“Be Amazed at King Jesus”
November 21 & 24, 2019
Colossians 1:13-20
A Sermon by Rev. Justin Heise for Christ the King
Let’s start with a little self-examination. Think
back to about ten minutes ago when we read our
sermon text from Colossians 1. Here’s what I want you to
ask yourself: “How much of that reading did I absorb
while it was being read?” If I had to guess, your
experience probably went a little like this. You heard,
“For he has rescued us from the dominion of
darkness,” (Colossians 1:13) and you appreciated that
thought. It’s a nice one. The Father has indeed rescued
us from the darkness of sin. But while you were thinking
about that, I was already reading on, “…and brought us
into the kingdom of the Son he loves” (Colossians 1:13).
Hopefully, your brain caught up there, and maybe even
put those ideas together, that the Father took us from
the dark, sinful kingdom of the world and brought us into
his own. But while you were thinking about that, I was
moving on again. Try and keep track of what comes
next: “…in whom we have redemption, the
forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible
God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all
things were created: things in heaven and on earth,
visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or
rulers or authorities; all things were created by him
and for him” (Colossians 1:14-16). Can you keep track of
all of that in your mind? We’re only halfway through the
lesson! If you’re like me, at some point your brain just
can’t keep track of all of it. I could feel my mind go sort
of numb as it tried to connect and understand all the
ideas the apostle writes to us.
Paul could have written a paragraph about each
of these ideas, so that as you hear them read, you can
chew on each of them. He could have explained how
they’re connected together. He could have given
excellent illustrations so that it really sticks in your mind.
But, he doesn’t. Instead, it’s like trying to drink out of a
fire house. He just turns it on full blast and says, “Get
ready for a drink.” And then, so much information is
being poured into your mind about Jesus and who he is
and what he has done that you can’t keep up with it.
There’s too much of it and it’s coming way too fast. The
apostle Paul is not dumb guy. He does this on purpose.
He wants these ideas to overwhelm you. You can tell
because the section that comes after our lesson is much
slower. He knows exactly what he is doing. So, why? Why
do you think he does that? Why does he ask you to drink
from this firehose of information?
There’s are probably many reasons Paul did
something like this, but here’s just one. As Christians we
get used to Jesus. Don’t misunderstand me—I think
that’s a good thing. I think that it is good that we are
comfortable picturing Jesus, praying to him, hearing his
Word preached, and so on. These are good things, and
Jesus wants us to be comfortable with him. We get used
to him. I certainly hope that you are. I hope the picture of
the crucified Chris is something you can bring to mind. I
hope you can picture the empty tomb in your mind. I
hope you have an image of Jesus in your brain of him as
the Good Shepherd. I hope that coming up for the Lord’s
Supper is natural and easy for you. I hope that you have
these customs, rituals and rites. It’s good to be used to
Jesus.
But, every now and then, although we are used to
him, we need to be reminded that Jesus is still someone
that we cannot grasp or imagine with our mind. God is
something completely otherly and unworldly. It’s good
for us, even if it’s just for one sermon, to remember that.
You can think about it like your cell phone. My phone has
a capacity of like 64 GBs. It cannot go past 64 GBs. At
some point my phone will start telling me that it’s reach
capacity, so I have to go in and delete something. Your
brain is like that. There is only so much that can be
stored in it. But, Jesus is infinite. We cannot grasp how
huge, how immense, how great Jesus is. Jesus is infinite,
but the way we think about him is not, and it can’t be. So
in our minds, we have these images that hold as much of
Jesus as we can, but that image will always be too small.
That is why it’s good for us to be reminded about this, so
that you do not begin to think that image of Jesus you
have in your mind is the real Jesus. It isn’t. It may be
what you are used to. It may be what you think about.
But there is still more to Christ.
It is that exact realization that Paul wants you to
have as you hear these words. And the truth is, even if
we went through this lesson for a couple weeks, we
would still walk away with tired brains overwhelmed by
who Jesus is and how much he is. I can’t pack into a
sermon everything that this section of the Bible
contains. Instead, I want to help you do what the apostle
is striving for. Why does he overwhelm you? He does it
to remind you of the otherness of Jesus. But why does
he do that? Well, it’s because you are used to him. You
know Jesus. It’s why these first words are not that hard
for you to grasp: “For he has rescued us from the
dominion of darkness and brought us into the
kingdom of the Son he loves” (Colossians 1:13). That’s a
concept that you love. It’s beautiful to you. That beauty,
that wonder is exactly what he is going for.
Take that image of Jesus that you have in your
mind and let it expand. As we go on, try to take what
Paul tells us about Jesus and add it to the picture you
have of him (if you can). Hold on to as many details from
this section as you can. For just a moment, let your mind
be overwhelmed and frustrated that it can’t do it. But,
then, when you reach that moment, accept your
limitations. And then be amazed at King Jesus.
Paul tells us that Jesus has saved us from our sin.
In him, we have redemption, and the forgiveness of sins.
Do you remember what those words mean? Can you
define redemption? It’s what Jesus did to buy us back
from sin, death and the devil. He used his blood to
redeem us. These three ideas of rescue from darkness,
redemption through his blood, and the forgiveness of
our sins are all wrapped together: “For he has rescued
us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into
the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have
redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-
14).
Jesus was able to accomplish that redemption
because he is not just a man, he is very God. So that in
eternity, the Father begot the Son, his firstborn, before
the world, before time. So that there has never been a
time when Christ has not existed. He is without
beginning or end, and yet still begotten by the Father.
Then, through him, everything you can see was created.
All of it—even those things he did not directly speak to
into being attribute their own genesis to him. But, not
only have they been created through him, but their
entire purpose and being is wrapped up in him.
Everything has been made for Jesus. Jesus is the reason
that all things exist. Without him, nothing exists or could
continue to exist. He holds it all together. Jesus is the
reason there is something, rather than nothing. He was
here long before all of it, he stands outside of it, and
keeps everything together: “He is the image of the
invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by
him all things were created: things in heaven and on
earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or
powers or rulers or authorities; all things were
created by him and for him. He is before all things,
and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:15-
16).
Those are all very eldritch, ethereal thoughts, but
that’s not where Christ stays. Instead, the Son of God
from eternity invades space and time. He enters into his
own creation and becomes part of it. All of it is through
him, for him, and held together by him, but now he is a
part of it. Christ becomes man. He does this glorious,
unthinkable thing. He becomes one of us. God is a man,
and as a man, he can die. He takes upon himself the sins
of all people of all time, he suffers an infinity of hell for
each of them, and then he dies. Not so that he can stay
dead. But, just like he is the firstborn of all creation, he is
also the firstborn of the dead. But he won’t be the only
one. He gathers to himself a group of people, made from
all nations of all time, who put their faith in him. Christ is
the firstborn of the dead, but he isn’t the last: “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” (Colossians
1:18).
Jesus is true man and true God. Not part of each,
but fully each. Within a man, it delighted God to have all
of his fullness dwell. Everything that the nature of the
Godhead is became one in Jesus the Christ. It was
through him, and only through him, this one individual,
that God was able to bring us peace. Only Jesus was
man, so that he could take our sins and die our death,
and only Jesus was God, so that he could do it perfectly
and rise, fully vindicated by the Father. Through him, his
cross, his blood, we have peace: “For God was pleased
to have all his fullness dwell in him, 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” (Colossians 1:19-20).
I don’t know at what point your brain said, “He’s
going too fast,” or, “I can’t keep track of everything
that’s going on.” If this was a normal sermon, that would
be a bad thing, but here, it’s not. Because within the
unworldly otherness of Christ our King lies room for
wonder. That’s why Paul writes this section that way. By
all means, go dig into this text. But right now in a sermon,
the point is not that you catch and remember every little
detail here. What matters is that it leaves you with a
sense of wonder. Wonder at how glorious he is. How
unequaled he is. How unrivaled. How far he is beyond
our reason. That he is inexhaustible, immeasurable,
unfathomable, eternal, immortal invisible, the only God.
And despite all of that, he comes to save you. He
becomes a human to rescue you from darkness and
bring you into his kingdom. To redeem you. To forgive all
your sins. Be amazed at King Jesus. Amen.