← ArchiveColossiansSunday, October 23, 2016DateOctober 23, 2016SpeakerDr Josh BurnhamTextColossians 1Passages in this sermonColossians 10:58John 1:186:38Deuteronomy 510:10Hebrews 1229:53Matthew 4:333:20Matthew 433:35John 6:3534:33TranscriptClick any line to jump there.0:00is the image of the invisible god the firstborn of all creation but by him all things were created in heaven and on earth visible and invisible whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities all things were created through him and for him and he is before all things and in him all things hold together and he is the head of the body the church he is the beginning the firstborn from the dead that in everything he might be preeminent for in him all the fullness0:25of god was pleased to dwell and through him to reconcile to himself all things whether on earth or in heaven making peace by the blood of his cross it truly is all about jesus christ and we continue our second sermon in this series of it is all about0:45jesus through the study of colossians so if you will turn with me to colossians chapter one this morning colossians chapter one it's in the new testament galatians ephesians philippians colossians galatians ephesians philippians colossians some today might wonder if the jesus in the scriptures1:12the jesus that walked the dusty streets of palestine has any relevance today the jesus without electricity the jesus that turned water into wine the jesus that if he lived today would see space stations and nuclear power and hd tv and sanctuaries with led lighting and the list can go on1:37and if we're honest some people ask well does that jesus have impact today we ask well do the rules of the bible do the commands in scripture do they hold true to today because i've heard people say well those are old they're irrelevant well we're going to look at that2:02a little boy in sunday school one day asked his teacher he said mr josh will call the teacher he said if jesus were to come back today would he know how to work a computer now i don't know the answer to that question i don't know the answer that was given to that question but sometimes we wonder that don't we does the jesus of the bible that seems so long ago have relevance today in our lives because if he doesn't let me be honest i'm the first person to say2:32then what we're doing has no impact if the jesus of the bible has no relevance for today then we are this is a big puppet show but i wouldn't stand here just to be showy to be a hypocrite word hypocrite means to have a mask on that's just not my personality i am standing here because i believe2:58god has relevance for today and for our lives you see the letter to the colossians was written so that christ would be supreme in their lives that they would know that what they were dealing with in their life that day jesus christ had eternal impact and so what you're dealing with in your life right now jesus christ reigns in your life so let's look at verse 15 of colossians chapter 13:23it is all about jesus the supremacy of christ verse 15 chapter 1 of colossians he is the image of the invisible god the firstborn over all creation for by him all things were created now let's just back up there what was created by jesus3:53all things because sometimes as humans we struggle with comprehension so god's word often has a way of clarifying our struggles that are in heaven and on earth and we say well what things are created god's word wants you to know what is created all things visible all things invisible whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers even during election years all things were created through him and for him4:22he is before all things and in him all things consist he is the head of the body the church who is the beginning the firstborn from the dead that in all things he may have pre-eminence let's pray father truly you are the image of the invisible god and though we stand here today not wondering if you have impact in your life but saying lord you are supreme4:48you are creator you are creator you are sustainer and lord you have control of our lives so lord change us and mold us in a way that we reflect the character and nature of jesus lord that we may not be content to sit and do church to sit and put on a show as if what we do is anything but lord may we pray this in jesus name amen and amen5:16first we see this in our life that jesus christ is supreme and he is superior look at verse 15 jesus christ is superior he is the image of the invisible god the firstborn over all creation now this begs several questions in my mind as i've read the bible over and over again this week and for5:44most of my life this should create a tension in our heart because how can jesus be an image if something is invisible sometimes i believe we just gloss over god's word and we don't digest it think about that look at verse 15 he is the image of the invisible god how does that work it would be like me giving you a photograph and saying this is a picture of me and there's nothing6:16on it how can jesus christ be the image of the invisible god well god is invisible but he allows himself to be known wherever he wills to be known he is revealed in his image john 1 18 says this no one has seen god at any time the only begotten son who is the bosom of the father he has declared him so what we see in scripture6:42is this that if you want to see god then who do you look to jesus christ if you want to see god who do you look to jesus because we live in a world that says well you can see god anywhere and what does god's word say god is invisible but jesus christ is the image of the invisible god the only way that he can be the image of god is if he is god7:12that's important the only way jesus can say he is the image of god if he is actually god this word image is in the greek is icon it's the same word used in the roman army we actually have histories ancient roman histories of a roman soldier riding home to his father or mother and he would7:36write in this way this is an actual note obviously not in latin this is in english he would say i sent you a little portrait iconion of myself painted by utumon which would be an artist so this roman soldier would say i sent you an image an icon of myself now youth this is the this is before selfies he wasn't clicking and texting and by the way some of you8:06adults you're far worse than any of our teenagers you post more on facebook than they ever could think about we my wife and i had a date night so a couple from the church um asked to watch our kids and we said absolutely i said we'll see you next year here you go um and i don't know if she noticed but we were at a restaurant in birmingham and the lady to my right her left were taking uh selfies and uh you8:32know it it took her about five minutes to get the right angle you know when i take a selfie i just want to get my head in the picture i don't care um that that's that's my icon that's my image but why do i give you that illustration because this image of this soldier is an exact representation of him that someone drew so jesus cannot say he is the image of god unless he is the exact representation of god so i don't want us to be confused jesus is not saying he is merely a picture9:02jesus is saying he is god and you cannot see god unless you look to jesus christ and how beautiful of picture it is though if we see jesus that we know we see god god sent you a picture church and his name is jesus god sent you a picture and his name is jesus the second question we need to9:27ask is this then how can jesus be an icon an image of god if we are commanded in scripture the second commandment is not to make idols images for ourself so we need to we need to work through that then how can we worship an image of god if we're commanded not to worship images of god i'm glad you9:51asked you see in any image i create of god or any image you create of god is a faulty poor quality and not worthy to be called an image this is why god in deuteronomy 5 says you shall not make an image and worship it you hear what the lord says church you should not make an image of god and worship it why10:18because any image that we make of god is going to look like who it's not going to look like the invisible god is going to look like the person who makes it you see any any image i make of jesus is going to look like me that's why when you look at most artist renderings especially through the centuries of jesus christ a lot of the jesus's you see in pictures are blonde hair and blue eyes you know why that's the case10:48because most often the person painting the picture had what blonde hair and blue eyes or light skinned fair skinned so why would someone drawing a picture of christ make jesus look more like themselves than what the actual christ most likely look like because we are bad image makers we're horrible image11:09makers and so why then do we often try to worship a jesus that we have created if if god says you're not allowed to make an image of me because you're bad at it and it would never look like me then why do i worship a jesus often that i create why do we worship a jesus that we say well god is he's just only love he loves everyone he loves you11:38when you sin he loves you when you're righteous and actually he loves you so much it doesn't even matter what you do you just worship something and eventually you'll find a way to get to heaven oh that is worshiping a god that you've created and that i've created because the jesus of scripture says i am the way i am the truth i am the life the jesus of the scripture says josh you will give an12:03account of the things that you do the jesus of the bible says josh if you die in your sin without confessing me as lord you die in eternity without me because my blood has not covered your sins and you'll be held accountable in your sin oh that we would not worship a jesus in our image you are bad image12:24makers may we not make god in our image in greek thought an image was not considered something distinct from the object it represented as an image of god christ is the exact as well as a visible representation of god illuminating god's essence so i ask you what jesus are you worshiping today are you worshiping the jesus that says he is the image12:56of the invisible god are you worshiping the jesus that looks a lot like you oh that we would not fool ourselves thinking that we can create god i think we also have to ask this question then if jesus is eternal and he is the image of god look at verse 15 he is the image of the invisible god we've addressed that he is the firstborn over all creation now i thought though jesus was eternal so how can jesus be the13:25firstborn of creation if he was eternal because in my understanding everything that is born has a beginning are you following me there so i want us to dig deep into scripture and and not think in our minds but say lord spirit lead us so how can jesus be firstborn of a creation if he is eternal again i am13:49glad that you asked that question often we use the word firstborn to talk about the first person born in a family we dedicated little ava today and she is the first child born in her family there is no doubt about that she is the firstborn of the johnson clan but that this is not saying that jesus was born first rather the word means that he is a first rank he is a first rank so really what the colossians are saying14:17is that not jesus is not born first he is superior over all creation now that's the word we struggle with because if we're honest we don't like anyone being superior over us because we are people that often struggle with authority i can prove that to you lord willing none of us are going to drive over the speed limit when14:40we go home today but if you do by the way i would never do that but if but if you would if you do and you get a ticket you're going to find a reason why you are driving above the speed limit but officer i i was going home i was doing the lord's work i was here at church in the in the the crop pot was about to burn the roast i had to drive fast15:09but officer the car in front of me was going fast and so i was going i remember there was one time i was going to a youth conference in a place in louisiana i have never driven before i was five miles from the exit on the interstate i was going six over on the interstate that's not bad right so i i go through this little town on the interstate and when i crest the bridge guess what i saw there15:37were three policemen lined up on the side of the road they didn't get out of it they didn't even bother to follow me in their car i had a police officer point to me from the interstate from the shoulder he said you get over there and i'm thinking my first reaction was lord how dare you let them pull me over i'm doing your work lord you tell me i drive under grace not the law right some of you have used that galatians all about grace and not law but at the core of that16:04argument what is our struggle at the core of the argument is god i don't want to obey that law that law is not my superior and the truth is if i'm going one mile an hour over i've broken the law and i deserve a ticket and so god spoke to my heart that day one i didn't get out of it two he spoke not only to my heart but to my wallet and three i realized lord it's okay to have a16:32superior and lord if my superior is jesus christ how great is it to say lord you are above me you are the image of the invisible god lord you are first over all creation and lord you are definitely first first over me he is our superior he has no equal in all of creation so jesus is the image of the invisible16:53if he is first over all creation then where does that leave us it leaves us here it not only tells us about jesus christ it tells us a lot about ourself because if jesus is the image of god he is what we were meant to be in terms of character because we are created in his image if jesus christ is the image17:17of god then we are created to look like jesus and so who jesus is is what we should look like and he has relevance for today so not only is jesus my superior and superior over all creation he is your superior and it might do you some good this morning just to say jesus you are my superior because we17:43we struggle with that we say oh lord i have i've made you lord and savior lord means boss by the way lord means jesus you are superior lord means father you know how to raise my kids better than i do lord means father i trust that you love my child more than i love them lord means father i trust that you have better plans for me than i do and lord means father when you set rules in my life who am i to make18:11excuses for you he is our superior he is the image of the invisible god he is the firstborn over all creation he is your superior god it is all about jesus not only is he our superior but he is our look look at verse 16 he is our creator for by him all things for by him what things all things were created18:35in heaven and on earth visible invisible thrones dominion principalities powers all things were created through him through him and for him so who is created by jesus i am did you know that there are over 800 000 species of insects19:05every single one was created by jesus christ and i know this and i had this conversation in the lobby it was unprompted but every time a sparrow falls from the sky god knows because he created it and how much more if he is our creator god the one who loves us cares about you and me when we struggle or when we celebrate so if god cares about the mosquitoes and that's still a question a19:33theological question i can't answer i know there's a purpose i just know i won't find out on this side of eternity and by the way moving to alabama we get a break from the mosquitoes i feel like i haven't been bit all year but if god cares about 800 000 species of insects how much more does he care about your life today let that sink in he is the creator of all things and sometimes we just assume well god created the20:03heavens and the earth but we forget to say god you created me as jeremiah says before i was knit together in my mother's womb lord you knew me and so if you're struggling here today you can say god i give this to you because before i struggle with it you know if you're here celebrating if joy has been renewed to you this morning before that joy came to you this morning god said i know it's coming he is our creator god you say well pastor20:31i know you say god is creator but what about science i'm glad you asked you guys are on the top of it this morning the new scientist review recently asked the biggest question it has it had an article in a scientific review and it asked the biggest question science has ever asked that's the title of the article the biggest question is ever asked by science here they are you ready what is reality what is reality21:01what is reality all right i think therefore i am type thing some people even ask do i exist i'm a practical person if i'm not talking i'm here second question what is life what is life science is trying to understand what is life science is also trying to understand this question what is free will and do we have free will21:29don't worry it gets better is the universe deterministic has everything been determined from a given point in time what is consciousness science is also asking this question will we ever have a theory of everything so science is now grappling with this question of the string theory it's a theory that all particles we see in nature are21:57nothing but vibrations of tiny pieces of a super string almost like a strings on a violin and i say that's a great question because if everything is like strings on a violin i know who's playing the violin science is now grappling with this question what happens after you die science is asking this question what happens or what comes after homo sapiens and as i was watching22:25the football game yesterday i said man those alabama teams i don't know if there's something after homo sapiens but they look like giants bless anyone that tries to tackle those boys but i would say this science is now asking questions that only a creator god can answer science is asking questions only creator god can answer we have this theory of a string theory that it all22:54emanates from the same point i would say good we're getting close so where does that point lead us to his name is jesus christ because i see in god's word that for him all things were created that are in heaven and on earth visible and invisible we're just worried about the things we can see but god says the things that you can't see he made that just blows my mind lord there are things i can't23:21see you know the things i can't see you can know the things i can't see that you can you created lord you are our creator god i was reading a story this week and we said well why does god as creator matter because if he doesn't matter science can't answer all of our questions there's a story that goes like this there was a south american company that bought a printing press from boston now of course in south america they speak spanish and23:51so there's a a little bit of a language barrier and this was in the late 1800s and they spent several hundred thousand dollars for this printing press in the 1800s and when they received the printing press in south america they could not get it to work and so the first thing they did is they requested that that the company that created this in boston send a technician to south america and so they sent this young guy24:18and they sent a telegraph back to boston saying this young man is wet behind the ears how dare you send him and here's the response from boston it was a very short terse response the response was he is the creator he can fix it they sent the man that created the machine to fix the machine and i know this about our savior if jesus christ created everything and he created you24:47and he can fix it he can fix me right how dare we say god is this how you sense and god's response says he created you josh he can by all means fix you that's why he died on the cross for our sins to give us forgiveness that we would not have any other way he is not only the maker of all but he25:11manages to take care of all that he has made said theodorette of sire not only is jesus creator but he is my creator i love that he is not only creator he is my creator jesus christ is superior he is my creator look at verse 16 again for by him all things were created that are in heaven and on earth visible25:34invisible whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers and by the way just a word of advice for election season when someone calls your house and said if you do not vote for this man america as you know it's going to fall apart and the world's going to end read them this verse where the thrones or dominions or principalities or powers all things were created through him you're26:00not going to scare me because i know the one who sustains us we need to hear that today jesus christ is not only our creator but he is our goal he is our goal all things were created through him and for him that's what that word through in greek means he is he is the goal of what we do he's the goal of why26:25we live he is our purpose so without christ i have no goal without a goal i will not go and and drive where i am headed i heard a story this week about a man in our church i was driving with him and he said he was in colorado one day and it was he was coming back from the base and it was late at night and the next thing he knew there were blue lights in the backgrounds and it woke him26:50up and he pulled up to the side of the road and the police officer stopped him and said sir do you know why i pulled you over he said sir i have no clue he said you were going 90 miles an hour and you were swerving all over the road he said i pulled you over because i thought you were asleep and the man responded i probably was so the police officer said here's what you're going to do he said there's an exit five miles up the road you get off of that exit you get out you fill your car with gas see you27:18then you get out you go in the service station and you get a cup of coffee and then you wake your family up and you make them go to the bathroom and you guys take a break and thankfully they did that and they got to where they were going but i was told one time that when we when we get weary and when we grow tired that we begin to swerve because when you're alert you look far down the road so you know where you're going because you can see down the street but the the more weary we get27:48guess what happens your eyes begin to get closer to your vehicle so no no longer are you looking down the street you're looking at the hood of your car and when you're looking at the hood of your car you don't know where you're going so you'll start to swerve i remember my dad one time i was learning how to drive i was 16 going to our grandparents house it was a two and a half hour trip and we were on hour two and i thought i was doing really good i set the cruise control to go somewhere near the inner the28:16speed limit and we were about 30 minutes from my grandmother's house and i heard and my dad just did this to my leg and i the head the top of my head hit the roof of the car you know why he hit me because i had woken him up because i hit those little ridges on the side of the road and he woke up and he slapped me as hard as he could on my leg and i have not forgotten that even today28:43because my focus had not gone it had gone from what i should be looking at to now my situation my car if jesus christ is not our goal we will begin to look at our lives we will drift and often in our lives we struggle because we say lord look what i'm going through lord i'm sick i'm worn i'm tired god look at my car god look right in front of me and god says josh29:09you put your eyes in the wrong place your eyes should be here in verse 16 all things are created through jesus and for him josh it's not about you and there's sometimes we need to hear that it's not about you if you say i follow jesus and who is your life now about it's about jesus christ it is not29:31about us he is our goal so without christ then my life is irrational my life is irrational this is why hebrews chapter 12 and verse 2 says looking unto jesus the author and finisher of our faith who before the joy set before him endured the cross despising the shame has sat down at the right29:59hand of the throne of god if this is true and jesus christ is our goal then we must live completely for him and any other course is completely irrational for the believer and if we're honest there are probably points in our life this week that we have lived in a way that is not about jesus is about ourself what would the world say about that what would your neighbor or your family say we know30:25that you say that you're a follower of jesus but your life he is not your goal the world will say that's irrational that doesn't make sense how can we claim to make jesus lord and to make him the goal of our life because all things i was created through him and for him and let's not live for jesus christ remember church he is the goal he is not only the goal he is my goal30:50may we make him our goal in our lives he is superior he is the first over creation he is our creator god he is the goal of our life and lastly look at verse 17 he is before all things and in him all things consist all things consist the tense here of the greek means that he continues now to hold all things31:16together so some have said that god is a great watchmaker that he created everything and as a watchmaker creates a watch he winds it up and he sits it down and lets it tick that is not the god that we worship god didn't create and then say it and then say good luck have at it god created us and then what does colossians say in jesus christ not only did he create all things and what does he do for us31:43he we consist he holds us together he sustains us that is the god that we serve jesus christ today sustains you he lifts you up he holds us in his hands in hebrews it says that he upholds the universe by the word of his power that's how powerful our god is he doesn't uphold you just by his hand his word can hold you up have you ever had that experience in your life where you might have32:12struggled or maybe you were having a good day and someone came to you and gave you one word and encouraged you and changed your day and that one word upheld you the rest of the day if you've never had that experience let me say this go encourage someone today lift them up that's what god's word wants in our life but how much more so does jesus christ lift us up by the power of his word if christ sustains the universe then how much more can he sustain you and i did you know the word sustain32:42is the same root of the word sustenance and what is sustenance sustenance is something that we eat that gives us a source of strength and i believe there are times that we miss out on jesus the sustainer because we eat the wrong things now we don't have this problem a lot in the south because we love our sweets and our breads33:08but there are times as believers we forget to feast on the right things listen to what jesus says about sustenance matthew 4 3 jesus was tempted for 40 days in the desert he was hungry because temptations are not temptations unless they're tempting the tempter comes to jesus and he said verse 3 of matthew 4 if you are the son of god command these33:35stones to become bread he's really saying jesus if you are sustainer once you sustain yourself today once you sustain yourself and jesus answered and said it is written man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of god if that is how jesus feasted how much more so should we feast33:59on the word of god if he is our sustainer are we eating the right things you say well pastor i listen to praise music on the drive to work that's not the word of god well pastor i pray before meals i'm glad you do but if we are not feasting on the word of god we are anemic we are hungry we have starved ourselves34:22he is our sustainer john 6 35 jesus said to them i am the bread of life he who comes to me shall never hunger and he who believes in me shall never thirst the disciples say jesus teach us how to pray like other teachers and jesus says this is how you should pray people give us today our daily34:49bread why didn't jesus say water why didn't jesus say give us today meat or something else wine why did jesus say give us today our daily bread because jesus also said i am the bread of life he is our sustainer so i ask you are you being sustained by jesus christ is he your sustainer35:20if you try to be sustained spiritually only by this church you will leave here hungry starving and never pursuing christ as your goal and your creator this church is not the answer for your life he said well i'm gonna go find another one you won't find a church that sustains you because only christ35:45can do that because why in verse 18 he is the head of the church if you lose your head you've lost life are you being sustained by jesus christ one last story it's a kind of gross story i'm gonna ruin your lunch i'm sorry my brother one day i was already in college but the story just touched my heart i couldn't forget to to tell it um one day my brother and my dad were cooking hot dogs i guess for lunch and there are two36:14hot dog bun two containers of hot dog buns one was brand new and one was older and we just kind of we didn't grow up without but we just kind of grew up trying to be um not wait not wasting things and so if there's mold on bread i still today i'll just pull off the mold and eat the bread some of you are grossed up that's just kind of how i am so the pack of buns that were older had a little mold on it and that's probably good for your stomach36:44so my dad told my brother he said just pull the mold off and eat it and so of course like he always did my brother was eating his hot dog and about halfway through he felt something crawl on his hands now i'm not going to name the insects but halfway through the hot dog the insect that was living37:08in the hot dog bun had attached itself to his hands and he doesn't know to this day if that insect had friends37:28in my mind i would say that was the only one he didn't he was a renegade but there's a picture of someone eating the wrong bread and not being nourished from it and let me tell you this if you are not careful if you've been getting your jesus from any church alone or any pastor you listen to or podcasts if you're getting your jesus by anything else other37:51than god's word you are eating moldy bread and you will starve yourself to death jesus christ is our sustainer in him all things consist it means all things are held together and so if you are here today and you believe in jesus but you've kind of gone a separate way you say i'm gonna do it on my own read verse 18 if you separated yourself from me from the church you38:22said i don't need the body of christ you are a person walking around without a head and without your head there is no life but maybe you're here today and you just have tried to live your life on your own and you say i just things aren't coming together there's a reason for that because you are not letting jesus sustain you get the nasty bread out of your hand and feast on the bread that is the bread of life he is our sustainer and not only is he our sustainer if you let him he is your sustainer38:51and god's word reminds us that while we were still sinners jesus died for you and you know why i love that verse i say it almost every sunday because there is a point in my life where i knew i had sinned and i knew that if i had died in my sin that i was going to die and live in eternity away from jesus christ not because he is a vengeful god but because he is god and my sin has to be judged in righteousness39:18because there was a time in my life where i was living a life that was not sustained by jesus christ and god hit my heart and said pastor i wasn't a pastor then but he said josh what are you doing you've been playing church for far too long i said but lord i i know memory verses i know bible verses he said but yes but you don't know the god of those verses you go to church and you sing those beautiful39:45songs but you don't know who you're singing to you go to that youth group or you go to that life group and you shout hallelujah but you don't really know who you're shouting to without christ we are but empty vessels can you say today that he is my sustainer if you cannot he offers you the free gift of salvation i shared christ with a man in the hospital room this week brad was40:14with me we went to visit a lady and when we went to visit this lady her boyfriend was in the room we said that's strange we never met this man and before we left we just looked at that man and said we want you to know that jesus offers you the free gift of salvation you know his response his response was i want that right now i kind of looked at bread and brad and said what did he say and he said if jesus offers me salvation i want that and i need it and i want it now40:46and we prayed with him i said i'm not gonna lead you in any prayer because i can't save you and i said there's no prayer i can pray that can save you and i said i'm gonna pray over you and i said why don't you do business with the lord right now and one of the most beautiful prayers i've ever heard was a prayer of repentance he got down on his knees and he said lord i have fallen i need help and jesus christ is the answer he said lord i know that all things exist in you and father i've been41:14trying to do it on my own and today is the day i make it right and maybe that's you today maybe you've been playing church and today is the day that you need to accept the gift of salvation because without that we do not have eternal life and we do not have life more abundant what are you waiting for he loves you he sent his son for you he's son is he the image of the invisible god he is41:39first over all creation for by him and through him all things were created and all by all means all things exist the supremacy of jesus christ he is supreme he is creator he is the goal and he is our sustainer so pastor what does that look like then that means jesus must be first42:05in our families that means jesus must be first in our marriages and in our professions in our workplace he must be first and supreme in our mission and our ministry he must be first in our intellect he must be first in our time he must be first in the way that we love others42:31he must be first in our conversations and in the things that we listen to he must be first in our pleasures and in our hobbies jesus christ must be first in what we eat he must be first in the things that we play and in our athletics jesus christ must be first in what we watch he must be first in the passion that we have for art he must be first in our music42:55he must be first in our worship and yes he must be supreme in our lives can you say today that jesus christ is supreme he is my creator he is my sustainer and he is my savior let's pray father43:40Thank you.Next in Colossians →Sunday, November 6, 2016More sermons on Colossians →
