Today we begin a new sermon series about our new vision as a church. You did hear that right. Over the past year or so we, the elders, have prayed, thought, discussed, and arrived at a new vision for SonRise. But before I get ahead of myself…
Let me begin by taking you back. The date was March 30th, 2014. The occasion was Pastor Alan Babcock’s final sermon as pastor of SonRise Community Church. It was a good sermon. He preached on Philippians 3 and the call to chase hard after Christ. Pastor Alan ended this sermon by giving me my pastoral charge. He charge me to: lead the people, love the people, and labor to teach the Word well, to sow deeply in the study so that I would reap vastly in the pulpit. In this moment Pastor Alan called me to bring a new vision to the church. A vision that will unify the people, clarify our future, and inspire us to chase hard after Christ. After prayer and discussion I, along with the elders at that time, chose the statement you all know and love, That the Glory of God would be the glory of this City. It truly is a good vision. It’s rooted in both the end and goal of all things, the glory of God. It’s given us a sense of direction, so we all know what we’re pursuing. And it’s aligned and focused all the ministries at SonRise under one unified banner. It's served us well these past 10 years, and in a true sense it’s impossible to improve on it.
But about a year ago, we began wondering if we could refine and refocus it. Not in the sense that we’re moving on from the glory of God to other things, by no means! But, we wondered, is there a way to better capture who we as a people have now become? We believe, we’ve found it.
Our main vision is three words: Christ is All. Jesus Christ, His Person and His Work is our vision. What does this vision look like as its displayed here in our life together as a church? Christ in all the Scripture, Christ in all of Life, Christ in all the World. These three phrases present three distinctives, values, or pursuits that have formed and functioned as the foundation of SonRise Community Church.
Christ in all the Scripture – presents our pursuit to see Jesus in all the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, in all the numerous ways the Bible is taught here.
Christ in all of Life – presents our pursuit to see Jesus honored, loved, adored, and obeyed in all our lives, wherever we happen to be and whomever we’re with.
Christ in all the World – presents our pursuit to see Jesus made known and embraced through zealous and healthy missionary effort.
CHRIST IS ALL: Christ in all the Scripture, Christ in all of Life, and Christ in all the World. This is our new vision.
We love this because Christ is the main thrust! He is the thread, running through every fabric of our life. From our Sundays to our weekdays, from our families to our work, from our friendships all the way out to the world. It’s Christ in it all that shines bright!
Now, allow me to clarify three things. First, this new vision is not a result of me as pastor trying to do a Moses. I did not go up on a mountain, wait for the Lord to visit me, and give me a new direction to take you in. No, not at all. I am not Moses or a Moses like figure. Yes I am pastor here at SonRise, but we’re led by elders, a plurality of called and qualified men who seek the Lord together and shepherd His people together.
Second, this new vision won’t change anything we’re doing right now. We thought and prayed over the former vision and while you certainly cannot do better than the glory of God (!) we kept coming back to the thought that we’ve grown and matured as a people, and that perhaps a different phrase could better display both the glory of God as well as who we have become over the past 10 years together.
Third, this is a moment on one hand that has been a long time coming, but it’s a moment on the other hand that’s not filled with anything new. Over the next four weeks as we unfold the new vision you won’t hear new ideas, new doctrine, or new philosophies of ministry, instead you’ll hear the things that have always mattered most to us. In other words, this is not a new path for us, but it is a clearer path for us.
So we come to our grand overarching statement today, Christ is All, and there’s no better text to see this than Colossians 1:15-20. In this beautiful passage Paul gives us a list of ten characteristics of Jesus.
Hear now the text as a whole. Speaking of the preeminence of Jesus Christ, Paul says, “He is the image of 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 is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church. He is 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.”
1) Jesus is the Image of God. In v15 we read, “He is the image of the invisible God…” That Jesus is called the image of God means that the person of Jesus Christ makes the invisible God visible. So as the book of Hebrews begins, long ago, in many times and many ways, God spoke to His people through the prophets. But now, in these last days, God speaks to us…how? Through His Son, who is Himself the exact imprint or representation of His nature. Thus, in the incarnation of the Son of God, God revealed Himself to His people in the Person of His Son. The invisible God of glory was now for the first time, visible. Simply put, if you want to know who God is look no further than Jesus, for He is the image of God.
2) Jesus is Firstborn: in v15 we also read, “Jesus is…the firstborn of all creation.” Care is needed here, and we should avoid speaking in physical terms here, as if this means Jesus was somehow created by God the Father at a certain point in time. This view, that Jesus is a created being, still shows up in today even though it was condemned as heresy in the early Church. We must ever uphold that the Son of God was never created, that He has always been, that He is the eternal Son of God. What then does the phrase “firstborn of all creation” mean? It’s means Jesus was given the rights and privileges of a firstborn son. We see this in the OT (Deut. 21:17, Exodus 4:22) many times where the firstborn son is the principal heir of the family. So the Son, by means of His incarnation, became the privileged One, the firstborn heir of God the Father. In this manner Psalm 89:27 says of Jesus, “And I will make Him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.” That He is the firstborn of all creation means Jesus will receive the entire creation as His inheritance from His Father and will rule over it for all eternity. We’ll see another angle of Jesus being the firstborn later on in v18.
3) Jesus is the Creator: in v16 we read, “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.” The eternal Son didn’t begin to exist when He was born of the virgin Mary. Rather His birth was His entrance onto the stage that He Himself created in Genesis 1. This teaches us that Jesus is both the Creator, the One through whom God made all things, and the goal of creation as well – for all things were through Him and for Him. So everything that is, was made by Jesus and for Jesus. For His glory, for His renown, for His majesty, for His fame…whether kings or empires or presidents or governments, families and us ourselves…everything under the sun and everything above the sun was made by the Son of God for the Son of God. 1 Cor. 8:6 has a similar meaning, “…for us there is one God, the Father, from whom all things are and for whom we exist, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.”
4) Jesus is Eternal: in v17 we read, “And He is before all things…” Now we see what was implicit in v16 is now made explicit in v17, namely, that Jesus could create everything because He was, because He existed, before creation. Thus, there never was a time when Jesus was not. Jesus said this and angered many Pharisees in John 8:56-58 when He said, “Your father Abraham rejoiced that He would see My day. He saw it and was glad…Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” If there had been any uncertainty about Jesus’ identity there is none after John 8, because here Jesus claims to be the “I am” who has always been and who met Moses at the burning bush. This is a statement of transcendence, that Jesus has been, is now, and will always be. Jesus is eternal.
5) Jesus is Sustainer: in the end of v17 we read, “…and in Him all things hold together.” Not only is Jesus the transcendent eternal God who created all things, but Jesus holds all creation together by His sustaining sovereign power. Hebrews 1:3 says it too, “Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power…” By His providential care over all creation Jesus governs and guides, reigns and rules, loves and leads all things for the great good of His people and the great glory of His name.
We now come to a shift in Paul’s list. The first five characteristics of Jesus are all about the supremacy of Christ in creation revealing His transcendence. Now in the remaining characteristics of Jesus are all about the supremacy of Christ in redemption revealing His immanence.
6) Jesus is the Head of the Church: in v18 we read, “He is the head of the body, the Church…” Yes Jesus is the great and glorious God we just made mention of who created all things and holds all things together, but whereas you might think such a God is aloof from the cares and concerns of ordinary people, Jesus is wonderfully personal. The great aim of His work was to glorify His Father by dying on the cross for a specific people, the Church. This Church is His body on earth, and He is the head of it. Just as we have seen in the previous verses that creation will always be upheld by the providential care of Christ and never fall into chaos, so too, we now see in v18 that the Church will always be upheld by the providential care of Christ and never fall into chaos or disorder. Why is the Church so secure? Not because of our wisdom our might, no. The guaranteed successful future of the Church is secure and sure because of Jesus. He is infinitely strong in His wisdom and grace to keep His body the Church throughout the ages, regardless how strong the tide is against us. Or as Jesus promised in Matthew 16:18, “…I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
7) Jesus is the Beginning: in v18a we read, “He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead…” Here we see something similar to what Paul already said in v15, that Jesus is the firstborn. But another glory of Christ is in view than the privileged status of being the firstborn Son. Here Paul uses the same word ‘firstborn’ to describe Jesus again but he means something different by it here in v18. Before it was Jesus the “firstborn of all creation” now in v18 its Jesus the “firstborn” in relation to His resurrection. You see the added words here “…the firstborn from the dead”? This means, Jesus’ resurrection marks a change, a new beginning. As the first One to rise from the dead in triumph over all evil, never to die again, Jesus won a victory that is given to all who are united to Him by faith. So the resurrection of Christ anticipates and guarantee’s the future resurrection of all those who believe in Him. In this manner Jesus is the firstborn.
8) Jesus has preeminence: in v18b we read, “…that in everything He might be preeminent.” Here Paul shows there is a connection between Jesus’ resurrection and Jesus’ having preeminence (supremacy, first place). The reason Jesus has preeminence or supremacy over all things is that He was the firstborn from the dead. What a wonder is here for us to see. We’ve already seen in this passage that the eternal Son of God had glory before the world was made with His Father. But by virtue of His resurrection Jesus gained a newer, higher, loftier standing; winning for Himself a greater name and greater glory than He had before, because by rising from death, Jesus demonstrated He was the Lord of the universe. The same universe, which He created, which He sustains, and now has redeemed through conquering death. Romans 1:4 says it like this. Jesus was “…declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by His resurrection from the dead.”
9) Jesus is the Fullness: in v19 we read “For in Him the fullness of God was pleased to dwell…” Jesus is here said to contain within Himself the very fullness of God. Many people simply believe that Jesus was divine in the sense that He reflected God’s glory, or mirrored God’s glory to a certain degree, but this corrects that. Jesus didn’t merely reflect the glory of God, rather, all that God is dwells in Jesus. The language Paul uses here is similar to the OT language used to describe how God would fill the temple with His glory. That this same language is being applied to Jesus here means the fullness of God happily filled and dwelt in the Son of God. Later in Colossians 2:9 Paul says, “…for in Him the whole fullness of the deity dwells bodily.” This is nothing less than a declaration of the deity of Jesus Christ, that He was true and full Man, just as He was and remains to be true and full God. Mystery upon mystery, wonder upon wonder.
10) We now have come to the end, Jesus is the Peacemaker: in v20 we read, “…and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross.” Our fall into sin brought with it the perversion of the entire created order. The world we now do life in is fallen, and life in a fallen world is hard. Deep down we all know something’s wrong here. We may not be able to explain it but we know we were made for more than what we currently experience. Enter Jesus, the One through whom all things were made, the One for whom all things exist, the One who sustains all of creation by the word of His power, the holy and eternal Son of God become Man…reconciles and provides peace with God through the blood of His atoning death.
Conclusion:
What are we to do with this? Because Jesus Christ is who He is, and because Jesus Christ has done what He has done, we can only arrive at one conclusion: CHRIST IS ALL!
This is the main thrust of our new vision. We love this because, as I said earlier, “Christ is the thread, running through every fabric of our life. From our Sundays to our weekdays, from our families to our work, from our friendships all the way out to the world.” Because Christ is all, it is Christ who shines bright in all and over all!
So when you step into SonRise, we want Christ to be on display. Whether you come for the first time or for the 1000th time. Whether to worship, to Sunday school, nursery, small group, seniors group, youth group, prayer meeting, or evening study. And when you step out of SonRise, we want Christ to go with you, so however far your feet may go, the aroma of Christ, the light of Christ, and the beauty of Christ, would be with you, and extend out from you. Why? Not that SonRise would be glorified, but so Christ would be glorified…more and more!
