The Supremacy Of Christ

"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 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. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 18 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 preeminence. 19 For it pleased the Father that in all the fullness should dwell."
Colossians 1:15-19

So many times we treat Jesus one of two ways. Either we treat Him like He was "one of the boys," that He was a great teacher, a prophet, a peace-maker, and we keep Him so human that we lose the essence of His deity. Or we dismiss His sinless of life to the comment, "Oh, He was God." Both of those views are so far on each end of the spectrum. He was fully human. He could experience what we experience. He identifies with what we are going through. He was tempted like we are, with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. He went through temptation and trials, so that we can know He understands. He could feel the pain of a whip, thorns, a spear, and He could feel the pain of when a friend betrays us, or the disappointment and sadness when friends walk away.

And yet, He was fully God. Paul is writing the Colossians here, to do away with the false teaching of Gnosticism which had infiltrated the church there, as to some degree has today. Paul is telling us about the supremacy of Jesus Christ over everything, physical of spiritual. When he writes to us and tells us that Jesus is the "image of the invisible God," he is telling us, that if we want to know what God is like, look at Jesus. Jesus is the image of God. In John 14:9, Jesus tells Phillip, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father." To know God is to look at Jesus. And then, Paul tells us through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that Jesus is the "firstborn over all creation." "Wait a minute," you might say, "I thought Jesus wasn't born until the New Testament. You are correct. But that is a chronological birth. What we are talking about here, is that Jesus was the first born in priority. He wasn't the first person ever born, but He is the most important person ever born. We will come back to this.

If you have any doubt about whether or not Jesus was around at creation, verse 16 should clear that up for you, because it tells us that all things were created "by" Him. All things that were created were created by Him. "All things were created "through Him and for Him." He created all things, and they were created for Him. Not for us. Beloved, when you read the headlines, when science is trying to shoot our beliefs out of the water, take heart, and know that all things, even science, was created by Him. He was in existence before all things, and it is by Him that all things exist.

He is the head of the church, which is the body of Christ, and He is the firstborn from the dead. There is that word again. It wasn't that He was the first person ever raised from the dead, because He wasn't. But He was the most important person ever raised from the dead. It was His resurrection that broke the power of sin and death once and for all in our lives. He is preeminent.

And God the Father was pleased that in Him all the fullness of the Godhead dwelt (Colossians 2:9). Everything that we can ever want or need, emotionally, physically, spiritually, can be found in the person of Jesus Christ. Beloved, today, call on Him when you are in need, any kind of need, and He will hear, and He will answer. Amen.