I want so very much for you to know the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to know him myself. I want you to adore him. I want
to adore him myself. I want our hearts to be ravished
with his love so that we give ourselves to
him entirely to him and I know that the only means
by which this shall be accomplished is if God is pleased to show
us his son in his word by his spirit and draw out our hearts
to him. So I want us one more time to
look at Colossians chapter 1 and verse 18. And let me try to show you something
about Christ preeminent in such a way as to apply this whole
thing to our hearts and lives. He is the head of the body, the
church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things He might have the preeminence. God the Father has given his
Son preeminence in all things and over all things as the God-man,
our mediator. Now please understand, I'm going
to stress this one more time. God the Father gives nothing
to the Son as the Son. God the Son is in every way equal
with and possesses all things in fullness with the Father.
But the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit have given to
Christ the mediator, the God-man, all things. Listen to this. The Father loveth the Son. Well, that goes without saying. There's no question about that.
But in the context These words spoken by John are describing
the Father's love for the Son as a man. The Father loveth the
Son, that Son who took on himself human flesh, that Son who became
a man to redeem us. The Father loves the Son, the
God-man mediator, and hath given, as our mediator, the Father hath
given all things into his hand. In John chapter 10, Listen carefully. Our Lord Jesus says, other sheep
I have, which are not of this fold, them also I must bring,
and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and
one shepherd. Therefore, now that seemed like
strange language, therefore doth my father love me. Did he not
love him before? Of course he did. Did he not
love him as the son from eternity? Of course he did. But here he
speaks of his accomplishments as our mediator, having fulfilled
all things as our good shepherd, having accomplished redemption
for us by his blood, and at last brought all his sheep safely
home to glory, the mediator, the shepherd says, therefore,
doth my father love me because I lay down my life for the sheep. So that these things we're talking
about, the father giving the son all things, the father putting
all things in his son, the father giving the son preeminence, the
father loving the son, these things have reference to our
Lord's accomplishments for us. So that the father loves the
son as our mediator because he redeemed us. The Father has given
all things to the Son as our mediator because the Father is
determined to save us and has given all things into the hands
of his Son. So that every relationship now between God the Father and
God the Son as our covenant mediator is wrapped up in us. You understand what I'm saying?
Every relationship, every Everything connecting God the Father and
God the Son as our mediator is wrapped up in us and our salvation. We are the fullness of Him that
filleth all in all. God's elect, His church, the
body of Christ is the fullness of Him that filleth all in all. Now let's stand here one more
time and try to grasp something of the majesty of these words. that in all things he might have
the preeminence. Let me try to answer three questions
and we'll stay right here with this text in Colossians 1. So
just hold your Bibles open there. The first question is where?
The second question is why? And the third question is how?
Those three questions. Number one, where? Is the Lord Jesus Christ preeminent?
Our text declares, in all things. That's pretty plain. That means
exactly what it says. Christ has been given preeminence
as the God-man mediator in all things. In the purpose of God,
by the arrangement of God, he possesses all things and is preeminent
in and over all things. And I've tried to show you how
that our Lord Jesus Christ is preeminent in the purpose, works,
worship, and word of God. How that he is preeminent in
preaching, in salvation, and among the people of God. But
let's look at just this text here this morning and see wherein
the Holy Spirit declares our Savior to be preeminent. In verse
14, in whom we have redemption through his blood. Even the forgiveness
of sins. Now this is what the Spirit of
God tells us. Christ is our salvation. He is preeminent in the affair
of salvation because he is salvation. Simeon held him up and said,
Lord let us now thy servant depart in peace for thine eyes has seen
thy salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ has by
his blood effectually redeemed us from all our sins. And that
redemption means we have forgiveness. Oh, how I rejoice in the declaration
of Scripture that Christ's shed blood is effectual, sin-atoning
blood, so that those for whom he died at Calvary have been
forever, immutably, indissolvably, irrevocably forgiven of all sin,
because his blood was not shed in vain. Look at verse 15. Our
Lord Jesus Christ is here described as the image of the invisible
God. He is preeminent then, not only
in the saving of his people, but in God revealing himself
to his people. Our Savior is the embodiment
of God. If we would know God, we must
know Christ. It's not a matter of how much
you know, it's not a matter of what you know, but who. This
is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God
and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. Now knowing a false God,
a false Christ, a false Savior will do you no good. You must
know Him, who is the Christ of God. He and he alone is God,
the image of the invisible God. There is no way to know God except
in the person of his son. Look at verse 15 again. This
is that one who is the firstborn of every creature. The firstborn
of every creature. What on earth is that talking
about? The Lord Jesus is that one from whom, through whom,
by whom, and for whom all things exist. He is the beginning of
the creation of God. Now this is what is implied or
stated when the Holy Spirit says that Christ is the firstborn
of every creature. He is that one out of whom creation comes. He's the creator. He's the creator. Now I know we live in an age
in which it's just presumed, just presumed. You hear somebody
talk on television, you pick up a newspaper article, it's
just presumed that this world sort of happened. It just popped
into being out of nothing. The Lord Jesus Christ, our God,
spoke and understood. He created this world. He is the one who has brought
everything into being by the mere exercise of His will. He is God Almighty. Our Lord
Jesus Christ has not only called all things into existence, all
things were created for Him so that He stands preeminent, the
firstborn of every creature, the firstborn. You see, the firstborn
is the one in whom all possessions reside. He is the one to whom
all honor is given. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
that one to whom the Father has given everything and to whom
the Father gives all honor. He's the firstborn of all creation. And then in verse 16, We're told
that this one who is the image of the invisible God, this one
in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness
of sins, this one who's the firstborn of every creature, he is that
one who possesses and rules all things in providence. 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. And he is before all things,
and by him all things consist. You see, this Christ, the Christ
of God, the God of Scripture revealed in Jesus Christ our
Lord, is that one who possesses by right, indisputable sovereignty. All things are in his hands.
All things. He upholds all things, he rules
all things, he disposes of all things exactly as he will, mercy
included. In fact, in fact mercy, just
the word mercy necessitates sovereignty. It just necessitates sovereignty.
If I've offended Bob Duff, and I go to Bob Duff and ask that
he forgive me, if I ask him to be merciful to me, that very
fact acknowledges he has the right either to be merciful and
forgive or not. It's up to him. Because you see,
I'm the one who's offended. I'm the one who has done the
offending. That means I have no claim to mercy. I have no
claim to forgiveness. I have no right to expect it.
All I can do is come as a penitent begging for mercy, begging for
forgiveness. That's how sinners get mercy
from God. If God Almighty gives mercy, it is purely His prerogative. If God forgives, it's purely
His prerogative. bless his holy name he does but
it's purely up to him to whom he gives mercy therefore he says
I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion and then look at verse 18 the
Lord Jesus Christ is here held before us as being preeminent
in his church he's 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. Now this is what that means.
In the church and kingdom of God, Christ is everything. He's everything. I am urged by
various men on various counts to sit down and develop a creed
or have have us as a church sign a creed or something of the kind,
and the reason being, you know, is that if you don't have some
kind of a confession of faith, if you don't have some kind of
a written creed, then the church is going to soon apostatize and
depart from the faith. The church will soon decline
in doctrine. The problem is, historically,
All the churches I know of, every denomination without exception
that had a good creed at one time has departed from it and
still hold the creed on paper. What's the problem? The problem
is something, someone, somehow other than Christ is in charge. That's the problem. You see,
Jesus Christ is our Lord and our King. He's the head of his
church. He's the only lawgiver in Zion. His word alone is authoritative. His word alone has power. His word alone is law. That doctrine which we believe
is the doctrine revealed in His word. That doctrine we proclaim
is the doctrine He has revealed and we have no right in any way
to curtail it or adapt it to our situation. The ordinances
we practice, ordinances he gave. We have no right to invent any.
The rules by which we live are the rules of his grace. We have
no right to invent or impose other rules upon men. The Lord
Jesus Christ is that one who is the foundation and the pillar
of his church. He is the head and the topmost
stone of his church. He is everything in his church. Again in verse 18. We read that
he is the firstborn from the dead. That means that Christ
is preeminent in the resurrection. The Lord Jesus was the first
one to be raised from the dead, never to die again. Now, he raised
Lazarus from the dead, but Lazarus died. He raised Jairus' daughter
from the dead, but Jairus' daughter died. He raised the widow's son
from the dead, but the widow's son died. He is the first one
to be raised from the dead to die no more. I know that lots
of folks say that, well, where was Lazarus while his body was
in the tomb? What about that girl? What about
that widow's son? God deliberately drops things
in this book. by which folks who are determined
to destroy their souls can find reason to do so. Why on earth
would anybody, I bring this up because I just had a letter recently
asking me about it, why on earth would anybody disturb themselves
about where Lazarus' soul was while his body was in the tomb
for those three days? Why would anybody disturb themselves
about that rather than be concerned about the glory of God and raising
him from the dead? Why on earth would we spend our
time questioning things that are not revealed rather than
rejoicing in those things which are? Only one reason. Only one
reason. Because we don't have an appetite
for what is revealed. Only one reason. Our Lord is
that first one to rise from the dead to die no more. He is the
only one raised from the dead by his own power. His resurrection
from the dead is the pledge promise and pattern of our resurrection
He's raised from the dead as the firstborn The firstborn the
firstborn from the dead that means somebody's gonna follow
me. He's the forerunner That means somebody's coming after
me as he was raised from the dead in his body raised up in
a material body so that he'd eat fish and you can reach out
touch and And as he made himself known, folks, look at him and
say, that's him. As he was raised up from the dead in the body
of his flesh and ascended up into glory and took his place
at the Father's right hand, bless God, we too shall be raised from
the dead in these bodies and take our place in heavenly glory
with our Father. Now lots of questions come up.
Will we know each other? I kind of suspect we'll be smart
then as we are now. I suspect we'll know at least
as much then as we do now. Will our knowledge of one another
have the weaknesses and infirmities of selfishness that it now has? Oh no. Oh no. We'll know one another in the
perfection of the unity of God's saints without sin in Christ. Our Lord Jesus Christ, by his
resurrection from the dead, he's the first one to be raised by
his own power, the first one to be raised to die no more.
He is raised from the dead as the pattern and pledge of our
resurrection. But more than that, his resurrection
is the declaration of our justification. He was delivered for our offenses,
Romans 4.25, and raised again for our justification. when he
was made to be sin justice slew him he was buried in the tomb
and then on the third day he's justified in the spirit the spirit
of God brings him forth from the grave and declares that he's
without sin and he ascends up into heaven and thus we too are
without sin before God now look at verse 19 for it pleased the father that
in him Should all fullness dwell. All fullness. All fullness. Now I'm sure your mom and daddy's
told you kids all your lives don't ever put all your eggs
in one basket. Don't ever put all your eggs in one basket.
Listen to me. God Almighty has put all his
eggs in one basket. Everything's in Christ. Everything. All the glory of God. All the
knowledge of God. All the people of God. All the
revelation of God. All the creation of God. Everything's
in Christ. Of His fullness have we received
grace for grace. We beheld Him as the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. Now look at verse
20. The Lord Jesus Christ is that
one by whom we are reconciled to God and having made peace
through the blood of his cross by him to reconcile all things
to himself by him I say whether they be things in earth or things
in heaven and you that were sometime alienated and enemies now look
at these words be sure you don't miss them in your minds in your
minds You've been talking about justification and reconciliation,
Lindsay. That took place outside of us. Our conflict with God
was all one-sided. Our warfare with God has always
been all one-sided. For the believing sinner, for
God's elect, we come now by faith in Him to be reconciled to God. But He was reconciled to us a
long time ago. He took away our sin a long time
ago. Our enmity and our rebellion
and our warfare was in our minds. Yet now, it was in our mind by
wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled. This is what God
does when he saves a sinner. This is what he does. He takes a rebel. And that's
what sinners are. Rebels. You see, Unbelief is
not a passive indifference toward God. Unbelief is the rebellion
of our hearts expressed. He takes a rebel, a rebel, and
he breaks his will of rebellion and brings him into compliance
with his dominion and causes him to surrender to him as Lord
and God so that we're reconciled to God. Reconciled to his word
Reconciled to his gospel Reconciled to his dominion Reconciled to
him Reconciled to him being God That's it He reconciled us His offending people By the blood
of his cross Putting away our sins And the Lord Jesus Christ
reconciles us to God by the power of his grace, effectually applying
his blood to our hearts, speaking peace to our souls. And there's
a day coming in which he's going to reconcile everything to God. I read again this morning Acts
chapter 3 when Peter was preaching after the healing of the lame
man in Jerusalem. He said whom the heavens must
receive until the times of the restitution of all things. There's a day appointed when
God Almighty is going to restore everything to himself in perfect
harmony. Turn to Isaiah chapter 45 for
a second. Isaiah 45. verse 22 look unto me and be ye saved
all the ends of the earth look to me look to me oh god help
you to look to him look to him and be saved all the ends of
the earth Folks everywhere, look to him. For I'm God. Now this is the Son of God speaking. The just God and Savior by whom
alone God is made known. He's, I'm God. And there's none
else. There's none else. Quit looking
and praying to a God who cannot save. Look to me. Look to me.
I have sworn by myself the word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness
and shall not return. In other words he said this is
what I said I'm going to do and this is what's going to happen. That
unto me shall every knee bow and every tongue shall swear.
You're going to bow before him and confess that he's Lord to
the glory of God the Father. Surely shall one say in the Lord
have I righteousness and strength. Is that your confession? In the
Lord I have righteousness and strength. That's all the righteousness
I have, all the strength I have. Even to him shall men come. Somebody's
coming to him. Somebody's coming. Somebody's
coming. Every chosen, redeemed, called
sinner shall come to him. There's no question about that.
And all that are incensed against him. All that are incensed against
him. The carnal mind is enmity against
God. Enmity. Everybody is incensed
against Him. Everybody. All that are incensed
against Him shall be ashamed. What on earth does that mean?
Either, Sam, in breaking our hearts to Him in His almighty
grace, so that we're shamed of what we are before God or in
judgment will be put to shame one of the two brought to the
shame of contrition or brought to the shame of condemnation
but everybody's going to be put to shame in the Lord shall all
the seed of Israel every one of God's elect that's who Israel
is be justified and shall glory. All right, here's the second
question, and I'll be very brief with these next two questions.
Why? Christ is made preeminent in
all things by God Almighty. Why? Why is it that all things
are put under him? Why is it that he has no rival? Why is it that nothing and no
one can ever equal him? Why does the Lord Jesus Christ
possess this singular, high, distinct honor? Let me give you
five reasons. Number one, the Father said he
must be preeminent. He said, I will make him, my
firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth. Why was Joseph
made prime minister of Egypt? Because Pharaoh said Joseph's
prime minister. It's just that simple. I'm sitting Joseph right
here. That's my word. That's my law.
God the father has declared and decreed that his son, his firstborn
be made higher than the kings of the earth. Number two, he
was born to it. For unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his
shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
And of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end. Upon the throne of David and
upon his kingdom to order it, and establish it with judgment
and with justice from henceforth even forever, the zeal of the
Lord of hosts will perform this. The firstborn son has the right
of inheritance. As the only son of the father,
he's the rightful possessor of all things. Number three, he
bought it. He bought it. Because of his
sacrifice, because of his death at Calvary, because of his accomplishment
of redemption, because of him fulfilling the father's will,
The father said, ask of me, I'll give you the heathen for your
inheritance. And the Lord God says, therefore, will I divide
him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil
with the strong, because he hath poured out his soul unto death,
and he was numbered with the transgressors. Number four, our
Savior must have the preeminence, possess all things, rule all
things, control all things, because he's the only one who can manage
it. I don't know how many times I looked at myself, I got too
many irons in the fire, I gotta drop one of them. I can't manage
more than one or two things at a time. He can manage everything
with ease. Everything with ease. Nothing's
difficult for him. His arrangement of all things
was not a great problem. His ruling of all things is no
difficulty. His control of the thoughts of
all men at one time is no problem for him. He's God Almighty. And
fifthly, he's the only one who deserves it. Our Savior earned the right of
preeminence over God's creation and surely He's earned the right
of preeminence in my heart. What shall I render unto the
Lord for all his benefits toward me? Whoever loved me like he loves
me. Who has done for me what he's
done for me? Who's given what he's given me? What shall I render to Him? I'll
tell you what I'll do. I'll take the cup of salvation. And I'll worship the name of
the Lord as long as I live. That's it. That's it. One last
question. How can I give Christ this preeminence? Trust Him alone as my Savior. Bow to him as my Lord. Worship him as my God. Love him as my great husband. Serve him as my beloved. All to live just for him. Let me tell you, The greatest gift I've ever received
in my life from any man, the greatest gift I've ever received,
most precious gift I've ever received, most astounding gift
I've ever received from any man, from anyone other than that dear
lady giving herself to me. I've been gone one time for a
good many days. So we lived over in West Virginia,
and I started home. I called home and I told Shelby
I'd be on home, what time I'd be there. Faith used to do the
same thing Audra Grace does now. We're going over, she'll wait
by the door. She'll just be standing there
waiting, just wave and jump, you know. Well, Faith sat down
on the front stoop of the house. We didn't have a porch there,
just had steps come directly out of my office down the sidewalk.
She was sitting there waiting on me when I drove up. She was
about three, four years old. And while she was sitting there,
just waiting, when I drove up, she smiled. And I opened the
door, she came running. That little girl had gone out
and picked some flowers for her daddy. Ugliest flowers you ever
saw. They were dandelions. Dandelions. Those fuzzy things that you want
to kill. Dandelions. And she came running and she
came wind blue and it blew all fuzz off her flowers and she
handed them to me and she was crying and I was too. Oh the
prettiest flowers I ever saw in my life. How come? Because she did it just for me. God give us grace to live just
for Him, just for Him, just for Him. That's how we'll honor Him
and give Him preeminence to whom the Father has given preeminence
in all things. Amen.