Welcome to Faith for Living! First Presbyterian Church of Chattanooga brings you today's teaching designed to apply God's Word to the struggles and challenges of our day that we might have faith for living. Well today on Easter, we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. He died and was buried, and just days later, the tomb where he was laid was found empty. We read from John 20, then the other disciple, the one who had got there first, went into the tomb, took one look at the evidence, and believed. Well, this day is significant because Jesus conquered death, and has promised that through faith in Him, we too will not die. Joining us today is Clay Werner, he's a native of Nashville, Indiana, and a graduate of Westminster Seminary in Escondito, California. Clay is a minister of discipleship at first Presbyterian Church, and his desire is that church ministry be Christ-centered and relevant to everyday life. Clay, his wife, lives in their son, live in the Chattanooga area. And today Clay brings to us a message entitled, Relational Heroism, as we begin a new sermon series called, Authentic Relationships, Authentic Community. Our text for today is from Colossians 1-15-20. Here now is Clay Werner. Well, this morning we're going to be looking at Colossians 1. So if you return your Bible there, we're going to be looking at Colossians 1 versus 15-20. As was mentioned earlier, today we start our small group series, Authentic Relationships and Authentic Community, and we're going to read from our text this morning and understand that Authentic Relationships and Authentic Community would not even be possible without the Lord Jesus Christ Himself coming to earth and making peace by the blood of His cross. But this morning, because of where we are at, with time, and everything else, what we're going to look at is one basic primary point and two implications of that one point. So if you would read with me, along with me, from Colossians 1-15-20, and let's give our hearts to the reading of God's Holy Inspired and Inherent Word this morning. He is the image of the invisible God, the first born 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. 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 first born 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, as far the reading of God's Word. It's a name that not too many people know, but He was famous at one point for how well His hotel chain was doing, but His name was Chris Conley and He was at the height of His career in the year of 2000. Now He was out in San Francisco right by the Silicon Valley and in many ways He depended on the dot-com revolution that was happening at the time. But He was in one of the top three hotel folks in the entire nation at that time. He was in Forbes 500 and a lot of different things because He was making hundreds of millions of dollars for Himself and for His company. Well what happens is the dot-com bubble burst and not only that because of September 11th, everyone doesn't really travel as much as they used to anymore. Gas prices started going a little bit higher and His company really started to go downhill. And so what His advisors do is they come to Him and say you got to just jump ship and you got to get out of it. All the chain right now before it loses any more money. And as He looked at His assets, He realized that He had thousands of employees to provide for. He realized that there were families that He employed that needed to send their kids to school, that needed to pay the mortgage, that needed to put food on the table and He realized that because of Him, He was responsible for their jobs. And so the people come to Him, His administration, His board and keep on saying, cut your variable costs. They sell the company or start laying off as many thousands of people as you need to do, but you need to cut your costs right now. And You know what He did? The CEO of one of the top corporations in this nation doesn't take a pay, doesn't take salary. He cuts his own salary. And He did that for over a year before anybody found out about it. He didn't tell anybody. And His board found out and He said, you're a CEO. You're supposed to take a salary, you know, and it can be in the millions of dollars if you want it. And He said, other people depend on me. And if I have to make whatever sacrifices I need to make, then I will make those sacrifices for the welfare of others. He could have cut, and He could have made millions of dollars in doing it because He knew that many people relied on Him. He didn't. And when the board saw this, when His advisors saw this, they took salary cuts as well. Some of them didn't take a salary. Others took about a 10% pay cut in order that the company would stay thriving. Now it went down. It went way down to the point where they didn't know it would survive. But now instead of being number three, it's the number one money making hotel company and the nation because He stuck with it. And He sacrificed personally for the welfare of others, even though He had the status of one of the greatest CEOs that this nation has seen in this century. Now that happened in 2000 and continues to go on as He's still in the business. But that is a faint echo. I'll say a faint echo of what happened 2,000 years earlier with what we see in our Lord Jesus Christ, who had an infinitely more higher status than that and sacrificed a whole lot more than that so that we would benefit from that with redemption and reconciliation with the Lord. But what we're going to look at this morning are three things. High supremacy, first and foremost, is what Paul talks about in this text and after that, what we're going to look at is how that results in a personal humility that shows itself in relational authenticity with what we've been talking about with our small group. So let's look first at Christ's supremacy. Now what I want to look at are the different names, the different statuses that are given to Christ in this passage. If you would, look in verse 15. It says that He is the image of the invisible God. Now when I think image, I think maybe a picture or a painting or something like that, a representation of something that's actually real that's out there. But Paul is not saying that Jesus is a representation of God. He's saying that He is God incarnate, that Jesus is God's manifestation in His fullness here on earth so that when you see Jesus, you know something about the character of God. When you see Him as the image of God, when Jesus heals lepers, you know something about the Lord. When Jesus washes feet, you know something about the nature and character of God. And Paul is saying that Jesus is the image of God. Then again in verse 15, it says that He is the first born of all creation. Now when you think first born, you often think, well, perhaps like my son, Isaac, he is the first born and our family and that's all throughout the Old Testament. The first born had the highest status and the family that the first born was the one who had inherited everything. Now that's one of its meanings, but first born can also mean of supremacy of rank, of highest rank, of highest importance. And that is what Paul is saying that Christ is in this text. He is the image of the invisible God. He is the first born of all creation and then look in verse 16. He is the creator as well. 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. In other words, He created, look out mountain. He created signal mountain. He created North Chattanooga, East Brainer. He created North America. He created the smokey mountains. He created this earth. He created this galaxy. He created the universe. That is who He is. And that is how powerful He is because not only is He the image of God, but He is the creator of all things. Then look in verse 17, Paul says that He is the sustainer. He says, and He is before all things that is Christ is eternal. And in Him all things hold together. The reason that we can sit here right now and breathe the air that we're breathing is because Christ is the sustainer of all things. And at the same time is this amazing Lord sustains the very air that we have to breathe. He is sustaining the farthest galaxy that we even know about in our universe, which is named Abel 1836. It's only 132,200 million light years away. And He sustains it. He sustains our marriages. He sustains our relationships. He sustains everything that we do because He's not only the image of God. He's not only the creator, but He's also the sustainer. And look in verse 18, and He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning. Now think about that. Think of all of the things that were just said about this Lord, this King. He's the King of kings. He's the Prince of Peace. He's the Lord of hosts. That is who He is. But notice the shock, because I think that's what Paul is trying to do here is shock us into showing that He is that kind of status, that kind of supremacy. But notice in verse 18, He is the first born from the dead. What? He's the creator. He's eternal. He sustains the dead. Why did He die? What happened? And then you read in verse 19. Or in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. And through Him, this is why He had to die. And through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by what? The blood of His cross. And can you imagine? Can you imagine George Bush or whoever's going to be present next coming into your office or coming into your home and saying, you know what? Let me wash the bottom of your shoes. Let me put some good shine on those shoes. No, don't do that. You're the president, the president of the United States does not do that. You're above that. You don't have to do that. Because our culture that we live in says that the greater your status, the less you have to serve, and the more you have others to serve you and to serve on your behalf as well. And Paul is saying that Jesus Himself lived the ethic that He taught in Matthew 23, that the greatest among you will be your servant. It's because He had that exalted status, that He was the greatest servant, that this world and that this universe will ever know. Because not only is His title, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, not only does He possess the greatest power, the greatest authority, the greatest supremacy, but also the greatest love and the greatest service because His name is also the suffering servant. It's because He's known as the suffering servant to reconcile us to God, that He is the one who is preeminent. Now think about Christ, He had this exalted status, He wanted to reconcile us to Himself. He wasn't just willing to sacrifice Himself. He was eager to do it, to restore our relationships with Him. Hebrews says for the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, scorning its shame. And if you look in verse 19, it says, it pleased the Lord, not only that all the fullness should dwell in Christ, but it pleased the Lord that through His death, the blood of His cross to make peace, it pleased the Lord to do so. But why did Christ have to sacrifice so much to give so much to us? If you look in verse 13 of chapter 1, it says, He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, I would say one of the utmost characteristics of the kingdom of darkness is that it is a kingdom where Christ is not seen as preeminent. There's a kingdom where Christ is seen as not Supreme, as not exalted, as not the Lord of Lords, but Paul is saying it took the death of Christ so that there would be a different kingdom. But it's amazing that as much as Christ has transferred us out of that kingdom of darkness, there are still residual aspects of it in our hearts because to some extent we still think we are the ones who are Supreme. There's a pastor that I know that said it this way, to the extent that you underestimate the supremacy of Christ, you will overestimate your own. To the extent that you underestimate the supremacy of Christ, you will overestimate your own. And don't we often do that? That's what we do when we get a letter from school that's pretty attacking and we say you just start planning to make the comeback as soon as possible. I know what I'm going to do to get back with that person. That's what it looks like when we always want to push our agenda all the time, no matter what cost it is to other people so that we can get our way, whether that be at home, whether that be at work, whether that even be here at the church. What that is saying is that there are still sin in our hearts that make us think we are still the center of the universe and others are here to serve us. But Paul is saying that that is why Jesus had to die, to cure that in us, to cure the fact that we think we are number one, that we are the center of the universe and that we make other people know that that's the case. And that is why conflict happens in relationships because someone usually thinks that they're better than the other person. And Christ came to say, I'm the one who is Supreme, it will take my death to take your eyes to look up to him and say, he is the one who is Supreme and exalted. Well, when we realize that the most exalted person, the most glorious king, the greatest savior had to die in order for us to be reconciled to him to make peace through his blood when that's the case, when we realize that it was him and only him that had to do it. We'll possess personal humility. And we understand Christ's supremacy, it will come down to us in a personal humility. Because notice, notice who Paul doesn't say that God sent. He didn't send angels. He didn't send a big army of men to say, go down there and take care of that, sign some peace treaties and put your tanks in there and let's see what we can take care of. God loves peace so much and is so committed to peace not only with himself but with other people that we interact with that he's saying, I will send my son to make peace through his blood. And he not only sent Christ, but he sent him to die and look in verse 18, it says this, he is the head of the body, the church, he is the beginning, the first born from the dead. Now, it's talking about his resurrection here, the first born from the dead, in order that, in all things, he would be preeminent. Paul is saying that it took Christ's life, death and resurrection in order that a new kingdom would be inaugurated through his death where Christ would be seen as preeminent. When we come here to worship and lift him up and praise his name, it took the death of the Son of God to do it and when we realize that, there's not too much to be proud of anymore. The resulting thing should be humility. And thus whenever we have conflict with someone else where peace has been disturbed and instead of saying, you're wrong or you're naive or you're so mean or I can't believe you always do that. Instead of saying those things, we'll say, man, I struggle with the same thing. I have sin in my heart too. I want to come close to you, I want to make peace with you, I don't want to fight about this. I don't want to think I'm better than this. Let's work this out because Christ has worked it out with us by his own blood. Then we can work this out. There was a time last year I was walking with a local pastor here in town and we were walking past this building and the building superintendent was outside picking up some cigarettes and he saw us walking on by and he said, can you believe kids nowadays? They just throw cigarettes and trash wherever they want to. Can you believe these kids? Gosh, I can't believe this. And I joined in because that resident, yeah, can you believe kids? Can you believe what they do nowadays? Now I'm still a young guy but at times I tell Liz I'm like, wow, I must be a lot older than I am because every now and then I'm like, man, can you believe what kids do nowadays? I mean, when I was younger, it was so easy to join in and say, you know what, yeah, kids. Can you believe them? Instead of what he said, he said, you know what, I struggle with the same thing. I'm just as bad as they are if you want to call them bad. And you know what? I'm actually capable of doing a whole lot worse than just throwing cigarettes on the ground. So yeah, I can understand kids nowadays. He wasn't prideful. He didn't want to join in on that even though I did and was severely rebuked by his correction. But he was humble enough to say, I'm not above anybody. Chris is the one who's supreme. I'm not beyond anyone. I struggle with the same thing. So no, I don't think I'm better than them. And yes, I understand them because they struggle with the same selfishness that I do. Needless to say, that building tenant was a little shocked, but impressed as well. And wanted to know where this guy was a pastor at so he could come to that church. That is how healing of a process that authentic relationships can be when you are authentic. Other people want to come to that because it means you don't have to pretend anymore about who you really are, like Jerry said earlier. You can just be open and you can be honest. The Lord accepts you. We want other people to accept us as well. Well, if we have a heart acknowledgment and we really understand Christ's supremacy, how exalted he is, when we grasp that supremacy, it will relate, it will come down to us in a personal humility and will relate to others in authenticity. Now what do I mean by that? Now let me just give you a picture real quick. Think about what I've heard called relational terrorism. Now what that means is terrorists usually make demands. If you make demands and you don't make, if you don't make them, if you don't provide what they want, there's threats. If you don't do what I want, I'm going to tank this relationship. And there's promises. Well, if you do what I want, I'll be good, I'll do what you want. And you need to do things for me. It's relational terrorism. When you just sit there and say, if you don't meet my needs, I'll tank it. I'll make you pay for it and I'll make you own it. If you do what I do sometimes, if you're making me upset, I just be quiet. Walk away. If you really want to hurt somebody, you don't have to do anything. Just don't do anything. Now we've all seen movies with bombs. And usually when someone sees a bomb, what's the first thing they say? Run. There's a bomb here. Someone to get out, if you watch 24 that much, one of the shows I watched it, they're always running somewhere because there's always a bomb. And everyone's running away because it's a massive bomb. You don't want to be there when it goes off. And everybody is running. But it's the hero in those movies. It's relational heroism. Not terrorism. Rational heroism that says, I know there's danger and I'm going to head right along into it because that's what Christ did on the cross. He knew he was going to take it, but he knew that by going straight into that, he would make peace by his blood, that he would reconcile all things to himself. We all have what I would say, ticking time bombs in our hearts and it's called sin. And I know that if any of you get too close to me eventually, it's going to go off because I'm falling. But will we do that amazing work of God calling us to say, don't run. You know it's there, don't run away. But run towards that person. Have authenticity and say, Christ is supreme. I struggle with sin. Let's work on this together. I don't want to be estranged from you. Well, let me show you this. If you would turn very quickly to Colossians 3. If you turn to Colossians 3, now remember, Christ is the Creator. Christ is the sustainer. He holds everything by his power. But not only that, he's not only the Creator and the sustainer, but he is the redeemer. He is the reconciler. And in Colossians 3.10, it says this, and having put on the New Self, which is being renewed and knowledge after the image of its Creator, Paul is saying that when you become a follower of Jesus, the Spirit starts working in your heart and says, I'm going to make you like Jesus. It might be slow work, but he's going to make us like Jesus. That is the role of the Holy Spirit is to make us like Christ, and he makes us like Christ when we pursue others in order to be reconciled to them, in order to make peace with them. So when we don't make peace with others, for those who have offended us, or maybe those whom we disagree with, we are contradicting the very image that we're being remade into. But we have been given the Holy Spirit to run headlong into that relationship and say, you know what? I know that every now and then there's going to be disappointments, but we're going to grow closer together as we both worship our Supreme Lord, our Lord Jesus Christ. With Christ's supremacy comes our humility, which will express itself an authenticity. There's a story, and that's a well-known story, but we all know the story of Jim Elliott and the sacrifice that he gave, so that others might know the gospel. But there was also another man by the name of Nate Sainte, who was the one that flew them all in on the plane, and we all know the story that the wild Donnie tribe, that they were trying to evangelize an Ecuador, came out and killed them all in a brutal way. Well after that, many of their wives went to go live with the wild Donnie people and said, you killed our husbands. We love you. And it was because of those women that a man by the name of Minkaye was converted to the Lord. And Minkaye is the one who killed Steve Sainte's father. This man killed his father, and eventually Steve Sainte would say, I think the Lord's calling me to live with the wild Donnie people out in the middle of the jungle. And he lives with them, he loves them, and actuality Steve Sainte's children start calling him Mameh, which is the greatest term of affection that someone can use in their tribal language. The man who killed their grandfather, became their adopted grandfather. Because Christ is a reconciler and made reconciliation with Steve Sainte, he wanted to pursue reconciliation with this man, and he has become his adopted father. And this is what a USA Today reporter said, he said this, you know I can almost understand how you could forgive this man, maybe, or at least be able to at least tolerate that he was acting in ignorance, or didn't understand what he was doing. But to love this man, to love him as your own father, to embrace him that way, that's more than I can comprehend. That is more than he can comprehend, you know why? Because it's not of this world. It's only something that the Holy Spirit can give, and it's the Holy Spirit can work in that man a desire to be reconciled and to be at peace with the man who killed his father. How much more can the Holy Spirit reconcile us to people we have differences with? Maybe here in this congregation, maybe at the place where we work, maybe even at the home between our children or between husband and wife, how much more can the Holy Spirit work reconciliation and relationships when we grasp the supremacy of Christ and humble ourselves and relate authentically. Because Jesus is the creator, the sustainer, and most importantly the redeemer of relationships. Faith for living is brought to you by your friends at the historic first Presbyterian Church in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee through expository Bible preaching, living worship, loving fellowship, and compassionate outreach. We want to be a ministry of God's grace, with lives transformed through the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have programs and opportunities for every age level, from the youngest to teens to 30 something to retirees. Join us for Sunday Morning Worship at 830 and 11. We're located at 554 Macaulay Avenue, across from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga campus. Visit us in person or on the web at faithforliving.net or call 423-648-7914. A copy of today's program on audio CD, cassette tape, or DVD is also available. When requesting today's faith-forliving television broadcast, simply reference today's sermon title on your screen or mention today's date. And we invite you back again next week at the same time, for another edition of Faith for Living.