"jesus" - More Than A Name

More than a Name

Colossians 1:15-20

Online Sermon: http://www.mckeesfamily.com/?page_id=3567

A “name” is “a word or set of words by which a person, animal, place, or thing is known, addressed, or referred to.” Upon birth the name Christians parents choose for their child often depends on its associated meaning. For example, Phoebe means “shining or pure light,” Naomi means “pleasant,” cherry means “fruit bearing,” Annette means “gracious or merciful,” and Christopher means “he who holds Christ in his heart.” Whether one chooses a name based on its associated meaning, after a relative, or simply because it sounds good, the result is the same, our names become associated with who we are as a person. Jesus has many names in the Bible to reflect the many facets of His person. He is called “Son of God,” “bread of life,” Alpha and Omega,” “Chief Cornerstone,” “Good Shepherd,” “King of Kings,” and so on to reflect His many divine attributes as our sovereign Creator. Even though the name “Jesus” is rich in Biblical meaning this does not mean that those who say His name know or believe in His identity. While it is a sin to say Jesus’ name in vain is it not equally or more grievous of a sin to relegate His name to a created being and to but one intermediary between us and God? What does Jesus’ name mean to you? The following sermon on Colossians 1:15-20 is going to examine Apostle Paul’s response to a heresy that broke out in Colossae concerning Christ’s identity in hope that we might come to associate the name “Jesus’” with His true identity: He is the image of the invisible God, firstborn and supreme over all creation, the head of the church and our Redeemer!

Colossian Heresy

While the “precise origin and philosophy of the false teachers” in Colossae remains unclear, from Paul’s response we can safely say at its core it related to the false belief that Christ being called the “first-born of all creation” suggested He was merely a created being. This heresy was the beginning of second-century Gnosticism and was championed by the Arians in the fourth century and still believed by the Jehovah Witnesses and others today. The false teachers told the Colossians they “needed something more than their relationship with Jesus” to bring them into the presence of God. They believed the key to defeating the demons that ran rampant in their world and the key to approaching God could only be found in receiving “special knowledge” as obtained from legalism or mystical experiences. For example, to approach God they suggested one must first “appease or revere the elemental spirits of the universe” by participating in “mystical rites that would transport them spiritually to a heavenly plane where they could worship God in the company of the hosts of heaven (Ezekiel 1:4-28; 1 Cor. 11:10; 2 Cor 12:1-5).” Since to them Christ was not sufficient for one’s salvation, like the Judaizers they suggested observing “ascetic practices and ritual observances; dietary restrictions (2:6), festival and Sabbath observance (2:16), self-abasement (2:18), taboos regarding what to handle, taste or touch (2:21), and quite possibly circumcision (2:11); were the key to approaching a holy God. To counteract their arguments Paul masterfully stated Christ is sufficient for one’s salvation and approaching a holy God because 1) Jesus is the exact image of the invisible God, 2) firstborn and supreme over all creation, 3) head of the church and our 4) Redeemer.

1) Christ is the Image of the Invisible God (15a, 19)

To clarify Christ’s identity Apostle Paul begins with the bold statement that the “Son is the image of the invisible God” (15a) of which “God was pleased to have all His fulness dwell in Him” (19). While Adam was created “according to the image” of God (Genesis 1:26-27), Paul states Christ is the image (eikona) or the “exact and full representation of God in character.” Since “fullness” for Paul is a “wide, far reaching, and all comprehending term” this meant Christ was not a mere representation of God but contained all His attributes. While us “mutable creatures by reason of our frailty as broken cisterns” can not contain the fulness of God, He who is far more than Prophet, Priest and King, the “Alpha and Omega,” and “sinless lamb of the temple of heaven” (Revelation 21:22); eternally has God’s nature (Hebrews 1:3) because He is the second person of the Godhead! The closeness to God the Colossians sought then would not be found in the mere representation of the truth, as found in legalism or mystical experiences, but in belief in a resurrected Lord or not all! The “indwelling of Christ in the Godhead” for Paul is the only foundation by which sinners through grace and faith can be forgiven, born again, adopted and reconciled with a holy God! The purpose of Paul’s statements was to convince the Colossians if they wanted to know God then Christ must be pre-eminent in their thoughts, not created beings on earth or in heaven!