Just really really pray for them as well as other Pastors and preachers so many folks going through so much Colossians chapter 1 verse number 18 the Bible says this and he is the head of the body the church Who is the beginning the firstborn from the dead that in all things he might have the preeminence That he'd be in first place, that he would be preeminent. He would be the primary one in everything that Jesus Christ would have first place. Verse 17, if you back up one verse, it says, and he is before all things and by him all things consist. In other words, we know this, we've mentioned this many times before that God, the Creator of the universe and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, He is before all things. By Him, all things consist. In other words, everything that happens, happens by His allowing and His creating. And so we've said before that you and I, we don't take a breath without not just His permission, but His help. There's nothing that we do. Trees don't grow, plants don't grow, gardens don't grow, people don't walk, talk, eat, sleep, breathe. Nothing happens without Him. By Him, all things consist. Therefore, you get into verse number 18 where it says, and He is the head of the body, the church. In other words, He is the creator of the church. He's the one that instituted the new Testament church. He is the head of the church. He is the one that is in first place and ought to be in first place in our church. And in our body, this body of believers who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, why that in all things, he might have the preeminence. Jesus Christ is to have first place in your life. Plus nothing. Plus nothing. He is to be first. I love my family, but if I love my family like I ought to love my family, Jesus Christ will be first. I love our church, but if I love the Lord like I am to love the Lord, that's the only way that I can love our church like I'm supposed to. He has to be first. And when He ceases to be first, you cannot hide it. It will show. It will show in our lives when the Lord Jesus Christ no longer has first place in our lives. And it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if it's health or finances or relationships or whatever it is that takes over that first place spot. if he's not in first place. We used to hear a lot when I was growing up, anything you put before God becomes your God. Anything you put before God becomes your God. It doesn't matter what it is. It doesn't have to be something that's a bad thing, but if it's before God, then it's in a bad place. The key words here, first of all, the head used three times. First use, chapter 1, verse 18, most significant use, also the same verse, the verse that we just read. He is the head. You hear a lot of jokes, husbands and wives, where the man is the head of the house, but the wife is the neck that turns the head, right? There's something about... But the truth of the matter is, Our lives in this church, in this body of believers, he must be the head of the church. Everything we do is to be about him. For his glory everything we do whether it's whether it is teaching a class or whether it's coming We just sang some songs when we're singing the congregational songs you and I each and every one of us ought to be singing Every single note of every single verse of every single song for his glory And if we don't it's sin It's not just something. Well, I just really don't feel like it today It's sin He is to have the preeminence in everything we do. When I'm at home, but when I'm at church, you know, we were up here with my family doing some things, getting ready for the mother-daughter tea yesterday and all that. All of that, whether it's planting flowers or decorating or cleaning or whatever it is, is to be done for the glory of God. If a husband goes to work if you get up in the morning or at night or whenever you go to work and you go to work You ought to do the very best that you can for God's glory When or a lady that goes to work same thing very best can for God's glory when you're at home the things you do at home The very best that you can to the best of your ability with the Lord's help wife for his glory Because he deserves that that in all things he might have the preeminence. He is the head, then the second key word is the word fullness, used two times. First use is in chapter 1, verse 19, but the most significant use, chapter 2, verse 9, which says this, might be on the same page or over one page for you. For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Don't be mistaken, Jesus Christ is 100% God. Hundred percent God all the fullness of the Godhead was in him Bodily was in his body. He was a hundred percent man and a hundred percent God You and I we can't possibly even begin to wrap our heads around what that really means But that doesn't change the fact that it's true There's a lot of things in the Bible that we can't begin to wrap our minds around But that doesn't change the fact that it's true You know, I don't there's a lot of things that When you when we get to heaven I think man I really would like to know this and I don't know when we get to heaven if we're just gonna know the answers to some of These things or if we're gonna have to ask and he'll tell us the answers if we ask But I got a feeling in a lot of ways what we struggle with here on earth today is Just simply believing in faith and that won't be a struggle anymore when we get to heaven however we know or whatever we know. You and I aren't going to be omniscient when we get to heaven. We're still not going to know everything. But we'll know everything we need to know. And we'll know a lot more than we do now. Yes ma'am, Ms. Taylor. In Jesus. The fullness of God in Jesus. We just read chapter 2 verse 9. He is the head of the church, which is his body. We saw that already. He is the creator of the universe. We saw that also. You look back at the book of John chapter 1. You see that again. That Jesus is the creator as well as God the Father. Of course, we know in God the Holy Spirit, these three are one. They were all there and took part in creation. It's not somebody he didn't come along later on or a lot of people have all kinds of crazy explanations for it because it's hard for them to just accept by faith what the Bible says. I believe what the Bible says. The date of the writing is AD 62. The Apostle Paul is one that wrote it. It was written to the church at Colossae, mostly Gentile converts. It's not a Jewish city there at Colossae, mostly Gentile people there, mostly Gentile believers in this church. written from the Mamertine prison in Rome, again one of the prison epistles, delivered by Tychicus and Onesimus. You see that in chapter 4 verses 7-9. Just some things about the book. 51st book of the Bible, 12th book of the New Testament, 4 chapters and 95 verses. The purpose for the writing. I like this. It says this, Paul wrote that these believers might be aware. Several things first of all, he wrote that they might be aware of their inheritance in Christ chapter 1 verse 12 says this Giving thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light He says hey, we have been partakers of the inheritance you and I because of what God has done for us because of Jesus death on the cross and we have been made to be partakers of the inheritance." He's helping these believers to understand what that means to have an inheritance in Christ. And then deliverance through Christ, verse number 13 says, "...who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son." So you see, deliverance through Christ and translation Christ both in verse number 13 there and then redemption in Christ in verse 14 and forgiveness in Christ in verse 14 that says this in whom we have redemption through his blood even the forgiveness of sins now again can I say those that would try to take the blood out of salvation and That's why they take verses like this out of their Bible or change them to say something else. Why? Because if you read it the way it's written, it's pretty clear. You don't have to be a genius to figure out, even a farmer from Wisconsin can figure this one out. In whom we have redemption, how? Through his blood. Through the blood of Jesus Christ, the blood of Jesus Christ, his son cleanses us from all sin, the blood, even not just redemption. Okay. Do you understand that we could be redeemed, but what if God had said, I'm going to redeem you, but I'm not going to forgive you. We have redemption. that comes with our redemption includes the forgiveness of sin. The forgiveness of sin. You know, he could have said, you're in the heaven, but you made it by the skin of your teeth and you're going to have to spend all of eternity paying for the sins that you committed while you were on earth. But he didn't say that. He said, I've forgiven you. I've forgiven you. You've been redeemed and you've been forgiven through the blood of Jesus Christ. Then in verse number 21, we have reconciliation by Christ. We're reconciled, that fellowship has been restored. Verse number 21 says this, and you that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled. We had been alienated. Have you ever had Friend or maybe even a family member don't raise your hand But you had somebody that you've been alienated from that that fellowship has been broken that maybe sometimes You know, I've talked to folks and some people family members that they grew up in the same house sometimes parents or children That they you talk to somebody say I haven't talked to them in years We had a falling out and I haven't talked. I haven't talked to my mom and dad in 10 years. I Here's my phone. Talk to him. Call him. I haven't talked to my brother or sister or friend in this long, five years, ten years, fifteen years. We used to be the best of friends, but then we had a falling out. When Adam sinned, we had a falling out. But we don't have to stay alienated. It says in that verse, "...you that were some time Alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works yet now hath he reconciled He's made it whole again. He's made us whole again then verse number 22 We have presentation by Christ says this in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and unblameable and Unreprovable in his sight You understand, for you and I to stand before an almighty God, holy and unblameable and unreprovable. You can't be blamed. Holy before God. There is nothing, there is nothing that you and I could do to stand before anybody that way. You know, I might be able to go to court and have the judge say, if somebody took me to court, I talked to somebody, another pastor yesterday is being sued by somebody. Somebody was to take me to court and I was sitting there, I was the defendant. And they said, hey, do you You know, this person says that you robbed their house. I might be able to say, I can say that didn't happen, there's no evidence to that because I didn't do it. But to say, I did rob the house, I took everything they had, I cleaned them out. I backed up three U-Haul trucks, loaded them up and took it all and they busted open my garage and there sits their whole house full of stuff. There's all the evidence to prove that I'm guilty. And then for me to stand before the judge and say, holy, unblameable, unreprovable, no evidence to convict in any way. I'm guilty. There's plenty of proof that I'm guilty, that I'm a sinner, but for me to stand before God and for Him to see holiness, that's not because of me. That's not because of me. That's because of the Lord Jesus Christ and what He has done. He wrote these things. I like what it says there under the purpose. It says, Paul wrote that these believers might be aware These things, you know, I believe there's a lot of Christians today that aren't really aware of these things They may have a head knowledge of some of these things or even all of these things But to really be aware to really understand what what each of these things means For you and I again another one of those things that we can't fully comprehend it but you just go down through that list an inheritance in Christ the inheritance that you and I have and I get excited just thinking about it. Just thinking about it. I was talking the other day with my wife. We were talking about dad called me a while back and they were changing some things with their will and kind of was talking to me a little bit about it. And I'm the executor, I guess, of the will and all that. And so we were discussing some things and he said, hey, what do you think about this? What do you think we ought to do about this, this, and how to handle all these things? And there are the way that my parents' will is written. There's some things that if my mom and dad were to pass away before me, I have some choices where I can choose this or this. As far as what my inheritance is, essentially, in part, I get to choose my inheritance. but to think that because of what Jesus Christ has done for us, we have a part and an inheritance that is beyond our comprehension. And it's not the physical, hey, I get to pick this mansion instead of that mansion. We're going to get to heaven and we couldn't care less about what mansion we have or who our neighbors are or any of that stuff. The best thing that we've inherited is eternal life. Eternal life to spend all of eternity with God himself and with the Savior, Jesus Christ, our Lord, to know that we have inherited that, but we have an inheritance in him. We have deliverance to him. When you begin to understand deliverance, you know why you need deliverance? The only reason you need deliverance is if you're in trouble. I only need deliverance if I'm in trouble. I only need to cry Lord deliver me if I need deliverance. And we are, we already have that deliverance. We've been delivered. If you're saved this morning, if you know Jesus Christ is your personal savior, you have been delivered, translated in Christ. Think about what that means for you and I. Redemption. We've been redeemed. We've been bought back. I used the illustration before of the little boy and made the little toy boat and he set it out in the creek and was following along and then it kind of took off in the rapids and got away from him and he couldn't find it anymore. He looked for it for days, couldn't find it. A couple months later, he's in town with his parents and there he sees the little boat that he built and it's there in the window of a little second-hand shop and he goes in there and he says, hey, that's my boat. And the shop owner says, no, that's my boat. Somebody brought that in here and I bought that from him. That's mine now. I own that boat. If you want it, you can purchase it. The little boy went home. He was all upset, but he went home and he saved up his money and worked hard and sacrificed and went back and he bought that boat. And as he was walking out the door of the store there, the shop owner heard him say, you're mine twice now. I made you and I bought you. I made you and I bought you. That's what he did for us. He made us. And he bought us both he had every right to us the first time and Then he went and bought us back paid the ultimate price to buy us back the second time But we've been redeemed. We have redemption in Christ. We have forgiveness in Christ Divine forgiveness we talked about not too long ago the biblical principle of forgiveness on Wednesday nights. It's a great study But an even greater study is the principle of forgiveness that we have in Jesus Christ and What you and I have been forgiven up reconciliation There was a there was a broken relationship There was no communication But that's all been fixed. It's all been restored and then presentation, you know If you were if you were going to be announced into something I when we played basketball every time once in a while for tournaments or something like that or whatever they would have somebody announce the starting lineup and If somebody's going to present you, you imagine Jesus Christ being the one to present you and then to be, to present us and for him to say, Lord, Father, here's Wesley Blackwell, holy, unblameable, unreprovable, my brother. my joint air You imagine that it just it It boggles my mind, but it excites me to Divisions two divisions here the book first of all doctrinal to show how to be filled with the spirit We learn those things from chapters 1 & 2 we he teaches them some of the things that we have and the truth of the matter is you notice that in those things that I just mentioned that list that we went through they're all in chapter 1 and the doctrinal things that we see in chapters 1 and 2, as we begin to realize those things and operate on that basis, on that foundation, then we can be filled with the Spirit. Because we have an understanding, we are aware of what we have in Christ and what that means for us. And then secondly, in chapters three and four, you see practical things to help us to be faithful in service. So we need to be filled with the spirit in chapters one and two, the doctrinal side of it. But here's the thing. You have to understand that you can't do either one of these things properly without the other. You can't be right with God practically and in service if you're not right with God doctrinally and being filled with the Spirit. And vice versa. You can't be filled with the Spirit and right with God doctrinally and not have it be right practically and be in service. They go hand in hand. This goes a lot with what I'm preaching on in the message this morning at 11 o'clock, and you'll see that a little bit later. But to understand, what does this really mean for me? And once you do, and once you take that and apply it to your life, once He does have the preeminence in your life, it'll be evident in the practical side of things. The outline, first of all, the introduction is a little lengthy introduction here for what we've had before. But let me read this to you. Paul identified the person of Christ as the creator, the divine head of the universe. He discusses the believers completeness in him. Result of what Christ has done for the believer that Christian is encouraged to conduct himself accordingly By putting off the old man and putting on the new man Why should I put off the old man and put on the new man? Because of what he's done for me He's earned every right to do to ask me to do exactly that just quickly through these main points Christ is supreme Christ is supreme through prayer in creation and redemption, in reconciliation, in Christian faith, in doctrine, in religion, in spiritual life, in risen life, in human relationships, in Christian service, and in friendship. Christ is supreme. And if you can say that in your life, if you can look at your life and go down through each one of those things and say, He's number one. in my life in this area, he's number one. Start at the bottom of the list. In my friendships. Think about the friendships you have. Who's number one in those friendships? In Christian service. Who's number one? Who's supreme in your Christian service? You could go through the whole list. Some miscellaneous things quickly. First of all, the church at Colossae was probably founded by Epaphras. We see that, get that from chapter 4, verse 12. Paul had likely not visited this church. Why do you say that? We don't have any specific evidence saying that he went to that church. And what you see in some of the other epistles is you see him talking about his time that he spent there, and you know me, and you know my reputation, you know how I was with you. You don't see any of that in this book. Does that mean that, you know, Pastor King, are you sure he wasn't there? No, I'm not. I wouldn't tell you. I know for sure that he was never there. But there's a good chance that he wasn't just from some of the way that some of the writing is and different things, but he may very well have been. But he still had a lot of good insight for that. Verse 3, Paul had many friends among its members. You say, well, how can he have friends if he was never there? People travel just like they do now, and you can have friends. I have friends a lot of places that I have never been before that I've met in my travels and different things. But, again, he may have developed those friendships as he was there. Onesimus had come from there, chapter 4, verse 9. Archippus was probably Philemon's son. Get that idea from Philemon, verse number 2. Archippus was possibly the pastor there. Chapter 4, verse 17. Epaphras was likely in prison with Paul, Philemon verse 23. And there's a similarity between Ephesians and Colossians. There's some similarities. If you look back at our study of Ephesians, you can see some of those similarities drawn out. But just some interesting things as you study the book and you can learn so much. every single one of these books. There's just so much. You could spend days, weeks, months, years studying. And the more you study, the more things are borne out, and the more that it just is amazing, and the more thankful I am to be a child of God. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for this day. Thank you for this Sunday School Hour. Lord, I pray that you bless our church service here in just a few minutes. We love you in Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.