Who is Jesus #1 (Dr. Kurt Bjorklund)

Senior Pastor Dr. Kurt Bjorklund starts of the message series "Who is Jesus?" asking questions about the doctrine of Jesus.

Message Transcript - https://www.orchardhillchurch.com/blog-post/2024/11/11/who-is-jesus-1

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Transcript

Good morning! It's great to be together, and it was also great to see so many of you at It's A Party, one of the events this last week where we gathered to celebrate what God has done at Orchard Hill and through Orchard Hill over the last year, and dream a little bit about what can be and just have some unhurried conversation. I met a lot of people I didn't know, and had a chance just to enjoy some great food, so thanks for making that part of your calendar and priority over this last season. Let's pray together. 

Father, as we have gathered this weekend as Orchard Hill around Pittsburgh in ten different worship gatherings, and now here in this moment, I pray that you would speak to each of us. God, I ask that my words would reflect your word in content and in tone and in emphasis. And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.  

So today we're starting a new series that we're calling “Who is Jesus?”, or really asking the question “why Jesus?” And the reality is a lot of people in this world believe in God. In fact, what you see is that most people who believe in God will say very quickly, and the version of God that I believe in, I'm pretty certain is the right version. And Christians are no different because in Christianity, there's the belief that we worship the one true God, and that Jesus is the one true God. God exists as a trinity. 

And so, the question, in many ways to ask and answer is, “why is the Christian version of who God is the right version? Why is it something that you believe in?” And if you have been around Orchard Hill for a while, we are actually doing seven series over the course of several years, and you may not have even picked this up. Two years ago, we did a series called “True North”. It was on the doctrine of Scripture. Last year we talked about “God Is”, who is God? The doctrine of God. This is the doctrine of Jesus. And then we'll work our way through kind of the seven big segments of doctrine over these years. And that's not necessarily important to know, but just letting you know, this wasn't just randomly chosen because I heard Christmas music and said, hey, we gotta talk about who is Jesus! Although, it is that time of the year. I've started hearing Christmas music.  

So, when you ask the question, “who is Jesus?” One of the first things that comes to mind probably for many of us is an image of some kinda, maybe it was something that we saw when we were kids in Sunday school or something. So here are a few of the more common images of Jesus. So, this is what I call Swedish Jesus. Now, if you didn't know Jesus was not Swedish, he was probably not 6’2” with blonde hair, and he may have had muscles, who knows? But he was Middle Eastern. Okay, so that's Swedish Jesus. Then we get who I'm going to call Gentle Jesus. This is the Jesus who just sits around with lambs all day and strokes them and pets the lamb. And then we get what I call Angry Jesus. This is the Jesus for some, who is always angry at everything that's going on with different people in our world.  

And what we want to do in this series is say, who does the Bible say that Jesus is? And we're going to start somewhere that maybe doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. And the reason for this is because one of the things the Bible says about Jesus is that he is in the image of God. But something the Bible says about you, about me, is that we are in the image of God. And so we want to just explore this for a little bit today. Here's what Hebrews 1 says: 

“In the past, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days, he has spoken to us by His Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” - Hebrews 1:1-3 

So, who is Jesus? He is the exact representation of the being of God. And this is how God has spoken to people in these days, these last days. In other words, if you want to know who God is, He says, look at Jesus, and that's how you'll have a good idea of who God is. Now, if you go all the way back to the beginning of the Bible, in Genesis, we're told that God created people, mankind, man and woman, in his image. Genesis 1:26, 27, you heard it read. And the reason that I want to go back here is because when you take this phrase, the image of God, and say, this is true of Jesus, but it's also true of us, it tells us some important things about how we are to think about ourselves, how we're to think about Jesus. 

And so, an image, if you were to think about it, means that it is close, but it's not entirely the real thing. So, here's a mirror, and if I can get this right, you'll be able to see me in here. There we go. All right, so when you see the image, it's me, but it's not entirely me, right? There's a difference.  

Now, theologians who've written about this idea of the image of God, have had lots of ways of describing it. I'm just going to highlight three concepts, words that speak to what it means to be created in the image of God. And the first word is just dignity, because when you are created in the image of something that is divine, in the image of God, the Creator of the Universe, it means that you, as you exist, have an incredible sense of worth and dignity simply because you were created in the image of God. 

God did not make a mistake when he created you. He gave you the gifts, the capacities, even some of the challenges that you may see in your life. And he molded you and made you to be exactly as you are. You are in the image of God. And that should give us a great sense of worth. I don't know if you remember the first time when you were a kid and you made a sports team, or you were in a band, or you were in a play or something, and you gotta wear the uniform. And you put on the uniform, and when you put on the uniform, you think, I am part of this. Well, in a sense, God has clothed humanity with the uniform of deity. Now, I'm not saying that you're a God, don't misunderstand me. But what I'm saying is you have the likeness, the image of God in such a way that you have worth, you have value. 

Paul David Tripp wrote about this, and here's what he said. He said, “Forgetting the value and dignity imparted by these words...”, Genesis 1, you are created in the image of God “...will force us to look elsewhere, not only for understanding, but for our identity, for our sense of value and worth. Your relationships, the way people react to you and treat you, are never a stable place to find identity. The purpose of your job or career is not to give you an identity and value. If you're a parent, looking to your children for identity never works. It's an unlivable burden to place on the shoulders of your children. Physical beauty and athletic prowess will not give you a lasting sense of who you are. Success as the source of your identity requires more and more success. You never get enough for your heart to rest. Material wealth and possessions don't work as identity markers. No matter how big your pile of stuff, if it's your source of identity, enough is never enough. None of these things will impart a rich sense of personhood.”  

He goes on, “If you're a business owner, you must not look at your employees as simply tools needed for your success. If you're an employee, you must not look at your fellow employees as objects in the way of your advancement. If you're a politician, you cannot allow yourself to look at your constituents as little more than a means of acquiring power. If you're a pastor, you should never think of the people under your care as a means to gain ministry, prominence, and success. If you're a mom or a dad, you cannot reduce your children to the problems in the way of an otherwise enjoyable week. If you're a coach, the athletes you lead must be viewed as more than ingredients needed to put together a good season. No one should objectify anyone else. No one should question the value of another person simply because they're different.” 

You see, to be created in the image of God means that every person has the dignity and the value that God has given them. And when we look to other things, what we're doing is we're saying that thing is what can define me rather than God himself.  

Now, there's something else here, and that is, it's not just dignity, but there's capacity. And I use that word because to be made in the image of God means that you have certain moral and creative capacities that God has given you. And when you bring them to bear in this world, what you're doing is you are living in the image of God. 

This is one of the reasons that sometimes when you bring order to something, even taking care of a property somewhere, and you say, I've brought order to, it feels like you're doing something that has significance because you are living and leaning into the image of God. When you create art, you are living and leaning into the image of God. When you bring healing to another individual, when you make a business thrive, whatever it is that you do, you are bringing life and bearing the image of God in that moment.  

And so, there's dignity, there's capacity, and then I would use the word responsibility, because to be made in the image of God, if you read through Genesis 1 and 2, it says that after he created men and women, he made them to rule the creation order. This is what some people have called the creation mandate. This is the idea that you and I were created and put here not just to enjoy and consume, but to have dominion over the earth. In other words, to use our capacity to help make this world a place of justice and a place of God's thriving, His peace His Hebrew word of shalom, meaning how everything thrives together.  

Now, the problem is, and you know this, and that is when you look around the world, you say, it doesn't look like that. It doesn't look like that for me, all the time. It doesn't look like that in the world, people treat each other poorly. People don't live up to their capacity. They take their capacity and they spend it not to make the world better, but to satisfy themselves, sometimes even to hurt other people. And we certainly don't always embrace the responsibility that God has called for each person.  

And the reason for this is because when you read through Genesis 1 and 2, you get this soaring account of the creation of humanity and the world. And then in Genesis 3, you get the account of the fall. And this is where Adam and Eve eat fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden. And when they eat that fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden, what happens is sin enters the world. And what the Bible tells us about sin is it isn't just a moral affront to God, although it is that, it is also the decay of the way things should be. And part of that means that the image of God in us has been marred, broken a little bit, and that changes how we experience the world.  

So back to the mirror analogy, if I look in the mirror. Where am I? There I am. So now you get the image, but the image has been broken, and now you can't see it in the same way. It's there, but it's not as clean and as crisp as it is in its origin. And what this means, again, is that people often, instead of treating themselves with dignity and as value, as worthy, because they are created in the image of God, what they end up doing is they end up treating themselves as if they are not in the image of God. And they seek their image and their validation from things outside of God. And sometimes what it means is we treat other people poorly because we don't see them as being in the image of God.  

Again, Paul David Tripp, in writing about this, put it this way. He said, “This means...”, talking about the honor of the image of God and how it's broken. He says, “This means that any act of dishonor against another person is an act of dishonor against God because people are created in the image of God, but this is what we see. Violence against an image bearer is violence against God. Rejection of any human being is rejection of God. Abuse of another person is rebellion against God. Objectification of anyone at any time is a violation of the plan and the pursuit of the character of God.” 

In other words, the reason that you see this fracture of people all the time is because the image of God has been broken. And this is again part of what we see when we come to capacity, when people who have great capacity simply say, I'm just going to exist, or I'm going to use my capacity on things that suck the life out of me and out of this world. And then to just simply avoid responsibility, but here's where Jesus comes into this account. Because Jesus is the exact likeness of God, he is the image of God. If you are a follower of Jesus, then the image of God is being restored in you now and will one day be fully restored. And here's what this means. So, the image of God is given to all people. It's broken by sin. And then when people come to faith in Jesus Christ, that image begins to be renewed, restored. It becomes something that's on display, and one day it will be fully restored.  

Let me just show you a few places where we see this kind of language, this kind of text in the Scriptures. In Romans, chapter 8, we see this in verse 29. Now, the book of Romans is a book that talks all about the sinfulness of humanity in chapter 1, 2 ,3. And then in chapter five, it says, but there's a chance to have peace with God. And so, after that, he talks then still about how sin still reigns in chapters 6 and 7, and in 8, he starts, and he says, now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And he begins to talk about the renewal of all things, and probably one of the most famous verses is verse 28, right before 29, obviously. Here's what 28 and 29 say: 

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose...” verse 29, “...for those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” - Romans 8:28-29 

So, Jesus is the firstborn, the image of God, not marred by sin, who shows us what God is like. And he calls anybody who is a follower of Jesus into this process of being conformed to his image. In other words, it is God's desire, God's way to say, to say, I want you to start living this image now. And then in 2 Corinthians 3:18, it says: 

“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his image...” and then notice what this phrase says, “...with an ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” - 2 Corinthians 3:18 

So, what does that mean? It means that as you come to faith in Jesus, the image begins to be restored, but it continues with an ever-increasing glory, meaning over time, and with the work of the Holy Spirit in your life, you will bear that image more and more and more.  

And so, what happens is you begin to see yourself not as being defined as the world defines you by your success, by your relationship, by your looks, by your wealth, but instead you start to see yourself as being defined by God himself. And not only that, you will treat every single person you come in contact with with dignity because they are image bearers of the God of the Universe as well. 

And then you will say, I am called to live to the capacity that God has created me to live with. And you will embrace the responsibility of being an image bearer. Now, there's one other thing here that's significant about this idea of this image of God, and I've alluded to it, but it's this. And that is Jesus is the perfect image of God. Here's where we see this. This is Colossians 1, verse 15: 

“The Son is the image of the invisible God...”, again, this phrase, “...the firstborn over all creation.” - Colossians 1:15 
 
So what this means when we say, who is Jesus? Jesus is the image of God in perfection. And why that matters? Because he saw people and treated people, you and me, as being people in the image of God. That's part of why Jesus came to this earth. He used his capacity being perfect to be the firstborn, to provide the way for us to live out this image now, knowing that one day it will be restored completely. And he took the responsibility from the brokenness in the garden of the world to say, now I'm going to restore the world to the way that it was intended to be. And so Jesus is our hope, our Savior, but he's also the image, the likeness of God in perfection that we, if you're a follower of Jesus, say, that is how I want to image my life, what I want my life to look like.  

I was thinking about this the other day. Last weekend, my wife and I went to Chicago to visit one of our sons. And while we were there, I got up one of the mornings and I was reading my Bible. I was working a little bit on coming messages, this was one of them. So, I was thinking good thoughts about image of God and every person being created in the image of God. And as the weekend went on, one of the things we were doing is we went down into the heart of Chicago, which, if you live in Pittsburgh, the traffic is pretty nice, but in Chicago it's a little more aggressive. 

And if you've been around, you know that I sometimes can be triggered by other drivers. And so, we're driving into the city and this car kind of swerves around me, cuts me off and goes in front of me. Now, I didn't react in any poor way. I didn't honk, I didn't curse. You know, hopefully that's a growth of the image of Christ in me. But here's what was going on inside of me. It was not, “you are created in the image of God, dear one.” I had other thoughts.  

And here's why I tell you this. After as many years as I have been a follower of Jesus Christ, I would like to think that the image of God would be more imprinted on me. And I long for the day when it will one day be made full in me and in the world around me, where there won't be my own predisposition to live out the brokenness of the image and there won't be that reality around me, but that we will one day live in the place where God's intended perfection from the Garden of Eden will be realized in the renewed world.  

And that is the hope that Jesus brings to us today. And every time that you find yourself not thinking about yourself as valuable, not seeing people as valuable, not living into your capacity, rejecting responsibility, you can say, but there's coming a day. There's coming a day. And yes, by God's grace, there will be an ever-increasing glory of the image of God in us, through us. But there's coming a day when he will restore and renew that image completely. And that is the hope of the Christian, and part of what makes Christianity unique. Because there is the embodiment of God in human form, in Jesus, God in the flesh. And that is our hope.  

God, we thank you for a chance to gather and to consider who Jesus is and who you made us to be. God, thank you that he is the perfect likeness. Help those of us who are followers of Jesus to be growing with an ever-increasing image of you in our world and to all those around us. And we pray it in Jesus' name. Amen.  

Thanks for being here. Have a great week.