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  Where Jesus is Lord

The development   of the soul and spirit  is  essential for a full life.   

WHO WAS THIS BABY Colossians 1:15-16?  

A baby was born in obscurity.  He later became the focus of world attention.  A contemporary King of that day, called Herod felt such a threat from him that he had all children aged two and under slain.  Wise astrologers who had studied prophecy travelled a huge distance to pay homage to the child.  Some say He was a great prophet, others that He was a unique teacher and others that He was a magnificent moralist. Who was He, that He could demand so much attention?

The Person of Christ

Either the Lord Jesus was the most wonderful person that ever lived or He deceived us.  He is the Son of God or the great pretender, the exalted lofty one or a fool.  He is either the one true prophet or one of the many with flimsy predictions.  Either He is the true god or merely part of Him as the pantheists believe or one of the many gods as polytheists or Mormons believe.  

The True Identity of Christ  

1. He is “the image of the invisible God” (Vs 15) – How could one be the image of God?  This is more than a photograph; it is some one is the exact image of God.  He was God the Word, “He was made flesh.” He was God, that’s how He was the exact image.  This is more than a Christmas story.  John tells us that He came form eternity, had a beginning that was not a beginning.  The point of reference goes beyond time John 1:1. He came from eternity; He had a beginning that was not a beginning.  He was the one whom Isaiah spoke of, “”Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign; Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isa. 7:14 ).  Immanuel means “God with us.” The Lord chose His own sign and this prophecy reached forward to the virgin birth of the Messiah.  

2. The Pre-eminent One.  He was “the first born of every creature” (Vs15). He is prior to all creation.  He came forth form everlasting (Micah 5:2).  The”child is born,” this refers to His humanity – deity cannot be born.  But “a son was given” this is His deity (Isa. 9:6). The child - Son refers again to "Immanuell” (Isa. 7:14 ).  Immanuel means “God with us.” The Lord chose His own sign and this prophecy reached forward to the virgin birth of the Messiah.  

2. The Pre-eminent One.  He was “the first born of every creature” (Vs15). He is prior to all creation.  He came forth form everlasting (Micah 5:2).  The”child is born,” this refers to His humanity – deity cannot be born.  But “a son was given” this is His deity (Isa. 9:6). The child - Son refers again to Immanuel. The virgin’s child was also God the Son.  The Son was given as a gift and to those who believe in Him they would not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16 ). He came forth out of eternity and took upon Himself humanity.  God did not create creature beneath Him.  Christ did not belong to a hierarchy of angels and call Him Jesus as the cults and sects believe. Nor was He the brother of Satan as the Seventh Day Adventists ad Mormons believe. Nor was He a great moral person whom the humanists believe. He was not just a great prophet as the Muslims believe.  No! Christ was there in eternity past, before all creation including the angels.  He was not born in creation He always existed.  He came down form heaven over 2000 years ago.  He is co-equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  He is the everlasting Son.  There never was a time that Christ was ever begotten in His deity.  When Jesus sis called the first born of all creation it is not referring to His birth at Bethlehem , but it means He was has the top priority in position, it is nothing to do with His origin.  He is no mere creature, no mere man, he is God (John 20:28 ; Hebrews 1:7-8).  He made the world and the ages (Hebrews 1:1-3). “And without Him was not any thing made that was made.” We are talking about Jesus being born a human being but also the fact tat He was God, Immanuel, God with us (Matt. 1:23). The child was born in humanity and humility, but the angels announced to the Virgin Mary, “That holy thing which shall be born in thee shall be called the son of God” (Luke 1:35 ). He was the Son of God who came into the world.  Peter said, “thou art the Christ, son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16 ). John records the words of Tomas, “And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28 ). Thomas called Him lord and God.    

3. The Creator.  “for by Him were all things created.” (Vs 16)   He is the creator of “all things…in heaven and that are on earth,” (He brought all things into being they did not exist before Him).  He brought all things into being from nothing.  He is no simple philosopher or prophet; He is God (Hebrews 1:1-3). “Visible and invisible (atoms and spiritual beings, things not apparent to the naked eye),” whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers (all categories of created angels). 

 4. “For Him” All things were created for Him, His for His own good pleasure.  The stars, space, the galaxies, and all the heavens, including angels, time, dimensions, and all things including mankind were created for Him. The thousands of species of flowers, insects, fish, animals, reptiles, every atom and man also were created for Him.  When we become Christians we become joint heirs with Him, He wants to share it all with us. What a destiny!   We were created by Him; He has a special place for us.  He has an inheritance for us which is , “incorruptible, undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith in salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:4-5). What a future prospect.  We share His future, His destiny. If you are not a believer and are reading these words repent of your sin and trust Christ alone for salvation and you will be included.  

5. The Pre-existent One.  “and He is before all things” (Vs 17) – He is the pre – incarnate one.  He existed before the angels, before the universe.  There never was a time he did not exist. When everything in the universe had a beginning He already existed.  He said, “before Abraham was I Am” – He was showing His supremacy over Abraham and His equality with God.  The Jews tried to stone Him for this claim of equality (John 8:58 -59). Here Jesus declared His Himself as Yahweh, the Lord of the Old Testament, (C.F. ex. 3:14 ; Deut. 32:39; Isa. 41:4; 43:10) where God declared Himself to be the eternal pre-existent God who revealed Himself in the OT to the Jews.  He was from outside this world, from beyond time and space.    

The Incarnation and the Virgin Birth

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14 -18). Jesus was God clothed in humanity; He explained and revealed God to us.  The Royal family of heaven were at His birth, the Father, the Holy Spirit and all their subjects – billions of angels. 

He was not robed in fine linen but swaddling cloths.

He was not born in a magnificent palace, but cattle shed.

He had no soft mattress and bed but rags for sheets.

He had no Royal limo to carry Him but a little donkey.

He had no sweet perfume but the stench of animals in a barnyard.

 He had no high ranking officials to meet Him her on earth but sheep, donkeys and mice.

He had no bright neon lights but a dimly lit hovel.

The inns were packed that night; the world had no room for Him.  His birth was humanly unnoticed.  In pain Mary brought Him forth, the baby who held the world in His hands.  At that moment the angels burst into song and announced His arrival.  A silent night, a holy night (set apart) in Bethlehem but it was not silent in Heaven it erupted with majestic praise and adoration.  Without the virgin birth and incarnation Christianity is no different from all other religions, it is just another baby being born.  If He was not the Christ he was has fooled us, but, if He was and is the Christ, this nativity becomes the central focus of history.  Someone has said He had so many identification tags on him you would have to be blind not to identify Him.  The devil has blinded men to this spiritual reality.

 6. The Sustaining One.   - “By Him all things consist” (Vs 17). He holds al l things together.  He is the super glue of the universe.  He sustains and maintains the universe. By His power He keeps the stars in motion, the balance of the galaxies and nature.  He gives the universe its energy.  He made the atom with it protons and neutrons, it magnetic poles that attract each other.  He is what holds the little world of the inside the atom together as well as the vast universe.  This incredible force is His creation.   He keeps its delegate balance.  Every object has the potential nuclear explosive to explode and cause a nuclear reaction but he keeps it all under control.  One day in the future “The heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat and the earth and its works will be burned up” (2 Peter 3:10 ). The universe will literally explode, the atoms will fly apart.    

7. The Supreme Head of the Chruch. - “And He is the head of the body, the church.” (Vs 18).  He is the source of the church. No man is the head of the church.  There is no earthly hierarchy.  Christ is the Head of the body (church) He controls every part of it and gives it life and direction.  In Ephesians the emphasis was the church being the body of Christ down here in the world.  Here in Colossians the emphasis is upon the head of the body, the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.  In Ephesians 1:22 we read, “And hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church.”

“He is the beginning; the first born form the dead.”  The word firstborn is “prototokos” He is the highest in rank and we will follow in our resurrection bodies. There is only one man who has been raised in a glorified body.  It is Christ; He is the first fruits of them that sleep.  The dead person’s body is put to sleep in the grave and will be raised in the resurrection but the person who live din the body goes to be with the Lord, “absent from the body and present with the Lord.”  

8. Christ’s Pre-eminence over all. –”So that He himself might come to have first place in everything.”  In spite of mans rebellion, mans pride, and mans achievements Christ prevails over all. There is none higher or more powerful than He.  As a result of His death and resurrection He has first place in everything.  Jesus shall reign everywhere and over all.  That is what God is moving history towards today.  Then, “Every knee shall bow and every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord.  He will not compromise His supremacy or His plan.  The goal is to glorify Jesus Christ on the throne of the universe.   

9. The Fathers Pleasure. - “It pleased the Father that in Him should all the fullness dwell.” (Vs 19). Here H e did not empty Himself  but rather it shows the “fullness” of God dwells in Him.  The little baby lying in a manger was 100% God.  He had all the power and attributes of God, and was full deity. He was fully God and fully man (the hypostatic union) and His tow natures did not mix.  He is the visible image of the invisible God.  Paul was telling the Colossians they din not need to worship any creature or angels but Jesus.  

Children's Ministries