Palm Sunday: Supremacy of the Christ

Good morning, everyone. Happy Palm Sunday. Can you guys hear me all right? Awesome.

Like Sean had mentioned, my name is Andrew Rim. I'm a pastoral intern here at Trinity Cambridge Church,

! And it's a joy and an honor and a privilege to be able to preach God's word to you guys this morning.

And so if you guys could turn with me to Colossians chapter 1, verse 15 to 20.

Colossians 1:15–20

We're taking a quick break from our series through the Gospel of Matthew,

where we are currently in the Sermon on the Mount. And we're now jumping to Colossians chapter 1,

Colossians 1:15–20

verse 15 to 20.

Before I pray for the reading and preaching of God's word, as we are worshiping, I just thought of Psalm 148.

And it reads,

Let's pray.

Lord, we praise you.

Lord, all of creation praises you.

And this morning, we want to praise you through the reading of your word.

We want to praise you by meditating on your word, delighting in it, and seeing that you are Lord over all, Lord.

Lord, remind us why we gather together on Sundays.

Remind us why we gather as the body of Christ through your word today.

That we gather to glorify you, to magnify you, to make your name great.

So be with us this morning.

I want your spirit to pierce our hearts.

I want your spirit to speak to us and remind us of your majesty.

We pray all this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Please stand with me as we read Colossians chapter 1, verse 15 to 20.

Colossians 1:15–20

Amen.

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 first born 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 holy

and authoritative word you may be seated

this palm sunday morning uh we're taking uh like i mentioned before we're taking a vacation from the

sermon on the mount in the gospel of matthew and we're instead looking at this passage here in

colossians 1 15 to 20 this passage is one that pastor john piper calls perhaps the greatest

exaltation to christ in all of the bible

the late pastor rc sprawl calls this passage one of scripture's clearest and most stunning

declarations about the divinity of christ these are high commendations given to this passage here

and rightfully so because how we view christ must be both exalting in worship

and clear in understanding and this passage does both of those things the apostle paul he writes this

description of jesus in response to some heresies that false teachers in colossae are spouting to

the colossian church and so in order to correct and address the church paul writes this letter to the

church and right before our passage in verses 9 to 12 he says this we have not ceased to pray for you

asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding

so as to walk in a manner worthy of the lord fully pleasing to him bearing fruit in every good work

and increasing in the knowledge of god being strengthened with all power according to his

glorious might for all endurance and patience with joy giving thanks to the father who has qualified you

to share in the inheritance of the saints and lights paul's encouraging the colossians to be filled

with the knowledge of god with the knowledge of god to increase in the knowledge of god so that they

might walk in a manner worthy of the lord bearing fruit in every good work being strengthened with all

power for all endurance and patience with joy basically paul is saying and he's praying that the

colossian church may know god rightly so that they may be able to worship god rightly

in his book worship matters bob coughlin writes the better and the more accurately we know god through

his word the more genuine our worship will be in fact the moment we veer from what is true about god

we're engaging in idolatry regardless of what we think or feel there is no authentic worship of god

without a right knowledge of god if we have an improper small view of who god is there are detrimental

effects in our lives if we see god as a small god if we don't see god correctly we won't trust that jesus is

lord over our lives we'll instead trust in man in our own selves and we'll follow our own desires and wants

rather than submit to god will succumb to our fears and anxieties and turn to worldly pleasures like money

sex influence to number ourselves from these preoccupations as bob said an incomplete or small view

of god will lead to the sin of idolatry and continuous unrepentant idolatry will lead to our ultimate

eternal demise church in order for us to worship god and jesus christ rightly we have to have a right

view of who he is that he may not be diminished or falsely represented by our worship

even if we say that we know who jesus is we gather together like this we gather together as a church on

sundays as the body of christ not just to learn new things about god but to remind ourselves over and

over and over again who jesus christ is what he's done and to worship him as our supreme lord and savior

and so please join me this morning in making much of christ in magnifying jesus and glorifying him

and so this is what i'll be preaching as the main idea in colossians 1 15 to 20 magnify and rejoice in

the supremacy of jesus christ who reigns over all creation and all redemption i'll be touching on two

points this morning christ supremacy over all creation and christ supremacy over all redemption

so we start in verse 15 verse 15 lays out the main thesis of our first point that christ reigns supreme

over all creation

we see first in the first part of verse 15 christ is the image of the invisible god christ is god

while god the father is spirit and he's invisible jesus the person of the son of the holy trinity

is god's ultimate self-revelation of himself by coming to this world in the form of man and to dwell

amongst humankind in physical and visible form

man was not able to see this invisible god

moses inquired to see god's face to which god replies in exodus 33 20 you cannot see me for man

shall not see me and live in isaiah 6 the prophet isaiah he saw on a vision the lord sitting on his

throne and cried out woe is me for i'm lost for i am a man of unclean lips for my eyes have seen

man the king the king the lord of hosts

man is not able to directly see the full glory of god and live and can only see him when his glory is

veiled like moses could only see god's back or isaiah could only perceive god's glory in his prophetic

vision

and this is why jesus is the ultimate revelation of god

christ is the image of the invisible god he's not unimage one of many he's not made in the image of

god just as man was he is the image of the invisible god the very embodiment of the word of god the logos

who took on flesh and dwelt among us so that we can see god's glory as it said in john 1 14 when we

see jesus we see god the father

pastor arshese sprawl he recounts jesus teaching the same principle to his oblivious disciples in john

14 he says jesus deals with his disciples and they say to him at the last days jesus show us the father

and it's a fifth of us that's what we want to see we've seen all kinds of fantastic things

watched you walk on the water feed 5 000 people raise people from the dead we saw the transfiguration

which was incredible now do the biggie for us yeah show us the father and what does he say

whoever has seen me has seen the father jesus is saying as clearly as he could say in so many categories

i am god

jesus doesn't need to do the biggie he is the biggie

jesus is the image of the invisible god the divine incarnation that reveals god's glory directly to us

john chapter 1 verse 18 says no one has ever seen god the only god who is at the father's side he has

John 1:18

made him known god is revealed to us in jesus christ we don't have to seek out mystical or spiritual

experiences apart from christ nor do we have to isolate ourselves in the desert and force ourselves

into an ascetic self-flagellant lifestyle in order to see god like so many people nowadays think must be done

we get to know god in jesus jesus is the way jesus is the truth jesus is the life and no one comes to the

father except through jesus

because he is the image of the invisible god

in the second part of verse 15 we read that jesus is also the firstborn of all creation

at a glance this is a bit of a confusing statement wasn't adam technically the firstborn of creation

how can jesus be called the firstborn if he comes into the world long after the genesis creation narrative

in one sense the word firstborn firstborn can be viewed from a temporal perspective based on time

christ is the firstborn of all creation because he's the eternally begotten son of god

eternally begotten doesn't mean that jesus was a product of god's creative creative acts he's not a

product a product of god's creative works but he's existed with god the father in eternity past as the

person of the son of the son in the holy trinity as it said in john 1 jesus was the word in the beginning

who was with god and was god and so while jesus was not born in eternity past he was chronologically

pre-existing before adam but while this explanation of jesus as the pre-existing firstborn is true

it seems more likely that that word firstborn is being used instead as a designation of rank and tier

that christ is superior as the creator of all things contextually it makes more sense to see christ as

the firstborn as the supreme rather than the pre-existent since this entire passage is focusing

on christ's supremacy not his pre-existence we see that word firstborn being used in this way of

ranking in psalm 89 verse 27 and 29 where god proclaims of david of king david and i will make him the

Psalms 89:27

firstborn the highest of the kings of the earth i will establish his offspring forever in his throne as

the days of the heavens though david was the youngest of his brothers he is referred to as the firstborn

because of his role and position given to him by god to be king and ruler over all of israel david was

named the firstborn because he was ruler of all of israel this is also consistent with adam's given role

and charged in genesis 128 when god commanded him to subdue the earth and have dominion over every

living thing that moves on the earth adam was given kingship as the firstborn of mankind to rule over

creation in the garden of eden and so in the same way paul is using the language to refer to christ as the

firstborn the firstborn the principal king and ruler over all creation

hebrews chapter 1 verse 6 declares of jesus's majesty and supremacy that when god brings the firstborn

Hebrews 1:6

jesus into the world he says let all god's angels worship him just as we proclaimed in our call to worship

let all god's angels worship him jesus is to be worshiped and revered even by the heavenly host of angels

because he is the firstborn the supreme over all creation

verses 16 and 17 explain the significance of christ being the image of god and the firstborn of all

creation for by all things by him all things were created and all things were created through him

paul is saying that jesus is the agent of all creation and jesus is the means through which all

things are created whether they're animate or inanimate whether they're visible or invisible

on earth or in heaven paul is describing the whole range of the created order and how they all originate

from jesus as their maker jesus is the creator of all things

it's also written in verse 16 that christ is the creator of all things whether thrones or dominions or

rulers or authorities paul uses these terms thrones dominions rulers authorities throughout his letters

to refer not just to earthly kings and kingdoms but also spiritual entities and powers including angels

who are subject to jesus's work of creation and paul is most likely including this categorization of

creation to address the heresy being taught by the false teachers in the colossian church

because they were teaching that christians needed to be worshiping angels they need to be worshiping

angels along with adhering to other ascetic rituals and philosophies in order to be qualified as faithful

christians they were making the worship of angels a requirement to be counted as faithful if anything the this

angelic worship would be an act of idolatry because the angels themselves serve and worship god alone

to worship them would detract from the worship of their creator jesus who is of a higher order and rank to them

as an example of this we see that an angel of the lord stopped the apostle john from worshiping him

in revelation chapter 19 verse 10 the angel exclaims you must not do that i am a fellow servant with you

Revelation 19:10

and your brothers who hold to the testimony of jesus and so worship god and so paul is making the

points here that christ is the creator and master of these angelic beings and so it will be an abominable

sin to dare worship anything of a lower echelon that has been created to serve christ

church the false teachings of angel worship is not as far-fetched as we may think it is in our context

today at its core this heresy was one of idolatry worshiping something that was not god

and we can all agree that idolatry still runs rampant today all around us right and we're all

subject to be tempted to idolize something in our lives

how many of us need to check ourselves to make sure that we're not prioritizing our families over god

how many of us need to check ourselves to make sure we're not prioritizing our careers

over god our relationships our money our resources over god

idolatry can even appear in matters related to our faith

we can idolize miracles and gifts rather than worshiping god the miracle maker and the gift giver

we can idolize grace and cheapen it to cover our sinful behavior and our overindulgent lifestyle

neglecting the call to live a life that is pleasing to the lord we can idolize righteousness and god's law

and become legalistic and pharisaical and working out our salvation forgetting that we have been saved by grace

all of these things that we have been saved by christ and serve to bring glory to the creator

but we need to be vigilant that these things like the angels do not take priority over god

that they do not take away from the full worship that christ deserves

and so christ is the creator of all heavenly and spiritual thrones dominions rulers and authorities

but these thrones dominions rulers and authorities aren't just good spirits aren't just good angels

the same greek word for dominion and authority is used in colossians 1 13 and 2 15 in reference to christ

delivering us from the domain of evil and darkness delivering us from the authority of darkness and evil

church there are evil angels there are evil spirits originally created by christ only to be corrupted

by the fall and yet even so these powers these spirits these angels that were twisted into forces of evil

were created by jesus

the fact that jesus is the creator of all things including things that are evil as a result of the fall

may be really unsettling to some of us

but imagine the opposite scenario imagine that jesus isn't the creator of the things that have become evil

what if he doesn't have control over these things

for example what if a loved one in our lives is terribly sick would it be better to know that god is

there and even amidst the sickness he's in control or do we remain hopeless thinking that god is not there

at all and that he cannot control fallen and broken things

the latter option would be terrifying

that may be an even more unsettling reality for us that there are things that the god we worship

cannot command cannot subdue cannot defeat

but church we can find great comfort through this reminder in verse 17

that in christ all things hold together

all things hold together in christ

jesus is not only the chief designer of all creation

he's the sovereign preserver and maintainer of it

he's not like dr frankenstein unable to influence his own creation and creature once it comes to life

nothing is out of jesus's control even when we feel like our world is tearing apart

even when we feel like everything around us is falling apart because jesus is sovereign over everything that he has created

and all of creation is under his command

there's the same jesus in the gospels who walks on water

who calmed storms who commanded demons to be cast out and who raised people from the dead

in all of these things jesus was in control

brothers and sisters do we ever consider that it's jesus who first spun the earth around the sun

and he continues to do so to create the perfect amount of gravitational pull that we don't float away

into outer space nor be flattened to a pancake

by that force of gravity or do we ever consider that jesus designed our bodies so intricately that

our blood and our organs can fend for themselves and build immunity against harmful bacteria

church do we ever look at earthquakes

forest fires tsunamis and other natural disasters rampaging through our world and remember that jesus brings life even out of these natural disasters

or do we ever witness tyrannical leaders

persecuting nations civil unrest war famine greed tearing through this world all throughout this world

russia ukraine israel palestine syria sudan myanmar even in the united states and do we still remind ourselves that christ is sovereign and in control

no matter what it is

all things

all things are created by christ and all things are ultimately dependent

all things

all things were created for christ

for christ

we see at the end of verse 16

all things were created for him

the goal of creation is christ

creation exists and continues to exist for christ

to display his creative power his lordship over all creation to display his glory

all creation should point to glorifying christ and christ alone

the world

i'm always amazed

when

people

get these tubs of

legos

just lego blocks garbage bags full of them

and without any instruction manual without any directions

they're able to manage to build

a 10 foot tall empire state building

or a motorized lego roller coaster

or an exact replica of hogwarts castle

i like look at these lego marvin these lego sets and marvel for a while

and then finally all i could do is arrive at the conclusion whoever made this

has to be some sort of genius

they're built different

the legos are built different

and

in a way these lego creations these lego sets

they ended up bringing recognition

acclaim and maybe even glory

to the lego creators themselves

but how many of us look at all creation how many of us look around us even in this dimly lit

falling apart auditorium how many of us look at all creation all created things and think about

jesus as the genius and all powerful creator

i'm gonna admit i'm gonna confess i don't

i'm too busy focusing on what i need to do what i have to accomplish that i lose sight of jesus's majesty through his creation

but we should see everything around us

all creation and stand in awe being reminded of god's glory and being reminded of his majesty

you know who's good at that

kathy

kathy is great at doing that

she goes out on a run and when she returns i ask her

how's the run i'm expecting her to tell me

oh i ran at a nine and a half minute pace my average heart rate was 145 bpm

average stride length two and a half feet per step

and i was at optimal vo2 levels

i don't even know what vo2 is and i've been running for like three years four years

instead how she usually responds is this way

oh it was great

the flowers were so beautiful and blooming

the clouds were really pretty today and i saw a mom deer and her baby in the woods and i stopped and

stared at them for a while wow god's creation is so beautiful

or some variant of that

kathy approved of this message

thank you kathy

my point is all creation whether it's the flowers or the deer whether it's the beating of our own heart our heart rate or our perceived oxygen intake as we run

all things should point to glorifying christ because he created them all

church

all things

invisible or visible

whether we can perceive it or not

all things are created by christ and they're created to point to his glory his majesty his beauty

supremacy

church

we too

we too as humans are created by and sustained by christ

we're uniquely different from the rest of christian in that we were created in the image of god the imago dei

and he saw that this was very good

how incredible is that

that every single one of us were made by him

made through him and made for him

that's why everything that we do everything that we say everything that we think

is to be for christ to point to his glory

church we're so selfish

we're so prone to put ourselves to put humanity at the center of the universe

and to put all else including god around us to serve our needs our wants

but scripture shows us that it's not us

we're not that guy

it's not us but it's god

who sits enthroned at the center of all things at the center of the universe

he's the one who's created us

he's the one who sustains us and he's the sovereign ruler of all things from the tiniest unit of a cork

to the largest cluster of galaxies christ our supreme god and creator deserves our service our glory and our worship

he deserves it all

and this leads to my second and final points

that christ supremacy

is over all redemption

if christ were to be glorified just because of his creative works just because of his sustaining works

just because he is the lord creator

that would still be sufficient and reasonable and warranted for christ

but our colossians passage shows us that christ is to be glorified

and that he's supposed to be seen as the supreme for another reason

and that's because he reigns supreme over all redemption over the new creation

in verse 18 we see that christ is the head of the body the church

just as christ has authority and kingship over all creation

christ has authority and kingship over the church the redeemed body of believers

over us trinity cambridge church as we too are part of the universal body of christ

christ

the second half of verse 8 verse 18 explains why christ is called the head of the church it's because

he is the beginning the firstborn from the dead he is the beginning the firstborn of resurrection life

we arrive at this word firstborn again and this time this word firstborn is used in temporal

designation christ being the firstborn from the dead means that he's the first to ever be resurrected

from the dead for good

he's been resurrected from the dead for good

once and for all

in the gospels while lazarus

jirus's daughter and the widow's son were all raised from the dead by jesus at the end of their lives

they returned to the dead

once they reached the end of their lives

they returned to the grave

but jesus jesus died and resurrected and instead of returning to the grave he ascended into eternal life

with the father in heaven

he was the first to do that he was the og

and not only that jesus's resurrection defeated the curse of sin and death

the wages of sin are death without christ anyone who sinned including us

was guaranteed an eternal fate of damnation

but by dying on the cross as the propitiation and the atonement for human humanity's transgressions

jesus took on the burden of our sin and died the death that we deserved only to rise again and stand

victorious over the grave church he was the first to do that

he was the first to resurrect from the grave and be raised into eternal life

so that he could bring us the redeemed out of the grave and into eternal life as well

it's through christ's death and resurrection that those who believe in him may have access to his resurrection power

to this eternal life

they are a new creation

meaning that they have been redeemed by the blood of christ and are being made

righteous and perfect by the sanctification of the holy spirit

and this is why jesus is called the beginning in verse 18

he's the beginning the firstborn from the dead

just as all things were created for christ to glorify him jesus's death and resurrection

signals the beginning of new creation that all things renewed and reconciled might also be for christ to

point to his glory his preeminence

and so jesus's resurrection shows that he reigns supreme over all things

in the realm of the living and of the dead

and finally in verses 19 and 20 we're told that jesus is preeminent that he is glorified and worthy to be

called supreme

so he reigns because the fullness of god was pleased to dwell in jesus christ

the image of the invisible god

of man, to die on the cross and to resurrect from the dead in order for grace, peace, and

forgiveness to be extended toward God's people.

Jesus could have been glorified by coming into this world as God, but not as a man.

He could have come and enacted righteous judgment on all the earth.

He could have wiped out anything that had even an ounce of imperfection or sin, and he

could have cleared everything out into a clean slate, a clean canvas, and started over again.

But God saw this world, this imperfect, broken, sinful world, and he saw it fitting to come

into the world as fully God and fully man through his son, Jesus.

This Jesus experienced the same hunger, the same achings, the same grief, the full range

of human emotions and mortal limitations that we did, and yet he was without sin.

And the sinless son of God, he saw it fitting to die a humiliating death on the cross.

He died a sinner's death to atone for our sins, our guilt, and shame so that we can be in right

standing before God the Father and be reconciled to him.

This is how God, this is how Jesus was glorified.

This is how God chose to reveal the glory, the supremacy of Christ to us.

Through Jesus' death and resurrection, his blood poured out on the cross.

Christ bestowed onto us, God's grace and mercy, and he redeemed us from the bondage of sin

and death, that we can be in eternal fellowship with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit

in the new heavens and the new earth forever and ever.

This does not make sense.

The Puritan revivalist and preacher Jonathan Edwards says this of the mystery and wonder of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

how astonishing is it that a person who is blessed forever and is infinitely and essentially happy

should endure the greatest sufferings that were ever endured on earth that a person who is the

supreme lord and judge of the world should be arraigned and should stand at the judgment seat

of mortal worms and then be condemned that a person who is the living god and the fountain

of life should be put to death that a person who created the world and gives life to all his

creatures should be put to death by his own creatures that a person of infinite majesty and

glory and so the object of the love praisiness and adorations of angels should be mocked and spit upon

by the vilest of men that a person infinitely good and who is love itself should suffer the greatest

cruelty that person who is infinitely beloved of the father should be put to inexpressible anguish

under his own father's wrath that he who is the king of heaven who has heaven for his throne and earth

for his footstool should be buried in the prison of the grave

how wonderful is this and yet this is the way that god's wisdom has fixed upon as the way of sinner's salvation

as neither unsuitable nor dishonorable to christ

it was pleasing to god to send his one and only son to die on the cross for us

it was pleasing for god to glorify christ through that to make him supreme lord over all

from him through him and to him are all things

church when jesus entered jerusalem on what we commemorate as palm sunday the people of jerusalem

cried out hosanna save us lord they welcomed and worshiped jesus expecting him to be a warrior king

a human conqueror who would overthrow the roman empire and restore israel to its former glory

brothers and sisters how much greater than should our worship be

knowing that jesus is far greater and far more than just a human ruler and conqueror of israel

but that he's the savior that he's the redeemer that he's the reconciler of all things

jerusalem cried out hosanna hosanna we need a savior

this morning and forevermore let us shout with joy and acclamation hallelujah hallelujah we have a savior

let's pray

jesus

how wonderful how beautiful how marvelous you are

the name above all names the one who is exalted high

the one who created all things the one who sustains all things

the one who holds all things in his hands

lord our words can't fully express how majestic

how supreme you are

and yet you call us to worship

you allow us to worship

we thank you so much for this opportunity

we thank you so much that you died on the cross for our sins that we can come into your presence

to worship you to make much of you to glorify you

and we ask that you remind us lord remind us of your lordship remind us of your sovereignty

remind us that you are controlling in control of all things

and remind us that you're preserving us through the power of your holy spirit and sanctifying us

that one day we will be able to see you face to face

and we'll be able to worship you in fellowship with the father the son and the holy spirit forevermore

we thank you and we love you we pray all this in jesus name amen

you