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Guest (Male): Pastor Tom Keller looks forward to the day when believers will receive their new glorified bodies. You'll have a body just like Jesus.

Pastor Thom Keller: You're going to have a body like his someday. Are you excited about that? Ready to give this one up? Yeah, if you're young, you're saying maybe not yet. You know, I've said, isn't it kind of cool that God set this whole thing up that we start out as a baby and then mature and then mature and then get older and older and older because the older we get, the more ready we are to get our new body. Think how wild, how ugly we'd be if we started old and just kept getting younger. Right? We we said it's just getting better.

Why would I want to go now? Wouldn't why is it set up the way he did? Hey, welcome to Study the Word with Pastor Tom Keller. So, how do you picture God? Perhaps images of a kind grandfather or some sort of celestial Santa Claus pops into your mind. Today, we're going to get a very good look at our Lord as we consider Jesus. Colossians chapter 1 paints a brilliant picture of Christ and Pastor Tom is here to highlight that for us. After all, if you've seen Jesus, you've seen the Father. The coach grimaced as he watched his young soccer team.

At one point during the game, he called one of his 7-year-old players aside and said, do you understand what cooperation is? What a team is? The little boy nodded affirmatively. Do you understand that what matters is not whether we win or lose, but how we play together as a team? The boy nodded once more. So, the coach continued. I'm sure you know that when a penalty is called, you shouldn't argue, curse, attack the referee, or call him a jerk. Do you understand all that? Again, the boy nodded. He continued. And when I call you off the field so that another boy gets a chance to play, it's not good sportsmanship to call your coach a dumb idiot, is it?

The little boy nodded again. Good, the coach said. Now, go over and explain all that to your father. Check in. I coach didn't want to talk to the father, so he talked to the son. And you know, the truth is a lot of us have a similar kind of a image in our mind of the difference between talking to God and talking to Jesus. We're maybe more comfortable talking to Jesus than we are God because of some images we have in our mind related to that. So, we want to kind of correct that this morning.

We want to line up with what the Bible says. Last week, we looked at these verses 15 and 17. It says Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation. For through him, God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. The things that he made the things we can see and the things we can't see such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. He, Christ, existed before anything else and he, Christ, holds all creation together.

But before we move on, I'd like to make just two points about these verses, points that are in addition to Dwayne's excellent teaching. The verses from 15 verse 15 says Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. How do you picture God in your mind's eye? Do you always picture him seated on his throne? Maybe a crown on his head, maybe a scepter in his hand? Does he have a stern look on his face? Squinting, narrow eyes searching as he looks at you? Maybe with lightning bolts in his hand?

With a loud, booming, echoing voice? With a sound of static electricity constantly in the background? With little mini lightning strikes emanating from his throne, always in the background? All those little lightning bolts? So, maybe that's how you picture God. But how do you picture Jesus in your mind's eye? Gentle, kind, loving, forgiving, understanding, holding children? Maybe you have scenes of the Gospels like him with the woman caught in adultery, the woman at the well. Or maybe the scene where he gently called out Mary at the tomb after the resurrection. And you know, something that helps reinforce our kind of stern view of God is the fact that we know from the Bible that we don't stand a chance of seeing him and living to tell about it.

Exodus 33 verse 20 says this. But he, God, said to Moses, you cannot see my face for no one can see me and live. That adds to that mystery that fear, that anxiety. But yet Jesus said through the four Gospels, we have seen Christ. The truth is, the truth is, the truth is, if you want to know what God looks like, you already know. Jesus himself told you this. In John 14 verse 8, it says this. Philip said, Lord, show us the Father and we'll be satisfied. He says, show us what God looks like. Jesus replied, have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still don't know who I am?

Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. So, why are you asking me to show him to you? He says, have I been with you all this time yet you still don't know who I am? That you still don't know that Jesus is God, that I am God, God is me? Listen, Philip was with him for three years. How long have you been with Jesus? Philip didn't have the Holy Spirit at this point. You do. He's questioning, Philip, why don't you understand this? After three years with no Holy Spirit, we have the Holy Spirit.

We should understand this. And his answer is, anyone who has seen me has seen the Father which is the same thing that we have here in verse 15. It says this. Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. You've seen me, you've seen me in the Gospels, you've seen the Father. And folks, this is a huge understanding so that you can feel safe and even welcomed when you enter into his throne room, which you are invited by God to do. You know, this picture is taken from a scene of Ezekiel's vision of the throne.

And we're invited into that throne room. Hebrews 4:16 says this. So, let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy and we will find grace to help us when we need it most in our time of need. And so, how will you be received by God when you enter into that throne room? As you approach his throne room, that's kind of an intimidating scene. But the next picture is really what you will encounter. If you have seen me, you have seen the Father. Exactly the way you picture Jesus is how you will be welcomed to the throne room by God.

As we learn here in Colossians, listen just one more time. Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. And one last point in this section of Scripture is verse 17 dealing with science which confirms verse 17. It says he, Christ, existed before anything else and he, Christ, holds all creation together. Science now confirms that there is a force that holds the protons and neutrons of an atom together and at the exact correct distance from one another. Without this force holding the protons and neutrons together, matter simply could not exist. Listen again. Without this force, matter simply could not exist.

And there is a force predicted by quantum physics described by the Higgs mechanism which is a theory that states that the universe is filled with a type of unknown electromagnetic field that holds the nucleons together. It has been called the God particle. And an article entitled quote particle physics model misbehavior, it states concerning muons which are simply a heavy, stable version of electrons. It says quote this deviation would suggest that there is an unknown force tugging on these muons while science physicists saying that they are aware of an unknown force tugging on electron, a force that they've labeled the God particle.

There's an article written on this. It says quote one of the most respected scientists of the day says that he he has found evidence of the action of a force that governs everything. It says Michio Kaku, a professor in theoretical physics at the City College of New York, has published more than 70 articles in physics journals on topics such as supersymmetry, superstring theory, and super gravity. The theoretical physicist Kaku claims to have discovered a theory that might point to the existence of God. The information has created quite a stir in the scientific community as you would expect because Kaku is considered one of the most important scientists of our times, one of the creators and developers of the revolutionary string theory which is highly respected throughout the world.

After conducting tests involving tachyons, Kaku came to the conclusion that we live in a matrix. He says quote I have concluded that we live in a world made by rules created by an intelligence. He goes on and says quote to me, it is a clear sign that we exist on a plane which is governed by rules that were created, listen, were created and shaped by a universal intelligence and not by chance. Listen that again. A leading physicist, I'm convinced that we are we live in a plane which is governed by rules that were created and shaped by a universal intelligence, not by chance.

A respected physicist saying that. And they're telling us that science is aware of an unknown force holding electrons together. God told us what that force was 2,000 years ago, the source of that force. Verse 17, he existed, Christ existed before anything else and he, Christ, holds all creation together. Praise God. Isn't it cool in this battle between science and God which doesn't need to be a battle, that science is catching up with the Bible, science and religion? And you know, the more they discover, the more it's going to confirm the Bible. It has. I remember years ago reading an article back in the 1700s a group of scientists in France that had 50 reasons, 50 reasons that the Bible couldn't be true.

And by the early 1900s, all but one of those had been proven true by the by science. They're catching up. I'm glad. They will. Going on verse 18, it says Christ is also the head of the church which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. He so he is first in everything. For God in all his fullness, listen, for God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ. And through him, God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ's blood on the cross.

This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. And now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence. Listen, this is so good and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. Without a single fault, what powerful words those are and what a powerful truth that represents. Let's look at verse 18 by itself to start. It says Christ is also the head of the church which is his body.

He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So, he is first in everything. Christ is the head of the church. The theme of Colossians is the supremacy of Christ. In Greek, the word for supreme or supremacy is it means anything supreme, chief, preeminent. And Paul says that Christ is the chief, the preeminent, the supreme leader, creator of all that is seen and unseen including you and me, all of us individually and corporately as the body of Christ. And Paul tells us here that Jesus is the first who will, in fact did, rise from the dead.

And what event is Paul pointing to here? He's pointing to Jesus's resurrection from the tomb following his crucifixion. And the angels confirmed this to the women at the well that he was back from the dead. Mark 16 verse 5 says this. When they, the women, entered the tomb, they saw a young man and angel clothed in a white robe sitting on the right side. The women were shocked. But the angel said, don't be alarmed. You're looking for Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified. He isn't here. He has risen from the dead. They confirmed that. And we find the same thing in Romans 8 verse 29.

It says for God knew his people in advance and he chose them to become like his son so that his son, so Jesus would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. The first to rise from the dead as we find here in Colossians chapter 1 verse 18. Christ is also the head of the church which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So, he is first in everything including rising from the dead. But some might argue, but Tom, that's simply not true. They could say others rose from the dead before Jesus.

Jesus wasn't the first to rise from the dead. They might say in fact Jesus himself raised many from the dead before Jesus's resurrection. Example Lazarus. In John, Mary and Martha at the tomb and Jesus arrives, it says this. John chapter 11, Jesus shouted Lazarus come out. And the dead man came out alive, his hands and feet bound in grave clothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. And Jesus told them unwrap him and let him go. Wouldn't you like to see what he did when he got out of that grave clothes? I think he did a jig.

And he was just dancing around, yelling and screaming. But he rose from the dead. So, how can Jesus say he's the first to rise from the dead? Because Jesus was the first to come back from the dead by this brand new resurrection power and in his new final live forever resurrected heavenly body never to die again. Because Lazarus when he came back from the dead, died again. The 12-year-old daughter of Jairus when Jesus raised her from the dead, died again. Tabitha in Acts chapter 9 whom Peter raised from the dead, died again. But Jesus's body and your resurrected body, you will never die again.

That's because all of these came back to life in their old earth suits. But when Jesus came back from the dead, he came back in his new resurrected body, the same kind of body that you will have one day when we die. The Bible assures us of this in 1 Corinthians 15. Every human being has a body just like Adam's made of dust. But all who become Christ will have the same kind of body as his, a body from heaven. Just as each of us now has a body like Adam's, listen, so we shall someday have a body like Christ.

Philippians 3:21. He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own using the same power which he will bring everything under his control. In 1 Corinthians 15 verse 42, it is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. Our bodies were buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies.

For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies. You're going to get a body like Jesus's. What could his body do? Appear in and out of a room at like that? Could still eat, could be seen, could be touched? Put your hands in my hands, put your hand in my side, see that it's not me. It had substance. You're going to have a body like his someday. Are you excited about that? Ready to give this one up? Yeah, if you're young, you're saying maybe not yet. You know, I've said, isn't it kind of cool that God set this whole thing up that we start out as a baby and then mature and then mature and then get older and older and older because the older we get, the more ready we are to get our new body.

Think how wild, how ugly we'd be if we started old and just kept getting younger. Right? We we said it's just getting better. Why would I want to go now? Wouldn't why is it set up the way he did? You know, that's why so many people when they get older, older Christians get so gracious when they get older cuz they're ready. This place no longer has an attraction to them. You see those faces on those people. This isn't their home. It's a beautiful thing. We have so much. We have so much waiting for us. Listen, does anybody in here have anything in your calendar for 100 years from today?

Is your calendar open? 100 years from today exactly. Your calendar's open? Put let's all get together 100 years from now and let's talk about how when we got our new body, it just blew us away. Can we talk about that? Let's just all get together. You in? You all in? 100 years. I'll remind you there's some buzzer up there I can push. I'll remind you. Go ahead to verse 19. For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ. This is amazing. God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ. There are two points here.

Number one, God in all his fullness dwelt in Christ. FF Bruce, the commentator, says quote the totality of divine essence and power is resident in Christ and all of the attributes of God, his power, his spirit, his wisdom, his authority and glory are disclosed in Christ. Wow. And yet all that power, all the power of God resident in his body and yet at the same time he is meek and lowly. Matthew 11 tells us that Jesus speaking, he says, take my yoke upon you and learn of me. Learn of me. What are we to learn?

I am meek and lowly in heart. I am meek and lowly in heart. In the Greek world, the word meek meant power under control. This word was used of people who had weapons like swords and had the right and ability to use them but were determined to keep them sheathed and thus remain in the correct moral position at all times. So, meekness is when someone has the ability to use force but doesn't. You know, if you think about it, can you kind of get inside of Jesus's body during that three years and imagine what it would have been like to restrain that power, to hold that power back?

Listen, the fullness of God was in Christ. All of that power. And remember, Jesus made everything that is seen and unseen and holds it all together all in that body. And yet in meekness, he held that power back. As an example, what about when John the back when his cousin John was beheaded holding back that power, keeping that power sheathed? The religious leaders wanted to throw him over the cliff. Oh, the show he could have put on. When he overturned the money changers table, you know what that could have looked like? That could have been a tornado, a whirlwind.

Worse than that. When the religious leaders accused him of doing his miracles by the power of Satan, all what he could have unleashed. As they put those nails up against his palms and began pounding, restraining that power. The second point to this, Colossians 1:19 says this. For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ. It says God in all his fullness was pleased to live, to dwell in Christ. And this speaks to what their relationship was like, is like Jesus and God. God honors his son and his son honors God. John 17:1 says this.

After saying these things, Jesus looked up to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify your son. God to the son, glorify your son so he can give glory back to you. And then John 17:5 four verses later, now Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began. And yet Jesus restrained himself and refused to act on this fullness of God which was fully fully resident in his human body. Philippians 2 verse 6 says this. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.

Instead, he gave up his divine privileges. He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in a human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross. So, we see that it pleased God to give Jesus the fullness of all of the Father's attributes. And although Jesus had all of God's power at his command available to him, he never acted on that right.

Guest (Male): You're listening to Pastor Tom Keller on Study the Word and we're in a study of Colossians right now. Would you like to give this a second listen? Either go to our website at ccleb.com or visit our YouTube page. Simply subscribe to our channel at Calvary Chapel Lebanon and you can watch our services live or on demand. That includes this series in Colossians. For those interested in a CD copy, call 717 273 5633. Once again, that's 717 273 5633. Study the Word is listener supported. With your help, we're able to reach thousands of people all over the world.

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