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Finding God in a Challenging World 2: God Reveals Himself in Christ - Colossians 1:15-21
By Steve Jeantet | April 26, 2007
<Context> This is the second of a three message series entitled, Finding God in a Challenging World, delivered at a weekend retreat for a college/young adult group.
Part 1: Obstacles to Finding God || Part 3: Blessed Be Your Name </Context>
Illustration
- Good morning
- Start this morning with a story
- Karilee receiving car for Christmas
- Car “hidden†parked in garage of neighbors
- She had to find it with no clues of where it was
Transition
- So often we think that’s how it is with God
- He is hidden and we have to stumble around till we find Him
- For my sister, that car was just sitting idly by waiting to be discovered
- But that’s not how it is with God
God wants to be found
- The promise we read yesterday said “I will be found by youâ€
- God has promised us that we will find Him
- He wanted to be found so much, that He didn’t just sitting passively by hoping we found Him, He got actively involved in the process
- And that is where those words “But God†come in from last night
- “But God†means that God got involved
- in order to help us find Him, He revealed Himself to us
Transition
- Next few minutes look together at how God has revealed Himself
- 1st, in creation – Psalm 19:1 – “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His handsâ€
- at the beach in a little bit, look around
- the beauty of all you see is God revealing Himself to you
- God did not stop there – He went further
God Incarnate – Jesus Christ
- Our quest this weekend is to find God
- In the Bible, guy named Philip had similar quest
- John 14:8-9 – asks Jesus to show the Father to them
- Jesus’ reply – “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Fatherâ€
- The point Jesus is making? Simple – He is God
- God wanted us to find and know Him so much that He sent Jesus
- Listen to way Jesus is described in Colossians 1:15-19
- 2 key phrases
- “image of the invisible Godâ€
- “God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in himâ€
- how can we find God? Look at Jesus – Jesus is God with skin on
- if we want to know God, we look at Jesus
- at his birth – the miraculous way he was born
- at his life – the perfect, sinless life he led
- at his works – the miracles he performed
- at his death – the undeserved suffering he endured
- at his resurrection – the miracle of his resurrecting from the dead
- at his ascension – the glory of his return to heaven
Focus on the Cross
- It would take hours and hours just to begin to unpack all God has revealed about himself to us
- So I want to focus on just one of those that is especially important to our discussion
- Listen to vs 20 – made “peace through his blood, shed on the crossâ€
Account of the Cross
- Arrested, beaten and spit upon
- Flogged, crown of thorns
- Nailed to the cross (explain suffocation)
- Spear into side for good measure
Glory of the Resurrection
- 3 days after this unimaginable suffering, Jesus rose from the dead
- “He is risen†– 3 favorite words in Bible
- God is not dead – He is alive
Conclusion
- And for what purpose did he endure all this?
- Vs 21 – reconcile us to God
- Jesus, God’s revelation to us, endured this that we might know Him
- That we might be forgiven of our sins and re-enter relationship w/God
- Illustration of Bible
- 1 page – God’s creates world for us to be w/Him
- 1 page – us screwing it up
- rest of Bible – God working to reconcile Himself to us
- Tonight we are going to discuss how to follow God when the challenges of life are all around us
- But the only reason we can follow God in the midst of those trials is b/c of the life and work of Jesus Christ – because He died on the cross to reveal the depth of His love for you
Topics: Colossians |