06.10.07
Colossians (5): Christ the Lord - Colossians 1:15-18a
Have you ever laughed at a joke, not because it was funny, but just out of courtesy and because that is what is expected? That’s what happened at a recent diplomatic banquet held in Seoul, South Korea, according to the Reuters News Agency. An Asian diplomat was busy telling a long joke; his Korean interpreter was lost but he did not show it. Rather, he uttered a few sentences and the audience laughed and applauded. Later on, after being complimented for his translating skills, the Korean interpreter confessed to the real reason for the laughter – “Frankly minister, I did not understand your joke, so I said in Korean that the minister has told his obligatory joke, would you all please laugh heartily and applaud.” Do you ever say things, or do things, not because you understand them, but because that is what is expected of you?
When it comes to the Christian faith, and in particular talking about and praising the name of Jesus Christ, do we speak and sing because we understand, or because that is what is expected of us? When we call Jesus Lord, do we really understand what that means, or are we just doing what that Korean audience did and pretending a response of devotion and love? Tonight, in our latest study from Colossians, I want to let God’s Word remedy our ignorance and misunderstandings, so that we can call Jesus Lord and understand what that means.
From vs. 15-20 Paul deals with two aspects of Christ’s Lordship – first, His Lordship over Creation (vs. 15-18a) and secondly, His Lordship over reconciliation (vs. 18b-20). Tonight, we’re just going to be able to deal with the first of these aspects of Christ’s Lordship – that of Christ as the Lord of Creation (vs. 15-18a)
In many ways, what we are studying tonight nicely complements what we were studying this morning – that All Truth is God’s Truth, and in particular, there is no truth you can discover in the physical universe which will contradict the truth as it is in God, because the physical universe finds its origin and authority in God Himself. Here now, the picture is expanded, the curtain veil is removed and we get more light on the sense in which God is the origin and King of the Universe. I want to ask three questions about the involvement of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Lord of Creation; first, who is this Lord, where we will review who Jesus is; secondly, what has this Lord done, where we will review the role of Jesus in creation and lastly, what is this Lord doing, where we will note the logical conclusion of Christ as being the One through whom God created the Universe:
1. Who is this Lord? (vs. 15) – we already know that, in these verses, Paul is talking about the Lord Jesus Christ – the Son of God. But the operative phrase that I want you to remember is that Jesus is the mediator – He is the middle man between God and His Creation – Jesus Christ, the mediator between a Holy God and His universe. In any dispute where a mediator is involved, he or she must have some connection to both parties. To be a mediator, a middle man between God and His Creation, Jesus needs to have a connection, a relation, to both God and to His Creation. In vs. 15 we are presented with this relation:
1. His Relation to God – Jesus is said to be the ‘image’ or literally the ‘icon’ of the invisible God. The word used here conjures up a couple of ideas in our minds: first, Jesus is the perfect representation of God – back in the days of Paul, this word ‘image’ or ‘icon’ was used to describe the image of an emperor on a coin – just like we have pictures of the queen on our coins, so they had pictures of the Roman Emperor on theirs – and these pictures were the ‘icons’, the ‘images’ of the Emperor. The idea is also that of a son bearing the image of His Father. Just like my children look like me and represent me, so Jesus ‘looks like’ and ‘represents’ God. People often ask ‘what is God like’, but the answer is to be found in Jesus – if you want to find the express image, the perfect representation of God, look at Him – see His life in the Gospels, see His death on Calvary, see His life in Heaven – that’s Him. Don’t look at Christians – if you do, you are only seeing a very imperfect image of a perfect God – look at Christ, the perfect image of the perfect God – everything we were created to be, but failed to live up to. But the other idea in this statement is that in Jesus, we see the invisible God. God is a Spirit, and therefore can’t be seen – but God became one of us and one with us in His Son Jesus Christ. That’s why the Apostle John could say of Jesus in John 1:18 – “No-one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.” You want to know what God is like? Then look at the mediator – look at Jesus – see Him living, loving, caring and dying for us – that’s God.
2. His Relation to Creation – Jesus is said to be the firstborn over all creation. Now that does not mean that Jesus Himself is part of the creation – that is not part of Paul’s intention, because later on, Paul clearly states that everything that has been made was made through Christ – God’s Son is not therefore part of the Creation, as if to say that He was the first being created. This is important, because the Jehovah witnesses will tell you that this is what vs. 15 is saying. But the concept of the firstborn is all about pre-eminence and superiority, not about being part of the creation. He has the priority over all – He alone is to be worshipped and no-one else – no other angel, no other demon, no other spiritual being and certainly no other human being – but Jesus and Him alone. He reigns supreme and has the place of 1st Importance. That is why we must not waste our breath worshipping made things – things like money or possessions or that girl you like, or that career you want – by all means pursue these things, but don’t devote your life to them – devote it to Jesus and to Him alone for He is the firstborn of all creation. That’s why the resurgence of paganism is so pathetic – why worship the created order – the sun, moon and stars – when above them all is Jesus?
2. What has This Lord Done? (vs. 16) – Paul tells us that ‘in Him (or 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.’ Great volcanic eruptions and devastating earthquakes; mountainous tsunamis and ruinous hurricanes – all these may have been involved in the shaping and formation of what we see today, but the ultimate cause was the Son of God Himself – He was the agent by whom the universe was created. It was by His divine power that the stars began to shine and the tides began to roll. This is the necessary complement to everything you may learn today regarding the nature and role of the discipline of science. Time was when all scientists knew, as we studied this morning, that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom and that under-girding the scientific endeavour lay the unseen God of the Universe – but science has been impoverished by the removal of that foundation; so much so that the universe, which cries out in witness to its Creator, is met with deaf ears all around – “God made me” says the star, but all the secularist talks of is the fusion of helium atoms; and then the star says, “Yes, I know that’s how God did me, but it doesn’t change the fact that God made me” – at which point the secularist plugs his ears.
The incredible complexity of the created universe – it’s all of He who died on the Cross at Calvary to take away our sins. But that is only half of the story, for the invisible universe – that which we cannot see – the universe of angels and demons – this was created by Him too. All these great powers which boast their strength and shake their fist – these are but created things and stand impotent and powerless before their Creator. But notice also the whole purpose of Creation – the answer to the ultimate question of ‘why’ – the question philosophers have sweated over, scientists have pored over, theologians have argued over and armies have died over – the question every human being asks when he faces the immensity of the universe and his own minute place in it all – the question of ‘why’. The answer is given here – ‘all things were created by Him and for Him.’ The answer to the ‘why’ question is ‘for King Jesus’ – this created universe – both in its visibility and invisibility – is a theatre of the Glory of its Creator – a glorious masterpiece of the handiwork of the greatest of cosmic artists. To therefore see the painting but miss the artist is tantamount to the greatest of foolishness. All you learn in university, all we see when we walk – it all shouts out its purpose – “I was made by Christ and to display the glory of Christ”. And John Calvin wrote, “It were, indeed, a strange defence for man to pretend that he has not ears to hear the truth, while dumb creatures have voices loud enough to declare it; to allege that he is unable to see that which creatures without eyes demonstrate; to excuse himself on the ground of weakness of mind, while all creatures without reason are able to teach.” Why is it that only the most intelligent of creatures – man himself – does not know why he or anything else exists? Symposia are held to discuss matters which an earthworm displays; battles are fought over a question a donkey knows the answer to – and yet we, creatures blessed with the greatest of intelligence, kick against Him.
The created thing has turned its back on its Creator and even though His glorious perfections are everywhere displayed, humans made in His image bow down to worship bits of stone and wood, or even the clinking of gold in their pockets. King Jesus has made all things – the King who took off His outer garment, wrapped a towel round His waist, and washed His disciples’ feet. So gaze into and investigate the brilliance of the created order – the world of the arts, mathematics, literature and science – but then go beyond the created thing to worship the creator – turn discovery into praise – every time you learn something new, turn it into praise for King Jesus, by whom, in whom and for whom the universe was created. Thank Him for real numbers; thank Him for group theory; thank Him for falsetto; thank Him for the metaphor; thank Him for the butterfly and for the fir tree at the bottom of your garden – behind the glory of creation is the perfect glory of King Jesus. And then gaze at yourself in the mirror in the morning, and say to yourself – the apex of created things – how can I live for Christ today? To do that is to obey the very purpose for which you were created – to live for Christ in the home, in the workplace, in the classroom – not to see yourself as the centre of the universe, but Him – and to live for His praise and glory.
3. What is this Lord Doing? (vs. 17-18a) – the remainder of the section devoted to Christ Jesus as the Lord of Creation is given over to things which are true of King Jesus now – whereas in the previous section we were looking at something Christ did, now we are looking at things He is doing now:
a. Reigning Supreme – Paul tells us in vs. 17a of Christ that “He is before all things” – a before-ness not just of time, but also of pre-eminence. Yes, He existed before the universe came into being – He had to, since He was its Creator. But the idea here is that He is absolutely pre-eminent over the created order. He is King and He reigns in sovereign majesty. Paul is really adding epithet after epithet in an effort to get us to understand – you look at the created order – the vastness of the universe and the intricacies of poetry, and over it all the Lord Jesus reigns supreme. Mankind shakes his fist and claims his autonomy – nation wars against nation – armies destroy armies – human beings kill human beings – and all the time the Lord Jesus Christ is on the throne of the Universe, directing, in His love, the affairs of men. You may fear for the future, given the rising aggression of secularism to the Christian gospel; and the prominent anti-Christian feeling amongst Western Muslims – you may fear as an individual for the future, whether its your health that bothers you, or someone else’s, or your finances, or your family – whatever. But need you worry when the Lord Jesus Christ, is on the throne of the Universe – reigning as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, before all things, even those things which seem like insurmountable obstacles in your way?
b. Holding all things together – in the 17th, 18th and 19th Centuries, under the guise of Christianity, a group of Christian thinkers developed a theological system known as Deism – the idea was that the universe was like a huge clock and what God had done was, in the beginning to have made the clock and to have wound it up, but now He had left it to move and chime according to the destiny He had set in the beginning. The universe became a machine, a mechanism where God had bowed out of the picture and was no longer interested in the day to day affairs of individual human beings. Famous deists include Voltaire, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. It’s easy for Christians to get sucked into thinking this way too – for fear of drawing too close to the eastern religions, we present a God who has dispassionately withdrawn from His Creation and has left it to its own devices. But this is far from the Biblical picture – “in Christ all things hold together”, or “in Him all things cohere”. There is no such thing as nature, for nature itself is just a description of the way God chooses to work. In Christ, all things are held together and sustained. He is the reason, the energy, the operating principle of the whole universe – holding it together and moving it towards a certain future and purpose. Love establishing the mountains and controlling the movement of the tides from day to day – not impersonal forces we call ‘nature red in tooth and claw’, but the great personal Jesus who is red in forehead, palm and foot from the cross He bore on our behalf.
c. Headship of the Church – in conclusion to this section we must see that the apex of Christ’s Creation, the pinnacle of His achievement, is His Headship of the body, which is the Church. The Church, which of course is the universal sum total of all who believe and trust in Christ, not a building, is the apex and summit of the Created Universe – it is the finished masterpiece of a master-craftsman – a finished masterpiece which is itself not really part of the first creation, but the first fruits of the new creation. In the Church, the church made up of individuals like you and me, fallen in sin but saved by grace, you see the end of this world and the beginning of the new universe, where righteousness dwells. Would you ever question the beauty of the northern lights, or the brilliance of the laws of relativity? Why then do we question the ultimate beauty of God’s masterpiece – the Church, a Church which, as we shall see next week, He has paid for with His own blood on the cross? Or shall we question God’s wisdom in its making and its sustaining from moment to moment? Shall you question God’s provision for you in this church – this church, which together with the other churches of Christ in Glasgow, are more significant than all the landscapes and vistas of the lowlands of Scotland?
These are the high places of God’s creation. And yet, is Jesus Christ the Lord of the Church here? Are our decisions, our worship services, our preaching, our behaviour - are they all dominated by the presence of our King? And when you see this group of believers, drawn from different ages and cultures, worshipping and loving together, do you doubt that only such a Lord as Jesus Christ could have done such a miracle? To look at it simply, and I hope not irreverently, He has made for Himself a physical body – we are it – and together, not apart but together, we are of more significance than anything else in the whole of the Universe. In many ways, the Universe exists as a prop and extra in the play of which the Church is central – and at the centre of the Church, is its head Jesus Christ. There is a dignity belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ which goes far beyond the petty insults and mockery of the tabloid press and the atheistic agendas of the morally liberal. The Church will outlast them and outshine them – the Church is the Glory of God’s Creation – His crown and jewel. We, each one are His diamonds, set in His royal necklace – the pinnacles of His creative energy. Go therefore into this week, carrying that perspective on the dignity which is yours in Christ Jesus – the Lord of Creation who died on a Cross and has created a glorious bride for Himself. You don’t have to stoop into the pig pen and eat the swill of sinful pleasure any more – you can live at the summit of creation – living in closeness to Jesus day by day, through prayer and the Word; living in righteousness and speaking truthfully; loving your family and serving each other. And when you look up at the stars, you can say, “My Lord Jesus made that star, and by His divine power, it keeps shining”. You need not fear tomorrow’s darkness, for every molecule and motion of the universe is in the hands and under the sovereignty of your great Lord of love.
But for those of you who aren’t Christians – when you look at the beauty of the dawn, that’s all you see – the beauty of the Creation – but you’ve never seen the beauty of the Creator. You cannot know how it feels to be at one with the Universe because you aren’t at one with its maker. At present, you cannot know the joy of being the pinnacle of God’s Creative Activity, because you aren’t participants, by faith, in His body, the Church. But surely this can all change tonight – the sinister hands of tomorrow’s clock can become the gentle hands of a loving providence for you – but you need to trust in the Jesus who became One with His creation when He was born, lived and died 2,000 years ago. That Jesus died to take away your sins – those elements of your nature so ingrained within you which dehumanise you and keep you from realising your true potential in life. That same Jesus lives to keep and sustain you. What then will you do with the Lord of Creation – invite Him into your heart and ask Him to make of you His New Creation – to take away your sin and to give you a new heart. And just as surely as by the power of God’s Word the universe came into being, so by the power of God’s Word, you will be created anew, to the praise and glory of King Jesus. AMEN