The Brightness of the Father Since the appearance of Jesus on this earth two thousand years ago, Christians have believed that the man called Jesus of Nazareth is and was God the Creator; that the eternal Son dwelt in a human body, thus "veiled in flesh the Godhead see." Every other doctrine of Christianity flows out of that great truth. What can we possible have to say to a restless world if Jesus is not the foundation of our spiritual being? I had a friend in Canada that was not clear on that. And that uncertainty lead to a belief that any religion was good, that Jesus wasn't the only Savior, that good works gave us merit before God, and on and on. She was a kind moral person, but was continually searching for something that was solid to grab on to. Having said that, let's look at our text for tonight. Colossians 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 1. At the beginning of our passage for tonight we read: "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation." What does the text mean that Jesus is the image of God? ANS: John 14:9 Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Hebrews 1:3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 2. What other evidence in scripture do we have of what the word image means in the above texts? ANS: Luke 20:24 "Show Me a denarius. Whose image and inscription does it have?" They answered and said, "Caesar's." 3. Which other beings are to bear the image of God? ANS: Romans 8:29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. NOTE: We are to be the image of Jesus who is the image of God. How do you feel about that? As opposed to faith that is the evidence of things not seen, God make himself visible in human flesh through his son. 4. Our passage now refers to Jesus as "the firstborn over all creation." Some have taken this to mean that Jesus was a created being. What other passages throw light on this passage? Exodus 3:14 And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And He said, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" 15 Moreover God said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: 'The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.' John 8:58 Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM." Revelation 3:14 "And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, 'These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: Ephesians 3:9 ...and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; John 1:1 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 were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. NOTE: The God who appeared in the burning bush to Moses identified Himself as I AM THAT I AM. He declares that His name is forever. Jesus told disciples that before Moses was I AM. Revelation 3 calls Jesus the Beginning of the creation of God. Ephesians 3 says that all things were created through Jesus Christ. John tells us that the Word, Jesus, was divine, equal with God, with God and was the creator of all things. Firstborn here is used not to define birth order, but to demonstrate that Jesus is the Heir, the firstborn being the one who inherited all things spiritual and physical in the culture of that time. 5. We have just demonstrated that Jesus was the creator. Often we think of creation as only of our world, the animals, plants, birds, fish, and of course man. Paul expands that thought. What does Paul say he created? 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers...... NOTE: Creation in heaven would include the tree of life, mansions, the angels, any other beings that exist outside of our world. On earth, visible, and invisible would include, besides the things mentioned before, magnetism, gravity, atoms, quarks, photons, and on and on. Then Paul goes on to say that he created thrones (Kingdoms), dominions (ownership), principalities (governments), and powers (authority). 6. Who sets up kingdoms and pulls them down? ANS. Daniel 2:21 And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise And knowledge to those who have understanding. 7. Since God is ultimately in control of these things, how are we to respond to civil authority? ANS. 25 And He said to them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." 8. Why did God have to come in the form of a man? ANS. Exodus 19:21 And the LORD said to Moses, "Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to gaze at the LORD, and many of them perish. So that his glory wouldn't kill us. Jer 31:34 "No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." If you were hearing that Jesus was God for the first time what would your response be?. In these brief phrases the apostle points out Christ's nature as God, his work as Creator, and his continuing relationship to the worlds that he has made. Let us look in more detail at such claims What does it mean that Jesus is "the image of the invisible God?" I have often described the little boy who was drawing pictures on the floor one day as his mother was working. She said to him, "What are you drawing?" He said, "I'm drawing a picture of God." "But no one knows what God looks like," she said. "They will when I get through!" the boy replied. As we move on in our text, it speaks of Jesus as the first born of all creation. It does not mean that Jesus was created. It could refer to the fact that Jesus was the first child of Mary, for we know there were others. But it is the very important to know that there are other meanings of the word. It is most frequently translated "firstborn" in the sense of heir, the owner, the possessor of creation. Jesus is the one who possesses, as heir or owner, all other things. 9. As Paul continues talking of Jesus role in the in the universe what does he emphasize again? ANS. "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." Here it becomes crystal clear: Jesus was the creator, not the creature. And we must not confuse creation with the Creator. Not only does he create things physical, he creates things invisible. Electricity, light, magnetism, centrifugal force, quarks, and so on. He is not those things. He is above them, and controlling them. And they are made for him. That means us. We are made for him. CS Lewis If we open such books as Grimm's Fairy Tales or the Italian epics, we find ourselves in a world of miracles so diverse that they can hardly be classified. Beasts turn into men and men into beasts or trees. Trees talk, ships become goddesses, and a magic ring can cause tables richly spread with food to appear in solitary places. Now if such things really happened, they would, I suppose, show that nature was being invaded. But they would show that she was being invaded by an alien power. The fitness of the Christian miracles, and their difference from these mythological miracles, lies in the fact that they show an invasion by a power which is not alien. They are what might be expected to happen when nature is invaded, not simply by a god, but by the God of nature, by a power which is outside nature's jurisdiction, not as a foreigner but as a Sovereign. They proclaim that he who has come is not merely a king but the King---nature's King and ours! 10. What other things can it be said that Jesus Created? ANS. Not just the things previously mentioned were created by him, not only forces, but concepts and attitudes as well: grace, mercy, truth, love, and life itself. Jesus is the originator of all life. And, as Paul specifies here, a whole pantheon of invisible beings (and their visible counterparts in earthly government): "thrones and rulers and powers and authorities"---all were created by him. The Colossian heresy here becomes visible in our modern experience as well. The Colossians began to believe, because of the Greek teachers among them, that the universe consisted of a "hierarchy of angels." One must begin down at the bottom, with raunchy, unpleasant angels, and work one's way up through the whole hierarchy to the good angels and, finally, to God. From that idea has come the eastern concept of reincarnation for that too was part of the Colossian heresy. We find a similar situation today, not only in the theory of reincarnation, but also in horoscopes and astrology---the idea of stars influencing and governing our lives. The claim that Transcendental Meditation is the means of getting in touch with invisible beings is another example. 11. What other beings should be mentioned as being created by Jesus, and why? ANS: Angels. He is telling the Colossians, "Jesus is above all angels. You are freed from bondage to these lesser beings when you see the true authority and power of your risen Lord." Bishop Lightfoot, who wrote in the last century, paraphrased Paul's words: "You dispute much about the successive grades of angels. You distinguish each grade by its special title. You can tell how each order was generated from the preceding. You assign to each its proper degree of worship. Meanwhile you have ignored and have degraded Christ. I tell you it is not so. He is first and foremost, Lord of heaven and earth, far above all thrones or dominations, all princedoms or powers; far above every dignity and every potentate---whether earthly or heavenly, whether angel or demon or man--- that evokes your reverence or excites your fear." 12. How does Paul describe the way that Jesus controls space and history: ANS. "He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." TEV Col 1:17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. NKJV Thus the central truth of our faith, and one that makes for strength in the Christian life, is this truth. In Jesus is found the center of life. "He is the image of the invisible God ... the Creator of all things, who is before all things and holds all things in his hand and power." Is the baby in a manger the king of your life? Do you want him to be?