WHO IS JESUS? (PART 6)

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So He is first in everything.

Colossians 1:18b NLT

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Jesus is supreme over all creation.

This is the overarching answer to the question of who He is and the scriptures have reinforced this as we have seen through the first five messages of this series. Today, we add yet another statement to assert Jesus’ preeminence over all creation. Look again at the second half of verse 18 from Colossians, chapter 1:

He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So He is first in everything. Colossians 1:18b NLT

We know the Bible contains resurrection events outside of Jesus coming back to life.

In 1 Kings, we read where Elijah brings the son of a widow out of death (17:17-24). In 2 Kings, Elisha, who was anointed a prophet by Elijah and then carried on his work, resurrected a Shummamite woman’s son (4:18-37).

Peter used the power of the Lord to raise up Tabitha, also known as Dorcas, in Joppa (Acts 9:36-43).

While Paul was preaching in Troas, a young man named Eutycus fell asleep while listening to the Apostle and fell out a window to his death. The scriptures tell us that Paul threw his body on the young man who then became alive again before reentering the home and sharing a meal with everyone (Acts 20:7-12).  

And Jesus Himself brought Jairus’ daughter (Luke 8:40-56), the son of a widow (Luke 7:11-17), and His good friend Lazarus (John 11) from death to life. In the latter account, Jesus proclaims Himself as the Resurrection and the Life (11:25). This statement is critical and connectional to our verse for today and the truth that Jesus is “supreme over all who rise from the dead”.

What does this mean, “supreme over all who rise from the dead”?

Simply put, Jesus was the only person who was resurrected and remained alive. Every other resurrection ended in death as every other person was of mortal flesh. Jesus was, is, and will always be, the Resurrection and the Life, the only One who can bring the dead who are in Him out of death and usher them into eternal life. He alone is the Savior of the world, the Lamb of God who took away the sin of all mankind (John 1:29).

Thanks be to God for the gift of His Son and His absolute authority over all creation.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com

WHO IS JESUS? (PART 5)

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation.

For in Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

And He is the Head of the body, the church.

Colossians 1:15 NLT, 16-18a NIV

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

After a report from Epaphras, an emissary from the Colossian church who visited Paul during his Roman imprisonment, the Apostle felt compelled to write a letter to the church in Colossae, even though he had never been there. Hearing of how false teachings were trying to infiltrate the church and its believers, perverting the purity of the Gospel, Paul wrote to reinforce the supremacy of Jesus and how nothing should be allowed to trump His absolute authority over the church.

Paul’s words on the Savior of the world have served as the foundation for this series titled, “Who is Jesus?” and to date we have learned the following:

1. Jesus and the Father are one with Christ being the visible image of the invisible God.

2. In the beginning, there was Jesus. He was one with God and therefore present before anything else was created.

3. Since He existed before anything, Jesus reigns in total sovereignty over all creation. He has all authority over everything in Heaven or on earth.

4. And because Jesus and God are one with Jesus placed in complete charge of all, all things were created in Him and through Him and for Him, whether visible or invisible. Jesus holds all creation together and is Master over it.

This is who Jesus is and understanding what we know so far helps us as we add to our knowledge of Christ in today’s message. For here’s what we read in the first part of verse 18:

And He is the Head of the body, the church.

This should be a given since Jesus reigns and rules in full superiority over all creation so why would the scriptures single out the church like this?

Because our Lord, in His perfect and infinite wisdom, knew that the church would need reminded and indeed it has from the days of Paul to present.

You see, a church is made up of imperfect, sinful people from the congregants all the way up to the leader who will carry a title depending on the denomination (i.e. pastor, minister, priest, etc) and this is a recipe for disaster unless there is some form of consistent regulation on how the church should function.

Enter Jesus, the Head of the body, the church.

The only reason a church can label itself Christian is because of Christ and when a church associates itself with Jesus, it surrenders any and all inner authority to Him.

In other words, Jesus Christ is in charge of every Christian church, period. Not the church’s spiritual leader. Not the elders or deacons or trustees. Not anyone else in the church, regardless of their social status or wealth.

Jesus, and He alone, is the Head. He was the answer for the issues plaguing the church in Colossae, the target of Paul’s letter, and He’s the answer all issues the church is dealing with today, a church that is deeply divided and fragmented.

How can we let this be? How can a church with one Head in Jesus be so scattered and disjointed?

The answer goes back to my point earlier. Too many human church authorities are setting the standards for the Christian church, all sinners who have fallen short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). And congregants have allowed themselves to fall under the control of men and not Jesus, the true Head, the One who is sits in unrivaled supremacy over all creation.

The time for change is now. It’s time for all churches to put their differences aside and submit to the rule of their King Jesus. If unity is to come, it will come through all bodies uniting with Christ, not in part but in whole, for this is the only way the church will truly be Christian, instead of using the name of Jesus as a façade while flawed, imperfect leaders set equally flawed, imperfect polity all while governing sinfully.

The church universal needs to fix this but if they fail, Jesus will when He returns to judge all creation, including the body of Christ. Let's not wait until then.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com

WHO IS JESUS? (PART 4)

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation.

For in Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Colossians 1:15 NLT, 16-17 NIV

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Jesus is one with God the Father (John 10:30). He said so Himself and He is the Truth (John 14:6) and so every word he speaks is perfectly trustworthy. Therefore, Christ was and is the visible image of the invisible God.

This is the first answer we find the scriptures providing to the question, “Who is Jesus?”, as we look at the first chapter of Colossians.

We then went to the first chapter of John’s gospel and learned a second answer to the question:

In the beginning was the Word and the Word was Jesus (v. 1), who “became flesh and made His dwelling among us” (v. 14). Thus, Jesus “existed before anything else was created”, well before He would be formed in the flesh and born from Mary’s womb.   

Then, in yesterday’s message, we remembered the very words of Jesus when He told His disciples (and us) that “all authority in heaven and on earth” had been given to Him (Matthew 28:18). This assignment of power made Jesus “supreme over creation”.

Indeed, the purpose of this passage, the reason the Lord placed these words on the heart of the Apostle Paul, was to remind the Colossian Christians of the absolute sovereignty of Jesus so they wouldn’t be swayed by false teachings that were trying to infiltrate the church which are addressed in chapter 2 of this letter.

Today, as we continue to learn more about our Savior, we turn to verse 16 of chapter 1 which tells us the following:

For in Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Since Jesus existed before creation and has been placed in supremacy over it, then we can see where in Him, all things were created through Him and for Him, and all things means just that all things. This would include everything in heaven and on earth whether visible or invisible.

The bottom line in that Jesus is preeminent over anything in creation, physical or spiritual. He has no rival or equal.

This is who Jesus is and, in the end translation, all things, whether in heaven or on earth, are completely subordinate to Him. Therefore, every Christian church should be making this a key point of emphasis as they work to share the Gospel and help others come to know their Savior.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com

WHO IS JESUS (PART 3)

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation.

Colossians 1:15 NLT

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Jesus is one with His Father, “the visible image of the invisible God.” He also existed well before being conceived by Holy Spirit in Mary’s womb, existing “before anything was created.”

These are the first two things we learned while studying the first chapter of Paul’s letter of the Colossians as he emphasizes the supremacy of Jesus over anyone or anything. Through Ephaphras, an emissary from Colossae during Paul’s imprisonment in Rome, the Apostle learned that false teaching was threatening the Colossian church so we find him placing a great deal of emphasis on Jesus and His absolute sovereignty.

As we turn to the third message in this series, we see Paul drive home the point regarding Jesus’ complete authority. He writes:

Christ...is supreme over all creation. v.15

Now, this hardly should be a major revelation because Jesus Himself proclaimed His total preeminence and superiority at the start of what is known as the Great Commission. He said:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” Matthew 28:18

Note here that ALL “authority in heaven and on earth” had been given to Jesus and this means that He was “supreme over all creation” and had been so since the beginning. When we call Jesus, “King”, we do so for a good reason because He, one with God the Father, is the King of kings and Lord of lords. He has no rival or equal. None.

This is why Paul in chapter 2 of this letter says this to the Colossian Christians (and still speaks to believers today):

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ (v. 8).

As mentioned, false teaching was trying to infiltrate the Colossian church and, going again to chapter 2, we find some hints about that teaching as Paul writes:

Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind.

Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence. Vv. 16-18, 20-23

The reality is indeed found in Christ, the One who said He is the Way and the Truth and the Life (John 14:6). He has been, is, and will always be “supreme over all creation” because that’s who He is. Acknowledge and proclaim His utter, unlimited greatness and you will always be focused on what truly matters.

In other words, always put Christ first as a Christian.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com