Sermon 1-25-15 – the real Jesus – cosmic or personal - Col 1:15-20
The
Supremacy of the Son of God
15 The Son is the image of the invisible
God, the firstborn over all creation.
16 For in him all things were created: things
in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or
rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.
17 He is before all things, and in him all
things hold together. 18 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. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness
dwell in him, 20 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. Col 1:15-20
Series. The real
Jesus.
Visionary-
he has a plan and you’re a big part of it
Rule
follower- but not always the human rules
Just
a man or son of God
The
personal Jesus vs the cosmic Christ
Jesus
– the man. 33 years on this earth.
Christ-
the anointed one. Before all things.
How
do you get the giant God into a human body?
Hypostatic
union - a term in Christian theology
used to describe the union of Christ's humanity and divinity in one hypostasis,
or individual existence
Its
difficult to understand but
My
hope is that our minds will open to a larger Jesus
We are going to start with personal, move to cosmic and
come back to personal.
Matthew
10:29-31New
International Version (NIV)
29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will
fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.[a] 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
Most
of us know Jesus as the guy loves us as individuals and who lives in our hearts
Yes
he lives in our hearts. This is amazing
But
there are problems encountered here
Our
concepts of Jesus limit Jesus
Jesus
is white, Jesus has a beard, Jesus has brown eyes.
Since
Jesus no longer has a body, all of those statements are false
There
is a Buddhist saying
If
you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him
The
moment we bind him, we destroy him
Our
ideas of Jesus limit him
He
is much bigger than our ideas. Our concepts hem him in so the Jesus of
our creation must be eradicated
We
limit him
Not
just in body, but also in theology
We
do the same thing with our theology
Our
theological ideas about him can bind him
25%
of Christians in the world do not believe in the trinity.
In
their theology, Jesus and the spirit proceed from the father.
Does
this mean that they will go to hell?
I
am the way, the truth and the life
So
you must do it exactly as I have done it
Knowing
Jesus comes at a different level than believing a bunch of things in your head
cataphatic
and apophatic knowledge
We
like to know, that which cannot be known.
There
is a knowing beyond knowledge
There
is an awareness of god beyond the borders that we place on him
The cosmic Jesus
Was
present in creation
Was
from the beginning
Does
not inhabit a body
Is
a spirit
Is
enormous
Is
not bound by our ideas about him
What
if the way the truth and the life refers to the Jesus that is cosmic……….. in
every home, in every world, in every galaxy,
He
holds all things together
Rob
bell story – velvet Elvis
Its
that feeling that you get on the beach, the redwood forest..
God
is present. God is speaking.
Every
time you find the way, every time you find truth, every time you find life, you
have in some way encountered the cosmic Jesus who lives and rules beyond our
ideas about him
He
is every where out there………
Now, here is the amazing thing……..the Jesus that is that
big is,
is indeed the very one who lives within your heart
This
is the joy of salvation. To know that god himself, immeasurable,
indescribable god lives within our hearts.
As
the song says -
Indescribable,
uncontainable, you placed the stars in the sky and you know me by name. you’re an amazing God……
And so we are inspired to worship! To love God, & to say thank you to him.
15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 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. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 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. Col 1:15-20
No comments:
Post a Comment