Jesus is LORD, 1 September 2019
Jesus Is LORD
Series—A Love Supreme
Colossians 1:9-23
Series Big Idea: Christ is above all others. This is a study on the book of Colossians.
Big Idea: The Messiah is above all, and that has huge implications for our lives if he is not only Savior but also LORD.
How many of you like music? How many of you like jazz?
Our world is filled with opinions about the greatest rock band, the best gospel singer, the finest classical composer, and the most talented rapper, but when it comes to jazz, most people seem to agree on two things:
1. The greatest jazz album of all-time is Miles Davis’ Some Kind of Blue.
2. The second great jazz album of all-time is John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme.
Today we begin a new series on Paul’s letter to the church in Colossae, a small city in modern-day Turkey. Unlike nearby Laodicea and Hierapolis, Colossae has never been excavated, though plans are in the works. The theme of the book is the supremacy of Christ, but since that seemed a bit foreign to our modern lexicon, I’ve chosen to entitle this series A Love Supreme. It’s not about jazz, but about Jesus, the definition of love. He is supreme. His love is supreme. His lordship is supreme. As we noted in our last series, the gospel is Jesus. The good news is that Jesus is LORD. He will be our subject throughout our study this month in the book of Colossians. Jesus is supreme!
A few weeks ago we looked at the radical conversion of Saul. Because of his calling to the Gentiles, he went by the name of Paul and, as prophesied, suffered for his faith in Jesus. He wrote four prison epistles—or letters: Ephesians, Philemon, Philippians, and Colossians. This letter was written while under house arrest in Rome in AD 61. Paul begins his letter to this church with eight verses of introduction and then he continues…
For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. (Colossians 1:9a)
This is a beautiful statement. The “reason” is their faith in Christ and love for all God’s people. The “we” here is Paul and Timothy. They have not stopped praying for the Christians in Colossae.
Who are you continually praying for? Some of you have told me you pray for me weekly, or even daily. I’m so grateful. I can’t imagine where I would be—who I would be—without prayer.
In the Christian & Missionary Alliance, we believe prayer is the primary work of God’s people. It is powerful and effective. It’s not talking to the wall, but rather communicating with the Creator of the universe! We’ve seen God answer countless prayers…and He’s not going to stop now!
We can’t stop now, either. We need to pray for our church family, for our neighbors, our city, nation, and world.
Have you ever wondered what to pray?
“LORD, I pray for everyone in the whole world to be blessed today!” That’s a nice prayer, but if you want to be just a bit more specific, Paul’s example is helpful.
We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. (Colossians 1:9b-12)
What a great list! When we pray for others, we can ask God to grant them
Would you pray that for me? Would you pray that for our elders and staff? Would you pray that for First Alliance Church. This isn’t my church. It’s not our church. We are God’s church. We are fully dependent upon His power, His grace, His favor.
I want to remind you we have three weekly prayer gatherings here—Sundays at 9 AM, Thursdays at 7 PM, and a wonderful men’s group on Tuesdays at 8:30 AM.
I can’t imagine where we would be without prayer!
The heart of Paul’s prayer is that the lifestyle of the people. He was concerned about their theology, of course, but he specifically prays that they would live lives worthy of the LORD. He prays that they would bear fruit. Likewise,
Our lives should bear fruit.
Notice this doesn’t happen because we try hard, but rather because of prayer, because of God’s power, because of Jesus. He is the one who said famously,
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)
What kind of fruit do we bear when we are connected to the vine of Jesus? The fruit of the Spirit:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)
Do we produce this fruit? Do we earn it, strive for it, work for it, make it happen? No! We surrender and submit to the Lordship of Christ. We let him lead our lives. We confess our sins, repent and turn away from them, and invite the Holy Spirit to fill us, change us, transform us to become more like Jesus. This is why prayer is so critical. It’s a daily thing. It’s an hourly thing. It’s a moment-by-moment thing.
Paul ends verse twelve by saying they give joyful thanks to God…
For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:13-14)
Have you ever been rescued? We’ve all heard of people being rescued at sea, after being trapped in a cave, or after a natural disaster. I can’t recall ever being in such a situation, but I imagine it’s incredible. We’ve been rescued from darkness into His glorious light. He have redemption. We have forgiveness. We have freedom!
Now Paul begins to describe Jesus.
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn 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. (Colossians 1:15-16)
You were made by God, for God, and for God’s glory.
These verses declare that all things were created through Jesus and for Jesus. He is the image—or literally icon—of the invisible God. He makes God visible! Jesus told Philip that when you’ve seen him, you’ve seen the Father (John 14:9).
He had no beginning, for he is the Creator! He has all authority and rights over His creation.
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 and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. (Colossians 1:17-18)
Jesus is supreme.
He is above all things. He is before all things. He holds together all things. He’s the head of the church. He is our Senior Pastor. He is the beginning. He is the firstborn among the dead. He’s the LORD of lords and the King of kings. Jesus is supreme!
Is it any wonder this passage may have contained remnants of an early Christian hymn?
For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and 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. (Colossians 1:19-20)
All of the fullness of God dwells—permanently lives—in Jesus. Then Jesus died to reconcile us to God. He created, and then after we sinned He re-created, He redeemed, He reconciled sinners who repent, making peace, wholeness, completeness.
Someone recently asked me why I talk so much about Jesus instead of God. It was a terrific question! I explained Jesus is God. We worship one God who is in three Persons. We call this the Trinity. It’s a word not found in the Bible, but the idea behind it is present throughout scripture. God the Father, God the Son—Jesus—and God the Holy Spirit. They are all God, yet they are different Persons.
Many have tried to explain the Trinity with analogies, which might be the best thing we can do to attempt to understand God. After all, He’s God! He doesn’t fit in a neat box.
An egg has three parts: shell, yolk, white. They are all egg, three-in-one.
Another common illustration is a clover. Each leaf is 100% clover, yet each is unique.
For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and 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. (Colossians 1:19-20)
Throughout church history, some have recognized Jesus as God but not human. This is called the heresy of Docetism. They believed Jesus only appeared to have a body but did not actually suffer on the cross or rise from the dead.
Some recognized Jesus as created by God the Father but not himself God. This is called the heresy of Arianism.
What we see in these two verses is that the fullness of God dwells in Jesus. He is fully God. The Father sent the Son, Jesus, to earth to die, to shed his blood on the cross, to reconcile all things to himself. That includes us, hallelujah! Our sin separated us from the holy God, yet Jesus died to reconcile us to the Father, and only Jesus could do that because Jesus is the only human to walk this earth who is also fully God.
This is such good news, friends!
Jesus reconciled us to God by his death.
Paul further explains…
Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But 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—if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move 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. (Colossians 1:21-23)
If Jesus never actually died—as some believe—we are hopeless. We cannot be reconciled. We remain alienated from God because of our sin. But there is plenty of evidence not only that Jesus died, but also that he rose from the dead and is alive today.
Jesus is not only our Savior, but also LORD.
The gospel is not just that Jesus died, but that Jesus is LORD. He is above all. He is supreme.
I’ve often spoken of vampire Christians who only want Jesus for his blood. They want a Savior, but not a LORD.
They want to be saved, but they don’t want to serve.
They want to be forgiven, but they don’t want to follow.
They want to go to heaven when they die, but they don’t want to live for Jesus now.
True faith will lead to faithfulness over time. We will grow. We will mature. We will look and act more like Jesus. We will love God and love others as ourselves. We will experience real peace, true joy, abundant love, and deep contentment. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
How can we not sing?
How can we not praise?
How can we not rejoice?
How can we not celebrate?
We have a love supreme!
Credits: series outline from D6.
You can listen to this message and others at the First Alliance Church podcast here.
Series—A Love Supreme
Colossians 1:9-23
Series Big Idea: Christ is above all others. This is a study on the book of Colossians.
Big Idea: The Messiah is above all, and that has huge implications for our lives if he is not only Savior but also LORD.
How many of you like music? How many of you like jazz?
Our world is filled with opinions about the greatest rock band, the best gospel singer, the finest classical composer, and the most talented rapper, but when it comes to jazz, most people seem to agree on two things:
1. The greatest jazz album of all-time is Miles Davis’ Some Kind of Blue.
2. The second great jazz album of all-time is John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme.
Today we begin a new series on Paul’s letter to the church in Colossae, a small city in modern-day Turkey. Unlike nearby Laodicea and Hierapolis, Colossae has never been excavated, though plans are in the works. The theme of the book is the supremacy of Christ, but since that seemed a bit foreign to our modern lexicon, I’ve chosen to entitle this series A Love Supreme. It’s not about jazz, but about Jesus, the definition of love. He is supreme. His love is supreme. His lordship is supreme. As we noted in our last series, the gospel is Jesus. The good news is that Jesus is LORD. He will be our subject throughout our study this month in the book of Colossians. Jesus is supreme!
A few weeks ago we looked at the radical conversion of Saul. Because of his calling to the Gentiles, he went by the name of Paul and, as prophesied, suffered for his faith in Jesus. He wrote four prison epistles—or letters: Ephesians, Philemon, Philippians, and Colossians. This letter was written while under house arrest in Rome in AD 61. Paul begins his letter to this church with eight verses of introduction and then he continues…
For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. (Colossians 1:9a)
This is a beautiful statement. The “reason” is their faith in Christ and love for all God’s people. The “we” here is Paul and Timothy. They have not stopped praying for the Christians in Colossae.
Who are you continually praying for? Some of you have told me you pray for me weekly, or even daily. I’m so grateful. I can’t imagine where I would be—who I would be—without prayer.
In the Christian & Missionary Alliance, we believe prayer is the primary work of God’s people. It is powerful and effective. It’s not talking to the wall, but rather communicating with the Creator of the universe! We’ve seen God answer countless prayers…and He’s not going to stop now!
We can’t stop now, either. We need to pray for our church family, for our neighbors, our city, nation, and world.
Have you ever wondered what to pray?
“LORD, I pray for everyone in the whole world to be blessed today!” That’s a nice prayer, but if you want to be just a bit more specific, Paul’s example is helpful.
We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. (Colossians 1:9b-12)
What a great list! When we pray for others, we can ask God to grant them
- - Knowledge of His will (we often learn by doing, by obeying; deed and knowledge)
- - Wisdom and understanding
- - Fruit in every good work
- - Growth in the knowledge of God
- - Strength
- - Endurance
- - Patience
Would you pray that for me? Would you pray that for our elders and staff? Would you pray that for First Alliance Church. This isn’t my church. It’s not our church. We are God’s church. We are fully dependent upon His power, His grace, His favor.
I want to remind you we have three weekly prayer gatherings here—Sundays at 9 AM, Thursdays at 7 PM, and a wonderful men’s group on Tuesdays at 8:30 AM.
I can’t imagine where we would be without prayer!
The heart of Paul’s prayer is that the lifestyle of the people. He was concerned about their theology, of course, but he specifically prays that they would live lives worthy of the LORD. He prays that they would bear fruit. Likewise,
Our lives should bear fruit.
Notice this doesn’t happen because we try hard, but rather because of prayer, because of God’s power, because of Jesus. He is the one who said famously,
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)
What kind of fruit do we bear when we are connected to the vine of Jesus? The fruit of the Spirit:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)
Do we produce this fruit? Do we earn it, strive for it, work for it, make it happen? No! We surrender and submit to the Lordship of Christ. We let him lead our lives. We confess our sins, repent and turn away from them, and invite the Holy Spirit to fill us, change us, transform us to become more like Jesus. This is why prayer is so critical. It’s a daily thing. It’s an hourly thing. It’s a moment-by-moment thing.
Paul ends verse twelve by saying they give joyful thanks to God…
For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:13-14)
Have you ever been rescued? We’ve all heard of people being rescued at sea, after being trapped in a cave, or after a natural disaster. I can’t recall ever being in such a situation, but I imagine it’s incredible. We’ve been rescued from darkness into His glorious light. He have redemption. We have forgiveness. We have freedom!
Now Paul begins to describe Jesus.
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn 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. (Colossians 1:15-16)
You were made by God, for God, and for God’s glory.
These verses declare that all things were created through Jesus and for Jesus. He is the image—or literally icon—of the invisible God. He makes God visible! Jesus told Philip that when you’ve seen him, you’ve seen the Father (John 14:9).
He had no beginning, for he is the Creator! He has all authority and rights over His creation.
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 and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. (Colossians 1:17-18)
Jesus is supreme.
He is above all things. He is before all things. He holds together all things. He’s the head of the church. He is our Senior Pastor. He is the beginning. He is the firstborn among the dead. He’s the LORD of lords and the King of kings. Jesus is supreme!
Is it any wonder this passage may have contained remnants of an early Christian hymn?
For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and 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. (Colossians 1:19-20)
All of the fullness of God dwells—permanently lives—in Jesus. Then Jesus died to reconcile us to God. He created, and then after we sinned He re-created, He redeemed, He reconciled sinners who repent, making peace, wholeness, completeness.
Someone recently asked me why I talk so much about Jesus instead of God. It was a terrific question! I explained Jesus is God. We worship one God who is in three Persons. We call this the Trinity. It’s a word not found in the Bible, but the idea behind it is present throughout scripture. God the Father, God the Son—Jesus—and God the Holy Spirit. They are all God, yet they are different Persons.
Many have tried to explain the Trinity with analogies, which might be the best thing we can do to attempt to understand God. After all, He’s God! He doesn’t fit in a neat box.
An egg has three parts: shell, yolk, white. They are all egg, three-in-one.
Another common illustration is a clover. Each leaf is 100% clover, yet each is unique.
For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and 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. (Colossians 1:19-20)
Throughout church history, some have recognized Jesus as God but not human. This is called the heresy of Docetism. They believed Jesus only appeared to have a body but did not actually suffer on the cross or rise from the dead.
Some recognized Jesus as created by God the Father but not himself God. This is called the heresy of Arianism.
What we see in these two verses is that the fullness of God dwells in Jesus. He is fully God. The Father sent the Son, Jesus, to earth to die, to shed his blood on the cross, to reconcile all things to himself. That includes us, hallelujah! Our sin separated us from the holy God, yet Jesus died to reconcile us to the Father, and only Jesus could do that because Jesus is the only human to walk this earth who is also fully God.
This is such good news, friends!
Jesus reconciled us to God by his death.
Paul further explains…
Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But 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—if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move 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. (Colossians 1:21-23)
If Jesus never actually died—as some believe—we are hopeless. We cannot be reconciled. We remain alienated from God because of our sin. But there is plenty of evidence not only that Jesus died, but also that he rose from the dead and is alive today.
Jesus is not only our Savior, but also LORD.
The gospel is not just that Jesus died, but that Jesus is LORD. He is above all. He is supreme.
I’ve often spoken of vampire Christians who only want Jesus for his blood. They want a Savior, but not a LORD.
They want to be saved, but they don’t want to serve.
They want to be forgiven, but they don’t want to follow.
They want to go to heaven when they die, but they don’t want to live for Jesus now.
True faith will lead to faithfulness over time. We will grow. We will mature. We will look and act more like Jesus. We will love God and love others as ourselves. We will experience real peace, true joy, abundant love, and deep contentment. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
How can we not sing?
How can we not praise?
How can we not rejoice?
How can we not celebrate?
We have a love supreme!
Credits: series outline from D6.