"God-In-A-Bod"...

At the church where I serve, we are spending our time together looking at what we believe as a church as it is contained in the doctrinal statement of our church. This week, I would like to look at the fourth statement that comprises our doctrinal statement as a church. This fourth statement addresses what we believe as a church about Jesus.

This statement summarizes the answer to the question “Who is Jesus?” And, as we will discover, it is this question that is the most important question that anyone can ask and answer. So let’s look at this fourth statement of our doctrinal statement together:

We believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, fully God and fully man, one Person in two natures. Jesus-Israel’s promised Messiah-was conceived through the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father as our High Priest and Advocate.

Now you might be thinking “Well Dave, I mean that sounds great, but what does all that mean?” So what I would like for us to do is to break down this statement into sections so that we can come to a better understanding of what is being said here.

First, let’s take a minute and unpack the phrase “We believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, fully God and fully man, one Person in two natures.” The first word that we need to define is the word incarnate. The word incarnate literally means to take on flesh.  So, when we say that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, what we are saying is that Jesus Christ is God-in-a bod. We are saying that Jesus Christ is God who came to earth and became a man without ceasing to be God.

Now the big fancy church mumbo jumbo talk word for this concept is the word incarnation. In other words, we believe that Jesus was 100% God and 100% man in one body. That is what is meant by the phrase “fully God and fully man, one Person in two natures.”

And in a section of a letter that is recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible called the book of Colossians, we see the Apostle Paul unpack this concept. So let’s look together as the Apostle Paul unpacks who Jesus is as God-in-a bod, beginning in Colossians 1:15:

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-- all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

Paul begins this section of His letter to early followers of Jesus from a church in what is now modern day Turkey by stating that Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God. But what exactly does Paul mean here? What Paul is communicating here is that in Jesus Christ, we see visibly the nature and character of the invisible God.

Jesus Christ is God in a bod; He is in very nature and character God who took on flesh and entered into humanity to reveal and explain God the Father to us. Paul then continues by stating that Jesus Christ is the firstborn of all creation. When Paul uses the word firstborn, he is referring to a special status that is occupied by Jesus.

Now it is important to understand that Paul is not saying that Jesus is a created being; what Paul is communicating is that Jesus has a special status as it relates to all creation. Paul’s point here is that Jesus has a special status and position in relationship to all creation in that He existed before creation.

Paul unpacks this for us when he states that for by Him all things were created. And in case we were wondering, Paul explains what he means when he states all things by listing them for us: "both in the Heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether on thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities".

Paul’s point is that whether we are talking about the things that exist on earth or the things that exist outside of earth; whether we are talking about the things that we see or the things that we do not see; whether we are talking about the beings that exist on earth or the beings that exist in Heaven; whether we are talking about the positions of power that are held on earth of the positions of power that are held by angels and demons in the spirit world; everything has been created through His power.

In addition, Paul states that all things have been created through Him and for Him. You see, Jesus is the hands of creation; God the Father spoke and Jesus was the hands that created all that exists. And as the hands of creation, all things were created through Him and for Him. Everything was created through Jesus and everything was created for Jesus.

But not only were we created by Jesus and for Jesus, Paul continues by stating that Jesus is before all things and in Him all things hold together. Paul is reiterating the reality that Jesus is not a created being; Jesus existed before time began and before creation. Then Paul states that in Jesus all things hold together. A message by Francis Chan brought this principle home in a powerful way.

Right now, do you realize that we are sitting on a chunk of dirt that we call the earth that is spinning around this blazing ball of fire that we call the sun? We are spinning around this blazing ball of fire at 67,000 miles per hour. Oh, and by the way, the ball of dirt that we are on is spinning itself at 1,000 miles per hour. What would happen to us and the earth if there stopped being gravity for one second? If we were any closer to the earth, we would be consumed by fire; if we were any further away from earth, we would freeze to death. Have you ever stopped to think about that?

Paul is revealing for us the reality that right now, at this moment, Jesus is holding all things together. He holds the earth in its orbit; He holds the laws of gravity in place; He gives us every breath that we take. But not only is Jesus unique because of His nature and because of His role in creation. Paul then provides a third reason why Jesus is unique in Colossians 1:18:

He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.

Paul continues his stream of thought in verse eighteen by stating that Jesus Christ is head of the body, the church. Paul’s point here is that Jesus Christ has the special position or status as being the head of the church. The church is the global community that is united in the fact that they have come to believe trust, and follow Jesus Christ as Lord and Leader. And as the body of Christ, the church has been divinely designed by God to be the vehicle that He uses to reveal His Son Jesus to the world.

Paul then states that Jesus is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead. But what exactly does Paul mean here? Paul’s point here is that Jesus Christ has the special status as being the one who came from God and entered into humanity in order to found the new community of believers called the church through His life, death and resurrection.

And it is in Jesus resurrection, as the first, which began the process which we achieve victory over selfishness sin and death and enter into the eternal relationship with God that we were created for by believing, trusting and following Jesus Christ as our Lord and leader. Paul then hammers his point home in verse nineteen when He states that it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him. In other words, God looked at His eternal and sinless Son Jesus and considered Him as worthy of the place of preeminence and prominence. The fullness that Paul refers to here refers to the incarnation, the fact that Jesus is God who took on flesh.

Jesus did not stop being God when He entered into humanity. Jesus added to His deity humanity. Jesus is 100% God and 100% man; He is God in a bod. And as God in a bod, Jesus did what only He could do, which Paul reveals for us in verse 20.

As God in a bod, Jesus reconciled all things to Himself. Paul’s point here is that God chose to give humanity the gift of His son Jesus in order to reconcile, or reunite, all of creation that had been separated from God due to our selfishness, rebellion and sin, back into proper relationship with Himself. Paul then explains that we are reunited with God because Christ made peace through the blood of His cross.

Paul’s point is that God responded to our selfishness and rebellion by sending His Son Jesus to humanity, where He allowed Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives so God the Father could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life. You see, only God is big enough to pay for the sins of all of humanity, past, present and future. And only another human could represent humanity on the cross. A dog, or a cow, could not represent me.

Jesus, as God in a bod, did only what He could do. The cross provides reconciliation for all of God’s creation and will bring all of creation, regardless of location, back into proper relationship with God. We see this reality communicated in the last sentence of our doctrinal statement, which says “He lived a sinless life, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father as our High Priest and Advocate.”

Tomorrow, we will see the Apostle Paul further unpacks the truths that make us this section of the doctrinal statement…