Fruit Cove Baptist Church

“And He is before all things, and by Him all things hold together.” Colossians 1:17

Last year for Christmas, some friends got me a globe.  This globe was different than other globes I have owned (sorry…I like globes).  The globe was plastic but was mounted on a magnetic stand…balance the plastic globe perfectly between the opposite poles of the magnet and, like magic, it floated!

I guess I’m a little simple, but it fascinated me.  Mysteriously, silently, no plugs or batteries… there it hung in mid-air.  It had a little LED light so I could come and check on it in the dark of night, and there it still floated.

Well, the magic was a bit too much for my then-three-year-old granddarlin.  She had to touch it.  And with just her light touch, the globe came smashing to the floor!  Just a little off the pull of the magnetic field and bam!  It’s all over.

Astronomers and those who study the stars and planets in the solar system tell us that the earth exists on an axis of orbit that is so precise, that life can exist.  If we moved one degree closer to our sun, we would be incinerated by the heat and solar flares.  If we moved one degree further, we would freeze to death in endless cold.

But we stay… exactly where we need to be.  How is that?  Dumb luck?  Magic?  Our text tells us exactly how this is.  “He (Jesus) is before all things, and by Him all things hold together.”

The Bible affirms that, not only were all things created by Jesus Who is “before all things,” but it also says that “by Him all things hold together….”  Jesus did not just create the world and abandon us.  It is Jesus Who holds the planets and stars in place, so the entire solar system doesn’t just end in one cosmic train wreck.  Every planet, every star, every moon,  has a precise orbit they never leave.

So, what keeps some random asteroid or chunk of space rock from slamming into earth, knocking us into a nuclear winter or into a nuclear holocaust?  The Bible says it is Jesus Who holds all things together.

This affirmation tells us that Jesus is intimately involved in every atom of creation.  Nothing escapes His care… or His sight.  What is it that keeps you and me from falling apart into a million little pieces?  He is THE FORCE that holds all things together.

Jesus.  The babe born in Bethlehem was no less than God.  And the good news is that no matter how random events of your life may seem at times…

…He cares.  You’ll make it.  You’ll hold together.  He promised!

At Christmas, we affirm a fundamental aspect of the Christian worldview:  The fact that all things were created by God.  Specifically, we are asserting that everything we see and the things that we cannot see in the spiritual realm, were created by the One whose birth we celebrate at Christmas.

Once again, this juxtaposition of Jesus as fully God and fully human comes into play.  We are asserting, essentially, that the baby Who lay in a manger in a backroad’s town named Bethlehem was the same Person Who made the manger which served as His birthplace, and the cattle which were nearby, and the mother’s body to which He was born.

“By Him were all things created… things in heaven and things on earth….”  As Christians, our worldview finds its beginning right there.  That Jesus, virgin-born, came to the earth HE created through a woman HE made to redeem people HE created.  By faith, we affirm that God created the Heavens and the Earth, and everything that is in them.

If you, out of your sense of intellectual consistency or out of an indoctrination into a philosophy that says such a thing could not possibly have happened, reject this statement of God’s creation of the heavens and the earth, then you do not operate with a Christian worldview no matter what you claim to believe.

I personally have no problem with science as a means of observing and measuring and understanding the precise function of our world and universe.  No problem whatsoever.  But when science becomes philosophy, and scientists begin to theorize about things they cannot see and measure and observe, I reject science out of hand.

The reason Jesus came was to redeem (purchase, pay a price) for that which originally belonged to Him.  He is creator, and therefore is the OWNER and the HEIR of all things, which for reasons known only in the mind of God, Jesus wishes to share with us as though we had owned it!

God is incredibly good, and at Christmas we begin to understand on a deeper level how good He really is to us!

He is the creator of all things and of all people.

Including you.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.  Colossians 1:15

The second part of this verse has spawned numerous sectarian and heretical teachings throughout the years since the early church.  Wrongly interpreted, it has led some to assert that Jesus was “born,” instead of existing eternally as the Second Person of the Trinity.  Others have believed that Jesus had “siblings,” notably one named Lucifer.

These erroneous beliefs are, of course, very incorrect.  While a woodenly, literal reading of this verse might lead some to believe that it is affirming Jesus as a created being or that God had numerous other “sons,” equal with Jesus in power and authority.  Nothing is further from the truth.

The term “firstborn” (“prototokos”) is a designation of rulership and authority.  The “firstborn” was always the one with the most prominence in the royal lineage.  In Hebrew thought, the “firstborn” was the one who held the right of inheritance.  They would be the ranking one, and the legal heir to the family name and fortune.

An Old Testament text in Psalm 89:27 speaks of King David and says, “‘I also shall make him My firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.’” This has nothing to do with birth order, otherwise how could God make someone a firstborn child (in David’s case, he was the youngest in his family).

Hebrews 1:2 says Jesus is “the heir of all things,” referring to this same statement.  So those who would deny the deity of Christ based on this phrase would be far off in their understanding.

Jesus is fully “the image of God,” but also the inheritor of all creation.  It all belongs to Him!  He is “King of Kings and Lord of Lords,” and He alone deserves our worship and our devotion.

“He is the image of the invisible God…”  Colossians 1:1

It’s an amazing thing to watch your child or grandchild literally “morph” before your eyes into a person like you.  Your “spitting image,” as some might say.  Children mimic some of your facial expressions and your language (watch out!).  They look and sound like you over time.  But in other ways, determined by their DNA, they become just like you (and, for good or ill, act like you too).

One of the most staggering claims made concerning Jesus of Nazareth was this first statement in Colossians 1:15 “He is the image of the invisible God.”  We remember from the creation account in Genesis that mankind was made “in the image of God.”  Every person bears something of the characteristics of our Creator.  His image is stamped in us.

But Jesus bore this image of God in an unusual way.  This was more than just reproducing a few facial characteristics and vocal inflections.  Jesus was the “eikon” of God, the “exact representation of His being.”  The word “eikon” was a reference to a stamp used in transferring the image of an emperor onto coins.  Their “eikon,” or likeness, was seen in the coin.

In a much greater sense, the “likeness” of God was stamped on Jesus.  Jesus said to Phillip, one of His disciples, “He that has seen Me has seen the Father.”  When we see Jesus, we see the invisible God.  The more we learn of Jesus, the more we “see” Jesus with eyes of faith, the more we are seeing God.  How He responds to us.  How He cares for us.  How He thinks.  How deep is His love for us.   We see this clearly displayed in our Savior.

It can rightly be said that you will never know God until you know Him in the face of Jesus.  Jesus came to reveal God’s character, God’s likeness, and God’s love to us.  Without Jesus, we are left to grope in the darkness.

But in His face is the Light of Life!

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For 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 fullness of 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.”  Colossians 1:15-20 ESV

For the most part, my memories of Christmas are tied to music.  I have shared with you before that George Fredrick Handel’s majestic oratorio, “The Messiah” filled our home as I grew up during Christmas and Easter seasons.  My Dad especially loved this music, and he had actually sung it in so many local churches and community chorales that he had memorized most of it!

Hearing that musical floods my soul with memories.  But so do many of the other carols we sing at Christmas.  Most Christmas music is rich in theological insight (well, maybe not “All I Want for Christmas is You”).  But you know what I mean.

Carols emphasize parts of the Biblical narratives of the birth and nature of Jesus that we otherwise may not think enough about.  No doubt, you have your favorites, as I do.  But some of the most important statements about the person and work of Jesus Christ were also hymns being sung by the early church

One such hymn is found in the Book of Colossians, Chapter 1.  It is theologically rich and meaningful as we peel back the layers of this text.  While the ESV does not, several translations set these six verses apart to emphasize it is being quoted from another source.  Paul was inspired to use hymns in what he was writing in the same way some preachers quote hymns or choruses today.

So, over the next few days as we continue our journey through Advent, why don’t you take some time to read and re-read these verses as an act of worship.  Think deeply about the words that describe Christ’s person (“the image of God,” “firstborn of all creation,” “creator of all things”) but also think about words that tell us what He did (“created all things,” “holds all things together,” “reconciler of all things”).

He is your Savior.  Your Sovereign.  Your Creator.  The head of the church.  The redeemer.

No wonder the carol asks,

“What Child is This?”

“When the fullness of time was fulfilled, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law that He might redeem those who are under the Law….” Galatians 4:4-5a

Jesus was sent on a mission. God did not randomly send His Son to earth to do good things and to help hurting people, though surely, He did those things. No, in His own words, “The Son of Man has come to seek and to save those Who were lost.”

 Jesus was sent on a mission. His mission was unlike any other mission ever attempted before or sense. It involved the One Who was creator of all things to become One of those He had created as the crowning point of creation. To live in their skin, experience their limitations, endure their worst suffering, and to fulfill the demands of God placed on humanity by the Law.

Jesus was sent on a mission. The mission would involve not only becoming incarnate (enfleshed) in humanity, not only perfectly fulfilling the Law’s demands, but ultimately incurring the penalty of the Law we each were living under. The penalty of death.

Jesus was sent on a mission. The mission began, to our eyes, on Christmas in a rough wooden manger at Bethlehem. It ended thirty-three years later on a rough wooden cross outside of Jerusalem. He was both born, and crucified, “outside of the camp.” And ultimately, He emerged from a borrowed tomb on Easter morning, still fully human; still fully God, but now “the first fruits of those who would rise from the dead.”

Jesus was sent on a mission. A mission to redeem. A mission targeted…at you. His redemptive mission comes one step closer to fulfillment each time a lost life, a lost soul, turns to find life in Jesus Christ. By faith, His fulfillment of the Law is counted as yours. By faith, His death is considered your payment for the death penalty. By faith, His resurrection becomes yours as well.

Jesus was sent on a mission. A mission to bring a gift. The gift of eternal life. Have you met the Savior? Have you received His gift?

Prayer: Our God and Creator of the Heavens, and the Earth I come to you today with no gift in my hands. There is nothing I can bring to impress You, nothing I can give to purchase my own salvation. So, I come asking to receive the gift You gave as You sent Jesus on this Diving rescue mission. I receive Your gift, Your Son, Your Lamb as my substitute and my sacrifice. I have nothing to bring to receive this awesome gift so today, here in this Christmas season, I give you my heart. I turn from my own sin and unrighteousness to receive Your gift of eternal life. And I will continually bring You the gift of a thankful heart and a grateful obedience. Til He comes again for Me.

“For whoever will call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

“When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a virgin, born under the Law.” Galatians 4:4

 A six-year old boy described Jesus as “God with skin.” His definition captures a huge theological truth in very simple terms. The eternal, immortal, invisible God became an occupant of our “skin;” our humanity. All that is true of humanity apart from sin was true of Jesus. He had a country of origin, a mother and (step) father who raised Him, a house He grew up in; He had friends, and siblings, and when He fell and skinned His knee of slammed His thumb with a hammer, He bled. He had blood, and hormones, and bad days. Just like you and me.

Jesus came through the birth canal of a teenaged, Galilean mother, who was already engaged to be married to a local craftsman-a carpenter named Joseph. Their life together was preoccupied with the enormously significant task of raising… God?

He grew up, as some of us did, on “the wrong side of the tracks.” He had no social standing, or any kind of advantageous childhood. And like us all, He was “born of a woman.” While no man’s DNA was involved in His Divine birth, Mary’s was. Some older theologians, attempting to soften this reality, believed Jesus passed through Mary’s body “like water through a pipe,” with neither the water nor the pipe being changed by its passage.

But that’s not what we understand this birth to be. Did Jesus have some of Mary’s physical features? We can’t know for sure, but it wouldn’t be a real birth nor a real pregnancy she endured if it were not at least possible.

We struggle more, I think, with the full humanity of Jesus than we do with His Divinity. We want to make Him “something other” than we are, and yet the further we push that line the less possible it would be for Him to be the sacrifice for our sin. He had to be fully human, yet at the same time fully Holy. Completely God. He was both. Not part of each. Fully both.

“In Jesus, the fullness of the godhead dwelt in bodily form,” we read in Colossians 1:27. A miracle beyond compare. A mystery beyond comprehension.

“Let all mortal flesh keep silence….” the old hymn says. Now we know why.