The Preeminence of Jesus
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· 17 viewsAll believers need to understand that Jesus is preeminent--He is the head of the church, He is the first born of creation. This influences everything we think and everything we do as ministers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
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Introduction
Introduction
This morning, we’re in a letter written by Paul to the church in Colossae.
Colossae was a city located about 12 miles north of Laodicea, at one time it was a significant city because of its location. It was a major trade city, but by the time of this letter, its significance had waned.
In fact, the two closes cities, Laodicea and Hieropolis essentially eclipsed the growth of Colossae and caused Colossae’s growth to halt.
As for the church in Colossae—we are a little uncertain as to how the church started—most scholars believe that Paul’s fellow-prisoner, Epaphras started the church after learning about Jesus Christ from Paul in . We think that because Epaphras is a native Colossian, so it makes sense that after learning about Jesus from Paul in Acts, he would return home and teach others about Jesus Christ.
Regardless of how the church started, we do know that Paul had nothing to do with it.
This letter is occasional, which means that Paul wrote this letter with a purpose—which is to confront the issues of false teaching within the church in Colossae. We see that in
8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,
See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.
If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
So Paul, is writing this with the intent of confronting false teaching and he’s doing this in a couple of different ways, but the primary way that he confronts all false teaching is the same way that we ought to confront false teaching today. He points them to Jesus Christ and the Gospel. Keep that in mind as we read .
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.
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, 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.
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. 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. 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.
And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 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, 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.
Let’s Pray.
As we study this passage this morning, I
The Preeminence of Jesus Christ:
We find ourselves at the beginning of a letter written by Paul to confront an issue of false teaching within the church at Collosae. We aren’t entirely sure what the issue is, but we know from Colossians and from almost every other letter that Paul wrote, that he is quick to counter false teaching. Which is important to note, because I think that in our modern churches, we are a little too lenient with how long we allow false teaching to reign within our churches and it causes significant damage to those within the body.
Paul is quick to confront false teaching and in this instance, he confronts the false teaching in three steps: (1) he reminds them of who Jesus is, (2) he reminds them of the position or what authority Jesus has, and (3) he brings them back to the cross to remind them of who they are and what Jesus does for all of us if we believe.
Who is Jesus?
Who is Jesus?
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.
Who is Jesus?
Who is Jesus?
In confronting false teaching, Paul’s first statement is this: “He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God” and “He [Jesus] is the firstborn of all creation.”
What Authority does Jesus hold?
What Authority does Jesus hold?
Paul states that Jesus is the image of the invisible God—what does Paul mean when he makes this statement?
I want you to think of every time we’re told about a visible manifestation of The Father—in other words, when the Bible speaks of people seeing the Father, what do they see?
Paul states that Jesus is the image of the invisible God—what does Paul mean when he makes this statement?
And you can take a look throughout all of Scripture, and you’ll find something interesting: whatever it is that the Father looks like, we can’t see Him or if we can see Him, our minds can’t comprehend what we see.
For instance, when the Israelites were wandering around and they had the tabernacle, what symbolized the presence of God? The presence of God was symbolized by the pillar of fire during the night and smoke during the day.
When Moses is on Mt. Sinai, meeting with God in , Moses requests to see the glory of God and God responds with, “I will make all my goodness pass before you” because “man shall not see me and live”
Something about God is so great and so almighty that we, as human beings cannot bear to be in His presence—quite possibly, it is His holiness and our current sinful state of being that prevents us from being with Him physically.
And yet, when Philip says to Jesus in “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 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.”
8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 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.
What does God, the Father look like? He looks like Jesus the Son and Paul is making the same point when he says, “Jesus is the image of the invisible God.” Paul continues this thought by stating that Jesus is the firstborn of all creation.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .
And I have to stop here just briefly to explain an issue—if you ever talk to a Jehovah’s Witness and the conversation happens to be about the Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You’re going to be surprised to hear, that Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe in the Trinity and they’re going to use this verse to prove their point. Their argument is going to be that Jesus is the firstborn of all creation and they will explain that if Jesus is the firstborn, that must mean that Jesus was created by the Father and Jesus happens to be the first creation, not God.
The issue is that they’re taking the verse out of context—this verse is not talking about Jesus being biologically the firstborn of creation—this is talking about Jesus being firstborn in authority. In other words, when it comes to families, out of all the children, who has the most authority? The firstborn, mind you this illustration breaks down a little, when you consider the fact that the Trinity is one. So, while Jesus is the firstborn, He’s also the Father.
Jesus looks like God, and Jesus has all the authority—”for” or “because all things were created [by Him],” Vs. 16, 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.”
So, who is Jesus?
He is the image of God, He is the one with all authority, He is the creator God, He is the King of Kings, Lord of Lords and in Vs. 17, He is the sustainer of all things.
Which quite simply, means this—despite what our culture says and despite how we feel, the world is not ours, the universe does not revolve around me, and I am not the one with all authority or power, He is.
Jesus as the creator-God owns the world; the universe is created by and for Him; and He has all authority and all power.
I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic . . . or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.
Remember this as we read
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.
Verse 18-20 answer a vital question; and the question is this:
What Authority does Jesus hold?
What Authority does Jesus hold?
Who are we?
Who are we?
And we could give the typical (what I would consider, the Sunday School answer): that JESUS HAS ALL AUTHORITY, but Paul doesn’t simply say that, he expounds on this idea:
Jesus is the head of the body, the church.
And I think to those that have grown up in a church, this might seem to be such a no-brainer to us, that we sometimes forget that new Christians might not understand just how important this is:
If you’ve spent any time in church leadership, you know that it is easy to make decisions without first considering what Jesus would do in the same situation. Let’s be honest, in any situation, it is far easier to act and react without considering Jesus than we would like to admit.
But we all know that Jesus is to be Lord over all our lives and this applies even more to His church.
C.S. Lewis in his book Mere Christianity makes this statement:
I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic . . . or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.
iv. In other words, Lewis is stating that if we truly believe that Jesus is the true Son of God—if Jesus is truly God, then the only the that we can do is fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. There is no other option
In other words, Lewis is stating that if we truly believe that Jesus is the true Son of God—if Jesus is truly God, then the only the that we can do is fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. There is no other option
And if in our personal lives, we are to fall at the feet of Jesus and worship Him and allow Him to reign in us, how much more should we allow Him to do so in the church that exists to worship Him?
continues with:
For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
Jesus is the beginning,
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.
He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
Jesus is the firstborn from the dead
This might sound a bit confusing, but in reality, what this passage is saying is that Jesus as the head of the church, is the first to be resurrected into the new creation.
In everything, he is to be preeminent
Jesus is the first to be resurrected into the glorious new creation with his glorified body and the purpose behind all of this, is so that he might be preeminent.
And the word preeminent, might be unfamiliar or confusing to us, because we don’t necessarily utilize this word today; so let’s take a moment to break down the word
Merriam-Webster’s states that the term preeminent adjective: having paramount rank, dignity, or importance
The Greek term utilized here comes from the root word πρωτος, which means simply “first”
In other words, this is stating that Jesus through his resurrection has been made FIRST
And because he is first, he has the highest rank, He gets the most dignity, and He is the most important.
Remember, He created all things for Himself and He holds all things together.
Now, as we start wrapping everything up, let’s finish off in Vs. 21-23.
And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 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, 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.
Paul is now shifting the question from Who is Jesus and What authority does Jesus have, to Who are we?
Who are we?
Who are we?
In light of who Jesus is (the creator who sustains all things in His hand), where do we fit in all of this?
Paul makes the statement, that we were once alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds. And I’m noting this because of how important it is for us to realize our position before knowing Jesus.
And I’m noting this because of how important it is for us to realize our position before knowing Jesus.
The common idea in the world today is that man is generally good. In other words, even though man has some flaws, we do foolish things and we occasionally do bad things; overall, we’re pretty decent. Overall, we think that we have generally good hearts, but the Bible completely disagrees.
In fact, the Bible teaches us that we are wicked:
says “God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all fall away; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.
on the children of man
to see if there are any who understand,2
who seek after God.
3 They have all fallen away;
says “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.
together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
teaches us that before salvation, we’re darkness
not even one.
Paul in is painting a clear picture that before Christ, we aren’t just occasionally make mistakes and occasionally doing wrong things,
Before Christ, we are completely alienated from God—we’re separated from Him because of our sin natures.
Before Christ, we are hostile to God; we’re enemies of God—we are completely opposed to God not only in what we do, but in the way that we think. Not only are we doing the wrong things; we’re thinking the wrong things.
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, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard
BUT Vs. 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, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard
But the hope in all of this is that Jesus has reconciled us by his death.
This idea of reconciliation is that has changed the relationship—If we truly believe, we are no longer completely alienated from God; we are not longer hostile to God; we are no longer enemies of God. We’ve been made friends with God and heirs of the eternal kingdom.
That relationship between God and man is no longer severed, but restored. And it is in this restored relationship with God that we currently live in today—if we truly believe.
But here’s the thing, Jesus didn’t reconcile us in order for us to continue in sin. , when Paul confronts the issue of continuing in sin, he responds with “God forbid!” or “By no means!” Our salvation is not a free pass to continue sinning and it is not a get out of jail free card.
We are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross in order for us to be restored into the relationship that God had always intended for us before the foundation of the earth was laid.
The reconciliation between man and God is so that we can continue in a relationship with Christ, “in order to present us holy and blameless and above reproach before him”—Paul makes this statement numerous times, including , but so does Peter who says that we are to be holy as He is holy. So let’s explore these ideas for just a minute: What does it mean to be holy and blameless and above reproach?
So let’s explore these ideas for just a minute: What does
Holy - Means that we are to be set apart. We are to be set apart from sin and different than the world in which we live. In other words, unbelievers ought to be able to tell that something makes us different in our actions, our speech, and in the way we think because the Holy Spirit has been regenerating and transforming the way we think.
Blameless and Above Reproach are similar, but they differ just slightly—the goal is to be blameless, without fault and pure, but because we live in a fallen world, we can’t actually ever be completely blameless. The hope is that people don’t level accusations against us because we don’t do wrong, but on this side of eternity, we all have to admit that, we are all guilty of wrong-doing. So, the point then, is to be above reproach, which admits that we are all sinners; the difference is that to be above reproach it means that people don’t automatically think of you when something sinful happens. For instance, if someone accuses me of lying, the response—if I’m above reproach, would be “well, maybe it’s just a misunderstanding” or “maybe it was something he didn’t mean to say.” If someone accuses me of lying and your first thought is, “well, yeah…he’s a liar” then I’m not above reproach.
So, in this passage, Paul is stating that we were reconciled in His [Jesus’} body of flesh by his death, in order to present you before him.
Above Reproach
And in this point, the him, is referring back to Jesus—so Jesus has reconciled us for the purpose of presenting us to himself as holy, blameless, and above reproach.
So, it seems fairly clear to me that up until this point in the passage, that Jesus is doing all the work, isn’t he? Jesus is the one who can reconcile us; Jesus is the one who makes us holy through the Holy Spirit working within us; Jesus is the one who presents us as holy, above reproach, and blameless—so my question is, what exactly is our role in all of this?
So, it seems fairly clear to me that up until this point in the passage, that Jesus is doing all the work, isn’t he? Jesus is the one who can r
And this is found, in Vs. 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”
So, what is our role in this? It’s summed up in one word, PERSEVERE.
The Oxford dictionary states that to persevere means to “continue in a course of action even in the face of difficulty or with little or no prospect of success.”
In other words, the dictionary is stating that even if there is no hope, to keep going—if life is completely terrible, we should keep running; if no one else is running with us, we should keep running and again, remember that’s what the dictionary says is perseverance without hope.
As Christians, we have the greatest hope in the world.
And it is in the Gospel of Jesus Christ that we have this hope—a hope that isn’t dependent on us whatsoever, it is all dependent on Jesus—the author and finisher of our faith.
I’m saying all of this to point out that if the secular Oxford dictionary says that perseverance is to continue even if it looks like there’s no hope.
What should it look like to persevere when there is hope?
What does it look like to persevere when our hope is in the one who created all things? The one who sustains all things? The one who is preeminent? Because if Jesus is truly the Lord of all things and He has determined to make those that believe holy for Himself, how could we not have hope in Him?
Colossians and Philemon: An Introduction and Commentary c. New Creation in Colosse (1:21–23)
God’s purpose, then, is to create a holy people in Christ. This he has done in principle, by dealing with sin on the cross and thus already achieving reconciliation. This he is doing in practice, by refashioning their lives according to the pattern of the perfect life, that of Christ (see 3:10). This he will do in the future, when that work is complete and the church enjoys fully that which at present it awaits in hope.
We as believers in Jesus Christ are being called to persevere through the difficulties of life
Realizing that as says, the testing of your faith produces steadfastness, and steadfastness when it has its full effect within us will make us perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
We are to persevere through times in which we have little to times in which we have abundance; knowing that if we’re blessed with plenty it is only because God loves us and if we are blessed with nothing, it is only because God loves us.
So, as we start wrapping everything up this morning, let’s take a look at some specific application in our modern world:
Application
Application
Remember in the introduction this morning, I mentioned that this letter was written to combat false teaching in the church in Collosae. I think its important to note, that in doing so, Paul immediately starts with who Jesus is.
I think its important to note, that in doing so, Paul immediately starts with who Jesus is.
He states that Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the one with all authority over creation. He states that Jesus is the creator-God, that He created all things for Him and through Him and He is the sustainer that holds it all together.
Do you understand how vast and great our God is? The Psalmist says (in ) “when I consider the heavens, the works of your hand, the moon and the stars that you have ordained; what is man?” That you even care about Him? What is man? That you would come and visit with him?
Have you considered that the almighty, infinite God is truly too big for us to completely understand and yet, He loves us and cares for us?
Which has two primary applications for us today:
If Jesus is the almighty, creator-God (which let me assure you that He is), how should we treat Him?
Remember, C.S. Lewis’ quote that I mentioned earlier: “ Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God”
Have you fallen at his feet and called him Lord and God?
Do you act like it? Because Jesus died on a cross in order to reconcile you to Him and to make you holy like He is holy.
If Jesus is my Lord and God, I should:
Seek Him with my whole heart
Love Him with all my heart, all my soul, and all my mind
And I should continuously, come boldly into His presence.
Since Jesus is the almighty, creator-God, how do we persevere?
Let me say this real quick, you can’t persevere if you haven’t made Jesus your Lord and Savior. In other words, if you don’t believe in Jesus Christ, you’re not going to persevere—if you’ve never repented of your sin, you’ve never sought to know God, you’ve never made Him Lord over your life, this really doesn’t apply to you, but let me encourage you to repent of your sins and call on the name of the Lord and be saved.
If you are a believer, let me encourage you with this passage:
Our hope is in the almighty, all-knowing, all-sustaining, creator-God—isn’t that alone encouraging?
But if you want more encouragement, according to —He reconciled us through himself on the cross, to bring you into communion with Him. Which means, He loves you enough to not let you wallow in your sin and He fully anticipates bringing you into full communion with Him after this life by sanctifying you into the future glorification.
We persevere because Jesus made the promise, not us; and we persevere because we have hope in the next life.
In short, is telling us that Jesus is first, He is preeminent, He has all authority, He is in charge and if you declare Him as Lord in your heart, you can have hope in Him and we can persevere together into eternity. And lastly, because it is the week of Thanksgiving: we ought to be thankful that Jesus is preeminent; we should be thankful that Jesus is the Lord; and we can be thankful that our hope in Him allows us to persevere in the face of opposition.
Let’s Pray