Great Is The Lord

Colossians 1:13-20Adapted from a Jeffery Anselmi sermon

http://www.sermoncentral.com/print_friendly.asp?ContributorID=&SermonID=91440

I want to flash some names on the screen. I want you to think

about why people consider these people to be great.

Michael JordanBabe Ruth

Bill GatesThomas Edison

George WashingtonBilly Graham

There are some impressive names on the list, I could have continued to list people for the whole service. The point we are making here is that with all the people

listed above, we know what makes people consider them to be great, to be a cut above the rest of the crowd. These are

people that given the opportunity, many of us would like to be able to be a part of their lives, to be able to share in their

glory somehow, some way.

Now I want to toss another name up on the screen for you

to consider.Jesus!

What is it that makes Him great? Is there something about

Him that makes you want to follow Him, something that

makes you want to have Him be a part of your life?

When Paul penned this letter to the Colossian Church, there

were people who were saying a lot of false things about Jesus.Today we are going to look at five things that make Jesus

great. These are five things that should make us want to follow

Him and have Him be the center of our lives.

Colossians 1:13 ESV He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and

transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15 He is the image of

the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 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.

17 And 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, the firstborn from the dead,

that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness

of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven,

making peace by the blood of his cross.

Today let us examine what makes Jesus great!

The first reason we can consider Him great is:

13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred

us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have

redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

HE RESCUED US

One of the things we need to understand is that before we came

to Jesus, we were literally drowning in our sins.

We were being taken under the water by sin. The word “delivered” is particularly connected with the Old Testament concept of God’s

rescue of His people from various situations of adversity (Egypt,

Assyria, Babylon).

Here, however, the concept has been turned into a spiritual metaphor.

Christians have been delivered from the domain of darkness, the realm of moral

and intellectual "darkness" accruing from man’s self-alienation from God

The domain of darkness includes spiritually, physically, and intellectually.Jesus was the one who jumped into the

water to save us from our sins.

Verse 13 tells us that He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to

the kingdom of his beloved Son. God the Father rescued us

through Jesus.The word “transferred” means

to carry across the line. He carried us across the line that separated us from the Father.

God not only “qualified” us to be in His Kingdom, but He also carries us over the finish line!Verse 14 speaks of us being

redeemed by the Son. Redeem means to rescue or deliver from

something from which we cannot deliver ourselves.

1 Peter 1:17 ESV And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves

with fear throughout the time of your exile, 18 knowing that you were ransomed

from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a

lamb without blemish or spot.

We cannot save ourselves; Jesus sacrificed Himself so that we might be saved! He did what you cannot do for yourself. That great act of

sacrifice makes Him great; it makes Him worthy of praise! We have

been rescued from the stain and guilt of sin! Our sins have been

forgiven because of Him.

To many this is not a big issue because we play down the

concept of sin so much in our society, but believe me, you will not enter into Heaven carrying

your own burden of sin.Let us look a second reason He

is great!

He Is The Image Of The Invisible God

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

You will often hear people pondering who the next great actor, politician,

athlete, computer guru will be. Who’s the next Sam Walton going to be?

Who’s the next Bill Gates, Steve Jobs going to be? Will there ever be

another president like Lincoln?

People always want to know who the next person is going to be like the

previous star of the league or the team. People do not have to ask who the next savior will be or who the next God will be because Jesus is the image of the invisible God. When people looked at Jesus, they were looking at the image

of God, not someone who was god-like or some cheap imitation, He was God.

People buy “Rolex” watches paying $20 to $60. They sure

look good, they look like Rolex watches. Do you know how

much a Rolex costs? They are high dollar watches to say the

least. They were cheap imitations of the real thing.

Jesus was not some knock off Rolex, He is the real thing!

John 14:9 ESV Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How

can you say, 'Show us the Father'?When God created us, we were created in His image (Genesis 1:26-27), but that image got marred by sin. Jesus is the perfect image of God, He is what we

were created to be.

Genesis 1:26 ESV Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our

likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." 27 So God

created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and

female he created them.

Jesus is the one and only Son of God. There have been NONE before and there will be NONE after Him! Paul calls Jesus the “firstborn of all creation.” This

does not mean He was a created being, it means that He takes first place in rank in all

that has been created.

In both Greek and Jewish culture, the firstborn was the son who had the right of

inheritance. He was not necessarily the first one born. Although Esau was born first chronologically, it was Jacob who was the “firstborn” and received the

inheritance. Jesus is the One with the right to the inheritance of all creation.

Let us look at a third reason that Jesus is so great!

He Is The Creator Of All Things

16 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. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things

hold together.

Jesus the one who is the creator. Hebrews 1:2 ESV but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir

of all things, through whom also he created the world.

The Hebrew writer tells us that God created the world through Jesus.

Genesis 1:26a ESV Then God said, “Let us make man in our image,

after our likeness…Did you hear about the scientist who challenged God saying he

could create life? He said first I take some dirt and I… God interrupts him & says, “MAKE YOUR OWN

DIRT! THIS IS DIRT I MADE!”

We give a lot of praise and fame to people who invent things. We give

a lot of praise to people like Thomas Edison, Alexander

Graham Bell, and many others. Their accomplishments are

impressive, but consider this, none of those people created something from nothing. They all used things

God had already created.

The universe is complex and much to fragile to have

happened by accident. A change in the rate of Earth’s

rotation around the sun or on its axis would be catastrophic. The Earth would become either too hot or too cold to support

life.

If the moon were much nearer to the Earth, huge tides would

inundate the continents. A change in the composition of the gases that make up our

atmosphere would also be fatal to life.

A slight change in the mass of the proton would result in the dissolution of

hydrogen atoms. That would result in the destruction of the universe, because

hydrogen is its dominant element. (MacArthur Jr.)

Psalms 19:1 ESV The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above

proclaims his handiwork.Let us look at a fourth reason that the

Lord is great!

He Is The Head Of The Church

18 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.

There are many metaphors used in Scripture to describe the

church. It is called a family, a kingdom, a vineyard, a flock, a building, and a bride. But the most profound metaphor, one

having no Old Testament equivalent, is that of a Body.

The church is a Body, and Christ is the head of the Body.

The church is the bride of Christ! He will come back for His bride at the second coming. One of the things we need to ALWAYS keep in the forefront of our

minds when we are a part of the church is the fact that Jesus and Jesus alone is the

head of the church.Matthew 28:18 ESV And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and

on earth has been given to me.

Too many churches are brought to ruin by one or two people, or

families, who try to make the church their own little kingdom. WE ALWAYS need to make sure

the church is on the mission that Jesus gave to us to reach lost souls and to edify or build

up the saved.

We tend to look at heads of corporations as great people;

they have worked hard to get to the top.

Jesus is the head of the church, He is the great one that we

follow and worship!

“Beginning” and “firstborn” here refer to the “creation” of the church through Christ’s resurrection. Since he was

firstborn he made it possible for others to be “born from the

dead.”

“Firstborn” may mean he was the first victor over death, but it may indicate his authority (as it did in v. 15) over death as it was over all creation. He produced and ruled

both the old and the new creation. (College Press Commentary)

Let us look at a fifth reason Jesus is great.

He Is God’s Choice To Save Mankind

19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20

and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on

earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Why was Jesus the one to save mankind?

The Father chose Him to do so. Romans 3:26 ESV It was to

show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

The little word “for” explains why Christ will have first place in everything. God

wanted his fullness (meaning “completeness” or “totality”) to dwell

(meaning “live permanently”) in Christ. By this statement, Paul was refuting the Greek

idea that Jesus could not be human and divine at the same time. Christ is fully

human; he is also fully divine.God wants Jesus to reconcile all things to

Himself through His blood.

“Reconciliation” means reestablishing a relationship,

causing the relationship to become friendly and peaceable when it had not been so. When we commit our first sin, we put ourselves at war with God. We

are not in a peaceful relationship with God at that

time.

Jesus made peace between man and God on the cross. That peace

is offered to who so ever will place their lives in the hands of Jesus. It is available to anyone

who desires to be saved.Since God is the one who is in charge, we must accept God’s

terms for salvation!FAITH, REPENT, CONFESS,

BAPTIZE, AND WALK!

Conclusion

If you take the greatest people you can think of, none of them

stack up to Jesus.Our God is great and He is most

worthy of being praised!What are you doing to show

God you believe He is great and worthy of your praise?

If you did not know what makes Jesus so great, I hope the five

reasons given this morning will get you started thinking about

His greatness.I further hope you will begin to realize you put your life in His

hands!