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The Incomparable Jesus (Colossians 1:15-20 April 29, 2012)

The day Dena and I brought Heather home from the hospital – I put her in a baby harness and headed for the door. As I was walking out Dena asked me what I was doing? Just going for a walk. She smiled – you are going to show her off. That was the reality. As people nodded at me – I had to restrain myself from yelling – look – just look – most beautiful baby born since creation. Just putting it out there folks. I feel that way about all of my kids. When people are telling me about their children – their academic achievements, how good they are at sport, how well they are doing at university – I find myself smiling, nodding and restraining myself from yelling – yeah – but let me tell you about my kids! It is a Dad thing. After Kailani was born – Dave’s sermons for the next seven years or so rarely went without a Kailani illustration. It was so obvious that he was a proud Dad. We are naturally proud of our children. And yet … we know they aren’t perfect. Look at their rooms. They have their moods. They drive us crazy at times. They make stupid choices. We don’t care – they are our kids. What is my point? We have children marred by the fall, totally depraved, with hearts that betray their sin. Yet we are so proud of them.

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Imagine if our children were perfect. Imagine the boasting that would go on? In a sense that is exactly what we find in the Scriptures – God boasting about the glory of His perfect, incomparable Son – Jesus. When Jesus began His ministry – the heavens parted and God boomed His pride:

“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:17: On the Mount of transfiguration God spoke again:

“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” Matthew 17:5:

In Matthew 12:18 God said this:

“Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased.”

And John 3:35:

The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. These are just a few of the texts where God expresses His enormous pride in Jesus. It all culminates in Revelation 5 where the Father presents the Son to the saints and angels to be worshipped and adored forever. But it is not just God who boasts in Jesus. Every Christian should boast when their thoughts turn to Jesus. His is the name above all names. No one can compare with Him. The very mention of Jesus should send us gushing with praise for who He is and what He has done. Naida Hearn put it this way:

Jesus, Name above all names, Beautiful Saviour, Glorious Lord. Emmanuel, God is with us, Blessed Redeemer, Living Word.

Bernard of Clairvaux said this:

Jesus, the very thought of Thee With sweetness fills my breast.

Song after song – All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name, His name is Wonderful, Blessed Be the Name of the Lord – this is the response of Christians to turning our thoughts to Jesus. The point of this morning’s message is simple. If you can think about Jesus – who He is, what He has done – without being overcome – without wanted to cry out – thank

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you Jesus – without crying to the world – look at my Jesus – then you can’t truly know Him. Two weeks ago Dave spoke on Colossians 1:1-14. Verses 13 and 14 of chapter 1 are a pivot – they end Paul’s prayer and introduce the next section. In Colossians 1:13–14, Paul prays that the Colossians would give thanks to God the Father who:

Delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

The thought – the mention – of God’s beloved Son – Jesus – who redeemed us and forgave our sins – leads Paul to overflow in praise and adoration of the incomparable Jesus. Paul declares the praise of Jesus by pointing to three positions Jesus occupies. He is:

Creator King Saviour

What might not be immediately apparent is that these three roles are intrinsically linked. Because Jesus is the Creator – He is the King. All things were created not just through Him but also for Him. He created us – therefore He is head over us. That relationship is easy to see. What is not as easy to understand is that only the Creator and King – can be our Saviour.

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This is stunning. Creators are all powerful. Kings rule. But Saviours sacrifice themselves. Jesus had to humble Himself. Lay aside attributes of Creator and King. Die on the cross. The greatest being in history – lowered Himself to a place where men nailed Him to a cross – so He could save us. Of all the facets of Christ – this is the most glorious. If you are in Christ – then this truth should send you to your knees and loose your tongue in unending praise. He is Saviour – yes. But the One who saved us is also the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And He is King of all because He created all. In Revelation 5 when Jesus is presented to the cosmos – He is a Lamb who appears as if He were slain. When all the living creatures and elders praise Him – it is not primarily as Creator or King – but as Saviour. Revelation 5:9–10:

And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”

Paul presents Jesus as Creator and King first – because only the Creator and King can be the Saviour. Two years ago there was a huge furore. Prince Harry was with the British Army in Iraq. Not on the front lines – but in Iraq. His danger quotient was up – so he was brought home. The Palace could not allow the spare heir to even go near any danger – let alone Prince William – let alone Prince Charles or the Queen. But the true King – Creator of all – ruler of all – so great He speaks and the heavens exist – He speak again and they are rolled up like a scroll – He chose to lower Himself – knowing He was not just in danger – knowing we would kill Him. The greatest being – the uncreated Creator – laid down His life for us while we were yet enemies – because the only way to redeem us was for the Creator and King to die. This is the truth angels long to grasp. This is the truth that drives us to gather each week and fall in praise. Colossians 1:15:

He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God. There is so much theology underlying this verse.

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God created us. We sinned. The only way to save man – to reconcile us to God – is for God Himself to lay down His life in our place – to bear our punishment. But how can God do that? God is invisible. 1 Timothy 1:17:

To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

He is also Spirit. John 4:24:

God is spirit. While God created the heavens and the earth – unlike the teachings of Eastern religion – He is not a part of this world. He is not flesh and blood. He is not tangible. Only a man can pay for the sins of men. So even if love drove Him to do so – how can God give Himself to save His creation? And how would the creation even know about God and about His salvation? God can communicate by the creation – the heavens tell of His glory. He can communicate by writing, speaking, sending prophets. But these only show us fragments of God. To save us – God had to actually enter our world. To show us who He is – God finally had to communicate by entering this world in flesh and blood. God became man. God the Father – sent God the Son – because Jesus is not only the great messenger to tell us about God – He is the medium – He is the Saviour. No one else could do it. This is Revelation 5 – who is worthy to take the scroll and open the seals. No one. John is weeping – no angel can do it, no man can do it. But behold – the Lion of the Tribe of Judah has conquered – by becoming man – by sacrificing Himself – now men and women from every tribe and tongue and nation can be redeemed. This is what sets heaven ablaze with praise. The Creator, King is also the Saviour. This is so stunning – it is repeated again and again. Hebrews 1:1–4:

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. CREATOR. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. KING. After making purification for sins, SAVIOUR he sat down at the right hand of the

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Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

God spoke in many ways but finally He spoke to us by his Son – literally in Son. The One who is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature. He is God but He had to come or else there is no salvation – no purification for sins. John 1:1–15:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. CREATOR… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ”) KING For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. SAVIOUR. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known. The invisible God shows Himself by showing us His son – the Word becoming flesh. And this Word – Jesus – is God – the only God who is at the Father’s side. He had to come or else we could not know God and there would be no way to God – no grace. God so loved the world that He sent His Son. Here is the point. If Jesus did not come – and live a holy life – and die on the cross – there is no way of salvation. So back to Colossians 1:15. Jesus is the image of the invisible God. God is invisible. We cannot see Him or touch Him. We can only see what He has created – or what He sends into our universe. But in Jesus we have God Himself entering the universe He created. He is the image of the invisible God. He is God taking on flesh. He comes to show us the full glory of God and to provide the only way to God. If you pause and meditate on this – it blows your mind. The God who speaks and the heavens exist. The God who has always and will always exist. The God who causes the foundations of the Temple to shake at His holiness.

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The God no man can look on and live. This God chose to speak to us, to come to us. And it meant He would lay aside some of His rights, humble Himself, shrink down to a single cell in a virgin’s womb – and yet – all this without ceasing to be almighty God. And He did this in order to die – for a wretched, unworthy sinner like me. I for one can’t get my mind around this. But this is the constant message of Scripture. This is what should capture your heart for eternity. Again – it would take several sermons to even scratch the surface of this. But understand this – only the One who is Creator and King – could be Saviour. And the Creator and King can only save us if He enters our universe – which means coming as the image of the invisible God. Having told us that God has come in the form of Jesus. Paul now spells out what this means.

The first position Jesus occupies. He is Creator. Unfortunately, our English translation of the end of Colossians 1:15 often obscures the very point Paul is making:

Jesus is the firstborn of all creation. If only King James translators had used a better term here it would have saved us much grief from the Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses. They should have said something like:

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Jesus is the preeminent One of all creation.

When I say – Heather is my firstborn – in English that means she is the first of my children to be born. The Mormons and JWs use this English idea to say – God created the universe – and then the first creature He created in that universe – His firstborn – was Jesus. Jesus is not God – just a special part of creation. No … no … and absolutely no. He is the image of the invisible God conveys – exact representation – He is God – not a created being. The Word was God. And in case we miss it – in the very next verse – Jesus is the Creator – not someone created – all things were created through Him and for Him. He existed before anything in creation came into being. Creation ex nihilo is one of the incommunicable attributes of God. It belongs to Him alone – not to any creature. The problem is that in Hebrew ‘firstborn’ refer to the first child born. But theologically it means far, far more. All through Genesis we read about the right of the firstborn – meaning the place of preeminence. This becomes the dominant meaning of the term. Exodus 4:22:

Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD, Israel is my firstborn son.’ Quite clearly Israel was not the first nation on earth. But Israel was given the place of preeminence among the nations. In Psalm 89 – the Lord is speaking of David and in verse 27 says:

And I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth. Again David was not the first King on earth. He was not even the first King of Israel. But God would give him the place of the firstborn – the place of preeminence. This becomes even clearer in verse 18 where Jesus is said to be the firstborn from the dead. Jesus was not the first to rise from the dead. Elijah raised the widow’s son. Jesus raised the many from the dead including Lazarus. But of all who have and will rise from the dead – Jesus has the place of preeminence.

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That is the meaning of the term. Why is Jesus the preeminent One in all creation? Verse 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.

By its very nature, the Trinity contains elements of mystery that our minds are simply incapable of grasping. But the picture the Scriptures paint of the Trinity means that at times it is hard to determine which member of the Trinity is in view. For example – Genesis 1:1 – In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Christians usually say something like this. God the Father is the architect of Creation and God the Son is the agent of Creation. God the Father decided to create and God the Son executed the plan. That may well be true. I suspect that the mystery of the Trinity goes deeper than this. But, regardless – John 1, Hebrews 1, Colossians 1 – all make it crystal clear – the One who Created the heavens and the earth – is Jesus. The babe of Bethlehem, the Teacher, the One who died on the cross – is the One who spoke and the heavens existed. How God can be the Creator and then enter His creation is beyond our ability to grasp. But without doubt – that is what He did. He created everything. The heavens, the earth. Animals, plants. Men, angels. There is nothing that exists that He did not create. He created the heavens and the earth. He created visible and invisible things – probably talking about the natural realm – flesh and blood men and the spiritual realm – angels. Thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – probably refer to the Jewish idea of the hierarchies among the angels. Jesus created everything – from rocks on a distant planet – to men – to every order of angels. But, at any university in this city – if you say – I believe Jesus created this world – they will look at you with pity. Brainwashed by fundamentalist parents. Choosing faith over hard science. Needing a crutch to navigate this world.

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And yet I suggest to you that the objective evidence is strongly weighted toward creation. But that is not what persuades me. The Creator Himself came and declared that He came. And He backed it up by miracles including the resurrection and the new creation. The fact that He saves me testifies to me that He created everything. With the evidence all around them why do men reject the truth of Jesus as Creator? Because if you accept creation – you accept God created you. And if He created you – it means He has the right to rule you. And for fallen men it is that which is totally unacceptable. We want to rule our lives. Better a story about proteins to cells to fish to monkeys to me – than saying there is One before whom I must bend the knee. But the God who created is also a King who is so loving – He died for us. Who would not want Him to rule us? And whether we want it or not – because all things were created – through Him and for Him – He will rule them.

He is King All things were created to serve Him. Verse 17:

And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Not only did Jesus exist before the creation – but when He created everything He sustains it. Jesus is ruling over the creation – holding it all together. Everything about our world screams that it was created by God to be the home for man and He preserves and protects it. Change almost anything about our world – even the smallest amount and life as we know it cannot exist. The earth is 146 million kilometres from the sun. Even a few million kilometres closer and we would end up with a runaway greenhouse effect raising surface temperatures to 400 degrees Celsius. Move the earth a few million kilometres further away and the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would freeze initiating a cycle of ice and cold that would kill all life. Our earth is tilted on an exact angle of 23 and a half degrees off the vertical which provides the necessary seasonal changes as our north and south poles move closer

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and then farther away from the sun as Earth makes its 365 day, 6 hour, 9 minute and 9.54 second orbit. Unlike most of the other planets in the Solar System, Earth has an almost perfectly circular orbit. Any more elliptical and the temperature changes would destroy life. If the moon did not remain at the exact same distance from the earth, the ocean tides would completely inundate the land twice a day. If the ocean floor merely slipped a few feet deeper, the carbon dioxide and oxygen balance in the earth’s atmosphere would be completely upset, and no vegetable or animal life could exist on earth. The magnetic field that surrounds the earth is at exactly the right strength to stop the solar winds stripping our atmosphere into space. If our atmosphere did thin out, many of the meteors that now harmlessly burn up when they hit our atmosphere would constantly bombard us. The fact that there is life on earth is a miracle of creation. The fact that we have not all been wiped out is a miracle of preservation. This is our King at work holding all things together – and He does so in order that we might be saved. Verse 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 King of all creation. But He is also King of the new creation. Through His death and resurrection – Jesus brings into being a new group – the redeemed. He is the beginning – should probably read – He is the founder. He is the head of the church. Of those who have died and will rise with Him – He is the One who has pride of place. He is the preeminent One. Paul draws a distinction here between the creation and the new creation. The old creation is fallen. It is twisted and perverted. It is so perverted that when the Creator comes – the King of the universe – they do not recognize Him – they reject His rule and nail Him to the cross. Today – only the church recognizes Jesus as head. Men spurn His rule and mock those who love it.

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But one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. Today men scoff at Jesus. His name is mouthed in spite. His Law is flaunted. His rule is rejected. But one day all that will change. Revelation 19:11–16:

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

On that day not one mouth will scoff, not one voice will be raised. All will know – our Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. This leads us to the final position Jesus occupies.

He is Saviour Look at verses 19-20:

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.

Paul says – all the fullness of God dwelt in Christ. Jesus is fully God. Why is this crucial – because only God could ever be the Saviour. God is holy. He is without taint of sin and the fire of His wrath must destroy all sin. The wages of sin is death. Put these together and we find that every man since Adam has sinned and is totally lost before God. But that creates a dilemma. If all men are guilty who can pay the penalty for sin? Here is the mystery and wonder of the incarnation. When Jesus became man – He became head of a new group – the church. And by faith we become united with Him. An angel is not a man. An angel could not become head of the redeemed. An angel could not pay for our sins. No man could pay for his own sin – let alone the sin of others.

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But here is the divine mystery. God became flesh. Christ became man. Yet – a God man. The fullness of God dwelt in Him. He was perfect – without sin. Therefore He could die – and because we are united with Him – we die with Him – our sins are reconciled. And at the same time our union with Him means we receive His perfection. In this way – the God-man – Jesus – reconciles all things to Himself. It is not just men who need reconciling. In Romans 8 we find that the creation itself groans waiting for redemption. Jesus’ death ultimately brings peace to the cosmos through the blood of His cross. The wrath of God is satisfied. Sin is punished. Those who trust Christ are redeemed. The cosmos find peace. Here we have a summary of the good news. Look again at verses 13 and 14:

God has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

This is news so good that when Jesus was born the angels trumpeted it through the skies. This news is so good when we have rejoiced in this for a thousand years – we will not have tired one bit of thanking Him for it. It meant that God Himself had to become man. The Creator entered the creation. The King of all came. But He came to die. He gave himself up that we might live. This is not just good news. This is sing praises night and day for all eternity news. This is call every angel and every saint together to fall in worship news. So why oh why oh why do men not worship Jesus? When I was at the Katoomba convention – one of the speakers – Jonny Gibson – told the story of Fabrice Muamba. It made me think. Fabrice Muamba is a professional soccer player. Born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo he played in the English Professional League joining Bolton Wanderers in 2008. On March 17, 2012 he was playing in an FA Cup quarter-final match against Tottenham Hotspurs at their home ground of White Hart Lane.

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During the first half with no one around him – Muamba collapsed on the pitch. The other players around him realised that he was in desperate trouble. Medics ran onto the pitch. A cardiologist in the stands understood what was going on – ran onto the field to help. The crowd which had been so vocal became deathly silent. It was clear this was life and death. Several players dropped to their knees – they began weeping – others were praying. People throughout the stands began to pray. When CPR was commenced spontaneous applause broke out. He was a Bolton player and this was a Tottenham home game – but that no longer mattered. Here was a man fighting to live. Suddenly a chant broke out – no one knew where it came from – Fabrice Muamba … Fabrice Muamba … Fabrice Muamba – the crowd was chanting – willing Muamba to live. Within minutes news of Muamba’s fight for life was the highest trending topic on Twitter. Soon people all over the world, people who had never heard of Fabrice Muamba – began praying for him. People united in willing him to live. Here was a man – an ordinary man – somewhat known in the circles of professional soccer – but not beyond. But when his life was in the balance – people united with him. It would have been unthinkable – that as he lay fighting to live that an opposition player walked up and spat on him, kicked him, abused him and said – just die. It would have been unthinkable that fans in the stands began to chant – die Muamba … die Muamba … die Muamba. It would have been unthinkable had those on Twitter begun bidding for his shirt. And yet consider this. 2000 years ago – another man was fighting for His life. This man was not ordinary. He was extraordinary.

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He had created all that is. Yet He had humbled Himself to come to us. He was King of all that is. Yet He came to serve not be served. And this man who did not need to come to this world – did so – simply to lay down His life for us. He had committed no crime. He had spent His life helping, healing, comforting. And yet – when His life lay in the balance – no one came to His aide. He was beaten, spat on, beard plucked. And the crowd did chant for Him. Crucify Him … crucify Him … crucify Him. And His executioners callously gambled for His clothes. The incomparable Jesus – is willed to die. The ordinary Fabrice Muamba – is willed to live. Why? Because, Jesus is Creator and King. That means He owned the crowd – He owns you and He owns me. We hate that. They cried we have no King but Caesar. This man is not our King. Jesus had exercised His right as Creator and King – to say – you must be holy – and they hated that. They preferred to overlook the evidence and wanted Him out of the way. Muamba was no threat to the rule of their hearts. Fabrice Muamba’s heart stopped for 78 minutes – but by the grace of God he survived. He had an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator fitted and is today in good health. Jesus Christ died. But He rose again – proving that He is indeed the Creator, the King and the Saviour. It pains me greatly to think that men would rightly will a stranger like Muamba to live – yet actively condemn the Sovereign Lord Jesus to death. But I understand that they are fallen men with deceived hearts. They reject His rule and crown themselves King. It pains me – but I understand it. What I cannot fathom is why some who name the name of Christ – some who call Him Lord and King – are not struck by the thought of Jesus. Creator – King – yet Saviour. It does not thrill them – bring them to tears – drive them to holiness.

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Creator, King, Saviour. Have we come to the place where we take this for granted? Ho hum – Here I am to worship You – I know You Created – I know You are the King – I know You saved me. But that stuff just doesn’t turn my crank anymore. Miracles, music, fellowship – yes. The Voice, the Broncos, sex – yes. But not Jesus. If that is you, then it means you see the words but you don’t see Jesus. Creator, King, Saviour. You need to meditate on the truth of who He is, what He has done and what it means to be in Him. The Lord of eternity who humbled Himself and lay down His life that we might live. Christians who do not recognise Him as Creator, obey Him as King and do not worship Him with their lives as Saviour. That – I cannot grasp. Christians who are not so proud of Jesus that they want to boast about Him to everyone. That – I cannot grasp. If you are here this morning and do not know Christ – then hear the Word of the Lord. God Himself has drawn near in the form of Jesus Christ – God in human flesh – your Creator and King. He commands all men everywhere to repent and accept the amnesty in His blood He offers. And that is good news. If you know Jesus. Then this news – that God has transferred us from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of His beloved Son – by redeeming us – reconciling us to himself by the blood of His cross – this news should drive us to our knees in worship of the Lamb who was slain – God become man to die for us. King of Kings and Lord of Lords – and He shall reign forever and ever.