It is true to be in the Word of God to Paul's letter to the Colossians. Paul's letter to the Colossians, chapter 1, verses 13 through 23, and then chapter 3, verses 1 through 17. So beginning in the first chapter of Colossians, chapter 1, at verse 13, let us listen to God's own Word. For He, that is God, has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities, all things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning of the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood shed on the cross. Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you wholly in his sight without blemish and free from accusation. if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven and of which I, Paul, have become a servant. Now turning over to chapter 3 at verse 1. Since then you have been raised with Christ. Set your hearts on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature, sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways in the life you once lived, but now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these, anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its creator. Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, Barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free, but Christ is all and is in all. Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with one another and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues, put on love, which binds them all together, Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace, and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. So far the reading of God's word. Well, we live in a time where there has been a remarkable interest shown in a movie. In Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. It seems that for weeks and perhaps for months, the media has been filled with one kind of story after another about this movie. And various questions have been raised about it. Is it anti-Semitic? Is it too violent? But at least in what I've heard and read, I have heard no one raise the question whether the movie is a violation of the Second Commandment. And so tonight I thought it might be good for us to spend a little time thinking about this movie, not as an end in itself, but as an illustration of how we should think about our service to God, how we should think about true religion, and then how we should relate to this movie. Some amazing claims have been made about this movie. I saw one young man come out of the movie and was interviewed on the television, and he said, this movie will change America. And a pastor was quoted in a newspaper as saying, this is perhaps the best evangelistic tool the church has ever been given. These are very remarkable claims. What should we think about them? What should we think about the movie? And what should we think about the very character of true religion? At the end of our scripture reading, the apostle Paul admonished us, Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus. And so we have to ask, what does the Lord Jesus say to us about this movie? What does the Lord Jesus say to the way in which this movie would fit into a conception of true religion? And how does Paul in particular teach us about images and their usefulness here in Colossians? Now, I have not polled my fellow ministers or preached this sermon to them to see if they will agree with me at every point, but I think it is safe to say that what I'm saying here is not just my own personal view, but does express, at least in a general sense, the view of the ministers of this church. What is the usefulness of images? What should we think about images? And I think the first thing we ought to note from what Paul teaches us here in Colossians is that we have an image. God has given us an image. Did you notice that in chapter 1 at verse 15? He, that is Christ, is the image of the invisible God. Do you want to see the invisible God? Paul says you see them, you see Him in Jesus Christ. Jesus said that Himself, didn't He? In John chapter 12, if you have seen Me, you have seen the Father. I am the image or the likeness, the form, the appearance of God. And Paul here in this first chapter of Colossians is writing a great poem celebrating the amazing fact that Jesus, who in His incarnation was not beautiful, He had no form or comeliness that we should desire Him, said the prophet Isaiah. Jesus, who would have looked very ordinary as a man, was nonetheless the very image of God. When people saw Jesus, they saw God. He was the image that God had given to us. And how great that image was, Paul says to us. In Him, the fullness of God dwelt. All of God was present there in Jesus Christ. Not just a part of divinity, but the fullness of divinity was there. That's why we as a church have always said He is the final revelation of God. He is the Son of God. He is God come in the flesh. There is no further revelation possible because God has come to us and made Himself known in the Son. Jesus is the very image of the invisible God. He is supreme in all things Paul celebrates for us here. There is nothing greater, nothing better, nothing more preeminent than our Lord Jesus Christ because he is the image of God. And that's true not only in his being, but it's true in all of his work. He is the creator, we are told here. Sometimes we think of creation almost exclusively in reference to the Father, But that's not what Paul says here. Verse 16, For by Him, that is Jesus, all things were created. Things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities, all things were created by Him and for Him. What a remarkable statement. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is the great image of the Creator God. When we see Jesus, we see God the Creator. And when we see Jesus, we see God the Redeemer. It is Jesus Christ who brings to us the forgiveness of sins, as we read in verse 14 of chapter 1. It is Jesus who reconciles us to the Father by the blood of His cross, as we read in verse 20. This is the amazing character of our Christ. And He is God's image for us. He is the image that we have. He is God in the flesh. And when Hebrews chapter 2 says, we do not see all things subject to Christ, that is, even though He is supreme, even though He is preeminent, even though He has created all powers, we don't yet see in this fallen world. We don't yet see everything acknowledging and in subjection to Christ. Hebrews 2 goes on to say, But we do see Jesus. Now, what did Hebrews mean when it said we do see Jesus? What does Paul in Colossians mean when he says Jesus is the image of God for us? Both when Hebrews was written and when Colossians was written, Jesus had already been resurrected and ascended into heaven. These people didn't literally see Jesus with their physical eyes. So what do they mean when they say, we see Jesus? Well, they meant we see him in the word of revelation that he has given us. The word of truth. The gospel. Look how Paul writes earlier in Colossians chapter 1. He writes at verse 5 of the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth the gospel that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth. How do people see Jesus? How does the gospel spread? How is the work of evangelism done? It's by the word. It's by the word of truth. It's by the gospel. That's what the Apostle Paul was doing in his life. It's where we find the fullness of the revelation of the truth that we have in Jesus Christ. Paul writes in verse 25 of chapter 1 of Colossians, I have become its servant, that is the gospel servant, by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness. That's the wonderful thing that we find in the New Testament. There's nothing lacking. There's nothing to be added later. The word of truth, the gospel, is complete in the apostolic ministry. And how do people see Jesus? How do people know the image that God has given to us? It's by hearing the Word. It's by hearing the Word preeminently as it is preached. Paul was a preacher. He celebrates his preaching of the Word. Verse 28 of chapter 1, We proclaim Him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. It's through preaching that Christ is made known to his people. That was God's appointed way in the first century. And it was not just because God didn't have projectors in the first century that he appointed preaching. Why did he appoint preaching? Well, a lot of you here have listened to a lot of sermons. It would be interesting to add up all the hours spent listening to sermons represented in this place tonight. It might be kind of scary. I'm sure thousands of hours. Maybe tens of thousands of hours. And you wouldn't, if you were really honest, it wouldn't take you very long to know the answer as to why God appointed preaching. Because it's so foolish. Because it's so weak. Because He wants the power to rest in Him and not in us. He doesn't want us to have confidence in ourselves. He appoints weak preachers who come into the pulpit week by week thinking how inadequately they are representing God's truth and fullness. And in the foolishness of preaching, God draws attention to Himself and to His Son so that we might not be led astray to think we have power or we have wisdom or we do it in our own strength, but it's in God's Word that the power is found. And that's why Paul in chapter 3 of Colossians at verse 16 says, Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly. Do you want to see Jesus? Do you want to understand Him better? Do you want to draw near to Him more? Then let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly. Treasure His Word. Study His Word. Read His Word. Listen to that Word preached. That's how the Word will help you see Jesus. That's the point that Paul is making. We need that word. Now, God knows that we are weak, that we're not always good listeners. And so God in his mercy has provided a help and an aid with an image we can see. And we'll see that next Sunday morning, Lord willing, on the communion table, bread and wine, which focused before our eyes the work of Christ upon the cross as symbols of His body and blood. But those symbols would have no power, no meaning, no usefulness, not even any communicative value if they were not surrounded by the Word. It's the Word that makes the sacrament. Where there is no Word, bread and wine are just a nice appetizer. But where the Word is present, they help us see Jesus and draw near to Him. But it's preeminently, isn't it? Preeminently. In the Word, in the hearing of the Word, in the hearing of the Word by faith that we see Jesus. Now, there are some people, some very well-meaning people, some good Christians who say, Well, you know, God gave us bread and wine and therefore he establishes a sacramental principle so that we can use other visible things to know him and draw near to him. If bread and wine and the water of baptism are useful for us to see and draw near to God, then it must be useful to use other visible things to draw near to God. And Reformed Christianity has always said to such an argument, That's absolutely and fundamentally untrue. That's false. We must limit ourselves to the sacraments God has explicitly appointed in His Word. We cannot create sacraments and we cannot create other avenues to God than the ones that God Himself has given us. And so it is in word and sacrament that we are to see Jesus. And by receiving word and sacrament, we do see Jesus by faith. That's how we see Jesus in this life. That's how we receive Jesus in this life. That's how we live in Jesus in this life. It is by faith. And Paul, writing to these Colossians, chapter 1, verse 4, says, We have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus. And verses 22 and 23 of chapter 1, Paul wrote, He has reconciled you by Christ's physical body if you continue in your faith. Faith is our connection to Jesus. And while we could say many things about faith, one of the most powerful things that Paul says about faith in 2 Corinthians 5-7 is, We live by faith and not by sight. Some people seem to think that the apostle didn't use movies or statues or pictures of Jesus just because he was handicapped, just because he didn't have enough money for them or just because he didn't have the technology for them. But that's not true. The ancient world was full of image makers and painters, if that's what the apostle had wanted. The ancient world was full of actors and theaters, if that's what the apostle had wanted. because images and pictures and theater were powerful ways of teaching the pagan religion. Why didn't the apostle make use of those things? Because he said we live by faith and not by sight. Because in 2 Corinthians 4 he wrote, So we fix our eyes, this is really interesting, so we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. The eyes of faith, you see, look through the word to Jesus Christ, the true image of the Son. Now think about that image and how Paul describes him. What maker of a statue, what painter, what movie producer could make a picture that would say Jesus is the creator of all things? That in Jesus the fullness of Godhead dwells bodily? That all things were created by Him and for Him? That He is supreme over all things? There's no way any picture could present that. Only words can say that. Only words that call forth our faith can declare that. Because we live in a world where many people say, well, Jesus was a nice teacher, but he certainly wasn't God. Or Jesus is a rather divine leader, but he's not the only way to God. And we live in a world where there's so much suffering and misery and sorrow and struggle that we sometimes wonder, is Jesus really in charge? And how could we know that? Only as we hear the word and receive it in faith. That's what we're called to. And so Paul says to us as his people, verse 2 of chapter 3 of Colossians, And set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. And that's why when the Reformation came, there was a purification of the churches. There was a removal of statues and images and paintings from the churches. And the purpose of that removal was so that people would not focus on earthly things, but would lift up their minds to heaven, to Christ, and to feed upon Him there by faith. The Reformation, one of the clearest messages of the Reformed movement was, we don't need physical images, we don't need statues, we don't need pictures. Not only do we not need them, but they are really dangerous for us. Now, why do we say that? Why do we say they are dangerous for us? Because every pictorial representation of Jesus is untrue. Every pictorial representation of Jesus does not present to us the real Jesus, the way he really looked. That's why I would plead with you that this motion picture is perhaps particularly dangerous. Because it is so powerful, because it is so dramatic, because it is so vivid. People who go to the motion picture will come away burned into their minds and hearts with a picture of Jesus. But it won't be Jesus. It'll be some actor. I was struck by the words of Billy Graham who commended the movie and he said every time I preach or speak about the cross, the things I saw on the screen will be on my heart and mind. Is that a good thing? That from now on every time he preaches about the cross, he'll be thinking of a Hollywood actor? Is that a way to draw closer to Jesus? One of the great confessions of the Reformation in the 16th century, the Second Helvetic Confession or the Second Swiss Confession, made this statement about images. We do therefore reject not only the idols of the Gentiles, but also the images of Christians. For although Christ took upon himself man's nature, Yet he did not, therefore, take it that he might set forth a pattern for carvers and painters. Therefore, we approve the judgment of Lactantius, an ancient writer who says, Undoubtedly, there is no religion where there is a picture. And that basic point of view is what is stated in our Heidelberg Catechism. Heidelberg Catechism, question 96 says, We in no wise make any image of God. And if Jesus is the image of God, in whom the fullness of the Godhead dwells, then we ought to make no image of Jesus. I've always particularly been struck by question 96 of the Heidelberg Catechism, what asks, well, can't images be useful for education of people who don't read? And the Catechism, in one of its great phrases, responds, we must not be wiser than God. We must not be wiser than God. Now, that should be a point so obvious that everyone here ought to nod vigorously, right? You don't want to try to be wiser than God, do you? It's really stupid to try to be wiser than God. You can quote me on that. You heard it here first. You cannot be wiser than God. And the point the catechism is making is if God has told us how to communicate his gospel, if God both in the commandments that he has given us and in the example of the apostles has shown us that it is by the word and by preaching and by faith that we should see Jesus, then surely it is an exercise in human pride to think we can be wiser than God, that we can be better at education, that we can be better at evangelism than God, By making pictures of Jesus. When we try to improve on God's ways, we make a mess of things. I always remember an illustration that Reverend Kaminga had once about how we cannot add to God's works. He spoke about Leonardo da Vinci's great painting of the Mona Lisa. And he said that is viewed by many as the world's single greatest painting, a nearly perfect painting. And he said, but we could add to it. We could paint a mustache on the Mona Lisa. But that addition would actually be a subtraction. We must not be wiser than God. We must not add to his work in ways that take away from his work. So we don't need that image. We don't need it in our minds. because it really is a false image of who our Christ is. So if we don't need that image, what image do we need? Well, Paul tells us, I think, in a remarkable way here in Colossians chapter 3 at verse 10, And if we have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge, in the image of the Creator. What is the image that the world needs to see? It's you as a renewed Christian. It's you as one who has put off the old nature because of the work of Jesus Christ. That has put off the way in which the world lives. It is you as you are renewed in the power of the Holy Spirit to be more Christ-like. What is the image the world needs to see? It's not a movie. It's the saints of God. Maybe that makes you a little uncomfortable. And you think, well, I'm not so sure my life is really that great. Well, then I think the Apostle would say to you, get better. Don't be content then if your life doesn't stand out. Change your life. Put off the old man. Put on the new. Paul wrote to the Philippians, chapter 2, verse 15. May you become blameless and pure, children of God without fault, in a crooked and depraved generation in which you shine like stars. Do you shine in the darkness of this world? Does your life shine? Does your life give testimony to the redeeming work of Jesus Christ? Are you an image that reflects Christ and His saving work and His renewing work? That's the image that this world needs to draw them to the image of the invisible God, Jesus Christ. Our catechism knew that too long ago when it wrote about why do we do good works in question 86 and answered in part that by our godly walk our neighbors also may be one for Christ. Paul says whatever you do in word or deed in all the walk of your life, do it for the Lord Jesus Christ so that you may be stars shining in a dark place. You see, part of what I find sad about this excitement about the movie is that this excitement will almost surely pass quickly away. Movie's a blockbuster. Mel Gibson's movie has already brought in about $120 million. No doubt millions more coming in as we sit here tonight. And there are a lot of people excited that this is going to change America. That a few minutes of television interviews will make a difference in the lives of lots of people. It would be wonderful if that's true. May God grant that it's true. But it's not very likely to be true. The reason that Hollywood and Roman Catholicism and Evangelicalism is all able to combine around this movie is the common commitment to excitement. But has America's evangelical commitment to excitement made the churches stronger? Has it made the nation holier? Has it made the churches holier? Excitement is not the path to creating disciples who are image bearers of the new life in Jesus Christ. It's not the temporary that's important, Paul says. It's the permanent. America's religion of repeating looking for excitement, of repeating looking for a kind of revivalism that's just going to overnight change everything is part of what's weakened the church. And we as Reformed people need to stand against that kind of commitment to excitement and say it is not moments usually that change lives, but it's a pattern of faithfulness, of discipline, of commitment. It's a pattern of letting the Word of Christ dwell in us richly, sabbath by sabbath as we worship god the reason most fundamentally that we shouldn't be excited about this movie is not just and i use that word just in parentheses not just that it's contrary to the second commandment that's a big deal but that's not all it represents an approach to religious excitement that is not lasting and never has been. And what people need to see is Jesus Christ in all of His saving work to hear His Word, to know the presence of His Spirit leading us day by day, week by week, year by year in patterns of faithfulness so that as He said in chapter 1, We are firm and established, steady and steadfast. And then we will be the stars shining as we're called to be. We shouldn't get caught up in this excitement. We should be thankful for opportunities to talk about Jesus Christ. Some people say, well, if you don't see the movie, how can you talk? I think you even have a better chance to talk if you don't see the movie because you can say, I haven't seen the movie, I'm not going to see the movie. Why is that? Because it's the Word of God I love. It's the Word of God I cherish. I find Jesus Christ, the true Christ, in the Scriptures. And if we're committed to that, and if we're committed to living for Christ as He calls us to live for Him, then we will see lives changed. Our neighbors will be one for Christ. And Christ will glorify himself through his people. Amen. Let us pray. O Lord, our God, where we have sought pictures of Jesus that are not pictures, we ask for your forgiveness. where we have been indifferent to your word, which pictures Christ so faithfully, we ask for your forgiveness. And we pray for your spirit to be with us, to draw us to that word, so that that wonderful word of Christ might dwell in us richly. And we pray, O Lord, weak as we are, sinful as we are, selfish as we are, that by the power of your Holy Spirit, we might more and more put off all of the selfishness that clings to us and that we might more and more put on the love, the mercy, the kindness that characterizes our Savior. And so we pray, O Lord, that you would use us to reflect and to make known the saving work of Jesus Christ in our words and in our deeds so that Christ might be glorified and your church built up. Hear us, for we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.