The Apostle Paul calls us Jars of Clay (2 Corinthians 4:7). As followers of Jesus we must allow the Word of God to fill us with it's message of Truth and Grace. In this way, we become a "vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work" (2 Timothy 2:21).

Monday, November 17, 2014

Firstborn of All Creation - November 16th, 2014 sermon


By Pastor Greg




Little Johnny was shopping with Grandma. One of the things she tossed in the cart was a package of pantyhose.  He sounded out the words "Queen Size" and exclaimed, "Grandma, you wear the same size as our bed!" 
Why thank you Johnny for reminded me of this.  And while you’re at it, why don’t you give me a paper cut and pour lemon juice on it.  Oh sure, the name might be the same, but it’s the application of that name that matters.
It’s the same with Jesus.  People might mention the name of Jesus, but it’s the application of that name that really matters.  For example, some people think He was a god who looked like a man (a teaching prevalent in the Emergent Church movement).  Some think He was a man who became a god (this view is held by the Mormons). Some feel that He was simply another of God’s prophets; a man that grew up in Palestine who became God’s messenger (this view is held by the Muslim faith).  However, among Christians, many believe that Jesus was divinely created (the virgin birth), and because of this He was a sinless man.  Then, after He was baptized and empowered by the Holy Spirit, Jesus began His ministry on earth.  He lived His life as God’s sinless witness, and the Father worked through Jesus to perform all those miracles.
Chances are, as a Christian, you know better than to think Jesus was simply a prophet like Moses or Elijah or Mohamed.  And you also know better than to think Jesus was a man who became like God.  That’s just nonsense.  Perhaps, in your Christian journey, you’ve embraced the teachings of the Emergent Church movement.  They are becoming more and more popular among some Christians, especially through teachers like Brian McLaren and Rob bell.  I run into more and more people who take away the humanity of Jesus by insist the cross was not necessary.  Perhaps you have heard their teaching.  They say faith is all that matters; claiming everyone gets to go to heaven, and questioning whether there is any sin.  But, most of the Christians I meet believe the last example; that Jesus was a man empowered by the Holy Spirit to do the work of God on earth; that it was God the Father who fed the 5000 or who healed the sick and cast out demons.  He did this through Jesus.  However, even this view diminishes who Jesus truly is.
Jesus was most certainly more than a sinless man gifted by the Holy Spirit and empowered by God.  He was and is “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” (Colossians 1:15).  In other words, God did not work through Him because He was a sinless man, but instead Jesus was and is God.  Jesus had authority and power to perform all those miracles we read about in the Gospels. Here in Colossians, Paul reminds us that Jesus is both God and Man.  He speaks of the dual nature found in Jesus.  And I understand that this is a difficult concept for us.  How can He be both?  If Jesus is not a man who became like God or a god who looked like a man, then what is He; who is He? 
First of all, Paul reminds us that Jesus is fully God.  In Colossians 2:9, Paul says, “In Him dwelt the fullness of God”.  In other words Jesus is fully God and God is fully Jesus.  Jesus said of Himself, “Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father”! (John 14:9).  The writer of Hebrews says that He is “the exact representation of (God’s) nature” (Hebrews 1:3).  Although some today insist that Jesus never claimed to be God, truthfully He never left His identity open for debate.  In John 10:30, Jesus says, “I and the Father are one.”  And according to theologian John MacArthur, “The one-ness that Jesus is claiming is not one-ness in purpose.  It is not one-ness in mission.  It is not one-ness in theological agreement.  The one-ness that he is talking about is one-ness in nature, one-ness in essence, one-ness in being”.[1]  In other words, Jesus says that He is God.  And God the Son created a sinless body in which He could dwell.  The Word became flesh.
The Gospel of John emphasizes the eternal nature of Jesus right from the beginning.  “In the beginning was the Word.  The Word was with God.  The Word was God” (John 1:1).  But then John goes on to add, “The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as the only begotten from the Father” (John 1:14).  The Word which existed from the beginning became flesh.  And the same glory we see in the Father we now see in the Son.
          Paul reemphasizes this teaching from John by describing Jesus as the “firstborn of all creation”.  However, he doesn’t mean first in order as the Jehovah’s Witnesses claim, but first in authority or rank.  By taking on flesh Jesus takes His place within His creation as the one with the highest authority.  The Greek word used here (prototokos) is not a noun, but an adjective.  Since Jesus existed with God from the very beginning, and since Jesus is God (John 1:1), both John and Paul describe God in the flesh as Jesus, and describe Jesus in His glory as God.
          I know.  This is a concept very difficult to grasp.  And truthfully, theologians have been struggling with this for years.  With finite minds we try to understand the workings of the infinite.  So we are naturally going to struggle with this.  But it is a truth taught to us by Christ Himself.  “I and the Father are one”, He has said.  And even though “Christ sometimes operated in the sphere of His humanity and in other cases in the sphere of His deity, in all cases what He did and what He was could be attributed to His one Person”.[2]  Only God could forgive sins.  Only a man could be killed.  Only God had power over death and life.  Only a sinless Man could atone for the sins of Humanity.
          As the second person of the trinity, Jesus possesses the same characteristics we see in God, yet they are contained in human flesh.  Jesus willingly surrendered portions of His true nature (for example, omnipresence – to be everywhere at once), in order to dwell in a human body.  Paul reminds us that “Though He was God, He did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, He gave up his divine privileges; He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When He appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross”. (Philippians 2:6-8).  Christ took on flesh, and chose to live according to the same limitations you and I have.  He grew weary.  He got hungry and thirsty - things He would not experience in Heaven.  He lived in a frail body that could be cut and wounded.  He could bleed to death.  But even thought His body was like yours and mine, that body contained the second person of the Trinity.
Paul reminds us first that Jesus is the exact representation of the invisible God.  What we know of God we can see lived out in Jesus.  And secondly he reminds us that not only has Jesus existed eternally with the Father, but that He has been given authority over all creation.  Paul says that Jesus wasn’t “born”, but that He chose to limit Himself and live like one of us in a sinless mortal body.  And what that means is that for 33 years God Himself walked this earth.  God took on flesh and became like us.  And because of this, the world has never been the same.
This doctrine of Christ (called the Hypostatic Union) was important in Paul’s time, and it’s just as important today.  It is vitally important that we understand Just who Jesus really is. English pastor J. S. Baxter summarized this best when he said “Fundamentally, our Lord's message was Himself. He did not come merely to preach a Gospel; He himself is that Gospel. He did not come merely to give bread; He said, "I am the bread". He did not come merely to shed light; He said, "I am the light". He did not come merely to show the door; He said, "I am the door". He did not come merely to name a shepherd; He said, "I am the shepherd". He did not come merely to point the way; He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life".
Truthfully, Jesus never gave us the option of deciding for ourselves who we want Him to be.  The character of Jesus is not open to personal preference or opinion.  The only option He gave us was to either accept Him for who He is and be saved, or ignore Him and face judgment.  “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18).  Honestly, if Jesus was merely a good man filled with the Spirit and empowered by God, then I can understand why people get offended when Christians say “no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6).  But if He is truly God in the flesh, then His words, His commands, His teachings, and His death need to have absolute sway over our life.




[1] http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/43-54/I-and-the-Father-Are-One-Part-1
[2] Enns, P. P. (1989). The Moody handbook of theology (227). Chicago, IL: Moody Press.

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