To Tell The Truth
Colossians 1:11-28, 2:2-10
A favorite television show from my childhood was “To Tell The Truth”. A four member guest
celebrity panel, with three contestants played the game. Two contestants would lie and the panel
was charged with discovery of which contestant was telling the truth. The contestants would
introduce themselves and for instance, each one would claim to be John Doe, parachute instructor.
The panel would ask questions which only a parachute instructor could answer. Based on the
perceived veracity of the answers the panel would determine which of the three was a real
parachute instructor. After the questioning, the host of the show Gary Moore would say, “Will the
real parachute instructor please stand up.” Often, the panel was totally stumped as the most
unlikely looking of the three turned out to be the real instructor. The panel’s preconceived ideas
swayed their judgment.
People often misunderstand the nature of God, what God is like, how God works in the world. JB
Phillips decried the inadequacy of many modern images of God in his book Your God is Too Small.
Images created by our presuppositions about how God is supposed to work and relate to our world
are most often limited to our understanding of the natural rather than the spiritual world. Philipps
knew that we limit God by limiting the Divine to our preconceived notions and he urged Christians
to realize that God is much bigger than any image our finite minds can conjure.
In today’s scripture lesson, St. Paul presents a Christologic hymn to describe the nature of God
revealed in “the Word made flesh”, (John.1)the person of Jesus the Christ –what Christ is like, how
Christ relates to the world. To begin with, Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God. Col.1:15
When we want to know what God is like, how God works, how God relates to the world, we should
look to Jesus Christ!
Paul provides the Colossians with a picture of salvation and spiritual transformation not as an
escape from the world, but as a process of redeeming the world. The MCC statement of Faith says
that “we are saved from loneliness, despair and degradation through God’s gift of grace. Such
grace is not earned but is a pure gift from a God of pure love.” We might also ask what are we saved
for? We are saved in the world to transform the world, because in Christ all things in heaven and
earth were created. Christ is the firstborn of all creation; Christ’s work of salvation is to redeem not
only individuals, but the entire created order. Col.1:13-17 Christ Jesus is God as reconciling agent
in the world and we are co-laborers with Him, authorized by Him to be agents of reconciliation.
Christ Jesus is also the Head of the Church, (Col.1:18-19) which is His body in the world. Thus it is
the Head which commands the body to live according to the Law of Love and “go into all the world
and make disciples, baptizing them and teaching them the including gospel to all who will believe.”
Mt.28:17-20 In Christ Jesus, God dwells and continues to dwell in bodily form. Col. 2:8-10 God
reconciled all things unto God’s self, through Christ’s willing death on the cross. Col.1:20-23 St.
Paul wanted to make sure that these early Colossian Christians had a crystal clear image of Christ
and how Christ related to the world. We modern Christians must be very careful about the image
we paint of Christ. Like the early Colossians we live in a world of many gods, where religions are
often stamped and shaped into the image of the beholders, we must remember the truth of Divine
design. And it is that God created us in God’s image and not the other way around. We must strive
to proclaim a clear biblical image of Jesus Christ as the incarnate Word of the One and only living
God. Col. 2:2-4
Will the real Jesus, please stand up?
Colossians 1:11-28, 2:2-10
A favorite television show from my childhood was “To Tell The Truth”. A four member guest
celebrity panel, with three contestants played the game. Two contestants would lie and the panel
was charged with discovery of which contestant was telling the truth. The contestants would
introduce themselves and for instance, each one would claim to be John Doe, parachute instructor.
The panel would ask questions which only a parachute instructor could answer. Based on the
perceived veracity of the answers the panel would determine which of the three was a real
parachute instructor. After the questioning, the host of the show Gary Moore would say, “Will the
real parachute instructor please stand up.” Often, the panel was totally stumped as the most
unlikely looking of the three turned out to be the real instructor. The panel’s preconceived ideas
swayed their judgment.
People often misunderstand the nature of God, what God is like, how God works in the world. JB
Phillips decried the inadequacy of many modern images of God in his book Your God is Too Small.
Images created by our presuppositions about how God is supposed to work and relate to our world
are most often limited to our understanding of the natural rather than the spiritual world. Philipps
knew that we limit God by limiting the Divine to our preconceived notions and he urged Christians
to realize that God is much bigger than any image our finite minds can conjure.
In today’s scripture lesson, St. Paul presents a Christologic hymn to describe the nature of God
revealed in “the Word made flesh”, (John.1)the person of Jesus the Christ –what Christ is like, how
Christ relates to the world. To begin with, Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God. Col.1:15
When we want to know what God is like, how God works, how God relates to the world, we should
look to Jesus Christ!
Paul provides the Colossians with a picture of salvation and spiritual transformation not as an
escape from the world, but as a process of redeeming the world. The MCC statement of Faith says
that “we are saved from loneliness, despair and degradation through God’s gift of grace. Such
grace is not earned but is a pure gift from a God of pure love.” We might also ask what are we saved
for? We are saved in the world to transform the world, because in Christ all things in heaven and
earth were created. Christ is the firstborn of all creation; Christ’s work of salvation is to redeem not
only individuals, but the entire created order. Col.1:13-17 Christ Jesus is God as reconciling agent
in the world and we are co-laborers with Him, authorized by Him to be agents of reconciliation.
Christ Jesus is also the Head of the Church, (Col.1:18-19) which is His body in the world. Thus it is
the Head which commands the body to live according to the Law of Love and “go into all the world
and make disciples, baptizing them and teaching them the including gospel to all who will believe.”
Mt.28:17-20 In Christ Jesus, God dwells and continues to dwell in bodily form. Col. 2:8-10 God
reconciled all things unto God’s self, through Christ’s willing death on the cross. Col.1:20-23 St.
Paul wanted to make sure that these early Colossian Christians had a crystal clear image of Christ
and how Christ related to the world. We modern Christians must be very careful about the image
we paint of Christ. Like the early Colossians we live in a world of many gods, where religions are
often stamped and shaped into the image of the beholders, we must remember the truth of Divine
design. And it is that God created us in God’s image and not the other way around. We must strive
to proclaim a clear biblical image of Jesus Christ as the incarnate Word of the One and only living
God. Col. 2:2-4
Will the real Jesus, please stand up?
A Message from the Pastor
Rev. Lee Carlton
Senior Pastor, Cornerstone MCC
Rev. Lee Carlton
Senior Pastor, Cornerstone MCC
Click on link to the
left to hear Rev.
Carlton's sermon:
"When I Grow Up"
left to hear Rev.
Carlton's sermon:
"When I Grow Up"