Chico Alliance Church
“The Incomparable Christ”
Review
Paul began his letter to this group of believers by letting them see a bit of his heart.
He tells them about how he has prayed for them.
In this section we learn of Paul’s prayer habits.
I. Paul exhibits proper, effective prayer 1:3-12
A. Paul offers Thanksgiving to the Father
B. Paul offers petitions to the Father
1. The deliberate Petition
“Be “manned” by a real, experiential knowledge of God’s will.
2. The Desired Product – a God honoring, worthy Walk
a. Please God in ALL respects
b. Bear fruit in EVERY good work
c. Increase in the knowledge of God
3. The Power – his glorious might
4. The Ultimate purpose
a. Attain unto ALL steadfastness (remain under)
b. Attain unto ALL long-suffering(anger)
5. The Motivation or attitude – thanksgiving for God’s work
Introduction
Paul bases his joyous thanksgiving on the fact that the Father qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.
That qualification for inheritance came with high cost.
II. Paul exalts the Father’s great transfer work through Christ 1:13-23
A. The Father gloriously rescued us out of the kingdom of the tyrannical prince of darkness.
B. The Father lovingly transferred us into the Kingdom of His beloved Son Jesus.
C. The Benefits
1. Through this same Jesus we were ransomed by the payment of a price.
2. Through this same Jesus we were forgiven all our transgressions against the kingdom of light.
Now that we are citizens of a new kingdom, there are some things that we should know.
Who is this king?
What does he expect?
What are the kingdom rules?
The rest of Paul’s letter to the Colossians touches on all of these issues.
D. The King
Who is this king?
Can He answer Paul’s request?
What can we expect from this king?
1. He is the image of the invisible God
All through history man has tried to somehow depict god by some visible image.
It is difficult to visualize the invisible.
Yet God has expressly forbidden his people to make any graven image of the invisible God.
You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.
The reason is that whatever man would design would fall pathetically and erroneously short of the original.
The greater reason is that God had in mind a perfect representation so that man could graphically realize and relate to Him.
John 1:1-4
1 IN the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.
John 1:14-18
14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 John *testified about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’ ”
16 For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.
17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.
18 No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.
If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”8 Philip *said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus *said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Joh 14
And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.2 Cor 4
1. In the NT the original is present in the image, which gives it visible manifestation.
2. Christ as the image In this phrase (2 Cor. 4:4; Col. 1:15), the stress is on the equality of the image with the original. Christ is in the form of God and equal to God (cf. Phil. 2:6). To see him is to see the Father (Jn. 14:9).
“Beloved Son” in Col. 1:13 drives home the point. The phrase comes, of course, from Gen. 1:27. The point for Paul is that Christ is given to us as God’s image so that we may know what God wills and does. The concept of the image of God also makes it perfectly plain who Jesus himself is.
GOD, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
“radiance” means “radiance” and can be rendered “dawn” in its only occurrence in the NT (Acts 20:11). means a. “to shine forth,” b. “to illuminate,” and c. “to see.” In 2 Cor. 4:4 b. is impossible, and while older translations and variants favor a., the parallel in 3:13 strongly supports c. (“that they should not see”).
“image” The Greek World. This word has first the meaning “die” (in minting) and then such further senses as “image,” “impress,” “coinage,” “money,” “stamp,” “seal,” “sign,” “copy,” and “letter.”
What was before unattainable and frightening became a wonderful reality in the experience of many.
John talks about the awesome experience of a face to face relationship with the Word of life.
1 John 1:1-4
1 WHAT was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life— 2 and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us— 3 what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.
4 These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.
The Bible is clear about the king of this wonderful kingdom into which we have been transferred.
He is not just some great man or prophet or person that walked this earth.
Jesus was God Himself.
Jesus came to proclaim and live out in a graphic way, the very nature of the Father.
He was fully God.
He was full and complete humanity.
The Bible declares His deity.
Jesus Declared His deity.
He is not some Ghost or untouchable spirit.
We have the exact representation of God in the person of Christ.
Implications
To fully understand the Father, we must also study the Son and revealed both in the Gospels and in the book of Revelation.
Learn how He loved people, lived righteousness, proclaimed the truth, modeled kingdom living.
See the actions, observe the attitudes and compassion, feel the touch, hear the voice, embrace the teaching, see the authority.
2. He is the firstborn of all creation
Paul goes on to describe this wonderful king.
Not only is He the image of the invisible God, He was actively involved in creation.
This means that the Jesus we know did not come into existence at Bethlehem.
He has existed eternally with the Father and the Holy Spirit in perfect harmony.
We must take a brief moment to explore this figure “first-born”.
In Col. 1:15 the “for” clause brings out the meaning, namely, that all things owe their creation to Christ’s mediation. The point, then, is not that Christ is the first creature. This would demand a stress on the priority and would also bring birth into conflict with creation. What is stated is Christ’s supremacy over creation as its mediator. The term firstborn is used, then, because of its importance as a word for rank.
The connecting word “For” goes to explain the focus or meaning of the term firstborn.
Paul by using this word indicates that Jesus is the prominent player in creation itself.
He is outside of creation and the author of it.
The next several verse then expand this idea to make sure we realize how extensive this preeminence is.
“All things were created by Him.”
ALL things
Created at a point in time and still remain created.
What are the all things?
Things in the heavens – the invisible world
Things on earth – the visible world
Human being and spirit beings.
Both realms and dominions are the direct result of Christ’s action.
It is a point in time action with continuing results.
Christ brought all things into being by the word of His power.
Hebrews states that by faith we believe that
Hebrews 11:3
3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.
So much for “progressive creation.”
All things were created by or through Christ.
Not only that, they were created for Him.
Man is not the center of all things.
Jesus is the center of all things and everything exists for His pleasure.
Revelation 4:11
11 “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”
Jesus was not as the Gnostics taught one in a long line of created emanations coming from the Father.
He Himself is the source of all creation.
This fact has implications on his person.
What we see is a manifestation of the creative power of Jesus.
This Jesus that we serve is the same Jesus who spoke these things into being in all of their intricacy and majesty.
This is the king of the kingdom into which we have been transferred.
He is the supreme object of worship.
Nothing in creation, whether seen or unseen is worthy of worship and attention.
The other Gnostic tendency was to focus on adoration of angels and spirit beings.
This King we serve, created these beings.
As interesting and powerful as they may seem both evil and elect angels, they are created beings, created by Jesus.
He knows you because He made you.
He holds the keys to real life.
He alone knows how you were made to live and function as part of his creation.
We were created FOR Him.
3. He is before all things
This is most likely a further clarification.
Whereas “firstborn” speaks of rank in relation to creation.
“Before all things” emphasizes His preexistence.
4. He holds all things together
He is the glue that holds this universe together.
He impresses upon creation the unity and solidarity which makes it a cosmos instead of a chaos.
Hebrews 1 which we read earlier also reinforces this truth.
“He holds all things together by the word of His power.”
Not only is he the creator of all things but the sustainer as well.
We serve the King of Kings who gave His life for us that we might experience life in His eternal kingdom and enjoy the inheritance of the saints in light.
Shout Hallelujah!
He has purchased men from every tribe and language and people and nation to be a kingdom and priest to our God.
We are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession that we might proclaim the excellencies of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light, for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy but not you have received mercy.
5. He is the head of the church
Paul moves to Christ’s relationship to all creation to His relationship to the church.
He is the head of the church. This figure is rich in meaning. The head of something refers to the fact that they are in charge. The church is also known as the body of Christ with Christ as the head. The relationship of the church as a whole and as individuals is the same as the relationship of the head to our physical body.
No head, no life. No head, no function. If the body does not take the signal from the head you have severe dysfunction. Everything in the body gets instructions and life from the head. So the church must be in tune with the head. You must be in close relationship with the head every day.
6. He is the beginning – the first born from the dead
In this case, Paul indicates the Jesus is the first of a special people. He was the first to experience a resurrected body. Many before Him were resuscitated only to die again. Jesus rose from the dead with a glorified body as the first among many who will experience the same thing. Philippians affirms that this is the hope of every citizen of Christ’s kingdom.
Philippians 3:20-21
20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;
21 who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.
When we look at Jesus we not only see the Father, but we see elements of our future as well.
Not only spiritually as our calling to be conformed to Christ image.
But physically we will bear the likeness of Christ.
This headship and resurrection puts Christ in the position of supremacy in the universe.
Ephesians revealed this as the focus of the universe.
Ephesians 1:9-10
He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.
The king we serve is the eternal focus of the universe.
He is the image of the invisible God.
He is the primary agent and focus of all creation.
He is the eternally existent one.
He is the one who holds all things together.
He is the head of the church.
He is the firstborn from the dead.
This makes him the central focus of all things worthy of praise.
He deserves our praise.
Psalm 24:1-10
1 THE earth is the LORD’S, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it.
2 For He has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.
3 Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? And who may stand in His holy place?
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood
And has not sworn deceitfully.
5 He shall receive a blessing from the LORD and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6 This is the generation of those who seek Him, Who seek Your face—even Jacob.
7 Lift up your heads, O gates, And be lifted up, O ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in!
8 Who is the King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.
9 Lift up your heads, O gates, And lift them up, O ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in!
10 Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory.
The communion service is a celebration designed to remember Him.
He is the one who gave His life, took on the frailty of human flesh in order to bear the sins of the whole world.
The communion service is a commitment designed to reaffirm our commitment both to Christ and to His body.
Let us celebrate Him this morning.
If you have never responded to the call to commit to Christ, you can this morning.
If you have, will you again reaffirm your allegiance to the king of this kingdom you have been called to represent and enjoy?
Colossians 1:13-18
You are the image of the invisible God,
You are the firstborn of all creation.
For by You all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through You and for You.
You are before all things, and in You all things hold together.
You are also the head of the body, the church;
Your are the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
So that You Yourself will come to have first place in everything.
