I hope you have a Bible with you this morning and that you'll join me in it in Colossians chapter 1.
I don't like being a false advertiser. You may note on the bulletin it says we're in Hebrews chapter 11.
The original plan for this morning was to continue our verse-by-verse exposition of the book of Hebrews.
We've been in chapter 11 and looking at the type of faith that God requires of us.
We will press on and continue in faithfulness.
The original text was verses 8 through 15 of Hebrews 11.
However, we're about to take a month-long break from our exposition of Hebrews for the Advent season, as we do every year.
It's where we carefully contemplate the incarnation of Jesus Christ.
And dividing the first portion of the Hebrews text concerning the faith of Abraham from the second portion of Hebrews 11 concerning the faith of Abraham,
I just felt all week really clunky and unhelpful.
I was feeling like when we came back in January to Hebrews 11, I was going to essentially have to re-explain verses 8 through 15 in order for us to continue on in our study of Abraham's faith.
And so, today, we're going to look at a familiar text to our congregation to show you why our church exists.
And quite providentially, I had not informed Daryl or Gary that I was doing this this morning.
Daryl drew our attention to the vision statement of our church, and Gary prayed the very text we're going to look at this morning.
So, our text this morning is Colossians chapter 1, verse 15 through 20.
And my prayer for this morning is that our time will be informative for you if you are new to our fellowship.
It's our great desire to connect you to Christ and to His church.
And if you are not new to our fellowship, that you will be reminded why the church gathers and why the church goes.
So, our church's vision statement, which I hope is growing in increasing recognition for you, is Christ's family church exists to glorify God by experiencing, proclaiming, and displaying the supremacy of Jesus Christ in all things to all peoples.
And this vision statement is based largely from Colossians chapter 1, verses 15 through 20, which we'll read together now.
Before we read, beloved, I want to remind you that this is God's word to us.
That it was written for His glory and for our good.
Because of this, we would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and obey its commands.
Jesus Christ 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.
Now, I hope for you this is a familiar text, whether you are familiar with our congregation or not.
That this is a text that you have looked at and have considered.
If you are familiar to our congregation, you have likely heard a sermon on this text before.
I think probably this past March-ish.
At least I'm feeling that way.
And as I was thinking about this this week, I was reminded of an anecdote from Martin Luther's life.
Where he, for a period of time, preached the exact same sermon in consecutive Sundays.
He just continued to preach the exact same sermon.
And one of his congregants came up and asked him,
Luther, why do you keep preaching to us the same sermon?
And he said, well, when you start showing up living like you believe it, I'll move on to something else.
For quite some time, I think a period of about two months, he preached the same text again and again.
And so such significant texts can be helpful to us, I think, to come back to them, retouch on them, be reminded of them.
Now, every part of God's Word gives testimony about Jesus Christ.
In Luke chapter 24 and verse 27, you can read the account of Jesus' appearance to two of the disciples after his resurrection.
Which reads,
And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
All roads in the Bible lead to Golgotha.
In John chapter 5 and verse 39, Jesus says of the scriptures,
It is they that bear witness about me.
But of all the Bible's teaching concerning Jesus, perhaps none is more significant and beautiful and precious than the text before us today.
You see, beloved, the reality of who Jesus is demands our affections and our obedience.
Because if we say that we are disciples of Jesus Christ, we are not saying that we are following a mere man, but God himself.
And we have a great confidence in claiming Christ as our teacher, because the reality of who Jesus is makes sure the promises of God.
2 Corinthians 1 and verse 20, for all the promises of God find their yes in Jesus Christ.
Now, it is important as we're looking at this text to know that verses 15 through 18 are thought to be a cosmic Christological hymn.
Your phrase for the day, cosmic Christological hymn.
Many scholars believe that Paul is citing a modern hymn or confession of the church of his day.
And those are interesting arguments.
I will spare you from them.
They're mostly about grammar and sentence structure.
Wonderfully, beautifully, likely repetitive hymn that was already being used in the church.
Even more important to know about this text is the focus of this cosmic Christological hymn.
The preeminence or supremacy of Jesus Christ.
Last part of verse 18.
That in everything he might be.
Preeminent.
Supreme.
First in all things.
Most highly praised.
Paul also states this reality in Philippians chapter 2, 9 through 11.
Where he writes,
God has highly exalted him, Jesus, and bestowed on him the name that is above every name.
So that the name of Jesus.
Every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth.
And every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
So according to Paul, Christ is first in all things.
He is preeminent.
But how should we consider the truth contained within this text the preeminence of Christ?
How should we do such a work?
The Puritan John Owen wrote in his book entitled,
The Glory of Christ, the following, and I quote,
The revelation made of Christ in the blessed gospel is far more excellent, more glorious, more filled with rays of divine wisdom and goodness that the whole creation and the just comprehension of it, if attainable, cannot contain or afford.
Without this knowledge, the mind of man priding itself in other inventions and discoveries is wrapped up in darkness and confusion.
This therefore deserves the severest of our thoughts, the best of our meditations and our utmost diligence in them.
For if our future blessedness shall consist in living where he is and beholding his glory, what better preparation can there be for it than a constant previous contemplation of that glory as revealed in the gospel, that by a view of it, we may be gradually transformed into the same glory.
End quote.
Owen says, if we're to live in a state where we are constantly being amazed by our Christ, what better way to consider that, to be prepared for that, than to be about this constant previous contemplation?
The Christian eternity will be filled with the wonderment of Christ.
So we should seek to know him now that he may be exalted in our minds and in our lives.
You could say that we need to rightly understand the supremacy of Jesus Christ so that we would experience, proclaim, and display his excellencies in all things to all peoples.
Isn't this what Christmas is really about?
I think too often we simply reduce Christmas to a baby in a manger.
This is the God of the universe beginning to reveal himself in the person of Jesus Christ.
So let me encourage a constant previous contemplation.
And to help us do so, let's consider the text together in the following structure.
Number one, Jesus Christ is preeminent because he is God.
We'll see this in verse 15 and verse 19.
Number two, Jesus Christ is preeminent because he is the Lord of the universe.
Verse 16 and 17.
Number three, Jesus Christ is preeminent because he is the head of the church.
Verse 18.
And number four, Jesus Christ is preeminent because of his redemptive work.
Verse 20.
So first, Jesus Christ is preeminent because he is God.
Verse 15 says he is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
Paul says Jesus is the icon, the image or likeness of God.
The scripture refers to man as the icon of God, but you are not perfectly so.
Much like a shattered piece of glass returns a poor reflection, so it is with us.
Jesus is both the perfect representation and the perfect manifestation of God.
Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 3, the beginning of it, tells us Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.
Christ shines forth God's attributes as the sun gives light and heat to the earth.
He is the image of God.
Further, Jesus is God.
John 1 and verse 1 tells us, in the beginning was the word here there, Christ.
And the word was with God and the word was God.
Paul proceeds to describe Jesus as the firstborn, the prototokos, firstborn.
And while this phrase certainly can mean chronologically first in a family, it refers primarily to position or to rank.
From the Arians of the early church to the Jehovah's Witnesses of our day, those who seek to repudiate the deity of Jesus Christ refer to this phrase.
So prepare yourself.
You'll have these kinds of conversations in the world and they will go to this place.
But they fail completely to note its context.
They fail to note the following two verses in which Paul presents Jesus as the Lord of the universe.
Specifically at the beginning of verse 17, which says,
And he is before all things.
Jesus was not created.
Jesus is the creator.
He is God.
Verse 19 says,
For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.
Jesus is where all that can be known or experienced of God is to be found.
This is why Jesus was able to say in John 14, verse 9,
Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.
Beloved, we have such a blessed gift in knowing Christ our Lord.
He is God and he is preeminent because he is God.
Secondly, Jesus Christ is preeminent because he is the Lord of the universe.
Verse 16 says,
Jesus Christ is preeminent, supreme, more excellent as the creator of all things.
That is, everything that we can see and everything that we cannot see were created by Christ and they were created for Christ.
This is a magnificent thought.
This is a thought that should captivate our minds to contemplate everything created by Christ for Christ.
John confirms this in John chapter 1, verse 3.
Speaking of Christ, all things were made through him and without him was not anything made that was made.
The entire universe was created by him and for him.
In 2012, a picture was released that the Hubble Space Telescope had captured,
which was the farthest ever view into the universe.
A photo that reveals thousands of galaxies, billions of light years away.
The picture, called Extreme Deep Field, or if you care, XDF,
combines 10 years of Hubble telescope views of one patch of sky.
This compilation of all of these photos that have been taken.
It is absolutely astounding to look at.
It's incredible.
I encourage you to look it up.
In order to have your affections turned to the one who created the universe.
This expanse.
I mean, we have just begun to understand how massive the universe is.
How complex the universe is.
And we don't have to wonder if there's life somewhere else.
This is not the purpose of its creation.
Psalm 19, verse 1 says,
The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
This universe was made by Christ, and it was made for him.
It was meant so that we would look up at the night sky,
and we would say of Jesus, right?
Awesome, supreme, more excellent.
Abraham Kuyper once said,
There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence,
over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry,
Mine.
It all exists for his glory.
Jesus Christ is preeminent, as he was before all things.
Jesus says to the Jews in John chapter 8, verse 58,
something scathing.
He says,
Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.
And this doesn't make our jaws drop, but it would have made theirs.
They would have been astounded by such a claim.
Because he's referencing Exodus chapter 3, verse 14,
where God says to Moses,
Moses says,
Who will I say has sent me?
And God says to Moses,
Tell them,
I am who I am.
Say this to the people of Israel,
I am has sent me to you.
This God,
this self-existent,
self-perpetuating God,
I am.
Jesus is that God.
He has no beginning,
and he has no end.
He has no origin,
but he is the originator of all things.
Jesus plugs into nothing.
Everything else plugs in to Jesus.
Right?
Gets its existence and its sustaining power from him.
Jesus is preeminent because he's the sustainer of all things.
Verse 17 tells us,
In him all things hold together.
In Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 3,
again,
says he upholds the universe by the word of his power.
Not only were all things created by him
and set into motion by him,
but all things are also sustained by him.
Everything in the universe is made of atoms.
Remember science?
Some of the science,
protons,
electrons,
neutrons.
We're homeschooling our kids.
I'm getting reminded of so many things
that I have long since forgotten.
Scientists have labored over the past century
to explain away the existence of God,
but they have failed to explain
how it is that the atom remains in its orbital state.
This is an incredible thing that's happening
on this microscopic level.
There has been some incredible advancements in this
in recent years,
but yet they still don't quite understand it.
Carl K. Darrow,
a physicist,
is cited in a book entitled
The Atom Speaks
in reference to what scientists are currently calling
the strong nuclear force.
And he said this,
Do you grasp what this implies?
It implies that all the nuclei
have no right to be alive at all.
Indeed, they never should have been created,
and if created,
they should have been blown up instantly.
Yet here they all are.
Some inflexible inhibition
is holding them relentlessly together.
The nature of the inhibition
is also a secret,
one thus far reserved by nature.
Her self.
Science has not answered this question,
but the Bible has.
The strong nuclear force
is Jesus Christ
and the word of his power.
It is because of him
that these things exist,
and we have our very being.
Jesus stopped to speak
by his powerful word.
This would all stop to exist.
He is holding it together.
Third, Jesus Christ is preeminent
because he is the head of the church.
Verse 18,
He is the head of the body,
the church.
He's the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead,
that in everything
he might be preeminent.
He is the head of the body.
There are many metaphors
in the New Testament
used to describe the church,
image after image after image.
In our study on Sunday evenings
on the church going on right now,
I think we have discovered,
if I'm remembering correctly,
some 97 images of the church
in the Bible.
It is called a family,
a kingdom,
a vineyard,
a flock,
a building,
and a bride.
But none is more helpful
in our understanding
of its form and function
than that of a body
made of many parts
with Jesus Christ
as the head.
This metaphor helps us
to see the church
as a living organism,
inseparably tied together
with life and mission
by the living Christ.
He controls every part of it.
He coordinates together
the diversity of gifting
and ministry
for the sake of his name.
Without him,
the church ceases
to have life.
Jesus does not merely
save the church,
but is the head
of the church also,
also giving it life
and giving it direction.
The amazing declaration
of Jesus
when Peter says,
you are the Christ,
he says to him,
yes,
and this truth
that you've declared,
on this rock,
I will build my church.
He has not ceased
giving it life and direction.
He is its life
and he is its direction.
He is the head of the body.
He is the beginning.
He is the originator
of the church.
The word here
for beginning
has a two-fold sense
of both source
and primacy.
In Ephesians 1,
in verse 4,
Paul states
that God chose us
in him
before the foundation
of the world.
Before any of this
came to be,
God had a plan
that he would put together
a church
and place Christ
as its head.
Not only that,
but Jesus is also
the firstborn
from the dead.
Here we have
that word,
prototokos,
firstborn.
Of all who have
ever been raised
or will ever be raised
from the dead,
he is of the highest rank.
He rules over all.
So Jesus Christ
is preeminent
because he is
the Lord of the universe.
He is the head
of the church.
He is God.
Fourthly,
he is preeminent
because of his
redemptive work.
Verse 20 says,
and through him
to reconcile
to himself
all things
whether on earth
or in heaven,
making peace
by the blood
of his cross.
Reconcile
to himself.
There are many ways
that our salvation
is explained
in the scripture.
We are justified.
We once stood
before God
guilty and condemned,
but in Jesus Christ
we are declared
righteous.
We are forgiven.
We once stood
before God
as a debtor,
but the debt
has been paid
by Jesus Christ
and forgotten.
We are adopted.
We once stood
before God
as a stranger,
but in Jesus Christ
we are made
children
of the Most High.
Reconciliation
is one of my
favorites
of these explanations.
We are reconciled.
We once stood
before God
as his enemies,
but in Jesus Christ
we are made
his friend.
The Greek word
for reconcile
means to change
in relationship.
Not in degree,
but in kind.
We were once enemy,
we are now friend.
Romans chapter 5
and verse 10
Paul says,
For if while
we were enemies
we were reconciled
to God
by the death
of his Son,
much more now
that we are reconciled
shall we be saved
by his life.
And he is working
to reconcile
to himself
all things,
whether on earth
or in heaven.
In Genesis chapter 1
verse 3
we see
after the world
was created
by and for Christ
that it was very good.
All of this goodness
was marred
by man's sin.
All of that
will one day
be restored.
The reconciliation
of mankind
is just one aspect,
although the central aspect
of Christ's
restorative work.
He is making
all things new.
He will one day
set it all right.
This is the blessed
future hope
of the Christian.
And he did all of this
by the peace,
by making peace,
by the blood
of his cross.
Jesus' death
on the cross
was the means
by which
our reconciliation
is made possible.
On the cross
Jesus Christ
became the enemy
of God
and God
justly punished him
as such
so that we
might be reconciled
to God,
declared friends.
So Jesus
is preeminent
because he is God,
because he is
the Lord
of the universe,
because he is
the head
of the church
and because of his
redemptive work.
So what does all
this have to do
with the existence
of Christ's
family church?
Well,
for all of the
aforementioned
reasons,
Jesus Christ
is of highest
ranking and
should be worshipped
as such.
And this is why
the church
gathers
and this is why
the church
goes.
Whether or not
you are part of
this church
or ever will be,
you exist
to glorify God
by experiencing,
proclaiming,
and displaying
the supremacy
of Jesus Christ
in all things
to all
peoples.
This vision
statement is not
some special
gift to us.
It's not
revelatory.
I don't stand
up here as a
man with a
vision.
This is just
who the church
is.
This should be
true of each
and every church
and it should be
true of each
and every
individual
who is found
in Christ.
Those who have
been reconciled
by his death
on the cross
rightly should
experience,
proclaim,
and display
his supremacy
in all things
to all peoples.
Right?
And this is not
a burdensome
task because
Jesus Christ
is preeminent
because he
reigns.
We can cast
all of our
anxieties
and fears,
our doubts,
our troubles,
our exhaustion,
and our depression
on him.
There is no
situation that
escapes his
attention or
his power.
There is no
circumstance that
surprises him
or evades
his providential
control.
Everything in
this world
is very
carefully
ordered
by Christ.
He is our
confidence in
life and
death.
He is the
reason we
can boldly
share the
good news
of his
kingdom
because we
have a
future
hope.
The reality
of who Jesus
is demands
our affections
and our
obedience.
The reality
of who Jesus
is makes
sure the
promises of
God to us.
so let us
be a people
who set
ourselves to
a constant
previous
contemplation
of who
Jesus is
as we
await our
future
blessedness.
In closing,
let me remind
you of the
words of
John Owen,
this therefore
deserves the
severest of
our thoughts,
the best of
our meditations,
and our
utmost
diligence
in them.
Please join me
in prayer.