Sermon Tone Analysis

The Crown Prince of God’s love

Jesus Christ, supreme over all and Head of his Church

!!! /Evening Worship 14 January 2007, 6.30pm/

!!! Announcements

!!! Silent prayer

!!!

The Bible

!!!

Call to worship

Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.

The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.Selah (Psalm 46:10-11)

!!! Doxology:                     /“We will give thanks to Thee”/  (SS)

!!! Blessing

Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, \\ and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, (Revelation 1:4-5)

 

!!! Declaration of pardoning

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

(Matthew 11:28-29)

!!! Prayer Confession of sins

!!! Hymn:                                            /“In Christ alone” (Screen – 4 verses)/

!!! Prayer of Adoration and Invocation

!!! Hymn 126:                                    /“God of God, the uncreated”/

!!! Offering and Dedication

!!! Prayer for others

!!! Scripture Readings                   /Psalm 2; Colossians 1:15-23/

!!! Sermon                                          /“The Crown Prince of God’s love – /

!!! /Supreme over all creation and Head of his Church”/

!!!!!! Introduction

My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, I preach the Word of God to you under the heading “The Crown Prince of God’s love, Jesus Christ, Supreme over all creation, and Head of his Church.”

On 14 November 1948 someone was born in England.

It was a very historical day.

On this day Charles Philip Arthur George Mountbatten-Windsor was born as the eldest to Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

Most importantly this new born heir to the throne of Great Britain was given a title:  He became the Prince of Wales.

Since 1301 the Prince of Wales has usually been the eldest living son of the King or Queen Regnant of England.

The title is not automatic; it merges into the Crown when a prince accedes to the throne, or lapses on his death leaving the sovereign free to re-grant it should another candidate qualify.

The person as heir to the throne is important, but the title that comes with it is a sure indication of the past as well as the future of the title holder.

Only a few weeks ago we celebrated Christmas.

For most of the world Jesus is the little baby in the crib.

For most the story of Christmas does not go any further and the nativity scene of the family of Christ in Bethlehem.

In the background there might be an angel flapping its wings and a few donkeys chewing away on hay.

But there is infinitely more about Christmas.

There is infinitely more to say about Jesus Christ.

Out of fear for saying more that what the Word of God allows us to deduct I want to talk about what is referred to as the Eternal Council of God.

Before the creation of time and space, God the Father, the son and the Holy Spirit existed supremely, without the aid of anything, the need of anything, ever glorious and omnipotent, never in need of praise and honour.

But then, if we think about it in human term, God determined to create the universe.

God the Father called Jesus Christ his Son.

We read about it in Psalm 2 tonight.

“/You are my Son, today I have become your Father.

Ask of me and I will make the nations Your possession, the ends of the earth your inheritance.

You will rule them with an iron sceptre; you will dash them to pieces like pottery/.”

To his Son God gave a title:  He would be called Jesus, the Christ.

He is the Redeemer, the Saviour, the Messiah, the blessed One of the Father.

This is where we ended the sermon this morning.

Colossians 1:13-14 reads:

For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves,  in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

(Colossians 1:13-14)

!!!!!!

The Crown Prince of God

Christ is the image of the invisible God.

The word for “image” here is our word for “icon”, an embodiment or living manifestation of God, as a visible manifestation of the invisible and heavenly reality of the Person of God.

He is the first-born of the Father and therefore He shares the same substance and nature of God.

Man was created, not born of the Father.

We are from dust; Christ is from the eternal God.

The invisible god becomes visible to men in the “Son of his love”.

Jesus declared, “/He that has seen me, has seen the Father/”.

(John 14:9)  John sings about the glory of Christ:  “/We have seen his glory, the glory as of the Father./”

(John 1:14) 

He is before all things.

This does not only mean that He was there before all things were created; it certainly does mean it.

But it also means that He is superior over all things created.

He is the pinnacle of God’s creation.

He is the beginning of it, the centre of it, and the end of it.

That’s why the Bible than says, “/In Him all things hold together/.”

It is not possible to think about creation without thinking about Christ.

Without Christ no creation would be possible.

For some Christian thinkers to then argue the possibility of Darwinian Evolution, as well as the Kingship of Jesus Christ over all creation becomes an impossibility.

No Christ, no creation; no creation, no Christ!

There is no two ways about it.

“/In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

He was with God in the beginning.

Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made./”

(John 1:1-3)

This has profound implications for the way we think about Jesus Christ.

In general the message of the Church is narrowed down to the work of salvation of Christ, and even narrower if this salvation is presented as the personal salvation of the individual Christian.

If we think this way, we don’t have a Christian and Biblical worldview.

The message of the Church is confined to the walls of the Church.

Politicians may then demand of the Church to keep Christianity out of politics.

Educators can do the same and scientists may demand of us to keep in our corner and mind the souls of the unhappy pursuers of eternal bliss.

But this is not what the Bible teaches about Christ.

To the humanistic scientist it might come as a surprise:  what he or she is researching is the work of God through Jesus Christ.

It belongs to Him, it exists because of Him and holds together because of Him.

Without Christ no scientific research is possible, because without Him there is nothing to research.

To the humanistic sociologist and psychologist, and even the historicist this might also come as a surprise.

The study of their field is possible because of Christ, even if they don’t believe it.

And like me when I recently tried to fix my lawn mover without the technical knowledge and the instruction manual issued by the manufacturers, without the knowledge of Him through whom God created the universe, fixing and fully understanding it will remain a dream that will always escape them.

!!!!!! God’s agent of Creation: the ruler of all creation

To his Crown Prince God assigned a kingdom: all of creation.

The Father wanted to give to his Son everything He created.

In this sense Jesus Christ became the agent of God through whom He created the world.

So, everything in heaven and on earth, all things visible and invisible, thrones and powers or rulers or authorities were created by Him and for Him.

There is no kingdom, no king, no ruler, nothing visible or invisible which is not under the feet of our Saviour.

The political leaders of our day will do well to heed the advise of the Word of God.  “/Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling.