Jesus

	"This is the day which the Lord has made;" Psalms 118:24 reminds us, "let us rejoice and be glad in it."
	Last time we took a look at this marvelous God, the One who made this very day.  Remember that we are looking at words from the Bible, and that we have memory verses for each week.  Don't forget to ask for the flash cards with these verses.
	"God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways," we read in Hebrews 1:1-3, "in these last days has spoken to us in {His} Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.  And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high."
	God has chosen to speak to us through His Son, the Christ who is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature.  What does the Bible reveal to us about this Jesus?
	"For He delivered us from the domain of darkness," Paul explains in Colossians 1:13-20, "and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.  And He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born 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 by Him and for Him.  And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.  He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the first-born from the dead; so that He Himself might 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."
	In verses 15-17, Paul points out that Jesus is divine.  This agrees with what we read in Hebrews 1:1-3, as well as with what we find in other passages.
	"In the beginning was the Word," we learn from John 1:1-3, "and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being."
	This passage clearly says that the Word is God.  Verse 14 explains the identity of this Word.
	"And the Word became flesh," this verse states, "and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth."
	"'Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day,'" Jesus tells the Jews in John 8:56-59, "and he saw {it} and was glad.'  The Jews therefore said to Him, 'You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?'  Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.'  Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself, and went out of the temple."
	Notice that Jesus says "I AM" and not "I was."  "Jehovah" is a form of the Hebrew verb, "to be."  The Lord's purpose is obviously to associate Himself with Jehovah.  The Jews had no trouble understanding what He was saying.
	"'I and the Father are one,'" Jesus claims in John 10:30-33.  "The Jews took up stones again to stone Him.  Jesus answered them, 'I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?'  The Jews answered Him, 'For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out {to be} God.'"
	There is no doubt.  Jesus is divine.
	Returning to our text from Colossians chapter one, we notice from verses 14, 20 and 22 that Jesus is our redeemer, our reconciler.  Why do we need a redeemer or reconciler?
	"Behold, the Lord's hand is not so short that it cannot save;" Isaiah 59:1-2 explains, "neither is His ear so dull that it cannot hear.  But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden {His} face from you, so that He does not hear."
	Jesus is our redeemer and reconciler.
	"In Him we have redemption through His blood," Paul writes in Ephesians 1:7-8, "the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us."
	"Now all {these} things are from God," Paul notes in 2 Corinthians 5:18-19, "who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation."
	Jesus is divine.  This provides Him with the unique opportunity of being our redeemer and reconciler.

	Jesus is divine.  Jesus is our redeemer and reconciler.  So He has earned the position as head of the church.
	"And He put all things in subjection under His feet," we find in Ephesians 1:22-23, "and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all."
	"For the husband is the head of the wife," Paul instructs in Ephesians 5:23-24, "as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself {being} the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives {ought to be} to their husbands in everything."
	Jesus is the head of the church.  All too often, though, we tend to look at the big picture so that we won't have to focus on the small one.  If Jesus is the head of the church, and the church consists of individuals such as me, then Jesus is the head of me. 
	"And why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?" Jesus wonders in Luke 6:46-49.  "Everyone who comes to Me, and hears My words, and acts upon them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation upon the rock; and when a flood rose, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.  But the one who has heard, and has not acted {accordingly,} is like a man who built a house upon the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great."
	As Peter preaches the first Gospel sermon on the day of Pentecost, the people are touched in their hearts because of their sins.  
	"Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain," Peter emphasizes in Acts 2:36, "that God has made Him both Lord and Christ-- this Jesus whom you crucified."
	Jesus is Lord.  He is my absolute Master.  I cannot refuse to obey His instructions.  This is what they are to believe.  This is what they are to confess.
	"But what does it say?" Paul asks in Romans 10:8-10. "'The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart,' that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus {as} Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation."
	Jesus is divine.  Jesus is our redeemer and reconciler.  Jesus is the head of the church, which means that He is the head of me.  And Jesus is the king.
	"He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High;" the angel Gabriel promises Mary in Luke 1:32-33, "and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and His kingdom will have no end."
	"And {Jesus} was going about in all Galilee," Matthew 4:23 records, "teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people."
	"And He has made us {to be} a kingdom," John notes in Revelation 1:6, "priests to His God and Father; to Him {be} the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. 
	Because Jesus is divine, He can offer the sinless sacrifice to become our redeemer and reconciler.  Because He is our redeemer and reconciler, He is the head of the church and of me.  Because of all these things, Jesus is the King of Kings.  What are you going to do about it?  Are you willing to submit to the Lordship of our divine redeemer and king?  Are you willing to exchange man-made ideas for the truth which will set you free?

Unless otherwise noted, "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), (C) Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977. Used by permission."