MESSAGES

FROM THE

WORD

THE CHRIST OF CHRISTMAS

Colossians 1:15-22

SERIES:  Christmas

Dec. 18, 2005

            In 1950, C.S. Lewis wrote a short novel that was to change English literature as we know it.  The Chronicles of Narnia became a seven volume set of children’s books seeking to tell the truth of the Bible through fantasy.  Narnia is a country which has been taken over by the White Witch.  It has been turned into a place filled with ice, snow, and desolation.  It is a place that is “always winter, and never Christmas”.  Into this land come four children who have been prophesied to bring back Aslan, the King.

            In Lewis’s story, Aslan is a lion.  The question has to be asked, why would he choose a lion?  Obviously, the lion is the king of beasts, and the king of the jungle.  There is a picture of strength and majesty.  I believe there is another picture.  We read              REVELATION 5                    Aslan saves the life of one of the children by offering his own life which is to be sacrificed on the altar.  It is a beautiful picture of Jesus.  He is both the “LION OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH” as well as the “LAMB, AS THOUGH IT HAD BEEN SLAIN…”  What a perfect picture this is of our Lord and Savior.

            As we come to our message this morning, I want to draw your attention to a passage of scripture that is not usually thought of as a Christmas passage.  The angels, manger, Bethlehem, shepherds, wise men and Mary are not mentioned.  Yet, it is probably the greatest passage in the entire Bible in describing who that baby in a manger was.  Take your Bible and turn with me to our passage in Colossians.  We read,               COLOSSIANS 1:15-21                                    When we think of Christmas, we usually concentrate of the baby in the manger.  That is normal, because that is what took place, a child was born.  However, babies tend to be helpless, cute and cuddly.  They are not threatening.  Many people don't mind Jesus in the manger, as long as He doesn't grow up and become the Christ of "come follow me"!  As we look as these verses, we are going to see the divine nature of Jesus.  We read,            ISAIAH 9:6              Christmas is "A CHILD WILL BE BORN TO US…."  The other side of Christmas, however, is "HIS NAME WILL BE CALLED…MIGHTY GOD…"  This morning I want to look at that Christ who, while in the manger was also the “LION OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH”.

            FIRST, THAT BABY IS THE IMAGE OF GOD.  I am not going to tell you that I understand the Trinity.  That would be presumptuous on my part and would also put me on a par with God.  I do understand this, though.  From the very beginning, the church taught that Jesus was God in the flesh.  When Thomas saw the nail prints he fell down and stated, "MY LORD AND MY GOD".  Jesus did not correct Thomas.  The most definitive passage in the gospels on the deity of Christ is in John 5.  We read,                  JOHN 5:16-18       The Pharisees understood exactly what Jesus was attempting to do, which is why they labeled His actions as blasphemy. 

            The word Paul uses for image is "ICON".  For those of you coming out of a Catholic background, this is the word used for the statues in the various churches.  There is also another time this word is used in the New Testament.  In Matthew 22 Jesus had a confrontation with the Pharisees.  We read,      MATTHEW 22:17-21                  The word for "likeness" in verse 20 is our word "icon".  If we were to have this discussion today, we would talk about "photograph", or maybe even "holograph".  It is a representation of an individual.  Its purpose is to reveal what the individual looks like.  How does this relate to our passage and to Christmas?

            For that we need to go all the way back to Moses.  You will remember that Moses brought the people out of Egypt and up to Mt. Sinai.  It was there that God gave His people Ten Commandments. One of those commands states,      EXODUS 20:4                 One commandment was a forbidding of God to His people of their making an image of Him.  That is what an idol is.  An idol is not a god; it is a representation of the god.  What God was trying to communicate was that He was so far above anything that man could mold that an image would only serve to lessen His true awesomeness.  When Moses gave the law to the next generation in Deuteronomy 5, the additional command was given to destroy any idols that they happened to discover as they entered the Promised Land.  God did not want any images.

            Here then is where Christmas comes in.  God commanded the people not to make any images because their best would only be a poor representation of what God was truly like.  Because man could not make a perfect image, God did.  What Christmas experienced and what Paul stated in Colossians is clear.  It's as if God was saying, "I KNOW YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT I REALLY LOOK LIKE, BUT YOU CAN'T DO MY REPRESENTATION JUSTICE.  SO, I WILL MAKE AN IMAGE FOR YOU.  THIS WAY, IT WILL BE A PERFECT IMAGE OF ME.  IT WILL BE AS IF I CLONED MYSELF".  That baby in the manger is the perfect image of what God is like.  This is why Jesus could say in John 14, IF YOU HAVE SEEN ME, YOU HAVE SEEN THE FATHER".  Jesus was not a representative from God, He was the mirror image of Him.

            SECOND, THAT BABY IS THE FULNESS OF GOD.  This is where things get really interesting.  Paul writes in Col. 1:19, "FOR IT WAS THE FATHER'S GOOD PLEASURE FOR ALL THE FULNESS TO DWELL IN HIM".  This is one of those passages where I know more than I understand.  This is not the only time this phrase appears.  We read,                  COLOSSIANS 2:9                 Everything that God is, Jesus us.  He is not an inferior being; He is the fullness of the Godhead.  It is as if Paul were to say, "Jesus is the exact DNA match to the Father.  He is a perfect clone".  That is why Jesus could state, "THE FATHER AND I ARE ONE".  This is why the deity of Christ is often difficult to understand.  When we talk about Jesus being God and man, it often comes across that Jesus is 50% God and 50% man.  That is not true.  Jesus is 100% God and 100% man.  When a child is conceived, the sperm and the egg join and form a single cell.  That cell is not half egg and half sperm; it is now a unique cell that is all of both of them.  Whatever God is, by nature Jesus is identical.  That baby lying in the manger was not just a cute little boy, or the highest order of the species, He was God in the flesh.  He was the total fullness of God.

            The mystics taught that God was too holy and pure to involve Himself with humanity.  Because of this, Jehovah had to come up with a plan whereby a lesser being could come and offer Himself as a sacrifice for sin.  He was less than God, but He was a higher form than normal humanity.  When Paul wrote to the Colossians, this issue was raging.  This verse was specifically written to denounce that view.  Jesus was not a lesser emanation, He was the fullness of God.  Whatever you believe to be the highest form of God, that is what Jesus is.

            How did that baby become this "FULLNESS OF GOD"?   In the Jewish religion, what the mother is, the child is.  If you have a Jewish mother and a Catholic father, you are Jewish.  If you have a Jewish father and a Catholic mother, you need to convert to be Jewish.  Since Mary was a Jew and a human, Jesus picked up that part of humanity.  However, the Bible teaches that our sin nature is passed on through the father.  It is the sin of Adam, not Adam and Eve, that is passed from generation to generation.  If Joseph is the biological father of Jesus, what does Jesus have?  He has a sin nature.  That is why the Virgin Birth is so critical.  It is the Virgin Birth that by-passes the sin nature for Jesus.  Being conceived by the Holy Spirit gives Jesus the human nature of Mary and the divine nature of God.  What does the Bible say about this?  We all know about the announcement by the angel to Mary about the Holy Spirit coming over her.  Let's see what Luke writes about this.  We read,              LUKE 3:23        Joseph was the "supposed" father of Jesus.  Why?  Because the one who impregnated Mary was God Himself.  That is why the Virgin Birth is so important.  Without that, Jesus is just a great man.  Maybe He was the greatest man, but just a man never the less.

            THIRD, THAT BABY IS THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE.  There is much discussion in our society concerning creation.  The Bible is clear God created everything.  I understand that scientists have come up with some amazing discoveries and have tried to explain how creation occurred without God.  I read a fable this past week that goes like this.  God had a discussion with some scientists who were not all that impressed with His abilities.  After all, they could now split the atoms, create life in the test tubes and cure all sorts of diseases.  The scientists challenged God to a contest.  God agreed and created life from dirt.  The scientists yawned and said they could match that trick.  They bent down and scooped a hand full of dirt.  God asked what they were doing and they said they were going to match God's creation.  God looked at the scientists and said, "Then you have to create your own dirt".  That little child in a manger was the one who brought everything into existence.  Back in eternity, there was a Big Bang and it was no theory.  That bang, though, was the voice of Jesus saying, "EXIST".

Paul picks up on this and adds,         COLOSSIANS 1:16,17                    The cow that was in the barnyard, the wood for the stable in which He was born, the dirt that Mary and Joseph walked on to get to Bethlehem were all created by that Baby in the manger.  This presents some problems for me.  When did Jesus leave Heaven and come into the womb?  I do not know.  I believe it was at conception.  If that is true, was Jesus not in Heaven for all that time?  Is that covered by God being Omnipresent, that is He is in all places at the same time?  I have my belief, but the Bible doesn't specifically mention when all this took place.  It does say, however, that the baby in the manger was the creator of the universe.  Not only that, but verse 17 tells us that He is also the sustainer of the universe.   He holds everything together.  Atoms don't naturally split because Jesus holds them together.  One of these days Jesus will simply release His reign and Peter tells us that the heavens and Earth will be consumed by a great fire.  That is exactly what takes place when the atom is split in a nuclear detonation.  The reason there is order in the universe is it was created that way.

LAST, THAT BABY IS THE HEAD OF THE CHURCH.  This is a real mind blower.  Paul writes in verse 18, "HE IS THE HEAD OF THE BODY, THE CHURCH…"  I'm not even going to try to comprehend how a baby can be the King.  If He is the creator and the head of the church, then why did He have to submit to them at age twelve?  This goes back to the duel nature that He had.  He was king, but He was also a son and God's order had to be followed.  When He became a mature adult, He assumed the authority that had always been His.

What does it mean He is the head of the church?  It means He is in charge.  What He says goes When He speaks, that is the final word.  When the head is in control, great acts can be achieved.  Picture a gymnast as she prepares to make a difficult somersault dismount.  Just as she begins her lift, the legs decide they want to do their own thing and be free from the head's control.  The result would be disaster.  When the body yields to the impulses of the head, the gymnast will do a great routine.  In the same way the church, that is all those who claim to be the people of God, are to respond to the impulses from the head.  We read the word, we pray, we receive godly counsel and we sense God's will.  Our response is not to do our own thing, but to yield to the head and simply obey.  That baby in the manger did not stay in the manger.  He grew up to be the Lord of the church and will one day reign over the universe.

How should we respond to this Christ-child?  Paul finishes verse 18 by writing, "SO THAT HE MIGHT COME TO