So you just want to lift up Jesus and let all people be drawn to Him? You probably know that you are going to face lots of challenges. There are so many superstitions that have a hold on people. Then there is the negative testimony of weak Christians.
The lies about Jesus are shouted from the rooftops but you would have to really be listening carefully to hear the quiet truth about Jesus. That is spoken in a whisper. It is fair to ask what we do about this. What did Paul do? He faced some of the same problems. There was false teaching abounding in Colosse (Colossians 2:4, 8).
We find help from Colossians 1:15-23. There was a similar situation in Colosse. There were false teaching and beliefs spreading that discounted the nature of Jesus. There were weak testimonies among them.
In Colossians 1:15-23 Paul establishes Jesus supreme. Paul did not always see things this way. Paul was a persecutor of anyone who asserted that Jesus is the supreme King of Kings and Lord of Lords. But Paul had a transformation on the Damascus Road. Now he knows the truth. It is not easy for him. He is writing from a jail cell establishing Jesus as supreme. It costs him to stand for Jesus. He could stand for the truth because Jesus is sufficient.
Jesus is supreme in every realm. Jesus is supreme creator. Jesus is Lord of heaven and earth. He is above all angels and heavenly beings. He created them. He is supreme the author and finisher of our faith. He is the Alpha and Omega. He is the supreme redeemer who made the supreme sacrifice. Jesus died on the cross for our sins. He is the one who holds the supreme authority to forgive our sins.
Colossians 1:15-20 (NIV)
15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For 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. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And 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. 19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Jesus is supreme Creator of the Universe
16For 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.
You know what happens when you get your new computer program? Bugs! Once the computer program is created it takes some time to get the bugs out. Not with Jesus. He created billions of stars, about 400 billion per galaxy. These stars stretch for millions and millions of light years. No bugs. No problems.
No updated corrected version “Stars of the Universe” version 1.2. Jesus is the supreme creator and he gets it perfect the first time. Jesus is supreme creator right down to the beauty of the flowers, which are clothed more magnificently than Solomon or the latest fashion model. Modern science only now can begin to understand what Jesus created. Where were you Job when Jesus hung the stars in the sky?
Jesus is God. As supreme creator Jesus has authority over all creation. If you can see it Jesus created it. If you can’t see it Jesus created it.
How is this universe held together? How is it that the earth tilted at just the exact way at the exact distance from the sun that we get the seasons? Jesus does all that.
17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Does it seem like things are going to fall apart? They aren’t. They are not because Jesus is holding the whole universe together. You have ten billion nerve cells in your body? Just the right number. Jesus arranged that. You have two million tiny sweat glands, 3,000 per square inch? Yes Jesus is the supreme creator responsible for that. You have every breath because of Jesus.
The angels are created beings. Jesus is supreme over them. He created them. He created the visible the invisible everything on earth and everything in Heaven. Jesus is superior to all the angelic beings. He is because he is Supreme creator.
Jesus Christ is God Supreme
The deity of Jesus Christ, the fact that Jesus Christ is fully God is central to Christianity. Those who knew Jesus from his own town had trouble with this. He was so human people said, isn’t this the carpenters son, how could he be messiah one of our own?
15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
Jesus is the image of the invisible God because he is God. This is re-affirmed in
2 Corinthians 4:4 “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God”. (NIV)
We read this again in Hebrews 1:3 3The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. (NIV)
Jesus understood this well and he made it very clear to those He came in contact with. It was why people took up stones to kill him. It was because people clearly understood Jesus to be claiming to be God.
John 10:30-33 30I and the Father are one.” 31Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, 32but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?” 33?We are not stoning you for any of these,” replied the Jews, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”
Jesus communicated his supreme deity to his disciples in John 14:9 when he said, 9Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Jesus is supreme God. He has no equal. All fullness dwells in Him. 19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,
Jesus Christ, Supreme in the church
Jesus is the head of the church. We are in the body of Christ. It is wrong for any church leader to act like he is the head of the church. That role belongs to Jesus Christ. We must always remember that Jesus is the authority of the church.
Colossians 1:18-19
18And 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. 19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Jesus is supreme in the church. He is the one who holds the supreme position of honor. Every leader in the church must acknowledge Jesus as the head of the church and bow to the authority of Jesus in the church.
Philippians 2:8-10 (New International Version)
8And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth.
Jesus Christ the Supreme Redeemer
Jesus is the Supreme redeemer. Jesus alone died on the cross for you. Why turn to another for any reason? Colossians 1:14 says “in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
Through blood on the cross Jesus reconciled us. 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Romans 5:8-9
8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!
The salvation in Jesus Christ is “through His blood, shed on the cross.” Jesus is the only way to God. The wages of sin is death. It is what you and I deserve. Jesus paid the price. He is the “firstborn from among the dead” (vs 18) He died and he was raised again.
When we trust Jesus the Supreme redeemer we die to sin and are raised to a new life. We are reconciled by the blood Jesus shed on the cross. You are transformed from an enemy of God alienated from God to being reconciled with God through the blood of Jesus Christ.
Colossians 1:21-22
21Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—
Jesus Christ is supreme. Is Jesus supreme in your heart?
