Sermon Tone Analysis

In All Things Christ is Preeminent

Who is the G.O.A.T.?

The perennial question in sports - can anyone ever say - the standard for this always changes - who will come out on top

Colossians: Paul is writing to remind the Church - Jesus is Preeminent, He is truly the Greatest of all Time

What does it mean that Christ is Preeminent?

That he is first, above all.

It answers the questions:

Does he have authority, sovereignty; Is he in charge?

Is He sufficient; can he meet my deepest needs?

Why is this Necessary?

Gnostic Teaching - many ways to know God, rooted in secret knowledge, hidden wisdom

The Gnostic teachers claimed that God made the worlds through a series of “emanations” from Himself and that Christ was one of these emanations.

Getting right with God came only through strict moral discipline and ritual

Still relevant in a post-christian culture

There is no objective truth, it’s all on the individual to determine his or her own truth

Getting right means living up to the shifting standards of your peers, with the constant fear of being cancelled.

How Does Paul Argue for Christ’s Preeminence?

He is Preeminent in His Being

He is the image (icon) of the unseen God

We were created in the image of God (Gen 1), but Christ is the image of God

Hebrews 1:3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature

John 14:9 Philip said, “Show us the Father.”

Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip?

Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.

Christ is the wisdom, power, love, grace, judgment and salvation of God in the flesh.

Everything that can be said of God is true of Christ also.

Phil 2:6 - He was in the form of God and equal with God If you want to know God, look to Jesus.

He is the firstborn of creation.

What does that mean?

Not first to be created, as though he were a man who became God.

He is firstborn, first in rank and honor

The term “firstborn” does not refer to time but to status.

Israel was called firstborn - Exodus 4:22

The Messiah was called firstborn - Psalm 89

Christ is the one who, by nature of being God, has the claim to the gifts, the authority, and the glory.

Because He is God, He is preeminent.

He is Preeminent in His Work of Creation

By him all things were created… throne, dominions, rulers, authorities… seen and unseen

The physical and spiritual powers, earthly and heavenly, all were created by him.

He makes nations to rise and fall, he draws the lines between nations, he ordains all things

All powers were created by Jesus - some have chosen to rebel and have become evil and broken.

All things were made through Him and for Him

John 1:1–3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

He was in the beginning with God.

All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

The Biblical account of creation is not meant to explain the science behind creation - but the meaning and purpose of creation, and the glory of the creator

He holds all things together and is the goal of creation

Jesus is the beginning and the end goal of creation, all things were made for His glory, honor, and praise.

He is Preeminent in His Work of Re-Creation

Creation was broken by Adam’s fall into sin.

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All things were created by Jesus, but some chose to rebel and have become evil and broken - that includes us.

As in Adam all die, so in the second Adam…

Christ recreates - makes a new creation - and he is head

The church is the new creation of Christ

2 Cor 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Rom 6:4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

He is head of the body - the firstborn from the dead

Paul was not saying that Jesus was the first person to be raised from the dead, for he was not.

However, he was the most important of all who have been raised from the dead, because without his resurrection there could be no resurrection for others (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:20)

His resurrection is the beginning of God’s new creation - the reconciliation and restoration of all things to God.

He is Preeminent in His Work of Reconciliation

There is no other way to be at peace with God than through the one in whom the fullness of God was pleased to dwell

He alone is able to reconcile us because he is both God and man.

Because Jesus is fully God, he has the power to take the initiative to bring us back to himself.

He alone has the authority to show mercy to rebels against him and forgive.

And because he is fully human, he knows what it is really like to be us.

He has come down to our level and can relate to every aspect of life on earth.

Only the one who is fully God and fully man is able to bring both sides together.

We are Reconciled through his death

By the blood of his cross, by his body of death, we who were alienated, cut off, evil in our actions.

We have been restored to good standing -

Holy - being set apart for God because we are set apart like God - we belong to him and not the sinful world

Blameless (without blemish) - Sacrifices used in the Temple had to be without blemish, pure.

In Christ our sins have been washed away, so that he can present us without blemish.

Above reproach - The charges against us have been expunged, wiped clean - nailed to the cross.

How Does Christ’s Preeminence Shape Us?

We must continue in the faith

Continue in the faith

We are not saved by continuing in works, but by continuing in faith; holding fast to the hope we have in Christ, being stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel.

Jesus said, John 15:4, “Abide in me, and I in you.

As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.”

Letting the pilot fly the plane

We must recognize Christ as Preeminent in All Things

What would it look like if we lived as though Christ were first in all things:

First-place in our families, in our marriages, in our work, in our play, in our calendars, in our finances, in our thoughts, in our time, in our loves, in our conversation, in athletics, in what we watch, what we listen to music, in how we worship.

Christ ought to be your excuse for missing everything else.