I recently came across an article in the Outlook magazine that caught my attention, and it really convicted me. Let me read it to you, it’s simply a paragraph long with some possible answers. “If someone watched you in worship last week, reading your body language, your facial expression and manner, what would they assume about your opinion of the one you are worshipping? Would they think you view Him like a superior officer to whom protocol demands that you salute. A casual friend with whom you hang out? A family member who must be visited on weekends? Or a Great Hero to whom you owe your life? What is it that we think about Jesus Christ? Is He good, or is He Great? Today I want us to continue in our look at why Jesus is so great and we will see this morning through our text, that Jesus Christ is great simply because of Who He Is.
There are three things in our scripture that was read to you earlier this morning that jumps out at me about who Jesus is that makes Him so great.
First I want you to see that Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God. Vs 15 “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” This is truly an amazing statement. John 1:18 says “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.” Nature can tell us a lot about God, about His power, His beauty, but it can’t tell us about His personality, or His immense love for each and every one of us. But when we look at Jesus, we see God for Jesus is God. John 1:1 says, “In the Beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
If you want to know what God the Father is like, take a look at God the Son. He is the exact representation of the Father. John 14:6-9 reads “Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him." Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us." Jesus answered: "Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” S.D. Gordon once said, “Jesus was God spelling Himself in a language humanity could understand.”
During one of his political campaigns, a delegation called on Theodore Roosevelt at his home in Oyster Bay, Long Island. The President met them with his coat off and his sleeves rolled up. “Ah, gentlemen,” he said, “come down to the barn and we will talk while I do some work.” At the barn, Roosevelt picked up a pitchfork and looked around for the hay. Then he called out, “John, where’s all the hay?” “Sorry, sir,” John called down from the hayloft. “I ain’t had time to toss it back down again after you pitched it up while the Iowa folks were here.”
Politicians will go to great extents to relate to there constituents, but think of the great length God went to relate to you-----The God of this universe became flesh, John 1:14 reads “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.” __________ , commander of the Apollo ____, said that when he first stepped on the moon, he said, this is wonderful, man has walked on the moon, is there any greater moment in history.” He said it was then that God whispered to Him, and said, “Yes there is. I walked on the earth.”
Now in vs. 15, I want you to circle that word Firstborn. The word there has nothing to do with time, the same phrase is used to call Solomon as David’s firstborn, and we know that was not the case. The term carries the meaning of rank. It means that Jesus is the utmost importance in Creation. He is the most important figure in creation because He is the creator. Lets look at Vs. 16-17 “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. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”
The reason why Jesus could walk on the water was because He made the water. The reason He could calm the storm was that He made the air and the seas. It says that all things were created by Him and for Him. For Him. Imagine how that concept could drastically change your life if we truly understood it. This world is not for us but for Him. The things we own are not for our glory, but for His glory. In Him all things are held together. What keeps the sun from just jetting out into space? What keeps the millions of electrons rotating around the nucleus in the trillions of atoms in your body? It’s Jesus. What keeps you from having a nervous breakdown right now, its Jesus. Jesus is the bond that holds all things together. Whether it be the physical properties of this universe, or the fact that when Jesus Christ is at the center of your home, your family stays together, we read in Him all things are held together.
Jesus Christ is Great because He is our creator, sustainer, and our God. If this was all there was it would be sufficient for all of us to fall humbly before Him and cry, “Holy, Holy, Holy.” yet Christ has gone beyond even this. Next, I want you to see that Jesus Christ is great because He is the owner of each of us, because He has purchased us with His own blood.
A young boy spent many hours building a little sailboat, crafting it down to the finest detail. He then took it to a nearby river to sail it. When he put it in the water, however, it moved away from him very quickly. Though he chased it along the bank, he couldn’t keep up with it. The strong wind and current carried the boat away. The heartbroken boy knew how hard he would have to work to build another sailboat.
Farther down the river, a man found the little boat, took it to town, and sold it to a shopkeeper. Later that day, as the boy was walking through town, he noticed the boat in a store window.
Entering the store, he told the owner that the boat belonged to him. It had his own little marks on it, but he couldn’t prove to the shopkeeper that the boat was his. The man told him the only way he could get the boat was to buy it. The boy wanted it back so badly that he did exactly that.
As he took the boat from the hand of the shopkeeper, he looked at it and said, “Little boat, you’re twice mine. I made you and I bought you.”
In the same way, we are twice God’s. Our Father in heaven both created us and paid a great price for us. With the blood of his Son, we have been redeemed and reunited with God.
He created us, walked with us hand in hand, but then sin entered the world and our sins have separated us from our God. Look at verses 21 “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.” I want you to circle those words there, alienated and enemies. When Christ purchased us, we were not on good terms with Him. In fact, when the Creator came to His creation, not only did we not receive Him, but we crucified Him. Yet God continued to love us, continued to care for us, continued to desire to be reconciled to us. Even though our sins alienated us from God, He never stopped loving us. Yet to receive us back, the thing that separated us had to be removed, and the cost of its removal was an awful price. Vs 22 reads “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--” Paul told the Ephesians Elders in Acts 20:28 “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought --- with his own blood.” We often sing the hymn “Victory in Jesus” where we sing the verse “He sought me, and bought me with His redeeming blood.”
Last week during our evening service, we looked at these verses and got into groups of three. Each group then had to sum up what these verses were saying to them and then pick a hymn that would go along with what they thought the scripture was saying. Johnny Mills of our church said that what was so amazing is how Jesus would go to such great lengths to save even him. It is so amazing to me that Jesus would go to the cross and die for me, the lost sheep who wandered far from the flock. He is great, because He has sought me and bought me.
Finally, I want us to see that Jesus is great because of the historical fact that He arose from the dead proving once and for all His supremacy over all others. Vs 18 reads “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.” Once again firstborn deals with rank, not time.
Jesus made some mighty claims that needed to be substantiated. In John 10 we read of an argument between Jesus and the Pharisees. In vs. 28 Jesus says “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one." Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?" "We are not stoning you for any of these," replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God."
That mighty claim was backed up that Sunday morning when the earth shook and the stone was rolled away. The resurrection of Christ proved that He is exalted for above all others and only He is worthy of our worship. Last week I told you, that even to this very day, you can go to any grave of any religious leader and it will read, “Here lies so and so.” but when you come to the grave of Jesus, the words of the angel ring loud and clear. “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, He has risen!--- Just as He said He would.” You want proof that Jesus is God in the flesh, look at the empty tomb, like Thomas come and touch His hands and cry out, “My Lord and My God!”
You know, we can talk for days about the greatness of Christ, but unless you know Him personally, it doesn’t make a difference. To know about someone and to know that person are two totally differently things.
Dave Stone recently told a story about his trip to Ft. Worth Texas where he was the guest speaker for the Richland Hills Church of Christ. When he arrived, the preacher met him at the airport and being a good host as he was, the preacher insisted that Dave come a play golf with him before the service that Wednesday evening.---Dave didn’t put up much of a fight. The preacher told Dave, “There’s a good chance that we might be able to play at the Preston Trails Golf Club. One of my church members is a friend of a PGA tour member who has a membership at the club, and he pulled some strings for us and got us a tee-time.” Dave Stone said, “You gotta be kidding Me!” “No, its true. I’ve lived here now for 13 years and never once have I played on the course. Some say that it is the most prestigious golf course in all of Texas, and it’s the toughest one to get on, and a couple of preachers like us are going to be playing along side the big boys.”
Dave Stone, who is an avid golfer by the way, said “I just can’t believe it, that’s great!” Now to understand Dave’s excitement, you need to understand the course. The course was designed back in 1963 by a man who is probably the best golfer to ever play the game. The designer’s name is Byron Nelson and to put it into perspective, last year Tiger Woods went on one of the hottest winning streaks in 50 years and won 5 events in a row. Back in 1945, Byron Nelson won 11 events in a row. He dominated the sport.
The course which he designed equals his accomplishments elsewhere. It is a gorgeous course, with difficult holes to hit and a long rich history primarily because of its designer.
But you know what? Dave Stone said that playing that golf course was not the highlight of his day. The highlight occurred later on that evening, after Dave had finished preaching his sermon and the service had ended, he stood there shaking hands with the members of the congregation. As he was about to leave, an old man and his wife came up to him and said, “That was a great sermon, I really enjoyed it.” Dave Stone replied, “Thanks, and ----I really enjoyed playing your golf course today---Mr. Nelson.” Dave later said, “Here I was, shaking hands with a living golf legend. We spoke for about 10 minutes, and then he left, and no matter how great that course was, it paled in comparison to its creator.”
You see, it’s one thing to play the course, it’s another to know its designer. It’s one thing to look at this creation in awe, it’s another to have a personal relationship with it’s creator. It’s one thing to look at the cross and the empty tomb, it’s another thing to know Jesus Christ as your own Lord and Savior. And one day we will stand before the throne of the creator of this universe, and we shall see Jesus for who He truly is, and we will fall down before Him---and like the multitude of angels--we will utter the words, “Holy Holy Holy is the Lord, Worthy is the lamb that was slain, Holy is the Lord God Almighty.”
