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
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.
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.
năm.
Amen.