The Preeminent King

Recap:

PAUL WRITING to the CHURCH at COLOSSAE (established by EPAPHRAS) 60 A.D....STRAIGHTEN OUT FALSE DOCTRINE.

CHRIST = SUFFICIENT, BRING INTO KINGDOM, SUSTAIN/FLOURISH/GROW IN KINGDOM.

COLOSSIAN SERIES = NEW KINGDOM LIVING…FROM DOMAIN of DARKNESS…TO KINGDOM OF BELOVED SON. —> ETERNAL HOPE RESERVED FOR US.

***SUMMARY - NEW KINGDOM…NEW KING....HOW DO WE LIVE NOW?

LAST WEEK - ENTRANCE

THIS WEEK (COL. 1:15-23)- THE NEW KING?

NEXT WEEK’S - PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS. . .

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****TURN COLOSSIANS 1:15.....

*** OPEN in PRAYER

*** READ TEXT

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Intro:

C.S. Lewis - LIAR, LUNATIC, or LORD.

GOOD MORAL TEACHER is NOT an OPTION.

LORD....GOD IN THE FLESH.

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JESUS NEVER was “JUST ANOTHER MAN”.

****CONFERENCE HERESY

NEVER DOWNPLAY THE PERSON OF CHRIST TO ELEVATE THE MINISTRY OF THE SPIRIT...

Tom Schreiner says the “the most fundamental and oft-repeated deception in the history of the human race” is thinking that humans can be like God…it began with Adam and Eve in the garden, and it still exists today.

Although WE as BELIEVERS receive the SPIRIT of Jesus CHRIST, the Holy Spirit, and are EMPOWERED for His service....we will NEVER be EXACTLY like JESUS because we are MERE HUMAN…CHRIST = DIVINE.

PRAY TO JESUS…NO OTHER SAINTS....

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JESUS ENCOMPASSED DIVINITY & PERFECT HUMANITY...

DOCTRINE of the HYPO-STATIC UNION:

NOT MAN ADDING DEITY…JESUS DIDN’T BECOME GOD @ BAPTISM, RESURRECTION, ASCENSION, ETC.

BEGAN FROM ABOVE....PRE-EXISTENT GOD (2ND PERSON) BECOMING MAN.

ETERNAL WORD, MADE FLESH- JOHN’S PROLOGUE

English Standard Version (Chapter 1)

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

THE WORD WAS…THINGS WERE MADE

THE WORD THAT WAS…BECAME FLESH…JESUS CHRIST.

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DIDN’T LEAVE DIVINITY BEHIND....INSTEAD, DIDN’T HOLD ONTO IT FOR ADVANTAGE. - PHIL. 2

PRO BOXER- HAND BEHIND BACK; GOLFER HITTING BACKWARDS, ETC.

CHOOSING LIMITATIONS OF HUMANITY, YET FULLY DIVINE.

KEEP in MIND…as WE READ.

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TEXT (HYMN OF1:15-23) The Preeminence of Christ-Over creation, death, and you

LAST WEEK ENDING: Colossians 1:13-14

Colossians 1:13–14 ESV

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.

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Preeminence over creation (v15-16)

15 He [The Beloved Son, in whom we have forgiveness & redemption] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

ADAM, and MANKIND were all CREATED as the IMAGE of GOD…THROUGH SIN, FALLEN SHORT....

CHRIST PERFECTLY REPRESENTED the FATHER...

WHAT IS GOD LIKE? ---LOOK AT JESUS John 1:18

John 1:18 ESV

18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

or “REVEALED HIM”

FSB- JESUS MADE GOD KNOWN to HUMAN SENSES.

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FIRSTBORN =/= FIRST out of WOMB...

“Preceding all others in time or space or degree” - “primacy over creation”

JESUS is a SPECIAL KIND....HE ALONE holds this SPECIAL POSITION in ALL CREATION… “supreme and sovereign”

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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.

FIRSTBORN....FOR BY HIM

“CREATE” VS. “MAKE”

KTIZO - 15 TIMES in GNT.

CHRIST/GOD ALWAYS SUBJECT!! PEOPLE DON’T CREATE

BRITTANY MAKES BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES...

COMBINING INGREDIENTS…THAT WERE MADE....FROM THINGS GOD CREATED.

THOROUGH EMPHASIS....ALL THINGS (MENTIONED 2X)...HEAVEN & EARTH, INVISIBLE & INVISIBLE, ETC. CREATED THROUGH & FOR HIM.

DAVE RAMSEY RANT - “I HOPE I WASN’T UNCLEAR!”

DOUG MOO- CHRIST IS BOTH SOURCE & GOAL OF CREATION...

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

CHRIST SUSTAINS CREATION....HE is the GLUE…GREEK STATIVE ASPECT....CONTINUAL

EVERY ATOM in EVERY CELL in ALL of CREATION is HELD TOGETHER by the LORD JESUS CHRIST!

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Preeminence Over Church & Death (v18-20)

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.

When was the last time you saw a headless person walking around like everything was ok?

We can’t be the body of Christ unless he is the head.

CHRIST = HEAD....NOT PASTORS, ELDERS, DEACONS, TEACHERS, ETC...

PASTOR = UNDER-SHEPHERD…CHRIST’S CHURCH!

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CHRIST PREEMINENT OVER ORIGINAL CREATION… & NEW CREATION - BELIEVERS/CHURCH...

FIRSTBORN FROM DEAD (REV. 1:5) - HE’S THE TEMPLATE for RESURRECTION… “FIRST & FOUNDER”....

BODILY RESURRECTION FROM the DEAD…PROMISE TO BELIEVERS....

NOT BODYLESS SPIRITS FOREVER! - INTERMEDIATE STATE ONLY

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FIRSTBORN of DEAD... THAT he would be PREEMINENT.

PREEMINENT- hopex legomenon

(the ADVERB/adjective form is used FREQUENTLY, VERB form ONCE)- present, active, participle

preeminent-

“to be first”,

“that he might come to have first place in everything”

“be the first, hold first place,”

“to be in the first position, with the implication of high rank and prominence...

to be first/to have superior status”

**3X PAUL WRITES---CHRIST IS FIRST.

FIRSTBORN of CREATION

FIRSTBORN FROM the DEAD

IN ALL THINGS BE PREEMINENT (FIRST)

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19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,

FULLNESS LANGUAGE- LIKELY COMBATING FALSE TEACHERS

DOUG MOO: “the fullness that you are seeking is to be found in Christ”

KNOWLEDGE of GOD COMPLETE in CHRIST...

HE IS SUFFICIENT.

Big Idea: Jesus was never just another man, he is the very embodiment of almighty God, the preeminent king, the second person of the Godhead, through him all things were created, he sustains all of creation by his power, he is the one through whom our reconciliation, and future resurrection are guaranteed, and he is the one who has inaugurated the new creation which eventually culminates with new heavens and a new earth.

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20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

GOD in CHRIST RECONCILING **ALL THINGS

COSMIC REDEMPTION...THE FALL INTRODUCED PROBLEMS INTO ALL OF CREATION....CHRIST = 2ND ADAM, REVERSING THE CURSE.

RECONCILE....“ALREADY BUT NOT YET”

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**NOT TEACHING UNIVERSALISM…NOT ALL PEOPLE GUARANTEED TO BE RECONCILED…MUST BE IN CHRIST through FAITH.

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Preeminence Over You (v21-23) / Hope of the Gospel

PAUL goes FROM GENERAL…to SPECIFIC.

“YOU” (PLURAL) THE CHURCH, COMPOSED OF MEMBERS

21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,

22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,

Emphasis on “ONCE/FORMERLY” - were ALIENATED (CONTINUALLY)

FORMERLY—

alienated

hostile in mind/disposition

full of evil deeds....

NOW ---- RECONCILED through the cross:

PRESENT US:

Holy

Blameless

Above Reproach

RECONCILED BY DEATH of HIS “BODY OF HIS FLESH”—PHYSICAL BODY.

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CONCISE GOSPEL…BAD & GOOD NEWS PRESENT HERE.

ALIENATED FROM GOD....BROUGHT NEAR BY BLOOD OF CHRIST

DO YOU REMEMBER WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO BE FAR FROM GOD???

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AMAZING THING....SAME JESUS in WHOLE STORY...

PREEXISTENT GOD, CREATED ALL THINGS, HOLDS ALL THINGS TOGETHER

BECAME A MAN.....A BABY

LIVED A PERFECT/SINLESS LIFE.

LOVED SINNERS.

HEALED THE SICK

RAISED THE DEAD.

UPSET THE RELIGIOUS

WALKED ON WATER.

***HE WENT TO THE CROSS. FOR YOU.

TO RECONCILE US, ALIENATED FROM GOD.

TEACHING SELAH SIMPLE GOSPEL....JESUS DIED ON THE CROSS FOR US.....STILL WORKING ON RESURRECTION

JESUS WAS NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO DIED ON A ROMAN CROSS....BUT HE WAS THE ONLY SINLESS SACRIFICE FOR OUR SIN.

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23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

MAN’S RESPONSIBILITY:

“IF” = FIRST CLASS CONDITIONAL First class conditional - “ei + indicative” - “Assumed as true for the sake of the argument” - Beginning Greek, p. 253....note “indeed”

***PAUL EXPECTED THEY WOULD PERSEVERE.

“If eschatological tension did not characterize Christian existence, no imperative would be needed” - Schreiner, p. 274

NOT SHIFTING FROM....? the HOPE of the GOSPEL

COMBATING FALSE TEACHERS…REMAIN IN CHRIST, TRUE GOSPEL...

Faith in Christ is both the entrance to the kingdom of Christ and the way of living within the kingdom! - FSB

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HUMANS ARE ACCOUNTABLE, CONTINUE IN THE FAITH...

PERSONAL VIEW…A GIVEN. GOD WILL PRESERVE THOSE WHO ARE HIS.

Philippians 1:6 ESV

6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

GENUINELY IN CHRIST, HE WILL FINISH THE WORK & VINDICATE US.

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Closing, Paul = minister/servant.

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Takeaways:

COME to WORSHIP HUMBLY. WE’LL NEVER BE GOD.

HE IS GREATER.

DON’T CAVE TO TEMPTATION TO BE LIKE GOD...

CHRIST is the HEAD of THE CHURCH and OUR CHURCH.

DON’T OVER ESTEEM ANY MAN.

THANKFUL for SALVATION...

SAME GOD WHO MADE THE UNIVERSE…LOVED YOU SO MUCH - CROSS.

DON’T TAKE FOR GRANTED.

ALL THINGS CREATED FOR HIM…WHAT DOES THIS LOOK LIKE IN MY LIFE?

ALL THINGS ARE CREATED FOR HIM…INCLUDING ME, THE THINGS I POSSESS, MY ENTIRE LIFE...

HOW DO I STEWARD WHAT HAS BEEN GIVEN ME SO THAT I’M USING IT FOR HIS GLORY?

PERSEVERE IN THE FAITH. WE MUST FIGHT TEMPTATIONS & LIES EVERY DAY.

GOD HAS PROMISED TO SUSTAIN US & EMPOWER US FOR HIS WILL.

WE STILL HAVE TO DO OUR PART. HE WON’T FORCE US TO DO ANYTHING.

YET HE’S FAITHFUL TO DO IT.

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****CLOSING PRAYER