Colossians 1
Who is the Real Jesus?
by Gary DeLashmutt
Teaching t10563
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Introduction
This morning’s passage is Colossians addresses the question “Who is the real Jesus?” Before we get into our passage, I want to take a little time to understand the situation Paul was addressing. The recipients of Paul’s letter had been recently visited by people who claimed to be “spiritual experts” (both in theological knowledge and in spiritual experience). In fact, they later became known as Gnostics (Greek for “knowledge”)—claiming to be “in the know” spiritually. They also claimed to be pro-Jesus—but what they said about Jesus was:
“There is other information about Jesus that Paul doesn’t know (or isn’t telling you)—but we know it.”
“Jesus is a way to get to God, but there are other (and in fact better) ways to get to God.”
It’s pretty difficult to miss the parallels to our own situation! We are hearing from many “spiritual experts” who claim that there are other sources of information (besides the Bible) about Jesus—and that these sources give us a positive but different portrait of Jesus (than the biblical portrait).
EXAMPLES: “Gospel of Thomas” (Gnostic master of enlightenment); “Gospel of Judas” (??); Koran (one of 5 great prophets); Hinduism (one of many avatars) & Buddhism (one of many boddhisattvahs); Bahai (one of 9 illuminators for their specific epochs). These different portraits create confusion: “Which portrait is correct? Is it even possible for us to know?”
Over against (contradictory to and incompatible with) these voices about Jesus is the voice of the New Testament authors.
This portrait has a unique pedigree:
It agrees (not only with each other but also) with what the Old Testament prophets predicted about the Messiah (vs. the other voices, whose portrait contradicts the Old Testament prophets).
It comes from people who were eye-witnesses of what Jesus claimed and did (vs. the other voices, who were much later [i.e., 150 years minimum after Jesus]).
What is this portrait? Now we’re ready to look at our passage, because Col.1:15-20 is perhaps the clearest distillation of the New Testament portrait of Jesus...
Jesus is the Lord
Read 1:18b,19. This is the heart of the passage, and this is the heart of the New Testament portrait—Jesus is the Lord. Jesus is supreme over everyone else—in fact, that he is God-incarnate (show 2:9?). This was the uncompromising claim of the early Christians in a religiously pluralistic culture (even more pluralistic than ours). The rest of this passage explains that Jesus is supreme because he plays three roles that no one else plays.
Paul begins by saying that Jesus is the Lord because he is the unique Revealer of God (read 1:15a).
Notice the definite article “the” (not “a”)—the Old Testament prophets foretold that Messiah would be the ultimate spokesperson for God (Deut. 18), and Jesus claimed to be that Person when he said Jn.14:9.
“The image of the invisible God” means “Jesus is God made visible.”
Read 1:15b—if Jesus is God, how can he be the “first born?” The answer is not that Paul contradicted himself in the middle of his sentence—but that he is using this phrase figuratively (just as it is often used by the Old Testament authors) to mean “the heir” or “the rightful owner” (read Ps. 89:20,27 – to refer to Jesse’s youngest son David). In other words, Paul is saying that Jesus is the rightful Owner of the whole universe. He four reasons why this is so:
Because he created the entire universe (1:16). Both the physical universe with its immense size (HUBBLE SLIDE), and the spiritual universe with its powerful spirit beings imply an immensely powerful Creator. Jesus (because he is God) is that Creator.
Because he pre-dates the universe (1:17a). Common sense tells us that every effect must have a sufficient antecedent cause. Astronomy tells us that the physical universe had a beginning (“Big Bang”), which means that there must have been an unimaginably powerful and uncaused Cause to bring the universe into being. Jesus (because he is God) is that uncaused Cause.
Because he holds the universe together (1:17b). From him (because he is God) comes the unimaginable power that holds atoms together—which he will one day release so that this universe is consumed in cosmic fission (after which he will create a new universe). Paul is probably also referring to the fact that Jesus is sustaining this broken world until the time comes for him to establish his rule over it.
Paul gives one more reason why Jesus is the Lord—because he is the sole Redeemer of humanity (read 1:18-20). He is the rightful Ruler of God’s people (the church) because his death provided the way back to peace and friendship with God (MORE ON THIS IN 2 WEEKS), and because he rose from the dead to demonstrate that all who belong to him will also be resurrected when he returns to claim his kingdom.
SUMMARIZE: “(In the New Testament, Jesus is depicted as) the Creator of the universe; the fullest disclosure of the character and person of God; the focal point of all that God has been doing in history; the chief personality in God's creation of the world; the ruler of natural (and supernatural) forces; the watershed of human destiny, and the only path to the presence of God. Jesus is portrayed not simply as the greatest teacher, but as the foundation of all teaching--that is, truth itself.”1
No wonder Paul claims that Jesus is the Lord—supreme over all others! This is the One that the Old Testament prophets predicted. This is who they heard Jesus claim to be. This is the One whose death and resurrection the apostles witnessed. This is why they were rejected by their Jewish countrymen who (because they refused to accept Jesus as the Messiah) rejected them as blasphemers. This is why they were persecuted and killed (all the apostles and thousands of early Christians) by Rome, which permitted the worship of anyone as long as you bowed to Caesar as the supreme Lord. Do you see why it is logically inconsistent to say that the biblical Jesus and these other portraits of Jesus can both be valid?
You can experience reconciliation with God if you bow to Jesus as the Lord
But it was more than logical consistency that motivated them to take this costly stand. They took it because they actually experienced reconciliation with God when they bowed to Jesus as the Lord. This is what Paul reminds the Colossians of (read 1:21-23a NLT). They had experienced being alienated from God and knowing they were guilty before God. When they bowed to Jesus as the Lord, they experienced being forgiven by God, becoming God’s friends, and enjoying God’s presence in their lives. That’s why Paul tells them to continue to stand firmly in their faith that Jesus is the Lord.
And the same offer stands today, 2000 years later. The same Jesus who died for their sins died for yours, too. The same risen Jesus who reconciled them to God can reconcile you to God, too. You too can experience this same forgiveness and loving presence of God. All you have to do is give yourself to Jesus as the Lord. Listen to Noushi Stouffer as she describes how she came to this decision (VIDEO).
1 John Snyder, Reincarnation vs. Resurrection (Chicago: Moody Press, 1984), p.67.
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