That He Might be Preeminent—Colossians 1:15-20.

Pray

Intro

Have you ever desired to be great?

If you are anything like me, you have heard the stories of Alexander the Great, Napoleon, or Churchill, and have been inspired by their leadership. It makes you want to be great like them.

Or look throughout church history and see great men such as Luther, Calvin, or Owen. They changed the world with their work and writings. It makes you want to be great like them.

Or maybe you are drawn to current examples of “great men,” such as John Piper, Kevin De Young, or our very own Albert Mohler. They make you want to be great and do great things like them.

In analyzing these figures we desire to be great as they are or were great. We want to lead armies to victory. We want to write influential books. We want to be known for centuries after our death.

Even in this class I am sure that many of you are tempted to desire to preach a great sermon, maybe even the best in the class. Maybe you feel an urge to impress Dr. Pohlman or just your peers. You want to prove you deserve to be a pastor by how great your sermon was.

Does that describe you?

Well, I do want to speak of greatness today, but it is not a greatness we will try to imitate, rather, it is the great one whom our whole lives should to point to, since the whole universe was made through him and for him. We speak of one greater than Napoleon, one greater than Calvin, one greater than John Piper. We speak of the greatest one. Open with me to Colossian chapter 1 verse 15.

Context

Written by Paul about A. D. 62 while he was imprisoned in Rome.

A friend of Paul, Epaphras had a huge role in starting this church. He was probably the one who let Paul know of the heresy that was threatening the church. Paul writes this letter to respond to this situation and to encourage these believers in their growth toward Christian maturity.

The Colossian heresy was probably a “human tradition” that had seeped into the context of the Colossians which tempted them to rely on human works and philosophies instead of relying on Christ alone for salvation. Possible Jewish influence.

This is why the text we will look at is so important. It defends the preeminence, the greatness, and uniqueness of Jesus and his gospel. Jesus alone is Lord. This is what Paul wants to emphasize.

Read Text—Colossians 1:15-20

Main Idea: Christ created all things for himself and reconciled all things to himself, so let him have preeminence in all things.

Preeminent in Creation

Preeminent in New Creation

Preeminent in Reconciliation

1. Preeminent in Creation (v. 15-17)

Verse 12-14 are important. Read Them. We see that it is in the beloved son that we have redemption and forgiveness of sins. We have been transferred to his kingdom, but who exactly is he?

He is the image of the invisible God. (V. 15a).

This brings us to Genesis 1:26-28. Adam in the image of God. So in this sense, like Adam, the Son reflects and represents God.

But there is more, He is the image of the invisible God. That is, He is the revelation of God. John 1 and Hebrews 1 both mention this reality. This does not mean that the Son is less than God, but, as one commentator puts it, “To say that Christ is the image of God is to say that in him the nature and being of God have been perfectly revealed—that in him the invisible has been made visible.” (Bruce Pg. 57)

Not only is he the revelation or image of God but he is the firstborn of all creation (v. 15b)

This does not mean that he was created!

Rather, firstborn in Jewish culture had connotations of being first and worthy of more honor. It also means lordship over others. And finally, it implies that he receives all things as his inheritance.

A very important text related to this is that of Ps. 89:27: “And I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.” This is speaking of David who was set apart over the kings of the earth as God’s firstborn. It also has messianic tones pointing to Christ who came as the Father’s eternal firstborn.

This means that he outranks all things (Garland)

That is who the Son is he is the preeminent revelation of God’s nature and he is preeminent over creation as firstborn. Now Paul will move on to prove this reality

He is firstborn over all creation because all things were created through him!

Paul goes through three different lists of things that God has created to emphatically declare what he says at the end of verse 16, “all things were created through him and for him.

There is not one thing that exists that was not made through him. Not one! Look around and be in awe.

Not only did he create all things but in verse 17 we see that in him all things hold together. That is, he sustains all things by the power of his word as we see in Hebrews 1:3.

Furthermore, since he is the creator and sustainer of all things he gets to determine the purpose of his creation. And he says that all things were made for him.

We don’t have to wonder at what the purpose of the universe is. The answer is not a confusing “42” like in he Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy where they ask an all knowing computer the meaning of the universe. The answer according to the Bible is not hard, the meaning of the universe is Christ. It was all made by him and for him.

We also don’t have to be anxious about what God’s will is for our lives. The text here is clear that all things including you and me, were made for him. We are made for Christ. We have been created to give glory and honor to our creator. HE is the telos of the universe!

Are you living for him? Selah.

If you are like me, the answer many times is probably no. We easily forget the creator. Push deep into the sin of not even considering the creator and sustainer of all things.

But let us not lose hope, our Lord is not only preeminent in creation, but as we will now see in our second point, he is:

2. Preeminent in New Creation (v. 18)

Our text says that he is head of the body, the church. (v. 18)

So not only is he preeminent over creation, he is also preeminent over the new creation, the new people of God.

What does it mean for him to be head of the church?

He first of all is the source of all life in the church.

He is the wisdom of the church.

He is the Ruler over the church.

The church is to live for tis head.

Another beautiful point: The destinies of the body and the head are interwoven. Since the head is destined to rule over all things for all eternity that means that we, the church, being connected to the head, Christ, will reign with him forever.

“Paul is affirming that the church holds a crucial position in the redemptive plan of God.” (Pao Pg. 100)

Do you meditate on the reality of your union with Christ? Are you remembering that you belong body and soul, both in life and death, to God and to your savior Jesus Christ? Are you gathering with the rest of the body regularly? I challenge you to take the church seriously. It is the most important thing in the universe since its head is Jesus Christ, the one who is the telos of the universe.

Then the firstborn language is repeated, but this time it is not over creation, but over death. Christ is the firstborn from the dead. Of course this means chronologically since he is the first one to defeat death and stay alive. But just like the first instance of this firstborn language, it has more to do with him ruling over death.

The point is, death has been defeated through Christ’s resurrection. He has initiated the new age where he is seated at the right hand of the Father ruling over all.

Christ’s resurrection is the source of all new life for others.

Paul “believed that God brought forward the inauguration of the ‘age to come,’ the age of resurrection, into the the midst of the present age in order that the power of the new age might be unleashed upon the world while there was still time for the world to be saved.” (IBID in Garland Pg. 92)

In bringing about this new age by defeating death he now merits preeminence according to verse 18. Though Christ was already Lord by right, he must become Lord in fact by defeating death and sin.

Definition of preeminence: I haven’t actually defined what preeminence means yet. Preeminence means to be first, to surpass all else, to be superior to anything else.

This is what Christ already was by being God himself, this is what he proved to be by all things having been created through him. And now he guarantees his preeminence by defeating sin and death.

But how exactly did he do this? This leads us to our final point:

3. Preeminent in Reconciliation (v. 19-20)

In Him the fulness of God was pleased to dwell.

God was pleased to dwell with his people in the past by his presence filling the tabernacle or the temple. But this was limited. Now, the fulness of God was pleased to dwell in Christ.

What does this mean though?

“He is the one, all-sufficient intermediary between God and the world of humanity, and all the attributes of God—his spirit, word, wisdom, and glory—are disclosed in him.” (Bruce Pg. 74)

We know from John 1 that the Word became flesh, so going back to v. 15 seeing that Jesus is the image of the invisible God it becomes clear that this preeminent Lord was to become flesh while still being God and possessing the fulness of what it means to be God.

This was the only one who could reconcile us. We had declared war on God by sinning against him in the garden, So only God could forgive us of this iniquity and bring reconciliation.

Yet, we needed a man, a Final Adam to represent us. We needed a man who was like us in every way yet without sin.

And that is why verses 15-20 are so important. They proclaim that Jesus is the preeminent one because he is God who created all things and he became flesh where the fullness of God was pleased to dwell so that through him and him alone we might be reconciled to God and receive peace.

Yet, the only way for this to be possible was through his blood being poured out on the cross. The preeminent Lord hung on the tree on calvary and poured out his blood for the sake of his own.

However, as we saw in verse 18, he is the firstborn from the dead. He did not remain in the grave but rose again that he might in all things have preeminence. He is the only Savior. He is the only Hope. Through him alone is there reconciliation with God. Through him alone is there true peace.

Application

So let me ask you, are you still at war with God in your heart?

Are you still living for yourself? Treating yourself as preeminent, as great, as supreme?

Then as Paul goes on to say in verse 21-23 put your faith in Christ. Repent from your sins at turn to the preeminent one, the only savior of mankind.

If you still struggle as a believer in search of greatness. If you desire to be recognized in this class for your great preaching. If you desire to become the next John Piper.

Remember that you are but a sinner, and that the preeminent Lord of creation died on a cross to save your soul. You are but a worm that the only truly great one poured his mercy upon. Be in awe of his grace and let it humble you.

Especially for us who desire to pastor it is crucial for us to humble ourselves and let our lives be a beacon to the world that point to the preeminence of Christ.

How can we do this? 3 Practical ways.

Let the first thing you do in the morning be what deserves preeminence.

The first thing you do shows where your priorities are.

Are you going to the word to see the preeminent one’s glory? Or are you going to your phone to scroll on the latest drama of evangelicalism?

The first thing you do in the morning and the last thing you do at night point to that which is preeminent in your life.

Go to church not to be served but to serve.

Remember that the church is the body and Christ is the head. If you love the head you will love the body.

Do not choose a church because they will serve you well and fast track you to be a pastor. Don’t take advantage of your church just so you can get opportunities to be known and recognized.

Instead, serve in your church. Serve in nursery. Serve on the hospitality team. Serve where no one might even see you or recognize you. Because in doing this you are giving honor and glory to the preeminent one since you are serving his body.

Do school not to be great but to better love the preeminent one.

It is so tempting here to go all the way and even get PhD’s in theology while neglecting to love the one who created all things. It becomes joyful to increase even in factual knowledge of God even though we aren’t growing more and more in Christlikeness.

We think that this is just one more step to achieve greatness instead of appreciating where God has placed us and honoring his greatness even where we are.

Remember that the preeminent one over creation has descended to die upon a cross to reconcile you to himself. You now have peace with God because of what he has done. Let this understanding never leave you and it should produce an appropriate fear of God and humility. It also should produce love for this great act of mercy.

So know let me go back to the main idea once again, Christ created all things for himself and reconciled all things to himself, therefore, let him have preeminence in all things.