The way we live directly reflects how we perceive Jesus. When Jesus is weak, we offer prayers without faith, worship without awe, service without joy, and suffering without hope. The result is fear, retreat, loss of vision and failure to persevere. However, life with a powerful God is a life of risky faith, fearless obedience, and passionate leadership. Join is Sunday as we learn to live in the reality of a powerful God.
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Full Sermon Script:
I’m hearing from people who are going back to work that they wish things could just go back to normal. One the other hand, I’m hearing from people who are afraid things will go back to normal — because the last couple of months has given their family the much needed time together, away from a hurried pace of life that was killing them. ||
Well, I want to suggest in this series that returning to normal isn’t best for any of us. We have an opportunity to return as a better version of ourselves — the new normal, the new you!
Now, we will still struggle with imperfection and we will still fight against our shortcomings, but our lives really can be new, with meaning and purpose, the way God designed them to be.
So we’re starting this series today called, “The New You.”
And the apostle Paul paints a picture of “The New You” when he writes to the Colossian church… so we’re going to spend the next several weeks in this New Testament book.
The passage we’re going to look at today is Colossians 1:15-20 if you want to grab a bible and follow along. ||
Paul writes this passage of Scripture to fight against some of the claims that were circling about Jesus, claims that he wasn’t God. He was a good moral teacher. He was a healer and filled people with hope and life, but he wasn’t God. ||
To return from shelter in place as the best version of ourselves, the first thing we need to do is return with an understanding that Jesus is a big God, and his presence and power are available to us. ||
Most parents have played a game with their children when they were real young. We played it with our kids. If you have little ones, you may play it with them now.
We asked them a question, and then we did a little routine with them.
Some parents ask this question over and over, week after week, month after month. You would think kids would get sick of answering this question.
But their response is always the same. They stretch out their arms like this.
Do you know what the question is?
“How big are you?”
We all did this with our kids, didn’t we?
And kids always give the same response. What do they say?
So big!
Kids say, “I’m so big!” ||
Now, this is not a standard response that we can use in every context. Like if your wife were to say, “How big do my hips look in these jeans?” You wouldn’t want to say, “So big.” ||
But with little kids we want them to say that because we want them to know they’re growing. We want them to think of themselves as becoming increasingly independent and strong.
We don’t want little kids to think of themselves as small or weak. We don’t want them to lack confidence, because we know the way they think about themselves matters.
We know that the way they think about themselves is going to get reflected in the way they live. ||
Now, today we’re going to devote this message to maybe the most important question in the world, and the question is — how big is Jesus? How big is Jesus in your life?
If you’re going to experience The New You, if you’re going to return from shelter in place as the best version of yourself, this is critically important.
I am deeply and passionately convinced that the way we live will be a direct consequence of the size of Jesus in our lives. ||
The problem most of us have is that Jesus is too small.
We read about his life in the Gospels and believe he was alive, but that was 2,000 years ago. He’s ancient… not current.
Or we believe he died and rose again, but he ascended to be at the right hand of the father in Heaven; so he’s far… not near.
You know, the farther away we believe Jesus is, the smaller he gets.
When we believe Jesus is ancient, in Heaven, somewhere far away, but not near, we’re living with an understanding that Jesus is small.
And when we live with the idea that Jesus is small, we’re not convinced that we are perfectly safe in his care and control… that he is our fully competent, all-powerful God. We’re not convinced of that to the core of our being. ||
If I live with the idea that Jesus is small:
I’m going to live in a constant state of fear and anxiety because everything depends on me.
My mood is going to be determined by my circumstances.
When I have a chance to have a spiritual conversation with someone, I’ll probably shrink back because what if I say the wrong thing or what if I can’t find the right words? If Jesus is small it all depends on me.
If Jesus is small I’m not going to be generous in my giving because my financial security depends on me.
When I need to confront a friend or challenge someone I’m going to hold back because when I don’t live in the security of Jesus’ acceptance of me, I become a slave to what others think of me.
If I live with the idea that Jesus is small, when I face the temptation to gossip about someone, or lie to a friend, or cut corners at work, or cheat on a test, I’ll probably do it.
When I have a chance to take the credit for something that doesn’t really belong to me, I’ll probably do it because I won’t have the trust in Jesus who sees all in secret and one day will reward me.
If someone gets mad at me or disapproves of me, there’s a good chance I’ll become insecure because I don’t have the security of knowing that if Jesus loves me, what difference does it make what anyone else thinks?
When human beings live in the reality of a small Jesus, they offer prayers without faith; they offer worship without wonder; they offer service without joy; and they suffer without hope.
It results in fear; in hopelessness; in loss of purpose and meaning. It’s a horrible way to live. ||
A lot of people go through their days with a small Jesus mentality.
And it’s against this backdrop that the Apostle Paul teaches us that Jesus is no little God. He is no tribal god like the people in ancient times were used to thinking of. ||
In all of the New Testament, I don’t know that there is another passage that gives us a greater picture of how big Jesus is than this section in Colossians.
And Paul is writing here because there was a false teaching circling among the Colossian people that Jesus wasn’t God.
They kind of believed in Jesus, but he wasn’t God. The idea that God became a human being was unthinkable to them. >>>>>
Alright, let’s read Colossians 1:15-20
Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth.
He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see — such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him.
He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything.
For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.
How big is Jesus?
Phillip Yancey writes, “I learned about the incarnation when I kept a salt-water aquarium. Management of a marine aquarium, I discovered, is not an easy task. I had to run a portable chemical laboratory to monitor the nitrate levels and the ammonia content. I pumped vitamins and antibiotics and sulfa drugs and enough enzymes to make a rock grow. I filtered the water through glass fibers and charcoal, and exposed it to ultraviolet light. You would think, in view of all the energy expended on their behalf, that my fish would at least be grateful. Not so. Every time my shadow loomed above the tank they dove for cover into the nearest shell. They showed me one emotion — only fear. Although I opened the lid and dropped in food on a regular schedule, three times a day, they responded to each visit as a sure sign of my designs to torture them. I could not convince them of my true concern.
To my fish I was deity. I was too large for them, my actions too incomprehensible. My acts of mercy they saw as cruelty; my attempts at healing they viewed as destruction. To change their perceptions, I began to see, would require a form of incarnation. I would have to become a fish and speak to them in a language they could understand.
A human being becoming a fish is nothing compared to God becoming a human being. And yet according to the writers of Scripture, that is what happened. The God who created matter took shape within it, as an artist might become a spot on a painting or a playwright a character within his own play. God wrote a story, only using real characters, on the pages of real history.”
How big is Jesus?
First of all, Paul says:
Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.
This is a remarkable statement to make about someone who walked in a human body on this earth. Paul says, “When you look at Jesus, you see God.”
Now, the word Paul uses for image would have been the same word used to describe Caesar’s image on a coin. That’s what people in the first century would have thought of.
Most people didn’t get to see Caesar. They knew what he looked like from his image on the coin.
Well, Paul uses that word for Jesus. He says, “He is like the image of God.” ||
A little kid is drawing a picture one day and his mom says, “What are you drawing?” The little kid says, “I’m drawing a picture of God.”
She said, “No one knows what God looks like.”
The kid says, “Well, they will when I get finished.” ||
How do we know what God looks like?
That’s been the great question since the very beginning of the human race. What is God’s character? What are God’s attributes? What is God’s heart?
The problem, of course, is no one really knew what God would look like. And Jesus says, “Well, they will when I get finished.” || >>>>>
Paul is adamant about this. Look at verse
19: For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ.
> How much of the fullness of God? ALL his fullness. Paul is saying, “When you see Jesus, you see God.” >>>>>
We come to this same idea in
Colossians 2:9
For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body.
> How much of the fullness of God? ALL the fullness.
Again, we see that emphasis here because the Colossians didn’t think of God being able to inhabit matter — a human body.
Paul says all of God is right there in a human body.
This means you can be absolutely confident of God’s loving heart. This means I don’t have to be afraid of God.
Think about this:
If you ever wonder what God thinks about something, all you have to do is look at Jesus.
If you ever wonder, what does God think of little children? Just look at Jesus. He says, “Let the children come to me.”
If you ever wonder, what does God really think of people who mess up and are lost like me? Just listen to Jesus say, “For I have come to seek and to save that which is lost.”
If you ever wonder, how does God really feel about suffering and loss? Just look at Jesus weeping by the tomb of Lazarus.
You don’t have to wonder if he’ll keep forgiving you when you sin. Read the story Jesus told about the Prodigal son. You can run into his arms any time. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done or how far you’ve strayed from the father.
You don’t have to avoid him when you feel inadequate.
You don’t have to be afraid of God or intimidated by him.
How big is Jesus?
He is the image of the invisible God, the God that no one had ever seen before. You look at Jesus, and you have seen God. ||
You want to be an expert on God? You want to be a friend of him and fall in love with him? Just immerse yourself in the life of Jesus.
How big is Jesus? He’s the image of the invisible God. >>>>>
Then Paul goes on, and this has to do with creation, the agent of creation. Paul says:
Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth.
He existed before anything.
He is supreme over all creation.
He created everything. ||
I want you to think about the vastness of Jesus who created everything. ||
Think of the size of the universe. It’s mind-boggling! >>>>>
If you could bore a hole in the sun and start dumping earths into it, you could put one million, two hundred thousand earths in it… and you would still have room for four million, three hundred thousand moons. The sun is inconceivably massive.
The nearest star, Alpha Centuri, is five times bigger than the sun.
A ray of light travels at 186 thousand miles per second so it reaches the moon in 1.5 seconds. Now if we were able to get up to that speed, we would be able to reach Mercury in 4 and a half minutes… it’s only 50 million miles away.
In 2 minutes we can be at Venus… that’s just 26 million miles away.
In 4 minutes and 21 seconds we can hit Mars… it’s only 34 million miles away.
We can go all the way to Jupiter, that’s 367 million miles… it would take 35 minutes and 11 seconds.
If we wanted to go to Saturn, that’s an hour and eleven seconds. It’s 790 million miles away.
Even farther is Uranus, which is one billion, six hundred and eight million miles.
And Neptune which is three billion.
Betelgeuse, this amazing star, is 880 quaddrillion miles away.
> Are you ready for this? And has a diameter that is greater than the earth’s orbit. That’s a big star! Who made all of that? Who created all of that? Jesus. >>>>>
Look what the prophet Isaiah wrote:
“To whom will you compare me? Who is my equal?” asks the Holy One. Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name.
Because of his great power and incomparable strength, not a single one is missing. Isaiah 40:25-26
Jesus brings out the stars, numbers them, and calls them all by name.
Jesus created billions and billions of stars, and he’s on a first-name basis with every one. He knows them all.
Jesus is over all creation… and you know what that means? That means I don’t have to be afraid of anything in the created order. I don’t have to be afraid of disease or sickness or anything that might affect my body. ||
I don’t have to worry about what I will eat or drink or my finances or anything.
Jesus talked about this. He said, “My advice to you is don’t worry about what you’re going to eat or drink, what you’re going to wear. God cares for the birds. God cares for the flowers. He’ll take care of you. Don’t worry about your life. Don’t worry about tomorrow.”
How big is that?
Look back at Colossians 1.
Jesus is the image of God — big enough to let us know everything we need to know about God.
He is the agent of creation. We don’t have to worry about anything in the created order. That takes in a lot of territory.
He’s also the Lord over every power. >>>>>
Look what Paul says in verse 16: He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see — such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him.
> Alright, here’s the deal here. The Colossians were very into speculating about spiritual beings, as people often are in our day. They were into angels and the worship of angels, and they were kind of obsessed with the spirit world.
Paul here is simply saying, every human power, every government, every corporation, your boss, your CEO, and every supernatural force, whatever they may be, every angelic being, every fallen angel, every one of them is just child’s play in the hands of Jesus. Jesus created them all.
Thrones, kingdoms, rulers, authorities — Jesus is big enough to easily overpower any force that might hinder me from following him. They’re all under his control.
They may not know it yet. But Jesus is Lord over all governments and over all networks and over every authority, every addiction, every supernatural being. I don’t have to live in fear of any of it. >>>>>
How big is Jesus? He is the sustainer of all things. Check out verse
17: He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.
> Now, Paul here uses the perfect tense which indicates continuous action in Greek. In Jesus all things are continually being held together. In other words, he didn’t just create us and leave us on our own. He is sustaining us right now.
He is the one right now that causes the sun to keep shining. He is the one right now that causes gravity to allow us all to be in our places.
Have you heard someone say, or maybe you’ve said recently, “I don’t think I can hold it all together.”
Well, you don’t have to. That’s not your job. Jesus is doing that. >>>>>
The writer of Hebrews says: The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. Hebrews 1:3
> Just a word from Jesus and all things hold together.
If he did not do that for a moment, it would evaporate like magic.
Every moment you and I live is the result of the sustaining grace of Jesus. That’s how big he is. >>>>>
How big is Jesus? Big enough to conquer death.
Look at verse
18: Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything.
> Now, these are unusual words to use with reference to death. In this world, death is about destruction. We don’t rise from the dead. When you’re dead, you’re dead.
Well, Paul says, “Jesus is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead.”
Because our hope is that we too will rise from the dead one day and we will be with Jesus in eternity.
Frank Peretti tells a great story about a family that’s on vacation and a bumblebee flies into the car.
The little girl in the back seat was afraid because she was severely allergic to bumblebees. So she started to scream.
The father didn’t know what to do because they were miles from the nearest hospital. If the bumblebee stung her, she would have an allergic reaction and they didn’t have an EpiPen with them.
So, he just watched the bumblebee fly around the car. When it got toward the front seat, with one hand on the wheel, he reached out his other hand and grabbed the bumblebee and let it fly around in his hand until it eventually stung him. Then he let it go.
And the little girl started screaming again. “He’s buzzing, he’s buzzing!”
He showed her the stinger in his hand. He said, “Don’t worry honey, he can’t hurt you now. All he can do is buzz.” ||
When I heard that story I thought, “Oh death, where is your sting? Oh grave, where is your victory?”
All death can do now is just buzz. That’s all it can do.
Jesus Christ has taken away the sting of death, because he has the authority over death. He’s the firstborn from among the dead. ||
So how big is Jesus?
He is the image of God
He is the agent of creation
He is the Lord of all
He is the sustainer of life
He is the conqueror of death
Let me ask you this: do you live with the understanding of this Jesus who is all-powerful? ||
If your answer is yes, then you have to live as if you believe Jesus is right next to you right now. ||
Moses was up against Pharaoh, who seemed like the highest throne, the highest power, the highest authority, the highest ruler in the world at that time.
God says, “I’ll deliver you, Moses. Take your people through the Red Sea. You’ll have to put a foot in the water first. When you do that, I’ll divide it. I’ll march you through. I’ll save you. You are safe in my hand Moses, but you’re going to have to take a step of faith.”
Now, this is just a general principle. The way that we access the power of Jesus in our lives is by faith. You must act like you believe you have Jesus with you, and then you discover you really do have Jesus with you.
So the question is, will you say when you wake up tomorrow morning, “I’m going to stop living with a small view of Jesus; I’m going to live like I have Jesus right by my side”? ||
And I want to suggest just one area where living with Jesus by your side will change you.
And that area is your relational life.
Think about this:
Some of you have a person in your life that you’re struggling with, and you’re angry with them. You have some bitterness in your heart toward that person.
You know that you need to forgive that person and reconcile with that person because you’re getting smaller and the bitterness is getting bigger.
But you find yourself saying when you’re with that person, “I just can’t do it. I don’t have it in me to reconcile with that person. I can’t forgive that person.”
Well, you know what? You don’t have it in you. But you have Jesus right there with you.
And your job is to simply take one step toward forgiving.
Make a phone call if that’s what you need to do. Jesus will give you the power to forgive… but you’ve got to take the first step. ||
Some of you have a person in your life that you need to love, that Jesus is calling you to love, but you find yourself emotionally empty toward that person, with no warmth and maybe some coldness or hostility towards that person.
You say, “I don’t have it in me to love that person.”
Of course you don’t have it in you, but you have Jesus, so take a step toward loving them.
Write something nice to them. Spend some time on a call with them. Do something that would be considered kind toward them.
Act your way into your feelings. Do something loving and then maybe you’ll begin to fell love for them. ||
Maybe you have someone you need to speak the truth to. Maybe they hurt you and you need to confront them, but you haven’t done it because of fear or insecurity or because you’re a people pleaser, or whatever the reason is.
You say, “I don’t have it in me to confront that person.”
You know, the reality is you don’t have it in you, but you have Jesus right there with you. ||
I don’t know how else to say this, but some of you have been resisting Jesus. He’s been telling you what you need to do for quite some time now. And you’ve been saying no.
And as someone who loves you and wants the best for you, I want to give you a warning about this. If you continue to resist Jesus you may eventually unknowingly build a calloused heart toward him — to the point where you’re not even able to hear his voice at all.
If you take a risk and live tomorrow with Jesus right by your side in your relational life it will change your world. ||
Alright, what we’re going to do now is turn our attention again to worship. And I just want to say a few words to remind you of how big Jesus is to kind of set up our worship time. ||
How big is Jesus?
So big that he can hold the entire universe in the palm of his hand.
So big he created everything by a word from his mouth — just a word and it all came into being, and he sustains it all without any strain or effort at all.
So big that he was able to place all the fullness of God in a baby born to poverty-stricken parents and laid in a manager.
How big is Jesus?
So big that in a word from him storms ceased, and winds died, and fish were multiplied, and the lame leaped for joy, and the blind opened their eyes and saw, and demons and death have no power.
So big that when Jesus went to the cross, the entire universe held its breath and time stopped and history was suspended, and he brought about the reconciliation of the entire created order through the shedding of his blood.
So big that when he went to his tomb, the grave could not hold him, and after three days he conquered death.
So big that he has numbered every hair you’ve ever grown, and every tear you’ve ever cried, and every breath you’ve ever inhaled, and every word you’ve every spoken, and every hope you’ve ever cherished.
So big that he is surrounding you right now. He’s surrounding you wherever you are right now. He will be surrounding you whatever you do today, in your bed when you sleep tonight, in your day when you wake up tomorrow.
So big that he will be a shield around you, from this moment until the day comes when he presents you holy in his sight without blemish and free from accusation, to live forever in the arms of his father.
He is so big.
And now we’re going to worship him. So join me as we magnify Jesus for who he is, our great, all-powerful, fully present God.
