Seeing Jesus | Colossians 1:15-20

Well, good morning, Watermark.

How are we doing today?

Hey, good to see you.

I hope your holiday weekend is going really well.

College football is back.

That's a good thing.

I'm so glad to see you.

I'm so excited for what God has in store for us this morning.

If this is your first time ever with us, thanks for trusting us with your Sunday.

I hope that this place feels like home very quickly.

I want to start just by sharing with you all something I've shared before when I was talking about marriage.

But in case you weren't here for it, several years ago, like Doug and Diane,

there was a point in our marriage where Kat and I were just struggling.

It was just harder than we wanted it to be.

So there's a few things we did.

One, we sought counsel from some close friends.

Two, we actually went to a marriage counselor just to kind of talk things through.

But the third thing we did was this exercise that someone had shared with me,

and we just decided we would try it.

Okay.

The exercise was to sit on the floor and touch knees with one another.

And then for 10 minutes, you had to sit silently just staring at one another.

Very awkward exercise.

Very uncomfortable.

Like Kat and I are both people who like to joke around,

and so you can imagine the jokes that came into your mind

when you're just sitting there silently touching knees,

and just looking at each other.

And so the first couple minutes were incredibly uncomfortable.

Like just very awkward.

But then something crazy happened, and at least for us,

and you might never try this.

You might, and I would just challenge you to just give it a whirl.

See what happens.

But for us, something happened that by the end of that 10 minutes,

we both just had tears.

Tears coming down our eyes.

And it wasn't tears from pain.

It wasn't tears from laughter.

It was tears because something new was happening in our marriage.

And the reason that I had tears coming down my eyes

is because I was beginning to see Kat again for who she was.

And having eyes to see her again now in a new and fresh way.

What it did was it exposed to me the attitudes and actions toward her

that just weren't...

That just weren't fitting in light of who she was.

And my appreciation for her began to climb again

because I was seeing her clearly.

And there was this new desire to move in close to her,

to be near her, and to be connected again.

And the reason that I even share that experience with you again

is we're not talking about marriage this morning,

but we are talking about intimacy with Jesus Christ.

And as I thought,

on that experience,

here's what I realized.

We all need an experience like that with Jesus.

We all need to have a moment

where we, in a sense,

begin to see him clearly again.

Where we begin to gaze at him in a way

that it unearths in us a realization

for the attitudes and actions that we might have toward him

that just aren't fitting in light of who he is.

We need to be able to see him in a way

that approaches us.

Where our appreciation for him might begin to climb.

We need to see him in a way that would stir in us

a new desire to be close to him and near him.

And we will know that we are seeing Jesus clearly

when those things are happening,

when attitudes and actions that aren't fitting,

we feel it.

Where we genuinely sense appreciation for him

and desire to be with him.

And so,

what we're doing today

as we step back into the book of Colossians

is we are looking at the most famous passage

in the entire book.

But it's not just the most famous passage

in the book of Colossians.

This is actually

one of the most beautiful passages

about Christ in the entire New Testament.

That's not just my opinion.

If you go and read commentators,

scholars would all agree.

This is one of the most beautiful passages

on Christ

in the entire,

entire New Testament.

And as we walk through this passage,

verse by verse,

what it is,

is an invitation to every person in this room

to see Jesus clearly.

Like this is an opportunity for you to,

in a sense,

get on the ground

and get knee to knee with Jesus

to just stare at him

in hopes of seeing him

in a fresh way

that might stoke the fire of intimacy

in your relationship once again.

So if you have a Bible,

I want to invite you

to turn with me

to Colossians chapter one.

Colossians chapter one

is where we're going to be today

looking at verses 15 through 20.

Colossians 1, 15 through 20 says this.

He, that's Jesus,

is the image of the invisible,

the invisible God,

the firstborn of all creation,

for by him all things were created

in heaven and on earth,

visible and invisible,

whether thrones or dominions

or rulers or authorities.

All things were created through him

and for him.

And he's before all things.

And in him all things hold together.

And he's the head of the body,

the church.

He's the beginning,

the firstborn from the dead.

That in everything,

he might be preeminent.

For in him all the fullness of God

was pleased to dwell.

And through him to reconcile to himself

all things,

whether on earth or in heaven,

making peace by the blood of his cross.

I just want to invite you right now

to pray for yourself.

And here's the prayer

I want to invite you to pray today.

Just pray, Lord Jesus,

help me to see you in a fresh way today.

Help me to see you.

And would you pray for the people around you

and just say, God,

would you give everyone in this room

spiritual sight today?

And then would you pray for me?

Would you pray that God would use me?

To show you Jesus clearly today.

Lord Jesus,

I pray that not one person

would walk out of here today

without getting a fresh glimpse from you.

Lord, would you give us eyes

to see you in a way

that would truly change us.

We love you and give this time to you

in Jesus' name.

Amen.

I want to show you,

something that I did this week.

And the reason I'm going to show it to you

is just to show you what you can do

in your own time with God,

which might help the word of God

come more alive to you.

And the reason I'm going to show you this

is it's going to help us see

right from the beginning

what the point of this passage even is.

So this is part of my journal,

if we can put it up there.

So this is something

that I would encourage you to try.

Here's what I did,

is I wrote out the passage.

Ben encouraged me,

encouraged us to do that last week.

And what it does is

it causes you to slow down

and to engage with the passage

in a way that you normally don't.

And what I did is

I broke it down based on punctuation.

So anytime there was a period or a comma,

I would space that out

and go to the next line.

And when I'm studying the scripture like this,

what I like to do is

I like to highlight

repeated words and phrases.

I like to underline verbs

and I like to circle key words

or phrases.

What I want you to focus on here

is the highlights.

Because when you go through a text

and you begin to highlight

the words and phrases that are repeated,

you know what happens

is it just kind of causes

the point of the passage

to jump out at you.

So as I was going through this,

here's what I saw.

If you look at the yellow highlights,

you know what you see?

Four different times in the passage

you see the words,

He is.

So in five verses,

in verses 15 through 20,

He is is mentioned four different times.

Why?

Because this is a passage

that is just unpacking

who Jesus is.

And then if you look at the blue highlights,

what you see is that two different times

the word firstborn is used.

So Jesus is referred to as

the firstborn of all creation

and then He's referred to

as the firstborn from the dead.

That's interesting terminology

and it happens twice in the same passage.

I'm going to show you in this talk

how Jesus being the firstborn,

that's not referring to His birth order.

That's actually referring to His supremacy.

And then if you look at the highlights in pink,

you have eight different times

where the word all is used.

Small little word, all,

but all creation.

All things, all things,

all things, all things,

in everything.

Same word in Greek.

All the fullness of God.

All things.

So what's the point

when you begin to put this together?

This is a passage about Jesus

who is supreme over all things.

And now if you look at the orange,

like University of Tennessee

or Longhorn kind of orange there,

what you see

is by Him,

through Him,

for Him,

in Him,

and through Him.

So think about that.

This is a passage about Jesus

who is supreme over all things

and all things are by Him,

in Him,

through Him,

and for Him.

What's the point?

Jesus is the point.

He is the point.

He is the point of everything.

Got it?

That's where we're going this morning.

And my hope is that when you leave today,

you can go ahead and take this down.

My hope today

is that you would leave here

with new eyes to see

that Jesus is in fact supreme over all things

and He is the point of everything,

including your life.

So as we go through this passage,

I'm going to encourage you

to make five different decisions.

Maybe you've already made some of them,

but I'm going to encourage

five different decisions today

and the hope is that you would leave here

with an urgency in your bones

to at least make a couple of them.

The first decision that some of you need to make

in regards to sight

is you just need to start looking at Jesus.

That's my encouragement to some of you.

Maybe you're just visiting today.

Maybe you don't have a relationship with Jesus Christ.

My encouragement to you is to simply,

start looking at Jesus.

Verse 15 starts by saying that He, Jesus,

is the image of the invisible God.

That's a magnificent statement.

He is the image of the invisible God.

Now, if you're familiar with your Bible,

then a good thing for you to do

would be to pair that verse

with Genesis 1, 26 and 27,

which says that humanity has been created, what?

In the image of God.

Humanity was created in the image of God to do what?

To represent and reflect God throughout the earth.

But Paul says that Jesus wasn't created in the image of God.

Paul says that Jesus is the image of the invisible God.

So what is Paul communicating?

What Paul is communicating is that

Jesus doesn't just represent God on the earth.

Jesus Christ reveals God perfectly

on the earth.

That Jesus Christ actually has made the invisible visible.

We can see God.

We can know God.

We can understand God.

And we can fall in love with God

because Jesus Christ is God

up close and personal.

God has, in a sense, moved into the neighborhood

for us to get to know Him.

Just a few verses later in verse 19,

look at what Paul says.

Look at what Paul says about Jesus.

This is powerful.

He says,

For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.

What does that mean?

It means that Jesus is the place

where all that can be known and experienced of God

is to be found.

So just think about it.

There's these false teachers in Colossae

who are saying,

Look, if you want to experience

the fullest extent of spiritual maturity,

if you want to ascend the spirit,

the spiritual mountain,

you're going to have to look beyond Jesus.

And Paul is like,

You don't look beyond Jesus.

You look in Jesus.

Because if you're going to be fulfilled in God,

you've got to look to the one

in whom the fullness of God is found.

And that's Jesus Christ.

So some of you here this morning,

I just want to invite you to start looking at Jesus.

You remember in the movie Forrest Gump,

when Lieutenant Dan is like,

Have you found Jesus, Forrest?

And what did Forrest say?

I don't know.

I was supposed to be looking for him, sir.

That was terrible, by the way.

I can feel Cat cringing right now.

Like I can just feel it.

But think about what Forrest is saying.

He's saying,

Look, I didn't even know

I was supposed to be looking for him.

And maybe that's where you are this morning.

You're like,

I didn't even know

that I was supposed to be looking for him.

I didn't know that Jesus

was the one that I was looking for.

The reason you're here right now

is because you sense

that something is missing in your life.

And so something in you

has been wondering right here

at the beginning of the fall

if becoming a more spiritual person

is what's missing.

And let me just say this.

It's not just becoming a spiritual person.

It's becoming a Christ follower.

That's what's missing from your life.

Because Jesus,

Jesus Christ has made God known to us.

You can fall in love with God

by moving in close

and getting to know Jesus.

So my encouragement to you

is to seek to find Jesus.

The best way to find him

is through studying this book,

the Bible.

If you don't have a Bible,

would you allow us

to give you one as a gift today?

And I encourage you

to go open up the Gospel of John,

which is just,

it's just,

getting you,

it's an introduction

to the person of Jesus.

If you've got questions about the faith,

we have a ministry here at the church

called Great Questions.

It's not meeting tomorrow night

because of the holiday,

but next Monday,

7.30,

right here at the church.

It's an opportunity for anyone to come

and to just ask questions

so that you can begin to see Jesus

more clearly.

So maybe that's a decision

you need to make

is you just need to start looking at Jesus.

But others of you,

the decision you need to make

is you need to see your point

and purpose in Jesus.

This is what I want to invite

the entire room to see.

I want to invite everyone here

to see your point and purpose

in Jesus.

Where do I get that from the text?

Well, let's unpack some more.

So verse 15, Paul says,

he is the image of the invisible God.

But then he goes on,

he says he's the firstborn

of all creation.

When we use that word firstborn

in our English language,

we always think it's talking

about birth order.

We use it in reference

to our oldest child.

And a lot of people think

that that's what the scriptures

are doing in regard to Jesus.

So when a Jehovah's witness

came to my front door

and we began talking

about the deity of Christ,

you know where they turned

in their Bible?

They turned to Colossians 1.15

because they're like,

Jesus hasn't,

Jesus isn't God.

He is a created,

mighty spiritual being.

Why?

Because this text says

that he was born.

Do you know why we have

the Nicene Creed?

If you grew up in a church

which read the Nicene Creed,

do you know why we have

the Nicene Creed?

We have the Nicene Creed

because in the fourth century,

there was a heretic named Arius

who advocated for this belief

that there was,

once when he was not,

that there was a time

when Jesus didn't exist.

That's why the Nicene Creed

affirms that Christ

was eternally begotten

of the Father,

begotten,

not made,

of one being with the Father.

Why?

Because the word firstborn here

doesn't refer to birth order.

It's not referring to

any point in time

when Jesus was created.

See, in the Bible,

the word firstborn

has multiple uses.

I think the most helpful one

in this moment

is Psalm 89, verse 27.

Listen to what God says

about King David.

He says this,

and I will make him

the firstborn,

the highest of the kings

of the earth.

Now, for those familiar

with their Bibles,

was David the firstborn child

of his father, Jesse?

No.

Where did he come

in birth order?

Last, remember?

He was last.

He was so insignificant

that his own dad,

when Samuel came

to anoint the next king,

he didn't even bother

bringing David in

because he's like,

surely it's not the youngest.

And yet here is God is like,

I'm going to take the youngest

and I'm going to make him

the firstborn.

So it can be talking

about birth order here.

We see it in the text.

It says,

I will make him the firstborn,

the highest,

the highest of the kings

of the earth.

So the word firstborn

in the scripture,

it can refer to birth order,

but it can also refer

to supremacy.

So what God is saying here

is I'm going to make David

the supreme king

on the earth

during his time.

That he will be

more important

than any other king

in the world.

And that's what he's doing here

with Jesus when he says

that Jesus Christ

is the firstborn

of all creation.

He means that Jesus,

is the supreme king

over all creation.

There is no one

of greater importance

than Jesus.

That's what he's pointing to.

Jesus is supreme.

But now Paul goes on

and explains

why he's able to say that.

So this is where

I really need you to lock in

because this is amazing.

He goes on in verse 16

and he says,

for by him,

by Jesus,

all things were created

in heaven

and on earth,

visible and invisible,

whether thrones or dominions

or rulers or authorities,

all things were created

through him and for him.

So the reason Paul is saying,

the reason that I can call him

the firstborn of all creation,

the reason I can declare

that he is the supreme king

over all creation

is because

Jesus

was the agent of creation.

Think of it this way.

God the Father was the mastermind

and Jesus was the muscle.

When it came to

all of creation

coming into existence,

God the Father was the mastermind.

Jesus Christ was the muscle.

We don't tend to think of Jesus

in this way.

When we think of Jesus,

we think of his 33 years on earth

and what we end up doing

is we end up cropping out

eternity from Jesus'

identity.

But Jesus Christ has,

he's always existed.

The eternal son of God

existed for all of eternity.

Before he took on flesh

in the person of Jesus Christ.

Isn't that incredible?

So now you can have new eyes

to see Jesus at work

when you look at all of creation.

But this is so important

that you realize

that in verse 16

when it says,

by him all things were created.

That word that we've translated by,

it's the Greek word.

It's just two letters.

It looks like the letters E and I.

N, N.

Which translates

in.

N means in.

So Paul uses the word in

when he talks about us being

in Christ.

So Paul isn't just saying

that Jesus was the agent of creation.

He's also saying that he was the

sphere of all creation.

Because commentators,

scholars believe that the

greater interpretation

is not just that things

were created by Jesus,

but everything was created

in Jesus.

So think of it this way.

Jesus is like the womb

of creation

and nothing has come

into existence

outside of Jesus'

life-giving presence

and activity.

So everyone just breathe in right now.

Breathe out.

Yeah, that's from Jesus.

Because he's the sphere of all creation.

Nothing exists.

You can reject Jesus,

but in his kindness,

he gives you the breath

with which you reject him,

which is pretty crazy to think about.

But Jesus,

he's the sphere.

Life-giving presence and activity.

Now, remember the point

that we're talking about.

We're talking about

seeing your point and purpose

in Jesus.

Well, where is it?

Where is that?

Why haven't we gotten to that yet?

Well, it's right there

at the end of verse 16.

Did you see it?

It says,

all things were created through him

and what?

For him.

Which is pretty awesome.

Because think about it.

Paul is making the point

that all of creation

began with Christ.

But creation doesn't just

begin in Christ.

Its end is Christ.

Do you see it?

Creation begins in Christ

and at the same exact time,

creation's end is Christ.

Everything and all of creation,

including you and me,

is meant to find its ultimate point

and purpose in Christ.

Like Jesus is the point of everything.

So my hope is that,

my hope is that this is really clarifying

for some people here.

If you're tuned out,

come on back.

Many of you,

many people here

are trying to figure out

how to fit Jesus

into their life.

Like you're really busy.

You got a lot going on.

And the thing that you wrestle with

from day to day

is how to fit Jesus

into your life.

But that's the wrong equation

to be working.

You're not trying to fit Jesus

into your life.

Your responsibility is to fit

your life into Jesus.

If your life,

doesn't fit in Jesus,

it's not Jesus that needs to change.

Does that make sense?

So the question you need to ask is,

does your life fit into Jesus?

You're like, well,

that's a play on words.

Like, I don't even know what you mean by that.

Well, here's what I mean.

I mean, does every aspect of your life

point and pull towards Jesus?

The answer is simple.

It's either yes or no.

If everything exists for him,

like we can boil it down.

You don't have to wonder why you exist.

You don't have to wonder what your purpose is.

The text spells it out.

You have been made for Jesus.

So the question is,

is your life about Jesus or not?

Does it point and pull towards Jesus or not?

Several years ago,

I'll explain it this way.

And look, let me state from the beginning,

I am through and through a Texas,

Rangers fan.

So I said it, okay?

So don't question what I'm about to say, okay?

When I was living in College Station,

a friend invited me to drive to Houston

for a Houston Astros game.

And so I went.

And I was so glad I went

because it was the type of experience

where this guy had been gifted tickets

from a very important person.

And it was the type of experience

where you walk down to your seats.

A lot of times we're walking up,

no, we were walking down.

And we walked all the way down

to the first row,

right directly behind the catcher.

We had the first four seats

that are directly behind the catcher.

And when I realized where we were sitting,

you know what I realized?

I realized I am going to be on television

all night long for the next three hours.

This was prior to the change in the pitch clock.

Like for the next three hours,

I am going to be televised.

And so the next three hours

were no longer about the Houston Astros.

The next three hours were about Timothy Atteague

being on television.

And it changed everything about me.

Like it changed the way I sat

because I wanted to look engaged.

It changed the way that I interacted

with the people next to me.

It changed the way that I ate.

I mean, it was free food.

So my goal was to eat continuously.

But I was like, what are people at home watching?

My life unfold.

What are they going to think?

It all became about me.

I don't even remember who won.

I just remember that it was all about me.

And I tell you that just to say,

isn't that often our reality?

Like we make life about us when it's not about us.

It's Jesus's game.

And yet we're like sitting there.

We're not even right behind the catcher.

We're like in the upper deck of right field.

And we're like, man, I think I'm on TV.

You're not.

But we're like, man,

I think everyone's attention is on me.

And so we begin to live, look at me lives

instead of look at Him lives.

And so this is where we just have to course correct

that we haven't been created to be seen.

We've been created.

to show. Like that's why we exist. We have been made by him, but we have been made for him.

And we should think about the way that we engage with others. We should think about

the way that we are reflecting Christ in the world. It should change the way that we live

and the way that we think and the way that we feel and the way that we act.

Not because we're chasing something from others, but because we've freely received the grace and

forgiveness and the love and acceptance of God. And we want to reflect that to the rest of the

world. Like we exist for him. So my hope in prayer is that we would be a people who see

our point and purpose in Jesus.

I also want to invite some of you to make the decision to be a part of the church.

To see your peace in Jesus. See your peace in Jesus. Verse 17, Paul goes on and he says this,

he is before all things. That just means that Christ existed before anything else existed.

He's before all things. Watch this. And in him, these are some of the most beautiful words.

And some believe this is the crux of the passage. In him, all things hold together.

All things hold together. So think about what it's saying. Jesus existed before space and time

existed. And yet Jesus entered into space and time. And yet space and time are only able to exist

in him. Isn't that interesting? He entered into space and time. And yet space and time are only

able to exist in him. He's the glue of the universe. He's not only the creator, but he is the

continuous sustainer of the universe. So everything would fall apart apart from him.

Now, if he holds the universe together, surely he can hold your world together. Okay, do you hear

what that's saying? He's before all things. In him, all things hold together. So if Jesus Christ

is consistently holding the entire universe together, surely he can hold your little world

together.

And what you need to understand, and this is something that it's easy for me to say, and then

I'm forced to live it. Like, here's the reality. God will give you opportunities, whether you like

it or not, to experience and to testify to his ability to sustain you. Do you hear what that's

saying? He's going to give you opportunities to experience his sustaining power in your life.

Sometimes that opportunity is going to last for a day, where work is crazy and chaotic,

and you're going to look to him and he's going to be the one holding things together. Sometimes

that opportunity is going to last weeks. Sometimes it's going to last months or even

years. And what we need to realize is that in the middle of an opportunity like that,

as long as we are focused on what we are holding, we'll never look at the one who is holding us.

And that's where stress comes. That's why we're anxious a lot of the times. A lot of the times

that we can't sleep at night, it's because we're looking at what we are having to hold,

but we're not looking at the one who is holding us. And so if you want to begin to experience

a peace that surpasses all understanding, like Philippians 4 talks about, you've got to begin

to believe that Jesus Christ truly is before all things and in him,

all things hold together. And I call them opportunities because they really are

opportunities. Like for the people that Kat and I connect with on a one-on-one basis,

one of the things, one of the God stories that we have been sharing in our lives recently

is something that happened just back in April. Like there was one Saturday night where I found

myself like, I could not sleep at night. And the reason was my mind was just,

turning and spinning about one of my kids regarding schooling for the next school year.

And so the next morning I called Kat who was out of town. And I just said, Kat, I couldn't sleep

last night because I'm thinking that we might need to make a change regarding school. And it

was already the end of April. So the reason that stress set in is because school ends the end of

May. So to make a change, there's a lot of dominoes that would need to fall. If we're going to change

schools, we've got to find a way to make a change. And so I called Kat and I said, Kat,

we've got to find a new school. Not only that, we've got to get into that school, which would

require a multiple day visit. And then we realized that some of our testing was outdated from what

schools needed. And then there'd be the question of, can we even afford it? And so when we got to

that place where we were like, we might be exploring different schools, you know what happened

is stress set in, anxiety set in. You want to know why? Because I was looking at everything

I believed that I had to hold on to. And I was looking at everything I believed that I had to

hold on to. And I was looking at everything I believed that I had to hold on to. And I was looking

together. And so that's where sleepless nights come in, is when you believe that you're the one

that's kind of spider manning your life and everything in it together. And then God just

invited us to stop looking at what we were holding and look at him who was holding us.

And it was amazing because what it did was it invited our trust to Jesus in the midst of the

unknown, not knowing what was going to happen. And

how the dominoes were going to fall. And when we allowed ourselves to turn our attention from

looking inward to upward, it began to change things. Peace began to come in. We began to

live in the uncertainty of like, we don't know what's going to happen, but we know that something

is happening. And so one of the greatest God stories that we can share, at least in this season,

and we have plenty of other seasons to share about, is that for that month, right before the

end of the last school year,

we got to watch God just begin to pull levers to do something new in our kid's life.

And he took us along for the ride. And we had a choice to make. We were either going to live

in stress and anxiety of the unknown, or we were going to rest in the one who already knew what

this fall would look like. And so I tell you that just to say, I don't know where you're at right

now, and I don't know what you're living in. But I know that every single day, every single day,

we're here. And we're only a few weeks into the school year. But whether you're single, married,

have kids, grandparent, it doesn't matter. Like everyone is holding something. And that,

whatever you're holding, it can cause a lot of stress and anxiety if all you do is look at what

you are having to hold. And I just want to invite you this morning to stop looking inward and start

looking upward, not to what you're holding, but to the one who's holding you. Because Jesus,

Christ, is before all things. And in him, all things hold together, including your individual

world. So I want to invite you to see your peace in Jesus. Next, I want to invite you to see your

place in Jesus. See your place in Jesus. Look at what Paul goes on and says about Jesus in verse

18. He says that he is, he's the head of the body, the church. So think about it. Because Christ went

to the cross, what happened? What happened? What happened? What happened? What happened? What

happened on that cross was Jesus Christ rescued and ransomed a lot of people.

And he has brought us into the family of God. He took enemies and made them children. We're not

only now in the family of God, the scriptures use a different metaphor that we have been purchased

into the body of Christ, which is the church. And so right here, Paul is using a metaphor of

a human body. And in this metaphor, Jesus Christ is the head and believers, we are the body.

So if you think about it, Paul is saying that he is the head of the body, the church, and he wants

you to visualize a human body. If you think about it, without the head, the body is incapable of

existing or operating or living. It's impossible. You can't have a body without the

body. You can't have a body without the body. You can't have a body without the body. You can't

have a body without the head. So Paul is just saying, look, that's who Jesus is. He is the head.

And because he's the head, he's actually the leader of the body. The head is the one in charge

of the body. He's the owner and he's the leader of the church. So if that's who Jesus is, that tells

us a lot about who we are at Watermark Community Church. What that means is that Jesus Christ is

truly the leader of the body. He's the leader of the body. He's the leader of the body. He's the

lead pastor of Watermark Community Church. He's the one that is ultimately in charge here. It's

not the elders who are in charge. It's Jesus Christ who is in charge. So if you want to pray

anything for the elders, please don't pray that the elders would do what you think is best for

the church. Pray that the elders would be extremely sensitive to and surrender to Christ's leadership

of his church.

Because when we stand before God, we won't give an account for how we catered to your preferences

and convictions. We'll give an account for how we followed his leadership because he's the head

and we're the body. And so we don't want to be a body that's acting separate from the head who

is the lead. So this is where you come in. Here's how I want to challenge you. As a Christian,

you belong to Christ's body, the church.

And one of the ways that you engage with the body of Christ, which is all believers universally,

is to be connected to a local expression of the body, which is Watermark Community Church is one

of those. So follow me on this. This is so important. You can't have a healthy connection

to Christ the head if you don't have a healthy connection to his body, the church.

A sign of spiritual growth is a growing connection and investment in his body,

which is the church. So I just want to invite you to evaluate right now. Are you simply attending

and spectating on Sundays? Are you dragging your feet to go through membership? Are you apathetic

towards your community group? Are you content to receive from this place every Sunday and yet not

serve or give financially to be fully invested in the work God is doing here? If that's the case,

here's what I would suggest. I would suggest that you aren't just lacking

in your relationship with the body, but you're lacking some health in your relationship with the

head of the body. There's something unhealthy in your relationship with Jesus that is leading you

to have an unhealthy relationship with his body. So let me just say this. The expectation here at

Watermark for every member is that you would be fully invested, fully invested. You'd be committed

to your community. You'd be committed to your community. You'd be committed to your community.

You would faithfully serve. You would faithfully give financially. Why? Is it because you signed a

membership covenant? No, that's not the reason you should be fully invested. The reason you should be

fully invested is because you recognize that Jesus is the head and you are part of the body.

And if you're not fully invested in and connected to the body, when you are part of the body,

you're not fully invested in and connected.

You're not fully invested in and connected to the head, which is Christ.

Finally, I want to invite you to see your future in Jesus.

Verse 18, he's the head of the body of the church. He's the beginning. That's the Greek word arche,

which carries the meaning of founder. He's the founder of something. What's Jesus Christ the

founder of? It tells us he's the firstborn from the dead. He's the founder of a new humanity

marked by resurrection life. He's the founder of a new humanity marked by resurrection life.

That's incredible. Jesus Christ was the first to conquer death in a way that he is never to die

again. And one day because he conquered death, so shall we. His resurrection guarantees our

resurrection. And so I'm just inviting you to see your future in Jesus because we desperately,

some of us desperately need that because you're just hanging by a thread.

Like I've got a friend right now that it just feels like one day after another,

there's just one punch that knocks him down after another. The amount of people that he's lost,

the physical ailments that he's experienced, the stuff he's had to navigate with one of his

children. It is enough for any of us to just say, I'm done. Think about a friend losing a loved one

to cancer way too early. I think about friends caring for a loved one with disabilities. I think

about officer Berks who was shot and killed just a couple of days ago. And by the way, I'm so

thankful for, uh,

the police officers that service here at Watermark community church. I know that several of them knew

officer Berks and the other two that were shot,

but it's easy to look at everything going on in the world and, and it's easy to lose hope.

And yet Christ is the one that we find hope in. Why? Because he's the firstborn from the dead.

He's the founder of a new humanity and that new humanity, the distinguishing marker of,

of that humanity is resurrection life. Here's what that means for those who know Jesus Christ

and have hope of that resurrection life. It means that this is the closest you will ever get to hell.

That's great news. That is great news that this is by far, without a doubt, hands down the closest

you will ever get to hell. We have hope because of Jesus Christ. And Paul just declares that because

of his resurrection, did you see what he said right there at the end of verse 18? He says that

in everything, he might be preeminent. Preeminent means first place. Don't let Jesus just be

significant when he's preeminent. Okay. He doesn't just deserve a place in your life. He deserves

first place. Why? Because he's the only one that conquered the grave for you and for me.

And so look at how verses 19 and 20 just pull everything together.

He says, for in him, he's now explaining why Jesus Christ is first place over all things. He

says, for in him, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell and through him to reconcile

to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Think about it. Paul started out by saying that Jesus Christ is supreme over all creation. All

things were created by him. All things were created for him. But you could easily argue

that Jesus lost his supremacy over all creation. The reason you could argue that is that look at

creation. Instead of order, what do you find? You find chaos. Instead of love, what do you find? You

find hatred. Instead of harmony, there's brokenness. And yet what happened? The creator entered into

his creation. The visible image of the invisible God laid down his life. His body was broken.

His blood was shed. Why? Because that's how costly sin is. And yet the agent of creation died. God

in the flesh seemingly was conquered. And on the third day, though, he walked out of the grave

victorious. And in doing so, the text says that he made peace. What does that mean? For Jesus Christ

to make peace, it means that he satisfied the wrath of God for all who had put their faith in

Christ, and he overcame evil.

And in doing so, he made peace for all who call upon the name of the Lord. You know what that

means? It means that Jesus isn't just the agent of creation. He's the agent of a new creation,

a new humanity marked by resurrection life who will one day enjoy a new heaven and a new earth

for all of eternity with no trace of Satan, sin, or death. So what do we do with this today?

Well, think about it. Kat and I sat down and we touched knees and we looked at each other for 10

minutes, and I'm so glad we did. You know why? Because it gave us a chance to just stop

and to begin to stare and to begin to see one another. There was a different option. You know

what we could have done? We could have just kept going, crossing our fingers that something would

magically change. And you can do the same thing with Jesus. You can be busy enough to say,

you know what? I'm just going to cross my fingers and hope that, you know what? Something's going

to change. Things are going to begin to turn, and I'm just going to magically begin to appreciate

and grow and get closer to Jesus. But this morning, I'm inviting you to stop and to stare.

I'm inviting you to see him. The point of the passage is that Jesus Christ is supreme over all

things. The extent of his supremacy universally should dictate the way that we live.

It should dictate the extent of his supremacy personally. If Jesus Christ is supreme over all

things universally, then he deserves to be supreme over all things personally. If you don't know

Jesus, the next step for you is to begin looking at him and to give your life to him. And if you

already know him, even if you've been walking with him for 40 years, how can you acknowledge his rule,

his reign, his supremacy?

In your life even more. My hope is that we would be a church where it is overwhelmingly clear that

Jesus Christ is before all things, and in him, all things hold together. Let's pray.

Lord Jesus, I pray that if there's anyone here this morning that doesn't have a role in this,

in our relationship with you, God, I pray that they would just begin looking toward you,

and that they would seek you and find you, Lord.

Put their trust in you. God, I pray that for the believers in this room,

God, I pray that we would see you as the point and purpose of our lives, that all of our lives

would be, we would live lives that point to you. I pray that we would find our peace in you, Lord God.

I pray that we would find our place in you, that we would be people who are fully connected to your

body because you're the head. I pray that we would see our future in you. Thank you, Lord Jesus,

that through faith, this is the closest we will ever get to hell. Thank you that a day is coming

where we will experience the new humanity that's already begun in Christ. We need you. We love you

in Jesus' name. Amen.