INTRODUCTION
The verses we will consider this morning comprise some of the most magnificent descriptions of Jesus that can be found. There is probably no other paragraph in the Bible that contains more concentrated doctrine about Christ than these verses. Most Bible scholars believe these words comprised a hymn that was sung in the early church about Christ and His preeminence.
Jesus Christ is exclusive and unique. I want to demonstrate from these 5 verses how Jesus is exclusive:
(1) In His relationship with God, (2) In His relationship with God’s creation, (3) In His relationship with God’s church.
I. JESUS IS EXCLUSIVE IN HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD (15)
A. Jesus is the Image of God (15a)
“He is the image of the invisible God.” You might be thinking that if something is invisible there could not be an image of it, for if there were an image it would no longer be invisible.
And, the Bible is clear when it says, “God is Spirit” (John 4:24). In other words, God does not have a body. But, does that mean that God does not exist? NO! We know there is a world of reality beyond what we can see with our own unaided eyes. Microscopes and telescopes have proven that.
Jesus has become our microscope or telescope, if you will, for seeing God. When you look at Jesus you look at God. Listen to these verses:
Hebrews 1:3 “Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature.” (NIV)
Matthew 1:23 “…and they shall call His name Immanuel, which is translated, ‘God with us.’”
John 14:9 Jesus said, “He that has seen me, has seen the Father.”
The Bible describes God in Isaiah 44:6 as the “First and the last.”
Jesus says in Revelation 1:17, “I am the first and the last.”
In Isaiah 42:8 it says of God, “I am Yahweh, that is my name; I will not give my glory to another.”
Yet, Jesus prayed in John 17:5, “Father, glorify me together with yourself, with the glory which I had with you before the world was.”
In John 1:1,14 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory.”
There are many other verses that declare the deity of Christ. No other doctrine is more central or important to our faith than the deity of Christ. Jesus is the image of God! Also,
B. Jesus is the Essence of God (15b)
“The firstborn over all creation.” Here the word “firstborn” does not refer to time. It does not mean here that God created Jesus than created the world (as the J W’s teach). Jesus was not created. Jesus created creation as we will see in a few minutes. The only time Jesus was born was when Mary gave birth and laid him in a manger. “Firstborn” simply means “of first importance” or “first rank.” Solomon was not the firstborn of David but he was named firstborn (Psalm 89:27). God tells Pharaoh that Israel is His firstborn. What is he saying? That Israel is of first importance to Him.
Jesus is the essence of God. Think of it this way. If God were a man what would we expect him to be like?
1. We would expect him to be sinless.
“He was tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin.” Pilate said, “I find no fault in this man.”
2. We would expect him to speak the most profound and greatest words ever spoken.
Every time Jesus spoke people were astounded.
3. We would expect him to bring great change in people’s lives.
Just look at the disciples and yourself.
4. We would expect him to do miracles.
Jesus did repeatedly and dramatically.
5. We would expect him to know the future.
Jesus predicted many things about himself, the nation Israel and the future of the world.
6. We would expect him to show us what God is like.
He did. We see in Jesus love, kindness, mercy and grace.
Jesus is exclusive in his relationship with God. And:
II. JESUS IS EXCLUSIVE IN HIS RELATIONSHIP TO GOD’S CREATION (16-17)
A. Jesus is the Cause of Creation (16)
Paul covers the whole spectrum here:
1. Particles, planets, people, places
2. Visible and invisible
3. Principalities and powers
For instance, let’s consider the universe or cosmos. Think of how massive it is. John McArther writes: “If you could bore a hole in the sun and start dumping earths into it, you could put one million, two hundred thousand earths in it and still have room for 4 million three hundred thousand moons. The sun is 93 million miles away. The nearest star, Alpha Centuri, is 5 times bigger than the sun. Now the moon is only 211,463 miles away, just a walk really. Georgia Crowley could walk there. It’s true; you can walk to the moon in 27 years if you can go 24 miles a day.
A ray of light travels at 186 thousand miles per second so it reaches the moon in 1.5 seconds. Now, if we can get up to that speed, we can reach mercury in four and a half minutes, it’s only 50 million miles away. In fact, in two minutes we can be at Venus, that’s just 26 million miles. And in four minutes and 21 seconds we can hit Mars (where we now have the little robots exploring around) which is 34 million miles away. And then if we want to take a little longer trip, we can go all the way to Jupiter, that’s 367 million miles and it would take us 35 minutes and 11 seconds. And if we want to go to Saturn, well that will take a while, an hour and eleven seconds. It’s 790 million miles away. We can go on to Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, which is 3 billion miles more. And when you get all the way to Pluto, you haven’t left the front porch!
Beetlejuice, the amazing star, is 880 quad-drillion miles away. It has a diameter that is greater than the earth’s orbit. That is a big star!
Who made all this? JESUS!
Jesus is the cause of creation, and:
B. Jesus is the Cohesion of Creation (17)
We should consider four levels here:
1. The Micro Level
The atomic level. We know that matter consists primarily in empty space. The empty space has within it nuclei consisting of protons and neutrons with electrons orbiting around the nucleus. What holds this together? We don’t know exactly. There are theories. We have discovered how to split atoms and we know the results of that don’t we!
2. The Macro Level
Something or someone is sustaining the universe. Did you know that the sun has a surface temperature of 12,000 degrees Fahrenheit? If we get any closer we would burn up or any further we would freeze. Our planet is tilted at an exact angle of 23 degrees, which enables us to have 4 seasons. If it weren’t tilted like that, vapors from the oceans would move north and south and pile up massive continents of ice on both ends and we would have some major problems in rotation, to say nothing of seasons. If the moon didn’t remain at the precise distance it is from the earth, the ocean tides would inundate all the land twice a day.
What or WHO holds all this together? The Bible says it is Jesus!
3. The Mystic Level
I am speaking of the spirit realm. We are surrounded by invisible forces, referred to in verse 16 as dominions, principalities and powers. Included here is the angelic and demonic world. Satan wants to destroy God’s creation but he can’t. Why? Something or someone constrains him.
4. The Me Level
Have you ever had days when your life is spinning out of control and it seems like you might crash? You may be in that condition now.
Illus.- I just talked with Jesse Goss this morning. He fell yesterday and broke his ankle. Just last week he was told he needed bypass surgery on his heart but wasn’t able to endure it. A year ago his wife died. He said, “Brother Keith, looks like I’ve lost my guardian angel.”
But, he knows and you know that Jesus is the cohesion force to hold everything together.
We have looked at Jesus’ relationship with God and His relationship with God’s creation. There is one more that Paul gives us in verse 18:
III. JESUS IS EXCLUSIVE IN HIS RELATIONSHIP TO GOD’S CHURCH (18-19)
A. Jesus is the Foundation (source) of the Church (18a)
“He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning”
Jesus said in Matthew 16:18, “..and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
Paul says in our passage that Jesus is the HEAD of the church. In Greek thought the word “head” means source and origin as well as leader and ruler.
We have our ORIGIN in Him and we have our OPERATION in Him. Just as our physical bodies take instructions from our head, so must the church take instructions from its head, Jesus.
B. Jesus is the Force of the Church (18b)
“the firstborn from the dead”
This speaks of Jesus’ resurrection. Jesus was not the first one to be resurrected from the dead, was he? Like before, this is not referring to a time sequence but to importance. Jesus’ resurrection has to do with power. He conquered death, hell and the grave. He is the firstborn of the dead. The Head is not dead!
The song is great:
“I serve a risen Savior, He’s in the world today; I know that he is living, whatever men may say; I see his hand of mercy, I hear his voice of cheer, and just the time I need him he’s always near.”
C. He is the Fullness of the Church (18c-19)
Jesus is the life of the church. He is what we sing about. He is our joy. He is our happiness. He is our peace. He is our hope. He is our all in all!
CLOSE
Are you experiencing the fullness of Christ? How do you experience His fullness? Christ’s relationship with God is beyond time and space. Christ’s relationship with creation is in time and space but that’s not where we connect with him. If so, the scientists would have an advantage. But, in His relationship with the church we can connect. That’s where we meet Jesus. That’s why He established the church, for us to know Him. He is the head. We can be a part of His body. And, when we’re connected with Him through the church we transcend time and space. Are you connected to Christ through the church?
