Preaching notes May 31, 2020 Col. 1:15-23

Faith in Christ and Love for the Saints

"Jesus + Nothing"

Colossians 1:15-23

Introduction: filling in the gaps...

·         Our main glimpse into the childhood of Jesus Christ is the story we read from the Gospel of Luke, which revealed Christ’s deep spiritual understanding and desire to “be about My Father’s business” (Luke 2:49).

·         Luke 2:40 gives a summary statement describing Jesus’ development from infancy to age 12: “And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.”

·         Matthew names four brothers—James, Joses, Simon and Judas (Matthew 13:55). There were also at least two sisters (verse 56). Thus, Jesus was the oldest of at least seven children.

·         It takes just a few minutes total to cover all the information we have available... leaving so many gaps in his life before his ministry began.

But, such a person of interest... we naturally want to know more!  There are a lot of other writings that attempt to fill in the gaps - they are just not the Bible.  I don't mean that in  a casual way - I clearly mean to imply that they are apocryphal (a story or statement of doubtful authenticity).

·         The childhood of Jesus is mentioned in the following apocryphal writings: the Infancy Gospel of Thomas (from the second century), the Pseudo-Matthew (6th-7th century), the Arabic Infancy Gospel (probably 6th century), and the Irish Versified Narrative (perhaps as early as 700 A.D.).

·         The gap stories filled in of Jesus boyhood have one single purpose; he is to be shown to the world as the one who has superhuman power and shows at an early age that he has  knowledge that only the divine could have. Jesus is a healer and restores/takes health and even life.

·         The portrait of Jesus is a mixture of transcendent and vivid personality and, at the same time, he acts like an ornery and vengeful little brat. The combination is typical tool to display his humanity and his divinity.

Examples

·         A well known apocryphal story regards an events dealing with Jesus and some 'home-made' birds. It is told many different ways and usually follows a similar pattern. Jesus gathers water, makes it clear, clean, and good. He then uses it with clay to make birds, usually twelve sparrows. He does it on a Sabbath. When chastised, he makes the sparrows chirp and fly away. He punishes his accusers.

·         Another whole series of stories centers around Jesus cursing a boy(s). It features the following recurring scenarios: Jesus is attacked or vilified by one or several boys; he curses the attacker who dies or is incapacitated. A conversation with Joseph or/and Mary leads to the restoration of the boy’s health or life. Almost like a refrain, the stories mention the wonderment of the people, the fact that Jesus’ every word becomes immediately fulfilled, the rejection of Jesus and his parents by those around them, and the puzzlement of Joseph (and Mary).

            Basically - people felt that what we do have/know about Jesus is not enough.  They wanted to fill in the gaps as a matter of curiosity and speculation.

            There was a heretical movement in the time of Paul's letter to the Colossians that purported that our knowledge of God had huge gaps and that knowing Jesus was not enough to fill them in.  Instead, we needed to be privy to a secret knowledge.

            They asserted that Jesus fell short of being fully divine. Thus his work on the cross, all his saving acts, were insufficient as well. They were not enough in and of themselves to save us. The "Gnostics," as they have come to be known, were ready to step in and show us how to bridge our knkowledge gaps and supply us with missing information.

The prevailing heresies...

• The diverse sects that church historians commonly call “Gnosticism” may have their roots in the syncretistic and esoteric teachings of the followers of Simon the Magician in the late first century. Mentioned in Acts 8:9-24 first as a practitioner of magic, and then later as lacking real faith, he was rebuked by Peter (Acts 8:20-23). Early Christian history tells us that Simon began claiming that he was a great god who had come down from heaven and that his accompanying prostitute, Helena, was his first creation.
• We can’t be sure that Simon’s teachings had made their way to Colossae by the 60's, but it is certainly possible. Regardless, the teaching of Simon was not the only one of its kind at the time of Paul’s ministry. Other teachers and splinter groups had been trying to mix pagan religion, Eastern mysticism, and a dualistic worldview with Christianity.
• These are the basic ingredients of Gnosticism:  Gnostics generally taught that Christ was only one of many spirit-beings and that he sprang forth (created/born) from an unknown god to bring salvation by special, esoteric knowledge (gnosis) to the spiritually elite. Many Gnostics either wrote their own false scriptures to compete with the writings of the apostles, or they reinterpreted Scripture in a highly allegorical or spiritual sense to support their strange, speculative theologies.
• Regardless of its various manifestations, Gnostic teaching tended to have a few key features. First, Gnostics shared the idea that there was a divine spark in all humans. This spark had fallen from the heavenly realm into this world and needed to be awakened and reintegrated into the divine. Second, they believed that the creation of this evil, physical world was not the work of the one true God but rather the work of an inferior, lesser being. Third, the Gnostics taught that salvation was by illumination or esoteric knowledge, whereby the “knower” came to recognize the spiritual/divine component within, leading to a return to the heavenly, spiritual realm.

            There is nothing to be learned about Jesus that is not supported by Scripture. I said that carefully - it is not that Scripture can contain all there is to know about God. No, Scripture is sufficient and all that we need to know about Jesus is in there. And what we need to know about Jesus is his real identity as God.

·         The heresies facing the Colossian church centered on the person of Christ. The heretics denied his humanity saying that Jesus was one of many lesser descending spirit beings that emanated from God. Not unlike angels. They taught a form of philosophic dualism, saying that the spirit was good and matter was evil. Hence, a good emanation like Christ could never take on a body composed of evil matter. The idea that God himself could become man was absurd to them. Thus they denied his deity.

·         Nor did they think the Christ was adequate for salvation. Salvation required a superior, mystical, secret knowledge, beyond that of the Gospels. It also involved worshiping the good emanations (like angels), and keeping the Jewish ceremonial laws. In the first three chapters of Colossians, Paul confronts these heresies head-on.

            In Colossians 1:15-20, Paul reveals our Lord's true identity by viewing him in relation to four things: God, the universe, the unseen world, and the church.

Jesus Christ in relation to God the Father

15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

·         The Greek word for "image" is eikon.  Like ICON. Image or likeness.

·         When using the term eikon, Paul emphasizes that Jesus is both the representation and manifestation of God. He is the full, final, and complete revelation of God.

·         Being the firstborn over all creation, doesn't mean he was the first to be born. Instead it is more like a title or rank. He is over all of creation just as God is over all of creation. Just like in the time of Paul, and those early Gnostic roots, these same wrong teachings exist in our present world... in our town - I promise you. Biblical language such as being firstborn over all creation, when not studied in depth, is taken to prove that Jesus had a finite beginning. He was born and a part of creation - thus less than God.  People around us use this language and twisted interpretation to say that there is no Trinity, nor is Christ divine.

·         Paul emphasizes that Jesus is both the representation and manifestation of God.  Fully divine, fully human.

Jesus Christ in relation to the universe

16For 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. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

·         Paul asserts that Jesus is the creator of the known universe, and not some part of the universe. The Gnostics believed that Jesus was some emanation from God, but the creator of this imperfect world had to be something even less than Jesus. A lesser being who creates this dirty nasty physical world.

·         In my mind, Paul's words in some way redeem this world. God only creates good things and for good purposes. So if this world was created by God, it was not created wrongly or imperfectly. Think about the greatness in the vastness of the physical world, and how it does and should bring glory to God as its creator. By studying the creation, one can gain a glimpse of the power, knowledge, and wisdom of the Creator. The sheer size of the universe is staggering. The sun, for example, has a diameter of 864,000 miles. That's 100 times that of Earth's diameter and it can hold 1.3 million planets the size of Earth inside of it. The star Betelgeuse, however, has a diameter of 100 million miles, which is larger than the Earth's orbit around the sun. WOW!

Jesus Christ in relation to the unseen world

(16) whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities

·         We believe in the spiritual world that cannot be fully seen with our eyes... though we might be granted a glimpse, a vision, or knowledge of such things, such as when an Angel appears. The Gnostics did as well, but they have this terrible dualistic view of spirit and matter and hierarchy. Angels had a place in the spiritual world as emanations from God. To them the angels were obviously a step closer to realizing  true spiritual knowledge and throwing off all physical elements that are evil. Thrones, dominions, rulers, and authorities referred to the various ranks of angels. Scripture is clear that Jesus is not an angel, but the creator of the Angels. He is above the Angels, in fact worship him and are under his authority. Jesus relation to the unseen world, because relationship to the visible universe, proves he is God.

Jesus Christ in relation to the Body of Christ

18And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.

·         There are many metaphors used in Scripture describe the church. It is called the family, a kingdom, a vineyard, a flock, a building, and the Bride. But the most profound metaphor, one having no Old Testament equivalent, is that of a body. The church is a body, and Christ is the head of the body. This concept is not used in the sense of the head of a company, a CEO, but rather looks at the church as a living organism, inseparably tied together by the living Christ. He controls every part of it and gives it its life and direction. Christ is not an angel to serve the church, he is the head of the church.

19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him...

·         The Gnostics, believing that Jesus and angels and other spiritual beings had emanated from God (and were far superior to us but  less than God), and that God's attributes in godliness and power were spread out amongst those creatures. All of God's divine powers and attributes were divided among these various emanations. Paul counters the false teaching by stating that all the fullness of deity is not spread out in small doses to groups of spirits, fully dwells and is manifested in Christ alone. These ideas in Gnosticism were more developed later but still present in early forms during Paul's life.

            As Hebrews 1:3 says, "the son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word."

            Remember all the language in Scripture, when disciples and the people gathered around would inquire, "how can we know God the father?" Jesus' answer is, if you know me, then you know the father. For I am in the father and the father is in me. If you are in me then you will know the father because you are then in direct contact/relationship with God.  Jesus is not a stepping stone, not a mediator, he is God.

            Whereas... the Gospels present Jesus as God in human flesh, come into the world to save sinners. In Acts, the message of salvation Christ begins to be spread throughout the world. The epistles detail the theology of Christ's work and the personification of Christ in his Body, the Church. Finally, Revelation presents Christ on the throne, reigning as King of kings and Lord of lords.  In this epistle - we get a whole lot of theology regarding the work of Christ.

Reconciliation - Theology of Christ's work

·         This next section is Paul directly uplifting the sufficiency of Christ and the work of Christ. No esoteric or secret knowledge needs to be discovered to bridge any gaps that exist between Jesus and God. All that we need in a relationship to God and for salvation is found in the very person of Jesus Christ. What Christ has done for us, saves us when we believe in him. He's not an example, he doesn't lead us on the path to something that does not already exist in him, he is the fullness of God. To know him is to know God. To trust him is to trust God. He is the first and the last - our all in all…

19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,

20and through him to reconcile to himself

all things, whether things on earth or

things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

21Once you were alienated from God

and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.

22But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to

present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation--

23if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from

the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and

that has been proclaimed to every creature

under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

·         In accounting, reconciliation is the process of ensuring that two sets of records (usually the balances of two accounts) are in agreement. Reconciliation is used to ensure that the money leaving an account matches the actual money spent.

·         In terms of sin - we have a debt.  It does not add up... the perfect life we have been given is not what we can offer God at the end.  For the wages of sin is Death - and all fall short of the Glory of God.  It makes us enemies of God.

·         Who pays that price? We can't!

·         Reconciliation rarely occurs without sacrifice. By giving his one and only Son, God took the initiative in healing our broken relationship with him. He made the supreme sacrifice for us that we might be reconciled to him.

Illustration: The “Ragman” (one of Walter Wangerin Jr.’s most beloved works)

One Friday morning I noticed a young man, handsome and strong, walking the alleys of our City. He was pulling an old cart filled with clothes both bright and new, and he was calling in a rich, baritone voice: “Rags!”

Ah, the air was foul and the first light filthy to be crossed by such sweet music. “Rags! New rags for old! I take your tired rags! Rags!”

“Now, this is a wonder,” I thought to myself, for the man stood six-feet-four, and his arms were like tree limbs, hard and muscular, and his eyes flashed intelligence. Could he find no better job than this, to be a ragman in the inner city? I followed him. My curiosity drove me. And I wasn’t disappointed.

Soon the Ragman saw a woman sitting on her back porch. She was sobbing into a handkerchief, sighing, and shedding a thousand tears. Her knees and elbows made a sad X. Her shoulders shook. Her heart was breaking. The Ragman stopped his cart. Quietly, he walked to the woman, stepping round tin cans, dead toys, and Pampers. “Give me your rag,” he said so gently, “and I’ll give you another.” He slipped the handkerchief from her eyes. She looked up, and he laid across her palm a linen cloth so clean and new that it shined. She blinked from the gift to the giver.

Then, as he began to pull his cart again, the Ragman did a strange thing: he put her stained handkerchief to his own face; and then HE began to weep, to sob as grievously as she had done, his shoulders shaking. Yet she was left without a tear. “This IS a wonder,” I breathed to myself, and I followed the sobbing Ragman like a child who cannot turn away from mystery.

“Rags! Rags! New rags for old!”

In a little while, when the sky showed gray behind the rooftops and I could see the shredded curtains hanging out black windows, the Ragman came upon a girl whose head was wrapped in a bandage, whose eyes were empty. Blood soaked her bandage. A single line of blood ran down her cheek. Now the tall Ragman looked upon this child with pity, and he drew a lovely yellow bonnet from his cart. “Give me your rag,” he said, tracing his own line on her cheek, “and I’ll give you mine.” The child could only gaze at him while he loosened the bandage, removed it, and tied it to his own head. The bonnet he set on hers. And I gasped at what I saw: for with the bandage went the wound! Against his brow it ran a darker, more substantial blood – his own!

“Rags! Rags! I take old rags!” cried the sobbing, bleeding, strong, intelligent Ragman. The sun hurt both the sky, now, and my eyes; the Ragman seemed more and more to hurry.

“Are you going to work?” he asked a man who leaned against a telephone pole. The man shook his head. The Ragman pressed him: “Do you have a job?” “Are you crazy?” sneered the other. He pulled away from the pole, revealing the right sleeve of his jacket, flat, the cuff stuffed into the pocket. He had no arm. “So,” said the Ragman.

“Give me your jacket, and I’ll give you mine.” Such quiet authority in his voice! The one-armed man took off his jacket. So did the Ragman, and I trembled at what I saw: for the Ragman’s arm stayed in its sleeve, and when the other put it on he had two good arms, thick as tree limbs; but the Ragman had only one. “Go to work,” he said.

After that he found a drunk, lying unconscious beneath an army blanket, an old man, hunched, wizened, and sick. He took that blanket and wrapped it around himself, but for the drunk he left new clothes. And now I had to run to keep up with the Ragman. Though he was weeping uncontrollably, and bleeding freely at the forehead, pulling his cart with one arm, stumbling for drunkenness, falling again and again, exhausted, old and sick, yet he went with terrible speed. On spider’s legs he skittered through the alleys of the City, this mile and the next, until he came to its limits, and then he rushed beyond. I wept to see the change in this man. I hurt to see his sorrow. And yet I needed to see where he was going in such haste, perhaps to know what drove him so.

The little old Ragman came to a landfill. He came to the garbage pits. And then I wanted to help him in what he did, but I hung back, hiding. He climbed a hill. With tormented labor he cleared a little space on that hill. Then he sighed. He lay down. He pillowed his head on a handkerchief and a jacket. He covered his bones with an army blanket.

And he died. Oh, how I cried to witness that death! I slumped in a junked car and wailed and mourned as one who has no hope because I had come to love the Ragman. Every other face had faded in the wonder of this man, and I cherished him; but he died. I sobbed myself to sleep. I did not know—how could I know?—that I slept through Friday night and Saturday and its night, too.

But then, on Sunday morning, I was wakened by a violence. Light – pure, hard, demanding light – slammed against my sour face, and I blinked, and I looked, and I saw the last and the first wonder of all. There was the Ragman, folding the blanket most carefully, a scar on his forehead, but alive! And, besides that, healthy! There was no sign of sorrow nor of age, and all the rags that he had gathered shined with cleanliness.

Then I lowered my head and trembling for all that I had seen, I myself walked up to the Ragman. I told him my name with shame, for I was a sorry figure next to him. Then I took off all my clothes in that place, and I said to him with dear yearning in my voice: “Dress me.” He dressed me. My God -He put new rags on me, and I am a wonder beside him. The Ragman, the Ragman, THE CHRIST!

·         Christ taking our infirmities upon himself...

Conclusion (I may change this up)

·         It seems like for a majority of us, our relationship with Christ works very similarly to our retirement program—like some kind of divine Roth IRA or some kind of cosmic 401k (Matt Chandler). Every month we want to put a little in, hoping we’ve saved up enough when all is said and done. On the whole, it doesn’t seem there is a passionate pursuit of, longing for, or submission to Christ as the covering over every area of our lives. Instead, he becomes our retirement program: something that’s going to pay dividends when we get closer to death, but not right now. Right now, what I want to do is put in three percent or five percent a month because the church is going to match, and then my hope is that when my time comes and it’s time to retire—when it’s time to die—I’ve got enough that when I stand before God, I’ve put enough aside to get in.

·         There’s a series of monumental problems with this. Number one: Christ doesn’t use scales. Your good behavior are not going to go over there and be weighed out next to your bad. That’s not what’s going to happen. Who makes you holy and blameless before God? Christ, the Cross—not monthly installments of church attendance.

·         There are nights I have to get up and get on my knees and worry and press into the Lord a little bit about the verses that say, “Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” (Matt. 7:22-23) That is a horrifying text of Scripture. Or how about, “ "Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12)?

·         There’s this monumental weight to this thing that seems to escape most of us. There’s this eternal, unbelievable weight that most of us seem to miss out on. What we end up doing are these good little church things, and we put that aside and then we have the rest of our lives. Or we say, “Jesus, you can have Sunday, but I’ve got this. Or you can get this, and I get this.”

·         We don't make installments.  Our lives will always be wanting.  Christ has to pay the full price for us... and does.

·         Who pays that price? We can't!

·         I don’t want to come and say, “Do better. Amen. You’re dismissed.”

Instead, we trust in Christ's sufficiency...