He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all
creation; for in him all things in heaven
and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or
dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for
him. He himself is before all things,
and in him all things hold together. Colossians 1:15 - 17 (KJV)
On a hot summer day in the early
60's, our family pulled into a gravel parking lot and walked a short beaten
pathway to a clearing. There was a
little cabin in this unpretentious setting.
You couldn't go in; you could only stare at it from a distance. The cabin was simple and not very interesting. As an impatient pre-teen, I wanted my parents
to hurry-up and get on with our travels.
That is, until I learned of the prior history of the cabin. This was Illinois, and the name carved on the
inside of the rough-cut timbers was "A. Lincoln." Suddenly, there was no hurry. I would've stayed all day!
A place takes on the significance
of its owner. This world can be dreary
for the tired, hostile to the weak, and burdensome for the
"have-nots." But, as we take a
look at the name inscribed on this world, our evaluation can change in a
hurry. The Name is "Yaw.sad,'"
(He is the Founder). His other name is
Jesus.
There are two sides to creation's
story. There is no fence to sit on
concerning either side. The question
that is the great divide is; "Are the first four words of Scripture true
or not?" "In the beginning
God"
Side one is what you will hear
today. The believer says, "Yes,
indeed!" There are no
reservations. Jesus created!
Side two is what Paul faced, and
what we see today in the New Age movement.
The answer you hear comes in a variety of approaches, but all are
steeped in unbelief, and ultimately the answer is… “No, Jesus didn’t create
this world.”
Here are some of the variations:
·
Well, not
really. No one can know.
·
The jury is
still out on that one.
·
It’s not really
THAT important; after all, there are many roads to God. We're all trying to get there.
·
It's not
important what you believe, as long as you believe something.
The word "firstborn" in
verse 15 refers to Jesus, and is a perfect example of how Christianity is
theologically unique. There are sects
today that teach that Jesus was a created being, therefore, He is not equal
with God. They use this verse as a
proof-text. The only problem is that the
verse proves His divinity. The word has
two meanings, firstborn as a son; and also supremacy in position.
(See Ex 4:22, Israel was God's
chosen, God’s special people; In Ps 89:27 David was a favored king, special
over the kings of the earth). The phrase
"firstborn over all creation" indicates that Jesus is Lord over all.
Choose your side and let's see
what the Bible has to say about the REALITIES of creation and Jesus:
It was His idea
He is the image of the
invisible God, the firstborn of all creation;
Colossians 1:15
There are two words that help us
understand this, "image" and "firstborn." In the ancient language the word
"eikon" meant two things, with one dominating. It meant representation, as a picture
represents the real thing. Jesus was
that, a picture of God in all His love and care for us. But it also means (and dominates the thought
here) a manifestation.
The New Testament leaves little
doubt; Jesus was the appearance, or manifestation of the living God:
Hebrews 1:3 (NRSV)
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not
know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.
John 14:9b (NRSV)
Creation was Jesus’ idea, and…
He got it going
for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible
and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have
been created through him… Colossians
1:16a
Jesus created every bit of this
world. It was "in/through him"
(his power). When an artist paints we
say he created. Actually he has
re-created what already existed; he just took the materials and rearranged what
already existed. The same can be said with
a building or automobile. We have taken
raw materials that existed, and rearranged them to produce something that suits
us. Every time the Scripture refers to
man making something it is a re-creation of God's creation. But the word ascribed only to God's activity
is the creation "ex-nihilo" [out of nothing].
Jesus started with nothing. As the old-time preacher put it, "They
wasn't nuthin', an' Jesus reached-out an' kotched his self a bit o' that
nuthin' an' made him a-somthin' outa that nuthin'!"[1]
Creation is natural, and the most
logical of explanations concerning our existence.
Order suggests an "Orderer." Life presupposes a "Life-giver." Science and philosophy cannot deal with the ultimate
issues of life; philosophy is only so much guesswork. But in Jesus, the guesswork ceases. Someone once offered that the theory of the
"big bang" of evolution being the origination of the universe has
about as much chance of historical fact as if you were to take 70,000 cans of
Campbell's Alphabet Soup, toss them in the air, and have the letters fall to
the earth perfectly arranged in the collected works of William
Shakespeare. I think not!
Creation was Jesus’ idea, and He
got it going, and…
He keeps it going
Colossians 1:17 (NRSV)
If you believe the first four
words of Scripture (In the beginning, God), the rest is enlightenment on how
good God really is towards His creation.
By Jesus' power the whole creation is held together. The youngster who prayed by his bedside can
teach us a lot about this: "Dear
Lord, take care of Mommy, Daddy, Sis and me.
And Lord, take care of Yourself, 'cause if anything ever happens to You,
we're sunk!"
Ownership! It was God’s idea, God got it going, and God
keeps it going! Incidentally, He's doing
a great job as owner! But never forget
the final piece of logic from this text:
It's all going to Him
all things have been created through him and for him… Colossians 1:16b
The Bible declares that
everything (you, me and the lamp post we lean on) was created FOR
Jesus. Like it or not, there is an
accountability for our lives. He is the
Owner, and ownership presupposes accountability.
On another vacation our family
visited the Mammoth Cave in Kentucky.
You go down, down, down in this
hole in the ground (it was so incredibly deep I distinctly recall hearing a
muffled voice on the other side of the wall - speaking Chinese!) At 300' below the surface there is a
plaque. It tells how the early Indians
would not go any deeper. They felt they
had no right, that this was the world of the forces of darkness. The ancients believed if they went deeper
demons and gods of the deep would attack.
Somewhat below this level is the remains of a 2,500 year-old man who
didn't make it back.
It's no wonder they were
afraid. Darkness and not-knowing are
frightening. But God wouldn't have that
for us. The beloved apostle, John, said,
The
Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory.... This is not a god of darkness and fear. This is the God of all creation, Who has let
us see His face.
The Bible says that every knee
shall bow. One day we will all stand
before Jesus. Some of us will stand in
judgment, others will stand for rewards.
The difference between the two will be only one:
WHICH SIDE OF THE QUESTION DID YOU STAND ON?
Have you taken the "leap of
faith" that says,
·
I choose to
believe the first four words of the Bible, and then the rest of the story, that
God loves me, and Jesus died for me.
·
I accept Him
as my Savior. I turn from sin and defeat
and judgment."
You can bow later in judgment -
or you can bow now in humility and receive Christ as Savior. But you will bow!
In the name of the Father, Son
and Holy Spirit, amen!
No comments:
Post a Comment