#4 The Preeminence of Christ: Lord of All

When we look at the story of the Bible, at its root it is really the story of Jesus Christ. The Old Testament records the preparation for His coming. The Gospels present Him as God in human flesh, come into the world to save sinners. In Acts, the message of salvation in Christ begins to spread throughout he world. The Epistles detail the theology of Christ’s work and personification of Christ in His Body, the church. Finally, Revelation presents Christ on the throne, reigning as King of kings and Lord of Lords. Today we will examine what may be the most concise and power declarations of who Christ is and all he has and will Christ accomplish. If you remember back to our initial sermon on talked about the heresy that was threatening the church centered on the person of Christ.

Lets Read

Pray

The false teachers in Colossae, like the false teachers of our own day, would not deny the importance of Jesus Christ. They would simply dethrone Him, giving Him prominence but not preeminence. In their philosophy, Jesus Christ was but one of many “emanations” that proceeded from God and through which men could reach God. It was this claim that Paul refuted in this section.

Probably no paragraph in the New Testament contains more concentrated doctrine about Jesus Christ than this one. We can keep ourselves from going on a detour if we remember that Paul wrote to prove the preeminence of Christ, and he did so by using four unanswerable arguments.

Christ the Savior (1:12-14) “giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

As we looked at last week, our source of Joy and Thanksgiving is found in Christ’s redeeming work. Paul summed up our salvation using these three aspects:

Our Inheritance (1:12) “giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light”

Giving thanks to the Father emphasizes the personal, relational aspect of our union with God. Before our salvation, God was our Judge. We stood condemned before Him for violating His holy, just laws. But when, through the grace of God, we placed our faith in Christ, God ceased being our sentencing Judge and became our gracious Father.

Not only has God adopted us as His sons, but He has also qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. God has qualified us through the finished work of Christ.

Our Deliverance (1:13a) “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness”

A second cause for our joy and thanksgiving is our spiritual liberation. Remember this concept has to due with us being rescued or drawn-out God drew us out of Satan’s kingdom to Himself. That event was the new birth. We are not gradually, progressively delivered from Satan’s power. When we placed our faith in Christ, we were instantly delivered.

Those who receive the Lord Jesus Christ have been rescued from the domain of darkness. Domain here could also be translated “power,” “jurisdiction,” or “authority.” We were once captives in the domain of sin and death, but through Christ’s death, where Jesus crushed Satan, we are delivered to the kingdom of light and life.

Our Transference

Paul completes his discussion of the source of our Joy and Thanksgiving by describing our new domain.

We were transferred or removed or changed. We have been totally removed from the domain of satanic darkness to the glorious light of the kingdom of Christ. We know that Christ will one day return to earth and set up his millennial kingdom which is a day we all look forward too. But Christ also rules now as he is seated at the right hand of the father.

Christ the Creator (1:15-17) “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 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. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

The false teachers were very confused about creation. They taught that matter was evil, including the human body. They also taught that Jesus Christ did not have a real body, since this would have put Him in contact with evil matter. The results of these false teachings were tragic, including extreme asceticism on the one hand and unbridled sin on the other. After all, if your body is sinful, you either try to enslave it or you enjoy it.

In this section, Paul explained the fourfold relationship of Jesus Christ to creation.

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” He existed before creation. The term “firstborn” does not refer to time, but to place or status. Jesus Christ was not the first being created, since He Himself is the Creator of all things. “Firstborn” simply means “of first importance, of first rank.” Solomon was certainly not born first of all of David’s sons, yet he was named the firstborn (). “Firstborn of every creature” means “prior to all Creation.” Jesus Christ is not a created being; He is eternal God. Paul used the word image to make this fact clear. It means “an exact representation and revelation.” The writer to the Hebrews affirms that Jesus Christ is “the express image of his person” (). Jesus was able to say, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father” (). In His essence, God is invisible, but Jesus Christ has revealed Him to us (). Nature reveals the existence, power, and wisdom of God, but nature cannot reveal the very essence of God to us. It is only in Jesus Christ that the invisible God is revealed perfectly. Since no mere creature can perfectly reveal God, Jesus Christ must be God.

(1:16a) “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities.” He created all things. Since Christ created all things, He Himself is uncreated. The word for that introduces this verse could be translated “because.” Jesus Christ is the Firstborn of all because He created all things. It is no wonder that the winds and waves obeyed Him, and diseases and death fled from Him, for He is Master over all. “All things were made by him” (). This includes all things in heaven and earth, visible and invisible. All things are under His command.

(1:16b) “all things were created through him and for him.” All things exist for Him. Everything exists in Him, for Him, and through Him. Jesus Christ is the Sphere in which they exist, the Agent through which they came into being, and the One for whom they were made. Paul’s use of three different prepositions is one way of refuting the philosophy of the false teachers. For centuries, the Greek philosophers had taught that everything needed a primary cause, an instrumental cause, and a final cause. The primary cause is the plan, the instrumental cause the power, and the final cause the purpose. When it comes to creation, Jesus Christ is the primary cause (He planned it), the instrumental cause (He produced it), and the final cause (He did it for His own pleasure). If everything in creation exists for Him, then nothing can be evil of itself (except for Satan and fallen angels, and even those God uses to accomplish His will). proto-gnostic regulations about using God’s creation are all foolish (). It also means that God’s creation, even though under bondage to sin (), can be used for God’s glory and enjoyed by God’s people ().

(1:17) And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” He holds all things together. A guide took a group of people through an atomic laboratory and explained how all matter was composed of rapidly moving electric particles. The tourists studied models of molecules and were amazed to learn that matter is made up primarily of space. During the question period, one visitor asked, “If this is the way matter works, what holds it all together?” For that, the guide had no answer. But the Christian has an answer: Jesus Christ! Because “He is before all things,” He can hold all things together. Again, this is another affirmation that Jesus Christ is God. Only God exists before all of creation, and only God can make creation cohere. To make Jesus Christ less than God is to dethrone Him. I think all to often we look at the world around us and see things disintegrating around us. We know the devil is active in this present age and we can clearly see his wicked influence everywhere in our society. It is all too easy for Christians to forget that Christ is still on his throne and in control. Jesus Christ made all things, He controls all things, and by Him all things hold together. It is this truth that we must hold onto

Christ the Head of the Church (1:18) “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.”

There are many images of the church in the New Testament, and the body is one of the most important (.; ; ). No denomination or local assembly can claim to be “the body of Christ,” for that body is composed of all true believers. When a person trusts Christ, he is immediately baptized by the Holy Spirit into this body (). The baptism of the Spirit is not a post-conversion experience–for it occurs the instant a person believes in Jesus Christ. Each Christian is a member of this spiritual body, and Jesus Christ is the Head. In Greek usage, the word head meant “source” and “origin” as well as “leader, ruler.” Jesus Christ is the Source of the church, His body, and the Leader. Paul called Him “the beginning,” which tells us that Jesus Christ has priority in time as far as His church is concerned. The term beginning can be translated “originator.”

No matter which name you select, it will affirm the preeminence of Jesus Christ in the church. The church had its origin in Him, and today it has its operation in Him. As the Head of the church, Jesus Christ supplies it with life through His Spirit. He gives gifts to men, and then places these gifted people in His church that they might serve Him where they are needed. Through His Word, Jesus Christ nourishes and cleanses the church ().

No believer on earth is the head of the church. This position is reserved exclusively for Jesus Christ. Various religious leaders may have founded churches or denominations, but only Jesus Christ is the Founder of the church that is His body. This church is composed of all true believers, and it was born at Pentecost. It was then that the Holy Spirit came and baptized the believers into one spiritual body.

The fact that there is “one body” in this world () does not eliminate or minimize the need for local bodies of believers. The fact that I belong to the universal church does not release me from my responsibilities to the local church. I cannot minister to the whole church, but I can strengthen and build the church by ministering to God’s people in a local assembly.

Jesus Christ is the Head of the church, and the Beginning of the church; and He is also the Firstborn from the dead. We saw this word firstborn in . Paul did not say that Jesus was the first person to be raised from the dead, for He was not. But He is the most important of all who have been raised from the dead; for without His resurrection, there could be no resurrection for others (.). It seems odd that Paul used the word born in connection with death, for the two concepts seem opposed to each other. But the tomb was a womb from which Christ came forth in victory, for death could not hold Him (). The Son was begotten in resurrection glory (; ).

This brings us to the theme of this entire section: “That in everything he might be preeminent” (). This was God’s purpose in making His Son the Savior, Creator, and Head of the church. The word translated “preeminence” is used nowhere else in the New Testament. It is related to the word translated “firstborn,” and it magnifies the unique position of Jesus Christ. “Christ is all, and in all” ().

In 1893, the World’s Columbian Exposition (we would just call it a World’s Fair) was held in Chicago, and more than twenty-one million people visited the exhibits. Among the features was a “World Parliament of Religions,” with representatives of the world’s religions meeting to share their “best points” and perhaps come up with a new religion for the world. Evangelist D. L. Moody saw this as a great opportunity for evangelism. He used churches, rented theaters, and even rented a circus tent (when the show was not on) to present the gospel of Jesus Christ. His friends wanted Moody to attack the “Parliament of Religions,” but he refused. “I am going to make Jesus Christ so attractive,” he said, “that men will turn to Him.” Moody knew that Jesus Christ was the preeminent Savior, not just one of many “religious leaders” of history. The “Chicago Campaign” of 1893 was probably the greatest evangelistic endeavor in D. L. Moody’s life, and thousands came to Christ.

But the false teachers in Colossae could never give Jesus Christ the place of preeminence, for, according to their philosophy, Jesus Christ was only one of many “emanations” from God. He was not the only way to God (), rather, He was but one rung on the ladder! It has well been said, “If Jesus Christ is not Lord of all, He cannot be Lord at all.”

We have now studied three arguments for the preeminence of Jesus Christ: He is the Savior, He is the Creator, and He is the Head of the church. These arguments reveal His relationship with lost sinners, with the universe, and with believers. But what about His relationship with God the Father?

Christ the Beloved of the Father (1:19-20) “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”

Paul had already called Jesus Christ “his [God’s] dear Son” (). Those who have trusted Jesus Christ as their Savior are “accepted in the beloved” (). For this reason, God can call us His beloved ().

Then Paul took a giant step forward in his argument, for he declared that “all fullness” dwelt in Jesus Christ! The word translated “fullness” is the Greek word pleroma (pronounced “play-ro-ma”). It was a technical term in the vocabulary of the proto-gnostic false teachers. It meant “the sum total of all the divine power and attributes.” We have already noted that Paul used this important word eight times in the Colossian letter, so he was meeting the false teachers on their own ground.

The word dwell is equally important. It means much more than merely “to reside.” The form of the verb means “to be at home permanently.” The late Dr. Kenneth S. Wuest, noted Greek expert, pointed out in his excellent commentary on Colossians that the verb indicates that this fullness was “not something added to His Being that was not natural to Him, but that it was part of His essential Being as part of His very constitution, and that permanently” (Ephesians and Colossians in the Greek New Testament, [Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1974], 187). The Father would not permanently give His pleroma to some created being. The fact that it “pleased the Father” to have His fullness in Christ is proof that Jesus Christ is God. “For from his [Christ’s] fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” (). “For in him [Jesus Christ] the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,” ().

Because Jesus Christ is God, He is able to do what no mere man could ever do: reconcile lost sinners to a holy God. When the first man and woman sinned, they declared war on God, but God did not declare war on them. Instead, God sought Adam and Eve, and He provided a covering for their sins. The natural mind of the unsaved sinner is at war with God (). The sinner may be sincere, religious, and even moral; but he is still at war with God.

How can a holy God ever be reconciled with sinful man? Can God lower His standards, close His eyes to sin, and compromise with man? If He did, the universe would fall to pieces! God must be consistent with Himself and maintain His own holy law.

Perhaps man could somehow please God. But by nature, man is separated from God, and by his deeds, he is alienated from God (). The sinner is “dead in trespasses and sins” (.), and therefore is unable to do anything to save himself or to please God ().

If there is to be reconciliation between man and God, the initiative and action must come from God. It is in Christ that God was reconciled to man (). But it was not the incarnation of Christ that accomplished this reconciliation, nor was it His example as He lived among men. It was through His death that peace was made between God and man. “And through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” ().

Of course, the false teachers offered a kind of reconciliation between man and God. However, the reconciliation they offered was not complete or final. The angels and the “emanations” could in some way bring men closer to God, according to the proto-gnostic teachers. But the reconciliation we have in Jesus Christ is perfect, complete, and final. More than that, the reconciliation in Christ involves the whole universe! He reconciles “all things unto himself … things in earth, or things in heaven” (). However, we must not conclude wrongly that universal reconciliation is the same as universal salvation. “Universalism” is the teaching that all beings, including those who have rejected Jesus Christ, will one day be saved. This was not what Paul believed. “Universal restorationism” was not a part of Paul’s theology, for he definitely taught that sinners needed to believe in Jesus Christ to be saved ().

Paul wrote that Christ solved the sin problem on the cross once and for all. This means that one day God can bring together in Christ all who belong to Him (). He will be able to glorify believers and punish unbelievers, and do it justly, because of Christ’s death on the cross. No one–not even Satan–can accuse God of doing wrong, because sin has been effectively dealt with on the cross.

If Jesus Christ is only a man, or only an emanation from God, He cannot reconcile God and man. The only arbitrator who can bring God and man together is One who is both God and Man Himself. Contrary to what the proto-gnostics taught, Jesus Christ was a true human being with a real body. He was God in human flesh (). When He died on the cross, He met the just demands of the law because He paid the penalty for man’s sins (). Reconciliation was completed on the cross ().

I was listening to an older broadcast from Warren Wiersbe this week and he told this story. “A man once came to see me because he had difficulties at home. He was not a very well-educated man and sometimes got his words confused. He told me that he and his wife were having “martial problems” when he meant to say “marital problems.” (Later I found out that they really were “at war” with each other, so maybe he was right after all!) But the word that caught my attention was in this sentence: “Pastor, me and my wife need a re-cancellation.”

He meant to say reconciliation, but the word re-cancellation was not a bad choice. There can be peace and a reunion of those who are at war only when sin has been cancelled. As sinners before a righteous God, we need a “re-cancellation.” Our sins were cancelled on the cross.

As we review this profound section (and this study has only scratched the surface), we notice several important truths.

First, Jesus Christ has taken care of all things. All things were created by Him and for Him. He existed before all things, and today He holds all things together. He has reconciled all things through the cross. No wonder Paul declared that “in all things he might have the preeminence” ().

Second, all we need is Jesus Christ. We have all of God’s fullness in Him, and we are “filled full” (complete) in Him (). There is no need to add anything to the person or work of Jesus Christ. To add anything is to take away from His glory. To give Him prominence instead of preeminence is to dethrone Him.

Third, God is pleased when His Son, Jesus Christ, is honored and given preeminence. There are people who tell us they are Christians, but they ignore or deny Jesus Christ. “We worship the Father,” they tell us, “and that is all that is necessary.”

But Jesus made it clear that the Son is to be worshipped as well as the Father “that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” ().

The late Dr. M. R. DeHaan, noted radio Bible teacher, told about a preacher who was confronted by a cultist who rejected the deity of Jesus Christ. “Jesus cannot be the eternal Son of God, for a father is always older than his son,” the man argued. “If the Father is not eternal, then He is not God. If Jesus is His Son, then He is not eternal.” The preacher was ready with an answer. “The thing that makes a person a father is having a son. But if God is the eternal Father, then He must have an eternal Son! This means that Jesus Christ is eternal–and that He is God!” Jesus Christ is the Savior, the Creator, the Head of the church, and the Beloved of the Father. He is eternal God … and in our lives, He deserves to have the preeminence.

Folks this is the gospel. This is the Good News. Christ reigns supreme and accomplished his work for us so that we may too share in that glory. If you are here today and don’t know Christ I encourage you to find me or someone after service and ask. If you are here and already know Christ I encourage you to share it this week with someone. How can we keep this a secret? How can we not want everyone we know to come to understand Christ and meet our King?

As we transition to the Lord’s Table now we are remembering Christ’s selfless act of atonement. The juice and the bread represent Christ’s broken body and the blood he willingly shed for our sins. We can come to this table as part of the body of Christ reconciled to the Father only because of the Beloved Son, our Lord Christ Jesus.