"For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the godhead bodily" Colossians 2:9
Our text last week affirmed the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ from the standpoint of His performance as Creator; this week's terse declaration affirms it with direct reference to His person. It is either the most audacious claim ever made, or one of the most awesome truths ever disclosed. It is an unabashed, unequivocal declaration that Jesus Christ is God.
Some years ago I had a controversy of sorts with a church member who objected to my affirmation that Jesus is God. The idea however, was not mine; that is what the scriptures teach, so stated here and reinforced in many other passages. It is the claim of the Bible that in the person of the virgin born Jesus, the God of creation was made tangible and visible to man, in a form quite like our own.
Before the Child was born, Joseph, her husband-to-be, having discovered that Mary was already pregnant and "minded to put her away privately," was afforded a dream to clarify the situation. At the conclusion of that dream he was reminded of the prophesy of the Isaiah, "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is God with us [Mt. 1:18-23]." Mary, he was informed, was the vehicle through which that prophecy was about to be fulfilled. Subsequently, in a clear reference to Jesus Christ, the scriptures declare that it is "God [Who] was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory [I Tim. 3:16]."
In the course of His ministry Philip said to Jesus on one occasion, "Lord, show us the Father… " Jesus replied, "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? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works [John 14:9-10]." From this at lest two significant things follow: Jesus, as the Son of God, is distinct from the Father; but, He is also the full and perfect expression, or manifestation, of the Father. This, of course, agrees with the notice in Hebrews 1:3 that the Son is "the brightness of [God's] glory and the express image of His person." Jesus is not the Father, but He and the Father alike are God.
This doctrine of the deity of Christ is reinforced in another significant way. When Jesus flatly declared "I and My Father are one," then "the Jews took up stones… to stone Him. Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God [John 10:30-33]." Here it is not Himself, nor His supporters, but His enemies who recognize and affirm that He is laying claim to equality with God.
From all of this, many significant things follow. Let me cite a few. First, we will never know God better, nor understand Him more fully than we come to know and understand Jesus Christ. There is nothing for us to learn about God that cannot be discovered in Him and that, for now, through His word.
Second, when we deal with Christ, we are dealing with God. Those who reject or disregard the Lord Jesus Christ are rejecting God; those who receive and obey Him are responding directly to God. "Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also [I John 2:23]." You cannot have one without the other; you cannot honor the one without honoring the other.
In a correlative statement with reference to Christ, we read "In Whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge [Col. 2:3]." Knowledge is information; wisdom is the right understanding, correlation and use of knowledge. Jesus Christ, in Whom dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, is the divine treasury of both. One may know and understand many things, but he is not wise, and understands nothing as he should until he knows Jesus Christ. And only a fool would reject Him! (Cf Ps. 14:1, 53:1)
For HIS glory and our good,
"Pastor" Frasier
Our text last week affirmed the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ from the standpoint of His performance as Creator; this week's terse declaration affirms it with direct reference to His person. It is either the most audacious claim ever made, or one of the most awesome truths ever disclosed. It is an unabashed, unequivocal declaration that Jesus Christ is God.
Some years ago I had a controversy of sorts with a church member who objected to my affirmation that Jesus is God. The idea however, was not mine; that is what the scriptures teach, so stated here and reinforced in many other passages. It is the claim of the Bible that in the person of the virgin born Jesus, the God of creation was made tangible and visible to man, in a form quite like our own.
Before the Child was born, Joseph, her husband-to-be, having discovered that Mary was already pregnant and "minded to put her away privately," was afforded a dream to clarify the situation. At the conclusion of that dream he was reminded of the prophesy of the Isaiah, "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is God with us [Mt. 1:18-23]." Mary, he was informed, was the vehicle through which that prophecy was about to be fulfilled. Subsequently, in a clear reference to Jesus Christ, the scriptures declare that it is "God [Who] was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory [I Tim. 3:16]."
In the course of His ministry Philip said to Jesus on one occasion, "Lord, show us the Father… " Jesus replied, "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? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works [John 14:9-10]." From this at lest two significant things follow: Jesus, as the Son of God, is distinct from the Father; but, He is also the full and perfect expression, or manifestation, of the Father. This, of course, agrees with the notice in Hebrews 1:3 that the Son is "the brightness of [God's] glory and the express image of His person." Jesus is not the Father, but He and the Father alike are God.
This doctrine of the deity of Christ is reinforced in another significant way. When Jesus flatly declared "I and My Father are one," then "the Jews took up stones… to stone Him. Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God [John 10:30-33]." Here it is not Himself, nor His supporters, but His enemies who recognize and affirm that He is laying claim to equality with God.
From all of this, many significant things follow. Let me cite a few. First, we will never know God better, nor understand Him more fully than we come to know and understand Jesus Christ. There is nothing for us to learn about God that cannot be discovered in Him and that, for now, through His word.
Second, when we deal with Christ, we are dealing with God. Those who reject or disregard the Lord Jesus Christ are rejecting God; those who receive and obey Him are responding directly to God. "Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also [I John 2:23]." You cannot have one without the other; you cannot honor the one without honoring the other.
In a correlative statement with reference to Christ, we read "In Whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge [Col. 2:3]." Knowledge is information; wisdom is the right understanding, correlation and use of knowledge. Jesus Christ, in Whom dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, is the divine treasury of both. One may know and understand many things, but he is not wise, and understands nothing as he should until he knows Jesus Christ. And only a fool would reject Him! (Cf Ps. 14:1, 53:1)
For HIS glory and our good,
"Pastor" Frasier
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