Christ The Preeminent One

Colossians: Christ Alone  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented
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Big Idea of the Message: First and foremost in having a fresh revelation of Jesus Christ is to see his preeminence in all things. Application Point: The apostle gives the saints the foundational truths to understand the person of Jesus Christ, and thus, the power and authority that can reign, through him, in a believer’s life.

Notes
Transcript

Recap:

Paul did not found the Church of Colossae but the founder which could very well have been Epaphras had been instructed by Paul brought word concerning the church.
He brought a good word and a concerning word
The Colossians were being faithful and growing which was demonstrated by their increasing love for the saints everywhere and their faith in Jesus and their hope of the everlasting inheritance
But Paul also heard of the heresies that where creeping into the church. Heresies that had elements of Judaism with his mentioning of Sabbaths, new moons and certain foods, and elements of gnosticism, which is indicated by the references to self-imposed humility and service of angels.
Paul understands that because the Colossians were being so faithful, they had a target on their back. The enemy was going to come after them with a fury in the form of philosophical ideas that were contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ. And so he prays intensely for them that God will fill them to capacity with all knowledge and wisdom to discover and follow the Word of God as he is about to lay it down before them.
For what purpose? so that they will live in a way that honors and pleases the Lord. So that their lives will produce good fruit and they grow and learn God more and more.
Also so that they will be endowed with power from above to have as much endurance and patience needed with joy and thanksgiving towards the Father who relocated them (us) from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of his Son who actually purchased our freedom and provided forgiveness for our sins.
Now Paul begins to articulate and describe the realities of the Son in unprecedented ways and here we pick up where we left off from last week starting on verse 15. (pray).

Meat & Potatoes

Although we are really going to examine the Scripture from vs 15, for the sake of context lets take it a few verses back.
Colossians 1:9–14 (LSB)
9 For this reason also, since the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the full knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
10 so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and multiplying in the full knowledge of God;
11 being strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously
12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.
13 Who rescued us from the authority of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son of His love,
14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
And now our Scripture:
Colossians 1:15 (LSB)
15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
This is a description of God the Son.. Jesus Christ. He is said to be the image of the invisible God. The word translated image here is from the Gr. eikōn from which we get our English word icon
Image in this context implies representation and manifestation, like the image of a sovereign ruler imprinted on coin. Jesus is the exact visible representation of the Father’s being which is invisible. Thats why Jesus said, in answering Phillip’s request to be shown the Father…
John 14:9 (LSB)
9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all so long and have you not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Also consider our Saviors words when he said:
John 1:18 (LSB)
18 No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.
In essence then, anyone who saw Christ, the visible manifestation of the invisible God has thereby seen God. This is why Thomas was so shocked at the realization of who he had spent the last three years with. Seeing this “man” lay down his life and then bring himself back up again:
John 20:28 (LSB)
28 Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
So, as God, He also has preeminence over all things which is the reason why Paul uses the vernacular, “first born of all creation.”
It does not say first born in creation but first born of all creation
Hebrews 1:6 (LSB)
6 And when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says, “And let all the angels of God worship Him.”
In this context, the Greek word used here, prōtotokos, affirms Christ’s supremacy and sovereignty over all things
Firstborn cannot mean first created because the worship of any created being is a violation of the 1st and 2nd commandment in the decalog.
God refers to the nation of Israel as His first born Ex 4:22 but Israel was not the first form nation, yet it was the preeminent nation.
Even the term first lady is used as preeminent and not based on chronological order in that context.
Firstborn implies both Christ’s priority to call creation and His sovereignty over all Creation
Colossians 1:16–17 (LSB)
16 For in Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.
17 And He is before all things, And in Him all things hold together.
Christ created everything seen and unseen even the angelic spiritual realm which includes fallen angels. Jesus is not only the One through whom all things came to be, but also the One by whom all things continue to exist. The Scripture shows,
John 1:3 (LSB)
3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
Compare with:
Hebrews 1:2 (LSB)
2 in these last days spoke to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds,

The Father is the ultimate source (efficient Cause); the Son is the mediating Cause and the ultimate purpose of Creation.

He is before all things, he is eternal. Thats why Isaiah called him everlasting Father or Father of eternity.
And without him gravity would fail, the sun would not shine and we all cease to exist.
There are philosophies out there that teach that God created the world, the universe and all of the natural laws and properties and then left to allow the world to run its course. This passage states something different. The implication here is that Jesus is was not only the creator but he is also the sustainer.
Colossians 1:18 (LSB)
And He is the head of the body, the church;
Who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.
Not only is Jesus the Lord of the universe, but He is also the head of the body. And Paul tells us what he means by the body. He describes the body as the union of all believers, that is the Church.
Paul may have conceived this notion or this analogy based on how the Lord reacted to him persecuting the church.
On the road to Damascus to imprison and/or execute the followers of Christ, Jesus appeared to him.
Acts 9:4–5 (LSB)
and falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”
And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting,
The Jews nor the Romans could do anything to Jesus anymore. He was completely out of their grasp. So they went after His followers. Jesus took that personally. To go after one of his is to go after Him. Pain inflicted on on of his followers is pain inflicted on Him, it was as if they were Him and He was them. One body where all parts are interconnected. He is supreme over that interconnection.
Just as the body is controlled by the brain, so Christ directs and controls His church.
The Son of God presides over His Church, but more—He is to it the constant Cause and mighty Source of spiritual vitality. ‘Because He lives, it lives also.’ Its organization is rooted in Him, grows from Him, and refers to Him
Everyone who believes and accepts the Lordship of Jesus Christ is part of the body
1 Corinthians 12:13 (LSB)
For also by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
This also reiterates the universality of the Gospel.
He is the head and the sovereign because of three realities.
Colossians 1:18–20 (LSB)
And He is the head of the body, the church;
Who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.
For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
And through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross—through Him—whether things on earth or things in heaven.

1. He is the Firstborn from the dead

He is the beginning of the Church and this again refers to both it’s source and His preeminence.
You may think that other had resurrected from the dead before Jesus. However, Jesus is the first to resurrect never to die again.
Our resurrection will be like Jesus had in which our bodies will be outfitted for eternity (1 Cor 15:54-55).

2. He is all God

The idea of fulness which we examined last week with the word plērōma. Different form of the same word. I is condition of being filled to capacity.
Also gives the impression of completeness; the state of having every necessary part or component.
Every attribute of God is true of Christ which makes him God. In the next chapter in verse 9, the apostle says that the fulness of the Deity lives in bodily form.
Part of pagan traditions was to ascribe different powers to different deities. Paul asserted here that all power and all attributes of the Being of God completely dwelt in Jesus Christ and Him alone

3. He is the Reconciler

To reconcile means to change or exchange. The NT usage refers to changing the sinner’s relationship to God.
All the redeem are reconciled through him unto him because he is the one that owns it all. It was all created by him and for him.
He did this by means of His sacrifice on the cross.
Colossians 1:21–22 (LSB)
21 And although you were formerly alienated and enemies in mind and in evil deeds,
22 but now He reconciled you in the body of His flesh through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach—
We understand that all of us were enemies of God even from conception. Not only because of the original sin that we inherited from our parents but we compounded that with our own sin.
Psalm 14:2–3 (LSB)
2 Yahweh looks down from heaven upon the sons of men To see if there is anyone who has insight, Anyone who seeks after God.
3 They have all turned aside, altogether they have become worthless; There is no one who does good, not even one.
All of our deeds have been evil, even our righteousness was as filthy as sanitary napkins according to Isa 64:6.
We could not even think a single righteous thought as all our thoughts were only evil continually according to Gen 6:5.
When a great seventeenth-century Christian woman and encourager of God’s servants, Lady Huntingdon, invited one of her friends, the Duchess of Buckingham, to hear George Whitefield preach, she received this reply:
… It is monstrous to be told, that you have a heart as sinful as the common wretches that crawl on the earth. This is highly offensive and insulting; and I cannot but wonder that your ladyship should relish any sentiments so much at variance with high rank and good breeding.
It maybe hard to be lumped in with harden criminals and prostitutes yet, it is all true, we were all headed for the same hell.
But, the the fulness of time God sent his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law (Gal 4:4-5).
Colossians 1:21–23 (LSB)
21 And although you were formerly alienated and enemies in mind and in evil deeds,
22 but now He reconciled you in the body of His flesh through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach—
23 if indeed you continue in the faith firmly grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.
Remember the parable of the sower. the seed must fall on good soil. If it is shallow, it will not stand. That is the reason for sending the word of God, that they may continue firmly grounded in the true gospel and not the bag of magical beans that the world is trying to sell them.
Paul is not expressing doubt as to whether they will continue on; that is not what the Greek construction means. He already described the Colossians as being firmed or settled in their faith.
The scholar Peter O’Brien paraphrases the idea: “At any rate if you stand firm in the faith—and I am sure you will.” The positive application of Paul’s words are this: the gospel does not work like magic. The mind, the heart, and the will must be involved. Our minds must feed on Christ and his Word. Our hearts are to focus on him in love. Our wills are to take their practice and pattern from him. Present faith leads to present results; present drinking is for present thirst. We must fill our lives every day from him.
Colossians 1:24–29 (LSB)
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and I fill up what is lacking of Christ’s afflictions in my flesh, on behalf of His body, which is the church,
25 of which I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God given to me for you, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God,
Paul is suffering persecution and his motivation was to the benefit of Christ’s church. “Filling up what is lacking”… Paul understood that all of his his persecution was intended for Christ. Whatever was left of their hatred for Jesus was being endured by His followers
26 that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints,
27 to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
This is the specific mystery to which the apostle is referring to, the Messiah would live in each member of the redeemed church comprised mostly of Gentiles
28 Him we proclaim, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.
29 For this purpose I also labor, striving according to His working, which He works in me in power.
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