Christ Over All

Our scripture reading tonight from which the sermon will be based is Colossians chapter 1 verses 15 to 23.

Colossians 1:15–23

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For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities.

All things were created through him and for him.

And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

And he is the head of the body, the church.

He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.

And through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,

he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him.

If indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard,

which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

This is God's holy word.

About eight years ago, my family and I took a trip to Seattle on the other side of the United States.

And while we were there, we thought, we were visiting some friends, and we thought, while we were there, we were able to stay in their house.

We were going to take a trip up to Canada, and we would go up to Vancouver so we could ski for a day at Whistler.

And as we were driving up, we'd hired a car, and we were going round Benz, and we came round this one particular corner.

And suddenly, I was driving, and in front of me, these mountains appeared, and they felt like they were so big, you could barely see the sky above them.

And as I drove on, it felt like the mountains were tumbling down on top of me.

We've got mountains in Scotland, but I'd never experienced anything like this.

It took my breath away, and I was driving.

It made me feel actually a little bit dizzy, thinking, looking at how magnificent and glorious these mountains are as they towered up above us.

My brain couldn't quite grasp the size and the beauty and magnificence of what was in front of them.

Well, we're in a series in Paul's, the Apostle Paul's letter to the church in Colossae.

And Paul's writing this letter because he's heard that there's false teachers interfering with the belief system, the things that the people know about, in the church know about Jesus.

So, later on in the letter, we get some hints as to what those things are.

But whatever those things are, the precise mixture of false teachings that are being taught, Paul sees one fundamental problem.

It all boils down to the fact that whatever they're teaching is diminishing the sufficiency and the supremacy of Christ by making believers look somewhere else for the full fullness of God.

Not saying that Jesus isn't important, but saying that you need Jesus plus something else in order to receive this fullness.

So, what have the Canadian mountains got to do with this letter that Paul writes to the church in Colossae?

Well, I think that Paul tries to do, or does with words, what those mountains did to me with my eyes in real life.

He paints this magnificent picture of who Jesus really is.

Paul doesn't sit down.

He's written a welcome, a thanksgiving.

He's written a prayer in this letter.

And then he arrives at the meat, the content, and he doesn't say, listen, those guys who are coming in and telling you other things about Jesus, don't listen to them.

He doesn't do that.

What does he do instead?

He just paints this extraordinary, breathtaking picture of who Christ really is.

And the result is sublime.

He presents this most stupendous word picture.

And Christ is the theme.

He doesn't begin with, don't listen to them.

He begins with, feast your eyes, your ears, your hearts on who Jesus really is, what he came to do, and what he's achieved.

Because anything that you see that is not Jesus is insufficient.

Rather than Jesus being in any way insufficient for the church.

Once you see the glory of Christ, you'll never be fooled into thinking that you need anything else ever again.

John Owen was a Puritan, a 17th century theologian, and a church leader.

And he said one of the greatest privileges that a believer has, both in this life and in eternity, is to behold the glory of Christ.

So for Owen, seeing Christ's glory is one of the greatest privileges that a Christian can have.

And this evening we're going to think about why that is from this section of Paul's letter that Corey read for us.

There's two big reasons, I think, two points.

And the first is because Christ is supreme over all of creation.

So verses 15 and 20, as Corey said, this is a hymn, a poem.

It certainly reads that way when you read it.

We've gone from speaking about you to the second person, speaking about Jesus in the third person.

And it feels like a distinct change in language.

That's one hint that there's a poem here.

But the language as well builds line by line on top of each other to build this complete picture.

It begins with two titles stacked on top of one another.

Christ is the image of the invisible God, and he's the firstborn of all creation.

So when we hear the word, we're Bible readers and we hear the word image,

we probably immediately think back to Genesis.

Jesus, because when God made Adam, he made mankind, he made him in his image.

And every creature is made in the image of God.

Every man is made in the image of God.

And so that's why every life is so important.

Every life is so precious, why we have to do all we can to protect it.

Paul's got something bigger in mind when he applies this image to Christ.

He is man.

Christ came into the world as a man, but he's not just man.

Paul wants to reflect that for us.

He's not merely saying that Jesus is like us.

He's saying Jesus and the Father are completely alike.

He's the image of the invisible God.

Christ is the firstborn of all creation.

So now on first reading, that sounds like Christ has been created, like he's had a beginning.

The firstborn of all creation.

And in the fourth century, there's a guy called Arius who thought that was the case.

And he used this verse to argue that Jesus might be the most magnificent, the best of all God's creations.

But he was a creation nonetheless.

We know that God has no beginning.

We know that Christ is God.

And so that cannot be the case.

But it's worth thinking about this just for a little second.

Because it's got implications for us.

Because this is not just theological error.

This is heresy.

To say that Jesus is a created being means to say that Jesus is not divine.

That Jesus is not God.

So what's the difference between biblical error and heresy?

Well, biblical error is things that we can differ on and still be Christians.

So baptism is a really good example.

So some people might think that we should baptize children.

And other people think that we should not baptize children.

We should wait until they make up their own profession of faith.

Those are biblical differences.

The truth is, one of us has to be wrong.

We can't both be right.

But we can still have fellowship with those people and accept them as Christians,

even when they hold a different point of view to us.

But heresy is something different.

Heresy is a fundamental doctrinal error that contradicts the essential truths of the Christian faith.

Truths that are necessary to preserve the biblical gospel.

I borrowed that definition.

So Arius wasn't simply making a mistake about Jesus.

He was denying the full deity of the Son.

And then he's undermining, therefore, the entire gospel itself.

But heresy leads people away from Christ.

The only way to be reconciled with God.

And that kind of teaching has eternal consequences.

So it's not a small error.

This is a huge deal.

And this view didn't end in the fourth century, sadly.

There are still people who believe that Christ is a created being.

But as we're going to look in Paul's letter, he points out very clearly, I think, makes a really clear argument why that is not the case.

So what's Paul doing here when he calls Jesus the firstborn?

Especially in a letter that he's writing to convince the church not to listen to outside influences saying that they need anything else other than Christ.

Well, verse 16 means that we cannot accept, we can't misunderstand firstborn.

Because it clearly states that Jesus created everything.

So logically, the creator cannot be created.

He has to come before the things that he created.

But leaving verse 16 aside just for a moment,

The Bible gives us lots of information about what firstborn means in this context.

So in the Old Testament, in Deuteronomy,

Moses lays down rules for how a man who has two wives is to think about inheritance.

So he's got one wife who he loves and one wife who he doesn't love.

And the unloved wife's son is older and the loved son's wife is younger.

And so the danger or the opportunity is for the man who loves this wife to give everything to the younger son.

Because that's the son of the woman who he loves the most.

But Moses says, no, that's not what's going to happen.

He says that the firstborn must receive his double portion.

Because he's the first fruits of his strength.

The right of the firstborn is his.

But what's significant here is not the order of who's born first,

but the rights that are being protected.

This isn't about biological facts, which are not being disputed.

This is about legal status, the rank, the inheritance, and the authority that the firstborn has.

So firstborn is not about primacy.

Primacy.

It is about primacy, not about chronology.

It's not about who comes first.

It's about who is first over things.

Then another example is in Exodus.

So God says to the entire nation of Israel,

so Israel is a young nation.

There's lots of nations around about them that are much older.

And God says, Israel is my firstborn son.

But Israel was not the firstborn nation,

not the first nation that was created.

But it was given first rank, first inheritance, first importance in God's purposes.

And then the final example is King David.

So David's the youngest of Jesse's sons.

And when Samuel's looking for which one God wants to make king,

David's left in the field with the sheep because he's the youngest,

the least significant in the eyes of men.

He's got lots of older brothers,

lots of brothers who are born first ahead of him.

But in Psalm 89, God says of David,

I'll make him the firstborn,

the highest of the kings of the earth.

So David was the lastborn,

but in this verse,

in his family, he was the lastborn in this verse,

in this Psalm.

It talks about David as first ranked in God's kingdom.

So birth order is not what we're talking about

when we say firstborn.

When Paul calls Christ the firstborn of all creation,

he's not saying that Christ was created first,

as though he was an item on a list that God went through.

It means that Christ has the rights,

the authority,

and the supremacy of the firstborn over all of creation.

Everything that was made.

He's not part of creation.

Creation belongs to him.

In John Calvin's Institutes,

he draws a pretty plain conclusion.

He says,

Christ's called firstborn not because he was made,

but because the entire structure of the world

finds its origin in him and no other.

He's not the oldest creature.

He's the one for whom and through whom and by whom

creaturehood itself exists.

And then that's exactly what we see in verses 16 and 17

in Paul's letter.

In the most totalizing language that Paul uses about anybody

in any of his writings,

he says that all things,

so things in heaven, on earth,

visible and invisible,

thrones, dominions, rulers, authority,

the very spiritual powers,

which we find out later in the letter,

one of the things that the false teachers are coming

to try and lead people astray from the church,

with,

not one of them is a rival.

They're all created through Christ and for Christ.

Each one, his handiwork made for his glory.

He's before all things.

And in him, all things hold together.

So every atom,

every law of physics,

every heartbeat in the room right now,

it is all being held together moment by moment

by the same Christ who was laid as a baby in a manger.

We take away Christ's sustaining power over all things.

For an instant,

there'd be nothing left.

So there's an important principle

for us to take from this,

I think.

I saw this this week

from the writer,

Pastor David Tripp,

Paul Tripp.

He,

David's his middle name.

He said,

and I wonder if you can resonate with this,

he said,

I've got the scary ability to look at my life

and not see God.

What do I see instead?

Writing deadlines I need to meet,

details of my flight I need to remember,

appointments I need to show up for,

family vacations I need to plan,

groceries I need to purchase,

meals I need to prepare,

bills I need to pay,

rooms I need to clean,

broken furniture I need to fix,

birthday gifts I need to purchase for my kids.

Tripp doesn't dismiss this,

not seeing God as absent-mindedness

or a result of his busyness.

He says it's scary.

He's not being tempted by heresy,

but when you think,

when you forget for a moment

that you're a created being,

you take your eyes off Christ

and all he has done

and all that he has achieved,

you start behaving as you yourself

are sovereign.

You think that everything depends on you.

You think that you have to hold

everything together yourself.

You think you have to fix everything.

You think you have to change yourself.

You think you have to control

your circumstances.

But Colossians 1.17,

what tells us,

he's before all things

and in him all things are held together.

You don't hold your life together.

Christ does.

Okay, so that leads us on

to our second point.

Christ is supreme over the new creation.

So we saw that Christ is supreme

over creation.

He's also supreme over the new creation.

Had Paul stopped at verse 17,

we would have been left

with a staggering picture

of who Christ is

as the creator of the world.

The eternal creator

who rules over everything

that's been made.

this completely refutes any claim

anyone could possibly make

that Jesus is not God.

But Paul's not finished.

Because while this letter

is rich in theology

and Christology,

the study of Jesus,

it's also a letter

to a struggling,

tempting church.

And they need to be reminded

that Christ who made the cosmos

is remaking the cosmos.

In verses 18 to 20,

Paul introduces

a second firstborn.

He's already called him

the firstborn of all creation.

And now he calls him,

he says he's the beginning,

the firstborn from the dead,

that in everything

he might be preeminent.

And here Paul's not talking

about primacy of rank

in an abstract sense.

He's talking about

the very event

that took place

right at the center of history

when Jesus went to the cross,

when he died

and was resurrected

for believers.

Again, firstborn

can't just be about timing

because Jesus wasn't

the first person

who was raised from the dead.

We read about this

all through the Bible.

There was a son

of the widow of Zarephath

who was raised by Elijah.

There's a son

of the Shumanite woman

who was raised by Elisha.

There was an unnamed man

who was put into,

whose dead body

touched Elisha's bones

after Elisha had died

and he came back to life.

There was the widow

of Nain's son,

Jairus' daughter.

Famously, there was Lazarus

who Jesus raised himself.

So we know that Jesus

is not the first human

to come back from the dead,

from the grave.

So what is Paul saying?

Well, Paul's telling us

that Christ is the ascended

son of God.

And because he's

the ascended son of God,

he's first born

of a new creation

that was launched

at his resurrection.

First born isn't

about temporal order.

It's about Christ's

sovereign rule

over all things.

Just like Christ

was the creator

who sovereignly

rules over creation,

Christ sovereignly

rules over the new creation too.

The one who made everything

is making everything new.

Paul wrote other letters

to other churches.

In his letter

that he wrote

to the church in Corinth,

there is a passage

that is kind of

very similar

to the language

that we have here.

But in Corinthians,

he doesn't call Christ

the firstborn,

he calls him first fruits,

which is a slightly

different term.

But it's obviously

a harvest metaphor,

a farming metaphor,

but it's not

a random metaphor.

There's something

really important,

I think,

that it reveals to us.

There's a theologian

called Richard Gaffin

who helped me to see this.

I think he puts his finger

on something

that's got real implications

for how we understand

what's going on here.

So we read about

Christ's resurrection

and we read about

the fact that we will be

resurrected at the end of time.

We see that in scripture.

And we're tempted

to think about those things

as two separate events.

So we think

there's Christ's resurrection

and then there's

this other event,

this other thing

that's our resurrection

and those things

are connected somehow

by a promise.

But first fruits,

they're not just a sign

of a harvest,

they're not just an indicator

of a harvest,

they're the beginning of it.

They're the same fruit,

the same crop,

the same field.

Do you see what Paul's

saying here?

The resurrection of Christ

and the resurrection

of believers

are not two separate events.

They're two episodes

of the same harvest.

So why is this

so important for us?

Why do we need to think

about it in those terms?

Well, if Christ's resurrection

and our resurrection

are not just similar events,

but our future resurrection

is not just a hope.

They're not separate events,

they're one event.

That's already begun.

The same resurrection

that raised Jesus

from the dead

on the third day,

right now,

already is underway

and everyone who's united

to him by faith.

So in Christ's resurrection,

God's began to fulfill

the promise

that we will be resurrected too.

So when is the resurrection

going to happen?

Well, it's already begun.

And I think that gives us

great hope

hope as we think about work

on Monday morning

or we think about the things

that we're going through

right now

that are difficult

and hard

and feel like they're crushing

in on us.

If you're a believer today,

God promises to raise you

from the dead.

And while you wait,

you don't have to wonder

if it will happen

because Jesus' resurrection

from the dead,

the promise God made

to raise you

from the dead

has already began

to be fulfilled.

Okay, this is a two-part,

a two-point sermon,

but actually,

there's probably

a third point in here,

but we don't have enough time

to draw them all out.

But let's finally look

at verses 21 and 23 together.

They come after this hymn,

this poem that Paul

has shared with us

because Paul turns

from thinking about

the cosmic reality

to think about

the personal reality.

So the cosmic Christ

has accomplished

cosmic reconciliation

through the cross.

The Christ who holds

the universe together

is the Christ who died

to bring you back

into communion with God.

And you who were once

alienated and hostile in mind,

doing evil deeds,

you're now restored to God

in him

and presented holy,

blameless,

and above reproach.

And then we need

to look at verse 23

because if we look

at this verse

just in isolation,

take it away

from the rest of Scripture,

it seems at first glance

to fly in the face

of the rest of Paul's letter.

Because remember,

Paul's written this letter

to remind the church

that you don't need

anything else

apart from Christ.

That is all they need.

But then verse 23

introduces an if.

As if there's a condition

that people have to meet.

Are the false teachers right?

Is there something

that you need to add

to Christ's work,

Christ's finished work,

in order to be reconciled

with God?

Well, the answer

is no.

Paul isn't saying

that Christ's done

99% of the work

and you just need

to supply that final 1%.

He's saying that those

whom Christ reconciles,

he also keeps.

And one of the ways

that he keeps them

is by calling them

to continue in the faith,

grounded and steadfast

in the truth of Christ,

which they've heard.

This is perseverance.

Perseverance isn't the price

that you pay

in order to be saved.

It's the fruit

of the grace

that saves you.

Not some believers

have been united,

reconciled with God,

but they might mess up

or they might slip away.

But rather,

not everyone

who claims to be a Christian,

who says that they follow Christ,

is really a Christian.

But if you believe

that Christ really is the one

who came to save sinners,

then your salvation,

your resurrection,

your reconciliation with God

are secure.

The Apostle Peter

helps us to understand this.

He wrote a letter.

He wrote two letters.

He writes that there's

a wonderful inheritance

that's been reserved

for believers

and they're being kept

by the power of God

for that inheritance.

So we can interpret

verse 23 maybe

as the same points

as verses 15 to 20,

but from the opposite

point of view.

So 15 to 20,

paint this glorious picture

of Christ

as preeminent

over creation,

preeminent over

the new creation.

And then verse 23

is a call to remain

grounded and settled

in this glorious Christ.

Don't be moved away

from the hope of the gospel.

And the word hope

is important for us

to get our heads around also

because when we say hope today,

we think that there's

something,

we think about it

as something that we're

trying to grab onto

that we're hoping

will come true.

That's not what's

happening here.

This is an expectant

confidence

that the good news

that Christ,

the maker,

God,

the ruler of the cosmos,

who entered into time

and space,

who died and rose again,

the ruler of the new creation,

he has come to reconcile

everything on earth

and in heaven

to God.

Paul's message is this.

If Christ's this much

over creation,

over powers,

over death itself,

over the whole

of your alienated,

hostile,

once evil doing hearts,

then he's more than sufficient

for whatever something more

the world could ever offer.

So much more sufficient

than your own doubts

or the things

that false teachers

might try to teach you

or your own weakness

to hold on to the things

that you think you need to.

There is no fullness

beyond him.

There's no rival power

that's stronger

than Christ.

There's no valley,

no dark valley

of your own life

in the present

or in the past

that can keep you

from being reconciled

through the blood

that was shed

on the cross

for believers.

So if you're

in Christ

this evening,

already,

not someday

in the future,

but already,

you're caught up

in this resurrection life,

being presented

holy,

blameless,

and above reproach

before God

who has made you

and who's still

remaking you.

And if you're

not yet in Christ,

if alien

and hostile

is maybe a better way

to describe the way

that you are honestly

feeling right now,

the same blood

that holds the promise

for others

has been held out

to you

right now

and it contains

everything

that you would ever need

with nothing held back.

Let's pray.

Lord God,

we thank you

for Jesus Christ,

the creator of heaven

and earth,

of everything

that is seen

and unseen.

We thank you

for this picture

that we have

of Christ in Colossians,

this picture

that shows us

our Lord,

the only begotten

Son of the Father,

God from God,

light from light,

true God

from true God,

begotten,

not made,

of one being

with the Father

through whom

all things were made

and the one

who rules

over all creation,

the one who ascended

to the right hand

of the Father,

upholding,

ruling,

reigning.

Lord,

help us all

see clearly

this glorious picture

of Christ,

our Savior,

our ruler

and let us live lives

with joy

as we await

our resurrection

when we will see him

face to face.

We pray this

in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.