Colossians 1:12-19 – It Pleased the Father – Bible study

Colossians 1:12-19 It Pleased the Father \#19\ Paul tells us that certain things are so simply because it pleases the Father to that it should be that way. Truthfully, that is pretty much the reason all things are the way they are. One of the things that pleased the Father is to exalt His Son. This section of Scripture sets forth some of the things that are true of our Savior. They are not necessarily things that God is seeking our agreement upon, although it is always to our benefit to agree with God. Rather, the are statement facts. If you understand them and live like you believe them, you will definitely be blessed. During this Christmas season, lets see what God thinks of His Son. I. \#14\ Jesus is our Redeemer. A. The word "redeemed" is one that speaks of salvation. 1. There are many – saved, born again, forgiven, adopted, and others. 2. Each one of these words describes a specific aspect of Gods salvation. B. Redeemed means to buy back or to purchase again. 1. The phrase itself describes us. a. We once belonged to God. You can not buy something BACK that was not already yours. b. But somehow we became the possession of another. (1) \#13\ The other is associated with darkness. (2) Darkness means the devil, sin, evil. c. But Jesus paid the price to get up back. 2. Consider what that aspect of redemption means. a. Not everyone can buy something back. b. To do so, at least two things must be true. (1) You must have the means to purchase the item. (a) The cost to purchase us was death. (b) To be honest, at first, God did not have the means to make that payment. (c) That is why Jesus was incarnated, put into flesh. (d) Jesus was literally being born so that He could die. (2) You must be willing to pay the price. (a) There are a lot of things I want. (b) I just dont want them badly enough to pay the price. c. But Jesus actually REDEEMED us and not us only. He paid the price for all to be redeemed. II. \#15\ Jesus is the image of the invisible God. A. That verse first points out that the God we worship is invisible to our eyes. 1. We cannot see Him. John 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared [him]. 2. If we cannot see Him, it is very difficult for us to know Him. I think this is what Philip was getting at when he asked to see the Lord. John 14:8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. 9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? 3. But notice Jesus response. If you have seen me, you have seen the Father. B. So in Jesus, we get to see what God is like. (That makes sense when you understand that Jesus is God.) 1. We get to see Gods holiness. Matt 21:12 And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, 13 And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves. Mark 3:5 And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other. Mt 23:27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead mens bones, and of all uncleanness. 2. We get to see Gods compassion. Matt 7:2 And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. 3 And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. \#Mark 1:41, Lu 5:13\ John 8:4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. 7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. 10 Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? 11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. III. \#15\ He is the preeminent One. A. There are three terms in these verses which seem to me to point similar truths. 15 the firstborn of every creature. 17 And He is before all things. 18 that in all things he might have the preeminence. B. All three of these phrases say to me that Jesus is the the One that God has placed above all things and all others. 1. Again I say, when you know who Jesus is, that only makes sense. a. He is God. b. He submitted Himself fully and completely to the will of the Father. c. He completed all that was asked of Him. 2. As a result of these things, it makes sense that God is going to put Him before all other things. C. The question to ask would be, "If God knows enough to put Someone like that ahead of all others, why do we have such a hard time with it?" 1. Jesus did all of these things because it was the Fathers will. It brought the Father glory. 2. However, who is the direct beneficiary of what Jesus did? Is it not us? 3. If anyone gives Jesus the preeminence, should it not be those of us who benefited so richly from His actions? 4. Yet, it seems that what we do is to give God the a. leftovers b. hand-me-downs c. seconds 5. You know what we are? a. We are the leftovers. b. After sin used us, abused us, and threw us away, we came to Jesus. c. Then, we who are the leftovers, give our leftovers God. d. That is not much, is it? 6. As we approach a New Year, why dont we make up our minds to quit giving the preeminent One the leftovers? IV. \#16\ Jesus is the Creator of all things. A. This is a real stickler for a lot of people today. 1. I am amazed at how many people believe what people say without ever researching it. a. Have you noticed how most anything that has to do with the medical, they stick someone on with a white smock to sell it? b. I saw an article yesterday how DNA research had unlocked one of Darwins mysteries. (1) Looking over the article, they have found in the DNA how flowers that were on the earth 200 million years ago changed into something that was to what we have today. (2) Several thoughts popped into my head. (a) How was that a mystery to Darwin? Darwin, although a proponent of evolution, never in his wildest dreams thought the world was millions, let alone billions, of years old. (b) How do they know that what they found had anything to do with 200 million years ago? What was there a sticker there that told them when this change was supposed to have taken place? 2. The truth of the matter is that God is the Creator of all things, both the things that we can see and the things that we cannot see. B. \#17\ Not only is God the Creator of all things, but He is also the One who holds all things together. V. \#18\ Jesus is the Head of the church. A. That is not this building or even this congregation. 1. That is the collective body of all believers from all times. 2. This local assembly is just speck of the overall body of Christ. 3. \#Rev 7:9\ John tells us that no man can number the entirety of the whole body of Christ. B. However, this congregation is a part of Christs local, living, laboring body. 1. That means we are here, we are alive, and we are working as Christ directs. 2. If you are a Christian, why would you not want to be a part of that? 3. To be a part of the local church, you must meet certain qualifications. a. You must be saved. b. You must be baptized. c. You must be attempting to live in accordance to the Bible; that is, you must be submitted to Jesus Christ.