The Incomparable Christ Pt 1

And read verse 15 with me. And Father, we do come to you and give thanks to you, Lord. And we have enjoyed singing praises to your name. And so, Father, as we take now time in your word, I ask that you administer to us by the power of your Holy Spirit the things that only your Holy Spirit can reveal to us. Father, we do lift up that missions team as they go to church this morning.

May it be a morning of refreshment for them. And I pray for safe travels that you would bring them back to us. And Lord, may we all be drawn near to you by the power of your Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. Thank you, sir. And if you would open up in your Bibles to the book of Colossians chapter 1.

Colossians chapter 1. Well, today we kind of get into the meat of what Paul is going to speak to us in the book of Colossians. The theme, if you will, of Colossians, which is none other than Jesus himself. He gave us those introductory statements thanking God for the faith and the love and the hope that was in these Colossian people. And he, of course, prayed for them like he often does for many of the people that he writes to.

But now, according to J.B. Lightfoot, Paul defines the person of Christ claiming for him absolute supremacy. Because that's what he's going to do for us in this next set of verses and the rest of chapter... As a matter of fact, I've given the title for the rest of chapter 1, The Incomparable Christ. The Incomparable Christ. And, of course, this will be part 1.

It's going to take us more than one week to get through it. And so this part 1 is called The Preeminence of Christ. And so as we look at chapter 1, verse 13, we're going to go back and review just a little bit. Verse 13, it says this, For he rescued us from the domain of darkness, and he took us out of the darkness, and he transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, both in the heavens and on the earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions 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. He is also the head of the body, the church,

and he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in him, and through him to reconcile all things, to himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross. Through him I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. One of my favorite hymns that we used to sing when I was a kid went like this, Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.

That's kind of what Paul does for us here in this first section of the, last part of chapter one, is he causes us to turn our eyes fully upon Jesus, so that all of the things of this earth will find themselves growing strangely dim. And given the events of the last week or so, it's a really important thing to turn our eyes upon Jesus. Because no matter what's going on in our political world, and quite frankly, I have no idea what's going to end up happening in our political world right now. It doesn't really matter.

Because we can turn our eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, and the things of this earth can truly grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. But as he presents the preeminence of Christ to us, as he presents the incomparable Christ to us, in these 20 verses, or in these verses 13 through 20, there are 10 things that I would like to point out to you. I know I'm supposed to only have three, because a good preacher always has three points. But this time, I have, I have 10.

10 things that I want to point out to you that show that Christ is preeminent. The first one is a little bit of a review. Remember, he had just prayed for the Colossian people. And as he closed out his prayer, he said, giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us or made us sufficient to share in the inheritance of the saints and the lights for he rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son.

That sort of segues us directly, into what Paul has to say about Christ. And so in verse 14, it says, in whom we have the redemption, the forgiveness of sins. And so number one, in the preeminence of Christ, the number one thing about the incomparable Christ is that he is the author of salvation. He is the author of salvation. I won't belabor this verse very much,

but I will remind you of the two amazing points that's given to us, because it says, in whom, speaking of Christ Jesus, in whom, we have, first of all, redemption. Redemption, of course, means purchased by the payment of a ransom. Purchased by the payment of a ransom, which is exactly what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross. Not only do we have redemption, but we also have the forgiveness of sins.

Forgiveness means the cancellation of sins penalty or to literally put away sin. If you need the picture of what that looks like, the best picture that we have of forgiveness or the putting away of sin, of course, is the scapegoat, the goat that the high priest, once a year on the Day of Atonement, would confess all of the sins of the people as he laid his hands on the head of the scapegoat. And then the scapegoat would be taken to the outside of the city and it would be released into the wilderness, signifying that the sins of the nation had been carried away for another year. Well, Jesus, of course, was our ultimate scapegoat because he did not just take away sins for a year.

He took away sin for all time. And so Jesus, the incomparable Christ, is the author of salvation. And may I say, if I can add also the author of hope in the midst of all of those things, because hope is the thing that's missing the most in our world today because that salvation is what offers us the greatest hope. I went back and looked at my old notes because this is the first book that I taught when Pastor Mark first started going into surgery and dealing with all of his cancer stuff.

So I've been kind of referring, referring back to the notes that I used back in 2016 when I taught this. It was kind of the first transitionary book for me to teach. So I went back and looked at my notes and I had a little story about Kurt Cobain. I was a big Nirvana fan when I was in high school, still kind of am if I'm being completely honest, if I'm sharing honesty right now.

I still think Courtney Love killed Kurt Cobain, but that's my own personal, that's my own personal conspiracy theory that is also shared by many in the music world. But anyway, I watched a documentary about him at one point in time and it was kind of fascinating to watch this documentary. The guy was a creative genius. As far as like, I mean, he started a genre of music that absolutely turned a culture in a really interesting time there in the early 90s.

But he also spoke to a generation and the guy that put this documentary together said something fascinating about Kurt Cobain. He said he was absolutely hopeless. And in his hopelessness, he spoke to a hopeless generation. And that's why they connected with him. And I found that to be kind of fascinating because I think that if it was hopeless in the 90s, what is it now, right?

Like if kids felt that way back then, what's going on with them now? And it's even more so, and it's because they need that message of salvation. They need to know that there is redemption for their sins, that there is forgiveness for their sins, that their lives are worthy to be redeemed, that their sins can be forgiven, that they don't have to carry the guilt of those sins any longer because Jesus is the author of salvation. He's the author of salvation.

Number two, he is the image of the invisible God. The image of the invisible God. That word image in the Greek carries with it two ideas. First of all, it can mean a representation or a likeness. A representation or a likeness. Let me give you a couple of examples. Speaking of an image that's on a coin, that would be the image that's on there, or a reflection in a mirror.

It reflects your image back to you. That's the first thing that that could mean, which is kind of interesting because if you were to delve back into the gospel of John and you were to look at John chapter 14, I don't want you to go there right now, you might reference John 14, nine in the margin of your Bible because in John chapter 14, Jesus is speaking with his disciples and he's telling me he has to go away. He says, but where I go, you know, and the way you know. And of course, Thomas says to him, Lord, we don't know where you're going.

How can we know the way? And Jesus says, Thomas, I am the way and the truth and the life. Anyone can come to the, no one comes to the father except through me. And then Thomas says something fascinating to him. He says, Lord, show us the father and we will be satisfied. And Jesus looks at Thomas and he says, Thomas, have I been with you for so long and you don't recognize me?

If you have seen me, you have seen the father because Jesus is the image. He's the image of the invisible God. But that's the first thing that it means. It means a representation or a likeness, but it can also mean a manifestation, a manifestation because God is revealed in Jesus. As a matter of fact, go with me over to John chapter one, hold your finger here, put your bookmark here or whatever.

Go to John chapter one. And I want you to look at verse 18,

John chapter one, verse 18. And the apostle John writing about Jesus, says this, no one has seen God at any time, but the only begotten of God who is in the bosom of the father has explained him. That word can also be translated, revealed him. That's the idea of Jesus as the image of the invisible God, that triune God has very hard to understand, but God, the father is the essence of God.

Jesus is his image. Jesus is what reveals God to us, which tells us if we want to know what God, the father looks like, if we want to know how God, the father would act, if we want to know exactly what God would want in a situation, we look at how Jesus lived while he was here on earth. Have you noticed that there are four books of the Bible dedicated to one man's life. And that was the life of Jesus, because not only does it reveal to us the redeeming power of Jesus Christ, but it reveals to us what the father truly looks like because when Jesus showed up, he explained the father to us because he is the image of the invisible God.

David Guzik had a great quote in his commentary, and he was actually quoting, excuse me, another guy whose last name is peak. I didn't catch the first name, but it says this, this is the quote in Christ, the unknowable becomes knowable in Christ, the unknowable becomes knowable in Christ, the unknowable becomes knowable in Christ, the unknowable becomes knowable. One of the fascinating things about God and all inspiring things about God is that to the human mind, he is beyond our comprehension and he is completely unknowable. There are small ways that we can see the glory of God revealed.

God reveals his glory to us through nature, right? That's why, that's why when you go out into nature and you see things you, you find yourself sometimes just sort of stopping and just Okay, soaking it all in it. And by the way, you should do that. I think it's really important in the busy, fast-paced world that we live in that we sometimes just allow ourselves to stop and be kind of taken aback at just how great the world around us is, just how beautiful nature is. My youngest daughter was always so good at this, especially when she

was tiny. When she was a real tiny kid, of course, she'd always get put to bed early, so she didn't always get to see the stars. But every time we'd take her outside at night, little three-year-old Nora would go, Daddy, look at the stars, because she was just amazed by them. And it was always really good for me to hear that, because it would make me stop and look at the stars, and I would be amazed as well. And as amazing as that is, God is the one who created all that. So

there's a small way in which God reveals himself to us through nature, but if we really want to see the unknowable God revealed to us, it's revealed to us in Christ. Because God knew that our human minds cannot take in who he actually is. And so all of that understanding, and all of that knowledge, and all of that understanding, and all of that understanding, and all of that understanding, and all of that understanding, and all of that knowable nature of God becomes knowable to us in the person of Jesus Christ. Because in his mercy, because in his grace, because in his love for us, he revealed himself to us through Jesus Christ.

He is the image of the invisible God. Number three, he is the firstborn over all creation. It's referenced there in verse 15. He is the firstborn over all creation. Now this verse gets a little bit dangerous, right? Because there are certain groups that use this statement to try to say that Jesus was a created being because he was the firstborn over all creation. Therefore, he must

have been a created being because he was firstborn. But that comes from a lack of understanding of what the word firstborn means in the Greek, of what that word actually means. Honestly, what Jesus said to some people, he said, I'm the firstborn over all creation. I'm the firstborn over all people that debated him to the Pharisees at one point in time is the truest statement that can be made of anybody that has an issue with God. They do not understand the scriptures and they do not

know God. And because of that, they have a true failure in understanding these things. But that word firstborn in the Greek carries with it two ideas. It carries with it both the idea of priority and the idea of sovereignty. The Greek word is actually prototokos, right? P-R-O-T-O, prototokos. T-O-K-O-S. And that word simply means to have both priority and sovereignty. Priority means that he

predates creation. He predates creation. Now again, this would fly in the face of the Gnostic idea that Jesus was just one in a long line of created beings that ultimately became the one who would create everything else because he predates all of creation. You say, Ryan, where else is that scripturally? Well, I'm really glad that you asked. In the margin of your Bible, you might write John,

one, one. Because in John, one, one, it says this, in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. That word is logos, which was the greatest word that John could come up with to use in the Greek to speak of who Jesus was in his manifestation of the real God, in his manifestation of the invisible God. But if you were to read John chapter one, verse one in the Greek, literally it would read, in the beginning, the word already existed. In the beginning, the word

already existed. Speaking of the fact that before creation ever existed, there was Jesus. And so in priority, he predates creation because Jesus is the eternal God, because he's a part of that triune Godhead that always has been. And if you really want to blow someone's mind, tell them that Jesus is eternal. Because they say, what do you mean eternal? He has no ending,

right? He has no ending, but that's not the really cool part about being eternal. He has no beginning. Everything has to have a beginning. Uh-uh. That's my best argument for that, right? Is that not according to the Bible? Uh-uh. Not everything has to have a beginning because God didn't have a beginning. You mean he just always has been? Yes. Jesus always has been.

I can't take that in. Exactly. Because he is the unknowable God that becomes knowable in Christ. But I can't put him into my box that way. Exactly. And that's what makes him God. That's what makes him God. You see, if he was someone that we could fully understand and put into a box and put all the parameters on, he wouldn't be God. He might be my God because he's the God I've created,

but he would not be God. And so Jesus is the firstborn in that he is the firstborn in priority because he predates creation. He predates creation. He predates creation. He predates creation. He predates creation. But he's also the firstborn in that he is the firstborn in sovereignty because he has both the position of authority and sovereignty over creation. Again, in our Western culture mind,

we don't always understand the role of the firstborn, right? Are there any firstborns in here? Any oldest kids in here? Yeah. Okay. I'm not. I'm the secondborn or as they also refer to that as the youngest, right? And so as the youngest, you don't always get the priority or at least your you older siblings, you Lord is your firstborn this over them, right? You were like, well, I'm the

oldest. I can tell you what to do. I'm the boss, right? That was what you thought. And the entire time you'd be the, the younger siblings going, uh, same argument. I really don't come up with very many new ones. I was like, uh, no, you're not right. Because we don't believe that. Well, in ancient cultures, they really were the boss because they got ultimate priority. They were

the one who ultimately all of the authority of the father over the family would be handed down to. And so when it's, it says that he is the firstborn. It speaks of his authority and sovereignty over all of creation because he is the firstborn over all creation. And so number three, he is the firstborn of creation. And that brings us speaking of creation directly into number four. He is the creator.

He's the creator. Notice what it says for by him, all things were created both in the heavens and on the earth, visible and invisible where the thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things have been created through him. I believe it's in Psalm 33. Yeah, I actually wrote it in the margin of my Bible. Psalm 33 verse six, that it says that by the word of his mouth, the heavens,

were created. I don't know if you ever think about creation. I love at the beginning of the year, because usually I'm reading Genesis at the beginning of the year. And I love those first couple of chapters of Genesis, mainly because my imagination kind of takes over. I hope you allow that to happen every now and then, as long as it's within the bounds of scripture. I hope you let your

imagination take over sometimes in certain sections of scripture. And I start picturing what creation might've looked like, right? Have you ever done that? Okay. So day one, God creates the heavens and the earth, right? Right. Shows up, boom. And the heavens, so maybe all of the other things start showing up too. Like there's just things there, right? In the evening, in the morning, we're the first day. Day two,

God creates light, right? All of a sudden you can see now. And then God starts creating other lights, right? He starts creating the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night. Sun's up there. And maybe some of the other stars get created at that point in time. I don't know. And then the moon, moon's smaller than the sun. That's why I got a smaller sound.

Okay. Just don't think I'm being unfair to the moon. Just smaller, right? And, and, and all of these things start getting created, but then it gets wild, right? At least for, at least on top side of planet earth, because on top side of planet earth, he starts creating things. Can you imagine what it would have looked like when he created like the mountains? Like, okay. So everything's covered with water, right? Waters covered the surface of

the deep and the spirit of the Lord hovered over the surface of the waters, right? That's how it was in creation. And then all of a sudden God starts creating things. And so I don't know, I picture like the fast motion things that you see on like Instagram reels and stuff like, that have a plant growing and it's like, right. And it turns into a tree, like right in front of

your face. That's how I picture creation being as I picture it emerging from the water, like cascading water coming off of it and mountains coming up. And all of a sudden there's trees popping up, rocks being formed. And I don't think there was snow yet because snow was a part of the fall. At least that's what I think. So, um, so these mountains are cascading up and there's water

coming off all of them and all these things are, and then animals start growing. And then comes the rain, which came first, the chicken or the egg? I have no idea. Like, do it. God just like egg, right? Chicken, right? I don't know how that works, but when all of a sudden animals are popping up, animals are just everywhere. The horse is like, right. Is it all over the place? It would have

been the most fascinating thing. You know, Jesus had fun with that. He's like, let's make a horse horse. Yeah. Yeah. Nobody said who said nay. Nobody said nay in heaven, right? The answers are like, nay. And he's like, that's exactly, what it should say. So, so he starts creating all these things. This creation is just fascinating. And it all came from one source, Jesus, because he was the creator of all things. That's why when

we look at nature, it reveals his glory because it's his creation. Just like when I look at a work of art and I say, wow, that must have been an amazing artist, right? Because the art preconceives the idea that there had to have been an artist. And when I look at creation, I say there had to have been a creator. And that's exactly who Jesus is. This incomparable Christ,

the author of salvation, the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation is also the creator of all things. One more verse. I want you to write down John chapter one, verse three, because it says in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. And the word was God. And the word was God. And the word was God. And the word was God.

The same was in the beginning with God. All things, John chapter one, verse three, all things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made. He is the creator of the heavens and the earth. But not only is he the creator, number four, oh, son of a gun, I double numbered that thing. Number five, he is the purpose. He is the purpose. There's one little line I want you to pay attention to right at the end of verse 16.

There should be in your Bible, there's probably a little dash in front of it. It says, all things have been created through him. And then there's three little words I want you to pay attention to and for him. All things have been created for him. That tells us that we were all created for a purpose. And I beat this drum quite a bit, but I'm going to do it again because I think

it just really needs to be said. I don't think it can be said enough that we were created for the purpose of knowing and serving God. That we were created for that purpose. God didn't create us just haphazardly. God didn't create us arbitrarily. God's like, I'm going to create them with a purpose. That's why when God put Adam in the garden, he not only gave him a job, but he gave him a relationship. God showed

up and walked with Adam in the garden every day. Why? Because he was created for fellowship. He was created for fellowship with God. And God had a purpose for him to live out in his life. He was created to know and to serve God. And most of the problem in the culture today surrounds the fact that we have gotten away from our purpose. Sin separates us from that purpose because Adam

and Eve, as they were in the garden, knowing that their one purpose was to know and serve God, decided that instead of fulfilling the purpose of knowing and serving God, they instead wanted to become God. Like God. They wanted to put themselves in the place of God, which is not why God created them. And so they destroyed their purpose through sin. But that's why Jesus came was to restore the

purpose. That's what that redemption did for us is it restored our purpose because our purpose is to know God. As a matter of fact, there's a great quote by St. Augustine of Hippo. And it says, oh, did I write it down here? I bet I didn't. I bet I took it out of there. It says, we were created for your purposes and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in me. Because that's who we are. The world around

us right now can't find their rest anywhere. The world around us right now, and maybe you can't find your rest because you're not finding it in the one purpose that you have been created for, which was to know and serve God. Many people are out trying to find their purpose in their rest in a relationship, a relationship with someone, even sometimes a spouse that they're married to. And they're finding all of their purpose in that relationship. And that relationship is falling apart. And

they're like, if that relationship falls apart, then where is my purpose? This is where my purpose has always been. And it's like, well, that's the reason your relationship is falling apart, because that's where you're finding your purpose. It was never intended to be in a husband or a wife or seeking God. It was never intended to be in a husband or a wife or seeking God.

Your purpose was always intended to be found in Christ. And God brings that spouse along to help you in your purpose. So many people are unhappy right now because they're trying to find their purpose in their job. Well, you see, I want to find a job where I can really help people. I can, I want to find a job where I can really make a difference. And you find this job

and you're trying to make a difference. Only the problem is you realize people don't want help, but sometimes nobody notices the difference because you have forgotten that your purpose is to know and serve God. And God measures success differently than we do. God does not measure success by how many people's lives you've impacted. God measures success by how many, by how faithful you are. Are you faithful

to do what God has called you to do? Because if you're living out your purpose, he just wants you to be faithful. Some people are trying to find all of their purpose in their finances. And as you're trying to find your purpose in your finances, you have noticed that your purpose is flittering when you go buy groceries, right? And you can't find your purpose in your finances. And all of a

sudden, money's not what it was at one point in time. And maybe you've earned everything that there is and you're still not happy. And you're like, what's my purpose now? What's my purpose? I thought it was in having a lot of money. I thought it was in having a lot of things. Some people try to find their purpose in their hobbies. That's why you have to always have a new hobby.

You always have to have the next new thing to keep you occupied because you have forgotten that the that you have is knowing and serving Christ. And your hobby is your rest, but it's not your purpose. Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in him. And we're living in a culture right now that is so frustrated. It is so on the brink. And the reason why is because they are trying to find

their purpose in everything else but Christ. And the one thing that they find is it's never enough. It's never enough. I always need something more. And they miss the one point that I was created through him and I was created for him. He is my purpose.

My numbering is off now because I screwed it up. I put number four twice. So let's see. That was number five. This is number six. I just have to add a number to everything. I'm terrible at math. So number six. Before all things. You're like, Ryan, what does that even mean? Well, that word before is really important because that word before speaks once again of the eternal nature of Christ. If you

didn't catch it the first go around when he said he's the firstborn over all creation, you're going to catch it the second go around when he says, and he is before all things. Paul thought it necessary to reinforce the eternal nature of Christ. Why? Because the nature of Christ was the thing being attacked the most. So he reinforces that nature of Christ. But that brings us to number seven. And I find number seven fascinating. Number seven. He holds

all things together. He holds all things together. Now, I don't know how you picture that. Let me tell you what the word holds all things mean. The idea is this. It means to cohere, to consist. He is the holder of all things. Now, I don't know how you picture that phrase that he holds all things together. But let me tell you how a lot of us picture it because the way that we're trying to

do things, right? Is, is that you've built this thing and it's missing the one linchpin that holds it all together. So what you're doing is you've got it all on all sides. Like, okay, now put that screw in, right? And you've got your hands on the entire thing and you're just trying to, trying to hold this whole thing together. It's like putting up a tent and you need that one stake to get put

in to hold it. And until you do that, you're not going to be able to hold it. So you've got to do the whole thing is just like flopping all over the place, right? Like that's how we picture the idea of holding all things together. Like I'm just barely holding it together. That's not the idea of this at all. The idea is that he holds all things together, not because he has his arms wrapped

around and he's trying really hard. The idea is he's holding all things together by the word of his mouth. Where'd that come from? Go to Hebrews chapter one. Hebrews chapter one. Hebrews chapter one is another section on Christ. Pretty amazing. Hebrews chapter one. I want you to look at verse three. Hebrews one, three says this, and he is the radiance of his glory, the exact representation of his nature. Listen,

and he upholds all things by the word of his power. He upholds all things by the word of his power. That means that simply the word of Christ, holds all things together. The power of his word. In other words, let me put it to you this way. He's not struggling to hold it all together right now. He's not stressed out about holding it all together right now because he's doing it by the word of his mouth. That means a few things. I think

I want to remind you that the world spins at a particular speed. It's really important that the world spins at that particular speed. And if you're a flat earther, I need you to ask yourself, how does the world spin at a particular speed? I want to point that out to you. So, so the world spins at this particular speed and it has to spin at this particular speed because if the world was spinning any faster, we would fly off of it.

If it was spinning any slower, we would fly off of it. How do you think the earth knows exactly what speed to spin at? Well, Jesus and the word of his mouth, he's holding all things together. Do you know that we are the exact right distance from the sun? The exact right distance from the sun. If we were any, any closer to the sun, we would burn up. Even though this summer, you're probably going to at

times go, are you sure we're not too close to the sun, right? We're the exact right distance from the sun to keep us from burning up because if we were any closer, we would catch on fire. If we were any further away, we would freeze. We were the exact right distance. How does the earth stay suspended in space, spinning around the exact right distance from the sun? Because it is all

being held together by the word of his power. Now, if God, through Jesus, knows how to keep the world spinning at the exact right speed, the exact right distance from the sun, so that we spin around the sun at the exact right amount of time, so that the seasons will be in place, do you think he's stressed out about the political situation in the United States of America today? I do not. You know why? Because he holds all things

together by the word of his power. He's holding all things together by the word of his power. His power. Through him, all things consist, hold together, cohere, are sustained, and they will listen, be sustained as long as he wants them to be. Because he is the sovereign over creation, the firstborn over creation. And so those of you that are stressed out right now about what's

happening in our nation and what's happening in our world, you need to remind yourself, it's not my job to hold it all together. It's not anybody in Washington's job to hold it all together. It's not anybody in the UN's job, praise Jesus, to hold it all together. It's none of their job. Jesus is the one that's holding it all together, and he'll do it as long

as he wants to. And we'll be a nation as long as he wants us to be. In the moment that he says, you can't be a nation anymore because you've decided that you're a pagan nation now, and you won't follow me, then the nation will fall apart. But does that mean that God will stop being in control? Absolutely not. Because he holds all things together through the word of his power.

Now, if God knows how to spin the world at the right speed, keep us the right distance from the sun, and he knows how to hold all of the governments together by the word of his power and the way that he sees fit at the timing that he sees fit, why are you worried about your life? Why are you worried about the things that are going on in your life? Now, that's not a condemning statement. I'm saying it to me, too. Why do I worry? Why do I get so stressed out? If the God

who is the creator of the heavens and the earth, the image of the invisible God, the author of salvation, the firstborn over creation, who is before all things and eternal, it's holding all things together and is my very purpose in living, is sitting on the throne, why am I so stressed out? I'm so worried about whatever's going on in my life right now. I'll tell you why. Because your flesh won't believe what's true in God's word. And it's time to start looking at what God's word

has to say and start listening to that instead of everything else. He holds all things together. Number eight, he is the head of the church. He is the head of the church. Nope, that pretty well covers what it says in the verse there.

Thought there was more in that verse I needed to read to you. Nope, pretty much just says head of the church. Oh, I like early service. You know that? You guys are so patient with me. It's so good. He is the creator of the church. Now, I think this is really important. And I wrote, this was from my notes last time, and I don't have it referenced by somebody,

I don't know if I came up with this. I feel pretty good about it if I did. But this is what I, like, dude, 36-year-old Ryan was on it, right? So this is what I wrote. He is the head of the church. The head of the church is no man or movement. It is Jesus Christ. And we must take our cues from him and his word, not from any man, not from any movement, not from any method, new or old. Brothers and sisters, most of the problem in the church right

now is they keep trying to be in charge of it. And the other problem with the church is that women try to be in charge of it. And the big problem is Jesus isn't in charge of it. And any church where Jesus isn't in charge is either A, going to fall apart, or B, become apostate. Those are the only two options for a church where Jesus is not the head. And what I have seen in Arc City, in America,

in the world, is that every church where Jesus is not the head either falls apart or becomes a apostate. I actually heard somebody in a church that I would consider to be not a very good church, I won't tell you what it is, said, why would God allow us to continue to be a church for this long if we were not blessed by him? And all I can think is, have you ever read about the wheat and the tares? You ever read that section at all in the Bible? Because it says that he'll let them grow

together until the day of judgment. He said, just let it grow, okay? And on the day of judgment, that's when I'll do the separating. And I will separate out the wheat from the tares, and the wheat will go into the storehouses, and the tares will be burned. And so if Jesus isn't the head of the church, listen, the Pope isn't the head of the church, right? Chuck Smith was not the head of the church. Brian Broderson's

not the head of the church. Don McClure is not the head of the church. You probably don't know who those people are. Jesus should be the head of the church, and we should be taking our cues from him. Not the latest church growth book, not the latest ideas, not what they're doing at New Spring, not what they're doing at Life.Church. We should be taking our cues from Jesus. Lord, how do you want us to move forward as the church? Because he is the head

of the church. Number nine, he is the firstborn from the dead. The firstborn from the dead. This is where there is a little bit more. He's also, verse 18, the head of the church, and he is the beginning. The firstborn from the dead, so that he himself will come to have first place in everything. Again, the idea of the firstborn speaks both of priority and sovereignty. He has priority in that he is the first one who has been

raised from the dead, and he has sovereignty in that he has defeated death. He is the beginning of spiritual life for the church. Therefore, he must take the first place, and this is the word that's translated in the Old and the New King James as, preeminence. To have first place and to hold first place in everything. In other words, this is what makes him the head of the church, is that he is the one who has defeated death.

Number 10, in him all the fullness dwells. In him all the fullness dwells. Verse 19, for it was the father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in him. The word fullness there means the totality of divine power and attributes. The totality of divine power and attributes. In other words, he is 100% God. And it pleased the father that in him all the fullness of the Godhead should dwell in bodily form, as it says in the Old King James

Version. It's God's great pleasure for that to take place. And so, they have a permanent dwelling place in Christ. This answers any questions as to whether or not Jesus is God, which is one of the great questions that comes about through some of the cults that are out there today. Well, the Bible never says that Jesus is God. Well, he just did right there. It says that in him all the fullness

should dwell. Well, Jesus never said he was God. He said he was God. He said he was God. He said he was God. Oh, really? What did he say in John chapter 14, verse 9, when he said, if you have seen me, you have seen the father. Jesus claimed to be God. Scripture declares that he is God. Therefore, he is God. He is that second person of the triune Godhead. You say, I don't understand

it. I don't either. I don't have to. He didn't ask me to. He just asks me to believe it. I can give you some images. I can give you some ideas of the triune Godhead, right? The egg, presents an interesting image of the triune Godhead because there are three things that all make up one. You have the shell and the yolk and then the white of the egg, all three egg,

but all three different parts of the egg and all three make up one. I think the greatest image of the Trinity is that of H2O, which is what we would refer to as water because H2O takes on three different forms. It can either be a liquid or it can be a solid or it can be a gas. When it's a liquid, it's the water that we drink and it hydrates us. When it's a solid, it's an ice that refreshes our drink or that cools our drink and refreshes us.

When it is a gas, it turns into steam or we might call it humidity, which causes us to need water and ice to refresh us, right? And so it can be all three of those things, all three separate, but all three distinct unity of H2O. And so he says in him, all the fullness dwells. They have a permanent dwelling place in Christ. And then number 11, the very last thing he is the reconciler of all things. Notice what it says in verse 20 and

through him, meaning Christ to reconcile all things to himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross through him. I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. Now, I don't know about you, but this feels redundant that he referred to him as the author of salvation and the reconciler of all things. I wonder why he stated it twice. Well, there was a really good purpose why he stated it twice.

You see, the Gnostics had this idea that there were angelic beings that mediated, angelic mediators that assisted in the reconciliation process. These angelic mediators were those who took part in the reconciliation process. And Paul here makes it clear that there is only one who can reconcile. There's only one who reconciled all things to the father through himself. And that's Jesus Christ. There was no additional

mediator. As a matter of fact, we don't need another mediator between us and God. That's why when Jesus died on the cross, that veil of the temple was torn in two because he is now the one mediator between God and man. There is no need for a high priest. There is no need for that mediator because we have Christ. He is the reconciler of all things. And that's why when Jesus died on the

cross, that veil of all things to himself. And I love what the word reconcile means. And we're going to wrap up with this. The word reconcile means to bring back into harmony, to restore to harmony. Do you remember we talked about our purpose? Our purpose was to know God. That was the entire reason why God created Adam and Eve. The one thing that broke that purpose, the one

thing that destroyed that purpose was sin. And now there was something between God and man. And that purpose needed restored. Who they were in the garden of Eden needed restored. And so God sent Jesus. Jesus came and took on the form of a man, 100% God, 100% man to bear our penalty in his own body on the tree. And when he did so, he reconciled us to himself. He restored former harmony. And

he's brought us back into harmony now. He's brought us back into that place where we originally were intended to be. And we have seen it now in our spirit. And we will ultimately see that reconciliation take place when there is a new heaven and a new earth, when there is no longer sin and Eden will be restored through the reconciling work of Jesus Christ. Because the last thing to be reconciled will be nature, right? That will be

the last thing that's been brought back into harmony with God. And one of the greatest things we can know is that I have been reconciled to Christ. I was once alienated. And he's going to go through this in just a little bit. We'll talk about it next week. I was once alienated, but now I've been brought near through the blood of Jesus. Brothers and sisters, he is truly the incomparable Christ. Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in his wonderful

face. And the things of this earth will grow strangely dim. And the light of his glory and grace. Amen. I'd like to invite the worship team up. This morning is communion Sunday. As you can see by our lovely trays up here. And in just a moment, the ushers are going to come down and they're going to hand out the elements. But I always like to take just a minute to talk about communion because it's an important thing that we do. Inside of each of

these cups, there's two things. The bottom cup has a little piece of bread and the top cup has some juice in it. And the bottom cup has a little piece of bread and the top cup has some juice in it. And the bottom cup has a little piece of bread and the top cup has some juice in it. And the bottom cup has a little piece of bread and the top cup has some juice in it. And the bottom cup has some juice in it. And

in and of themselves, just average elements. But the symbolism of what they represent for us is where the power truly is. Because the thing that reconciled us to God was the very blood of Jesus Christ. The thing that redeemed us was the blood of Jesus Christ. The forgiveness of sin came through the breaking of his body. And so every time we gather and partake in this meal, we declare

the death of Christ is what we're told in scripture. And so we're told to make sure we first of all understand what we're doing that when we partake of this it is symbolic in nature and yet it is spiritual in nature because we are reminded of the body of Jesus Christ that was broken for us and we are reminded of the blood of Jesus Christ that was shed for us and so we have that understanding of what we're doing but we're also told to partake in a worthy manner that our hearts need to be right before the Lord and so we need to ask God to search our heart and see if there's any wicked way in us and then the beautiful thing about Christ is we can confess our sins and

he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins in the book of 2nd Timothy we're told that there are vessels multiple vessels in a house some are vessels for honor some are vessels for dishonor and then Paul goes on to tell us that we should cleanse that we should cleanse ourselves so that we can be those vessels of honor the only way that we can cleanse ourselves is to allow the light of Jesus Christ to shine through the world and we should be able to do that in our lives and in our into our lives to see the areas of our lives that need cleansed once again by his blood and then ask that his blood would continue to cover us from all sins amen as you receive the elements if you would please stand and then we'll partake together would you bow with me

father we come before you lord and i thank you thank you for who you are lord i thank you for being the author of all salvation lord i thank you for your body that was broken for us broken for the sins of the world lord that by your stripes we are healed and father i thank you for your blood that was shed for us lord your blood that was enough to cover our sins and lord as we partake of this this morning may we always keep in mind the body and the blood of jesus that it's where our unity with you comes from it's how we are reconciled to you but lord it's also how we are reconciled to each other and so father we praise you for who you are thank you for your sacrifice in jesus name amen

you may partake and if you would bow with me one more time father as we go out from here lord may our eyes be turned more fully upon you and may we lord continue to have our focus upon our great god and king jesus father keep us close to you we pray in jesus name amen be blessed