Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening and now
for today's program. I'd like to welcome you to our
program today. I'm so glad you could join us. And I pray that
this program and the messages that I preach to you as we go
through the scriptures are a blessing to you. If you'd like to follow
along in your Bibles today, I'm going to be preaching from the
book of Colossians. That's the New Testament epistle
that the Holy Spirit inspired the Apostle Paul to write to
a little group of people in a city called Colossae. Some people,
you may have heard of the book of Philemon in the New Testament,
a little short book. And Philemon lived in Colossae. And a lot of people, and Philemon
was a wealthy man. He had a huge home apparently. A lot of scholars believe that
the church of Colossae met in Philemon's home. That's a possibility. That's just a side note. But
the book of Colossians is a wonderful book. It is full of the teachings
of God concerning the preeminence of Christ. And that's the title
of the message, the preeminence of Christ. In Colossians chapter
one is where I'll begin. And when we speak of the preeminence
of Christ, we're talking about how he has all the glory in the
salvation of his people. because of basically two things. Number one, because of who he
is in his person, his name in the scripture, you know, whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord. Well, that's what identifies
and distinguishes him and sets him above everyone else. He is
Jesus, Christ. He is the Son of God. Jesus means
Savior. It means, actually, it can be
a compound form meaning God saves. In the Old Testament, in the
original Hebrew, you'll hear some preachers today say the
name Yeshua or Joshua. Well, that's the Old Testament
name. For the Greek name, the New Testament
name, Jesus. And it means Savior. When the
angel came to Joseph and told him about Mary's condition of
being with child, and he told Joseph, don't put him away, he
said, this is, don't put her away, because they had not been
formally wed yet. This child that Mary had was
conceived in her womb by the Holy Ghost, he said, and this
child is, his name shall be called Jesus. for he shall save his
people from their sins." And so that's Matthew 121. And then
he goes on in Matthew 123, he says, his name shall be called
Emmanuel, which being interpreted, God with us. So he has the preeminence
in his person, in who he is. He is God in human flesh. Isn't that amazing? God and man
in one person. And that's a mind-boggling truth
that we cannot physiologically, in our terms, explain and understand. It's just one of those biblical
truths that suspends our limited human reasoning. But it's so. He had to be both God and man
because he has the preeminence also. Secondly, first in his
person, in who he is. Secondly, in what he accomplished
to save his people from their sins. And that's what he did
as the surety and the substitute of his people in his obedience
unto death to put away their sins by suffering unto death. And so he satisfied the justice
of God. He brought forth everlasting
righteousness whereby God could be just to justify the ungodly
and thereby He secured the salvation of His people. And when He died,
He actually died and He was buried and He arose the third day signifying
that He accomplished the work. He finished the work and now
He's ascended unto His Father ever living to make intercession
for His people. Well, the book of Colossians
speaks of that preeminence. Let me show you that. We'll begin
at verse 12 of chapter one. Colossians 1 and verse 12, where
the apostle Paul, he's writing of the blessings of salvation,
the hope that was laid up for God's people in Christ in heaven,
which they heard by the word of the gospel, and He's inspiring
them, He's encouraging them to give thanks unto the Father.
Look at verse 12, giving thanks unto the Father which hath made
us meet or qualified to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints
in light. Now the word partaker is the
same word that is sometimes translated in the New Testament as fellowship. And what he's saying here is
that God the Father, through Christ, has made His people believers
qualified to be fellowshippers, fellow partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light. Now, what is that inheritance?
Well, it's the whole blessings and benefit of salvation by the
grace of God through Christ. You see, if we're saved by God's
grace, we're the participants. We have a fellowship. We have
a part. in an inheritance, a richness,
eternal blessedness, none of which we earned, none of which
we deserved. We are sinners saved by grace. And it's an inheritance. Peter
called it an inheritance that's incorruptible. that cannot fade
away, that's reserved in heaven for us. And who is the us there?
It's believers, not everybody without exception. Listen, if
you're not a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you have no
right to claim this inheritance. The only ones who can claim this
inheritance are God's elect. who He chose before the foundation
of the world, whom Christ redeemed on the cross, because that's
how this inheritance was earned, by Christ working it, and who
are called by the Holy Spirit under the preaching of the gospel.
So the question you need to settle in your mind, according to the
Word of God, is, am I one of God's people? And the way you
settle that question is to answer this question. Do I believe,
trust, follow, submit to the Lord Jesus Christ as my whole
salvation, my whole righteousness before God, the ground of all
the forgiveness of all my sins? Do I really trust Christ? Listen
to me now. Do I really trust Christ as He
is identified and distinguished in the Bible, so that He has
the preeminence? That's what this is all about.
So he says in verse 13, those who were to give thanks to God,
the Father, who qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints, That's a sanctified one, that's a sinner saved by
grace in light, that's truth. Verse 13, who hath delivered
us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom
of his dear son. Now some translations say the
kingdom of the son of his love. And that's okay. You see, it
was the power of God that delivered me from the power of darkness
into the kingdom of Christ. It wasn't my power. It wasn't
even my will. You see, the way we are delivered
from the kingdom of darkness or the power of darkness, now
the power of darkness is the power of ignorance. It's the
power of deception. It's the power of a false hope. You see, that's what we are by
nature. We're born as children of darkness. But God in His power
and grace through Christ in the preaching of the gospel, which
is the light, empowered by the Holy Spirit, brings us to see
the light. See things we didn't see before.
I see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. I see myself
like I've never seen myself before as a sinner, totally depraved,
who has no hope of salvation in myself. who if God were to
ever give me what I've earned or deserved, it would be death
and damnation. But then I see Christ in the
light of his righteousness. Paul described it in Philippians
chapter three, where the things he before conversion thought
highly of and thought recommended him unto God, in the light of
Christ, crucified and risen from the dead, in the light of Christ's
righteousness, which God has imputed to me, accounted to me,
charged to me. I count all that but loss, but
dung, that I may win Christ and be found in him, not having mine
own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through
the faith of Christ. And so that's how God delivers
his people, translates them from the power of darkness into the
kingdom of Christ. And here's the ground of it,
look at verse 14. in whom we have redemption through His blood,
even the forgiveness of sins." You see, it's all through Christ.
Now what he's describing here, folks, is the preeminence of
Christ. It's all Christ. It's not of
me. It's not salvation conditioned
on you or conditioned on me. It's not conditioned on my decision.
It's not conditioned on my baptism, my church attendance, my giving
money, a charity, or to the church. It's not conditioned on it. It's
all conditioned on Christ and He fulfilled the conditions.
What I do in obedience to God in those areas that I mentioned
is not the conditions that I must meet in order to attain or maintain
salvation. They are the fruit of what Christ
did. He's the vine, we're the branches. And so the redemption, He paid
the price. And what was the price? It was
His blood, His death. He had to die because the sins
of His people, God's elect, His church, His sheep, were imputed,
charged, accounted to Him. The Bible says in Matthew, or
rather 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21, that God made Christ to be
sin. The Father made the Son to be
sin. How? by the imputation of the debt
of the sins of his people to his account. That's what it means.
He is my surety. And he did that to Christ who
knew no sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him. His righteousness is imputed
to his people. And so even the forgiveness of
sins, Christ has the preeminence. Verse 15, Christ who is the image
of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. Christ is
the image of the invisible God because he is God. He's God in
human flesh. You can't see God, God is spirit. But when God brings a sinner
to a saving view of himself as the God who justifies the ungodly,
What we see is the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
That means acceptance with God in Christ. And so he's the image
of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. Now this term
firstborn sometimes is misunderstood. What he means here, the firstborn
of every creature, means that Christ has the preeminence over
every creature. John spoke of that in John chapter
one when he talked about in beginning the word was with God and the
word was God. How Christ, there wasn't anything
made without him. It was made for him and that's
what he's gonna talk about here in a minute. He's gonna describe
this preeminence. Sometimes, and the context has
to tell you what firstborn means. Back in the old Jewish economy
under the law of Moses, there was the law of the firstborn.
And the firstborn had the preeminence in the family. The firstborn
was to be the spiritual leader of the family, after the father
died, and then his firstborn. And so the firstborn was to be
especially dedicated to the Lord. So the firstborn had the preeminence.
Well, that's what it's talking about. Christ, as God in human
flesh without sin, has the preeminence over everything. He's all in
it all. It's all about Him. His glory,
Paul wrote, God forbid that I should glory in the cross as save in
the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's what he did. Philippians
3, 3, for we are the circumcision, that spiritual circumcision,
that's the new birth, which worship God in spirit. and rejoice in
Christ Jesus. That means we have confidence
in Christ Jesus and no confidence in the flesh. You see, no mere
man, not even the best Christian that ever lived is to have the
preeminence in the eyes of believers. It's all Christ. And I always
think about John the Baptist in this light. You know, John
the Baptist had some credentials. Now you think about as a preacher,
he was the last of the Old Testament prophets. John the Baptist was. He himself was prophesied in
the Old Testament in the book of Malachi. And as the voice
that would come ushering in the time of the Messiah. And Christ
himself said that there was none greater born of women than John
the Baptist. And that wasn't talking about
John having preeminence or anything like that. I don't have time
to go into all that. But he baptized the Lord. And all of that. So he confronted
kings. King Herod. So John had some
credentials. Yet John did not take the high
titles that self-righteous, proud religionists do today. He didn't
call himself the Reverend Dr. John the Baptist. or anything
like that. All he simply said is this, I'm
not the light. I'm here to bear witness of the
light. I'm not the Messiah. I'm here to point you to the
Messiah. I'm not even worthy to untie his shoelaces. I must
decrease, Christ must increase. And I love, there's a passage,
I think it's in John three, I'm not sure. I'd have to look it
up. But it talks about how John's
disciples heard John speak, but they followed Christ. And that's
my prayer as you hear me speak. I don't want you to follow me.
I want you to follow Christ. Christ is the Savior. He has
the preeminence. So he's the firstborn of every
creature. Now here's what he means. Now,
verse 16 of Colossians 1, it says, for by him were all things
created. Christ is the creator. All things
that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible, invisible,
whether they be thrones, dominions, principalities, or powers, all
things were created by Him. He has the preeminence and He's
the creator. We attribute creation to the
triune Godhead, Father, Son, and Spirit. It's said in Genesis
chapter one, let us, let us, make man in our own image. In
beginning, God created the world. And the term for God there is
a plural. Father, Son, one God, three persons. So it's attributed
to the Son, all things created by him. And then he has the preeminence
this way, all things were created, verse 16, for him. It's all for him. It's all for
his glory. You see, and let me say this,
we who are saved are the recipients of the fullness of blessings
and grace, but you know what? If in this salvation, God could
not be glorified through his son who has the preeminence,
we wouldn't be the recipients of anything but death and damnation. You see, it's not all about us.
It's not even all for us. It's all about Him and for Him. That's what people miss today.
And that's why most church services are filled with entertainment,
socialization, psychology, philosophy, how to win friends, influence
people, how to have a better life now, because it's all man-centered,
it's humanistic. It's Christianity that comes
under the name of Christianity, but denies the doctrine of Christianity. Paul said, O wretched man that
I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank
my God through Jesus Christ my Lord. He has the preeminence.
Well look at verse 17. It says he is before all things
and by him all things consist. He's the first cause of all things
and all things consist, subsist because of him. If it weren't
for him, there'd be nothing. And verse 18 says, and he is
the head of the body, the church. Certainly, if there's any place
that Christ must have the preeminence, it's in the church. Now, when
you think about the church, don't think about all the buildings
that are in this town or all over the world called churches.
Don't think of it that way. The church is the body of Christ
whom He redeemed with His blood, or by His blood, who are justified
before God based on His righteousness imputed, and who are called out
of the world by the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the
gospel. Therefore, and that gospel gives Christ the preeminence
in all things. It gives Him the preeminence
in creation, it gives Him the preeminence in providence, gives
him the preeminence in salvation, in all things, he has the preeminence. And that church where you find
local churches, that where Christ has the preeminence, that's where
the true gospel is preached. Now if you go into a religious
assembly, no matter how beautiful the building is, no matter how
many people they have, if Christ doesn't have the preeminence
there according to what the Bible teaches concerning His person
and His finished work of redemption, His righteousness, If he doesn't
have the preeminence there, my friend, that's not a true church,
that's one of Satan's tares. Now you may think that's too
hard, too mean, but I don't mean it to be, I'm just telling you
the truth. The word church is the Greek word ekklesia, and
it means a congregation who are called out of the world. And that's what he talked about
earlier. Translated from the kingdom of darkness into the
kingdom of God's dear Son. So Christ is the head of the
body. He's the head. His church is the body. He's
the bridegroom. The church is the bride. He's
the husband. The church is the wife. He's the chief cornerstone
of the church. He holds it all together. He's
the rock upon which the church was built. I heard a fellow the
other day talking about that, you know, that Peter was the
first pope. Peter wasn't the first pope. Popery is satanic. And that's given preeminence
to men. And so Peter was not the rock
upon which the church was built, Christ is. He was talking about
Peter's confession that Christ is the son of God. sent from
the Father to be the savior of his people. Christ has the preeminence. He said he's the head of the
body, the church. He saved his church by his own
blood. And he's the one who is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead. Now that speaks, the firstborn
here speaks of his resurrection. That in all things, or among
all things, he might have the preeminence. He has the preeminence. Sometimes his resurrection is
called the first fruit, because back during the harvest that
they had in Israel, if the first fruit was good, that means the
whole crop was gonna be good. Well, that's the way it is with
Christ, because he was raised from the dead. What does that
mean? That means that righteousness
has been established for his people. And that means they all
will be saved. Christ did not die for those
who perish. He died for those who enter heaven's
glory with him. And his righteousness is the
guarantee. That's why the gospel is the revelation of the righteousness
of God. Christ has the preeminence there.
You see, my righteousness before God is not something that I did
or did not do, or it's not something that God helped me to do. My
righteousness before God is Christ's righteousness, charged, accounted,
reckoned, imputed to me. And it's a perfect righteousness.
It's flawless. It's unchangeable. It can never
be taken away. God has given it to me. Who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who can condemn us? Now, who
has the preeminence here? The next verse says, it is Christ
that died. Yea, rather, is risen again and
seated at the right hand of the Father, ever living to make intercession
for his people. Do you understand that? Right
now Christ will always have the preeminence. And sad to say,
even in the condemnation of those who die in unbelief, He'll have
the preeminence there. The Bible says that at judgment,
God's going to judge the world in righteousness by that man
whom he hath ordained in that he hath given assurance unto
all men in that he hath raised him from the dead. That's Acts
17 31. Remember, see what that says now. God has appointed a
day in which he will judge the world in righteousness. Now,
do you have a righteousness that answers the demands of God's
law and justice? Now you may say, yes, I do. Well,
how did you receive it? What is that righteousness? You
say, well, I believe. Well, if you truly believe the
gospel in which Christ has the preeminence, you won't boast
about your believing as being your righteousness. You'll boast
that Christ is my righteousness. You see what I'm saying? Faith
looks to Christ. Faith doesn't look to itself.
Oh, look how much I believe. I believe, and that's a gift
from God, and that's a blessing. But my friend, my believing is
not my righteousness. Christ is, that's what I believe. I believe in Him, not in me,
not in my faith, not in my repentance. All those things are necessary,
but not to attain righteousness. Romans 10, 4, for Christ is the
end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. He
has the preeminence in my justification. He has the preeminence in my
salvation. He has the preeminence in my
preservation. And He'll have the preeminence
at judgment as God declares to the world, His people who are
in Christ, washed in His blood, clothed in His righteousness,
and Christ will have the preeminence in glory, too, in the new heavens
and the new earth. That's the preeminence of Christ.
I hope you'll join us next week for another message from God's
Word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of
Grace Media Ministries or Eager Avenue Grace Church, write us
at 1102 Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia, Contact us by phone at 229-432-6969
or email us through our website at www.TheLetterRofGrace.com. Thank you again for listening
today and may the Lord be with you.