Is Jesus Supreme Preeminent?

Intro

This week I had to make a decision between Life Group and my Family. I chose family; I chose to put my wife first. Celebrate V!

What we value and who we value is meant to dictate what takes priority in our lives.

The same is true in our relationship with God. If Jesus is truly important to us. If we love Him; He ought to take precedence in our life.

If you’re a follower of Jesus you know Jesus should be preeminent in your life; but you like me, struggle to live it.

Why don’t we put Jesus First?

Two reasons:

We don’t see Him right

We don’t understand how

Let’s readjust our view of Jesus. Who Is He?

Colossians 1:15–20 (ESV)

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Colossians 1:15 (ESV)

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

Jesus is Physical

We are image bearers of God Gen 1:26-27

Genesis 1:26–27 ESV

26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Genesis 1:26–27 ESV

26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

He is the IMAGE of God

Philippians 2:6–7 ESV

6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

FIRSTBORN

Psalm 89:27 ESV

27 And I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.

Psalm 89:27: “I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.” This verse appears in a section of the psalm speaking of Yahweh’s covenant with David. It is perfectly clear from the biblical accounts of David that he was not physically the firstborn of his family. In fact, he was the youngest of his brothers. This demonstrates that the term “firstborn” may be used in a figurative manner. Further, the term “firstborn” is qualified with the phrase, “the highest of the kings of the earth.” This indicates that, in the context of Psalm 89, to be made “firstborn” by God means to be exalted to the highest place. Such a reading of “firstborn” makes perfect sense in the context of Colossians 1. (https://www.crossway.org/articles/was-christ-the-first-and-greatest-creation-of-god-colossians-1/)

Colossians 1:16 (ESV)

16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

Jesus is Creator

He is the means by which we were created and the purpose for which we were created

He is the How and the Why of our existence.

Job 38:31–35 (ESV)

31 “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades

or loose the cords of Orion?

32 Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season,

or can you guide the Bear with its children?

33 Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?

Can you establish their rule on the earth?

34 “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds,

that a flood of waters may cover you?

35 Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go

and say to you, ‘Here we are’?

The Pleiades (/ˈpliːədiːz, ˈpleɪ-, ˈplaɪ-/;[1] Greek: Πλειάδες, Ancient Greek pronunciation: [pleːádes]), were the seven sister-nymphs, companions of Artemis, the goddess of the hunt.[2] Together with their sisters, the Hyades, they were called the Atlantides, Dodonides, or Nysiades, nursemaids and teachers of the infant Dionysus. The Pleiades were thought to have been translated to the night sky as a cluster of stars, the Pleiades, and were associated with rain.

Job 40:15–19 ESV

15 “Behold, Behemoth, which I made as I made you; he eats grass like an ox. 16 Behold, his strength in his loins, and his power in the muscles of his belly. 17 He makes his tail stiff like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are knit together. 18 His bones are tubes of bronze, his limbs like bars of iron. 19 “He is the first of the works of God; let him who made him bring near his sword!

Colossians 1:17 ESV

17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

God over the macro and the micro

Colossians 1:18 ESV

18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

Head of the body

Firstborn - we are alive b/c He is

Jesus is Supreme. But have you allowed Him to be Supreme in your life?

Share moment of Surrender // Place in my life where I wasn’t letting Him be supreme and pre-eminent

11th grade?

Baby Zae?

Finances?

What does it look like when Jesus is pre-eminent?

Bible studies, ask guys, how their doing with the fight for purity or sharing their faith or being in their word, often guys will share their struggles and shortcomings, as everyone has them.

Then I ask, what does it look like to make a change to take their faith more seriously.

Often the answer is I need to read the Bible more.

But Jesus being preeminent doesnt just change when He appears on your calendar or how much He appears on your calendar.

Jesus being pre-eminent means He consumes your calendar!

Image 1: putting jesus first in cal

Image 2: Increasing time with Jesus

Define Preeminent

πρωτεύω prōteúō, prote-yoo'-o; from G4413; to be first (in rank or influence):—have the preeminence.

Webster: adjective: pre-eminent; adjective: preeminent

surpassing all others; very distinguished in some way.

late Middle English: from Latin praeeminent- ‘towering above, excelling’, from the verb praeeminere, from prae ‘before’ + eminere ‘stand out’.

Colossians 1:12–14 ESV

12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

We stand in the light; presence of God and when we do; God is to stand out in our life

Stand in - presence of God

Stand out - Godlinesses

How do you know if He is Preeminent and Supreme in your life?

One way would be to very literally look and see if He is “first in your calendar”.

A more accurate way might be to ask one of these two questions:

When making a decision (with multiple options), does my faith impact what I chose?

Does He motivate why or how I do things?

Colossians 1:16 (ESV)

16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

Action: What is one area of your life you need Jesus to be FIRST?