August 28, 2022
Morning Service

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

 Hebrews11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

            Faith is a fundamental element to being a Christian; without it we cannot please God.  This verse was a turning point in my journey with Jesus that began when I was only 12 years old.  I really have been a believer my entire life as I was raised in the church and saw firsthand what a Jesus follower lives like through my parents and grandparents.  It was this verse however that spoke very clearly to me that believing and going through the motions of doing Christian things was not enough.  If I truly do “believe that He is” then my life should reflect that.  If I truly believed, then I would “diligently seek Him.”  This revelation through the Word of God challenged me to look intently into my spiritual mirror and ask the basic question; “Do I really believe that He is?”  When I affirmed that then I had to ask; “Am I diligently seeking Him?”  The answer to that, at that time, was no; more casually but certainly not diligently.  This was a turning point for me to begin to read and study the Word and let it change me.

  In our study today in Colossians, Paul reveals to us one of the clearest pictures of the divine side of Jesus.  He was fully man, but also is fully God.  The Godhead, or Trinity as some call it, is a difficult subject for us to wrap our minds around because we are finite and God is Infinite.  All that Paul reveals to us this morning came not from his knowledge, but from God Himself through the Spirit.

 As we walk through this description of God together this morning, I challenge you to be honest with yourself and ask the questions; “Do I believe that He is?”  If so, then are you acting upon that belief and allowing the Holy Spirit to transform you into what God desires you to be?   We will begin verse 13 as Paul I speaking of Jesus’ obedience through His DBR and that leads us to the beginning of his description of Jesus’ divinity.

 

Col 1:13-15 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, (14) in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.  (15)  He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

            It has been God’s plan from the very beginning that He would prove to mankind, through the Law, that we could not live the perfect life needed to be accepted by Him.  Our sins would create a wall between Him and us that we could not scale.  We needed some help; we needed a Savior!  Jesus was the answer to this problem as God Himself became a man and lived the perfect life needed to redeem us and pay in full the price for our sins.  By coming in the flesh and living among us Jesus became to us “the image of the invisible God.”  God is Spirit and is therefore invisible, but in the person of Jesus, God made Himself visible to mortal eyes.  Whoever has seen Jesus has seen the Father.  Jesus told Philip this:

 

Joh 14:9-11 Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'?  (10)  Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.  (11)  Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.

 

            This Jesus that we followed through the Gospel of Matthew is not only equal to God, He is God as the visible image of the invisible God.  He, and the life He lived, not only represent God to us, but reveal God to us.  God chose to become one of us to give us an image that we can understand with our finite minds.  We can build our faith by seeing God in the flesh through the eyes of those who walked with Him.  In verse 11, Jesus told Philip to believe His Words because His works proved Him to be true.  No man can do what He did; heal all the sick, raise the dead, walk on water, command the waves of the sea, and rise from the grave!  His life proved that He indeed was not only man but God as well.  Now we go even deeper as we see that Jesus did not begin to exist in the manger at Bethlehem, but He is also the Lord of Creation.

 

Col 1:16-18 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.  (17)  And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.  (18)  And 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 the preeminence.

            We are in the deep end of the pool now.  Jesus was there from the very beginning of creation.  “Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.” (Gen. 1:26) John described it like this:

 

Joh 1:1-5 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  (2)  He was in the beginning with God.  (3)  All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.  (4)  In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.  (5)  And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

The Word John refers to here is the person of Jesus.  He is the Creator; “All things were created” by Him.” Not only the physical earth, but also “thrones, dominions, principalities and powers were created through Him and for Him!”  He the architect that designed every detail of this world we live in, created it, and now He maintains it.  He holds everything together protecting it and preventing it from becoming total chaos.  As we watch the news it can become quite frustrating to see that things seem to be getting out of control, but He is in control.  He paints every sunrise and sunset keeping His world in order.  He truly is above all!  He is the Creator and Sustainer of all life making none of us independent from Him.  By His hand each of us were conceived in the womb and born into the life we know and He has appointed the day of our death.  He is not part of our world, we are a small part of His world!

 If your mind is spinning right now know this; God is bigger than the capability of your mind to understand.  That is why He gave us His Word and the church to guide us.  He is the “head of the body, the church” which is the avenue created for us to make clear that path we need to follow to find Him. We have been given “all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him.” (2 Pet. 1:3) By faith we accept these things to be true and continue to follow Him even when He and what He is doing is difficult to understand.  As we continue on our journey and grow in our faith, the Spirit will increase our understanding to see in more depth that what we read is the truth and fits perfectly together. Here in this letter God is openly revealing to us who He is; the One who is above all.

 

How does this image of Jesus change things for you?

·        It should create an awe, a respect and even reverent fear that He is so powerful.

·         It should create a comfort to know that my God is so powerful, but He desires a relationship with me; He loves me.

·         It should create a peace, beyond understanding, as I know ALL THINGS are under His control.  There is nothing He can’t do, if I need a miracle I will ask believing He is able.

·         It also creates a trust that He knows best and will answer my prayers according to His perfect will and not according to my imperfect one. 

·        That creates a freedom to leave everything to Him and worry about nothing casting my cares upon Him.

This brings us back to the question “Do I believe that He is?”

 This belief in Jesus begins in my mind; I can believe that He does exist.  Next my heart is engaged and I realize this is for me.  God is calling me to something deeper; not religion but deep, intimate relationship with Him.  The third step is where the rubber hits the road; this is the point I reached in 1989.  My will is engaged and I act upon my faith, I begin to diligently seek Him.  I began searching for Him and desiring to be all that He designed me to be.  It is the step that I quit playing church and became a true disciple following Jesus with my mind, heart and will.  He became Lord of entire life, not just Sunday mornings.  My life then began to reflect that as the Holy Spirit transformed me changing how I viewed everything in this world.  My Bible became my constant companion as I allowed God to speak to me through it and acted upon what He said.  I desired to be pleasing in His sight being obedient to His Word.  If you find yourself in that place today of just going through the motions, you believe God is real and know He is calling you to something deeper, then engage your will and begin to act upon it.  Diligently seek Him, give Him your all and you will not regret it; I don’t.  It was the best thing I ever did. He is above all things in this world, but is He above all in your life?

 

Father, we come to You this morning being real and transparent.  Our faith at times struggles and though we believe with our mind and feel your call upon our heart, it is our will that lacks.  Empower us with the courage today to place all our chips on You this morning and be “All in.”  Stir the Holy Spirit within us to move us to action and to diligently seek you for we know You will be found and reward us for our efforts.