What we make is a reflection of who we are.  Ludwig Van Beethoven wrote many monumental works including the 9^th Symphony.  Music historian Nicholas Cook of Cambridge University has called the 9^th, “Beethoven’s greatest achievement and, in my estimation possibly the greatest music composition of all.”  Beethoven’s work was so consistently good that you might think that everything he wrote was excellent.  However, there were also works like his “Choral Fantasy”, Beethoven’s first attempt to unite many musical elements like piano solo, vocal soloists, orchestra and choir into one musical piece.   

     At the premiere of the Choral Fantasy Beethoven himself played and conducted from the piano.  It was a disastrous performance, with the ensemble breaking down several times in the middle of the performance.  Beethoven actually began to yell at the musicians for not following what he had indicated in the score.  But Beethoven also didn’t follow the score well; one time repeating a section he had specifically the orchestra not to repeat.  So he and the orchestra and chorus were “not on the same page”.  One funny piece of history is that a to-this-day anonymous poet had been hired to write lyrics to the already completed musical score.  After the disaster, no one would own authoring it! 

     You see, what we make is a reflection of who we are!  21^st C CEOs and marketers are painfully aware of this and that’s why they seek to control what they call “the company brand”.  When a company makes a bad product, people become suspicious of every other product in the company.  People learn a lot about us from what we make.

     And, this point brings us straight into the text we are looking at this 3^rd Advent Weekend, Colossians 1:13-22.  As we look at it, we will be addressing the most common argument that people have made against the Christian faith throughout history:  The Bible unashamedly declares that God is all-powerful, in control of everything, involved in the world, good, and loving.  And, it teaches that Jesus is the one who has made everything that is.  “Without him nothing has been made that has been made,’ declared John.  The implication is that all creation should declare much about God.  As the Psalmist sang, “The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament proclaims the work of his hands.”

     But, if that is true, why is there so much evil in this world God has made?  Natural disasters killing apparently innocent bystanders.  Evil dictators profiting from their oppression of their subjects.  Painful and debilitating illnesses. Sexual abuse of children… I could go on and on, couldn’t I?  I can hardly count how many times I have heard people say something like this:  “If the God you believe in allows this or that, I don’t believe he exists.  And if he’s real and his universe is like this, I don’t trust him.” 

     I’m sure all of us have had those kinds of thoughts cross our minds.  In fact, the biblical writers often turned to God and cried out asking, “Why are you allowing evil to prosper in your world?”

     To all this, Colossians 1 acknowledges that there still are dominions of darkness in this world (1: 13-14).  Painfully, the NT reminds us that we ourselves are evidence that there is still rebellion against God in the world because we engage in sin. So, know this: the Bible does not cast a blind eye to those realities that we find hard to reconcile to the kind of Creator God is. And, it doesn’t say, “Well there are parts of the world God didn’t make or that are outside his sovereignty.”  We’ll see today that the child born in Bethlehem was himself the creator of all things -- who has entered his creation to begin a work that, when completed, will show us what God is like.  We will someday see that what we thought was an irreconcilable teaching that a powerful and good God has created a world filled with evil -- is reconciled.  All will be clear – all will be reconciled – shalom will reign… when God is done.

     Paul begins where we must begin, i.e., by looking clearly who Jesus is.  We’ll do the same. But then we must also ask how we should respond to him so that we might reflect his glory.  No text in the Bible is more majestic about its description of Jesus than Col. 1:15-20.  Most of us think it was a hymn of praise about Jesus sung by our brothers and sisters in Christ in the early church.  What does it teach us?

Who He Is:  Jesus is God, Creator and Recreator

#1:  Jesus is God:  The hymn is like a breathtaking ride through the teaching about this man who did what only God could do and was what only God could be.  Notice the three awe-inducing statements:

1. 1)    He is the “image of the invisible God” (v. 15) – Somebody might knock on your door someday and say, “Aha!  Jesus isn’t God – just the image of God.”  If so, don’t buy what they’re saying.  The word translated image is eikon – a visible manifestation of an invisible reality.  As such, the Bible is saying that Jesus is the physical presence of God on earth!  We are made in the image of God – Jesus is the image of the invisible God.  He would say in John 14:9, “If you have seen me you have seen the Father.”
2. 2)    He is the firstborn over all creation (1:15) -- The person at your door says, “Oh, Ok – but look:  Jesus is the firstborn.  He was born.  He’s a creature too!”  But you say, “Not so fast.  Did you notice that he has made anything that has been created?  He is before all things in v.16.”  Those here who come from extended families -- like all people in the world of Jesus were – can understand this well.  Firstborn was the one who was in charge of the family.  It was a term that had to do with the one who was the head.  All the wealth, all the inheritance, all the status in a family belonged to the firstborn son.  The hope in the rest of the family is that “the firstborn” would be good and generous and caring.  In other words, what this hymn is affirming with this word “firstborn” is the great truth that Jesus is not the Father but is one with the Father.  Jesus is the eternal Son.
3. 3)    All God’s fullness dwelled in him (1:19) – All that God was and is – was and is in Jesus.  I used to think that this doctrine of the Trinity – that God is one God eternally existing in three persons – might be thought of as an egg.  See Pic.  You know, there is an egg white, a yoke, and a shell but it is all still one egg though each part does not contain all the other parts contain.  But, the Bible teaches something much bigger here.  All that God was and is was and is in Jesus.  All the fullness of God in the child born in a manger.  Charles Wesley also had to sing about it:  Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see.”  So, Jesus is God.  Now, let’s consider the child’s relationship to the created world.

#2:  Jesus is Creator:  Three little words speak profoundly to us – in, through, and for.

1. 1)    In him all things were created (1:16a) – This “creation in him” sounds strange to our ears.  But, it means that all that was made was in the sphere of his control – of his authority.  When everything was right – before sin entered the world – there were no competing kingdoms and no enemies.  Where he rules, there is love, justice, and shalom.  And, the consistent message of the NT is that when we are “in Christ” – the main way a follower of Jesus is described in the Bible – then all things begin to be right again.  Where things are “in Christ”, there is love, justice and shalom.
2. 2)    Through/by him all things have been created (1:16b) – Before there was anything that could be called a thing, Jesus was.  The Bible is saying that when we look at any created thing in this world, we must see him as its Maker.  We see many things in this world about which we may say, “Why on earth did he make that?”  And we may have to ask him about those things in heaven.  But, now, with our limited understanding, we must see that all creation is a part of his intentional handiwork.
3. 3)    For/to him all things have been created (1:16b) – And now this assertion:  All creation points to him.  It all shows what he is like.  Like a well-run business points toward its founder, or an exquisite meal points toward its chef, so all creation declares to us something about Jesus.  This is my point:  What we make is a refection of who we are.

#3:  Jesus is Re-creator – All things will be reconciled.  Shalom will return.

     The centerpiece, the pivot point of the song, is 1:17b – “in him all things hold together.”  When his kingdom comes and he is in control, there is nothing that is no longer at odds with him.  No kingdoms of the world, the flesh or the devil.

     A few weeks ago, I did a message in which I reminded us of some of Jesus’ last words:  All authority in heaven and on earth has been give to me, Jesus declared in Mt. 28:18.  Jesus says he has authority over every moment and event of history.  He has authority over every part of the natural universe – windstorms and earthquakes and fires.  Jesus has authority over all forms of life.  Jesus has authority over all other authorities:  Satan and all demons, authority over all nations and governments: congresses and legislatures and presidents and Middle Eastern tyrants and drug dealers and gangs and bullies; authority over all armies and weapons and bombs and terrorists. Jesus has authority over every soul and every moment of every life that has been or ever will be lived. 

     After I finished that message, many people said to me, “We believe that pastor.  But your sermon does bring up a huge question:  If Jesus made it all and is over it all, why do so many things seem to be outside his control?  Why is there all this evil and disaster in the world?

     And the Bible says it is because, in his providence, God has chosen to allow creatures made in his image not to be robots but to be those who have the divine gift of moral responsibility – of being able to decide whether to surrender by faith to God’s reign or to resist him.  And, we have used that gift to walk away from him over and over.  So, now, there are other kingdoms operating in this world in rebellion to him.  As Col. 1:13 says, there are now long-entrenched dominions of darkness operating in this world.  And we are a part of it.  As 1:21says to us, “You too were once alienated from God and were enemies of God because of your own evil behavior.”  We may ask, “Why does a good and powerful God allow so much evil in his world?”  But, if so, we also must ask, “Why does a good and powerful God allow me in his world – for I have done wrong?”  Nothing is yet all it was meant to be.  You and I are not what we were meant to be. 

     But there is hope.  God loves us – he loves the people of the world who still bear his image – though flawed by sin.  He has not given up on us.  And, in that light, we come to Christmas.  God came!  The creator entered creation to re-create what he loves.  He came on a great rescue and re-making mission.  The one through whom all was made entered the world he created.  The one without a beginning was born.  Charles Wesley said we have to sing about this:  “Veiled in flesh, the godhead see.  Hail, the incarnate deity.”

     And, this one born in Bethlehem took on the great enemies of his creation i.e., sin and death.  Notice in v.18, “He is the firstborn from among the dead.”  God died.  Beginningless – Creator of all – fullness of God – dead.  God (real God) became flesh (real flesh – not a hologram or ghost), lived, bled, sweat, cried, and died! And his goal was our reclamation and re-creation.  As Wesley wrote in another hymn, “Tis mystery all: the Immortal dies.  Who can explain God’s strange design?” 

     So, Jesus defeated sin (he didn’t sin) and death (the grave could not hold him).  Now, all who place their faith in him will be rescued from the dominion of darkness (v. 13) and forgiven of our sin (v. 14).  All who trust Jesus are again “in Christ” -- we come back into the sphere of his grace, his love, and his remaking.  We enter into his church, i.e., the people of God being remade by our Creator and Re-creator.  Do you see, “He is the head of the church.  In the church, we are to become like him and declare what he is like to the world.  We are promised that what he has begun in us, he will complete (Phil. 1:6).  We are promised that though we are not yet all that he made us to be, we are also not yet what he promises we will be!

     Now, let me pull us to envision the completion of God’s re-creation:  Just like God finished his creation in Genesis 1-2, he will, in his time, finish his re-creation in us.  All things in us will be made whole.  In fact, when Jesus is done, all will be made right in the world.  There will be no more rebellion against him.  Evil will be punished – whether through faith in Jesus bearing our sin on himself or through judgment.  Other kingdoms will be defeated.  There will be no more sin or tears or wars or sickness or death.  So, we certainly see things in our world today that cannot be reconciled with the goodness and power of the God who made it.  But someday, all will be reconciled on earth or in heaven.  All will be made new.

     Until his work is complete, we should sing that great Second coming song, “Joy to the world, the Lord is come.  Let earth receive her king.  No more let sins or sorrows grow – nor thorns infest the ground.  He comes to make his blessings flow far as the curse is found.”  He will “rule the world with truth and grace…”

How should we respond to this Creating and Re-creating God?

*Place your faith in Christ – Acknowledge that what v. 21 says is true of you – you’ve walked away from God and have lived in ways that you know are not pleasing to him.  Hear my favorite “Christmas passage” in the words of Jesus in John 3:16-17:  God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life – for God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world but to rescue the world through him.  Notice the great promise in 1:21-22 – Jesus is ready to reconcile you to God and to begin that process of presenting you “holy in his sight, blameless and free from accusation.”  Wow – for people like you and me to be that, it really is an act of divine re-creation.

*Surrender daily to his kingdom – to Jesus’ rule – in your life.  Pray daily as Jesus taught us:  Lord, today, “your kingdom come; your will be done in my life.”  Let me give you a pastoral warning:  This process of us becoming complete in Christ will sometimes seem painfully slow.  When we become serious about our spiritual growth, we’ll sometimes get frustrated when the progress seems slow. 

     We are individually a microcosm of the world.  The world is not all that its Creator says it will be – but he promises all will be completed.  All will be made new.  And he says the same to us.  He will not give up on you.  He will start again with you and will not give up until he’s completed his project.

     I was talking with my friend, Jamie Rankin, about this earlier this week and this is what he wrote me:

     I look at the construction site of my house – wires dangling, wood exposed, dry wall unpainted, molding unfinished, appliances installed but not hooked up – and think to myself: “This isn’t what I want that room to look like.” And as it goes on and on like this, with constant delays (weather, no materials to work with, delayed permits, etc.), I grow more and more impatient, thinking to myself: “Why did I decide to do this?”

     Then a bit more gets finished, then a bit more. The contours take shape. The drywall is patched and spackled; then it gets painted, and the molding is painted around it. The lights are installed. The tile is set. And slowly, ever so slowly, something beautiful emerges. But it still isn’t “done,” still isn’t what I envisioned it to be.

     I have a picture of the finished project. I know what it’s supposed to be like – I’ve planned it, drawn it and re-drawn it a dozen times, and seen it finished in my mind’s eye – and I think it will be beautiful. But as the process of creating it drags on, with delay after delay – and mistake after mistake – all I see for a long time is unfinished, un-beautiful, unappealing. How frustrating!

     And I’ve thought several times: My unfinished home is a glimpse of the way my Father views my growth.  He sees what I am: Not finished, but being re-created; on my way to being the way He intended me to be from before all creation.  And he also sees what I will be: my finished human soul already shining and perfect, reflecting His glory. But it’s not that way now – I’m not that way now — not by a long shot. How frustrating!

     But in the end, “I will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.” And the room will be finished – though I’m more sure of God’s work in me than I am of my work in my house.  

*Further his rule in the world – I’ll come back to this in coming weeks.  But, let me tell you that not only does God do his work in us – but also he does his kingdom work through us.  As he came to bring us blessing, he sends us to carry his blessing to a world that is still not fully reconciled to his rule.  This is the message that sent Robert Raikes into the slums of London to be with and to teach those who were illiterate.   He started the Sunday School movement – which was a movement to eradicate illiteracy from Great Britain.  This is the message that sent Wilberforce throughout Great Britain to eradicate the dark kingdom of slavery.  When we grasp this message, we’ll go personally into those kinds of kingdoms of homelessness and hunger and broken families and alienation to make a difference in the name of Christ and in the power of Christ.

     In coming weeks I’ll talk about that more.  Let me end where I began.  Beethoven’s greatest composition may have been his 9^th symphony.  And, his most inferior work may have been his Choral Fantasy.  Did you know that after his disastrous premiere of the Choral Fantasy, Beethoven took many of the ideas and melodies and re-worked them and re-created them?  When he was done, those profound and beautiful creations are now heard in… the Ninth.  The finished work reflects the composer’s greatness.

          What we make is a reflection of who we are.   We look, in the short run at God’s world and see parts still undone -- parts out of order and messed up (including us) – and it is.  But, all things will be reconciled.  All things will eventually hold together in him.  But God isn’t done yet.  God isn’t done with you yet.  Let him do his work.  Surrender all dominions of your life to him.  Do it now.  And, know that he will not give up on you.  Jesus, the Creator God, came that you and I will reflect his glory.