Good evening. Always wonderful
to be here and be together with God's people. Tonight we'll be
looking at Colossians again. Like I say, I've been really
enjoying this study with you. Tonight we'll be looking at verse
15. And 15-20 is a section which
is very doctrinal. And we'll see that as we go through
each of the verses too. Remember, Colossians Church is
a young church. And this is actually a prison
epistle too. So Paul's imprisoned. And he's
writing to the Colossian believers to encourage them. And I also
read something today I've been saying it's about the preeminence
of Christ. It is that too, but one commentator brought something
out too. It's about the supremacy of Christ also. It's about Him
being supreme. There's no other. He's the supreme
one. And so we'll see that too as
we go through our study. We'll see the preeminence of
Christ, and we'll also see the supremacy of Christ as well.
So tonight we'll be in verse 15, but I'd like to read the
context, so I'll read verse 14 to 16. in whom we have redemption through
His blood, even the forgiveness of sins." And we looked at that
last week. We have forgiveness forever through
Christ Jesus our Lord. And we have redemption through
Him and Him alone. And then it goes on to say, "...who is the
image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature."
And that's where we'll be tonight looking at that verse. And then
it continues, "...for by Him were all things created." So
there's His deity. He's the Creator. He's God the
Creator. that are in heaven and that are
in earth, visible and invisible, so everything, everything. He's the creator of all. Whether
they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers,
all things were created by Him and for Him to magnify His glory,
to magnify the glory of God in Christ. So tonight we'll be looking
at verse 15. And here we start to see where
Paul, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, begins to combat even
more the attacks by the Gnostic teachers, by the false teachers,
even more. He's going to ramp it right up here. He's going
to proclaim Christ in all His majesty, in all His sovereignty,
in all His deity, as we go from 15 to 20 and even onwards, it
continues. He is just magnifying Christ
in who He is. So I think we're going to get
into more of the doctrinal part here. He's finished the prayer
and the praise, and pointing them to Christ, and now he's
going to open it up. He's going to open it up. And
he presents Christ's preeminence so it's unmistakable. It's unmistakable. This portion of Scripture, as
I said, is very doctrinal. So let's get to some truths before
us concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. Now it presents the wonderful
truth that we will look at tonight, that Christ is the image of the
invisible God. He's the image of the invisible
God. Verse 16 continues, showing that
Christ is the Creator too. Look at verse 16 again. For by
Him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in
earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers. All things were created by Him
and for Him. Look at verse 17 here. We're
looking at a little bit of this doctrinal section. And He is before all
things, and by Him all things consist. We consist because of
Him. Everything we see consists because
of Him. And that shows His deity. He's
God the Creator. He created all things. And it magnifies. Look at verse
18. And He is the head of the body
of the church who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead that
in all things He might have the preeminence. He has all the preeminence. It
shows us the unity here too of Christ and his body. Christ and
believers. We have a unity. He's the head,
we're the body. It also magnifies his sovereignty
because the head gets the preeminence. Always. When we take pictures,
we take pictures of people's heads. We don't take pictures
of feet. The head is the preeminent part
of the body. Thus He receives all the preeminence. Look at
verse 19. It shows us that in Christ all fullness dwells. And
it pleased the Father, the invisible God, who Christ is the image
of. Look at it. For it pleased the
Father that in Him, in Christ, should all fullness dwell. He's
God in the flesh. God in the flesh. All fullness
dwells in Him. Verse 20 shows us the wonderful
doctrine of reconciliation, which is in the Lord Jesus Christ and
Him alone, right? We know from other Scriptures,
we look at their salvation and no other, but Christ and Him
alone, none. Verse 20 says this, and heaven made peace through
His blood, or through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile
all things unto Himself, the great Reconciler. He's the great
Reconciler. By Him, I say, whether they be
things in earth or things in heaven, And these great comforts
in us bring great peace to the believer, great rest for the
believer. Now the teaching which had crept
in did this, it depreciated. The false teaching that crept
in depreciated from the person of Christ and His perfect work.
Look at chapter 2, verses 2-4. It depreciated in what He had
done. And Paul in chapter 2 focuses the Colossians on Christ and
His preeminence and the things that we have in Him. That their
hearts might be comforted, verse 2, being knit together in love
and unto all riches of the fullness of understanding to the acknowledgement
of the mystery of God and of the Father and of Christ in whom
are hid all treasures of wisdom and knowledge. See, you don't
need any more knowledge other than in Christ. So the false
teachers depreciate it from Christ saying, well, it's Christ plus
this knowledge we have. And we still have them here.
It's Christ plus baptism. It's Christ plus this. They're
always adding things. They're depreciating Christ and
His precious work and who He is. And it says, and this I say,
lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. False teachers
use enticing words. to beguile believers, or to try
to beguile believers. And they carry people away with
false doctrines. People who aren't God's sheep.
The teaching of the false teachers took away from Christ by adding
the worshiping of angels. Look at verses 18 and 19 in chapter
2. They added the worshiping of
angels with Christ. Let no man beguile you of your
reward in voluntary humility and worshiping of angels, intruding
into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by
his fleshy mind, and not holding the head from which all the body
by joints and bands, having nourishment, ministered and knit together,
increases with the increase of God." So in Christ, the believer has
what? All he needs, right? That's all
he needs. And false teachers, they use
enticing words. They tell you to worship this
or to worship that. Taking you slowly away from Christ.
And what's Paul doing? He's focusing them once again
on who Christ is. Who Christ is. And also, the false teachers
depreciate the work of Christ and His perfect finished work
by the traditions of man also. See, they don't just do it by
worshiping of angels and other things. They do it by depreciating
the finished work of Christ by adding little things. Look at
Colossians 2, verses 20-23. Here we notice the false teachers,
they depreciate the work of Christ, His perfect finished work, by
the traditions of man and the works of man. Wherefore if ye
be dead with Christ, verse 20, from the rudiments of the world,
Why, as though living in the world, are you subject to ordinances?
Touch not, taste not, handle not, which all are to perish
with the using after the commandments and doctrines of men. Which things
indeed have a show of wisdom." Oh, they have a show, don't they?
The do's and don'ts have a big show. Big show. And folks get awful proud when
they say, well, I don't do that. I don't do that. Oh, and we know because we've
been delivered from that, those of us who believe. Indeed, you
have a show of wisdom in will worship. There you go. Will worship.
In humility and neglecting the body, not in any honor to the
satisfying of the flesh. Oh. So back to our verse in 15. It says, Who is the image of
the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature? Here we see
a two-pronged attack against the false teachers who had crept
in in Colossus from verses 15-20. Again, he's combating the heresies
promoted by the Gnostic teachers with strong doctrinal views of
Christ. He's going to put Christ right
before them. Paul, beginning tonight and going
on all the way to verse 20, will show us the preeminence of Christ
from every view, and that He is the sovereign God. He's the
sovereign God. He's in full control. He's God
incarnate in the flesh, and He is the preeminent One. He's the
preeminent One. He's forming a foundation right
now for the rest of the letter within these five verses right
here. He's putting forth the preeminence of Christ, the supremacy
of Christ. He's putting that forward. He's
building that foundation. And the foundation is built on
the preeminence of Christ, and built on His atoning work on
earth, and His work in creation, and His keeping of all things
together, and His work of reconciliation. This is a foundational. Now is
it just basic Christianity? No, no. They're so rich in here
it's not funny. But it also shows you that young
believers were taught back in the times when these books were
written, doctrinal truths. Folks nowadays
say doctrine doesn't matter. They don't have a clue what they're
talking about. Doctrine grounds us. It grounds us in Christ. It's important and it's vital.
So here's our text for tonight again. who is the image of the
invisible God, the firstborn of every creature." Our text
here states that Christ is the image of the invisible God. And
note the verbiage that's used here. It's not a question of,
well, is He? It's not a question of, well,
is He? Or He might be. But Paul, by
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, writes, Who is? Who is? He is. Christ is the image of
the invisible God. He is God manifested to us in
the flesh who is the image of the invisible God. An image here
before us in the text implies the manifestation of the invisible
God who was hidden from us. Hidden from us. Turn, if you
would, to 1 Timothy 1 and also put your finger in Hebrews 11. God is invisible. God the Father. He's immortal. He's invisible. He's eternal. And Christ is the image of the
invisible God. Look at 1 Timothy 1.17 and then
1 Timothy 6, chapter 6. So 1 Timothy 1.17 says this,
Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible. And keep in mind as we read these
Scriptures, who is the image of the invisible God? That's
Christ, right? Now unto the King eternal, mortal,
invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and
ever. Amen. And then turn over to chapter
6, verses 15 and 16. which in His times He shall show
who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and the Lord
of lords." There's only one Potentate, and that's Christ. It's not some
man in a city on this earth sitting with a funny hat and thinking
he's the Potentate. It's not him. It's Christ. Christ is the
only Potentate of the whole universe. The Potentate, the King of kings
and Lord of lords, who only hath immortality dwelling in the light
which no man can approach unto. whom no man hath seen, nor can
see, to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen. He is all
power. All power. And turn to Hebrews
11. The Lord Jesus Christ, remember
this too, who is the image of the invisible God. And this is
Christ. Anytime there's an appearing,
it's Christ. Even in the Old Testament, we'll
look at some of those too later on in the message here. Look
at Hebrews 11.24-27. By faith, Moses, when he was
come to Jerusalem, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's
daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people
of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming
the reproach of Christ greater than greater riches than the
treasures in Egypt, for he had respect and to the recompense
of the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not
fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured, as seeing him
who is invisible." Speaking of God. And remember again our text. It says, who is the image of
the invisible God? Christ is the image of the invisible
God. He's the image of the God who
is invisible and is manifested to us. Christ is God in the flesh. Here's a good illustration. I
shared this with Chet. He was over earlier today, and
so we were talking about this. The Scriptures here before us
declare that Christ is the image of the invisible God. And we
must, right? We must set the eyes of faith
upon Him as He is God incarnate in the flesh. The Lord Jesus Christ said this,
He that seeth me, seeth him that sent me, right? Scripture declares
that. Think of this, when a man looks
into a crystal glass, It casts no reflection of himself. And
I remember doing this when I was a kid. You look through a glass. You kind of, oh, that's neat.
But think of this. Say we have a sheet of crystal
glass. And you look through it. It doesn't reflect us. We look
through it, right? But if you put a piece of polished
metal steel behind that, right? Behind that glass. and look into it, what will it
do? It'll cast a reflection, won't it? It'll cast a reflection
of who is looking through the crystal. If God the Father were to look
through a crystal glass with steel behind it, it would reflect
the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the image of the invisible
God. God in the flesh. God incarnate
in the flesh. And think of this, without this,
if we look upon God, we see indeed some small sparks, right? Through
Scripture. Of His glory. It terrifies us
and amazes us in His mighty providential works. But in Christ, we behold
the express face of God, the image of God. The express image
of God. Scripture says, who is the image
of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. We don't see
Him now. We're not fearful of Him as a
terrible judge anymore, are we? We see His mercy and His grace
in Christ. Turn, if you would, to Hebrews
chapter 1. And remember again our text.
Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature? He's the image of the invisible
God. In Christ we see God. God incarnate in the flesh. Look
at Hebrews 1, verses 1-3. God who at sundry times and in
divers manners spake in the past times unto the fathers by the
prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son. Who is His Son? Christ, right?
God incarnate in the flesh. Immanuel. God with us. God with us. Whom He hath appointed
heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds. Look at verse
3 though. Who being the brightness of His
glory and the express image of His person. The express image
of His person. And upholding all things by the
word of His power. When He, head by Himself, purged
our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. Keep in mind too what we just
read. The express image of His person. The express image. Now my son
has some of my features. Brother, your son has some of
your features. But he's not the express image of you. And my
son is not the express image of me. But Christ is the express
image of God, of the invisible God. He is God. Remember the illustration? He's
God. He's the image of the invisible
God. Now let's look in Exodus chapter
24 and put your finger in Acts chapter 7. When we see appearances of God
in the Old Testament, it's Christ. It's Christ. He pre-incarnates. Exodus 24. And they saw the God of Israel.
And they were under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire. They saw the God of Israel. And it was as were the body of
heaven in this clearness. Now turn to Acts 7.30 with that
very Scripture we just looked at in Exodus in mind. When they saw the God of Israel,
that's Jesus Christ. He's the image of the invisible
God. Look at Acts 7.30 and Acts 7.38. And when 40 years were expired,
there appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai an
angel of the Lord in the flame of fire and a bush. That's my
King. That's my King. And then look
at Acts 7.38. This is He that was in the church
in the wilderness with the angel which spake to Him in the Mount
Sinai with our fathers who received the lively oracles to give unto
us. And that's what we looked at
in Exodus 24. Look again, or I'll read this
one. You can look in Numbers 12. Actually, let's look at this
one in Numbers 12. He is the image of the invisible
God. When the captain of the Lord's host appeared, when the
captain of the Lord's host appeared to Joshua in Joshua 5, that's
Christ. That's a Christophany they call. That's a pre-incarnate appearance
of the Lord Jesus Christ. John Gill commented on all these
Scriptures that we're looking at and pointed right to Christ.
Numbers 12, verse 8 says this, With him will I speak mouth to
mouth, even apparently and not in dark speeches. In the similitude
of the Lord shall he behold. Wherefore, then, were ye not
afraid to speak against my servant Moses? Note the words, the similitude
of the Lord shall he behold. Gil says this, As he had at the
burning bush, that was Christ, and at Mount Sinai, with the
elders of Israel." And that's what we read in Exodus 24. And
when the Lord proclaimed His name before him, at which several
times it is highly probable, He beheld the Lord. Remember
Isaiah in Isaiah chapter 6? That was the Lord He saw, high
and mighty and lifted up upon the throne. God. He's God. He's the eternal God. Ezekiel says this in chapter
1, And above the firmament that was over their heads was the
likeness of a throne, verse 26, as the appearance of a sapphire
stone. And upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness
and the appearance of a man above upon it. This pictures Christ's
kingly power and His authority. It says a person sat upon it as
He is God. And on the same throne with his
father, his mediator, he's king of the saints. And beloved, remember we always
say, he is king in eternity, wasn't he? He's king when he
was born upon earth. And he's king right now. It never
changes. He's the king of kings and the
Lord of lords. Sapphire stones denote the clear
manifestation of Christ's righteousness and judgments in His kingly office. And then in Ezekiel 1.26 it also
says, "...and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness
as the appearance of a man upon it." Robert Hawker says this
was no other than Christ, the pre-incarnate appearance of the
Son of God. He's the express image. Jesus Christ our Lord is the
image of the invisible God. Incarnate in the flesh. Turn,
if you would, to John 1. And remember our text again.
Who is the image, right? Of the invisible God. And He's
the express image. He's God. It's not maybe He was God, right? It says, who is the image? And we remember in Hebrews it
said he is the express image of God. See, people who say Christ has no
power or no hands but your hands and no feet but your hands, isn't
that ridiculous? He has all power, beloved. We're
going to see that later. He's got all power. He's God. He's got all power. And He manifests
His glory as He's pleased to do that. Look at John 1, verse
1, right? In the beginning. Now remember,
remember what we looked at in the Old Testament? Remember what
we looked at Colossians? He's the image of the Father. Look at John 1, verse 1. In the
beginning was the Word. That's the beginning. That's
eternity. In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. Okay, now think of our verse
that we're in again. I'll read it again. Who is the
image of the invisible God, right? Look at 1 John 1.14. And the
Word, the same Word spoken of in verse 1, was made flesh. God became a man, beloved. God
became a man and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory as
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. Christ is full of grace and truth.
And then look at verse 18. No man has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. And then go to John 14, verse
9. Remember, I'll read the verse
again. Who is the image of the invisible God? And look at John
14, 9. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with
you? And yet hast thou not known me,
Philip? We could put any of our names
in there. Oh, goodness sake. He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father. He, remember, who is the image of the invisible
God. He that hath seen me has seen the Father. And how
sayest thou then, show us the Father? He's God. He's God. The God in the flesh. The God-man. And then turn, if
you would, to John 15, verse 24. And look at this here. And keep in mind, okay, again,
I'll read it. Who is the image of the invisible
God? Being Christ. Who is the image of the invisible
God? Look at this verse. If I had, verse 24 of chapter
15, if I had not done among them the works which none other man
did, they had not sinned. Now they have both seen and hated
both me and my Father. Notice the connection there? But now they have both seen and
hated both me and my Father. the rejection of Christ as Messiah, and the doctrines that he taught,
and the miracles that he wrought arose from a stubbornness, a
malice, and a deep-rooted hatred against Christ. And in hating
Christ, they hated the Father. And in hating Christ, they hated
God. Do you see now how the Scripture
says we were once enemies in our minds with God? Even if we didn't outright say
we hated Him? Before Christ saved me, I didn't
believe on Him. Oh, and hating Christ, they hated
the Father, because Christ is the express image of the Father. Do you see why we say salvation
is only in Christ and nowhere else? Because He's God. And we're seeing that in the
Scriptures that we're looking at. He's God. Turn, if you would, to 2 Corinthians
4, verses 4-6. And then put your finger on Philippians
2. In whom? Who is the image of
the invisible God being Christ? Look at 2 Corinthians 4, verses
4-6. In whom the God of this world
hath blinded the minds of them which believe not. Remember,
we're under the power of darkness. Just a few verses over. In verse
13, who hath delivered us from the power of darkness. Our minds
were blinded, beloved, before the Lord saved us. in whom the
God of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe
not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the
image of God..." There it is. Who is the image of God. "...should
shine unto them." The express image of God. God incarnate in
the flesh. For we preach not ourselves,
but Christ Jesus the Lord. We preach Christ crucified. We
preach God. God became a man. and died for
the sins of His people, poured His own precious blood out to
redeem His people from their sins. God did this. The Almighty God. What a Savior! What a God! He has all power,
beloved. And He has mercy and love for
His people that's everlasting. It's everlasting. For we preach not ourselves,
we don't promote ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, the One
who has all power to save and all power to redeem His people.
Ourselves Your servants for Jesus' sake. For God who commanded the
light to shine out of darkness. Oh, what darkness we were in.
Oh, what darkness we were in. But God has commanded the light
to shine. The light to shine out of darkness
has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ who is the express
image of God. In only Him. There is only redemption
in Christ. Nowhere else. And we could not
see Him unless He revealed Himself to us. And He did that through
the preaching of His Word, through the glorious Gospel, the Gospel
that's mighty to save sinners. And then look at Philippians
2, verse 6. We see who Christ is. He is the
image of God. And tie this all in with what
we've been reading. Philippians 2, verse 6, who being
in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with
God. He's God. He's God Almighty. He came to
save His people from their sins. And beloved, He did it. He did
it. He redeemed His people. He redeemed
His people from their sins. Turn, if you would, to John 17. Now let's look at some aspects
of Jesus Christ as the express image of the invisible God. If He is the express image of
the invisible God, then He has all the attributes of God, right?
He's all-powerful, isn't He? He does. He has it all. And His
Word declares this God-honoring truth that He is God. Is God omnipotent? Right? Which means, is God all-powerful? Absolutely, right? Well, God is all-powerful. So is the Lord Jesus Christ.
John 17. Look at this. Verses 1 and 2. All power has been given to Christ.
These works spake Jesus and lifted up His eyes to heaven and said,
Father, the hour has come. Glorify Thy Son. that Thy Son
may also glorify Thee, as Thou hast given Him power."
Oh, beloved, He has power. Look at this, over all flesh. That He should give eternal life
to as many as thou hast given Him. John 17, verses 1-2. Look at this magnificent verse
in 2. As thou hast given Him power
over all flesh, He's all-powerful, beloved. God's all-powerful.
The Lord Jesus Christ is all-powerful because He's God. He's God. as Thou hast given them power
over all flesh. Now men like to say they choose
God. Look at what this says though.
It says He gives eternal life. That's what Scripture says. That's
what I believe. He gives eternal life. It's a gift. To whomever
He pleases. And look what it says also in
our text. To as many as Thou hast given Him. His elect. His
elect. His people. And we just go, oh
Lord, thank You. Don't we? Because we don't deserve
it. We don't deserve it. Is God omniscient? Is He all-knowing? Absolutely, right? Turn, if you
would, to John chapter 2. John chapter 2, and I'll read
Hebrews chapter 4. It says this. For the Word of
God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword
pierced, even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and
to the joints and marrow and discerner of the thoughts and
intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature
that is not manifest in His sight, but all things are naked and
open unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do." And look
at John 2, verses 23-24. Now when He was in Jerusalem
at the Passover and the feast day, many believed in His name
when they saw the miracles which He did. So right there we think,
well, they must have believed. But no, look what the next verse
says. But Jesus did not commit Himself. Not commit Himself is
give them faith unto them because He knew all men. What? He's all-knowing. He knows all
men. He's all-knowing. And neither
not that any should testify of man, for he knew what was in
men." Is God all-knowing? Yes. So is
the Lord Jesus Christ. He's God incarnate in the flesh.
Turn, if you would, to John 21, verse 17. And look at Peter's
confession of Christ. His confession of Christ. under
the heading of all-knowing. He's all-knowing, right? John
21, 17. And this is when the Lord's asking
Peter if he loved him. And notice too, if you ever get
a chance to sit and just read this passage here with Peter,
the Lord didn't browbeat him. He asked him three times, Peter,
do you love me? He already knew the answer. Oh, but look what Peter says
at the end here. He saith unto him the third time,
verse 17, Simon the son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved
because he said unto him the third time, lovest thou me? And
he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things. Thou knowest that I love thee,
Jesus saith unto him, feed my sheep. Feed my sheep. Feed them. Notice he didn't browbeat him.
Feed my sheep. Oh, Lord, thou knowest all things. Christ knows all things. Is God
omnipresent everywhere at once? The Lord said in Matthew 28.20,
Lo, I am with thee always, even unto the end of the world. Oh,
He's with His people. He says, I'll never leave them
nor forsake them. Never. He's with all of His elect wherever
they are and wherever they go. And what is said about these
three glorious attributes of God can be said all about Christ
and His wonderful attributes. All of them are in Christ. Divinely
revealed to God's enlightened children, right? We see them,
don't we? We see them in Christ. We didn't see them before. Now
we see them. Why? Because God's people are
taught of God. They're taught of God. He reveals
Himself to us through the preaching of His Word, through the studying
of His Word, through the reading of His Word. and He must reveal
Himself or we'll never know Him." Look again in verse 15. We'll
look at the latter part of this verse to close. It says, "...who
is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature."
Now this does not mean that Jesus Christ is a created being as
some false religionists sinfully interpret it to say. The JWs claim this. They claim
that Christ is a created being. He's not. And they use this text
to say that. I found this topic speaking against
what the JWs believe and what false people will promote on
this text. And I thought this was really
good. First, there is a Greek word for first created and it's
not used here. Well, that should settle it right
there, but with some folks it doesn't. Secondly, firstborn
can certainly mean the firstborn one in a family. However, it
can also mean preeminence and is a transferable title. Turn if you would to Genesis
chapter 41. We'll look at an example of this
quickly. Genesis 41 and then Jeremiah chapter 31.9 and we'll
see it right here. Manassas was called the firstborn,
and Ephraim is the secondborn in Genesis 41, verses 51-52. Genesis 41, verses 51-52. And Joseph called the name of
the firstborn Manassas, for God said, He hath made me forget
all my toil in all my father's house. And the name of the second
called he Ephraim. For God hath caused me to be
fruitful in the land of my affliction. Then go to Jeremiah 31, verse
9, and it says this, Ephraim then, who in Genesis is the second,
right? He's now called the firstborn. Jeremiah 31, verse 9, Or they shall come weeping, and
with supplication will I lead them. I will cause them to walk
by the rivers of water in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble. For I am Father to Israel, and
Ephraim is My firstborn." So firstborn there is a title of
preeminence. It's a title of preeminence.
And it's transferable and it does not mean first created.
And this ties right into the fact that this book that we're
studying is all about the preeminence and the supremacy of Christ.
It's all about His supremacy. It's all about His preeminence. And we know from the first part
of the verse, right, that Jesus Christ is the eternal God. He's
the express image of God, of the invisible God. And He receives
all the preeminence. In the following verse, look
at the following verse. It's amazing how the Word of
God just combats error so quickly. Because look at it says here
in verse 16, for by Him were all things created. He's the
Creator. He's not the created one. He's
the Creator. He's the one who receives all
the preeminence. For by Him were all things created
that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible,
whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities of power. All
things were created by Him and for Him. So this is speaking
of preeminence here. Jesus Christ is the sovereign
Creator of all things, which verse 16 tells us. He's not the
first creature that God made. He's the express image of God.
And he's creator. The first cause of creation.
He's the first cause of creation. The producer and cause of every
creature. The author of creation. Who made
all things out of nothing. Out of nothing. He spoke it into
existence. He's God. We need things to build
things. He just speaks things into existence.
It's amazing. He's the creator of all creation.
And He's also the sustainer of all. And He's the maker of the new
heaven and the new earth. So thus, by His right hand, as
we saw in John 17, right? He is fit to be the judge of
the whole world. He's the creator of it all. So
He's fit to be the judge of the whole world, to summon all nations
before Him, which He will do. He'll summon everyone before
Him and pass final sentence on them.
Oh, we see in this verse tonight that Jesus Christ must receive
all the pre-eminence. Because He's the express image.
He's the image of the invisible God. He's God incarnated in the
flesh. Look at verse 18 of Colossians
chapter 1. And He is the head of the body.
He's the head. He gets the preeminence. Who
is the beginning? He is the beginning. The firstborn
from the dead. Right? Raised for our justification. That in all things, what? He
might have the preeminence. The supremacy. The supremacy. He's our life. Turn, if you would,
over to Colossians 3, verse 4, and we'll close with this. He
must have first place. He must. He must be the supreme
one. He must have all supremacy. He
must have all preeminence. He is our life. He's our life. Look at Colossians 3, verse 4.
When Christ, and remember, who is the image of the invisible
God, who is our life, He redeemed us. He redeemed us. Colossians 3, verse 4. When Christ,
who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with
Him in glory. Praise His mighty name. Our great
King. Our Lord. Our God. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
image of the invisible God. God incarnate in the flesh. What
a mighty Savior. And He came to save sinners. And He did it. Praise His name.