Christ, The Preeminent One

Q: What does the Bible say about the preeminence of Christ?

The Bible teaches that Christ holds the preeminence in all things, as He is the Creator and sustainer of all creation (Colossians 1:16-18). The preeminence of Christ is a central theme in Scripture, especially in Colossians 1:16-18. Jesus is described as the image of the invisible God and the firstborn over all creation, indicating His supreme authority and role in creation. All things were created by Him and for Him, demonstrating that He is not only the Creator but also the purpose behind creation. As the head of the church, He is to have preeminence in every aspect of life and faith, signifying that without Him, the church is lifeless and powerless.

Q: How do we know that Christ is God?

We know Christ is God because He is described as the express image of God and equal with God in all aspects (Hebrews 1:3). The divinity of Christ is affirmed in multiple scriptures, particularly in Colossians 1:15, which states that Christ is the image of the invisible God. This means that in His nature, character, and authority, He fully represents God. Hebrews 1:3 also emphasizes that He is the exact representation of God's being. Thus, while Christ took on human form, He retained His divine nature, proving that He is truly God. Moreover, John 1:1 states that the Word was both with God and was God, further supporting His deity.

Q: Why is the Atonement important for Christians?

The Atonement is crucial as it provides redemption and forgiveness of sins through Christ's sacrifice (Colossians 1:14). The Atonement is a foundational doctrine for Christians, as it signifies Christ's sacrificial death which provided redemption and reconciliation between God and humanity. Colossians 1:14 states that in Christ we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. This underscores the significance of the Atonement, as it fulfills God's requirement for justice while simultaneously offering mercy to the sinner. Without the Atonement, there would be no forgiveness and no hope for eternal life, making it central to the gospel message.

Q: What does 'all things were created for Him' mean?

'All things were created for Him' indicates that the purpose of all creation is to glorify Christ (Revelation 4:11). 'All things were created for Him' signifies the ultimate purpose of creation: to bring glory to Christ. According to Colossians 1:16, everything was created by Him and for Him, indicating that the purpose of every creature, both visible and invisible, is to serve and honor Him. Revelation 4:11 further highlights this, stating that all things were created for God's pleasure. This understanding leads us to recognize that our lives and the entirety of creation find their significance in pointing towards the glory of Christ and His majesty.

Q: Why does God create wickedness?

God allows wickedness to exist to display His justice and to ultimately glorify Himself (Romans 9:22-23). The existence of wickedness and the allowance of evil serve a divine purpose in God's sovereign plan. Romans 9:22-23 illustrates that God, in His sovereignty, endures vessels of wrath fitted for destruction to demonstrate His power and wrath, while also manifesting His mercy to the vessels prepared for glory. This means that even the wicked are part of God's overall plan, as their existence allows for the full display of God's character, including His justice and mercy. Thus, God is never the author of sin, but the existence of evil serves to highlight the greatness of His grace and mercy towards His elect.

That's good, isn't it? Excellent hymn worship. Colossians chapter one now. Colossians one. There can be no doubt, even to
the ignorant reader, the casual reader
of Colossians, there can be no doubt who this is talking about. We saw Sunday morning how verses
9 through 17 are one sentence. And they concern the one God
and Savior, Jesus Christ. But look at verse 12, and you'll
see clearly, we should be able to see clearly who this is talking
about. Like I said, even someone who
has never read this before should be able to clearly see who this
is talking about. There's no doubt. Verse 12 says
we give thanks unto the Father. which hath made us meet or fit
to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, who hath
delivered us, God, who hath delivered us from the power of darkness,
and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son in whom."
You see that? Very clear. who is talking about
now. He begins to speak about Christ. He just talked about the Father,
God the Father. And now verse 14, he says, verse
13, he's translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son, Son
of his love, in whom, verse 14, in whom we have redemption. In Christ we have redemption
through his blood. All saints have right now, present
tense, redemption through his blood, the Atonement, by whom
we have received the Atonement, who entered into the holy place
and having obtained eternal redemption for us. in whom we have redemption
through his blood, and even the forgiveness of sins." I keep
thinking about Romans 8 when I see that word, even. Romans
8, it says, "...who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that
died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right
hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." So, for
emphasis. He says we have redemption through
his blood, even the forgiveness of sin. All right, verse fifteen.
Who? Who is the image of the invisible
God? That is, Christ is the image
of the invisible God. Hebrews 1 says he's the express
image. That means that he is God. He
is the express image of the invisible God. He's the image of the invisible
God. He thought it not wrongly to
be equal with God, equal with God in every way, very God of
very God. Yet he took upon himself the
form of a servant, flesh. So thereby that made him lower,
didn't it, at the time. made a little lower than the
angel. We see him made a little lower than the angel, but he's
still. Now he's crowned with glory and
honor. He is as God as he was in the beginning. Father, glorify
me with the glory I had with you from the beginning. What's
that? Deity, godhood. He laid down this body and he
assumed once again his absolute deity without the restriction
of the flesh. who is the image of the invisible
God. And that's the reason people
get all hung up on the fact that he's called the Son of God in
the Scripture. That doesn't make him less than
God. That just merely says that he took upon—he had a bodily
form. You understand that? He had a
bodily—he wasn't less than the Father. He is God. But when he took upon a form,
An image, you see, God doesn't have an image. He's Spirit. But
when He took upon Himself a form, an image, that made Him the Son
of God. You see that? The begotten of
God. You understand that? People get
hung up on that. Well, the Jehovah Witnesses and
so forth. He's the Son of God. He's not
God. That body He took when He dwelled in that body, He was
the Son of God. But now, He's very God of very God. He is God. He always has been. All right? He's the image of the invisible
God, the firstborn of every creature. The firstborn of every creature. First, in other words, in Him,
every creature comes from Him. All right? This is what, verse
16, and this is where we're going to start our study tonight. Verse 16. By him were all things
created." By who? Is there any doubt who he's been
talking about? Huh? By God, by Christ, by one and
the same. They're the same. In the beginning,
God. John 1, in the beginning was
the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God. And a word
was made flesh, Christ. He is God. And by him were all
things created, all things created by Jesus Christ. That makes him
God, doesn't it? Things that are in heaven, read
on. Things that are in heaven, that means sun, the moon, the
stars. I believe he's talking about
the atmosphere above us, the heaven. Things that are in the
heaven above us—the sun, the moon, the stars, these celestial
bodies. And then things that are in earth—plants,
animals, man. He created all those things,
too. Then he says things visible and invisible. The visible things
in the heavens and the invisible things in the heaven. What are
the invisible things in heaven? Well, angels, cherubs, and seraphs,
they are created beings. Right? Certainly. God's the only
one who didn't have a beginning. Right? So everything else had
a beginning, had a creation. The Bible doesn't talk about
the creation of angels, does it? But they weren't, because
God's the only one who was without beginning or end. And it says
here that Christ made the angels. Even Christ made even the angels,
the cherubs, the seraphs, things invisible. All right, read on.
Whether they be thrones, dominions, principalities, or powers, all
things were created by him. What about devils? Demons? Does he need anything to doubt
that, whether it's in heaven or earth, or visible or invisible,
dominions, principalities, power, no matter who it is, where it
is, what it is? Jesus Christ created it. Angels
and devils. Men and cherubs. Satan. Jesus Christ created him. Is
that right? The world would be on edge right now hearing this,
wouldn't it? I want everybody who has a Bible
to turn to Proverbs 16. Proverbs 16. You must see this. I've said this so many times,
and we've read it together so many times. The person who sees
this for the first time, it will change their theology forever.
This one verse should suffice to change a man's theology, or
that it is to correct it. Proverbs 16. Look at this. It's difficult, but it's so. Proverbs 16, verse 4, says, "...the
Lord hath made all for himself." Right? All things for himself. Yay? Yes? Somebody say, well, I don't know
about that. Yes? Even the wicked. And in the Scriptures, whenever
it says the wicked, it's generally talking about the wicked one.
When Christ said, In that, in Psalm 5, or Psalm 6, when he
tells us to pray, deliver us from the evil, the evil one,
Satan. Satan. The wicked, even the wicked
for the day of evil. Isn't that something? Jesus Christ made all things,
even devils and demons. Is that right? That is exactly
right. Like I said, God alone, Christ
alone, is without beginning or end. He is the Creator. Everything
else is created by him, verse 16, by him, all things created
by him and for him. You see that? Why were things
created? Why were men created? So they
could have a good time? No, for him. Everything is created
for him. Revelation 4, listen to this.
Revelation 4, verse 11, says this, Thou art worthy, O Lord,
to receive glory and honor and power for. Thou hast created all things,
and for thy pleasure they are and were created. Everything
for his pleasure, even devils. That's right. But someone said,
well, maybe, perhaps, though, what happened, though, was that
things went wrong. God created things, and then
things went wrong. Things didn't go the way God
intended them to do. Angels, you know, turned into
devils. That's true. Angels did turn into devils.
And in man, man turned into a sinner, and that's true. Man did turn
into a sinner, but Acts 15, 18 says this. Acts 15, 18 says this. Known unto God are all his works
from the beginning. Right? OK, now if God knew that
angels were going to turn into devils, And it messed his plans up, you
think he'd have gone ahead and created them? Huh? And he knew, he knew it beforehand,
right? If he knew man was going to fall
and mess his, mess everything up, if he knew no one under God
or all his works from the beginning. Listen to this, Isaiah 46, 10,
it says there, I want to quote it exactly, it says, Declaring,
I am God, there's none like me, I declare the end from the beginning,
and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying,
My counsels sustain, I will do all my pleasure." What's that?
Everything is done according to his pleasure. And the foolishness of men, that
is man's logic, isn't it, man's reasoning. Well, God, of course,
you know, God knew it ahead of time, but He couldn't do anything
about it. Well, if He knew it ahead of time, and it messed
things up, He wouldn't have done it, would you? Still, if you
knew you were going to have a wreck down the road, would you get
in your car? That's ridiculous, isn't it?
That's how foolish man's wisdom is. Has not God made foolish
the wisdom of this world? Don't remember God and all his
works from the beginning. He said, I declare the end from
the beginning. Well, why then? All right, let's ask the question.
I'm not afraid to try to answer it. Why then would God create
devils? Now, let me say this. He created
angels, which turned into devils, but they did it according to
his will. In other words, he let them go
according to his will. God's not the author of sin.
This is the best, only way I can really explain this. God created angels, perfect,
holy, without sin, like man, right? He didn't create a devil
in a sense of an evil, wicked. God's not the author of sin.
Well, how did the angels fall then? He left them alone. He
removed himself like man. He removed him. He left him alone. And they fell. OK? They fell. That's the only way
you can explain that, right? God's not the author of sin.
But you can count on it. There would be no devils had
not God willed it. Right? Or purposed it. Well,
why then did God purpose and will for there to be demons and
death and sin. What? Well, turn to Romans chapter
9. Romans chapter 9. And you know,
when we talk about demons and devils, men like to blame devils
for sin, don't they? I know Satan is is behind it
all and everything, but it says, now Joe, it says that Adam was
not deceived, doesn't it? Now I know he deceived Eve, but
Adam, it says, was not deceived, doesn't it? So is Satan responsible for Adam's
sin? No sin. And so when we talk about
devils, and when we talk about evil man, neither one of them
is worse than the other. All right? We talk about wicked
men. Wicked men are devils personified. Right? Evil men are demons personified. And we can't blame the demons
and the devils, because men are just evil or depraved by nature. When you think about men like,
well, in our generation, men like Adolf Hitler and men like
that, you know. just wicked and perverse men.
And back in the old days, we talk about Pharaoh, the evil
things that he did. Well, look at this. Pharaoh,
Romans 9, verse 17, the Scripture says, look at it, Romans 9, 17.
The Scripture says unto Pharaoh. Now, you remember what all Pharaoh
did to God's people, don't you? Well, God God didn't want that
to happen. God didn't want his people to
be in slavery. God didn't want—God didn't want—God didn't want—whatever
God wants, he does. You can never say that God didn't
want. You can never say God wants. Right? All right, look at this,
verse 17. The Scripture says, unto Pharaoh,
even for this same purpose have I raised you up. God Almighty
raised Pharaoh up. that I might show my power in
thee, my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout
all the earth." And I didn't write this scripture down, but
there's a part of it that says, it says, the wrath of man shall
praise thee, and the remainder he shall restrain.
Whatever wrath of man God can get glory out of and show his
power, and he'll use it, and the rest of it he won't allow
it to go on. He'll restrain it. Everything. He raised up Pharaoh. He raised
up Pharaoh to show his power. Now read on. Look at verse 22. Read this now. The world at large
hates this. But I'm telling you, it's you,
if you're a believer, it's your comfort. It should be your comfort.
As bad as it is, no thief's going to break into your house unless
somebody wills it, right? All right, verse twenty-two.
What if God, willing to show his wrath, to make his power known, in beard
with much longsuffering, the vessels of wrath fitted Do you
have a marginal reference? What does it say beside the word
pitted? Somebody tell me. Made up to destruction. Now, explain that. Just read it. Why should we try
to explain that? That's what it says. I'm not
going to apologize for that. And that he might make known,"
all right, that's to make his power known, his wrath known.
And verse 23, "...that he might make known the riches of his
glory." Now, he didn't have to show this at all. "...glory,
and on the vessels of mercy which he hath foreprepared," here's
the word, "...unto glory." Everything, somehow, everything is for his
glory. Turn back to Isaiah 43 with me,
quickly. And I said, it's going to be
short, and it is. Isaiah 43. That is, if you turn fast, I
want you to see all these scriptures with me. Isaiah 43, look at this. Isaiah 43 now. I'm going to have
you turn to Isaiah 66 after this, and then Ezekiel. Isaiah 43,
you got it? Verse 7. Now we're talking about him creating
all things for his pleasure and for his glory. Verse 7, "'Even
everyone that is called by my name, for I have created him
for my glory. Yea, I formed him, yea, I made
him.'" Isaiah 66. Turn over there to some of the
last words of this glorious book. Isaiah 66, look at this. You
got it? Isaiah 66, verse 18. Isaiah 66,
18, For I know their works and their thoughts. It shall come
that I will gather all nations in tongues, and not every person,
but every individual out of every tribe, kindred, nation, and tongue.
But then again, yes, every person will see his glory And they shall come, verse 18,
and sing my glory." Verse 23, "...it shall come to pass, from
one new moon to another, from one sabbath to another, shall
all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord." Verse 24,
"...they shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses of men
that have transgressed against me. Their worms shall not die,
neither shall their fire be quenched." for my glory, they shall be an
abhorrent of all flesh. God shall do it for his glory."
Look at Ezekiel now. Turn over there real quickly.
Ezekiel, right before it's just two books over, three books. Ezekiel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations,
Ezekiel chapter 39. You need to see this with me
now. Don't take my word for it. Ezekiel thirty-nine, verse twenty-one. Got this? Ezekiel thirty-nine,
twenty-one. I will set my glory among the
heathen, and all the heathens shall see my judgment that I
have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them. Even the
heathen. Everybody's going to see his
glory. Everything he does is for his glory. Hell will glorify God. Death glorify God. My wife was speaking to a woman
just the other day, talking about, well, just speaking about the
things of God, the gospel of Christ and so forth, and she
made that statement. She said, Hell glorifies God. And that woman, she said, turned
red in the face. and they're shook all over. She
couldn't believe that. And her thoughts were, she said,
God didn't want people to go to hell. You know, that's what
everybody says. You know, God loves everybody,
even those in hell, she said. Hell will glorify the justice
of God Almighty. You see, that's what hell is
all about. It's not like Robert Shuler said. Robert Shuler said
hell is going to be an eternal monument to the failure of God
Almighty. That's what he said. If you want
the exact quote, I'll find it for you. That's what Robert Shuler
said. Hell is going to be an eternal
monument to the failure of God Almighty to save those people.
No, hell is an eternal monument to the justice of God Almighty. It's going to glorify God. It's
going to glorify his justice. That is, he said the soul that's
in it will die. And his wrath against sin—sin's
being punished there right now and will for all eternity—to
glorify the wrath of God against sin. It'll glorify God. It's
serving his purpose, right? And in the salvation of sons,
going to glorify his mercy, his love, his grace, and so forth. All right, back to the text in
Colossians 1. Colossians 1. Do you see that,
do you understand that? Huh? Hell is not the failure
of God to save some people. It's going to be, it glorifies
God, his justice and his wrath. It's for all those he passed
by, all those he did not see fit to save. That's his prerogative. I'm just thankful that I'm not
going there. Just thankful. I should. If I
got what people say, that's not fair. That's right. He ought
to send me there. It's not fair. None of us should
go to heaven. That's not fair. God doesn't
give us what's fair. He gives us mercy. Right? If God did what was right and
what's fair, he'd send us all there, because all of us have
sinned. What he does is gives his son what's not fair. Right? It's unfair to his son. He gives his son what I did,
and gave me what his son did. Now, that's not fair, is it?
Well, I'm thankful, Lord, and I'm not complaining. Oh, no. Christ said, it's all right by
me. And you know what I said? I said, it's all right by me. Christ said, he's all right by
me. I said, I'll be all right by him. That's what it says. All things created by him, verse
16, and for him. And for him. All things. The
elects were created to serve him, and everything else is somehow
another going to serve him too. Everything. And this is what's
marvelous, is that the non-elect serve us. Yes sir, that's right. People getting wealthy and rich
out there so you can have a job. Right? That's right. This little
community here, this little county here is prospering. Four percent
unemployment. That's low compared to nationwide. God's prospering this little
county. Why? For his elect's sake. Everybody
in here's got a job. Huh? The non-elect are going to serve
his elect. Isn't that something? That's God's power, isn't it?
That's God's power. Even Satan. Even Satan. Now that's power, isn't it? One
of the old writers said that Satan, with every blow of his
hammer. You know, Satan strikes out at
God's people, like with a hammer. There's John Sheehan, Satan says,
who desires to sift you, John. He wants you. Satan does. God
doesn't want you. God has you, he said. Satan wants
you, though. He can't have you. But what God
allows, and he says, that old writer said, whatever, Satan,
he says, sweats at the task with every blow of his hammer in conforming
God's people to the image of Christ. Did you follow that? Satan sweats
at the task. I'll get him now. Boom. Oh, that's
not what I meant to do. Boom. Oh, it's worse. He's looking
more like Christ. Oh, I might as well give up. No, he keeps on. He sweats at
the task. I'll get him somehow. No, you
won't. you're going to do what Christ, you're going to do exactly
to him what Christ allows you to do is going to be for his
good. Now that's power, isn't it? That's power. All things
created by him and for him belong to him. And he is the power of
things. He's got things out in front of, prior to, superior
to, above all, that's what the Greek gave to that meaning, to
that word, before. In front of, Christ went before
us, as Scripture says. Prior to, he's before all things,
in the beginning Christ. Superior to, above all, he is
before all things. And by him, He is before all
things, and by him all things consist. Scripture says he opposes
all things by the word of his power. Right? All things. In him we live and
move and have our being. So in a word, or at his word,
And by his power all things consist. You see that? He is before all
things, above all things, superior to. And by him all things consist,
even devils. Even devils. You see, he who
created all things by word, all he merely has to say is a word
to destroy them. Right? Isn't that right? That's exactly right. Scripture says when his wrath
is kindled just a little. He created the universe and all
the worlds with just the word, let there be. That's all he said
was, let there be. And it was. I've spoken it. It came to pass. And when he
destroys this universe, all he's going to say is, destroy it. It's done. You see, by his word,
all things are upheld. And all things consist by him.
You see, our God is God. Our Christ is God. Verse 18.
And you're going to like this. And he's the head. He's the special,
special, sovereign authority over. He is the head of the body. He's the head of the body, the
church. Look down at verse 19, it says,
It pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell. You see, that's where all fullness dwells, in the head. What is
the body without the head? Huh? What would you be? What
is the body without the head? Huh? What good is the body without
the head? Can the body do anything without
the head? The body in no way whatsoever
controls the head. No. And my arm just shouldn't
have been off like that, you know, and I said, don't do that.
No, no. I control it, right? My finger
doesn't wiggle. Unless I say it. Right? The head. The body without the
head is nothing. It's lifeless. Without the head. That's the reason these people
that are brain-dead, they're just lifeless. They're vegetables,
right? There's no life in them. The
body without the head is powerless. It's useless. There's no use
for a body without a head, is there? Normally, that's ridiculous. That's ridiculous, isn't it?
That describes modern day religion, doesn't it? No heads. A headless nonsense. That's all it is. Headless nonsense. See, the head controls everything.
The head is everything. Your head is everything. And
it deserves everything. Right? You are your head. Right? You are your head. You are your
head. Everything comes from the head.
I know we're talking about the heart, but that's the head, isn't
it? The heart, that's just the muscle
in there. There's no such thing as, you know, the heart doesn't
have feelings. It's in the head. It's in the
head. All affection, all knowledge,
all wisdom, all the faculties, all our faculties come from the
head. From the head, right? Without
the head, you can't do anything. Some of us try, but no, we can't. Without the head, we can't do
anything. Christ is the head. Right? He's the head of the body, the
church. All things are by him. All things
are for him. Everything you do is for your
head. Isn't it? Everything you do goes in it. Right? Even the eyes, the ears,
the mouth, the nose. Doesn't it? It's in your head. It's got to go through the head.
Correct? It's from it. Cross, section,
everything. Action from the head, right?
To the head. To the head, through the head.
Well, that's crossed it. He's the head of the church.
And you notice how all your attention, most of your attention anyway,
you spend on your head. Some of you ladies, it's very
obvious you spend a lot of time on your head, because the body's
gone to pot. So you spend... No, I'm sorry. Well, look, you
do. You spend a lot of time on your
head, don't you? Getting that head. Why? Because
that's the first thing people see, and that's really all people
take notice of. That's all they take notice of.
Everybody sits seated here. You look pretty good. You don't
look overweight or anything. You look fine. Look, your head
looks fine. Well, seated in Christ, I look
fine. No, no. In my head. In my head. And all attention needs to go
to the head, doesn't it? All the adornment goes to the
head. Everything devoted to the head.
The head gets all the notice and all the glory. According
to the head, so is the body. Now, doesn't that sum up what
Christ means to us? According to Christ, so is the
body. Without me, you can do nothing. Christ said, I'm the
head. He said, I'm the vine, you're
the branches. Severed from me, he said, for the burning. Our
life source comes from the head, right? Yes, to the head. All right, look at chapter 2,
verse 10. In chapter 2, verse 10, look
down there. It says that you are complete
in him, which is the head of all principality in Christ. Without Christ, I'm out of my
mind. Without my head, there was a
time when I was without Christ, and I was out of my mind. Or
should I describe to you before how
I dressed and looked? I said, you know, out of your
mind without Christ. Out of your, come out of your
mind. You ever heard somebody say, well, I have a half a mind. Well,
no, you don't have that much, man. Without Christ, you don't
have a half a mind. Right? You're out of your mind.
But in Christ, you're complete. Why? Because in your head dwelleth
all the, or verse 3 says, in him are hid all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge. You come to find out, Joe, you
didn't know anything. You know very little now, but
you didn't know anything. Because Christ is everything.
And so we worship and adore and give all honor and glory to the
head. To the head. To the head. Revelation 5 says
unto him, give unto the Lord glory due to his name. Verse
19 says some people don't do that. Colossians 2.19 says some
people don't hold the head. They don't hold the head. They
don't worship the head. They worship the body. There's
a denomination, per se, I wouldn't call themselves that, but Landmark
Baptists. Barry, some of you may know about
them, but their major emphasis is on the church. Isn't it, Ed? They're totally taken up with
the church. All right? That's not the way it's supposed
to be. You're supposed to hold the head up, not the body. Huh? You're not supposed to stand
this thing upside down. Which would that be? That'd be
wrongy enough, wouldn't it? Not a head. You're supposed to
hold the head up. That's what the body's all about. That's
the whole thing. The body's good for it. Hold
up the head. Hold up the head. All right,
look back at the text again. Now, it says, he is the head. And he is the head. Christ, if
you want a title for this, Terry, it'd be Christ our head. Verse 18 says, Colossians 1 verse
18 says, he's the head of the body, the church. Who is the
beginning? He's the beginning in the beginning
God, the beginning of all things, the beginning of the church,
firstborn from the dead. We saw that Sunday morning. He's
the first one to rise from the dead. And what Paul's saying,
he's summing it up by saying this, verse 18. Now this is a better title, better
title. Forget that title, Terry. This is the title. Christ the
preeminent one. Or whichever one you want to
choose. They're just Colossians 1.18. That'll be fine. The firstborn
from the dead, that is the first one to rise, and I pointed out
to you how some people came back from the dead, but they were
raised. They didn't rise, they were raised from the dead. Well,
Christ just up and got up from the grave. That, in all things
he might have the preeminence. In all things he might have the
preeminence. the superiority. Would you turn
to one more verse of scripture with me in Ecclesiastes? Would
you turn back there quickly? Ecclesiastes chapter 3, that
in all things he might have the preeminence. What does man have
preeminence over? Nothing. Nothing. Man doesn't have preeminence
over anything. It couldn't have it in there. Look at Ecclesiastes 3 verse
18, I said in my heart, you got it? I said in my heart concerning
the estate of the sons of men that God might manifest them
or that they might clear God and see that they might see that
they themselves are beasts. One of the old Puritans said
with an apology to the beasts. Verse 19, For that which befalleth
the sons of men befalleth beasts, even one thing befalleth them.
As the one dies, so doth the other. Yea, they have all one
breath, so that a man hath no pre-eminence above even a beast." Man's not above a beast until
he's made like the man, Christ Jesus. Isn't that right? Pilate
said it well, he beheld the man. Now, there's a man in the image
of God. The rest of them are beasts.
Aren't you? By nature, beasts. Man has no superiority. That's
what preeminence means. No better than a beast. Christ
said, I am from above. You are from beneath. From the dust, you return to
earthy beasts. Christ is the preeminent one.
What I was looking for, if you have King James Bible, right
in the front of it is a dedication to King James. Have you ever
read that? Do you have one in the front
of your Bible? That's the most blasphemous thing
I've ever read. Understand, I'm thankful for
King James. I'm thankful the Lord used him
to give us that translation, but he has no imminence. That's what they used to call
his old king, didn't they? His imminence. They still call
some of them that, don't they? The imminent one, his imminence.
Oh no, man has no preeminence over me. We just read that, didn't
we? In all things, Christ must have
the preeminence. Going to write a dedication of
the scriptures? Christ dedicated to him who by
whom, to whom, for whom, through whom, in whom, by whom, and all
things, not James. The king's heart is in the hands
of the Lord. King James, he just did what
the Lord told him to do. That's dedicated to King Jesus,
not King James. Here he goes through and says,
you most high and holy one that calls him that, some naked worm. Turn on your Bible. You have
my permission. That's not God-breathed. Turn
that. Right now, he's at the bonfire. Christ is the preeminent one,
okay? In all things. In power, all
power comes from him. In wisdom, in him are hid all
the treasure. In beauty, he's the altogether
lovely one. In the sonship, there's no son
like him. He's the only begotten son. We're
all adopted. In life, the life he lived, behold
the man. Nobody's ever lived a holy life.
He's declared to be the son of God by holy life. Scripture says,
in death, he's risen. He can't hold it. To this end,
Romans 14 says, to this end Christ both died and rose and revived
that he might be Lord, the preeminent one over all things, over the
dead and the living. As we saw in Revelation, one,
the faithful witness, the first begotten from the dead, the prince
of the kings of the earth, the king of kings, the Lord of lords,
the preeminent one. He is our God and Savior. Jesus
Christ, to whom be glory, all glory, both now and forever. Let me just read this in closing
to you. Stand with me. We'll just close with it. Stand.
Turn to it. Read it with me. I want your
eyes to behold it. Revelation 5. Revelation 5 says this. Why don't we read it out loud?
That's what it says that thousands upon thousands and thousands
upon thousands and thousands are saying. Well, how about this
little 35, number 30 group in here saying it with them? Let
me read verse 11, then we'll read 12 together. I beheld and
heard the voice of many angels round about the throne, and beasts,
and the elders. The number of them was ten thousand
times ten thousand, and thousands and thousands, saying with a
loud voice, say it with me. Worthy is the land that was slain
to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and
honor, and glory, and blessing. Amen.

Christ, The Preeminent One

What does the Bible say about the preeminence of Christ?

How do we know that Christ is God?

Why is the Atonement important for Christians?

What does 'all things were created for Him' mean?

Why does God create wickedness?

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Christ, The Preeminent One

What does the Bible say about the preeminence of Christ?

How do we know that Christ is God?

Why is the Atonement important for Christians?

What does 'all things were created for Him' mean?

Why does God create wickedness?

Sermon Transcript

About Paul Mahan

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