I Believe in Jesus...

David Helton

Deep Creek Baptist Church

We Believe: The Apostles Creed • Sermon • Submitted 6 months ago • Presented 6 months ago

Colossians 1:15–20

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Colossians 1:15-20 11/12/2023 page 1168 If you have not been with us, this is the third week of a sermon series we are walking through looking at the Apostles Creed, a written and spoken declaration of beliefs Christians have used for nearly 2000 years.

So let’s stand and let’s read the creed together as we start this morning…

THE APOSTLES CREED

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth,

I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, And born of the Virgin Mary, He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and buried; the third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from there He will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

Amen

This week, we are going to focus entirely on the line “We believe in Jesus Christ, His Only Son, Our Lord.”

There is no question more important to your life than who Jesus is. Who do you say Jesus is? Even Jesus asked His disciples this question:

Look at

Matthew 16:13–15“13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”” But, who do you say that I am?

All of us here should ask ourselves that question.

Who do you say Jesus is?

People say all kinds of things about Jesus:

The Islamic faith teaches that Jesus was just a prophet, a messenger from God

Mormons believe that Jesus Christ was the firstborn spirit-child of the heavenly Father and a heavenly Mother. Jesus then progressed to deity in the spirit world.

Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Jesus was created by Jehovah as the archangel Michael before the physical world existed, and is a lesser, though mighty, god.

Like the secular Westerners around us, you might see Jesus as a hippie socialist revolutionary

Or you might choose seemingly the most safe and people pleasing choice, Jesus was a good teacher! We can all agree on that! We are good right? Let C.S. Lewis bring you to some honesty as well with this:

I am trying here to prevent anyone from saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him:

‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God.’

That is the one thing we must not say.

A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher.

He would either be a lunatic– on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg– or else he would be the Devil of Hell.

You must make your choice.

Either this man was, and is, the Son of God:

or else a madman or something worse.

You can shut him up for a fool,

you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon;

or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God.

But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us.

He did not intend to.”

Your only categories this morning are that:

He was a liar, giving up his whole life and death on the cross to maintain His argument for being God

A lunatic, a delusional man who believed He was God in the flesh and went around speaking absolute nonsense

Or, He is who He said He was, Lord.

This is where the Apostles Creed points us to in Scripture. Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord.

So let’s talk about what we believe as Christians,

and what Christians have taught for thousands of years,

and then we’ll circle back at the end to help us know how to live in light of it.

If you have a Bible, turn to Colossians 1, we are going to start at v15

Colossians 1:15–20 “15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And 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. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”

Out of this text, Paul, who wrote this letter, is pointing out 2 things about Jesus we are going to look at today.

The Person of Jesus - Who Jesus was

The Position of Jesus - Where He stands in power So let’s get into v15 and get started with the Person of Jesus

The Person of Jesus

Jesus is real

We must all affirm that Jesus actually existed.

If you came here today and you disagree with me on this,

I know I personally cannot convince you.

I’m probably a little biased.

So, here is what Bart Ehrman,

a well decorated agnostic,

and critic of historical texts has to say about Jesus: “Despite the enormous range of opinion, there are several points on which virtually all scholars of antiquity agree. Jesus was a Jewish man, known to be a preacher and teacher, who was crucified (a Roman form of execution) in Jerusalem during the reign of the Roman emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was the governor of Judea”

You really cannot take that position.

No historical scholar worth their stuff would agree with you.

Jesus is God

Not only was He a man on earth,

Paul is also exclaiming throughout this entire passage the beauty of Jesus being God.

Colossians 1:15 “15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.”

The word translated “image” refers to a likeness or visible representation.

How exact or precise the resemblance is between the original and the copy must be determined by the context.

To say someone is “like” another person

often conveys the idea of moderate similarity,

but not necessarily exact representation.

On the other hand, you’ve undoubtedly heard someone described as “the spitting image” of another.

If one may be reverent in saying so,

God the Son (Jesus) is the spitting image of God the Father!

Of course, Paul’s point isn’t that Jesus “looks like” the Father,

as if to suggest the Father has a physical frame and visage which the Son reflects.

The Son “images” the Father in terms of moral character, will, and the attributes of deity.

They, together with the Holy Spirit, share a common divine nature, glory, and purpose.

That is who Jesus claimed to be,

the Son of the Father, come to earth in the flesh

Let me show you where Jesus claimed this so we are all on the same page.

while being tested by Jewish leaders, John 8:58, “58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.””

This name I am is the same word in Greek for the OT Hebrew name Yahweh.

This is a special sacred name passed to Moses to refer to God.

And Jesus says directly to the Jewish leaders questioning Him that He is God,

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

“Firstborn” had a specific connotation in Paul’s day.

It described the rights associated with being the main inheritor of a family’s wealth.

In the majority of cases, that person was the firstborn son, but there could be exceptions.

the word “firstborn” itself does not necessarily mean first in a sequence or first in time.

It can also mean first in “rank” or “supreme in dignity.”

The main point of this word picture is the fact

that this individual inherits,

rather than who his biological father is.

So Paul is saying that Jesus of Nazareth

is the inheritor of all creation by right.

The point is that the Son, by virtue of being the image of God,

has a pre-eminence and exercises a sovereignty

over everything else that exists.

Next, we are going to look at the Position of Jesus.

The Position of Jesus

By position I mean station or role. What does Jesus do? How many of you like grammar.

I ain’t very good at grammar. I did not do to well in it in HS.

there are two things I am content reminded of when i us Grammarly on my computer.

1, Is that the Oxford comma has fallen out of style

(horrendous, controversial.

(a comma used after the penultimate item in a list of three or more items, before ‘and’ or ‘or)

2. It always ask me to rewrite a sentence when i end it with a preposition.

I want us to see the use of propositions.

seeing these prepositions all me to see the beauty and majesty of Jesus. Let me prove it to you.

A preposition is a word—and almost always a very small, very common word—that shows direction , location , or time, or that introduces an object

Look at verse 15-17 and underline the prepositions if you like to do that in your Bible

Colossians 1:15–17 “15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For BY him all things were created, IN heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created THROUGH him and FOR him. 17 And he is BEFORE all things, and IN him all things hold together.”

Perhaps an analogy will help make my point.

Consider the stages involved in building a home.

The first thing you do is hire an architect who draws up the blueprints.

He formulates the plan and lists the many specifications on how everything is to be constructed.

You then contract a builder,

the person who actually puts brick to mortar and nail to wood.

The house is then put to the use for which it was built: you move in.

You occupy it and enjoy the many special features it contains,

whether a special den or a hot-tub on the deck.

Finally, as its inhabitant and owner, you maintain it.

You are careful to make timely repairs and perhaps a bit of remodeling here and there.

Here’s my point. Jesus Christ is all of these in relation to the whole of the universe!

Jesus is Creator

He is the architect.

This is what Paul means in Colossians 1:16a when he says

16 For BY him all things were created,

He is the artisan.

He is the one in whose eternal mind the blueprints for every nook and cranny of the cosmos were conceived.

And Paul is pretty specific about the extent of Christ’s creative input.

It encompasses literally everything: “all things” (v. 16a),

by which he means everything “in heaven and on earth,”

be the massive galaxies billions of light years away

or the dust mites beneath your feet.

The “all things” includes what you can see and can’t see,

whether visible but intangible, like a mirage or beam of light;

whether invisible but tangible, like a summer breeze or the heat of the sun;

whether visible and tangible, like an oak tree or a book or a baseball;

even things invisible and intangible like a proton or gravity or a feeling or a dream.

He conceived them all!

But it doesn’t stop there.

He is the architect of every spiritual being, here described as “thrones” and “dominions” and “rulers” and “authorities,”

He is not only the architect who conceived their existence , he is the artisan who actually constructed their being.

They were made THROUGH him, says Paul (v. 16b).

John echoed this thought by saying that

John 1:3 “3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.”

Yes, he is both architect and artisan, as well as the aim for which they were created.

As Paul put it, “all things were created … FOR him” (v. 16c;

Whatever is, is, that he might be glorified and praised and enjoyed forever.

He’s the reason, the goal, the aim, the intent, the point, the purpose, the end, the terminus, the consummation and culmination of every molecule that moves.

What we can see about Jesus’ position here is that He is the creator. He created all things.

Jesus' position is a position of power. And not just created all of these things, but sustains them too

Jesus is Sustainer

Colossians 1:17 “17 And he is before all things, and IN him all things hold together.”

The point being, whatever coherence or unity the universe displays,

it is due to the continual exertion of divine power from the Son of God.

The risen Christ sustains and upholds all things.

Jesus Christ is the sustaining and supportive power by which all that he has conceived and constructed should stay in being.

He didn’t create, only to skip town.

From the moment of its inception until now and for so long as he so wills

Jesus sustains all things, guides all things, and is in process of providentially bringing all things to their proper consummation in and for him.

Jesus is the cohesive power that keeps all things intact. If I may say it reverently, he’s the “divine glue” that holds it all in place.

This world is a cosmos rather than a chaos because of the continuous exertion of divine power from the risen Christ!

He is not just standing back and letting everything play out, he is active, and involved. Lastly,

Jesus is Ruler ...

There’s something else we see in verse17

Colossians 1:17 “17 And he is BEFORE all things, and in him all things hold together.”

Jesus is Ruler....

...of the World

When we see this word “before” this is not making a reference to time,

it is making a reference to position.

Another word we can use for it is supreme.

Jesus is supreme over all things.

Showing a position of highest authority,

greatest importance,

Jesus being supreme means He is at the top of it all.

We have a word for someone who has that kind of power and authority.

Someone who is master of it all, supreme over everything.

It is Lord. That is Jesus' position.

And His Lordship is not a preference or opinion we can have.

Because Jesus existed as God before creation

Because it was through Jesus all things were made

Because He is the one holding all of creation together

It is because of who Jesus is and what He is actively doing now that He is Lord.

Paul has one more point to make, to show us Jesus’ purpose v18.

Colossians 1:18 “18 And 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 also Ruler....

...of the Church

When Paul says that Jesus Christ is the “head of the body, the church,”

he means to tell us that Christ is the sovereign, ruling authority over his people,

as well as the source from which we, his body, derive all spiritual sustenance and power.

As such, we can rest assured that our Lord will neither permit

his body to drift into utter moral and theological chaos

nor to die of spiritual starvation and thirst.

He can be trusted to govern and direct and provide instruction and power for the life of his church if we will but look to him and draw from the resources he so generously supplies.

The relationship between Jesus as Head

and the church as Body is organic and living and vital.

He exercises sovereign control over us and we are ever and always dependent on his abiding influence and presence.

As J. B. Lightfoot once wrote, Jesus

“is the inspiring, ruling, guiding, combining, sustaining power (of the church), the mainspring of its activity, the centre of its unity and the seat of its life”

Orthopraxy

That is why there is no question more important to your life than who Jesus is.

He doesn’t let us sit on the fence with this.

His question to His disciples “But who do you say that I am?” extends to you today.

Make a decision on Jesus.

Was he a liar, was He out of his mind, or was He actually Lord over all?

Recognize Jesus as Lord

Realize Christ must be first and foremost in your life.

There was a goal in view.

It was so that Jesus might be seen and known and glorified

as preeminent in everything!

God raised Jesus from the dead and placed him in authority over the church so that he, and only he,

might be seen and savored,

recognized and relished,

exalted and enjoyed as the sovereign Lord,

the one for whom all things were made and to whom all praise should be given.

To what extent does your life reflect that Jesus is Lord

Are the affairs of your daily existence so ordered that Jesus is seen to be preeminent?

Is there any doubt in the way you use

your time, your money, and your talents that Jesus is the source and center of it all?

Is he your treasure

, or is it found in the documents and deeds lying in a bank vault?

Does he govern your life in such a way that all may know he is Lord?

How visible is the supremacy of Christ in the way you talk and relate to others

and fulfill your responsibilities at work and in the home?

Everything in all of life, both inside and outside the church,

exists to make him look good.

Not to make him good, for he is eternally and self-sufficiently good,

but to reveal and disclose and enable all to see that he is, in fact, good and glorious and worthy of our whole-hearted and exclusive devotion.

Pursue his preeminence,

Receive Jesus as Savior

Paul continues by describing him as “the beginning, the firstborn from the dead.”

That is to say, he was the beginning and founder of a new humanity,

a new people, by virtue of his having been the first to rise, never to die again.

When God the Father raised him from the dead and glorified and exalted him to the right hand of the majesty on high,

he became the first-fruits of that resurrection guaranteed for all who are united to him (cf. 1 Cor. 15:20–23; Revelation 1:12–18).

We receive that guarantee when we place faith in him.

So let us celebrate that Jesus is our King and Lord Through prayer, communion, and worship.

Prayer, Communion, and Worship.

If you’d like to receive prayer to profess Jesus as Lord, or you feel that the Spirit is working on something in you that you want prayer over.

We are going to sing a couple songs together lifting up the Lord Jesus in worship.

I encourage you to sing with your hearts and declare what is true about Him.

Lastly, we are going to take communion.

This is a practice of remembering Jesus' body and blood shed for us so that we can be reconciled with God,

if you are not a believer, this is the only thing we would ask you not to do yet,

just because you would be saying something is true of you that is not true yet.

Instead of communion,

we invite you to take Christ,

and there will be pastors up front who would love to talk with you after the Gathering.