Colossians 1 - The Preeminence of Christ

Colossians 1:15-20

“Boy, you look just like your daddy. You are the spitting image of your granddaddy. Thank the Lord you look just like your momma… That has got to be Dennis’ boy, right there. That has got to be Jessica’s girl right there...”

When you have seen one… you see the other.

Even if you never saw their daddy in your life, that child could communicate, or reveal their daddy to you to some degree.

I Can Know God

Jesus is the exact representative, the expressed image of God.

No one has seen God as He truly is. No one can see God in His divine essence and live.

1 John 4:12 - No one has ever seen God...

John 1:18 - No one has seen God at any time; the Only Begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.

Jesus is the Word of God, He is with God, and He is God.

Hebrews 1:1-2 - God spoke through prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by His Son, who He appointed heir of all things and through whom also He made the universe. He is the exact representation of God’s nature...

Throughout the Old Testament we will see that God tells Moses that he cannot see God and live (Exodus 33:20). Yet, we read that God appears in forms, like burning bushes, or in the form of human beings. These are called “theophanies.”

God has revealed Himself in different ways to communicate Himself, but these are only limited appearances of Him, appearances that the mind can take and perceive. Angels in heaven have to cover themselves in His presence.

We will need glorified bodies and lives to see Him in heaven.

How can we know Him? How can we know His face? We know God the Father through God, the Son. Jesus communicates God to us in human form. Jesus is the exact likeness and the perfect representative of God.

God fills heaven and earth. Nothing compares to Him. Words cannot describe Him in His fullness.

But… If you want to know God, meet the Son, see the Son, watch and follow the Son, and you will know God.

Jesus said, “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father” (John 14:9).

Our words express ourselves. Our words, express our thoughts, our will, our emotions, our character… Our words can tell a lot about us.

The Word of God communicates God… reveals God… as He is.

Verse 15 - This next part has generated confusion: He is the firstborn of all creation. Hebrews 1:6 says the same thing: He brings the firstborn into the world and says, “Let all the angels of God worship Him...”

6 times in the New Testament Jesus is called the “firstborn.”

Jehovah’s Witnesses and others may bring this up when you talk to them… They believe that Jesus is created; He is the highest created being.

The Person and work of Christ has always been attacked.

How serious is this? If we miss Jesus, we miss God. Satan has been working since the beginning to bring confusion about the person of Christ, and about what Jesus has done for us on the Cross.

As we think about this word, “firstborn,” remember the word we learned this morning: Preeminent. Christ is Supreme, superior… He is the highest authority.

This term, firstborn, is not communicating that the Son of God was created, or that He is creation, and something less than God. The word is not first-created, it is first-born.

This is referring to the Son of God’s position and rank.

In that world, the firstborn has the highest rank, is superior to all, has the inheritance and the leadership.

Jesus is the only begotten, Son of God, and His position is at the Right Hand of the Father. He is before all, above all, and superior to all.

John 1:3 - All things came into being through Him...

All things are His.

So, this phrase, “Jesus is the firstborn of all creation” points to or proclaims the preeminence of Jesus. He is the eternal Son of God. He has the highest rank, has all of the Father’s, He is the Judge, and He is the authority over all things.

This is the Savior you talk to. This is the Savior who speaks for you. This is the Savior who fights for you. This is the Savior that has all things and is over all powers.

I can know Him. I do know Him. He knows me. He can and will give me all things. He can supply for every need. He can move the mountains. All things are His.

Verse 16- Everything (all things)that were created was created through Him and for Him. Everything… All things...

“Even me?” Even me. You are made by Him and for Him. This is your identity, value, and purpose. I have been made by God and for God.

I know that I am not junk… I know I not an accident. I know I have purpose, meaning and value. Why? Because God the Son made me and saved me, and gave me His life.

How about you… Who made you for what? “Well, I have been made through random mutations, over the course of billions of years. You see, there was this explosion, and all this star-stuff, and there was all this evolution… and... I am a remarkable accident that lives to survive.”

This is how people live… with this belief.

Christians… We have been made by God and for God… and this makes a difference.

Verse 17 - He is before all things… and in Him all things hold together...

Why should I trust and follow this Jesus? Why should I trust His words?

He is before all things. He is the Truth. He makes knowledge and wisdom. He made all, sees all, and knows all. He put all of this together and He is taking it to an end. He is the Alpha and the Omega.

This is a good reason to follow Him and trust Him all the way.

“Hey friend, want to follow me around the world, and let me take you to untold treasures?”

“Wait, you want me to follow you around this dangerous world, through Atlanta traffic, through jungles, across oceans… to find a treasure?”

“Have you been there?” No. “Do you know the way?” No. “Can you promise to get me there safely?” No.

“I believe I will have to decline your offer...”

But… if a person who created the world, created the way, the truth, and the life asks us… If He created the treasure and knows how to get us, because He came from there… If He asks us to trust Him and follow...

What shall we say?

Next:

He is holding all things together. He put all things together and is holding all things together. He knows how to hold us together. He has the power to keep us together.

He is not only the Creator… He is the Sustainer. He is the Conserver.

I can’t hold it together. I can’t hold my life together. I can’t keep my body and it’s cells all together, working together. I cannot fix my life or any other life. I cannot hold families and churches together.

But I know a God who can. I know a God who will.

He is the creator and sustainer of all things.

Verse 18 - Jesus is the beginning of all things. Jesus makes and builds His Church. He is the Head, He is the Authority over the Church. We preach, teach, evangelize and Jesus builds the Church.

The Church is built by Christ, and the Church is looking to Him, submitting to Him, worshipping Him.

He is the Master. He is the Boss. We are the stewards, doing all things for Him.

If you have a group of people gathered together and they do not believe that Jesus is God the Son… That is not a church. It may be a cult, but not a church.

If you have a group of people together and they are not following, worshipping, obeying Jesus as Lord and Master over their lives… that is not a church… even if you have 9th Baptist on the sign outside.

The Church is birthed and held together by Christ or it is not birthed or held together.

The Church lives to serve Jesus, or its not a Church.

Jesus is to have first place in everything… Even in the Church...

He was the first to be resurrected, never to die again. Lazarus had to die again. The widow’s son had to die again… But not Jesus. He is the first over all who will be resurrected. He is superior over death. He has authority over death.

Therefore, He is the Resurrection and the Life. He has the power to raise you up too.

Lastly: And what else does Jesus do? Through Him, He reconciles all things and makes peace through the blood of His cross. Through Him, and Him only is this made possible.

People, sinners, were separated from God… But God reconciled us to Himself.

Nations were separated from each other and hated one another. Jesus reconciles the nations, making us into One Body and One Nation under God, a Holy Nation.

All peoples, all nations, can now all come together and be one people under God. He can bring the dead to life, and all the living, into One Family.

Through Jesus there is peace with God.

Through Jesus there is peace with one another.

Through Jesus we all can be unified.

Through Him there can be peace, in our lives, in our families and our churches.

Through Him… this is possible.

I can know this Jesus. I can know this God. I can know that He will get me all the way home. I can know He will supply for every need. I can know the meaning, purpose, and value of my life and I can have the peace of God in my life.

To know Him is to have eternal life.

You can know this.

We can know this.

And this will change our lives.