Jesus Christ is our Source, period.
January 31st, 2010
Pastor Glenn Newton
Colossians 1:15-23
COL 1:15 “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
COL 1:21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation-- 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.” NIV
A. W. Tozer said, "The most important thought anyone can have is a correct understanding of God’s attributes."
This year at the beginning of the school year, I had a young lady try to tell me that the way I was teaching to multiply fractions was wrong, and her way was right. She told me that her parents had taught her how to multiply fractions, using a certain method, and that she didn’t want to learn another way. I didn’t really act shocked by this, I just asked her to show me her method on her paper. She did, I then used the proper method and we got two different answers….imagine that…?
It took me a while, but I was able to persuade her that her method was flawed, and that she would not come up with the right answer on most problems. Her parents were good intentioned, they most likely thought what they were teaching her was the right way, but it wasn’t.
Now in math, there are different methods of finding out the right answer. But the truth is, there is only one answer for every problem, so if your method doesn’t get you to that one correct answer…It’s flawed and will mislead you.
Friends, as believers…if we don’t have the proper belief about who Jesus Christ is, what He has done, what He has accomplished through the cross and His resurrection, if somehow our belief in Him is flawed, we are going to come to the wrong answers about a lot of things in this life, we will be misled by false belief.
Let’s go over some of the basics…if you are new to our church, maybe you haven’t heard us state these basics before:
The Church of the Nazarene holds these 16 Articles of Faith…..
Just as a reminder, we can all use those sometimes can’t we?
1. The Triune God
2. Jesus Christ…the 2nd Person of the Triune Godhead; that He was eternally one with the Father; that He became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and was born of the Virgin Mary, so that two whole and perfect natures are united in one Person, very God and very man, the God-man.
We believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins, and that He truly arose from the dead and took again His body, together with all things appertaining to the perfection of man’s nature, wherewith He ascended into heaven and is there engaged in intercession for us.
3. The Holy Spirit
4. The Holy Scriptures….we understand the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, given by divine inspiration, inerrantly revealing the will of God……
5. Sin, Original and Personal
6. Atonement…Jesus made Atonement for us through his death on the Cross!!!!
7. Free Agency / Prevenient Grace
8. Repentance
9. Justification, Regeneration, and Adoption
10. Entire Sanctification….a second work of grace that brings us into a state of entire devotement to God, and the holy obedience of love made perfect.
11. The Church…
12. Baptism
13. The Lord’s Supper
14. Divine Healing
15. Second Coming of Christ
16, Resurrection, Judgment, and Destiny
Those are the 16 Articles of Faith, if you are a Church of the Nazarene member, I challenge you to become very familiar, study those scriptures, those passages and see for yourselves where these articles of faith come from….they come from God’s Word.
The apostle Paul is writing to combat some false teachers in Colosse….these so called teachers valued knowledge and wisdom. They were seeking to enlighten the believers in Colosse in order to enable them to grow in wisdom and knowledge…..
The devil uses the same tricks today to try and move good, well intentioned Christians away from the Word of God. I want you to listen carefully to what I’m about to say….
We don’t need anyone’s new “enlightened” ideas on what they think about the Word of God. WHAT WE NEED, IS TO ALLOW THE HOLY SPIRIT TO TEACH US WHAT IT REALLY SAYS. I ask you to stay away from the experts….the Holy Spirit is your teacher, let Him teach you the Truth. Amen?
It’s kind of like my student…are we going to allow someone to teach us what they “think” is the right method….or are we going to allow the Holy Spirit to teach us the unchanging Truth of God’s Word.
1. Jesus….Lord of Creation v. 15-17
COL 1:15 “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”
In verse 15, this word “image”…it doesn’t mean just a replica, or a likeness of God. Get this truth this morning…The Reality itself is present in the image…..God Himself, the invisible one, had become visible and accessible to the human race through Jesus Christ. When you see Jesus, you see God.
The Great I AM, has revealed Himself to us, through Jesus Christ! Do you have to wonder if God cares about you? Do you have to wonder if God is interested in your life? Do we dare wonder if God knows what we are going through? Should we ever wonder if God can handle what we are going through?
Jesus created everything in this world, and in heaven….I believe He is qualified to take care of our church…don’t you? Friends, we need to raise the level of our faith. We need to move our Faith is God up to a place where we will need to step out of our comfort zone and let God use us in ways we have not even dreamed of yet. But before I can move my level of faith up….I have to make a crucial decision….will I trust God?
With my family?
With my future?
With my finances?
With my doubts?
With my habits?
With my attitudes?
If Jesus is Lord over all Creation, that makes Him Lord over you….and Me. God has made Himself known to you….how are you responding to Him. Will you respond in Faith? Will you choose to Trust? This is what Living by Faith is all about! Look at us…we are meeting in someone else’s building today….but God provided. Are finances are hurting….but God is going to provide…do you believe that?
Are you willing to be apart of that provision, God may challenge you to begin tithing, it’s time to step up our Faith and see how God works in our lives.
I’m not going to ask you to do something that I’m not willing to do. Pastor Ron and I have decided to take a step of faith, we are both going to take a reduction in pay starting next week, $200 per month. Can either one of us afford it. Not exactly. But we believe that God will provide, and the truth is….We Love this Church, We love you….and we will do whatever we have too to see New Hope Church fulfill the mission that Christ has given us.
2. Jesus, Head of the Church v. 18-20
18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
If Jesus so loved the world that He was willing to sacrifice his life, His blood, so that there would be such a thing as the Church, His body….then I believe we should be willing to sacrifice for His body…amen?
What does that mean?
This is where we take the things that are so easy to say….like….”I love the church”…or “God is number one in my life..” or “I’m sold out for Jesus…” You know things that we have all said at some point in our lives….things that we mean, but the reality is how are we living that out in real life?
What is the biggest sacrifice that we can give in our lives? It’s not money, it’s our time.
How much time do we invest in the church?
What happens on Sunday morning is very important in the life of the church, but it’s only part of what goes on in the church. We have life groups that are vitally important to your spiritual development, they are a lifeline that needs to be taken hold of. Sunday nights, Wed. nights, Thursday nights, Friday nights, and Saturday night….are you plugging in?
We all play a part in this body, your part is important and vital to the rest, when your gone, we miss you. Have you ever sprained your ankle, of coarse you have….when you can’t use one part of the body because it’s all tied up doing other things, it hurts the rest of the body. God has put us here together for a reason, and we need each other. Be open to how God would use you to encourage the rest, Be open to how God would use the body to help you grow, to help you through those hard times, that’s what the body if for.
Will you Trust Him, will you move your Faith up, knowing God will provide?
Will you commit yourself to this Body, for your own spiritual good, and for the good of the whole body?
