Paul’s High Christology (Part 1)
Bobby Howell
Jesus First: A Study of Colossians • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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“Nothing is more valuable than knowing Christ, and God in Christ.” Joel R. Beeke and Paul M. Smalley, Reformed Systematic Theology Vol. 2: Man and Christ, 722.
So theologians Joel Beeke and Paul Smalley begin this treatment of Christ, what is called Christology.
This section is often called the Christ Hymn, because many believe this is a poem about the Lord Jesus Christ.
Although that is debated, our purposes are less academic and more Christ-centered.
We have before us in clear and unmistakable language the glory of the incarnate Son of God.
We have an undeniable declaration of the divinity of Jesus Christ.
We have a doxological expression, a praise-centric expression of worship.
It is a statement of faith that nourishes our souls, encouraging us toward beholding the beauty of the triune God in the face of Jesus Christ, and of drawing our hearts into further worship.
Given the depth and significance of our passage under consideration this morning, we will use the words of our Lord Jesus Christ to help focus our thoughts, to aim at a goal.
Matthew 22:37, “Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”
In beholding the glory of the Triune God in the face of Jesus Christ, we will love the LORD our God with all our hearts, souls and minds.
I. Christ Is God and Man
I. Christ Is God and Man
It is important when preaching expository sermons, that is, verse by verse, we always connect what we are addressing with what came before, and we just discussed expressing thankfulness for salvation.
This brings us to the Garden of Eden, sometime after the creation of everything, including a man and woman in the image of God. They were given commandments by God, and yet, through the temptation of Satan and the choice of their innocent wills, they rejected the Creator’s rule and dooming humanity in sin.
The work of Jesus Christ is a work of redemption, of purchasing and purifying His people, forgiving their sins.
How was this accomplished? How could the sins of a finite people be atoned for considering the infinite holiness of God?
The only way that fallen humanity can be redeemed, or saved, is if God Himself intervenes. And God did intervene, all according to His plan of redemption.
God the Father planned our redemption, God the Son achieved our redemption, and God the Holy Spirit applied our redemption.
Our focus is on God the Son, the achiever of our salvation. However, as we behold the glory of Christ, we will also weave practical implications for us today throughout.
A. He is the Invisible God
A. He is the Invisible God
Jesus is the invisible God. He is not a demi-god, as Arius would teach in the fourth century, nor is he the brother of Satan as taught by the Mormons, nor is He just a man as taught by the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Jesus is God. Compare Genesis 1:1 with John 1:1.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
Jesus is the invisible God.
Consider a wonderful connection Jesus makes about His divinity.
In Exodus 3:14 we see God reveals Himself to Moses. Notice His words,
14 And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”
God is. He is self-existent, not depending on anything or anyone, He simply is, He is being.
John 8
John 8:48–59, specifically 54–59.
Think back to the wilderness wanderings. God journeyed with Moses for years, encouraging Him and working with Moses as He led God’s national people Israel through the wilderness.
In a humble and extraordinary prayer, Moses requests to see God’s glory, Exodus 33:18.
God answers and tells Moses God’s goodness will pass before him, but warns, Exodus 33:20
20 But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.”
Moses’s prayer reflects the innate, though fallen and warped, desire of every human being—to see and worship God. But, God Himself tells us that we cannot see His face and live.
Augustine tells us in his Confessions, an autobiography of his salvation,
“Man is one of your creatures, Lord, and his instinct is to praise you…The thought of You stirs him so deeply that he cannot be content unless he praises you, because You made us for Yourself and our hearts find no peace until they rest in You.” St. Augustine, Confessions
Humanity has ever sought this beholding and praising of God, but not by seeking God, rather they have been seeking it in every other place but God (as detailed in Romans 1:18–25).
Humanity was created to be in fellowship with their Creator, and this relationship is with a God who is invisible. He is transcendent, that is, quite beyond us.
Christ is God. He is beyond our ability to contemplate. His knowledge alone baffles us.
Consider for a moment the biblical truth descriptions of God’s knowledge. He knows the hair on everyone, as told by Christ in Matthew 10:30. God knows all the hairs on all of our bodies, perfectly. In addition, He knows every choice you have, are, and will make.
He knows these things of every human being to have existed, is existing, or will exist, all simultaneously.
He knows every grain of sand on every beach throughout all time. He knows every single bubble in every single soda at all times. He knows how many fire ants have inhabited, are inhabiting, or will inhabit the earth.
He knows the vastness of space, all the stars and meteors floating around in space. He knows every grain of dust on Mars, every atom in the gases on Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. He knows every single solar event that has, is, or will happen.
Matthew 6:25–34.
Because Jesus Christ is the invisible God, we can trust Him for everything, in this life and for the next.
And unfortunately, too often when we here the grandness of God, whether we are referencing His knowledge, or power, or holiness, to think that because He is so grand, He does not have time for you and me.
We make God after our own image, thinking that God is like a President, a powerful CEO, or famous athlete that would not talk to petty, normal people like us. This grand God, who holes all power and knowledge and everything, He is too important to take notice of me.
The sweet truth of Scripture is that it could not be farther from the truth! In fact, in our next sermon, we will see to what extent this great Creator willingly went to be with us. His name is, after all, Emmanuel, God with us.
Kevin DeYoung helps balance this idea of God’s transcendence, His greatness, with His immanence, His nearness.
“God’s bigness does not mean he is too great to care, just like his nearness does not mean he is too weak to help. Instead, the right inference to draw in all of life’s afflictions is that the God of transcendent glory and personal immanence is too good to forget and too great to fail.” Kevin DeYoung, Daily Doctrine
What struggles are you facing?
What hardships are afflicting you?
What burdens are you facing living life in this fallen, broken world?
Would you turn your attention, your heart, mind, and strength, in love to the Invisible God?
Remember DeYoung’s words, “The God of transcendent glory and personal immanence is too good to forget and too great to fail.”
Perhaps you do not know Christ in saving faith. Literally nothing could be better than to call our in faith for this transcendent God of glory for salvation from your sins.
