Worship His Majesty

Colossians 1:9-27, Romans 14:9

Reiner, the French historian of 1800's wrote, “Let the greatest surprises of the future come, but never has there arisen, nor shall there arise another like Jesus the Christ”.

Thomas Hastings wrote, “No mortal can with Him compare, among the sons of men, Fairer is He than all the fair, who fills the heavenly train.”

He is the Christ, the holiest of the holy, the mightiest of the mighty, the greatest of the great, the loftiest of the lofty, more than prominent He is preeminent, more than a conqueror He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lord!

Charles Lamb wrote, “If Shakespeare walked into the room we would all stand, If Jesus walked into the room we would all bow.”

Our sorrows are hidden in His wounds, Our sicknesses are healed by His stripes, Our sins are hung upon His cross, Our shouts hover over His empty tomb, Our hopes hinge upon His soon return, He is Jesus, Our Lord.

In Genesis 22, He is a ram caught by it’s horns. In Joshua He is the scarlet thread and Captain of the Lord’s host. He was the Rock that followed Israel through the wilderness and He is the shepherd of the sheep and the willing sacrifice. He is the one who met the widow of Nain and the one who came to Lazarus' tomb. He is the one who met a woman at a well and called Zacchaeus from a tree. He is the greeter of ten who were lepers and the one who went to Golgotha. He is the one Paul speaks of in our text as Lord. Colossians is a book about truth. In chapter one we are given the truth about Christ, in chapter two, we are given the truth about the cults and in chapter three, we are given the truth about the church. Here in chapter one we are greeted with the truth about our Lord.

HE is Lord of Revelation (vs. 15-16) “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”. When Paul the Apostle wrote that Jesus was the “Image” of the invisible God, he was stating that Jesus was the God of Glory revealed. In John’s gospel, John stated, “ No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him” (John 1:18). How did Jesus declare the Father to us? He did this in two ways, first, by His declarations and secondly by His demonstrations. When Paul states that He is the image of the invisible God, he is starting that Jesus is a revelation of the person of God. Paul further states in chapter one and verse nineteen and again in chapter two and verse nine, that in Him, Jesus, dwelt all the fullness of the God head bodily. In John’s gospel, chapter fourteen and verse nine, Phillip request to be shown the Father. Jesus’ reply to this request is ,”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; …”When Jesus spoke and showed forth His kindness and His mercy, He was showing us what God the Father is like. In Luke chapter fifth-teen where the Father receives the prodigal son home again, Jesus is telling us this is what God the Father is like. He reveals the person of God. But also He reveals the power of God. Colossians chapter one verse sixteen and seventeen state, “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.” He is the creator, the controller and the cause of all creation. He created it, He keeps it all going and it was all for Him. But not only is Jesus the Lord of Revelation in that He reveals the person and the power of God, He is the Lord of revelation in that He reveals the plan of God. Chapter one and verse twenty-six and twenty-seven, “Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints. To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Jesus is now revealing, “making manifest," a mystery that unto this time was hidden from the knowledge of man, namely that because of the coming and dying and resurrection of Christ, man, even gentiles, can become the receptacle of the presence of God. Paul wrote in II Corinthians four verse seven, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” In this great truth we find the Lord of Revelation revealing the manifested love of God as expressed by Paul in Romans chapter five and verse eight when he states ‘But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” John reiterates this great truth by questioning in I John chapter three and verse one, “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God:”.Jesu then came to reveal The person of God the Father, His power and His plan to all men.
Jesu is the Lord of Revelation and the Lord of resurrection. Chapter one and verse eighteen, Paul states, “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.” By stating that He was the firstborn from the dead, he is not questioning all Old Testament resurrections. He is simply stating that while there were Old Testament resurrections, all those who were resurrected eventually died. Jesus was resurrected and ascended to the Father as we who are saved will one day be resurrected and ascend to the Father. He is the one which had predominance over death hell and the grave and hath given unto us the victory so that we might rejoice in the fading of the flesh, confident in the resurrection of a glorified body that will reign with our Lord for eternity.
Jesus is Lord of Revelation, Resurrection and Reconciliation. Chapter one and verses twenty through twenty-two state, “And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him 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 in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:” It is important to note that Paul uses the words “having made peace”. Before Christ's great sacrifice of Himself, there was no peace for mankind. It was there on the night of His birth, looking forward to the day when He would present His blood an acceptable sacrifice, that the angles would sing, “Glory to God in the Highest and on earth Peace and Good will toward man.” Because of His great work of atonement we have peace with God. Paul stated this great truth in Romans five and verse one when he said, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:” Before Christ we are at “Enmity” with God. Our sins and our lives are a stench in His nostrils. But Jesus changed all that and became a reconciliation of a breach cause by man’s sin. I John chapter two and verse one and two state, “ My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” Again Paul states in II Corinthians chapter five and verse eighteen, “And all things [are] of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation:..” And in Romans chapter five and verse ten, “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” Ours was a debut that we could not pay. In our misery, He passed by and saw us polluted in our own blood(Ezekiel 16) and in grace and mercy He spread His skirts over us. He reconciled our account and because it has been paid in full we have a hope and a future as great as His is . We have been made joint heirs wit Him in all things.
Jesus is Lord of Revelation, Resurrection, Reconciliation and Redemption. Chapter one and verse fourteen state, “In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:” Paul, in this one verse, gives us both the route and the results of our redemption. The route of redemption , is through His blood. Jesus stated in John’s gospel chapter fourteen and verse number six, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” There is only one way to be saved from the second death mentioned in Revelations chapter twenty, and that is by coming to God through the blood of His own dear son. No other way exist, you will come by the blood of Jesus or you will not come at all. The results of our receiving the blood of Jesus will be the forgiveness of sins. The old song ask the question, “What can wash away my sin” and the answer, “nothing but the blood of Jesus.”

Conclusion: He is Lord! Lord of Revelation, yes. Lord of Resurrection, yes. Lord of Reconciliation, yes. Lord of Redemption, yes. He is Lord, worship His majesty!

But He more, more than could ever be written about Him. Paul closes his account of His Lordship in chapter one by reminding us of the fact that He is also Lord of Reality. The reality is that all men need a savior, for this reason Paul preaches and warns( verse 28-29) every man. It would stand to reason, that if this were the life work of Paul who called Him Lord, should it not be ours?

Jack Hayford wrote, “Majesty, Worship His majesty, Unto Jesus, be all glory, honor and praise, Majesty, Kingdom authority, Flows from His throne, unto His own, His anthem raise

Jesus who died, now glorified, King of all kings”

Fannie Crosby wrote,”

Redeemed—how I love to proclaim it!

Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;

Redeemed through His infinite mercy,

His child, and forever, I am.

Redeemed, redeemed,

Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;

Redeemed, redeemed,

His child, and forever, I am.

Redeemed and so happy in Jesus,

No language my rapture can tell;