The One And Only Series

The One and Only

Text: Col. 1:15-18

Introduction

1. Illustration: Someone once asked a banker how he trained his staff to recognize counterfeit notes:

The banker said, that’s simple, I have them handling the real thing all day, so when a counterfeit note comes into their hands, they know immediately.

2. There are many counterfeit gods today, but there is only one true God - Jesus Christ.

3. Jesus is:

a. Completely God

b. Creator God

c. Cohesion God

d. Controlling God

4. Read Colossians 1:15-18

Proposition: Jesus Christ is the one and only God.

Transition: Jesus is...

I. Completely God (15)

A. Image of the Invisible God

1. Paul begins by saying that Jesus "is the image of the invisible God."

a. The word "image" (eikôn) means the exact image, the very person of God.—Practical Word Studies in the New Testament

b. According to Lightfoot "image" means a mark or figure burned or stamped on (something)...a precise reproduction in every respect.

2. This may sound strange to us. How can something invisible have an image?

a. In Greek philosophy, however, the image has a share in the reality that it reveals and may be said to be the reality.

b. An image was not considered something distinct from the object it represented, like a facsimile or reproduction.

c. As the image of God, Christ is an exact, as well as a visible, representation of God (Garland, NIV Application Commentary, New Testament: Colossians and Philemon, 87).

3. It means that Jesus Christ was the perfect manifestation or revelation of God.

a. God is invisible or unseen, but Jesus Christ reveals God to the world.

b. He reveals God as the exact image, as the perfect representation of God.

c. John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

B. Original

1. Illustration: This last Christmas I wanted to get Daniel an Ovation guitar like mine. I ordered what I thought was an Ovation, but when it came it was painfully obvious that is was not an Ovation, only an imitation. It was a cheap copy.

2. Too many people today are settling for a cheap copy of the real thing. They follow:

a. False god’s

b. False religions

c. False hopes

3. They have traded the real thing for a cheap imitation.

4. Jesus is:

a. The image of God

b. The real deal

c. The one and only

Transition: He is also...

II. Creator God (16)

A. All Things Were Created

1. According to Paul, "For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth."

a. The words "by Him" mean in Him; that is, creation took place in Christ, within His very being.

b. The universe exists because of Christ and because of Him alone.

2. Paul’s statement is confirmed elsewhere in Scripture.

a. John 1:3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

b. Heb. 1:2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds.

3. The words "all things" are very significant. They mean...

a. "All things" collectively, that is, all the things within the universe were created by Christ.

b. "All things" individually, that is, every single detail of creation, was created by Christ.

c. Each particle and thing, each being and element has come into being in Christ and in Him alone.

4. The creation of Christ includes all the worlds of all the dimensions of being.

a. This is what is meant by the statement, "that are in heaven, and in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers."

b. If there are other visible and living planets and beings in outer space, Christ created them.

c. If there are invisible worlds and beings in other dimensions, Christ created them.

5. Not only were we created by Christ, but we were also created "for Him."

a. We were created to have fellowship with God.

b. We were created for His pleasure.

B. Creator

1. Illustration: Kind of like the little kid who was told this same story in his Sunday School class. After church on way home mom asks him what they talked about in Sunday School class, the little boy tells her that they talked about the creation story and how God had taken a rib from mans side and made a wife for him. After lunch his mother finds him doubled over in pain, and asks him what’s wrong. The little boys says; “My side hurts mommy, I think I’m having a wife.”