Colossians 1:15-20

Our text for this morning as we continue our verse-by-verse exposition of Paul's letter to the church at Colossae.

! Colossians 1.

15-20.

So please join me there in your copy of God's Word.

I'll begin reading in verse 15.

He, being Jesus Christ, 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.

This is God's Word to us.

It was written for His glory and our good.

We would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises

and obey its commands.

Beloved, this is a precious, precious book.

Every bit of it, all 66 books that we contain within the Bible,

what we call the Scriptures,

God's holy writ,

is a great, great gift to us.

Rightly, we should come to it expectant.

We should invest ourselves in it as followers of Jesus Christ

because this entire book gives testimony about Him.

In Luke 24-27, you can read the account of Jesus' appearance

to two of the disciples after His resurrection.

And the record says,

"...and beginning with Moses and all the prophets,

He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures

the things concerning Himself."

The Old Testament, what they had in that day,

was about Jesus Christ.

In John 5-39, Jesus says of the Scriptures,

"...it is they that bear witness about Me."

Of all the Bible's teaching concerning Jesus,

perhaps none is more significant

than the text before us today.

And I'm feeling the weight of that.

This is a precious, precious text.

The reality of who Jesus is demands our obedience.

If we are to say that we are disciples of Jesus Christ,

that we are followers of Jesus.

We're not simply saying that we're following a mere man

who taught good things,

but that we're following God Himself.

It demands our obedience as such.

The reality of who Jesus is

makes sure the promises of God.

Those promises that we should know

and should hold to and so rarely do,

but just the same.

Those promises that are of such great comfort

and motivation for the Christian life

find their yes in Jesus.

2 Corinthians 1.20, Paul says,

"...for all the promises of God."

All.

Every single one of the promises of God

find their yes in Jesus Christ.

What an amazing thing.

You may be interested to know

that the vision statement for our church

is based largely on these verses.

It's up here behind me.

Christ Family Church exists to glorify God

by experiencing, proclaiming, and displaying

the supremacy of Jesus Christ

in all things to all peoples.

And you may ask,

is that really the thing the church

is meant to be about?

The supremacy of Jesus Christ?

The question has been asked,

should not the great thing

we should be experiencing,

proclaiming, and displaying

is the love of God?

I would say that is a subservient thing

that we teach to the supremacy

of Jesus Christ.

Why is Jesus Christ supreme?

Because of His great display

of God's redemptive purposes in the world,

which is God's love.

Comes up underneath,

motivates, and carries that along.

These verses are what's going through

our minds and hearts

as we come up with the vision statement

for the church.

Note that the focus

of this cosmic Christological hymn,

which I'll explain in a moment,

is the preeminence,

or we could say supremacy,

of Jesus Christ.

The very focus of the entire thing

is the preeminence of Jesus Christ.

The last couple of weeks,

you've heard me refer to it

as a cosmic Christological hymn.

Scholars debate this,

but likely verses 15-18 at least,

but some would say verses 15-20,

are believed that Paul is citing

a modern hymn to their day,

or some confession.

There's some incredibly interesting

arguments made to this,

although I will not bore you with them,

with my explanation of them,

at least this morning.

They consist primarily of

a sentence structure comparisons.

And I'll stop there

because you're already glazing over.

But likely, at very least,

verses 15-18

were a hymn of that day.

And Paul is therefore citing

these great truths

in order to correct

some of the misunderstanding

that's happening

in the church of Colossae.

We don't know exactly

what the heresy was,

although if you read

some commentators,

they seem to have figured it all out.

But, it would seem

that it has something to do

with whether or not

Jesus Christ was, in fact, God.

And so Paul brings this text

to bear to address

that very, very issue.

Now, either way,

whether or not it's a hymn

or just simply Paul's writing,

it doesn't really matter.

Just the same,

the focus is the preeminence

or supremacy of Jesus Christ.

Notice the last part of verse 18,

that in everything He might be

preeminent, supreme,

first in all things.

Paul states this reality elsewhere.

Philippians 2, 9-11

is a good example of this.

Where he writes,

God has highly exalted Him

and bestowed on Him

the name that is above every name.

So that the name of Jesus,

every knee should bow

in heaven and on earth

and under the earth,

and every tongue confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord

to the glory of God the Father.

There is this real thing

that's taking place

that Jesus is in fact

exalted above all things.

Whether we recognize that or not,

He is the Lord of all things.

So these are weighty matters,

weighty truths before us today.

If we rightly understand

who Jesus is,

we must make some type

of response to it.

You can't simply know this

and not have it change

who you are.

So how should we consider

the truths contained

within this text this morning?

The Puritan John Owen

wrote in his book entitled

The Glory of Christ

the following.

Listen carefully

as I read this to you

and I quote,

The revelation made of Christ

in the blessed gospel

is far more excellent,

more glorious,

more filled with rays

of divine wisdom and goodness

that the whole creation

and the just comprehension of it

if attainable

can contain or afford.

Without this knowledge,

the mind of man

priding itself

in other inventions

and discoveries

is wrapped up

in darkness

and confusion.

This therefore deserves

the severest of our thoughts,

the best of our meditations,

and our utmost diligence

in them.

For if our future blessedness

shall consist

in living where He is

and beholding His glory,

what better preparation

can there be for it

than a constant previous

contemplation of that glory

as revealed in the gospel?

That by a view of it

we may gradually transform

into the same glory.

His encouragement is that

we ought to be consistently

and constantly

giving a great deal

of attention in our minds

to who Jesus is.

It is my job as a preacher

not to boil down

a text for you

and to give you

some trite little phrase

that you can walk away with

to access at any given moment.

This is not the job

of the preacher

of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

To set this down before you

and simplify it for you

in such a way

that you could print the saying

on a t-shirt

or put it on a sticker

on the back of your car.

My job as a preacher

is to draw you up

into who God is.

Who Jesus Christ is to us.

That you might rightly

come to the Scriptures

and understand them

and how it is

that they affect your lives.

And this is the task

before us today.

That's my job.

Your job is to listen

and take notes

and try to comprehend

everything I'm about to say

in the next, I hope, 30 minutes.

Right?

But let me kind of help you

frame up what we're going

to do together in this text.

I want to show you

Christ's preeminence.

Why He is preeminent.

Why He should be held as supreme.

First in all things

with four points.

Firstly, Jesus Christ

is preeminent

because He is God.

Verses 15 and 19.

I'm going to come back to these

so don't worry about scribbling now.

Jesus Christ is preeminent

because He is God.

Secondly, Jesus Christ

is preeminent

because He is the Lord

of the universe.

Verses 16 and 17.

Thirdly, Jesus Christ

is preeminent

because He is the head

of the church.

Verse 18.

And lastly, Jesus Christ

is preeminent

because of His redemptive work.

We find that in verse 20.

So firstly,

Jesus Christ

is preeminent

because

He is God.

Verse 15,

He is the image

of the invisible

God.

This word for Greek

image

is icon.

It's the word we get

icon from

in our English language.

It means image

or likeness.

Now the Scriptures

refer to man

as the icon of God,

but we are not

perfectly so.

Much like a

shattered piece of glass

returns a poor reflection,

because of sin,

our image-bearing capacity

has been damaged.

There are still

some qualities

about mankind

that are reflective

of who God is.

But it has been spoiled.

It has been altered.

But Jesus

is both

the perfect

representation

and

manifestation

of God.

A great parallel text

is found at the beginning

of Hebrews 1.

The first part of

verse 3

reads,

He,

being Jesus Christ,

is the radiance

of the glory of God

and the exact imprint

of His nature.

Christ

shines forth

God's attributes

as the sun

gives light

and heat

to the earth.

This is what we go to.

This is what we want

to see

and access.

This is

God-made

flesh

living amongst us.

The Word of God.

Lagos.

A manifestation

of who He

is.

Jesus

is

God.

John 1.1

in the beginning

was the Word

and the Word

was with God

and the Word

was God.

He is the

icon,

the image

or likeness

of God.

Paul proceeds

to describe Jesus

as the

proto...

I'm going to mess this up.

I wrote it out

phonetically

so that I wouldn't

and I still did.

Prototakis.

The firstborn.

The firstborn

of all creation.

Now,

while this word

can certainly mean

chronologically

first in a family,

born first

in that way,

it refers primarily

to position

or to rank.

Now,

from the Arians

of the early church

to the Jehovah's

witnesses of our day,

those who seek

to repudiate

the deity

of Jesus Christ

refer to this phrase.

This is often

their go-to phrase.

Don't you see?

Colossians 1.15

says that Jesus

is the firstborn

of all creation.

This must mean

that He was a

created thing.

He can't possibly

be God

is the argument

they would make.

But they fail

completely

to both

understand

the Word itself

and what it

typically means

and how it is used

in the Scriptures

as well as

its context.

Look at the rest

of our passage

for today.

They fail to note

the following

two verses

in which Paul

presents Jesus

as the Lord

of the universe.

Specifically,

verse 17,

and He is

before

all

things.

He made

all things.

He was not

created.

He is the

Creator.

Creator.

So when Paul

describes Jesus

as the firstborn,

he's simply

saying He

is

preeminent.

He is

supreme.

He holds

the highest

position

possible

in all

of

the universe.

Not created.

He is

the

Creator.

In verse 19,

Paul says,

for in Him

all the

fullness

of God

was

pleased

to dwell.

And I love

that phrasing

that He

was

ample

to the

task.

God

was

pleased

to

manifest

Himself

in

Jesus

Christ.

Jesus

is

where

all

that

can

be

known

or

experienced

of God

is to

be

found.

That is

why Jesus

was able

to say

in John

14,

9,

whoever

has

seen

me

has

seen

the

Father.

So

Jesus

Christ

is

preeminent

because

He

is

God.

Secondly,

Jesus

Christ

is

preeminent

because

He

is

the

Lord

of the

universe.

Because

He

is

the

Lord

of the

universe.

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.

Jesus

Christ

is

the

preeminent

creator

of

all

things.

This

includes

everything.

This list

that Paul

gives to

us or

that he's

accessing

from some

hymn

of the

day

just

includes

everything.

It means

everything.

Everything

that ever

was made

was made

by

Jesus

Christ.

Everything

that we

can see

and everything

that we

cannot

see

were created

by

Christ

for

Christ.

Christ.

This

is such

a

magnificent

thought

and it

should

capture

our

minds.

I

know

that

so

many

of

us

process

information

differently

but it's

amazing

to me

to think

about

the

reality

that

Jesus

Christ

created

all

things.

We

do

some

catechizing

with

our

children

and I

love

right

now

Judah's

getting

the

answer

wrong

kind

of

when I

say

to both

of the

boys

who

made

you

and

Cate

says

God

which

is

the

answer

that

we've

taught

them

to

say

and

Judah

says

Jesus

and I

like

that

answer

it's

such

a

good

answer

Judah

knows

his

Colossians

1

15

through

20

I

think

rather

well

both

are

certainly

true

answers

to

the

question

I

like

the

three

year

old

mind

I

don't

even

know

if

he

knows

what

he's

saying

to

me

I

I'm

!

sure

he

things

were

made

through

him

and

without

him

was

not

anything

made

that

was

made

the

entire

universe

created

by him

and

for

him

in

2012

a

picture

was

released

that

the

Hubble

Space

Telescope

had

captured

which

I

just

really

encourage

you

to

look

at

this

it's

amazing

which

was

the

farthest

ever

view

into

the

universe

a

photo

that

reveals

thousands

of

galaxies

billions

of

light

years

away

they

honed

in

one

particular

snapshot

of

the

universe

and

there's

thousands

of

galaxies

billions

of

light

years

away

if

you

care

to

look

it

up

it's

called

the

extreme

deep

field

or

XDF

and

it

combines

ten

years

of

images

of

this

portion

of

the

sky

that

the

light

so

faint

that

they

layered

and

layered

and

layered

and

layered

and

layered

these

images

together

to

get

this

very

vivid

picture

of

what

these

galaxies

all of

that

by the

power

of

his

word

he

made

all

of

this

everything

that

you

can

see

and

everything

that

you

cannot

see

Jesus

Christ

made

Jesus

Christ

is

preeminent

as he

was

before

all

things

verse

17

says

and he

is

before

all

things

Jesus

says

to

the

Jews

in

John

8

58

Jesus

said

to

them

truly

truly

I

say

to

you

before

Abraham

was

I

am

Jesus

Christ

is

eternal

eternal

in the

past

and

eternal

in

the

future

there

was

never

a

time

in

which

Jesus

Christ

did

not

exist

him

stating

before

Abraham

was

I

am

as a

reference

to

Exodus

3

14

it's

the

first

time

that

God

gives

his

name

to

mankind

it's

when

he

meets

Moses

the

burning

bush

and

he

tells

Moses

to

go

back

to

Pharaoh

and

to

ask

Pharaoh

to

set

free

his

people

right

so

here's

Moses

trembling

in

front

of

certainly

the

creator

of

the

universe

right

in

this

bush

that's

burning

but

not

being

consumed

and

he

simply

wants

to

know

who

should

I

tell

him

sent

me

please

tell

me

something

that

I

can

tell

them

!

because

this

whole

burning

bush

thing

is

not

going

to

make

a lot

of

sense

to

them

verse

14

God

said

to

Moses

I

am

who

I

am

and

he

said

say

this

to

the

people

of

Israel

I

am

has

sent

me

to

you

you

have

ever

heard

the

Hebrew

name

for

God

Yahweh

that's

what

this

is

this

self

existent

phrase

right

you've

heard

me

say

many

times

before

!

everything

plugs

into

God

he

plugs

into

nothing

right

he's

self

existent

self

generating

he

has

always

existed

and

this

makes

Christ

preeminent

first

before

all

things

Jesus

Christ

is

preeminent

as

the

sustainer

of

all

things

further

in

verse

17

and

in

him

all

things

hold

together

have

ever thought

about

what

keeps

you

in

your

shape

what

causes

the

atoms

that

make

up

your

body

to

bond

in

the

way

that

they

bond

science

gives

some

explanation

to

this

but

certainly

not

an

adequate

one

what

holds

Nathan

in

the

shape

of

Nathan

Jesus

Christ

we

talk

a lot

about

the

shape

I'm

in

I'd

like

to

be

in

a

different

shape

sometimes

right

Hebrews

1

3

again

says

that

Jesus

Christ

upholds

the

universe

by

the

word

of

his

power

he

simply

speaks

and

things

happen

he

says

to

a

planet

go

in

this

orbit

and

because

he

is

the

lord

of

the

universe

that

happens

until

he

says

something

else

swayed

by

the

very

power

of

his

word

!

only

is

the

universe

created

by

him

and

set

into

motion

by

him

but

it

is

sustained

by

him

if

he

were

to

cease

to

exist

or

decide

to

quit

in

his

sustaining

work

all

things

would

cease

to

exist

everything

in the

universe

is

made

of

atoms

Do you

remember

this?

Protons?

Electrons?

!

Neutrons?

We

learned

some

things

about

this

in our

science

class

scientists

have

labored

absolutely

driven

hard

over the

past

century

to

explain

away

the

existence

of

God

for

many

they've

done

an

adequate

task

of

that

but

they

have

failed

to

explain

how

it

is

that

the

atom

remains

in

its

state

they

do

not

know

they

do

not

understand

why

and

how

a

single

atom

exists

the

way

that

it

does

that

the

orbits

happen

that

the

spacing

is

just

as

it

should

be

they

cannot

explain

it

in

fact

they

have

a

phrase

for

this

let me see if I can find it real quick

the strong

nuclear force

it's a mystery

the strong

nuclear

force

Carl K. Darrow

a physicist

cited a book entitled

The Atom Speaks

in reference to what

scientists are calling

this strong

nuclear force

he says

and I quote

do you grasp

what this implies

it implies

that all

the nuclei

have no

right to be

alive

at all

indeed

they should

never have

been created

and if

created

they should

have blown

up

instantly

yet here

they all

are

some inflexible

inhibition

is holding

them relentlessly

together

the nature

of the

inhibition

is also

a secret

one

thus far

reserved

by nature

herself

science

can't answer

this question

but the bible

has

the strong

nuclear force

is jesus christ

and the word

of his power

so i'll start

calling him that

the strong

nuclear force

that is jesus

he holds it

all

together

so he's preeminent

because he is god

and he is preeminent

because he is the lord

of the universe

thirdly jesus christ

is preeminent

because he is

the head

of the church

verse 18

you see how paul's

logic is kind of

working down

hierarchy

working down

jesus christ

is preeminent

because he is

the head

of the church

and he is the head

of the body

verse 18

the church

he's the beginning

the firstborn

from the dead

and then the

axiomatic statement

that in everything

he might be

preeminent

he is

the head

of the body

there are many

metaphors in the new

testament used to

describe the church

it's called a family

a kingdom

a vineyard

a flock

a building

and a bride

but none is more

helpful in our

understanding of its

form and function

than that of a body

made of many parts

with jesus christ

as the head

all of us

with our varying

gifting

meant to work

together

all underneath

the lordship

of jesus

christ

this metaphor

helps us to see

the church

as a living

organism

inseparably tied

together with

life and mission

by the living

christ

he controls

every part of

it

he coordinates

together the

diversity

of gifting

and ministry

he does not

merely

just save

the church

but he is

the head

of the church

the great promise

of matthew 28

and lo

i am with you

even to the end

of the age

this is not

our church

this is

christ's

church

and we serve

him

as such

paul states

that he is the

beginning

the originator

of the church

the greek word

used there for

beginning

has a two-fold

sense of

both source

and primacy

right

that it came

from him

and that he

continues to

remain in

charge of

that things

the church

emanates

from out

from him

as a result

of him being

the source

in ephesians

1 4 paul

states that

god chose

us in christ

before the

foundation

of the world

that jesus christ

is not some

plan b

right it pains

me when people

talk about god's

original intention

and how we

got the better

of him

our power

over him

and now he's

he's brought

in the second

string

well jesus

i thought for

all eternity

you were just

going to get

to sit on a

throne

but guess

what i've

got to send

you to earth

to redeem

my people

right

the church

the way in

which god

is displaying

himself to

the world

was always

his original

intent

now let that

bake your

noodle

i would encourage

you not

to do so

to not

play too much

with the tension

between god's

sovereign purposes

in the world

and the way in

which we choose

and act and are

held responsible

for the things

that we do

but ephesians

1 4 says

that we were

chose as the

church in christ

before the

foundation of the

world before

anything was

ever created

that was created

we were chosen

in him

mind-blowing

amazing

amazing

truth

he is the

beginning

the originator

of the church

he is the

firstborn

from the

dead

here again

we see that

word that i

butchered earlier

so i'm not

going to pronounce

it again

but firstborn

of all those

who have ever

been raised

from the dead

he is of

the highest

rank

this is what

he's saying

those of us

who have come

to life

in christ

worship christ

because he

is

preeminent

so he's

preeminent

because he's

god

he's preeminent

because he is

the lord

of the universe

he is preeminent

because he is

the head

of the church

and fourthly

jesus christ

is preeminent

because of his

redemptive

work

verse 20 says

and through him

to reconcile

to himself

all things

whether on earth

or in heaven

making peace

by the blood

of his cross

this phrase

reconcile

to himself

demands our

attention

should draw

us in

to consider

this idea

of

reconciliation

there are

many ways

in which

our salvation

is explained

in the scripture

ways that we

are meant

to understand

to really

get what

jesus christ

has done

on our

behalf

the bible

says that

we are

justified

in christ

that prior

to christ

we stood

before god

guilty

and condemned

but instead

having placed

saving faith

in christ

we're declared

righteous

we are

redeemed

we're described

as god's

redeemed

ones

in the scriptures

that we

before christ

stood before

god as a

slave

but we've been

granted freedom

in him

the scriptures

say that we are

forgiven

we once stood

before god

as a debtor

but the debt

has been paid

and forgotten

the bible

describes us

as adopted

we once stood

before god

as strangers

but we have

now been made

sons with all

the rights

that come with

that

but perhaps

the richest

of these

explanations

is that

of reconciliation

reconciliation

if we have

placed saving

faith in christ

we have been

reconciled

to god

we once

stood before

god

as his

enemies

and that

should cause

us rightly

understanding

who god

is

lord of

the universe

with the

holy standard

to tremble

before him

to fear him

that we would

be enemies

of the creator

is the thing

to be greatly

greatly feared

that's the

bad news

that the scripture

teaches to us

but the good news

teaches us

that if we place

our saving faith

in christ

we have been

made god's

friends

it's incredible

the greek word

for reconcile

means to

change in

relationship

we were once