Christ First (Part 1)

Christ First (Part 1)

Colossians 1:15–28 NKJV

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.

And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight—if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.

I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.

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In America today, there is a movement called “America First.” There is another movement called “Israel First.” There are other nations and organizations which like to be called first such as “First Families of Virginia.” They become a source of pride to their members and a source of contention to those who are not. Wars and disputes then result. Let us compare this to what we read in Exodus 20:3 ““You shall have no other gods before Me.” It is God who is to be put first. Everything else is idolatry. There are claims in America that we are “One Nation under God” in which we properly state that this nation, like all nations, exist by the will of God. I can remember Prince Edward of England talking about Handel’s coronation anthem which is sung at the coronation of the monarch in Great Britain was to reinforce the idea that it was Zadok the Priest and Nathan the Prophet who anointed Solomon King and that this idea that it is God through the Church and the people who grant the right for the monarch to rule. Even the coins of the realm say that the monarch rules by the grace of God.

All too often, what is said rightly on the lips is denied by the actions people, nations, and other organizations actually do. We see this even in the order of the flags. In the US, protocol demands that the flag of the US have the preeminence over all over flags, including the Christian flag. We say “One Nation under God” but our flag says “One God under Nation.” Christian monarchs have been guilty of many atrocious acts which deny that they are “Christian Monarchs” at all. And before we get to prideful, we must remember that we haven’t been all that consistent either.

It is God alone who is to be put first. God shares His glory with no one. All earthly potentates are subordinate to His rule, whether they recognize this fact or not. God is first, not among equals, for there is no equal. so, now, let us take a look at how this “Firstness” of God is demonstrated in the Bible. We will look this morning at the Epistle to the Colossians, the first chapter, and verses 15-28.

The Lectionary makes an odd break in assigning the passages for the readings from Colossians. We especially need to connect tis back to the previous verse:

Colossians 1:14 NKJV

in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

We are referring to Jesus Christ here as the one who redeems us and forgives our sins. the statements we read about Christ this morning flows form these truths. It explains just who this redeemer is. It is not enough to know that Jesus is our redeemer who forgives our sin. What we heard from this passage presents a very complex doctrine. It is placed in Scripture precisely because God thinks it important that we know these things. We love simplicity as it doesn’t make us think. We are lazy. We stop at verse 14 where it states that Jesus is our redeemer who forgives our sin. However, many errors result from stopping at verse, such as the one mixing Church and State and making our belief and lifestyles to be defined by our Government and culture first and compartmentalizing our faith to a Sunday part of our life. This is idolatry, one borne of ignorance, even willful ignorance which is the worst kind of ignorance. Over 100 years ago, A Dutch theologian and Prime Minister as well, Abraham Kuyper” lamented in a work “Pro-Rege” (“For the King”) that Europe had taken away Christ’s rule and kingship from their lives and reduced Him to just being our “Savior.” We wanted to be our own Gods, the very thing Stan promised Adam and Eve. We can only see the disaster which ensued and ensues every time God is removed from His throne. We have a modern form of this heresy which comes, from all places, the Dallas Theological Seminary which say we only need to confess Christ as Savior. In this heresy, whereas it is desirable to confess Him as Lord as well, but this confession is not necessary for salvation. Since Christ is Lord whether we acknowledge Him or not, the question I ask is what happens when we do not confess Him as Lord (King)? If He is not Lord in your life, who is? What good could possibly result from making anything else god of your life?