Who Is Jesus? Series

This Sermon From Adrian Rogers Legacy Collection

Used By Permission © 2010 www.ARLC.org

Now, I want to talk to you today about Jesus. And, be finding Colossians chapter 1;

and, when you’ve found it, look up here, and let me speak to you—Colossians chapter 1.

Sometime ago, you watched, as I watched, the program hosted by Peter Jennings, “The Search for Jesus.” As a matter of fact, I watched for a while, and then could not take it any longer. And, I turned it off, and walked out of the room. I had just as soon watch a group of men with a bag over their head in a cave with a jar full of lightning bugs trying to find the noonday sun, as to watch these people talk about their search for Jesus. The reason they never really came down with anything definitive is they were looking in the wrong place. He is there to be found, if you want the authentic, the real, the genuine, the very Son of God.

Bryant Gumbel was interviewing Larry King on CNN, and Bryant Gumbel asked Larry King this question: “If you could ask God only one question, Larry, what would it be?” Larry King said, “I would ask Him if He had a Son.” Very interesting. Great question. Answer: “Yes, He does, and His name is Jesus.”

John Blanchard has estimated that, of all of the people who have ever lived since the dawn of civilization, there have been about 60 billion people that have walked Planet Earth. Of those 60 billion people who have walked Planet Earth, only a handful have made any real, lasting impression, have actually changed the world. And, in that handful of people, there is One who stands head and shoulders above all of the others—and His name is Jesus. More attention has been given to Him; more devotion has been given to Him; more criticism has been given to Him; more adoration has been given to Him; more opposition has been given to this one person than all of the others. Every recorded word that He said has been more sifted, analyzed, scrutinized, debated— every word—than all of the historians and the philosophers and the scientists put together. Yet, He was here 2,000 years ago. And, after 2,000 years, there is never one minute on this earth that millions are not studying what He said. Think about it—think about it: Here’s a person who lived in a miniscule, tiny little land two millenniums ago; and yet, His birth divides the centuries—AD, BC; Before Christ and Anno Domini, the year of our Lord.

He never wrote a book that we know of; and yet, library after library could be filled with the volumes, the multiplied millions of volumes, that have been written about the Lord Jesus. He never painted a picture, so far as we know; and yet, the world’s greatest art, the world’s greatest dramas, the world’s greatest music, the world’s greatest literature has Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, as its source. Jesus never raised an army, so far as we know; yet multiplied millions have died for Him. He never traveled very far from His birthplace; and yet, His testimony has gone around, and around, and around the world. He only had a handful of little followers that followed Him there, in His ministry; and yet, today, over 30% of the world’s population names His name—the largest such grouping on Earth today—Jesus of Nazareth. A ministry of only three short years—public ministry; and yet, here we are, 2,000 years later, saying, “Jesus, Your name is wonderful,” because His name is. He had no formal education. He didn’t attend the university or seminary; and yet, thousands of universities, and seminaries, colleges, and schools are built in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. And, in my estimation, in my humble but correct opinion, no one can call himself, herself, educated who does not understand Jesus Christ.

The great historian Kenneth Scott Latourette said this—listen to this quote: “Jesus has had more effect on the history of mankind than any other of His race who ever existed.” That’s not a Baptist preacher speaking that. To explain Jesus Christ is impossible; to ignore Jesus Christ is disastrous; to reject Him is fatal. Understand who Jesus Christ is: To know Him is to love Him; to love Him is to trust Him; to trust Him is to be radically, dramatically, and eternally changed, to be transformed. I’m talking about who is Jesus. Human speech is too limited to describe Him. The human mind— too small to comprehend Him; and, the human heart can never really, completely, totally absorb who Jesus Christ is.

Let’s read Colossians 1, and I want to begin reading. We’re going to have to break in; let’s break into verse 12: “Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet”—or “fitting”—“to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:”—now, folks, that’s talking about you. He’s talking about your inheritance. If somebody wealthy left you a legacy, would you not be interested? Then pay attention—“who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son” (Colossians 1:12–13). Larry King, there’s your answer. God does have a Son, and God said, “He is my dear Son.” And, He has a Kingdom.