The Center Of Life Series

As a child I was an avid reader and one of the first novels I ever read was by Jules Verne –“Journey to the Center of the Earth.” It was amazing as this crew boarded a rocket that drilled itself into the core of the earth and discovered it was hollow. There was a whole new world they didn’t know existed which was right under their feet.

There are so many people today who don’t realize that there is a whole new world that they have not yet discovered. This is a world in which you can bear the fruit of good works despite suffering, know the eternal and infinite God, receive power to go through life no matter what happens, and have an attitude of thanks through the ups and downs of life. The core of this new world is JESUS and Jesus ALONE.

What is at the center and core of your life? Everything in the world and in our lives are made to focus on Jesus Christ. For most people in this world, this is obviously not the case. And for many of us, we stumble and don’t always have our lives centered on Jesus. But this is God’s will. Our purpose in life is to glorify the King of kings. This is why we call ourselves Christians – we center our lives around Jesus Christ.

This morning we are continuing in the letter of Paul to the Colossians. Last week we saw how thankful he was for the Christians at the congregations in Colossae. And he encouraged them about what the real life of a Christian is all about.

Today we are going further to see the core of this real life which JESUS. And as we read what is written, we discover four words which who Jesus as the center of life: IMAGE, GLUE, HEAD, and SOURCE.

The first word that shows Jesus is the center of life is IMAGE. He is the image of God. Verses 15-16: Jesus “is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 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.”

Let me do a little survey with you this morning – I’m curious what you think. I’m going to say a word and you think the first person that comes to your mind. Microsoft (Bill Gates). KFC (Colonel Sanders). Kansas City Chiefs (Patrick Mahomes). The Crown (Queen Elizabeth). Each of these individuals represent the company, the team, or the country that they are or were a part of. They are the face of the people.

Jesus even more so is the face of God. He is not only a representative but he is literally the visible God. In fact he said in John 14:9 “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” No one can see the Father just like you can’t see the Holy Spirit. Why is that? Because they are spirit.

So also you can’t see the wind – just the effect of the wind. John 1:18 “No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known.” He walked here among us for 33 years – visible God among us. He also made many appearances throughout the Old Testament. And he will appear to us when we meet him in paradise. We will then see him face to face and worship and glorify Jesus.

Going on, our text says that Jesus is “the firstborn of all creation…” Some cults like to use this to prove that Jesus was the first creation of God. He was not eternal but a man made by God. They teach that there was a time when there was no son and then God created him as his first and most glorious creation.

The problem with that is the next verse which tells us that he is “before all things” – that he existed at all times. There is not a time when Jesus did not exist. But also the very word “Firstborn” does not refer to birth order but rather to his rank. In Exodus 4:22 God says “Israel is my firstborn son.” It’s not about birth order but about how precious and important Israel is to God.

So also, Jesus Christ is first. He is supreme. He is greater than anything in the universe. He is far about all rulers and authorities and anything we can imagine. Again – he is the center and therefore we worship him. Everything is created to bring him honor because he is the greatest! It’s all about Jesus!

The second word that shows us that Jesus is the center of life is GLUE. He is one responsible for holding everything in life together. Verse 17: Jesus “is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” He is the glue of the universe.