Introduction
Find God’s Word, and turn to Colossians chapter 1. And, in a moment, we’re going to begin reading in verse 15. And, because it is an extended passage, we’re going to break in, into the middle of a sentence—Colossians chapter 1.
John Blanchard has estimated that, of all of the people who have ever lived since Adam and Eve till today, there would be, in round figures, about 30 billion people that have lived on the face of planet Earth. And, of those 30 billion, many of them—most of them, almost all of them—have lived, have died, and have been forgotten. There have been just a few people—just a handful of people—who have risen to great prominence, whose names are known through history, whose names, today, are household names. But, there is one person, of all history, who’s absolutely, totally, uniquely in a class by Himself. That one individual has been the subject and the combination of more attention, more devotion, more criticism, more adoration, and more opposition than any other person in all of the 30 billion who’ve ever lived. Every recorded word that He spoke has been studied, analyzed, discussed, scrutinized, and criticized by generations of philosophers, and scholars, and theologians, and historians. There’s not a single moment since His life here, on this Earth, till this very present time, in which there are not millions of people who are talking about, or talking to, Him. It’s an amazing thing. This individual, that person, that singular person, that unique person, the person that Betty Stalnecker just sang about—His name—say it with me: Jesus—Jesus, that is His name—a man born in Bethlehem about 2,000 years ago. And, when He was born, His cradle rocked the world.
I want us to look at this scripture, here, breaking in at verse 15. It speaks of Jesus, “who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: for by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: and he is before all things, and by 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 might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in him”—that is, in Jesus—“should all fulness dwell; and, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled” (Colossians 1:15–21). Hallelujah! What a wonderful passage of Scripture!
This is an amazing person. Jesus Christ, when He was born, divided all of history into two categories: B.C. and A.D.—A.D. simply meaning Anno Domini, “the year of our Lord”. He splits the centuries. It is amazing to think of the influence of the Lord Jesus, when you consider these factors: He never wrote a book; but, more books have been written about Him than any man in history. He never painted a picture, so far as we know; He never wrote a poem, or composed a song; yet think of the art, think of the music, think of the literature, think of the sculptures, think of the pictures, the films, and the videos that have been done concerning this person. He never raised an army; and yet, millions have laid down their lives in His cause. His travels—why, He only went a few miles from His birthplace; but, today, in Memphis, Tennessee, and around the world, His influence is felt.
When He spoke, He never spoke, at one time, to more than a few thousand people; but, today, over 30% of the world’s population names His name, and worships Him—the largest religious grouping that has ever been known worldwide. Why, His ministry lasted only three years, His public ministry and His influence, at that time, was compacted; but, today, His name is being broadcasted on radio, television, by publishing houses. And, the very word that I’m speaking now will go up to a satellite and come back down, and these very words will be broadcasted in the Middle East, in Lebanon; these very words will be broadcasted in Jerusalem; these very words will be broadcasted in Egypt, telling about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And, huge satellites have been put into nether space to send the message of Jesus Christ around this world.
It is an amazing thing. He never had a formal education. He was a carpenter’s son; and yet, more universities, and seminaries, and schools, and centers of learning have centered around Him than any other person. He never really owned any property. When He wanted to sail, He had to borrow a boat. When He wanted to feed, He had to borrow someone’s lunch. When He wanted to ride, He had to borrow a donkey. When He wanted to pay His taxes, He had to borrow a coin, or find a coin, in a fish’s mouth. And yet, think of the buildings and the edifices that have been erected to preach and teach the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
I want to say, again, in His lifetime, His influence, at that moment, was very, very small. But, if you were to take a recent edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, and open up to “Jesus,” you would find more than 30,000 words on this one man, the Lord Jesus Christ. The great historian Kenneth Scott Latourette said—and I want you to listen to this quote—listen to this: “Jesus has had more effect on the history of mankind than any other of its race who ever existed.” “Jesus…”—listen to it again—“Jesus has had more effect on the history of mankind than any other of its race who ever existed.”
Now, I want to say to every educator: How can any child be educated, who doesn’t know about Jesus, who has affected, who has affected the human race? Like it or not, friend, Jesus Christ is one man in 30 billion; He is absolutely, totally unique.
As you come into this building, if you’ll come in through the lobby—the foyer, out there—on the front, is a bronze Bible. That bronze Bible is open, and on that bronze Bible is written the tribute to Jesus Christ by the former pastor of this church—one of our former pastors, Dr. Robert G. Lee. This is what he said about Jesus Christ—it’s on that Bible; you ought to take your children out there, and read it to them, and talk to them about it: “Jesus Christ: Son of man without sin, Son of God with power, literature’s loftiest ideal, philosophy’s highest personality, criticism’s most supreme problem, theology’s fundamental doctrine, Christianity’s cardinal necessity, Heaven’s bread for Earth’s hunger, Heaven’s water for Earth’s thirst, Heaven’s glory for Earth’s shame, Heaven’s grace for Earth’s guilt, Heaven’s hope for Earth’s despair, Heaven’s love for Earth’s hate, Heaven’s peace for Earth’s strife, Heaven’s forgiveness for Earth’s sins, Heaven’s life for Earth’s death.” That’s who Jesus Christ is.
May I have your attention? To explain Jesus Christ is impossible; to ignore Him is disastrous; and, to reject Him is fatal. I am talking to you about Jesus Christ. May I say, on the other hand, to know Him is to love Him; to love Him is to believe on Him; and, to believe on Him is to be saved; and, to be saved is to be radically and dramatically transformed for time and eternity.
I feel so inadequate today, because human speech is too limited to describe the Lord Jesus Christ. The human mind is too finite to comprehend Him, and the human heart is too small to contain this One that we call Jesus Christ. And, in the scripture that I’ve read to you, verse 19 sums it up: “For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell” (Colossians 1:19). That’s a great verse. That word fullness—pleroma— what does it mean? It means “the sum total of all that is, is in Jesus.” And, the word dwell does not mean simply “to abide,” but it means “settle down permanently.” All that is, and ever will be, is in that one wonderful name: the Lord Jesus Christ.
I. Jesus Christ has Preeminence in the Revelation of the Father
And so, the Bible says that it is God’s plan that in all things He should have the preeminence. Look, in the last part of verse 18: “That in all things he might have the preeminence” (Colossians 1:18). Let me talk to you, for a few moments, about His preeminence. Jesus Christ is preeminent in the revelation of the Father. You will never know God as you would or should, without knowing Jesus Christ.
Look, in verse 15. The Bible says, here, that He is “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15)—“the image”—the eikon—“of the invisible God.” God is a Spirit, and God is un-seeable. God is transcendent, and God is unknowable. God is holy, and God is unapproachable. How are we going to know God? Reason cannot bring us to God. The finite can never understand the infinite. Religion can never bring us to God—that’s the works of men’s hands. Ritual cannot bring us to God. Without Jesus Christ, you could not fully and freely know God.
Let me give you a verse: Matthew chapter 11 and verse 27—put it in the margin of your Bible—Jesus said, “All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him” (Matthew 11:27). No one knows the Father, unless Jesus reveals the Father. Jesus has a monopoly on revelation—did you hear that? He has cornered the market. The only way that you can know God as you ought is for Jesus Christ to introduce Him to you. Jesus Christ said, in John chapter 14, in verse 6: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). You say, “Pastor Rogers, that sounds narrow-minded.” It is extremely narrow. “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). He’s not a good way to the Father; He is the only way to the Father.
“Well,” you say, “I don’t like people who are narrow-minded.” I think you’d want your pharmacist to be narrow-minded. He won’t just say, “Well, there, 10 bottles of medicine—choose one. Let’s just see what happens.” I certainly want my airplane pilot to be narrow-minded. We like for our banks to be narrow-minded. But, somehow, when it comes to the most important thing in the world, our relationship to God, we say, “Well, it really doesn’t make any difference.”
It makes the one great difference. He, Jesus Christ, is preeminent in the revelation of God the Father. He is called, in this verse, the firstborn. Look at it: “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature” (Colossians 1:15). What does that talk about? It does not speak of His creation, because He was never created. This passage of Scripture tells us that He always was. He made all things that are made. If He made all things, then He, Himself, was never made, because He could not have created Himself. He made all things that were ever made (Colossians 1:16). What does the word firstborn mean here? It does not speak of a time when He came into existence, as some who will go from door to door peddling their false doctrine will try to tell you. The word firstborn, here, means “rank.” It speaks of first importance.
Let me give you a key verse, and it is Psalm 89 and verse 27; it speaks of Solomon. And, David says of Solomon, “Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth” (Psalm 89:27). Now, Solomon was not David’s first-born son; David had many sons before he had Solomon. But, what David is talking about, here, is he is the one of the highest rank; and, that’s what God is talking about here. Jesus Christ out¬ranks, out-reaches, out-loves all others. He has a name that is above every name. He is the firstborn.
Do you have the first thought? Jesus is preeminent in the revelation of the Father. You want to know God? Then know Jesus—know Jesus. And, if you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ, you can never understand God as you ought, because He came to manifest—to reveal—the Father. Thank God for Bethlehem, which was God with us. The Word became flesh, that we might know and feel the heart of God.
II. Jesus Christ has Preeminence in the Regulation of the Universe
Now, here is the second way that Jesus Christ has preeminence; here’s a second way that this cradle rocked the world: first of all, in the revelation of the Father; secondly, in the regulation of the universe.
A. Jesus is the Power of Creation
I love this passage. I come to it, and I just get happy, when I read it. Look, in verse
16: “For by him were all things created” (Colossians 1:16). He is the power of creation. Who? Jesus Christ, this one man in 30 billion—He is the power of creation. The little baby, in Matthew 1, is the great God of Genesis 1. The baby, in Matthew 1, was the One that created His mother. And, when He was born, He was as old as His father and older than His mother.
Now, there are some people who just believe that it all happened; they want to explain it all apart from Jesus, and they believe in evolution. Well, if you believe in evolution, you’ve got four major problems. You’ve got problems with the Scripture, because the Scripture doesn’t teach it; and, if I can’t trust the Scripture to tell me from whence I came, how can I trust the Scripture to tell me where I’m going? And, not only are you going to have trouble with the Scriptures, you’re going to have trouble with salvation; because, if evolution was true, there was no Garden of Eden. If there was no Garden of Eden, there was no Fall. If there was no Fall, there’s no sinful nature. And, if Genesis 3 is a myth, then John 3 is a farce, that says we have to be born again. I want to say you’re going to also have trouble with society, if you believe in evolution. If you believe that man came from a beast, before long, men are going to be acting like beasts. It was this philosophy of evolution that built Hitler’s gas ovens. You’re going to have trouble, also, with science, if you believe in evolution. Scientifically, evolution is a hoax.
Sir Fred Hoyle, at the British Academy of Science—a leading mathematician, a leading astronomer—shook up a lot of people in the scientific community, when he said this—listen: “We must now admit to ourselves that the probability of life arising by chance, by evolution, is the same probability as throwing six on a die 5 million consecutive times.” Now, get a die, and begin to throw it; and, if you can throw six, it’ll land on six 5 million times in a row—that’s the probability that life could arise by spontaneous generation. He went on to say—this is Sir Fred Hoyle: “Let us be scientifically honest with ourselves. The probability of having life arise to greater and greater complexity in organization by chance is the same probability of having a tornado tear through a junkyard and form a 747 on the other end.” What is this great scientist saying? That random and impersonal chance does not create complexity in design— that’s what he’s saying.
Dr. George Wald, professor of biology at Harvard University—he’s professor emeritus there, a winner of the Nobel Prize in Biology—in 1971, wrote this, in Scientific American; he’s talking about the origin of life. He said, “When it comes to the origin of life, we only have two possibilities how life arose: One, there’s spontaneous generation, and arising evolution.” That’s one possibility: it just—poof—it just happened. He said, “The other possibility is the supernatural creative act of God.” He said, “There’s no third alternative. Either it was spontaneous generation, or it was a supernatural creative act of God.” Now, this is a Nobel Prize winner at Harvard. Now, here’s what he said about these two possibilities: He said, “The first possibility”—that is, spontaneous generation—“was proven to be a scientific impossibility by Louis Pasteur and others 120 years ago. We know that there is no such thing as spontaneous generation of life.” He said, “That only leaves one other conclusion”—listen to this—“the supernatural creative act of God.” But now, wait a minute; he then said, “I cannot accept the supernatural creative act of God, because I do not choose to believe in God.”
Do you see this? He says it’s impossible that it could have happened, apart from God, but he said, “I cannot accept the belief in God.” He went on to say, “I choose to believe to believe in that which I know is scientifically impossible: spontaneous generation, and arising evolution”—“I choose to believe what I know to be impossible.” Why? Because he will not accept the Word of God. “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools” (Romans 1:22). How did it all happen? The Son of God, the Lord Jesus, spoke, and He said, “It is so.”
B. Jesus is the Preserver of Creation
Jesus—Jesus—is the Creator of all things. He is the power of creation, and Jesus is the preserver of creation. Look, if you will, in verse 17: “He is before all things, and by him all things consist” (Colossians 1:17). Now, that word consist means that everything holds together. Jesus is the glue of the galaxies. Scientists are still trying to explain what gravity is. They know how it works, but they don’t know, really, what it is. You ask a scientist, “What is gravity?” And, he says, “Well, that’s the force that holds us to the earth.” And, you say, “Well, what’s the force that holds us to the earth?” And, he says, “Well, you fool, well, that’s gravity.”
But, Jesus is the glue of the galaxies. It’s Jesus that fuels the sun, so that it might burn. It’s Jesus who veils the moon with beauty. It’s Jesus who guides the planets through their journeys. The scientists talk about natural law—there’s no natural law. All there is are Gods laws that nature obeys. Jesus keeps it all; He regulates the universe. “By [Jesus] all things consist” (Colossians 1:17).
Let me give you a verse—a beautiful verse—Isaiah chapter 40 and verse 26: “Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things” (Isaiah 40:26). Joyce and I, on a recent vacation, went out, at night, to lie down on a dock and look up at the stars for hours, just to look, as it were, in the face of God. This is what he’s saying: “Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth” (Isaiah 40:26). What does that verse tell us? It means that God created the host of the heavens, the stars that hang like a candelabra in the black velvet of midnight. God created those to display His majesty and His glory, and we’re going to find out that that God, who made all of that, is Jesus, and He considers you more important than all of these things.
If you were to highjack a light beam and travel at the speed of light… And, how fast is that? 186,282 miles per second. How fast is that? Well, that’s around the world 70 times in the time it takes you to blink your eyes. Blink your eyes, and light has traveled around the world at its equator seven times—that’s the speed of light—186,282 miles— not an hour, a second. That’s how fast light travels. Now, if you were to highjack a light beam, and say you’re going to travel to the sun—how far is the sun away? Ninety-three million miles—how long would it take to get to the sun? Eight-and-a-half minutes. Eight¬and-a-half minutes, you’d be 93 million miles away. But, if you wanted to go out past Mars, and Jupiter, and Pluto, and the rest of the planets—if you wanted to go out past the sun and the moon to the nearest star—do you know how close the nearest star is, or how far away? It’s 4 1/2 light years away. Now, what is a light year? Well, that’s how far light travels in a year, not in a second. It travels a good distance: 186,282 miles in a second. Then, how far has it traveled in a year? Well, you’d have to travel at that speed for 4 1/2 years to get to Alpha Centauri, which is the closest star in our Milky Way—that is 27 trillion miles. Four-and-a-half years it’d take you to travel 27 trillion miles.
They tell us, now, that there are more than 100 billion stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way. If you were to travel from rim to rim in the Milky Way, traveling at the speed of light, it would take you 100,000 years to go from rim to rim, in the Milky Way, at the speed of light. Yet, on Mount Palomar, they have this great 200-inch telescope, and they have taken that 200-inch telescope, and looked through just the cup in the Big Dipper—you know what the Big Dipper is—they just looked through the cup of the Big Dipper; and, they say, in the cup of the Big Dipper, they estimate there are one million galaxies like our galaxy, the Milky Way. They’ve looked on the furthest thing they can see, which is what they call a quasar. It’s 15 billion light years away—the speed of light traveling 186,282 miles a second for 15 billion years. That’s getting out there—that’s getting out there. That’s a quasar; and, they say that a quasar—whatever it is there, in space—generates enough power, enough electrical energy, in one second to fuel all the needs of the world for one million years—just in one second. That’s how much power is coming from that quasar that is out there, in the nether reaches of space, 90 billion trillion miles away. Who made it all? Jesus. Jesus. He made it all, and “by him all things consist” (Colossians 1:17).
This is what turned a young atheist, Albert Einstein, into a believer in God. In 1932, Albert Einstein was an atheist; but, in 1950, he said, “I cannot be an atheist. There is a God; there has to be a God.” He looked out at the great universe, and he said, “It’s formulated by mathematical laws and principles, and behind mathematical laws and principles there must be an intelligence; and, to have intelligence, you must have a person.” That God he’d known—that person—is Jesus. Jesus—He is the One; “by him all things consist” (Colossians 1:17).
That’s the reason I love Psalm 139, verses 17 and 18: “How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand” (Psalm 139:17–18). Take a bucket of sand, and begin to count the grains. He says that God’s thoughts of you are more in number than all the grains of sand on all the Earth—that’s how much this God, who made it all…that’s how much He cares for you.
C. Jesus is the Purpose of Creation
Listen. He is a personal God. He made it all. The God who made the universe is Jesus. He is the power of creation. He is the preserver of creation. He’s also the purpose of creation. Look, again, in verse 16: “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him” (Colossians 1:16). Did you think it was all made for you? No, it’s made by Jesus, and it’s made for Him. The word for is the Greek word eis, and it has the ideas of preposition. It’s something that is moving toward something; it’s all coming to Jesus. People ask, “What is this world coming to?” It was made by Him, and it was made for Him. It is coming to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the reason for it all. It’s all made for Him. Therefore, life without Him is meaningless. Your life can never have meaning apart from the Lord Jesus Christ.
III. Jesus is Preeminent in the Reconciliation of the World
Now, that brings me to the third thing. Jesus is preeminent in the revelation of the Father. Jesus is preeminent in the regulation of the universe. And, Jesus is preeminent in the reconciliation of the world.
Look, if you will, in verse 18: “And he is the head of the body, the church…”—and, by the way, the head of the Church is not in Nashville or Rome—“he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in him should all”—the pleroma—“the fulness dwell; and, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled” (Colossians 1:18–21).
The Bible says that Jesus is preeminent in reconciliation; His death and His deity are inseparably linked. Not only is He the One that reveals the Father, not only is He the One who regulates the universe, but He is the One who has redeemed His Church. And, His death makes His deity knowable, and His deity makes His death meaningful. And, you cannot separate His death from His deity. He was born to die for our sins.
Now, I talked about the fact that He’s the power of creation. He’s the power of creation. How did He create everything? By a word. He spoke, and it was so. He spoke. With a word, He brought everything into existence. But, how did He create the Church? How did He purchase the Church? With His own blood. It took the last drop of His blood to save you. That’s the reason you’re more valuable than all of the stars of all of the universe. And, wherever the universe reaches, dear friend, no matter how far it may go, it does not compare to the love He had for you, when He suffered in agony and blood, and laid down His life on that cross.
One of my favorite stories is about a boy who came to his pastor, and he said, “Pastor, in all those billions, and billions, and billions of stars, and planets, and bodies out in space, do you think there’s extraterrestrial life? Do you think there’s life on those planets out there?” And, the pastor said, “No, I really don’t think there is.” And then, he said, “You mean, in all—I mean, billions and billions—don’t you think that the law of probability indicates that there’s life out there?” He said, “No, I really don’t believe there is.” And, the boy said, “Then, why did He go to all that trouble to make all that?” The pastor said, “What trouble? What trouble? He spoke, and it was so.” May I say it reverently: The only time that God ever knew trouble was dark Calvary.
Jesus suffered, and bled, and died to reconcile. You see, we are sinners. Over here, on this side, here’s man in his pitiful plight, separated, alienated, from God. The passage said—that I read—said enemies (Colossians 1:21). Over here is the great God of the universes, Jehovah God, the thrice-holy God—absolutely, totally holy—who has a hatred burning against sin. But, He loves the sinner, and His heart is moved by the pitiful plight of sinful man. Over here, man knows that there’s a God; he has a God-shaped vacuum in his life. He wants to know God. He reaches out, somehow, some way, and he tries to build bridges that cross this chasm. And, he builds these bridges that we call religion, and ethics, and philosophy, and morality, and all of these bridges. The plans come out of his own mind. The motivation comes out of his own heart. And, he tries to cross this bridge, and cross that chasm; but all of these bridges crumble and fall; and, those who try to pass over them fall into the chasm that has been eroded by centuries of sin, and they perish. Over here, God looks at sinful man. God’s great heart of compassion is moved. And, God is a God of love, and God says, “I’ll bridge that chasm.” And, over here, God puts down a foundation—His absolute deity. And then, Christmas happens; and, over here, God leaves Heaven, and He comes to Earth. On Christmas morning, He lays another foundation: the absolute humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ—His deity, His humanity; His humanity, His deity. And then, with the rough hewed timbers of a cross, He builds a bridge between God and man, to reconcile God and man in Jesus Christ, who is as much man as if not God at all, as much God as if not man at all. Jesus Christ, one in 30 billion, took man by one hand and God by the other hand, and by the blood of His cross, He reconciled God and man. That’s what it’s all about. That’s the reason we sing
I must needs go home by the way of the cross;
There’s no other way but this.
I’ll ne’er catch sight of the gates of life,
If the way of the cross I miss. (Jessie Brown Pounds)
Conclusion
There’s never been another like Jesus, never another like Jesus. He is our solitary Savior. What a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful Savior we have in Jesus! And, I want you to know Him, today. He deserves preeminence in your life for two reasons: number one, His deity; number two, His death. Because He’s deity, how can you refuse Him? There can be no refusal, no rebuttal, no rival. And, because of His death, how can you refuse Him? “Love so amazing, so divine, demands my life, my soul, my all.” Is He preeminent in your life? He doesn’t ask for a place. He doesn’t ask for prominence. He desires and He demands preeminence.
Ellis Fuller, the great preacher of yesteryear, fell in love with a beautiful girl. When it came time to propose, this is what he said to her: “Would you mind, would you be willing, to take second place in my heart?” And, she said yes, because she knew that when she said yes, and took second place, that her husband would love her with a love that he could never love her with if she were first place.
Because, in all things, Jesus Christ is to have the preeminence (Colossians 1:18). And, I want to give Him, today, in my life, a new and a fresh preeminence. Because, in Him—in Him—all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily (Colossians 2:9). His birth— His birth, His cradle—rocked the world.
Father, thank You for Your Word. And, I pray, dear God, that souls will be saved today. In Jesus’ wonderful name. Amen.
