Would you turn with me to Colossians
chapter one? It's a delight to be with you,
and I trust the Lord will bless us with his presence. I've entitled
this message. Who is Jesus Christ? Now, what could we possibly consider
more important than that. Who is Jesus Christ? I was listening to the song,
How Can It Be, and I thought of the first verse of another
hymn we sing, I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the
Nazarene and wonder how he could love me, a sinner, condemned,
unclean. And to think that I actually
know this one of whom I speak. And even greater, to think that
He knows me. And that when I speak of Him,
it's not just name dropping, but He knows me. And that's what I'm hoping in.
That's my hope, not my knowledge of Him. But his knowledge of
me, my hope is that he won't say to me on that great day,
I never knew you. Apart from me, ye that work iniquity. You know, every time I read that
scripture here, quote, it scares me. It does. It scares me. I
don't want that to happen to me, but oh, would to God that
I could forget about myself for just a few moments, that you
could forget about yourself just for a few moments, not think
about what you believe or what you know or what you do and hear
this message concerning who is Jesus Christ. Now, I know he was prophesied.
foretold of in Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6. For unto us a child
is born, but unto us a son is given. That son wasn't born. That's the eternal uncreated
Son of God. This is He who was the light
in creation's story. that's spoken of four days before
the creation of the sun or the moon. That's mysterious, isn't
it? Light be! Light was the eternal
light of God. Who is Jesus Christ? He was promised
as the seed of woman that would come and crush the serpent's
head. Right after the fall of our first parents in the Garden
of Eden, upon his birth, the heavenly hosts sang glory to
God in the highest and on earth, peace, goodwill toward men, God's
goodwill toward men. He grew up in obscurity, working
for 30 years in a carpenter shop. And no one knew who he was, but
his father did. His father looked upon him and
said, this is my beloved son, in whom I'm well pleased. But
30 years working out a perfect righteousness. This one never
sinned. He could say, which of you can
convince me of Satan? I do always those things that
please the Father. After 30 years, he began his
public ministry and said things that no one had ever heard before.
Turn with me for a moment to Luke chapter four. When he comes
back to his hometown, at the beginning of his public ministry,
verse 16, Luke chapter four. And he came to Nazareth where
he had been brought up. And as his custom was, he went
into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up for to read. And these people had heard him
read many times before. This was his hometown. And there
was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when
he'd opened the book, He found the place where it was written,
the Spirit of the Lord is upon me. Can you imagine how he said
that? Because he hath anointed me to
preach the gospel to the poor. He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives and recovering of sight
to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach
the acceptable year of the Lord, the year of jubilee is what that's
a reference to. And you know, there's no record
that the children of Israel ever observed the year of Jubilee.
Did you know that? There's no record where they
ever did it. And I can understand why. I mean, the people who had
money owed to them, why? It was all canceled. People who
had gained things from the misfortune of their brethren, they had to
give it back. Slaves set free. You can see
why they wouldn't want to observe this. But here is when the true
year of Jubilee really is observed. And he closed the book and he
gave it again to the minister and sat down and the eyes of
all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. I bet you
could have heard a pin drop. And he began to say unto them
this day, right now, is this scripture fulfilled in your ears? Now, along with his preaching,
he did things that only God can do. He controlled the weather. There was a storm and he said,
peace, be still. And immediately there was a great
calm. The waves were placid and his disciples said, what manner
of man is this that even the winds and the sea do obey him? He controlled the animal kingdom.
Fish get in the net and they obeyed their master. He brought matter into existence,
into the universe that was not there before. He created something
from nothing. Only God can do that. Demons
knew who he was. And they trembled at his presence.
And they couldn't go from one place to another without asking
his permission. Suffer us to go into the herd
of swine. And Jesus gave them leave. He
healed the sick. He gave sight to the blind. And
on at least three different occasions, we read in the New Testament
where he raised the dead. He went about doing good. Yet men hated him. They hated him. Many good works have I showed
you for my father. For which of these works do you
stone me? The Jews answered him. For a good work stone we not,
be not, but for blasphemy. Because thou, being a man, Make
us thyself equal with God. It was not what he did that people
were enraged by, but his claims concerning himself. When the cried, cried out, and
I think it's interesting, this same crowd would soon be crying
crucify him, but now they're crying out, Hosanna! Blessed
is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. The Pharisee said,
master, rebuke thy disciples. They shouldn't be talking like
that. And he replied, if these should hold their peace, the
stones would immediately cry out. He was falsely accused, arrested. And even then he let
everybody know he was no victim. Whom seek ye? Jesus of Nazareth,
I am. The same voice that spoke to
Moses, I am that I am. And immediately, invincible power
drove them backwards and they fell to the ground. They were
made to know that he was no victim in this. He was in absolute control. When he's brought before Pilate,
Pilate's wife had already warned him about, she said, see that
thou have nothing to do with this just man. I've suffered
many things in a dream because of him. And Pilate saw him. He
saw how he didn't answer for himself, how he didn't try to
defend himself. He said, speakest thou not to
me? Don't you know that I have power to crucify thee and I have
power to release thee? And he replied, thou couldst
have no power at all over me, except it be given thee from
above. You see, Pilate had no power
to release him, because this is why he came. He came to die. So, he's delivered to be nailed
to a cross. He had the same nervous system
that you and I do, and I can't even imagine the physical pain
he must have been going through. I love to think about what he
said from the cross, though. Father, forgive them. You reckon there was anybody
he prayed for that the father failed to forgive? That didn't
happen. You see, everybody he prayed
for was forgiven. The father must hear him pray. Woman, can you imagine what it
must have been? His mother was watching him being
crucified. But he said, woman, behold thy
son. Speaking of John the Baptist,
or John the disciple. And he said to John, behold thy
mother. Even then, he was taking care
of his mother. And then the sun quit shining
and he cried out, my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? You see, he really was forsaken
by his father. He really was. And you know,
there's so much we don't understand about that. And that's why the
Lord turned the lights out. It was dark. He was forsaken
by his father. He said, I thirst. I've never, never been thirst like
this. And then he looked at that thief
who knew who he was. I love the thief. He's hanging there and his buddy
is cursing Christ and he rebuked him. He said, don't you fear
God? You see, he understood this was
God. seeing we are in the same condemnation and we indeed justly
for we're receiving the due reward of our deeds. He understood he
deserved to be cut off. And he said, this man has done
nothing amiss. He knew this man was sinless. And he said, Lord, he knew he was the Lord. He said,
you're not going to stay here. You're going to return as a mighty
reigning king. Remember me when you come into
your kingdom. And the Lord said with sovereign
authority. Today, thou shalt be with me. In paradise. He said. It is finished. And he said it with a loud voice
so that all could hear. Whatever he came to do, he did. It is finished. And he bowed
his head and said, Father, into thy hands, I commend my spirit. He gave death permission to come
and take him. And he bowed his head and he
gave up the ghost And he died. The moment he died, the earth
quaked, graves were opened, and men came out of them. And the
veil of the temple was rent in two, from the top to the bottom,
showing access was now open into the very presence of God. A lifeless body is taken down
from the cross and laid down in a tomb. What happened during
those three days? I don't know, nor does anyone
else. I have no idea what was taking
place. I know that when he died, he didn't go through the process
of decay like Lazarus did, or like one of us would, because
the moment he died, complete satisfaction was made. What did
he do those three days? I don't know, but he was dead.
Somebody says, how could the God man die? I don't know, but
he did. He did. And three days later
he was raised from the dead and he walked out of that tomb and
he gave instructions to his disciples. He showed himself alive after
his passion by many infallible proofs being seen 40 days And
then he was taken up in a cloud and received out of their sight. Now, who is this one? Who is this one? You see, everything
depends on who he is. Now, would you turn to Colossians
chapter one. Who is this one? Verse 15 answers
that question. Who is the image of the invisible
God? I love what the writer to the
Hebrews says. He is the one through whom God
has spoken. Who being the brightness of his
glory. and the express image of his
person, upholding all things by the word of his power." Who
is Jesus Christ? God is spirit. God is invisible. Jesus Christ is the visible representation
of God. He is the sole representative
of the being and character of God. When it says He's the firstborn
of every creature, that's not a reference to a birth in time,
but a fact, irrespective of time. He is the firstborn. He, a person, possesses every
attribute of pure Godhead. He's not like God. He's not like
God at all. He is God. You know, I love saying
that. He is God. That's who Jesus Christ is. He
said, he that has seen me, hath seen the Father. All you and I will ever see of
God is Jesus Christ. He is the image of the invisible
God, so much so that it's said of him, his name should be called
Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace. Somebody said, explain that to
me. I can't do that. You know, when I'm trying to
talk about who Jesus Christ is, I am sorely aware of my own weakness
and inability in dealing with such a glorious subject. that
He's the image of the invisible God. Verse 16 of Colossians 1
says, for by Him were all things created that are in heaven and
that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones
or dominions or principalities or powers All things were created
by Him and for Him. Who is He? He's the Creator. He's the Creator. He's the One
who spake the world into existence. He's the One who said, Light
be, and light was. All things visible, He created. If you talk about the universe
ever expanding, the galaxies, the stars, the planets, he created
them. Everything on the earth he created
as an act of his will, he brought something from nothing. And I'll
give you some encouragement and me some encouragement regarding
this thing of salvation. He doesn't have to have anything
in you to make you something. He surely doesn't. He's the creator. He created all things invisible. Whether they be thrones, seats
of authority, whoever sits on the throne is there because He
put them there. Dominions or lordships. You see,
He is the LORD of lords and He is the KING of kings. That's who He is. Principalities
or beginnings. He's the beginning. He's the
beginning, whatever, whatever their ears, he's the beginning
of it. He's the cause of it. In the beginning was the word
and the word was with God and the word was God. The same was,
he always was in the beginning with God. Rulers, he rules. Whatever the
rules are, He made them, and He Himself is His own rule, powers,
authority, freedom of action. He is the power behind all power. All things were created by Him,
and I love this next statement, and for Him. You see, this is
not about you. It really isn't. The Lord hath
made all things for himself, yea, even the wicked for the
day of evil. Whatever takes place, the Lord
did it. It's for him. It's for his glory. Even that wicked man who on the
day of judgment will be cast into hell, he's going to glorify
the justice of the Lord Jesus Christ. He made all things. Verse 17 says, and he is before
all things. He is prior to all things. He's in front of all things. He is superior to all things. He says to the Pharisees, when
they said, Abraham's our father, he said, Abraham, the one you
claim he's your father, he rejoiced to see my day. And he saw it
and he was glad. And they said, you're not yet
50 years old. And have you seen Abraham? And he said, verily
I say unto you, before Abraham was, i am you see he is before
all things you know everything that happens i love thinking
about this everything that happens he's before it he's before it
you know that breath you just had he's before it the only reason
you took it is because he willed it when you die you know what
he's before that you're gonna die when he wills your death
when you were born he was before it he willed your birth And if
you're ever born again, oh, may God cause us all to be burst
into the kingdom of heaven. And if you're burst, he's before
it, because he is before all things. I love that scripture. The king's heart is in the hand
of the Lord. You know, all that stuff that
was going on last few weeks, everybody's been so mad at the
government shutdown and all that kind of stuff. And you get so
frustrated. But well, he's in control of that. Everything that
happened was according to his will for his purpose. And, you
know, we don't need to know what it is. I don't know. What's the
Lord doing? I don't know. But he does. He
does. And we rest in that shall not
the judge of the earth do right. He is before all things. And
by him, verse 17, All things consist. They're all held together
by Him. The writer to the Hebrews says
He upholds all things by the word of His power. You see, He, this one Jesus Christ
whom we're speaking of, He is absolutely, immutably, uncontestably
sovereign. You know what that means? His
will is always done. Can't you rest in that? His will
is always done. Whatsoever the Lord pleased,
that did. earth and sea in heaven and in
all deep places. Where's your God, David? Our
God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever He hath
pleased. That's who He is. That means
me and you are in His hands right now and our eternal destiny is
wholeheartedly up to Him. You know, there's a time when
I didn't see any safety in that. And that's the only place I do
find safety. Who is he? Look in verse 18.
He is the head of the body, the church. And this is so mysterious, but
the church, Every member is the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are members of His body, of
His flesh, of His bone. Now, my body is me. My body is
mine. I love that scripture in Ephesians
chapter 5 where it says, He that loveth his wife loveth himself. You see, when the Lord loved
his wife, who did he love? He loved himself because of union
with the Lord Jesus Christ. We are his body bone of his bone
flesh of his flesh now this is just one of those things you
can't understand you just believe and rejoice in it he that loveth
his wife loveth himself when christ loved his wife he was
loving himself because his wife is his bride his elect all those
who believe and as he as he is so are we in this world now he's
the head of the body now What is the head to the body? The head is the identification
of the body. What is a body without a head?
You don't know who it is, do you? You don't know who it is. The only way you know who that
body is, is by the head. Christ Jesus is my head. He's the identification of me. He's the identification of every
one of his people. If you want to know the truth
regarding God's people, Him. He's my head. He's my personality. He's my life. He's my righteousness. He's my head. He's the head of
the body. The church. Who is the beginning? The cause. The cause. I love that. The Lord's the cause.
You know, I can't hear that enough. The Lord's the cause. You know,
all the All the difficult things I've ever gone through, he's
the cause of. I love it when David is so down, so down, and
Shimei is watching him as he's proceeding and he's cursing him
and he says, you're a bloody man. You're getting what you
had coming. And David just kept his head
down and Abishai said, you want me to go take his head off? David
said, no. The Lord said, curse David. You
see, He's the cause. Whatever it is. He's the cause. Aren't you glad it's that way?
He's the cause. He's the firstborn from the dead. He died. This one I'm speaking
of died. And I want to talk more about
this tomorrow morning. But why did he die? There is
only one reason for death. You can't say he died of cancer
or he died of lung disease or he died of crucifixion. The only
reason for death is what? Sin. The sins of God's elect became
his sin. He was made sin. Now, once again, when we talk
about this, I always I love the fact that that there was darkness. I mean, it wasn't a solar eclipse,
it was thick darkness at this time. All you could do is hear
at this time you couldn't see. There's no way I'm ever going
to be able to understand what all this means. But I know this. He bear our sins in His own body
on the tree. And if He bore them, that means
I'm not bearing them. They can't be two places at once.
He died and He died for this one reason, sin. The sins of God's elect became
His sins so that He became guilty of them. And when He cried out,
my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? It's because God
forsook Him. He felt nothing but the awful
frown of his father, separated, cut off, had no comfort. But
he was the firstborn from the dead. You see, when we talk about
the death of Christ, it's so different from anybody else's
death, because I don't, I really wouldn't want to be insensitive
in any way, but nobody's dead. If any of us die, it's not remarkable.
It's just not remarkable. I mean, it's what we, the wages
of sin is death. We're sinners, we're gonna die.
But his death, the God man, he died, but something was achieved
by his death. You see, when he was the first
born from the dead, what that means is, is God accepted what
he did. When he said, it is finished,
and gave up the ghost, it was finished. And there's nothing
for me or you to do. Do you believe that? There's
nothing. he or you to do when he was raised
from the dead the scripture says he was delivered for our offenses
and raised again for our justification when he was raised i was justified
my sin gone put away he by himself perished our sins. I love that. I love the way it
says he did it by himself. No help from me, no help from
you. He did this by himself and he did it and he is the firstborn
from the dead. Why? Well, Colossians 1 18 says
that in all things he might have the preeminence. Now, who is
Jesus Christ? He's the one who in all things has the preeminence. You know what that word means?
It means He's first. It means He's first. For whom He did foreknow, them
He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His
Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren in all things
He has the preeminence. Now you just can't, you can take
that in so many different directions. In every glorious doctrine in
the Word of God, He has the preeminence. Let's begin with election. You
think God chose you and then gave you to Christ? Don't think
something so foolish. He couldn't choose you and then
give you to Christ. Christ be my first elect, He
said. Then He chose us in Him, our
living head. I've never been viewed independently
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's first in redemption. He redeemed me. He has the preeminence
in justification. I'm justified by His righteousness. He has the preeminence in the
scriptures. It's all of Him. He has the preeminence with His
people. Now, I want to be careful the way I say this because I
thought about this the first time I ever used this illustration.
I thought that really, I need to say this right. The love that a believer has
to Christ. is a supernatural love. It's not something produced by
the flesh. It's not like a love between
a man and a woman or a parent and a child or a friend and a
friend. It's infinitely above that. It's something that only
someone with a new nature given to him by God can have. But that
being said, remember that. So any illustration is going
to fall to the ground that's a human illustration. And this
one does to some extent, but I love my wife. I love her. I can't even deal with thinking
about what it would be like to not have her. I love her. She
loves me. We're in love with one another.
Oh, we fight just like everybody else does. I know that. And she
gets mad at me and wishes I was dead sometimes probably. I'm
probably getting mad at her. And something like I like what
Barnard said, he said, you ever thought about your Divorcing
your wife? He said, no, I've thought about killing her, but
not divorcing her. I've never thought about killing
her. But the point is, I love her and she loves me. And I don't
want her to love any of you men the way she loves me. We've got
a problem if that's the case. I have the preeminence with her.
I have the preeminence. She loves me like no other man.
And I love her like no other woman. She has the preeminence
with me. But you know what? There's one that I want her to
love infinitely more than me. And I'm happy if she loves this
one more than me. And she is happy if I love this
one more than her. You see, in all things, He has
the preeminence. The Lamb is all the glory. in Emmanuel's land. Verse 19, 4. It pleased the Father that in
him should all fullness dwell. Now this is who this one is.
He's the one in whom it pleased the Father that in him should
all fullness dwell. Now, you think of what pleases
the Father. Whatever pleases the Lord, that's
what he does. He works all things after the
counsel of His own will." Whatever pleases the Lord, that's what
takes place. He does what He does for His own pleasure. And
it pleased the Father that in the Lord Jesus Christ should
all fullness dwell. Now, 1 Samuel 12, 22 says, it
pleased the Father to make you His people. If I'm a child of
God, it's because He pleased Him to make me. Isaiah 53 10 says it pleased
the Lord to bruise him. Now you know that doesn't mean
he got some kind of sadistic pleasure of inflicting pain upon
the Lord Jesus Christ. But God's pleasure was done. His will was done. His justice
was satisfied. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. You know, regarding this thing
of the pleasure of the Lord, what pleases Him, I think of
what David said when he said, mine iniquities have God taken
hold upon me so that I'm not able to look up. They're more
than the hairs of my head. Therefore, my heart faileth me. Be pleased, O Lord. to deliver me make haste oh lord
to help me when i'm asking the lord to save me i'm saying lord
let it be your pleasure let it be what you're pleased to do
and i love this scripture it pleads the father that in him
should all fool us dwell You see Colossians 2, 9 says in him
dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead in a body. He's not part this and part that
and the parts make the whole. No, he's all the fullness of
sovereignty. He's not a balance of anything.
He doesn't have this attribute that balances out that attribute.
You got his justice, but you got his love and all these things
come together to make the whole. No, he's fullness of all that
he is. And of his fullness have we all
received. and grace for grace. Oh, it pleased
the Father that in him should all fullness of dwell, fullness
of justice, fullness of power, fullness of grace, fullness of
love, fullness of truth. Who is Jesus Christ? He's the image of the invisible
God. He's the firstborn. of every
creature. He's not created. He's the uncreated
one. To say that he's the firstborn,
the firstborn got everything. He gets everything. He's the one who created all
things. He is the one who is before all
things. He's the one by whom all things
consist. He's the head of the body. He's the beginning. He's the
firstborn from the dead. He's the one who in all things
has the preeminence. And He's the one in whom it pleased
the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell. Now, I've been talking about
the indescribable infinite greatness of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's
no way anyone could describe him as he ought to be described.
But this one who is so high, who is so glorious, who is so
holy, is also the one who said, come unto me. Now, when he said this, Come
unto me, he meant two things. First, the same word is used,
come and dine. Come and dine. Come unto me. What a precious, glorious invitation. Come unto me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden. And I will give you rest. But
it's also the same word he used with Lazarus. When he said, Lazarus,
come forth. That was no invitation. That was a divine summons, a
divine command. so when we say this is the great
invitation it's also what you're commanded to do everybody in
this room this great high and glorious one says come unto me and i will give you rest I, the one who can do it, will. I'm willing. Let not conscience make you linger,
nor a fitness fondly dream. The only fitness he requires
is to have a need of him. I will give. Don't try to give him anything,
he doesn't want it. Preachers say, give Jesus your
heart. Do you really think he wants it? What would he want
with it? You ask him to give you a new
one. Come to me and I will give you,
you rest. The rest, the same God finished His work. He ended it and He rested. Everything
He did was good. There was nothing left to do.
Forget doing. Just forget doing. May God amputate
that from you and rest in what He has done. He said, take my
yoke upon you. Now, don't you want to be yoked
to Christ? I want to be yoked to Christ. If you're yoked, that
means you're joined to Him. And if you're yoked to Him, you
can't get away. That's what a yoke's for. It's to prevent you from
leaving. He says, take my yoke upon you and learn of me. And then he makes this incredible
statement. I've been talking about how glorious
and high and holy he is. He says, for I am meek and lowly
in heart. That's the Lord of glory. Do
you know you'll never feel intimidated by Him? You'll never feel threatened
by Him. You'll never feel judged and
condemned and criticized by Him. You come to Him. He says, I'm
meek and I'm lowly in heart. And you shall find rest for your
souls. From my look, is easy. It's gracious. You know why his
yoke is easy? He bears all the weight. And
my burden is light. What a glorious one he is. Amen.