All I Need, Colossians: Putting Jesus First, Colossians 1:15-23
Today I want to talk about Putting Jesus First, and how Putting Jesus First helps everything else in life work.
I know that is a bold claim, but the author of Colossians believed it to be true.
ILL: Check book register. For balancing your checking account.
Remember seeing folks writings checks and balance in the register at the cash register?
It came in handy when people actually cared about balancing things and budgeting
Since about 2000 these have become rare
Like we don’t need the help of the tool, we can do it our own way or wing it. = big time debt in USA.
We all have a strategy for finances and for life, whether you know it or not
Two ends of spectrum, one end their theme is “ignorance” is bliss, don’t know
On the other end “everything in its place”. These are both coping strategies we deploy.
But no matter where we are on this continuum we can run into problems, there is nowhere to hide
Not caring, head in the sand, not paying attention doesn’t make problems go away
The problems fester and get worse, waiting for you when you wake up, or sober up
And also hyper vigilance, even while preventing many issues has its owns bi-product:
Anxiety, fear of losing control; OR maybe even worse the illusion you control more than you really do
Whether avoidance is our strategy or hyper vigilance: Here is one of our biggest problems
The issue we all face whether we realize it or not, and it is actually really, really simple
The issue we all face is that WE ALL NEED HELP!
You see none of us was created to be able to do life successfully without help.
BUT THE PROBLEM IS: WE TRY MOST EVERYTHING ELSE FIRST BEFORE WE SEEK HELP!!
I know, you were maybe hoping for something a little more substantial:)
But today, whether you’re somebody who flys by the seat of their pants or someone who is super diligent
One of if not the biggest problems you have is the tendency to not seek help.
Maybe you don’t think you need help in your life, maybe you don’t think you deserve help.
Maybe you just don’t think…. Period:) OR maybe you are a chronic over thinker…
Today, I want to look at our passage and talk about how Jesus is here to help us
How He is the best helper in whatever area of your life you need help in
And how we can seek, find, and apply that help.
Colossians 1:15-23
15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 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. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 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. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 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.
21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of[g] your evil behavior. 22 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— 23 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.
Paul here writes or possibly quotes a type of song or poem (V15-20), possibly used in the early church for worship.
In it, Paul makes sure to put Jesus in his rightful place, FIRST.
V 15 he starts by saying something beautiful and inviting, Jesus, the Son, is the image of the invisible God.
You want to know what God looks like? Look no further than Jesus.
Notice he says JESUS IS the IMAGE of God. All God’s fullness dwells in Jesus (V19).
While in Genesis Adam and Eve are MADE in the image of God, Jesus IS the IMAGE of GOD.
Paul clarifies here, that Jesus is not just a regular human. While he did have a fully human nature
He was also, fully God in nature and essence. That is an essential Christian Doctrine
Paul talks about creation and how Jesus is firstborn over creation (V15), this does not refer to origin
As if Jesus was at some point created in his Divine Nature
It refers to rank, the rank of the firstborn meant they have the highest authority.
Jesus wasn’t created in his Divine Nature and substance, only in his flesh was He incarnated.
Divine substance merged with human DNA, at miraculous conception = Incarnation.
Paul doubles down on this, (V16) all things created in, through, and for Jesus,
All things: natural and spiritual, powers, all things, everything, everything, every time, every level of authority
(V17) Paul triples down, He is before all things and holds all thing together
Which means He cannot have a beginning, he must have always been, and always been God
The first and eternal one, the first cause of all other things, the first cause can’t have a cause.
This really matters because: If Jesus was created he is not all powerful.
Jesus must be God to solve the problems that we have since things like sin, death, corruption
These are things that man cannot fix, it takes a God, THE GOD.
And like I said before, WE NEED HELP, and Jesus is the preeminent best helper because He is the GOAT
Lots of talk lately about the Goat, Caitlin Clark, Lebron or MJ, maybe Kobe…
I used to not know what that meant until my kids told me: Greatest of All Time, for those still in the dark:)
But Paul had something else in mind: His Goat, was Jesus and his acronym means: God Over All Things.
Paul/Church saw Jesus as this type of Goat, the God over all things can then help us with all things.
Paul doesn’t stop with creation, he goes on the talk about us, the Church (V18).
Just as Jesus was over the first creation and he was without beginning
He is over the re-creation, as he is without “falleness”, without sin and its affects, overcame death.
The firstborn from among the dead, he is the first resurrected
Jesus has supremacy in all things, Good news, He can pave the way for us in life, in death, in all things.
He is the Head of the body, the Church, denotes authority and unity
A big deal because as Paul says in (V17) The same one who holds creation together can hold your life together.
In V20 we see his plan: to reconcile to Himself all things making peace through his blood shed on the cross.
Time to Reconcile
Lets drill down on that thought.
Reconcile might seem like a highly emotional and touchy feeling word, perhaps it can be
But at its root it was widely used as a financial term. Simply means to change or exchange
Was and is used to reconcile your checkbook with your bank statement.
What is in your account is in your account, can you reconcile where money went or why your balance is different?
ILL: Quickbooks church, button to reconcile, if it were only that easy
Bank error in your favor is great in monopoly but rarely happens in real life
Typically when your balance is off your own accounting is off. Not the bank’s.
That means you have to adjust your numbers not the bank.
But what about when we aren’t talking about personal checking but personal life?
What if my life isn’t reconciled with the truth of who I am meant to be in Christ Jesus?
My life doesn’t line up with the true statement, image, truth.
Imagine sitting down to settle your life account and things don’t add up. And you can’t ever get it right.
When it comes to our life, the problem is we often write checks our life can’t cash.
Our life balance is off because of sin: our sin, the sin of others, of living in a fallen creation, culture, and body.
The really good news though is (V20) Jesus does all the work, when are numbers are off
HE does the work to get things right, forgive sin, heal, restore, lead, empower us.
Jesus can balance out your life books because he is the Universal GOAT.
Reconciliation involves the parties, entering in, God can’t sent a substitute for himself to solve the problem.
Jesus was a substitute for you, not for God. God was there in Jesus, on the cross, grave.
If you have a problem with someone, you can’t send someone else to forgive the other person, you must.
If Jesus isn’t God, the cross wasn’t God doing anything for us.
That’s why as I said before, it is so important the Jesus was indeed fully God, not just a moral person.
V 21 says we were way off on our numbers, overspent, bouncing moral and spiritual checks, alienated from God
And Jesus as God, can and did provide the transaction needed, he paid the price
REMEMBER WE NEED HELP.
V 20 Jesus came to bring peace but often our lives are not characterized by peace
V 21 We have been alienated, separated, estranged from God by our sin, evil behavior
V 22 Jesus saves us from them though his body, through His death, to present us… now
You might think your life is a total mess, maybe it is, but Jesus did all the work necessary to present you.
FREE from Accusation, wow. Without blemish, holy in His Sight.
Paul says that is the gospel V23 Spend the rest of your life and eternity unwrapping that gift, that is the Christian life
Now don’t forget V 23, IF you continue in your faith, established and firm,
and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. That IF is important.
You see Jesus He gave up his assets for your liabilities, His riches for your debts, His solutions for your problems, His Glory for your dirt, His life for your death, His righteousness for your sin, His strength for your weakness, His victory for your failure.
BUT IF, we want to see that help realized, we have to let the GOAT be the GOAT in our life.
Now I started by saying we are going to talk about how Jesus can help, how you can seek that help
And there is one thing I will tell you that is the most important key to this for you.
Simply, PUT JESUS FIRST
Now what I am not saying is that if Jesus is first all problems, sickness, trials, struggles, failure goes away, no.
But I know, without hesitation, you are at your best when Jesus is at your first.
Why this works?
Because you know who your greatest enemy is? You.
Romans 7:21-25
21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Your greatest enemy isn’t finances, relationships, health, other people, situations or circumstances.
It is yourself, not to belittle ourself or hate ourself, but to see the God given value of ourself
The unstoppable power is if you can get yourself right with God, you can get everything else right in life.
And how do we get right with God?
Putting Jesus First. Accepting his grace and mercy, and letting him be Lord of your Life, your GOAT
When Jesus is GOAT, First, you are right with God, you find peace, love, joy in the Holy Spirit
And there is nothing out there, as hard as it may try that can stop you.
Paul put it this way in Romans 8:31 31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
Jesus reconciles us by transforming us from the inside out with his love, grace, mercy, power and presence
He does it by wiping our sin debt clean, with all its guilt and shame, by showing us ultimate love and a future hope, assured of unending life and security in him.
This leads us to say: Jesus really is All I Need. I don’t need control: I just need Jesus, I don’t need to be first: I just need Jesus, I don’t need to get my way: I just need Jesus.
So the question today is: Is Jesus First, is He Lord of your life?
There is the old saying: If Jesus isn’t your Lord over all, maybe he isn’t your Lord at all.
You can try an try to figure it out yourself, solve that puzzle
Or you can realize no one knows you like the one who made you.
And you can put Jesus first and everything else with hold together, fall into place, balance in mysterious but harmonious redemption.
List: what in your life can you not reconcile right now: maybe it is fear, guilt, shame, hurt, betrayal, failure, loss.
You will be at a deficit always, unless an outside force intervenes on your behalf.
Let Jesus help with that
Put Jesus First.
Today I need to put Jesus First, over ___________________________ .
Jesus takes authority and responsibility over whatever I submit/give to him.
ILL: Giving something to someone for safe keeping.
You ever had a kid give you their prized bliny or blanky or stuffy for safe keeping while they go play or something…
Salvation.