The Supremacy of Christ

Good morning. Happy Mother's Day once again to the mothers.

It's a pleasure, Lorna.

Let's pray together and let's ask God to bless the preaching of His Word.

Father, we come before you this morning to once again get our lives and our eyesight and our vision restored.

God, we want to see the world as it really is, which means we want to see it through your eyes.

We want to understand who you are and we want to know what you're doing in our world.

And so this morning, God, as we come to your Word, won't you speak to us?

Oh, Holy Spirit, how we need you.

God, come and take the words of your Scripture and apply it to our hearts, we pray.

Come open our eyes to see.

We pray, God, even now, prepare our hearts, Lord, to receive from you, God.

And so we pray these things in your wonderful and powerful name.

Amen. Amen.

This morning, we are in week two of our study of the book of Colossians.

Colossians is one of the most incredible and wonderful books in the Bible.

And so I'm very excited for the next eight weeks, or this week plus six more,

we're going to be going through the book of Colossians together on Sundays and in many of our CGs.

As we get up close and personal with the Bible's teaching about the supremacy of Christ over all things

and what it means for those of us that are followers of Jesus, that we are in Christ.

That's what the book of Colossians is all about.

Now, today's passage of Scripture that Echo read to us is one of the most famous,

one of the most wonderful passages of Scripture for churches like ours that love the teaching of God's sovereignty over all things.

As a church, we love to pray about God's sovereignty and teach about God's sovereignty and sing about God's sovereignty.

The fact that Jesus is not just good, He is Lord of all.

And for churches like us, this passage of Scripture is like poetry to our ears, right?

But the Scripture we read this morning is far more than just a statement or an exclamation about the bigness and the majesty of God.

It is that, but it's also telling us more.

And so in order to understand it, let's just go back and once again look at the context of Colossians and the context of chapter 1.

So Colossians is written, the Apostle Paul is in Rome under house arrest.

He's been preaching the gospel.

He's been arrested.

He's in house arrest in Rome.

And his old friend Epaphras that started this church in the town of Colossae is also arrested in Rome.

And Epaphras tells him about the church in Colossae.

And he says things are going really well, but there's a couple of challenges.

The challenge is the church is being influenced by a bunch of groups.

The one group is saying, Jesus is good, but he's not enough.

You need to add to Jesus a whole bit of religious duties and observations, religious days and Sabbaths and all these festivals.

And another group are saying, look, Jesus is good, but he's not all that he's made out to be.

You need to add to Jesus some secular thinking and modern philosophy and all these things.

And so Paul writes to this church to encourage them around three things.

To encourage them about the supremacy of Christ.

That Christ is over all things.

That Christ is in a category of his own.

There is no one else like him.

He writes to encourage them that the gospel is powerful.

The gospel isn't just another philosophy that a bunch of people believe because we think this is the most appropriate way to address life.

The gospel is the power of God that gets inside of us and changes us.

And then the third thing Paul writes to encourage them is what does our life as a follower of Jesus look like now that we are in Christ and Christ is in us?

And so that's the second half of Colossians chapters 3 and 4.

Colossians 3 · chapter mention

It's all about what does the life of a Christian look like?

What does it mean for your work and your home and your family and all these things?

And so that's what the book of Colossians is all about.

Now, the apostle Paul was a very brilliant man.

If you've read much of the New Testament, I'm sure you can agree, right?

One of the most outstanding church leaders, church planters, a great apostle, obviously loved God, incredibly wonderful man.

But I have one thing against the apostle Paul.

Do you know what it is?

He writes the longest sentences.

Have you ever found that?

The most incredibly long sentences that are sometimes hard to understand.

And in fact, the passage that Echo read to us this morning is only the second half of one of the longest sentences in the Bible.

In Colossians chapter 1, from verse 9, which is what we looked at last week, all the way to almost the end of what was read this morning is one sentence.

Colossians 1 · chapter mention

And what that means is to understand the passage we read this morning, we've got to go back a bit, remind ourselves of what we looked at last week and see how that flows.

So last week, verse 9 starts like this.

He says,

We've heard about your love for Christ and your love for all the saints.

And then he says,

Therefore, since the day we heard about you, we haven't ceased praying for you.

And this is what he prays.

That you will be filled with the knowledge of God's will.

That you will have wisdom and understanding.

Okay, so Paul prays for these Colossian Christians that they'll know something of what God's will is.

And we said last week, it doesn't just mean to know the Bible technically, like a tax consultant knows, you know, the tax code.

It doesn't just mean to know what is God's will in every situation, like, should I wear a blue tie today or a red tie?

That's not what it means to know God's will.

To know God's will is to have the mind of Christ, to have wisdom and understanding, to see the world the way God sees it.

And I guess it's to answer these questions.

Who is God and what is God doing in the world?

To know what the mind and the will of God is, to have wisdom and understanding, is to know who is this God?

And what on earth is he doing in the world?

And it's amazing how you can have a PhD in theology.

You can understand all the Greek and the Hebrew and know all the stories of the Bible and not know the answer to those questions.

Who is God and what is he doing in the world?

And then Paul writes and says, if you know that, if you get the will of God inside of you, if you understand this gospel paradigm, it will lead to a couple of things.

And what, Mark, if we want to be a church that is bearing fruit, that's the first thing.

If we want to be a church that is walking in the ways of God.

If we want to be a church that is walking in the ways of God such that please him.

And if we want to be a church that Colossians 1 says is strengthened and is steadfast to go the distance when life gets tough and things aren't always easy.

When we are strengthened and because there's something inside of us that can allow us to go the distance.

We've got to be a church that can answer those questions.

And so in light of that, we get to our passage this morning.

Who is God and what is he doing in the world?

And so let's look at Colossians chapter 1 verses 15 to 23 this morning.

Colossians 1:15–23

Now, I've got three points as always.

Every good sermon has only got three points.

I promised Edwin yesterday I'd have two points.

But I'm sorry, Edwin.

I snuck another one in there this morning.

So three points.

Jesus and creation.

The problem of creation.

Jesus and redemption.

Okay?

So let's dive into our scripture this morning.

Look at verse 15 with me.

Paul writes this.

He, that's Jesus, he is the image of the invisible God.

I'm not sure about you, but when I consider the awesome magnitude of creation, and I don't

even understand a one-hundredth of what creation is all about, when you understand the fact that

there are hundreds of billions of galaxies that we know about, who knows what we don't even

know about, that each one of those galaxies consists of hundreds of billions of stars,

it is all quite overwhelming, isn't it?

When you think of the vast expanse of our cosmos, it all can be overwhelming.

And yet, in the Old Testament, the people of God, as they looked up in the night sky,

and they saw, they understood that God was magnificent.

God was awesome.

He was very different from themselves.

He wasn't just a slightly better version of themselves.

There was something majestic about the God of creation.

And yet, at the same time, they had witnessed his involvement in the world.

They saw his dramatic deliverances from Egypt and their enemies.

They saw his provision in the desert, in the wilderness.

They encountered his appearances to men and women of old.

They saw his demonstrations of power through people like Elijah.

Sometimes they saw and understood God's providence, his leading and his guiding through people

like Queen Esther and Joseph.

And then, of course, his word that he spoke through the prophets.

And so, in the Old Testament, the people of God knew, though God is transcendent, in other

words, he's distinct from us, he's not like us, he is other and out there, he's also imminent,

which means he's close, he's personal, he's involved in our lives.

But still, though the people of God got to experience God and encounter him in so many different ways,

through the priests, through the prophets, through the temple, through dreams, through angels,

through God's deliverance, still, what is he like?

Who is this God?

They got to see glimpses of him, but what is this God really like?

I think of Moses.

Remember, in the Old Testament, God describes Moses as somebody who speaks to God face to face,

like a man speaks to a friend.

And yet, even Moses said, God, show me your glory.

Let me see your infinite worth.

And God hid him in a cave and then passed by him.

Then you cannot see me for all that I am.

And yet, here we see that Paul says Jesus is the image of the invisible God.

In Jesus, we somehow get to see the nature and the character of the eternal God,

perfectly revealed, perfectly made known.

As Paul writes in 2 Corinthians,

in the face of Christ, we get to see the glory of God.

We get to see the infinite worth and the majesty of God in the face of Christ.

In Hebrews 1, it talks about Jesus like this.

It says,

Remember, back in the day,

when you used to travel,

before thumbprints and eye retina displays,

you used to have this thing called the passport, right?

I guess we still have passports,

but they don't really look at them these days.

Remember back in the day,

they used to actually stamp the passport?

When we came to Hong Kong,

we had a piece of paper, employment pass, put in there.

They stamped the passport,

stamped employment pass, you're good to go.

That stamp is the exact representations,

like stamp one, stamp two.

If you're Singaporean, talk about the chop, right?

Chop one, chop two.

Do we talk about that here in Hong Kong?

No, okay.

In Singapore, stamp is a chop, right?

So stamp one, stamp two.

The one image is the exact picture

or representation of the other.

The one is not a drawing,

it's not an artist's impression.

You stamp once, you stamp twice,

the exact same picture.

Jesus is the image, the exact representation.

When we see Christ, we see something of who God is.

And remember, as human beings,

we're created in God's image.

We are meant to bear God's image on earth.

And yet, as human beings,

we have a long history of falling short,

of doing that very well.

But not Jesus.

Jesus is the image of the invisible God.

The perfect representation of what this invisible God is really like,

we see it in Jesus.

Because verse 19 says,

in Him was the fullness of God pleased to dwell.

Perfect God.

Perfect man.

All coming together in the person of Christ.

Jesus, the image of the invisible God.

But not only that, look at what Paul says next.

He says,

He is the image of the invisible God,

the firstborn of all creation.

Now, I think if you are of Asian descent,

you probably understand this better than Western counterparts like me, right?

This idea of the firstborn.

Firstborn doesn't necessarily only mean first in time.

It means first in rank, first in status, right?

First in position of prominence.

I think the Chinese word is something like John T.

Is that right?

Did I get that even remotely right?

Okay, nodding head.

The idea of firstborn.

So in ancient cultures, think about this.

In ancient cultures, your land was your wealth, right?

Your family's wealth was tied up in the land.

Land was so important.

And so you've got a plot of land that your family farms.

And it comes time to hand over the wealth to the next generation,

your inheritance.

Now, in the ancient cultures, they didn't just say,

Listen, I've got six or seven kids.

I don't really, but just imagine.

I had six or seven kids,

and I'm going to split up my land six or seven ways.

Because what will happen?

After another generation of each having six or seven kids,

the land gets split six ways,

and then another 40 ways,

and then the next generation.

Eventually, after two or three generations,

your farm has been split up hundreds of ways.

It's now the size of the piano.

And you're not going to get a lot of farming done on the piano, right?

That's not going to produce a lot of wealth.

So what would happen?

To preserve the family's wealth,

the family would hand on the entire estate,

the whole inheritance to the firstborn son.

And everything went to him,

but then it was his responsibility to look after the family

and to provide for them.

Okay?

So in other words,

the firstborn is not just first in time.

It's also first in status.

It's first in prominence.

In a sense,

the firstborn son is kind of like the dad,

like the father in the family.

Now, look at what Paul says here.

Using this imagery,

he says,

Jesus is not just a billboard

to show us what God is like in human form.

More than that,

he is the firstborn of all creation.

He is first in rank,

first in status.

He has the highest

and the most prestigious stank

in all of creation.

It's not just of all human beings,

in all of creation.

Never has anyone or anything

come close to his supremacy

and his authority.

Jesus,

the firstborn of all creation.

And then Paul explains

why this is the case.

Now,

you may think

the reason why Jesus is firstborn

was because he was the first one

who was made,

right?

Jesus made us,

but he was made before all of us.

And so because he was made first,

he has a position of rank or status.

But that's not what the Bible says.

Look at verse 16 with me.

It says,

he is distinct from all created beings

because he is the source

of all created beings.

Or as verse 16 says,

for by him,

all things were created

in heaven and on earth,

visible and invisible,

whether thrones or dominions,

rulers or authorities,

that's all created things,

angels, demons,

all things were created through him.

It doesn't matter

where you go in the cosmos.

You can go to the moon,

you can go to heaven,

you can go to earth,

you can go to Mars

or to the furthest reaches

of our galaxy,

you'll still be within

Christ's created order.

It doesn't matter

whether you understand it or not.

Things visible and invisible,

even some things

we don't understand,

even things that we have not invented

and have not yet discovered

about the world,

Christ made them.

It doesn't matter

what power or authority

such a thing has,

whether physical power,

emotional power,

psychological power,

spiritual power,

all things in heaven

and on earth,

visible and invisible,

whether thrones or dominions,

rulers or angels or authorities,

all things were made

through him and by him.

Remember,

at this time

in the city of,

the town of Colossae,

the Colossian Christians

are being pressed

because the people around them

are saying,

yeah, Jesus is good,

you know,

we'll give you that,

but there's also Apollos

and there's,

you know,

Aphrodites

and there's Hermes.

They're the other gods as well.

And Paul writes and says,

no,

Christ is supreme

above every other being

in the entire cosmos

or universe.

Christ is different.

Christ,

the man who died on the cross

just 30 years before,

is different from every other being.

And friends,

whether you're a Christian here or not,

and especially if you're not a Christian,

this question about who is Jesus

is a question you have to answer.

You have to come to the place

of working out who is Jesus.

Who is this man that died on the cross?

What do I make him out to be?

Is he really the name

above every other name?

Is he really the only one

who can ever save?

We sang about it earlier.

Jesus is the name above every name.

Jesus is the most powerful man.

Is that really who he is?

And in our day and day,

we may not be tempted

to trust in Apollo

or Hermes

or the other Roman gods,

but we are tempted

to trust in other things

to secure a good future for us.

Things that we expect

will provide us

with a good life.

We get the right boss.

Maybe the market forces.

Things go well in the market

or maybe a relationship.

Maybe the things

that are more nuanced than that.

Things like our intellectual ability.

Our reasoning or our rationality.

Things that we trust.

These things will secure us

the good life.

And Paul's assertion here

is that all things,

visible or not,

material or immaterial,

all things come to existence

because of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And therefore,

he is Lord over all things.

I was talking to a friend

just recently this week

who at work,

there's some challenges,

there's some retrenchments coming,

and some people in the office

are going to lose their jobs.

And maybe his job is on the line.

He doesn't know.

And so there's a lot of tension

and angst in the office.

What's going to happen?

Do we have a job?

And this friend,

who's a follower of Jesus,

was not particularly worried.

And so his colleagues

eventually said to him,

what's up with you?

Why are you not worried?

All of us are worried.

You don't seem to be worried.

And this is his answer.

Do you really think

that my God,

who made the entire universe,

cannot provide for my family?

My God is the Lord of all things.

Friends, you see how practical this is?

I don't know what challenges you're facing.

Maybe you've been to the doctor

and you're waiting for a medical report.

And you don't know

what that report is going to say.

Maybe you are pregnant

with your first child

and you aren't sure

about the health of that child.

Maybe you want to become pregnant.

You're trying for kids.

Friends, God in heaven

is Lord of all things.

And your life is safely in his hands.

But even that is not enough

because look at what Paul goes on to say.

He says,

For by him all things were created

in heaven and on earth,

visible or invisible,

whether rulers, authorities,

dominions or powers,

all things were created through him

and for him.

In other words,

not only is Christ before all things,

before anything was made,

at the end of all time,

when the world is wrapped up,

all things will come down

before Christ,

before all things were made

for him or to him.

We often think

all things were made by him

for us.

And that's not what the Scripture sings.

All things are made for him.

Or another way of saying that

is for the praise of his name.

At the end of history,

when the world is wrapped up,

every created being

will fall down on their knees

and say,

You are God and I am not.

All things were made

for the praise of his name.

And so here we have Christ

before all things,

creator of all things,

and at the same time,

we have Jesus Christ,

the end goal,

the one for whom

all things were made.

And so Paul summarizes this

in verse 17.

Look at what he says.

He says,

He is before all things

and in him

all things hold together.

Christ is before all things,

he's at the end of all things,

and he's currently holding

all things together right now.

And it's a remarkable summary

of the supremacy

and the sufficiency

of the man

who just 30 years before

was being nailed

to a Roman cross

for this remarkable claim

that he really is God.

Jesus hung on the cross,

but he didn't stay there.

And so here,

within one generation,

Paul is saying,

this man who hung on the cross

really is Lord of all.

You see,

sometimes we think,

oh, well,

you know,

Jesus,

the myth has grown

over a couple of generations

and over hundreds of years,

the story of Jesus

grew into this elaborate fable

where now hundreds of years later

people are talking about him

as being the Lord of all.

No.

Within one generation,

within one generation,

the church knew

that this man,

Jesus,

who died on the cross

is who he said he is.

He's the Lord of all.

But what's even more astonishing

is this,

that the apostle Paul,

the man who wrote these words

just a few years before this,

one of the most brilliant

Jewish minds,

one of the most outstanding

intellectuals of his day,

this man who was bent

on eradicating

and destroying

the Christian faith,

a man who had given his life

to destroying

any traces of faith in Jesus,

stands up now and says,

it's true.

It's true.

This man,

Jesus,

who I tried to destroy

with everything inside of me

really is who he said he is.

He is the Lord of all.

He is not just like other gods.

He is not just a good force.

He is not just a man

from whom we can learn

some good things.

He is the supreme

Lord of all creation

for he is before all things

and in him

all things hold together.

Friends,

Christ,

the Lord of all creation.

Secondly,

the problem of creation.

Now,

this understanding

that Jesus is sovereign

over all things

raises a question

because if Jesus

really is the Lord of all,

if Jesus really is supreme

over all things,

why is our world

in such a mess?

Well,

the human world anyway.

You could argue

that the cosmos

and the galaxies

are doing all right

on their own,

but why is our world

in such trouble?

There's wars,

there's hatred,

there's fighting,

there's oppression

of ethnic minorities,

oppression of children,

oppression of women,

there's hurts,

there's hatred

in our hearts,

and not only that,

there's disease,

our bodies are aching,

and not only that,

the physical world itself

seems to be taking strain.

There's floods,

and there's earthquakes,

and all these things.

If Jesus is Lord

of the whole world,

what's he doing about it?

How's he looking after it?

Remember,

Paul was writing this letter

at the time

when Nero

was emperor of Rome,

which was not a good time

for Christians

to be in Rome.

And so,

the Christians

might have been thinking,

well,

you say that Jesus is Lord,

but it doesn't look like

he's doing a very good job

because things aren't going

so well for us.

Nero's persecuting

the Christians,

he's about to set fire

to Rome,

the church is under persecution.

Where is this Lord of all

that we're supposed to worship?

Who is this Lord of creation,

and what is he doing about it?

Well,

before we get there,

we need to understand

the reason for this mess.

And what's caused

the problems

that we encounter?

And the Bible's answer

is that we have.

We have.

The problem with the world

is the problem of humanity.

It started off

with our very first ancestors,

the very first moral agents

made in God's image

that God made

for us to reflect him,

to love him,

and serve him.

And they went off

on their own.

And we,

as humanity,

have followed

in their footsteps.

We want our own autonomy.

We want the God

that made us

to serve us.

We want to be

our own masters.

We want to be

our own lords.

We want to be

our own gods.

And while this takes

a million different shapes

and forms,

and it looks different

in different ways,

the essence

of all of this

is what's wrong

with the world.

That is,

human beings

were made to love

and serve the God

that made us

in his image

as an act of worship

and instead

we've loved

and we serve ourselves.

And we've asked God

to join our plans

and to love

and to serve us.

And the problem of this,

what the Bible calls sin,

is it's a distortion

and a breakdown

of everything in the world.

It means our relationship

with the God

that made us

is broken

and distorted.

It means our relationships

with one another

are broken

and distorted.

That's why you have

things like racism

and sexism

and oppression

of people.

It means our relationship

with our physical world

is broken

and distorted.

We now use the world

to serve us

rather than serving

our world

to the glory of God.

But also,

it means our relationship

with our very selves

is broken

and distorted.

We are conflicted inside.

We don't even

understand ourselves.

And so the problem

of sin is that

all our relationships

with God,

with each other,

with the world,

with ourselves,

is distorted

and broken.

And verse 13

of chapter 1

talks about

being captured

by the domain

of darkness.

One author said it

like this,

In other words,

while Christ

is the supreme one,

the one in whom

all things

find their origin,

on whom all things

depend for their

very existence,

to whom all things

belong,

he does not now

seem to be

the head of all things

as he ought to be.

All powers

do not presently

recognize his supremacy.

There is sin,

there is darkness,

there is death.

And so the question is,

what is this sovereign,

majestic,

or supreme God

going to do

about his world

that is out of order?

Third thing,

Jesus and redemption.

You'll know that

Claire and I

have two wonderful children,

and they love Claire's cooking,

as you heard earlier.

And our children

are four and six,

and our children

love drawing pictures,

coloring in

and drawing pictures.

I'm sure all children

that age do it,

but our children

especially love it.

And they love

drawing pictures

for other people,

writing cards

for other people.

I'm sure some of you

have received their cards.

They are forever

writing letters

for others, right?

But seldom do they

get it right first time.

Very often they start

and something

invariably goes wrong.

They spill water over it

or they draw out

of the lines

or something goes wrong,

and there's big tears.

There's big drama

in our household, right?

And Shiloh's got this line,

my youngest daughter,

the four-year-old,

who says,

it's all ruined,

and she'll scrunch it up

and throw it on the page

and put her head down

and cry, right,

when she's messed up

her precious Picasso drawing.

Well, friends,

is that what God does

with our world?

When God,

the Supreme Creator,

looks at this world

that He made

and sees it gone wrong,

does He just scrunch it up

and go,

it's all ruined,

time to start again?

Is that what He does?

No.

What Paul is going to show us

is that just as it pleased God

through the power of Christ

to create the world,

so in the same way

it pleases God

through the power of Christ

to recreate the world

or to redeem the world

or to heal His broken world.

In other words,

what is God doing right now?

He is sovereignly restoring

His supremacy.

He is becoming

what He already is

by renewing creation.

But He's not going to do it

the way that we think

He might do it.

He doesn't do it

by scrunching it up

and throwing it aside.

He doesn't do it

by sending in the armies

to go and destroy His enemies

that have destroyed the world

and eliminate all His enemies.

He doesn't do it

by taking all the Christians

out of this horrible,

puffy,

physical world

up into heaven

to a spiritual,

ethereal world

where we can just

live in this

on the clouds

and play harps.

That's not how He's

renewing His world.

He's doing it

by entering His world.

He's doing it

by taking on human flesh.

He's doing it

by recreating it

from the inside out.

He's doing it

by changing

one individual life

at a time.

Look at verse 18 with me.

Jesus came not

to eliminate humanity

but to fix it.

Not to destroy humanity

but to free it.

to take that

which is lost

and broken

and recreated

in His image.

Look at verse 18.

So we've just heard

about how Christ

is supreme

over all things.

All things are made

by Him

and through Him

and for Him.

He upholds all things

and now verse 18 says

He is the head.

But this time

not just the head

of creation,

not just the head

of all things

in general,

He's the head

of something specific.

He's the head

of His body

which is the church.

The English

gives away

the punchline

there.

The Greek just says

He's the head

of the gathering,

the head

of the assembly

of people.

So Jesus is now

the head

of a body

of people,

some kind

of gathering

or assembly.

But who is this body?

What's so special

about them

that Jesus

is now the head

of this body?

Well,

let's keep reading.

It says He's the head

of His body,

the church.

He is the beginning

or more specifically

the new beginning.

We know He was there

at the beginning

of all creation

but now He's the head

of a new kind

of beginning,

a different beginning,

a recreation.

He's the head

of a new beginning,

not just a scrunch

it up and start again

kind of beginning,

not just a destroy

His enemies

and repopulate

the world

with new people

kind of beginning.

There's something

different about

this beginning.

It's the kind

of beginning

that someone,

it's the kind

of new start

someone experiences

when they've been

enslaved

and they're now

set free.

It's the kind

of new beginning

that you get

when someone's

been declared dead

and then the doctors

resuscitate them

and bring them to life.

It's the kind

of new beginning

that I think

Nelson Mandela

from my country

experienced

after being set free

from being in jail

for 27 years

as a political prisoner.

Set free.

There's a new beginning

and this is what Jesus,

this is what He's saying.

This is what

this new creation involves.

Jesus taking

that which was lost,

that which was empty,

that which was imprisoned,

that which was enslaved,

that which was dead

and He gives it

new life

and that makes sense

because the next line

says He is

the new beginning,

He is the firstborn,

there's our word again,

the chief,

the preeminent one,

amongst those

who were dead.

You see what Jesus

is doing here?

Jesus is creating

a new humanity,

a new people,

a new body,

a new beginning

but this body,

this new people

is not made up

of those who have

got it all together

and are faithful.

It's not made up

of those who have

always obeyed

all the rules.

Jesus is not

some political leader

that's been kicked

out of power.

He's now retreating

to His faithful constituents

and regrouping

and re-forming

a new political party

to take on the rebels.

That's not what's happening.

Jesus is going off

to the very people

that asked at Him.

Jesus is going off

to the very rebels

that put Him

on the cross.

Jesus is going off

to the very people

who cried,

crucify Him.

Jesus is going off

to sinners

like you and me

and He's changing us

on the inside.

He's recreating us.

He's going off

to the thing

that went wrong

in the first place

which is our heart

and He's giving us

a new heart

and then He's welcoming us

into His family

as a new body,

as a new people,

as His church.

Remember that old

wonderful hymn?

It says,

Behold the man

upon the cross,

my sin upon His shoulders.

Ashamed I hear

my mocking voice

crying out

amongst the scoffers.

It was my sin

that held Him there

until it was accomplished.

His dying breath

has brought me life.

I know that it is finished.

Jesus is the head

of His body.

He's the head

of the new beginning.

He's the head,

the firstborn

of those who were once dead.

And look at verse 21

with us.

Verse 21 says,

Don't you know you

who were once alienated,

who were once hostile in mind,

doing evil deeds?

He is now reconciled.

He is made new.

He has restored

the relationship

by His death

in order to do what?

To present you holy,

to present you blameless,

to present you above reproach

before Him

if indeed you continue

steadfast in the faith.

Friends,

this body of people,

this new creation

is made up of those

who were once dead

in their sins

but are now alive again.

Made up of those

who were once broken

by sin

but are now being made new.

Of those who were once

slaves to the domain

of darkness

but are now being set free

on the kingdom

of His Son.

And this body of people

Jesus calls

His church.

Friends,

do you see what God

is doing in the world?

What is Jesus doing

in the world?

Who is God?

He's the sovereign supreme one

of all the world.

And what is He doing?

He's recreating the world.

He's recreating,

but He's doing it

one life at a time.

One individual at a time.

He's moving in

and He's recreating us

from the inside out.

Jesus is not recreating

the world

by making new stars

and galaxies,

by making new planets

and new cosmos,

new ecosystems.

He's not doing it

by making new countries

or tribes

or ethnicities,

but He is making

a new people.

He's making a new Israel.

He's making a new nation.

He's making a new body.

He does it

by recreating

the very thing

that caused the problem

in the first place,

by recreating our hearts,

by giving us

a heart of flesh

that we will be included

in His family.

He is the head

of His body,

the church,

the beginning,

the firstborn amongst the dead,

that in everything

He might be

what He already is,

which is preeminent

over all things.

And how did He do it?

How did Jesus do this?

Well, verse 19 tells us.

It says,

For in Him

all the fullness of God

was pleased to dwell

and through Him

to reconcile all things,

whether on earth

or in heaven,

making peace

by the blood

of His cross.

Friends,

the way that Jesus

is reconciling the world

to Himself,

the way that Jesus

brings about a new creation

is that He went to the cross.

He went and He hung there.

He took our sin

upon His shoulders.

He took the very thing

that was destroying us

upon Himself

and let Himself

be destroyed on the cross.

It is the only way

that Jesus could destroy

the sin inside of us

without destroying the people

in whom sin dwelt.

And so Jesus went to the cross

and He took our sin

and He took our shame

upon Himself

and allowed that

to be destroyed.

And then Colossians 2 says,

In doing so,

He overcame His enemies.

He triumphed over the very ones

that were causing this mess

in the first place.

Jesus died on the cross.

In verse 16,

we saw that in Him

all things were created.

Verse 19 tells us,

In Him the fullness of God

was pleased it will.

In verse 16,

we said,

We saw that through Him

all things were made.

And now we see that through Him

all things are being reconciled.

In verse 16,

we saw to Him

all things are made.

And now we see to Him

all things will be reconciled.

Friends,

the great rapture

in the unity of the world,

the great discord

of the whole created existence,

the great dissonance

in the totality of all things

has been put right

to Christ's sacrificial death

and resurrection

because He has made peace

by the blood of His cross.

See, friends,

Jesus is Lord of all creation,

but He's not just Lord of creation.

He's Lord of redemption as well.

He's the Lord of the new creation.

Just as God,

it is through God and God alone

that the whole world was made,

through God and God alone

is the whole world to be saved.

Just as God needed no help

with His creation plan,

God needs no help

with His redemption salvation plan.

Just as you and I

didn't contribute a single thing

to the creation of the world,

so we don't contribute

a single thing

apart from our sin

to the salvation of our hearts.

Friends,

this is the amazing promise

of Colossians 1,

that Jesus truly is God

and He's Lord of all creation.

And while it may not always seem so,

while it may seem

that the world has fallen

and things are out of control,

the promise of Colossians 1

is that God is gloriously

and majestically

at work in His world,

restoring and recreating

all things.

He is as much Lord of redemption

as He is of creation.

Well,

let's bring this to a close.

I want to close with

asking this question,

so what?

Very briefly,

two things.

What does this mean?

What does this mean

for the Colossians

and what does it mean

for us in Hong Kong?

What does it mean tomorrow

as you go to work?

What does it mean tomorrow

as you're at home,

as you parent your kids?

What does it mean

as you are retrenched

or you need to do the retrenching?

What does it mean

as you receive that medical report?

Two things it means.

First thing is this.

The Colossian Christians,

2,000 years ago,

in their head they knew

that Christ is Lord of all.

They had been told,

they understood

that Jesus is the supreme

God of all creation.

And yet every day

they were constantly being told

that Rome is their security.

Rome is what will provide

their peace.

Rome will look after them.

If they are just faithful to Rome,

Rome will be faithful to them.

And so while in their heads

they knew Jesus was Lord,

in their hearts

that truth was being challenged.

And friends,

that's just as true

for you and I.

If you're a Christian this morning,

you probably know

that Jesus is Lord of all.

But every day

as we go into our city,

that truth is being challenged.

You're being told

that your boss

has your future in your hands.

Your education

holds your future in its hands.

The market forces

hold your future in its hands.

But friends,

this is the most liberating thing,

that in all the world

there is not a single iota.

There is not a single atom

in all creation,

not a single day

in the future

which is outside

of God's sovereign hand.

For Christ is supreme

over all things.

There is not a boss

in all the world

that has more say

over your life

than what Jesus has

over your life.

There is not a market force

that can rob you

of your future

more than God wills

or God will allow.

There is not a single

job promotion qualification

that can secure

your future

more than Jesus.

He is the supreme one.

But the second thing

it meant for the Colossians

is this.

It meant great patience

in the midst of trials

and difficulty.

So think about this.

Epaphras and Philemon,

we read about them

last week,

they hear about

the gospel in Ephesus

and they go back

to Colossae

and they tell their friends

and their neighbors

and their colleagues

and they say,

we've found the Messiah.

Jesus is Lord of all.

Christ is the King.

Caesar isn't King.

Jesus is King.

And Jesus is coming back.

He is the supreme ruler

of all.

And they preach this

and the people believe it

and they believe in their hearts

and they become followers

of Jesus.

And then a few years go by

and things don't seem

to be changing

and life is hard

and Nero becomes emperor

and things become difficult

and this church

is still a small church.

It doesn't grow.

And after a while

they're starting to think,

is Jesus really Lord?

He seems to be taking his time.

He thought he was coming back.

Where is this Jesus?

And as things go wrong

they can start to wonder.

Is Jesus really at work

in this world?

Friends,

but Paul writes to tell them

that Jesus is establishing authority.

Jesus is becoming

what he already is.

But he's doing it

through his body,

through his church.

He's doing it

one individual at a time.

Reconciling sinners to himself

so that in everything

he might be preeminent.

Friends,

isn't that true for us as well?

We read the news,

things go wrong.

We read how the church

is being persecuted

in various countries

around the world

and we think,

where is the Supreme Lord?

Jesus,

if you're Lord,

what are you doing about it?

Where are you?

Are you coming back

anytime soon?

Friends,

the truth of the gospel

is that God is at work

in the world.

God is at work

here in Hong Kong.

He's reestablishing

his supremacy

one life at a time,

one reconciled sinner

at a time,

one dead person

made alive again.

And so Paul writes

in Colossians,

he says in verse 23,

therefore continue

in the faith,

stable and steadfast.

Don't shift

from the hope

of the gospel.

This Christ Jesus

is Lord of all

and he's coming

to prove it.

Friends,

this is God's word to us.

Just as Paul wrote

to the Colossians

to remind them

that Jesus is supreme

over all things,

so God would remind us

this morning.

I don't know

what challenges

you're facing,

but Christ is supreme

over all things.

And just as Paul wrote

to remind these Colossians

of the power

of the gospel,

often understated,

often not with a lot

of fanfare,

often not with a lot

of glamour

and glitz

and bright lights,

but Jesus is at work.

The power of the gospel

is changing people's lives

so God would remind us

that the same,

that God would encourage us.

He's at work in the world.

He's at work in Hong Kong.

He's at work in our city.

And this is our hope,

that while the world

is reeling from the effects

of sin,

while the world is broken,

we are not without hope,

because Christ is Lord,

reconciling all things

to himself,

whether on earth

or in heaven,

making peace

by the blood

of his cross.

Let's pray together.

Jesus,

we,

for many of us,

we know this truth

in our heads.

We understand,

or we think we understand

the wonderful teaching

about your sovereignty

and your supremacy.

And yet,

God,

we need that truth

to drop from our heads

to our hearts.

As we go to work tomorrow,

as we travel,

as we look after kids,

as we look after

our aging parents,

as we look for work,

Father,

won't you remind us,

God,

that there is not

a single atom

in all creation,

there's not a single day

in the history of the world

which is beyond you,

which is outside of you.

And God,

while we don't always

understand these things,

while the world seems

to sometimes be reeling,

God,

won't you remind us,

won't you open our eyes

to see the supremacy

of Christ over all things.

Won't you show us,

God,

that you are

not just like

one of many gods,

but you are

the one and only

supreme God

and you are

wholly sufficient.

Lord,

I pray,

come and open

the eyes of our hearts.

God,

for those of us

that are feeling hurt,

for those of us

that are feeling

the pressures

of the world

in which we live,

God,

won't you come

and minister to us?

Won't you come

and fill us

with your spirit?

Won't you come

and remind us,

God,

to keep our eyes

steadfast on you.

Jesus,

we sang this morning,

come and be the center.

Help us to fix our eyes

on you,

we pray.

Christ,

come and take

the throne of our lives.

We pray these things

in your name.

Amen.

Amen.