Today, we celebrate Easter, the incredible event in which Jesus Christ, who died on our behalf, rose again from the dead.
But we really aren’t celebrating an event, but rather a Person.
We aren’t worshipping an event, but a Person.
For us to grasp the significance of Easter, we really need to grasp the nature of Who we celebrate on Easter morning.
Most often we celebrate the what, the event…which is important and full of meaning, but the Person who we celebrate is far more important.
In fact, the magnitude of this event points to the Person and not to itself.
This Person’s Name is Jesus the Christ,
He is the Son of the Living God,
He is the Messiah,
He is Emmanuel, God with Us.
He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world
He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.
He is the Prince of Peace.
He is the Way, the Truth and the Life.
Listen to what Colossians 1:15-20 says about Him: “He 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. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 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. 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.”
We come to celebrate Jesus today. And so my sermon will focus upon who He is as described in this passage I just read.
The first verse in this passage is verse 15 which says, "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation."
The amplified bible says, “[Now] He is the exact likeness of the unseen God [the visible representation of the invisible]; He is the Firstborn of all creation.”
The Living Bible says, “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before God made anything at all and is supreme over all creation.”
Have you have ever seen those pictures at the mall that look like a bunch of dots or symbols, and when you stare at one spot long enough, the entire picture jumps off the page and you see the big picture?
I am convinced that if you and I will let this verse sink deep into our hearts then the rest of the picture will come into clear focus.
We need to understand just how awesome and majestic, how powerful and glorious our King and Savior Jesus truly is.
When Paul says that Jesus is the "image" of God, what does he mean?
Genesis says that you and I are created in the image of God so does Paul mean that Jesus is merely one of us? That he was created like we are? No he does not. .
While you and I were created, Jesus was never created. He has always existed with the Father and been one with the Father.
The word for Image used here is used just six times in the bible: Eikon (exact or perfect copy)
We have a church directory printed up with many of our folk’s pictures in it. They are available in the back of the church for you to take with you. You might notice the striking resemblance of each person to their image on the paper. Why is that? Because they are a copy of one another. But they are not exact copies, rather they are only facsimiles, images of the real thing. The pictures cannot stand up and walk and talk.
So the use of the word “image” here isn’t that interpretation.
Jesus is so much more. He is not a “copy” of God, and he is not a facsimile of God, Jesus is the exact visible image of the invisible God.
Jesus told his disciples in John 10:30, “"I and the Father are one.”
It is why Jesus said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” Jn 14:9.
If you were to look in his eyes you would see God’s eyes looking back at you.
If he were to smile at you, it would be God himself smiling at you.
If he were to speak to you, it would be God’s voice you heard.
If he were to touch Him, you would be touching the eternal God and Creator.
Does that possibility blow your mind? It did the disciples! John wrote, (John 1:14) “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Many cultures and religions had created images of what they thought God looked like, from golden calves, to great statues, to even their own kings and Pharoahs. Yet not one of them was the actual visible image of God Himself.
Jesus alone is the exact image of God Himself become visible in time and space.
You have probably heard the saying, “Like father, like son.” Think about some famous sons who looked like their fathers: Will Rogers Jr. Peter Fonda. George W. Bush.
But if there ever was a son who looked and acted like his father in every way, it was Jesus.
Heb. 1:3 “The Son (Jesus) is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being.” Wow!
This is who was crucified. God Himself.
This is who bore our pain, God Himself.
This is who rose again!
Folks, you and I can hear flowery sermons on love, but they will never even begin to compare to being loved.
Scholars can talk about compassion, but they will never begin to compare with having someone show us compassion.
We can study day-after-day the methods and models of prayer, but they can’t benefit us nearly as much as hearing a prayer-warrior pour his or her heart out before God.
Just as love, compassion, and prayer with "skin on" will always leave a more lasting mark, so God with "skin on" will touch us in a deeper way than mere standards and procedures handed down from on high.
God, in His infinite wisdom, has given us Jesus, God with "skin on" if you will, so that we might behold His glory, majesty, and grace.
Jesus is God with skin on!
In verse 15 of our original passage, there is a term that can sound confusing. It is the word, “Firstborn”
"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation."
Protos (first, first fruit, first born)
The use of this word “firstborn” was to designate the “ruler” over the estate of the Father. It doesn’t mean created or made. It’s designation is to establish preeminence, just as a firstborn son in a Jewish family held preeminence over his father’s estate.
The passage is telling us that Jesus is the preeminent Ruler over all of creation.
There is one more concept that I want to address, although this passage is so full of the truth of who Jesus is, that we could spend months just trying to understand these final 3 verses.
v18-20: He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 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.”
It says Jesus is the firstborn from among the dead?
What could the writer possibly mean by this? Well this phrase is a direct reference to the resurrection.
Firstborn is the same word we talked about a few moments ago…preeminent, first, and ruler.
The same phrase is found in Revelation 1:5 “Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood”
And so, we have come full circle to not only who Jesus is but to the importance of the Resurrection and of Easter itself in pointing that out.
And as a result, the meaning of the event of the resurrection is far beyond a simple resuscitation.
It is one thing for a person to be dead for a few minutes and to have his heart restarted.
It is still another for a person like Lazarus, to be dead and rotting in the tomb for three days brought back to life and be whole.
The concept of resurrection is a unique, never done before event in the history of man.
All of these people who were raised from the dead before Jesus had one thing in common – they all died again.
They gave death some repeat business.
They got their card stamped twice.
Jesus’ resurrection was different.
Jesus rose to never die again because in His resurrection, He defeated death.
The resurrection is the event in which Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, fully human and fully divine, not only rises, but rises in his heavenly body, what we call a “spiritual body” fully alive and fully complete.
We call the body He rose in the “resurrection body” because it is both similar and different to the body he wore during the 33 years on earth.
In the next sermon series beginning in just a few weeks, we are going to look at what we will be like when we are in heaven, much of which will be similar to the properties that Jesus’ resurrection body had.
If you have thought that we will be like disembodied spirits or ghosts or angels when we die…you will be pleasantly surprised to find out what a wonderful container we will inhabit when we leave this earth!
So we have the who and the what of the Resurrection. But we haven’t answered the why.
Simply put, the resurrection is the proof that Jesus’ death was completely successful in blotting out the sins of His people and satisfying the wrath of God against sin.
The resurrection is the vital proof we need to know that what Jesus did was enough to save us from our sins and from eternal death and damnation.
It is proof that the price He paid was sufficient to transform those who place their trust in Him into God’s children.
John 1:12-13 “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God-- children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”
And here is the best part of all…Easter is important, because it’s proof that God wants you to be a part of His family.
God created us for a relationship with himself, but we have chosen to live life on our terms and to reject Him, except perhaps when we want something.
This broken relationship had to be restored, but how do you restore a relationship between a holy and perfect God and an unholy people?
I heard it said this week that “Jesus didn’t die for frogs.” I thought it was a puzzling saying, until I found out what the writer meant. Jesus didn’t have to die for frogs. They weren’t bad enough. We were worse off than frogs, because they haven’t treated God with contempt. We are far worse off than frogs and our debt was so great, only a divine sacrifice could pay that debt.
God desires us to be His family forever. He has gone through great lengths and personal expense to secure us as adopted sons and daughters.
His offer goes out to every human being…this offer is called “good news.”
Why folks reject it I do not understand. But then, I personally rejected the good news for nearly 25 years. I did so because I wanted personal independence, I didn’t want to live by anyone else’s standards or be accountable to anyone, especially God. So I lived as if God didn’t exist, or at least, as if He didn’t matter.
Until one day when I overheard a waitress arguing with a policeman about what difference God can make in the world. She told the policeman to read the book of John. I don’t know if the policeman did, but I went home and found an old bible and read it. And when I got to the third chapter, God became magnificently real to me.
Do you know why?
I was confronted by the incredible truth that despite how much I had rejected God, He still sent His Son into this world to take my sins and their punishment upon Him. Despite all of my rejection and treating God as if He didn’t matter, God’s presence filled the room I was in and He offered his love and forgiveness.
My response? I surrendered. I stopped running. I said “yes” to God for the first time in my life.
It was no longer a “yes but” but an unqualified “yes.”
And it was because God showed me how much He loved me when I didn’t deserve it.
That evening I became a child of God. God became my father, and other Christians that I met became my brothers and sisters. I discovered I had a family that was far greater and wider than any family I had ever known.
Are you hungering for a family? At Here’s Hope Baptist Church, we are learning what it means to be the family of God. No, were not perfect. But we have a Father in Heaven who is.
If you ache to be loved and accepted, to be a part of a family and a part of something infinitely bigger than yourself, I urge you to respond to the presence of God that has filled this room. Surrender to the presence of God in this room. Give Him your life. Just as you are.
In a moment, we will have a ministry time. Folks come forward for prayer and ministry during this time. Perhaps your heart is pounding inside of you, aching to come to know God the way that people around you do. Come forward and we will pray with you and invite Jesus into your life. Don’t be afraid, we are family here.
