The Preeminence of Christ
Scripture reading:
Colossians 1:15–20 (ESV) — 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 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. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 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. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
Prayer for illumination: please join me in prayer…
Introduction:
No other human being in history has attracted such a combination of attention, devotion, criticism, adoration, and opposition as Jesus of Nazareth.
Here is what some people think about Jesus-
“Rollo May (American existential psychologist): ‘Christ is the therapist for all humanity’” (Driscoll, 15)
“Lakota Native American tribe; ‘Jesus is ‘the Buffalo Calf of God’” (Driscoll, 15)
“Mormonism teaches that Jesus was not God but only a man who became one of many gods; it furthermore teaches that he was a polygamist and a half-brother of Lucifer.” (Driscoll, 14)
“Islam teaches that Jesus was merely a man and a prophet who is inferior to Muhammad.” (Driscoll, 15)
“Prince Phillip: ‘Jesus might be described as and underprivileged, working-class victim of political and religious persecution.” (Driscoll, 15)
“Fidel Castro: ‘I never saw a contradiction between the ideas that sustain me and the ideas of that symbol, of that extraordinary figure [Jesus Christ].’” (Driscoll, 15)
“…philologist John Allegro suggested that far from being a historical figure Jesus was no more than the code-word for an ancient sex-cult inspired by a hallucinogenic mushroom.” (John Blanchard)
“In the world of fashion, Jesus appears on numerous T-shirts, including the popular ‘Jesus is my homeboy’ shirt, worn by everyone from Madonna to Ashton Kutcher, Ben Affleck, Brad Pitt, and Pamela Anderson.” (Driscoll, 12)
Misconceptions about Jesus Christ abound.
This brings us to Col 1:15-20 this morning and the ancient city of Colossae. Some of the people of 1st century Colossae were also very confused about the true nature of Jesus.
Paul wants to set the record straight about the identity of Jesus. So who is Jesus? According to this passage Jesus is God a being who is preeminent in all things.
The passage tells us that-
v. 15 Christ is the firstborn of all creation
v. 16 Christ created all things
v. 17 Chris is before all things
v. 18 Christ is preeminent in all things
v. 19 Christ contains all the fullness of God
v. 20 Christ is reconciling all things
Do you see the repetition of the word all? Christ is all in all in other words he is preeminent in all things.
What does preeminent mean? Preeminent means superior/supreme/ the greatest/ unsurpassed/ paramount, most excellent, the finest, etc…)
Jesus Christ is preeminent in all things-
The preeminence of Christ in Creation
The preeminence of Christ in salvation
The preeminence of Christ in creation
(The preeminence of Christ in creation shows up three times in this passage)
First, Christ is the firstborn of creation! Look with me at verse 15. “He is the image of the invisible God the firstborn of creation.
Illustration- A fierce battle over the nature of Christ erupted in Alexandria Egypt in the 4th century AD. Lines were drawn in the sand and violence literally exploded in the streets.
Who started the fight? A heretic named Arius!
“Arius was born around 260 AD.[i] According to Christian History Magazine, he was “a man of tall stature, of austere countenance and ascetic life. He had charming manners and went about from house to house, with his sleeveless tunic and scanty cloak, popular especially among women.”[ii]
He promoted his subpar theology with music. During a fierce debate over the nature of Christ at the council of Nicea he actually burst into song! (Mark Noll)
One of his songs went like this- “Arius of Alexandria, I’m the talk of the town, friend of saints, elect of heaven, filled with learning renown; if you want the Logos- doctrine, I can serve it steaming hot; God begat him and before he was begotten he was not.” (Calhoun’s church history lecture)
So what did Arius teach? He looked at Col 1:15 and concluded that Christ was a created being. The rallying cry of the Arians was “There was a time when Jesus was not”. If he was a created being than he was clearly not equal with the Father. By the way JW’s are contemporary Arians. They also teach that Jesus is a lesser being than God the Father.
But this text does not teach that Christ was a created being therefore inferior to the Father. The term firstborn when used in the Bible often means first in stature, first in preeminence, first in rank, or first in supremacy. For example God calls King David his firstborn in psalm 89:27 even though David was not the firstborn son.
In summary, first born in this passage means first in rank and privilege, not first in biological order.
Furthermore, Christ can’t be part of creation when the next verse tells us that he created all things.
So Arius was wrong. Christ is not a created being who is lesser than the father. He is the exact image/representation of the Father and he is to have preeminence over all of creation.
Not only is Christ the firstborn of creation!
Second, Christ is the agent of creation!
Look with me at Colossians 1:16 “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.”
Notice that Paul specifically says that all things were created “by him”. “By him” implies that among the members of the trinity Christ is the agent of creation.
Jesus Christ created all things. Paul wants to make sure that we understand what he means by all things so he elaborates. All things meant all things. He created all things in heaven and on earth (all the galaxies) visible and invisible (the spiritual realm and the physical realm) dominions, rulers and authorities (political realm). That covers everything.
Here is what really blows my mind. We learn from Genesis chapters 1 and 2 that Christ created all things Ex Nihilo (out of nothing).
Stop and think about nothing? You can’t can you? What is nothing? Before Christ created there was nothing, no time, no space, no matter, no air, no water, nothing…
Out of nothing came everything. This causes my little brain to smoke.
Christ is the agent of creation.
Illustration: “Light travels so fast that it can go around our little planet 7 times in one second. A light year is the distance light can travel at this speed in the course of a year. In that case a light year is the distance of 6 trillion miles.
The nearest star to our solar system within our Galaxy is over 4 light years away or 25.2 trillion miles away.
Many astronomers believe that our universe is composed of over 130 billion galaxies. And in our tiny galaxy many scientist estimate there are over 100 billion stars many trillions of light years apart. And again we are just one galaxy out of 130 billion Galaxies.
Some stars are one thousand times the size of our sun even though the sun is 332,000 times larger than the earth.” (Sam Storms)
Jesus Christ is preeminent in creation because he is the agent of creation.
Application:
Jesus Christ is really big! He is incredibly powerful, wise, and creative. Don’t make the mistake of brining Jesus Christ down to your level. He is not like us. He is not your homeboy! He is an all powerful consuming fire who will not be mocked and will not be trifled with. When I think about what will happen on the Day of Judgment to those that mock him a tremble.
Why did god create all things (including us)? Paul tells us at the end of verse 16. “all things were created through him and for him” Jesus Christ created all things for his own pleasure and Glory. He created all things to show forth his power, his creativity, his attention to detail, his artistry. He created all things to show that he is preeminent in all things.
When we see his glory in creation it leads us to worship which leads to our joy.
Sunsets, warm fall days, apple trees, the color’s of leaves, apple trees, pumpkin spice lattes, etc…
The reason God is not happy about Darwinian Evolution is because it takes him out of the equation and robs him of the glory that is rightfully due to him.
Not only is Christ the firstborn of creation and the agent of creation…
Third, Christ is the sustainer of creation! Look with me at verse 17 Colossians 1:17 “And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”
Paul claims that Christ holds all things together. That is Christ holds all things in creation together. He sustains all things. If Christ were to cease to do this for even a second there would be nothing. All things in the universe would disintegrate.
Hebrews 1:3 (ESV) — 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power…
Christ keeps your heart beating, your lungs breathing, your brain working. Christ ensures that rocks maintain their properties of rockness, water maintains the properties of water, and that light maintains its properties. He upholds the laws of gravity, the strong and the weak force in atoms, the laws of general and special relativity, the laws of thermodynamics.
He upholds everything implying that he is in control of everything. He is preeminent in creation.
Application: If Christ upholds all things including us than we have much to be humble about. We are dependent on Christ for everything.
Since Christ is the firstborn of creation, the agent of creation, and the sustainer of creation we must conclude that Christ is preeminent in creation!
Not only do we see the preeminence of Christ in creation…
We see the Preeminence of Christ in reconciliation
(the preeminence of Christ in reconciliation shows up four times in this passage)
First, A reconciled race! Look with me at verse 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.”
Look at the middle of this verse with me. Paul writes that “Christ is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead…” What does this mean? This is a reference to Christ’s resurrection. It is a historical fact that Christ lived, died, and rose from the dead. But He was not the first to rise from the dead in the Bible so why does Paul say that he is the firstborn from the Dead?
Jesus Christ is the first born from the dead in the sense that he is the first member of a new race of people who will someday rise from the dead.
If you are a Christian you too are a member of this new race. It is a new race that has put their hope in Christ, experienced the forgiveness of sins, and longs for the resurrection from the dead.
As the head of our new race Christ has risen from the dead pioneering a path for us.
If you are a Christian Christ is the head of this new race and we will follow in his footsteps.
This new race of redeemed humanity is also called the church. This is why Paul also says in this verse that Christ is the head of his church. In other words, we are connected to him and he rules over us.
Not only does his resurrection from the dead give him preeminence in his church this text tells us that it gives him preeminence in all things.
Illustration: I love the opening scene in Gladiator. Do you remember that scene? Hundreds of thousands of Roman soldiers are lined up for battle. These men come from all over the empire but they have on mission, they are on one team, in a sense they are part of a new race called Rome and they all want to survive.
General Maximus is their leader. He does not lead from behind, no he leads by example, he leads his troops into battle, he pioneers a path into enemy territory and his troops follow behind him.
In a similar sense the church is a new race of people from all over the world. We have been reconciled to one another and to God by the blood of Christ and now we follow our leader Christ. We do not flight against flesh and blood but against spiritual forces of darkness.
Our leader Christ has gone on ahead of us and risen from the dead assuring that we too will rise from the dead someday.
We are members of a reconciled race.
Application:
When God saves you he saves you into a community that has been reconciled to God. You were not meant to live the Christian life on your own. You are now a member of the new humanity.
A lone ranger Christians was not even a category for Paul.
It is not just you, and your Bible, and Jesus. It is you, your Bible, Jesus, and a whole race of redeemed sinners.
You need to express this reality by throwing yourself into the life of the church. this is what the head of this race wants you to do.
Paul Simon (I am a rock verses 2 and 4)