood
shed on the cross.
The root of the brokenness
of this world
is in our alienation,
our estrangement
from God,
our creator.
As human beings,
we have turned
our backs on God,
we have rejected
his authority
and rule,
and the consequence
of that alienation,
Paul says here,
we've become hostile
to God in our minds,
and that hostility
is manifest
in evil deeds.
And yet,
from the very beginning,
God has not resolved
to allow evil
to win the day.
His righteous character
is such
that he has been determined
to defeat
all that is broken
and wrong
in his creation.
He has chosen
not to abandon
his creation
to judgment
and wrath,
but to rescue it
and redeem it,
to reconcile
the world to himself,
to make peace.
And how has he done this?
He has done this
through the cross
of Christ.
When a close
personal relationship
breaks down,
often there is
a profound sense
of anger,
resentment,
hurt,
hatred,
contempt even
that can take root.
And sometimes
these feelings
and emotions
may be justified,
but if reconciliation
is ever to take place,
if restoration
is ever to be affected,
if the breach
is ever to be healed,
then someone
has to bear
the pain.
Without that happening,
forgiveness
cannot be offered
because true forgiveness
is never cheap.
Restoration
is not easy.
We know this
in our own lives.
There is always hurt.
There is always pain
that has to be born.
And that's precisely
what the cross
tells us.
On the cross,
we see God
in Christ
reconciling the world
to Himself,
absorbing all the pain
and injury
awoken in Him
by our hatred
and sinful rebellion.
We see God
making peace
through the blood
of the cross.
And it's interesting
here,
the language
of Paul,
the physical language
he uses.
Making peace
by the blood
of the cross.
reconciliation
in His body
of flesh
by His death.
Fashionable,
theologically fashionable
today to downplay
the blood of Christ.
Something primitive,
barbaric,
even to despise
the old rugged cross.
Friends,
we must never fall prey
to that temptation.
But as the old hymn put it,
what can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood
of Jesus.
What can make me
whole again?
Nothing but the blood
of Jesus.
A crucified Savior
stands at the very heart
and center
of the Christian gospel.
There's an old path
not far from where I grew up
in Lanarkshire,
in Lesmahagel.
It runs over the muir
to Muir Kirk
in Ayrshire.
It's a part of the
Scotland that was
a strong
covenanting area.
And there are
covenanting
memorials
littered all across
the landscape.
And on that path
near to Muir Kirk,
there lies
a memorial
to the
covenanter
John Brown
of Priest Hill.
Brown was executed
May the 1st,
1685
by
a man known as
Bloody Claverhouse.
He was a kind of enforcer
for the king.
Treasonable papers
were found
in his house
and
he was taken out
and he was shot
in front of his wife
and family.
It said that
the soldiers
hesitated
to carry out
the sentence.
And so Claverhouse
himself
shot him.
And after
he'd shot him,
Claverhouse
is reputed
to have said
to Brown's wife,
as she cradled
the bloodied
body of her man,
what thinkest thou
of thy husband now?
And she replied
through her tears,
I ever thought
much good of him,
but even
more
now.
And when
by faith
we come
to see
Jesus Christ
mangled
in the blood
of the cross
for us,
are we not
tempted to say
something similar?
I ever thought
much of him,
but even
more
now.
Paul says
Jesus suffered
and died
on the cross.
You notice it
there in verse 22,
in order to present
you holy
and blameless
and above
reproach
before him.
Isn't that an amazing
thought?
We,
stained,
despoiled
by all our sin,
burdened
and weighed
down by all
our guilt,
presented as
one holy
and blameless
before a righteous
and holy God.
Think back
over your life,
think of your
mistakes
and your errors,
the ways that
you have
hurt or let
down other
people,
the way that
you have
shown contempt
for God,
all the ugly
pride and
selfishness
that has
disfigured
your life
and your
heart.
How on earth
can someone
like you,
someone like
me,
be presented
as one
holy and
blameless
and above
reproach?
It does
not seem
possible.
And yet,
it's not
simply possible,
it is actual.
It's not a
fantasy,
it's a reality.
It's real
because it's
been accomplished
by none
other than
the eternal
Son of God.
And this
reconciling work
of Jesus
Christ is
not simply
something personal
and individual,
though it is,
it's also
something cosmic
and universal,
because Paul
speaks here of
God in Christ
reconciling to
himself all
things on
earth or in
heaven, the
whole created
order.
He has opened
up the way
for a new
heavens and
earth in which
righteousness
shall dwell.
There as
King and
Lord over
that new
world will
be none
other than
the Lord
Jesus Christ
in all his
risen power
and majesty
and glory.
And C.S.
Lewis is
we always
have to have
either a
quote from
Lord of the
Rings or
C.S.
Lewis in
every sermon
here, so
this is the
C.S.
Lewis one.
His second
book in the
Chronicles of
Narnia is
called Prince
Caspian, and
there's a scene
in that book
where Lucy
experiences a
personal visit
from Aslan.
This is what
we read.
The great
priest rolled
over on his
side so that
Lucy fell,
half sitting and
half lying between
his front paws.
He bent
forward and
just touched
her nose with
his tongue.
His warm
breath came
all around
her.
She gazed
up into the
large, wise
face.
Welcome,
child, he
said.
Aslan, said
Lucy, you're
bigger.
That is because
you are older,
little one,
answered he.
Not because you
are.
I am not.
But every
year you
grow, you
will find me
bigger.
Every year
you grow, you
will find me
bigger.
I was at a
meeting last
year, I think,
one of these
Zoom meetings
with ministers,
and an older
minister, well,
I thought he was
an older minister
until I realized
he was actually
younger than
me.
But anyway,
that's another
story.
He was sharing
something about
his experience
in ministry
over many
years.
And he
confessed that
at times his
ministry had
been about,
this is what he
said, a big
me and a
little Jesus.
And then he
spoke about
his desire
that his
life and
ministry in
his later
years would
instead be
about a
little me
and a
big Jesus.
What
characterizes
your life,
your ministry,
your heart
this morning?
A big
me and a
little Jesus?
Or a
little me
and a big
Jesus?
Jesus.
The closer
you get to
Jesus, the
bigger he
appears to
be.
How close
are you to
him?
In a moment
we'll share
the Lord's
Supper.
And this
table is a
place where
we get close
to Jesus.
As we come
to him in
repentance and
faith, he
meets us, he
blesses us with
his presence.
We come in our
weakness and he
strengthens us.
We come in our
guilt and he
forgives us.
We come in our
failure and he
lifts us up.
At the table we
see him in the
glory of his
cross and
realize afresh that
he must have the
place of
supremacy in our
lives.
I wonder if he
has that in your
life.
Does he have
first place?
Does he have
preeminence in our
church?
Does he occupy
that place of
supremacy in your
heart?
Come to the
table spread with
bread and wine
and draw near to
a big Jesus.
Come and bow the
knee before him
and discover afresh
just how big he
really is.
For the good news
is this.
He is bigger and
greater than all
the wickedness and
all the evil and
all the injustice of
this broken world.
He is bigger than
your every sin and
your every failure.
And friends, that is
good news.
Let's pray together.
Father, we thank you
for a big Jesus.
We thank you for a
big Savior.
And Lord, we ask
that you may draw
us closer to him
by your Spirit.
and as we come to
the Lord's table,
that we might meet
with him in a very
real way, in the
power of the Holy
Spirit, that our
eyes would be
opened to see him
as he really is.
The great,
eternal God,
maker of heaven
and earth,
king and head of
the church,
the one who is
the Son of God
and who loved us
and gave himself
for us.
And we pray these
things in his name.
Amen.