JULY 21, 2024

• Welcome and Announcements
• The Solid Rock
• Prayer of Invocation
• Build Your Kingdom Here
• The Church's One Foundation
• Scripture Reading and Prayer - Colossians 1:15-23
• I Love Thy Kingdom Lord
• The Family Of God
• Pastor's Message - Preeminent Jesus
• We Are The Body Of Christ

Colossians 1:15-23
¹⁵ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation:
¹⁶ for by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominions, or rulers, or authorities-all things have been created through Him and for Him.
¹⁷ He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
¹⁸ He is also the head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.
¹⁹ For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him,
²⁰ and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.
²¹ And although you were previously alienated and hostile in attitude, engaged in evil deeds,
²² yet He has now reconciled you in His body of flesh through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach-
²³ if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.

SERMON NOTES - Preeminent Jesus
INTRODUCTION

• In Colossians 1:15, the apostle Paul takes us into the deep-water concerning Jesus. Paul wastes no time in making his assertion - Jesus is God!
• Jesus is the image of the invisible God.
• F. F. Bruce said, "To call Christ the image of God is to say that in Him the being and nature of God have been perfectly manifested."
• Jesus is the firstborn of creation which describes His ranks and priority of position. Jesus is the heir, the owner, the possessor of creation. He is preeminent over all that there is.
• Jesus is the Creator.
• Jesus is the preexistent, sovereign Sustainer
• Jesus is the Head of the body, the church
• Who's in charge of the church, the body of Christ? Jesus is.
• Three observations: (1) Every believer is a part of the body; Jesus is the head. (2) He holds the body together and supplies what we need to grow. (3) Jesus is the one who builds the church and He is the one who gives it life and power.
• "Jesus is the Source of and the Leader of His body, the Church. The metaphor 'head of the body' represents the supremacy of Christ and the unity of all Christians as a living organism which belongs to Christ. Christ controls every part of His body the church and is its 'inspiring, ruling, guiding, combining, sustaining power, the mainspring of its activity, the center of its unity, and the seat of its life.'" (cf. https://www.preceptaustin.org/colossians_115-29)
• Jesus is the Victor over death - He is also the head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.
• In this verse, "beginning" is directly connected with a word that we have already seen - "firstborn." One commentary explains that, "The Greek text simply places the two descriptions side by side. The second interprets the first so that 'firstborn' actually restates the idea of 'beginning.' Thus it should be translated, 'He is the beginning, that is, the firstborn out of the dead.' This translation captures two elements found within the original: The appositional relationship between 'beginning' and 'firstborn' is maintained, and the tie between the two uses of the word 'firstborn' is stressed…" (Richard R. Melick)
• "So that" is a purpose clause that brings us to the theme of the entire section - "that He Himself will come to have first place in everything." A synonym for "first place" is "preeminence," and the word is only used here in the New Testament. The seat of honor in the entire universe belongs to Jesus.
• Charles Spurgeon said, "There is no magnet like the death of Christ. He is able still to draw men unto Him because of the attractive force of his atoning sacrifice."
• I may be wrong but I don' think we need to market the church; we need to magnify Jesus. We lift up His death, burial, and resurrection and let Him draw all men to Himself.
• Paul's point is that Jesus is supreme, above all, which is confirmed in verse 19, "for it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him."
• The key to the verse is understanding what is meant by "fullness." The Greek word (pleroma) describes a full measure, or abundance, with emphasis upon completeness without any gap or deficit. "Fullness" is sum total or totality of something. We get some help in understanding what is meant because in the next chapter Paul writes of Jesus, "for in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form" (Colossians 2:9).
• Gnosticism used "fullness" for an entire host of intermediary beings between God and man. The Gnostics taught Christ was a kind of "halfway house" to God, a link in the chain with other better links on ahead. Paul countered with the clear and indisputable truth that in Christ "all the fullness of Deity continually dwells in bodily form" (Col 2:9).
• The complete embodiment of God dwells permanently in Christ. Christ is not some inferior, lesser creation of God. Jesus was fully God and fully Man. The whole total of the triune God was pleased to dwell in Christ. Christ has all the divine attributes in Himself.
• 
  JESUS IS THE WAY TO GOD (SAVIOR)
  
  • One of the key words in this verse is "reconcile." In this context reconcile is a relationship word that means to reestablish a broken relationship. It is the picture of a friendly relationship that for whatever reason, was broken but has been restored back again to a friendly relationship. When people change from being at enmity with each other to being at peace, they are said to be reconciled. Enemies become friends. In Greek culture it meant to legally reconcile two disputing parties in court.
  • Notice that it is through Jesus that God provides a way of reconciliation with Him.
  • Fellowship with God was replaced with fear, innocence was sacrificed for experience, peace was replaced with disharmony, and paradise was lost. But the worst consequence was that eternal life was forfeited with death.
  • There is nothing we can do to change our situation either, and God could have left them and all of the human race, including you and me to live and eventually die because of our sin and He would be justified in doing so.
  • We can be reconciled with God because He has provided a means by which we can be reconciled to Him. Though we are the ones who have broken the relationship, He is the one who initiates reconciliation.
  • Romans 5:19 - "For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life."
  • The means of reconciliation is Jesus. It is through Him and only through Him that anyone can be made right with God.
  • "We often think of God as a God Who requires that we do certain things before He will love us. But that is so foolish. The Bible does not present to us a God before whom we must do certain things in order for Him to love us. The Bible presents a God Who has loved us before, and has given the Son as the redeeming sacrifice in order to save His people." (Cf. https://www.preceptaustin.org/colossians_115-29)
  • If Paul says that all things are reconciled to Christ by His death and resurrection, does this imply that all people are saved? The answer is no. The Bible is absolutely clear that many people are going to die spiritually and be eternally lost and separated from God. Paul is not speaking about universal salvation but universal sovereignty of Jesus Christ. In other words, all authority has been given to Jesus Christ in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28:18).
  • Not all people will be reconciled because not all people will trust Jesus as Lord and Savior. Perhaps we can understand Paul's plea: "Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God" (2 Corinthians 5:20).
  • Jesus reconciled us through His blood so that Jesus can present us before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach. The purpose of Christ's death is redemptive. It is meant to change us.
  • The ultimate purpose of reconciliation is transformation.
  • "If you continue" is part of a first-class conditional sentence in Greek which presents a logical relationship, so a better translation might be not "if you continue," but "assuming you" continue and that assumption is based on the foundation of the Colossians faith which is the gospel.