The Supremacy of Christ is Declared in
the Church
Colossians 1:18-29
September 23, 2001
Intro:
A. [So much from a nut]
A minister gave an unusual sermon one day, using a peanut to make several important points about the wisdom of God in nature.
One of the members greeted him at the door and said, "Very interesting, Pastor. I never expected to learn so much from a nut."
B. I may be a nut in some instances, but I don’t have to stay one.
1. Today I’m going to change my position on something that I have long held which I now believe has hurt the church.
2. We have a commitment problem here at Somerset church.
3. We have a very low commitment level by the members of this body.
4. Our Sunday attendance is very sporadic.
5. Participation in our ministries is way too low.
6. Bible study participation is nearly nothing.
7. And today, I’m going to confess that I have had too low expectations for the members of the church.
8. At least part of the problem we have here at Somerset is my fault, so today I’m going to turn the corner and raise my bar of expectations for the members of the church.
9. Today I want to say that I love everyone here and I’m not picking on anyone in particular.
10. This is a church wide problem; it is not isolated to any one person, family, or group of people.
11. Today I’m going to be very strong.
12. I’m going to attempt to speak the truth in love.
13. So I challenge you to open your hearts and listen to what the Spirit says to you personally.
14. Today, I’m declaring the days of sloppy church-life OVER at Somerset!
15. Today, I’m calling us all to a deeper commitment to Christ and to His body, the church.
16. So today, we come to the 18th verse of the 1st chapter of Colossians were we see that…
I. The head of the church is Christ
Colossians 1:18, 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.
A. I know that everyone here intellectually agrees that the head of the church is Christ, but do we believe it practically?
1. Do we live this truth out in our lives?
2. Do we practice the headship of Christ in our lives?
B. What is a body without a head?
1. How does a body continue to function without a head?
2. There are some bodies that can function for a short period of time without a head (like a chicken), but what can the headless chicken accomplish?
3. Does the body have the ability to see?
4. Does the body have the ability to hear?
5. Does the body have the ability to know where its going?
6. Does the body have the ability to feed itself?
7. Does the body have the ability save itself?
8. What good is a body without a head?
9. But then how much better off is the body with the head?
C. And how much better off are the members of the body with the body and the head?
1. How well does the finger function away from the body and the head?
2. How well does an knee function away from the body and the head?
3. Sounds silly, doesn’t it?
4. But how many people think they can function just fine on their own without being a part of the body of Christ, the church?
5. How many people think that they can just be a knee out there on their own?
6. To think that we don’t need the church is to miss the whole point of the of the body of Christ.
7. To think that we don’t need to be a part of the body is to have no connection with the head (Christ) at all.
D. You see it is absolute silliness for us to think that we can be a finger attached to the head and not to the hand!
1. That’s what we are doing when we say that we don’t need the church in order to be a Christian!
2. We are trying to attach ourselves to Christ in a deformed way!
3. What can be accomplished by attaching a finger to a head? Not much!
4. But you may say that its different with Christians because with Christ all things are possible.
5. All things are possible with Christ, but what will Christ be willing to accomplish if we are unwilling to attach ourselves to the body like He has asked us to?
6. Is Christ really the head of the body as the Bible says?
7. Are we finding out what abilities God has given us and attaching ourselves to the body of Christ in the appropriate place in order to fulfill our part in the body of Christ or are we simply showing up for church whenever its convenient?
8. Is Christ truly the head of the body?
E. I believe that in many instances here at Somerset, Christ is not the head of a body.
1. We simply show up for church.
2. We are not really a body.
3. We are not attaching ourselves to the body in appropriate places.
4. So today I’m declaring the era of deformed Christian living over at Somerset!
5. From this day forward, Christ will be the head of the body!
II. The fullness of the church is Christ
Colossians 1:19, For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,
A. All of the fullness of God dwells in Christ.
1. Jesus Christ is fully God.
2. All the fullness of God dwells in Christ.
3. Jesus Christ is God in the flesh.
4. We have beheld the glory of God in the person of Jesus Christ.
5. There is nothing else anywhere.
6. Everything is complete in Christ.
B. Therefore the church has no need of anything else.
1. The church has no need of anything else because it is complete in Christ.
2. There is nothing that is lacking in the church because it has Christ.
3. The church doesn’t need Christ plus anything else to be complete.
4. The church doesn’t need Christ plus horoscopes.
5. The church doesn’t need Christ plus yoga.
6. The church doesn’t need Christ plus transcendental meditation.
7. The church doesn’t need Christ plus science.
8. The church doesn’t need anything else!
9. The church is complete because Christ is complete.
10. The fullness of God is in Christ and therefore the church is complete because it is in Christ.
C. Now I know that everyone is setting there saying, "Amen that’s right Christ is everything we need!" but again, I need to say that we are not really practicing that!
1. If Christ is all we need, why do only half us show up each week to worship Him?
2. If Christ is all we need, why do only a handful show up for Bible studies?
3. If Christ is all we need, why do we have so few volunteers?
D. Now some of you may be saying, "Wait a minute, Preacher, we’ve got lives to live."
1. "We just don’t have that kind of time."
2. "We’re busy people—how can you expect us to give up our time for the church?"
3. Well let me ask you some questions?
4. Is Christ really ALL you need?
5. Does Christ really give you EVERYTHING you need?
6. Are you really a part of the body of Christ, or are you a part of the body only when you have time?
7. Are you really a part of the body of Christ, or are you just a part of it when there’s not something else to do?
8. How can you say that you are a part of the body of Christ when you have time, and other times you have your own life to live?
9. How can you say that Christ is your FULLNESS your EVERYTHING if there are so many other things crowding Him out?
10. Do you see that it is not possible to say that we are a part of the body of the Christ on a part time basis?
E. What else do we need besides Christ?
1. Do we need Christ plus all the overtime we can get?
2. Do we need Christ plus sports?
3. Do we need Christ plus our social clubs?
4. How are we showing our children that Christ is all we need?
5. Do we do that by going to other activities instead of worship?
6. Do we do that by staying home to rest instead of volunteering?
F. Is Christ our fullness or not?
1. Again I must say that too many of us are trying to compartmentalize our lives by saying that this time belongs to God and this time belongs to me.
2. Too many of us are trying to compartmentalize our finances by saying this money belongs to God and this money belongs to me.
3. Too many of us are trying to compartmentalize our talents by saying this I do for God and this I do for me?
4. Is Christ our FULNESS?
5. Is Christ EVERYTHING to us?
III. The reconciler of the church is Christ
Colossians 1:20-23, and 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. 21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22 But 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-- 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
A. Christ is the reconciler of the church.
1. Christ reconciles all things to himself.
a. Now when the Scripture says that Christ reconciles all things to Himself, it is clear that it means that He reconciles all who want to be reconciled.
b. If people have the desire to be brought back into a proper relationship with God, He has the power to do that.
c. He won’t reconcile someone who doesn’t want to be reconciled.
d. Its a contradiction to reconcile someone who has no desire to be reconciled.
e. So Christ reconciles all who want to be reconciled.
2. Christ makes peace through his blood.
a. Notice that this is the only way to true peace.
b. True peace comes through a right relationship with God.
c. The only peace comes through a right relationship with God.
d. We can do everything in the world to try to bring about peace; we can try military force or diplomacy.
e. But if people aren’t right with God and have peace within their own souls, there can be no real peace.
f. The blood of Christ is the only thing that can make people right with God and the blood of Christ is the only thing that can bring real peace.
g. The blood of Christ is the only thing that can atone for sin and having sins atoned for is the only thing that can make people right with God and bring real peace.
3. Christ brings people back to God.
a. Reconciling means to bring back.
b. To change things by bringing them back to where they were before.
c. Christ brings people back into relationship with God.
d. Christ is the only one who can bring people back into a right relationship with God.
e. The only way we can be back in a right relationship with God is to have no sin.
f. And Christ’s blood is the only thing that can wash away our sin and thereby bring us back into right relationship with God.
4. Christ will uphold His end of the contract.
a. Paul says that we can be brought back into relationship with God by the blood of Jesus.
b. God has made a contract with us.
c. The Bible refers to it is a covenant or a testament.
d. We use the word contract.
e. God has made us a deal: if we believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, we can live forever.
f. But that doesn’t just mean to just believe it at one point in our life.
g. It means to continue to believe it throughout the rest of our lives.
h. God has held out hope to us in the blood of Jesus, all we have to do is hold on to it and not let go.
i. We must remain in Christ’s body, the church.
j. We must remain attached to the head of the body, Christ.
k. But if we let go of the body and the hope of the blood of Christ, we break our end of the contract.
l. Christ will never break His end of the contract.
m. He’ll never take it back and change the rules of the agreement.
n. He’ll keep His end of the agreement: He will wash away our sin with His blood and reconcile us back into right relationship with God as long as we hold on to the agreement.
o. That’s all our end of the agreement is: just continue to believe Him.
p. And if we continue to hold on, He will take us to heaven.
B. Therefore Christ reigns supreme because He is able to reconcile us to God.
1. No one can reconcile another except the offended party them self.
2. But since all of the fullness of God dwells in Christ, Christ can reconcile us to God.
C. Our world is crying out to reconciled to God.
1. Many of them don’t know they are, but most of them are none-the-less.
2. They’re doing all kinds of things because deep down inside they want to know that there is a God out there that loves them.
3. They want to know that their sins can be forgiven.
4. They want to know that there are people out there that love them like they think God would.
5. Christ reigns supreme because through the body of Christ, people can be reconciled to God.
6. Christ is the answer for the world today.
D. But again I must ask some tough questions…
1. Does the world see that Christ is the head of the body in our lives?
2. Does the world see that Christ is our fullness?
3. Are we declaring to Putnam County the supremacy of Christ through His body, the church?
4. Do they hear us declare the supremacy of Christ in the way we function at Somerset Church?
IV. The hope of the church is Christ
Colossians 1:24-27, Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. 25 I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness-- 26 the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. 27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
A. The hope of glory is Christ in us!
1. You see when we are attached to the body in the way that we were intended to be, Christ will be in us.
2. Christ’s spirit will be in us!
3. His life will coarse through our veins!
4. He will feed us and give us water that will never let us thirst again!
5. But that can only happen if we are attached to the body in the appropriate way.
6. Christ in us is our hope of glory.
B. Then and only then is the supremacy of Christ declared!
1. When the church is truly the body of Christ…
2. When we have the life of Christ flowing through our veins…
3. When we are being fed by the living word of God and the living water…
4. Then and only then will we have hope within us!
5. Then and only then will we have the fullness of Christ in us!
6. Then and only then will the glory of Christ shine through us!
7. Then and only then will the supremacy of Christ be declared!
8. The hope of the church is Christ; Christ in us, the hope of glory!
V. The perfecter of the church is Christ
Colossians 1:28-29, We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. 29 To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.
A. Paul says that He labors for the church.
1. Paul didn’t just do it when it was convenient, he struggled at with all his energy.
2. Paul didn’t do it halfway, because Christ worked powerfully within him.
B. And Paul says that as he labored for Christ, Christ was perfecting those he worked with.
1. God used Paul to perfect people.
2. We have a hard time with that because we look too often at the faults in people instead of the work that God is doing in their lives.
3. We look so quickly at the negative instead of at the work God is doing in their lives.
4. Paul says that Christ perfects us and Christ perfects those that we work with in the body of Christ.
5. But that only happens as each one does their work.
6. Ephesians 4:16, From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
C. And as each one does its work, and as Christ perfects us through that work, the supremacy of Christ is declared.
1. As each of us commit to doing our work, the supremacy of Christ is declared.
2. As Christ perfects us through our work, the supremacy of Christ is declared.
Conclusion:
A. [Harm of Radical Individualism, Citation: Chuck Colson, The Body (Word, 1992), p.32]
Many Christians have been infected with the most virulent virus of modern American life, what sociologist Robert Bellah calls "radical individualism."
They concentrate on personal obedience to Christ as if all that matters is "Jesus and me," but in doing so, miss the point altogether.
For Christianity is not a solitary belief system.
Any genuine resurgence of Christianity, as history demonstrates, depends on a reawakening and renewal of that which is the essence of the faith—that is, the people of God, the new society, the body of Christ, which is made manifest in the world—the church.
B. [The Help of the Body, Citation: Watchman Nee, Leadership, Vol. 9, no. 3.]
Alone I cannot serve the Lord effectively, and he will spare no pains to teach me this.
He will bring things to an end, allowing doors to close and leaving me ineffectively knocking my head against a wall until I realize that I need the help of the Body as well as of the Lord.
C. [We Need Help to Sing, Citation: John H. Unger, Brandon, Manitoba. Leadership, Vol. 11, no. 4.]
In Witnesses of a Third Way: A Fresh Look at Evangelism, Robert Neff’s chapter includes this story about visiting a church service: "It was one of those mornings when the tenor didn’t get out of bed on the right side.
... As I listened to his faltering voice, I looked around.
People were pulling out hymnals to locate the hymn being sung by the soloist.
"By the second verse, the congregation had joined the soloist in the hymn.
And by the third verse, the tenor was beginning to find the range.
And by the fourth verse, it was beautiful.
And on the fifth verse the congregation was absolutely silent, and the tenor sang the most beautiful solo of his life.
That is life in the body of Christ, enabling one another to sing the tune Christ has given us."
D. Ephesians 4:11-16, It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. 14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
E. Somerset, we need a deeper commitment to the head of the body.
1. We need a deeper commitment to the body of Christ.
2. We need a deeper commitment to the head and the body of Christ.
3. Many of us intellectually believe these things, but haven’t put them incorporated them into their daily lives.
4. And I know that none of us can stand here today and look at the cross of Calvary and say that we don’t need a deeper commitment to Christ and His body.
5. Today that’s what I’m challenging us to.
6. I’m raising the bar of expectations.
7. I confess that this is partially my fault for not verbalizing higher expectations.
8. So today I’m calling Somerset to a deeper commitment to Christ and His body.
9. Whether you’re young or old, a long time member or a new member—there isn’t a time in our lives when Christ doesn’t want us to be an active part in His body.
10. We live in a society that has recently been rocked to its foundations and they desperately need for God’s people to come together and be the body of Christ.
11. They need to see the love of Christ coursing through our veins!
12. They need to feel the HS among us.
13. They need to hear us speak about the supremacy of Christ.
14. Do we believe it or not?!!!
15. Then let’s live like it!
16. All of us need to go back to Calvary and ask God to revive us again!
