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Alright, if you will please go ahead and turn your Bibles to the Epistle of Paul to the Colossians, and I'll be reading verses 15 through 20. I'll give you a second to get there. Colossians chapter 1, beginning verse 15. One of the most powerful passages, I think, in Colossians together, by the way. Hear then the word of the Lord. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, for by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, All things were created through him and for him, and 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, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And you, well, we'll stop right there. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God endures forever and ever. And Father, we do thank you, Lord, for thy holy word. We do pray to bless it to our hearts, to our understanding. And Lord, we might walk in accordance with your word and will. Father, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Of course this week is a week that we do celebrate Thanksgiving. You have to check my calendar twice just to make sure I get the right schedule there. However, we do have Thanksgiving. Don't forget that this is a day to, yes, enjoy your turkey or your ham or whatever it might be, but it's a day to stop and to thank God. Thank God for all of his blessings in your lives. and in the blessings of your family, and the blessings of your friends, and all that. Thank God for all of his blessings, whether it's for the harvest, or for the year, or thanks to the Lord for all those around us, family, friends, co-workers, all of our brothers and sisters in Christ. Give thanks to God for them today and every day, but don't forget to do it on Thursday when you have half a turkey in your mouth, okay, or what's it say, a turkey leg or something. By the way, my father used to, try to give me these giant turkey legs once in a while and and I don't know if they're hormones or what but it seemed like I felt like there's Fred Flintstone or something is a giant turkey leg like that and Anyway, that was always interesting Yeah, it was not something I was used to, but he would hand me those all the time in addition to some other things. But the first Thanksgiving, doing research on this of course again, but the first Thanksgiving was set to be in 1621 when the Wampanoag Indians and the English colonists of Plymouth shared a three-day harvest feast. Now the first recorded Thanksgiving in Plymouth was in 1623, when the colonists stopped to give thanks to God for the rain after they had had a severe drought, in case you didn't know that. Now in 1863, flash forward a couple hundred years there, President Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving Day to be a national holiday on the last Thursday in November. I double-checked that because it seemed like it was on the third Thursday or something for a while. But on this day, people will celebrate eating turkey or goose or ham or brisket or just about anything you put on their tables. By the way, if you go over to England, you will not find turkey at the store. You can get goose or chicken, but you cannot get turkey. Now, I do not know why. It's a strange thing. Does it matter what you eat on that day? No, it does not. Eat and be filled and enjoy, of course. It's simply a day to give thanks to God. So don't forget that aspect, thanking the Lord God, our creator, who has provided for all of us, all things throughout the past year. Abraham Lincoln said this, he said, I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the U.S. and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands. That means they move somewhere else, right? But they're sojourning in a foreign land to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent father who dwelleth in the heavens. Very nice to hear a president say that. The point being is to acknowledge that God is over all, all things, of course. He is our creator. He is our provider. He is our sustainer, who has provided, of course, His only begotten Son to redeem a people for Himself. Well, our Heavenly Father has given us this Son. He has our Lord Jesus Christ, who is Himself our preeminent or supreme Savior and King and Lord and Creator of all things. For in Christ, Christ is over all things, whether in heaven or on the earth, and that is who this passage is speaking of, the Lord Jesus Christ. So Christ is our Creator, and He is the absolute head of His church. He is over all and remains over all. seated there at the right hand of God the Father on high. And so we consider our topic this morning, Christ overall, under these two headings, very simple headings. First of all, Christ over all creations. Just two points. Christ over all creation. And secondly, Christ over all his church. over all his church. Christ is the Holy One of God. He is the Supreme One of God. He is the Preeminent One. And when we celebrate Thanksgiving, give thanks to Christ over all. Don't forget to do that. He is Christ our Creator as well. For everything, including our own selves, we are all dependent upon Christ for all things in our lives, whatever that may be. So praise God, from whom all blessings flow. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, the great triune God, the three in one, because He has made it so. and we all are blessed by it. God's mighty work through His Son. So let's consider our first heading in verses 15 through 17, Christ's overall creation. I find it interesting that there are some, even some professing Christians who don't really know who Jesus actually is. Sometimes they think of him more in a humanistic view of our Lord, meaning that they believe that Jesus is the Son of God, but they still haven't grasped the fact that Jesus is God. Yes, he is the Son of God, but God, his only begotten Son, is God. Okay, so Christ the Son is Almighty God, as the Father is God, as the Spirit is God, and they're professing Christians who still don't know that, and they still don't understand that. And I pray and I fear, though, that's because my people basically, how shall we say, they don't know. They don't know God's word. It's pivotal to understand who Jesus really is. We don't need a Mormon view of our Lord Jesus Christ or a Jehovah Witness view of the cults or the false religions around the world, but we must know what does the Bible say about the Lord Jesus Christ, because it says a lot. It says an important amount, a lot, here about who Jesus really is. If you only see Jesus as a good teacher or a prophet, then you don't understand the Bible's teaching in Christ at all. You have a view of Jesus that is propagated by the cults and those false religions. So we must understand what Paul is directly teaching here in this very important passage. Now remember, these Colossians, they actually being having a lot of grief from some false teachers that have been slipping in. And Paul is having to correct that immediately, okay? He's having to correct it very quickly in this important passage. This portion of Colossians is written in what is called a hymn. You may have some notes like that. It's written in the style of a hymn or as an exalted Prose okay an exalted prose the language is very beautiful the way this is expressed as short and sweet But but very wonderful and very true Okay, so it's very beautiful as Paul has seemingly been Captivated by the wonders and the works and the very person of our Lord Jesus Christ And I pray that as Thanksgiving comes that we will also be Captivated by our Lord Jesus Christ who he is why he's done to save your soul what he's done And he himself is a blessing in your life. Don't forget that this coming Thanksgiving day. Now, what does the text say here? Let's read verse 15 through 17 again. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, for by Him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or domains or rulers or authorities, all things were created through Him and for Him, and He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. Those are pretty important teachings right there. Pretty important, meaning everything is in the hands of our Lord Jesus Christ. And I do hope that you see how very, very important that we understand who Jesus is. He is either Lord of all, or he's not Lord at all. Okay? So He is Lord of all. And Paul points and presents the absolute supremacy, the absolute priority, the absolute preeminence of our Lord Jesus Christ over all of His creation, declaring He is Lord of all and over all. We read, he is the image of the invisible God. So remember, Jesus said basically, if you want to know what the Father is like, you need to know Jesus Christ. You need to read and study who he is, what Jesus is like, because that's what the Father is like. Okay, we need to understand that. You have to look to Jesus, the son of God, for God is invisible, but we have Jesus manifest in the flesh. God with us, our Emmanuel, right? We don't wanna forget that, absolutely imperative. John 1, verse 18, no one has ever seen God. The only God who is at the Father's side, He has made Him known. The only Son of God, the only Son, only God at the Father's side is Christ. Now remember, we are created in the image of God, but Jesus Christ Himself is the image of God. And again, I'll give you the example of the Roman seal, if you will, on the signet. I've done this before, but I think sometimes we forget. And back in the days, they would have the letter that being mailed or whatever, then it would be, say, Caesar. It would be closed, and then he'd have some wax put upon it, and he had a signet ring, you know, whatever that image is on there, and be pressed into it. And so we are made in the image, like the pressed, you know, wax, but Christ is the image himself of the Father, okay? So we need to always remember that. He is the image of the invisible God. We are created in the image. Christ alone is the image. He is the exact representation of the Father. Thus, the one at the Father's side comes from all eternity. Christ is eternal. He has always been there with the Father and the Spirit. One God, all eternity. Because He is God. He is the Holy Second Person of the Divine Trinity. Remember who Jesus is. fall for the false Jesus of the cults and the pagan religions. Don't do that. Jesus said, if you have seen me, you have seen the Father. He is the exact representation of the Father. If you want to know what the Father is like, for the rest of the world, if they want to know what God is like, God the Father, You need to know Christ, then you'll learn what the Father is like. Because Christ is the exact representation of the Father and one with the Father as well. If you want to know the character of God, then look to Jesus Christ. You want to know what God is like in any other aspect, look to the Lord Jesus Christ. You must look upon Jesus Christ, who is the exact image or representation of God the Father, and we must believe. He must believe on who He is. Yes, He is God and man, a full human soul and body, but He is God united in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 15, He is the firstborn of all creation. The firstborn of what? The cults, like the Jehovah's Witnesses, say this. Basically, there you go. Jesus is the firstborn of all creation, so He must be a created being. That's what they say. He must be a created being. He cannot be God, even though it says He created all things. by himself and for himself and for his glory, right? So he does do that. They hold to a modern-day version of the heresy known as Arianism, named after Arius. They hold to a modern-day version of that. They deny the deity of Christ, and so that means there's no salvation to those who deny the deity of Christ, because they only believe in him as just a man who is not God, then they have no salvation and no possible chance of salvation. They must know that He is God and man. They must believe the truth about Christ. So the firstborn, the Greek word is protokos. It means the preeminent, the priority. The firstborn, what does it mean to be the firstborn? Well, over in Psalm 89 verse 27 and there, in speaking of God's covenant with David, the Lord says, I will make him the firstborn. Anybody remember what number David was among his own family? He was last. He was the youngest. He was not the firstborn. But God is going to make him firstborn because he is going to be the preeminent one. All right. So David was not the firstborn in his family. He was the youngest. Now, what does it mean that God will make him the firstborn? It means as firstborn, You have the inheritance. All things are yours. You're exalted by God to the highest place, to the place of preeminence. Christ is the firstborn because he is the supreme one. He is the preeminent one of God. He is the firstborn. All is his. All belongs to Christ as the firstborn. Doesn't mean he was firstborn because he was physically born to a human being. He's the firstborn because he is the preeminent one. That's what protocos, the idea means here. Then in verse 16, we find out another surprise. Jesus Christ is called creator. Well, that rules out just being a man. If he is created, created all things, that rules that out completely, so jot that down for when the cults come knocking down on your doors, because he is God, and we understand that, for by him all things were created, and heaven and earth, visible or invisible. Okay, nothing that exists in time and space or anywhere in between, visible or invisible, no matter where it may be, in heaven or earth, they were all created by the hand of our Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, created by Him, the second person of the Trinity. Okay, don't forget that, who He is. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And it was Jesus as God the Son who did that. Remember when John 1, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God, the Word was with God, and all things were, of course, made for Him. But also later on in that chapter, verse 12, it talks about, and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. Of course, a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. So even the tiniest And by the way, I don't know if there are more now, they keep discovering more and more, but even the tiniest of 800,000 insect species, varieties, or whatever, in this world, it was Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who created them. Even the little tiny spider, the teeny little spider that got in my car, crawling in my little visor up there, and he said, don't kill me, please. Even that tiny little spider, created by the all-omnipotent, powerful hand of our Lord Jesus Christ. Even that little tiny earthworm, or the biggest of all things, whatever it might be. Christ himself is the creator of everything, whether visible or invisible. All of it. We have the direct pronunciation or proclamation of his word in all this. And so it's Christ who did this. Look at verse 16. Whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him and of course for his glory. All the angels of God were created by his holy hand. They were created by him and for him and through him. All things were created by him and as God the creator, his absolute sovereign over all creation. And by the way, those references to the thrones, dominions, rulers, and authorities do refer to angels and angelic beings. And then, where was the Son of God in the beginning? Verse 17, and He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is the everything, okay? He is the creator of all things around that sustains you, is sustained by His hand. Everything that's been made and created. Whether visible or invisible, whether you can see it or not, comes by the almighty hand of the Second Person, the Trinity, and the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the creator of all of it, and He sustains them by His own power. The atoms that make up everything, including you and me, the atoms are the smallest things, basically, that we have. I'm not talking about leptons and all, which are part of the atoms and all that. But the atoms that make up everything as well, including you, are held together by His power. So if you go to the, probably take like 700,000 light years to go to another galaxy outside of our own, traveling at light speed, yeah, you would never make it, okay? You need something far more powerful than Star Trek to get there. But if you were to zip to the other side of the entirety of the created universe, it's all maintained and sustained by the hand of our Lord Jesus Christ. He keeps it by his own power, the power of God. He maintains and keeps all of these things, okay? That's quite a testimony that we have here in scripture about who Jesus Christ really is. No mere man can do this, but the God-man can. He who is God and man, who is God from all eternity. Okay, he is the preeminent one. Hebrews 1 verse 3 says this, he is a radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature and he upholds the universe by the word of his power because he is all powerful, he's omnipotent over all things and we must never forget that, not even on a holiday and I do pray we'll sing songs of praises before our Lord every day of our lives and he is our Lord, he is our creator and he is your sustainer. all the days of your life and beyond, okay? But wait, as the announcer said, there is more, okay? Because leading to our final heading, we see that Christ overall is over all of his church. Just as he is over all creation, he is over his church, his body, okay? Look at verse 18 through 20. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning and the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. Powerful words, mighty words I hear spoken about our Lord Jesus Christ all throughout this passage this morning. I do pray that you'll be in awe of our Lord Jesus Christ, consider who He is, what He has done, and continues to do. Because we're kept and sustained by the power of His Word, by His own divine power, of course, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. So He is the beginning and the firstborn from the dead. Was anyone ever raised from the dead? Yes. Well, wait a minute, that sounds like a contradiction, okay? He's the firstborn from the dead. Was anyone ever raised from the dead? Yeah. How? Jesus himself raised people from the dead. Remember Lazarus, right? You have the widow with the son from Nain and all that, and her son had died. Of course, he was raised, and we see some others too. But Jesus raised people from the dead. What's the difference? They were only raised temporarily. Lazarus died again. Now the Jewish leadership tried to make him die faster, but Lazarus would die again. He was only resurrected temporarily, but he would and did die again. And they all died later on, but Jesus was raised in glory and raised permanently from the dead, body and soul, and God dwelling within him. And he is the first risen from the dead permanent state in that manner. So why was he raised like this? So he would be preeminent over all things. And the first one permanently raised from the dead. And he was, and he is, and he's the absolute sovereign over all of this church. That is who is over, as we talk about Christ, the head of the church, you're talking about almighty God, who is sustaining all things, even sustaining his own church, his body, of which he is the head. He is the leader of it. It's his church. And we talk about our church, but he's like, it's my church everywhere. It's my church. Christ is the head of his body and he is sovereign over all of it. Look at verse 19 and 20. For in him, that's in Christ, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth, or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And so the fullness of God, the fullness of God dwells in Christ bodily. He is the fullness of God, okay, he is. And why is that? Because now the temple is not needed anymore because of Christ, because Christ is where God dwells. Okay, Christ is where God dwells. He came to reconcile sinners to God from the curse of sin. He came to reconcile creation from the curse of the fall of man. Remember, even creation groans for that day when Jesus comes. Creation itself, no matter what atom it may be out there, the leptons floating around. They groaned for the return of Christ and really for the sons of God to be glorified. They groaned for that. Now, how did Jesus do all of this? Essentially by making peace through his own blood on the cross. The earth was cursed. Adam and all of us were cursed because of the fall of Adam. But Jesus made peace, bearing the wrath, bearing the penalty. that we might be at peace through his blood on the cross, not just a drop, not just a sprinkle, but he shed his blood to death on the cross in our place, so that through him we might have life and forgiveness. And so the question that really comes this morning now is, have you yourself individually, have you bowed your knee to Christ, who is God and man? Have you bowed the knee to him who's over all things, over all of his creation, Remember that what creation is, it's His creation, and the farmers enjoy the working that they have, and we enjoy the fruits of their labors and ours, but all this coming from the hand of God. All from the hand here of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is God as well. He is Lord over all things, but we have, we bowed our knees to Him as our Lord, as our King, as our Savior, as He who is God and man. Don't forget, He's God. He's created everything. He's created you. Every single aspect of you, He created you and He sustains you by His own divine hand. The very breath we have comes from His hand. You must understand that. Every breath, every heartbeat is held in His hand because He is the one who keeps it and gives it to us. So the fact that you woke up this morning to come to church, that was purely by the grace of God in Christ. He deemed it so, and that was grace. All right there, automatically. He is a creator and savior, and if we call to him, he is everywhere. He's still omnipotent, and he's omnipresent, okay? He's everywhere as God. Yes, as humanity is at the right hand of the Father, but as God, he is everywhere. Even 700,000 million light years on the other side, the whole creation, whatever it might be, Christ is there. Don't forget that. He's there when you feel alone. He's there when you go through trials. He's there when the tribulations come and afflictions hit. He's there. Okay, and we have him to be thankful for that he is there. and all things, and he has grace. And we have a peace and we have a joy that comes in knowing him. And I pray that you do this week as well. Father, we do thank you, Lord, for your holy word. We thank you for Christ, your only begotten son, our Lord, our savior, our king, he that is God and man. O Lord, our glorious, and Father, what you've done, O Lord, the great manifestation of thy Son, O Lord, here in creation for us to become man like one of us, and yet without sin. perfect Savior and Redeemer, and He who sustains all things by the mighty power of His hand, sitting at Your holy right side, the position of power. Father, we do thank You, Lord, for Your grace and Your mercy. Be with those here today. Father, calm the hearts, O Lord. Lift up the fallen, O Lord. We pray that You strengthen all of our brethren here at Antioch and around the world, Lord. Strengthen them by thy mighty power. And Father, we do thank you and praise you in Jesus' holy name. Amen.
"Christ Over All"
Series Colossians: A Glorious Epistle
In this 3rd message on Colossians, we consider "Christ Over ALL" from Col 1: 15-20. We look at our subject under these headings, 1) Christ Over ALL Creation, and 2) Christ Over ALL His Church. As always I claim no originality, but will quote, cite, refer, etc to various sources including; Hughes, Hendriksen, Dunn, Wilson, Calvin, Davenport, etc.
Sermon ID | 12924142495843 |
Duration | 27:44 |
Date | |
Category | Sunday Service |
Bible Text | Colossians 1:15-20 |
Language | English |
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