Who Is Jesus? | Part 1

... ... ..... .... ..... ..... ..... ... ..... .... Jesus never raised an army, so far as we know. Yet, multiplied millions have died for Him.

He never traveled very far from His birthplace. And yet, His testimony has gone round and round and around the world. He only had a handful of little followers that followed Him there in His ministry. And yet, today, over 30 percent of the world's population name His name. The largest such grouping on earth today, Jesus of Nazareth, a ministry of only three short years public ministry.

And yet, here we are, 2,000 years later, saying, Jesus, Your name is wonderful because His name is. He had no formal education. He didn't attend a university or seminary. And yet, thousands of universities and seminaries, colleges and schools are built in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

And in my estimation, in my humble but correct opinion, no one can call himself herself educated. Who does not understand Jesus Christ? The great historian Kenneth Scott Latterette said this, listen to this quote, Jesus has had more effect on the history of mankind than any other of its race who ever existed.

That's not a Baptist preacher speaking there. To explain Jesus Christ is impossible. To ignore Jesus Christ is disastrous.

To reject Him is fatal. Understand who Jesus Christ is. To know Him is to love Him. To love Him is to trust Him. To trust Him is to be radically, dramatically and eternally changed to be transformed. I'm talking about who is Jesus. Human speech is too limited to describe Him.

The human mind too small to comprehend Him and the human heart can never really, completely, totally absorb who Jesus Christ is. Let's read Colossians 1. And I want to begin reading.

We're going to have to break in. Let's break into verse 12. Giving thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet are fitting to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. Now folks, that's talking about you. It's talking about your inheritance. If somebody wealthy left you a legacy, would you not be interested?

Then pay attention. Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son? Larry King, there's your answer. God does have a son and God says, He is my dear Son. And He has a kingdom. Now let's talk about the inheritance that we have in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. For by Him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created by Him and for Him. And He is before all things and by Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead. And here's the key to it all, that in all things He, Jesus, might have the preeminence for it pleased the Father. That in Him, that is in His Son, should all fullness dwell and having made peace through the blood of His cross by Him, by Jesus, to reconcile all things unto Himself, by Him I say, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven.

And you that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled. We're going to talk a little bit now about the Lord Jesus Christ, that in all things He might have preeminence. He doesn't want a place in your life. He doesn't wish for prominence in your life. He deserves and demands preeminence.

Three reasons I want to give. They're right here before us. Reason number one, Jesus reveals the Father. Jesus reveals the Father.

Look in verse 15. Jesus is the image of the invisible God. God is spirit, invisible, unfathomable, unapproachable. How are we going to know God? Jesus is the image of the invisible God. The visible Jesus makes the invisible God known.

The word image is the word icon. We're going to talk about that in a moment. How are you going to know God? Not by reason. How are you going to know God? Not by religion. How are you going to know God?

Not by ritual. You're going to know God only by revelation, and Jesus Christ has come to reveal God to you. You can never fully know God the Father apart from God the Son. Now, look again at verse 15. Look at it. Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature.

Put those two words now. Lock your mind on those two words, image and firstborn. Colossians 1, 15, image and firstborn. The word image is the Greek word icon.

You have a computer, you have icons on your computer. It means a representation. Now, Jesus is the icon of God.

The Greek word means the exact representation. Jesus is the express image of the invisible God. He is the icon of God. Go to Colossians 2, verse 9. See how Paul sums it up there. For in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

All of God was in Bethlehem's bay. He is the icon, the express image of God. Do you want to know God? Friend, Jesus Christ has cornered the market.

He has a monopoly on revealing the Father. That's the only way you're going to know God. Let me give you a verse.

Put it in your margin. Matthew 11, verse 27. Here's what Jesus Christ himself said, all things are delivered unto me of my Father, and no man knoweth the Son but the Father, neither knoweth any man the Father except the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. That's true or it's not true. I believe it's true. He said, nobody knows my Father but myself, and you can't know him unless I introduce him to you. That's a big statement.

Why? Because Jesus is the express image of God. You're never going to figure God out.

How can the finite understand the infinite? Not by reason, but by revelation. Any other God that you worship is the God of your guesses. That's a form of idolatry. You don't conjure up some God to worship him.

Jesus came to reveal the Father. You say, well, Pastor Rogers, that's narrow-minded. Well, you know, be so broad-minded, your mind gets thin in the middle. Be so open-minded, your brains may fall out. I want my doctor to be narrow-minded. I don't want him to say, well, you're sick. Here are 10 bottles of medicine.

Let's just take one of them and see what happens. I want my airplane pilot to be narrow-minded, not try to land with the landing gear up. I want my banker to be narrow-minded, but in the thing that matters most, my eternal destiny, I think I'm not ignorant to want a little certainty. Yes, you can't know the Father apart from Jesus Christ. Jesus didn't say, I'm a way. He said, I am the way. He didn't say, I am a life. He said, I am the life.

I am the way, the truth, and the life. You see, God was manifest in the flesh. My pastor friend, Jerry Vines, imagines Jesus Christ going into the temple and having a conversation with the teachers when he was a 12-year-old boy. And one of the learned doctors there strokes his beard and says, son, how old are you? Well, he says, on my mother's side, I'm 12 years old, but on my father's side, I'm older than my mother and as old as my father. You see, he was both God and man. Now, on his mother's side, he got thirsty. On his father's side, he said, I am the water of life. On his mother's side, he got hungry. On his father's side, he took a little lad's lunch and fed 5,000. On his mother's side, he was homeless and didn't have a place to lay his head. On his father's side, he owned the cattle on a thousand hills. On his mother's side, he wept at the grave of Lazarus. On his father's side, he said, Lazarus, come forth and raised him from the dead. He was God in human flesh.

That's the word image. Look at the word firstborn there in verse 15. Now don't get the idea that firstborn implies a beginning. Jesus never had a beginning. There never was a time when Jesus was not. Jesus said over there in the Gospel of John before Abraham was, I am. Not I was.

I am. He is the great I am. He never had a beginning. He has always existed in a state and never a start. He didn't have his beginning at Bethlehem. What does the word firstborn mean?

Now the Jehovah's Witnesses tell us that there was a time when Jesus was not, that he was created. And this is one of the verses that they try to use, but they mishandle the word firstborn altogether. The word firstborn speaks of honor and privilege as God said of David in Psalm 89 verse 27, and I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.

Firstborn speaks of his exalted position. Look in verse 17, and he, Jesus, is before all things. He could not be created.

Why? Because all things were created by him. It is obvious that whether there are things in heaven, things on earth, everything was made by Jesus and for Jesus. And so, you want to know God the Father? Would you like to know what the great invisible God is like? Who He is? Would you like to know His heart? Friend, Jesus reveals the Father.

Thank God for that. Second point. Not only does Jesus reveal the Father, He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn, the highest of all creation and above all creation. But secondly, a Jesus rules the future.

Jesus rules the future. Begin now in verse 16. For by him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible. Whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created by him and for him and he is before all things and by him all things consist and he is the head of the body, the church who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead that in all things he might have the preeminence for it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell and having made peace through the blood of his cross by him.

Now watch this. To reconcile all things unto himself. By him I say, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven. Now what is this talking about? It's talking about one who rules the universes.

One who not only has this whole world in his hands, but he has the past, the present, the future in his hands. People ask, what is the world coming to? Answer, it's coming to Jesus. It is coming to Jesus. All things were created by him and for him and will all climax in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now let me point this out just a little bit. First of all, he says Jesus is the power of creation. Look if you will in verse 16. Jesus is the power of creation, for by him were all things created. He is the power of creation. The little baby in Matthew 1 is the mighty God of Genesis 1. There was nothing made without him. John tells us all things were made by him. Adrian, don't you believe in evolution?

Not for a skinny minute. No, I don't believe in evolution. After I studied, I wouldn't believe in evolution even if I weren't a Christian. It's the next best guess of those who do not know the Word of God. If evolution is true, you have problems with the scripture. If the Bible can't tell me from whence I have come, how can it tell me where I'm headed? You have trouble with salvation. If there's no creation, no Adam and Eve, no Garden of Eden, there was no fall into sin. If there's no fall into sin, there's no need for a new birth.

Man's just progressing onward and upward. But Jesus said in John 3, you must be born again. If Genesis 3 is a myth, John 3 is a farce. You have a problem with salvation. I'll tell you something else. If you believe in evolution, you're going to have problems in society, and that's why we have so many.

As we've often said, you teach the boys and girls they've come from animals, it ought not to surprise us that they begin to act like animals. Listen, it was all made by Jesus. And coming up tomorrow, we'll hear part two of this vital message. Maybe today you have questions about who Jesus is, what He means to you, how to begin a relationship with God through Christ. Go to our Find God's Love page at lwf.org slash radio.

You'll find resources and materials that will answer questions you may have about your faith. Again, lwf.org slash radio, and click Find God's Love. Now, if you'd like a copy of today's message, you can call us at 1-877-LOVEGOD to order.

Mention the title, Who is Jesus? This message is also part of the insightful series, The Mystery of History. For that complete collection, all four insightful messages, call 877-LOVEGOD, or go online to order at lwf.org slash radio.

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You can find out more at lwf.org slash radio. And join us tomorrow for part two of Who is Jesus? Right here on Love Worth Finding. A listener wrote on our Facebook wall recently and said this about Adrian Rogers' messages and how they continue to speak to him, 30 plus years later, I still love listening to Pastor Rogers' teachings. God uses him even today. I want to pass along the truth of God's word to everyone he puts me in contact with. Praise Jesus. Thank you for your ministry. Oh, thank you for that encouraging word. Especially in this year, 2021 has shown us through the pandemic, through the social unrest, the political division that's there, how gloriously dark these days are. This difficult year has made people we believe more open to the things of God. And here at Love Worth Finding, we want to meet them with the hope and the love of Christ. Call with a gift right now at 1-877-LOVEGOD or give online at lwf.org slash radio. And thank you for your generous support of Love Worth Finding.