The Supremacy of Christ
Colossians 1:9-14
Good morning, glad to have you join us for our online service. I pray that it would be a time of refreshing and a time of learning as we study God’s Word together.
Please turn to the book of Colossians (between Philippians and Thessalonians) and as you are turning there, would you bow your head for a word of prayer.
Prayer
How we speak and interpret the English language has an effect on the way that we communicate and understand it.
Our culture is a factor. (upbringing)
Our geographic location (where we live) is a factor on how we communicate to each other and the words that we use to do that.
You want to see a league of nations just have a person that has grown up on the street of Brooklyn N.Y. try to communicate with a person who has grown up in London England and see how well they communicate.
Let’s not take it across the pond, let’s just go from my birthplace Milwaukee Wisconsin where if you wanted a drink of water in a public place you went to a bubbler to get a drink. I came to Pennsylvania in 1986 and asked for a bubbler and they had no idea what that was and found out later that they call it a water fountain.
We can think of many words that have different meanings to different people and some if you are not careful can be offensive to some because they have different meanings.
Some talk fast and some slow, some use slang words and some proper, some words have multiple meanings in the USA and not everyone knows that.
Communication can be a problem if people are not on the right page with understanding- don’t believe me… parents, some of us feel like we needed to take English as a second language to talk to our kids.
Then we have the barrier of believers in Jesus trying to communicate the word of God to unbelievers to persuade them into having a relationship with the Lord.
We as Christians are tasked with talking to unbelievers about the goodness of God and the need for them to be in a relationship with a God they cannot see and don’t know much about.
We use words like…are you washed in the blood of Jesus? Are you born again? Have you been sanctified? Are you walking with Jesus? Have you been cleansed from your sins?
We as believers have a hard time understanding that a person cannot pick up the bible and understand it and unbelievers without the Holy Spirit cannot understand how you can understand the bible and pick it up and tell them what it means. The two world’s can only come together when the Spirit of God gives us understanding and a desire to seek after the things of God.
The Holy Spirit of God that dwells in a believer and an unbeliever without the Holy Spirit who is trying to understand God’s word on their own.
I suggest to you this morning before you try to get them to talk like a believer that you show them that God loves them and show them what He has done for them and let the Spirit of God bridge the gap in their relationship.
Song Sign Lyrics/ 5 Man Electric band 1970/ I have used this example before
And the sign said
"Long-haired freaky people
Need not apply"
So I tucked my hair up under my hat
And I went in to ask him why
He said, "You look like a fine upstandin' young man
I think you'll do"
So I took off my hat and said, "Imagine that
Huh, me workin' for you"
Whoa
Sign, sign
Everywhere a sign
Blockin' out the scenery
Breakin' my mind
Do this, don't do that
Can't you read the sign?
Can you picture your pastor active in sports, long hair and talking Milwaukee slang? Why not?
Neither is a requirement to be forgiven of our sins.
Because we stereotype people the way we want to see them and how we think they should be and how they should act.
As a pastor who has been given grace and responded to God’s goodness and mercy. I have always tried to show God’s love and make my preaching and teaching applicable- meaning not just giving someone knowledge but how they can apply it to their lives because that is how I learned of the Lord.
So let’s go to the text and see what the Lord has for us- In the writings of Apostle Paul to the church at Ephesus, the church of Colosse, and the church at Thessalonica he begins with praise of their faith, their labor for the cause of Christ, their endurance of hope in Jesus- all these books start out that way- then each one gives instruction on how they can spread the gospel or good news onto others they come in contact with-
Here’s a conversation starter that might work- how about telling them how Good Jesus is first instead of how bad they are- they already know that they are not so good and they already know that the life line to God has some problems-
Colossians 1:9-14 read from bible slowly
According to Got Questions.com
The supremacy of Christ is the doctrine of Christianity surrounding the authority of Jesus and His God-nature. In the simplest of terms, to affirm the supremacy of Christ is to affirm that Jesus is God.
Webster’s dictionary defines supreme as “highest in rank or authority” or “highest in degree or quality.” In essence, there is none better.
If man sets the bar here- the Lord is here!
The supreme of something is its ultimate. Jesus is the ultimate in power, glory, authority, and importance. Jesus’ supremacy over all is developed biblically primarily in Hebrews and Colossians.
Book of Hebrews explains the work of Jesus in the context of the Old Testament.
Jesus was the fulfillment of the Old Testament Jewish traditions and roles.
Jesus does not simply represent a new way of doing things. Rather, He is supreme.
He is the actual fulfillment of the old way of doing things and is therefore greater than those ways.
(Hebrews 8:6). Jesus is greater than the Old Testament system.
Colossians 2:9 says, “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.” Meaning Jesus is God.
Colossians 1:15-23 read from Bible
Colossians 1:15–23 is labeled “The Supremacy of Christ” in some Bibles. In this passage, Paul makes it plain that Jesus is over all things. Christ is called “the image of the invisible God” and “the firstborn over all creation” (Colossians 1:15).
The word firstborn may seem confusing. It does not imply that Christ was created (as in the doctrine of the Jehovah’s Witnesses). Instead, the term firstborn refers to a position of authority. To be “firstborn” was to hold an honored position. Paul immediately goes on to explain Jesus’ role in creation: “For by Him all things were created; things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him” (Colossians 1:16). This means that Jesus is not created but is Creator. He is God.
Paul goes on to say, “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 and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy” (Colossians 1:17–18). Paul highlights multiple areas in which Christ has authority—over creation, over the Church, over death, and finally “in everything.” Christ is both before all things and encompasses all things (“in Him all things hold together”). Therefore, Christ is supreme.
This doctrine is essential to our view of and worship of Christ. The supremacy of Christ affirms that Jesus is fully God. He is not simply a man greater than the rest but is truly above all creation, as only God can be.
This truth is essential for our salvation. God is infinite and, therefore, our sin against Him is an infinite offense. In order to atone for this offense, the sacrifice must be infinite. Jesus, as God, is infinite and thus an able sacrifice.
That Jesus is supreme excludes us from saying that He is only one of many ways to God. He is not just a good moral teacher whom we may choose to follow; rather, He is God, and He is over all. Jesus’ supremacy also makes it evident that we cannot atone for our own sins. In fact, “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4). Jesus both fulfilled and replaced that system. Salvation is not based on works (see Ephesians 2:1–10). And, once we are saved, Jesus’ supremacy shows us that we cannot aspire to be like Him of our own strength. Jesus is wholly other, supreme over all. Christians are called to be like Jesus, but this is through the work of the Holy Spirit (Philippians 2:12–13; Romans 8).
The supremacy of Jesus teaches us that He is not simply a spiritual being above the rest. Paul tells us that through Him all things visible and invisible, in heaven and on earth, i.e., spiritual and physical, were created (Colossians 1:16). Hebrews 1:4 calls Jesus superior to the angels. This truth negates any tendencies toward angel worship. Jesus created the angels and is above them. We are explicitly told He is greater than they. Therefore, we need only worship Jesus. Similarly, that Jesus created the things of earth means that creation is not worthy of our worship. Jesus is supreme over both the physical and spiritual realms, thus giving both arenas importance while still remaining sovereign over them.
When we understand the supremacy of Christ, we have a more accurate view of Him.
We more fully understand the depth of His love; we are more able to receive and to respond to His love. Theologians believe that Colossians was written, in part, to combat heresies rising in Colossae.
It seemed fitting to Paul to affirm the supremacy of Christ in order to quash these misled beliefs. He affirmed Christ’s supremacy, His lordship, and His sufficiency for us.
Hebrews explains the link between the Old Testament covenant and the new covenant of Jesus.
It reveals the old system as a shadow of the ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ. The supremacy of Christ is central to an accurate view of His Person, His work, our status as believers.
As we close our time together this morning I want you to see something- Apostle Paul did not start the church at Colosse, in fact he has not ever been there, his opening lines and his detail to the authority he has in Jesus is to show them his authority to bring them the word of God. Once they understood his authority and who gave him the words he writes in the letter to them- they will better receive it from him.
Today people desire to know spiritual things, but they want to hear it from someone who is living it and look like what they have is important and good. How many people live their life like Jesus is someone they believe in but not someone who directs there life? Jesus is supreme to all things! He is the creator of everything in heaven and on this earth- he should be everything to the believer and he should be presented to the unbeliever as someone they need to know and serve,
Is Jesus the most important part of your life? Do we have Him where He belongs? If not today you can do something about that.
If he is not important to you then how would you be able to show a dying world that they need him in their life?
Prayer-
