Turn with me please to Genesis
chapter 1. Genesis chapter 1. In the beginning. Now that was
a long time ago. In the beginning. when there
was nothing but God, when there was no universe, when
there was no space, when there was no world, when there were
no angels, when there was nothing but God. In the beginning, God
started something. God created the heaven and the
earth, and the earth was without form and void. And darkness was
upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon
the face of the water. And God said, let there be light. And there was light. And everything
got started. Now why? Why did God in his ineffable
glory, who needs nothing and no want. Why did God, who in
his eternal being is holy, perfectly happy, content, and delighted,
why did God, Father loving the Son and the Spirit, Son loving
the Father and the Spirit, loving the Son and the Father. Why did
God, whose heart was full of love for Himself, why did God
create this world? Why did God set all things in
motion? Why did God Almighty create a
world in which there would be an angel, His highest creature,
who would fall to become a devil. Why did God create a world in
which a man made in the image and likeness of God would sin,
transgress, and fall in the garden? Why did God do all that? Why
did he do that? Some folks say, well, he didn't
know what was going to happen. Well, he's not God then. We recognize
something more than that. We know that God's in control
of everything. We know that God predestined
everything, that God made everything, and He made it for His own wise
purpose, and that this world He made revolves and turns and
moves to His foreordained end. We know that. Now, why did God
make this world? Why did He make you and me? Why? You've got the answer here in
this passage in Colossians 1 and verse 18. God in the beginning Created
the heavens and the earth, and this is the end result of it
all. Here's the end result of it all.
So that in the end, in all things, his son, the Lord Jesus Christ,
might have to preeminent. That's why I did it. That's why
I did it. So that in all things, He might
have the preeminence. So that Christ Jesus might be
the chief. That Christ Jesus might be the
head. That Christ Jesus might be the
highly exalted one. That Christ Jesus might be worshipped
and served as the preeminent one of all things. Now in this picture that Paul
has drawn for us of our Lord Jesus Christ in his greatness
and in his glory and his majesty and his power. He's telling us
several things. First, these verses here in this
first chapter of Colossians show us plainly that the Lord Jesus
Christ is an all-sufficient Savior. In Paul's day, as in ours, down
at Colossae, there were some heretics who had come in, and
they thought that Christ alone is insufficient. inadequate,
incapable by his own merits and his own grace of saving anyone,
and that man must do something to contribute in some way or
another to the finished work of Christ. The Apostle Paul dispels
that heresy by saying Christ is preeminent. He is the firstborn
of every creature, the beginning of the creation of God. He is
that One whom the Father has exalted. He is the One who upholds
all things, by whom all things consist. And He is able to do
exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we ask or think. He's
an all-sufficient Savior. His righteousness is sufficient
to satisfy God's demands. His blood is sufficient to satisfy
God's justice. Paul is telling us also that
Jesus Christ our Lord is a sovereign Savior. He tells us in these
verses here in Colossians 1 that he who died at Calvary rules
all things. He knows the name of the most
distant star. Not only does he know its name,
he put it where it is. Not only did he put it where
it is, he rules it. Not only does he rule it, but
he holds the light in the sun. And when he's done with it, he'll
take the light from the sun. He's sovereign. He's sovereign. Jesus Christ, our Lord, is that
one who is before all things and by him all things consist. He's the ruler. He's the king. He's the sovereign Lord. Now,
that ought to give you some peace. That ought to cause us to to
walk before God with some confidence and to walk in this world in
the midst of trial and sorrow and tribulation and difficulty
with some ease. I was talking to Ricky and Victor
this afternoon. That explosion over there the
other day, it's happening out in their house. Well, while we
were talking, no need to fear that. He who rules all things
rules that as well. No need to fear an atomic bomb
or a nuclear war. Not a reason to be afraid. He
who rules the world is our savior. What if they do away with tobacco
support? He who rules the world is our
savior. No need to worry about that.
No need to fret about the economic depression. No need to fret about
worldwide chaos. No need for us to fret and worry
ourselves about things going on in this world. Nothing! Nothing
in heaven, in earth, or in hell can ever separate the soul that
Christ loves from his heart. That's it. He rules the world. He rules the world. Whether Jack Shanks said
it, if we could believe that just half as good as we can preach
it, it'd make a difference in the way we read it. He rules! He rules! He rules! He who is our Christ, our Savior,
our God, is the sovereign Savior. He's preeminent. Paul is also
telling us that Christ Jesus is a rich and a bountiful Savior. Look here in verse 19. For it
pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell. He has all things. But he's not
selfish. He freely gives all things to
all of his people. Everything. All things are yours,
Paul said, for you're Christ. Everything's ours. We're Christ.
We belong to him. Because Christ has all things,
I have all things and the balance. Everything. Our Lord gives everything
to all of his people, and yet his riches are not diminished.
We sometimes fret about food, clothing, and shelter. Worry
about our provision in hard times. Are we fear that we'll have no
pension in our old age? Or we're afraid that some rainy
day will come and we'll not be able to take care of it. Paul
says, be content with such things as you have. Well, Christ is
preeminent. What have you got to fret about?
What do we have to worry about? Christ is preeminent. He rules. He's the quiet one. Jesus, we
rule, we rule. We expect that of people around
us, especially our children, our wives, families. Just trust me now, I'll take
care of it. Just be easy. I'll take care of it. I'm not
going to let anything happen to you. Honey, now just settle
down. I'll take care of it. We try
to calm our children down, get them to be easy in the middle
of some terrible crisis they're having, you know, at school.
They maybe didn't make 100 on the test, or they're real anxious,
or somebody said something bad to them, and they're real fretful.
But just be easy. Daddy will take care of it. Just
trust me. Just trust me. Our father said, just be easy.
Just trust me. I'll take care of it. I'll take
care of it. And he will. He will. My daughter used to run in those
thunderstorms in West Virginia when there were lightning just
skip across those mountains. You never, somehow you get close
to it up on the mountain. She'd come running into our room
and she'd crawl up on my bed or jump in my lap and she'd just
snuggle up real close and I'd hold her just so I could touch
her. I just, I'd act like, you know, I had control of everything
and she was easy. She didn't know any better. She
doesn't jump on my lap anymore. She hides somewhere else. But
she, she used to, she used to think I could take care of that.
Well, I fooled her. I just fooled her into being
calm. God's not fooling us into being calm. He rules. He rules
this world. He flat rules it. Oh, I wish
I could get that across to you and get that in my own heart.
That would end our fretfulness and our worry and our anxiety.
So, don't you think you ought to be concerned about anything? Well, really, no, I don't. No,
I don't. We ought to be the most carefree
people in this world. Carefree enough, folks think
we're absolute star-craving mad. Our God rules! He rules, and
He's worthy of our trust. Paul is also telling us that
the Lord Jesus Christ is the Savior, worthy of our hearts'
confidence and devotion. Oh, you can safely trust Christ. You can trust Him in all things,
and you can trust Him with all things. You can safely trust
Him. He's worthy of the absolute devotion of our
hearts, because He's preeminent. He's the chief. He's the chief. He's the boss of the universe! He owns the universe. He doesn't
need me. He doesn't need you. If He accepts
us into His kingdom, If he receives any praise from us, if he allows
us to love him, to serve him, or to bring any gift to him,
it can't be because he needs it, but rather because he's gracious. What a gracious person. What
a gracious person. God has been so good to you,
so good to you, that he allows you to give to his cause. What a person. God's been so
good to you that He allows you to sit here and hear His Word.
God's been so good to you that He allows you to worship in His
Kingdom. God's been so good to you that
He allows you to serve the interests of Christ. What a privilege!
God's been so good to me. that He allows me to stand before
men and proclaim His gospel. Now that's not an indication
that He needs me, but it's an indication that He is gracious
to me. This great He accepts us and
allows us to worship and serve Him. He to whom the Father has
given preeminence certainly is worthy of preeminence in our
hearts, in our devotion, in our praise, in our worship. and in
our lives. Now this evening I want to try
to answer four practical questions from this verse of scripture.
That in all things he might have the preeminence. How? How has the father given the
son preeminence? Now listen carefully. In his
essential deity As the second person of the Holy Trinity, the
Father gives nothing to the Son, because the Son is in every way
equal to the Father. But in His mediatorial character,
in His office as our representative, as our substitute, as our mediator
before the Father, the Father has made the Son preeminent and
given Him preeminence in all things. is made preeminent by
God in a number of ways. Let me show you in the Scriptures.
I'm calling for you and I to make Christ preeminent in our
hearts, and in our lives, and in our worship. And if we would
do so, we must do so to some degree as the Father has. Turn
over to Proverbs chapter 8. Proverbs chapter 8. Christ is preeminent, number
one, in the affection of His Father's heart. Proverbs chapter
8. And verse 30, now I'll remind
you that in this passage, Christ is personified as wisdom. And
so when this passage is speaking of wisdom, it's speaking of Christ
Jesus himself. He says in verse 30, then was
I by him, as one brought up with him, and I was daily his delight,
rejoicing always before him. Christ as our mediator, Christ
as our representative, Christ as our substitute was in the
eternal purpose of God and the covenant of His grace brought
up with the Father. Now this could not be referring
to his essential being, for he's the eternal son. It's referring
to his mediatorial character. I was brought up with him, and
I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him, rejoicing
in the habitable part of the earth, and my delights were with
the sons of men. Nothing is so dear to the father's
heart as his only begotten, well-beloved son. The father cherishes values
and prizes the Son. He prefers His Son to all and
chooses His Son above all. The Father loves the Son. If
somehow, if somehow you could pry into the very heart of God,
if you could dive right into God's innermost being, you would
see nothing but the Son. Nothing but the Son. The Father
loves the Son. The son is the object to the
father's heart. The father is in love with, he
cherishes, he values the son. And he does everything for the
son. Everything. He said, this is my beloved son,
in whom I am well pleased. Oh, God delights in his son. And in everything about his son.
He's pleased with the righteousness of His Son, for His righteousness
is a reflection of the righteousness of God Himself. His righteousness
is the satisfaction of God's own demands for righteousness.
The Father is pleased with the sacrifice of the Son, for His
blood atonement satisfies the Father's justice. And the Father
is pleased with all His people in His Son and for the sake of
His Son. God's pleased with us. He's pleased
with you because of His Son, for the sake of His Son, in His
Son. He's pleased with you because
He has robed you in the righteousness of His Son, washed you in the
blood of His Son, and made you holy in His Son. As Christ is the preeminent object
of the Father's love, He is also the preeminent object of His
Father's trust. Turn over to this passage in
John 3. John, the third chapter. Verse 34. Now, I want you to
get this. God the Father has entrusted
everything into the hands of His Son. Everything. Everything. Everything. Verse 34, John 3. He whom the Father hath sent
speaketh the words of God, and the Father, or God, giveth not
the Spirit by measure unto him. The Father loveth the Son, and
hath given all things into his hand." Everything in his hand. Everything. Before the world
was, God the Father trusted his Son for our redemption. He trusted
his Son for our redemption. I'll show it to you in the Word,
Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1. We trust
Christ in time, but in eternity the Father trusted his Son. In
eternity, the Father trusted the incarnate God-man to accomplish
redemption. He trusted His Son to save His
people and bring us to glory. Ephesians 1 verse 12. The Apostle
Paul says that we should be to the praise of His glory. Whose glory? Read it. Who first
trusted in Christ. That we should be to the praise
of the Father's glory, for the Father first trusted His Son.
in whom ye also trusted, after that ye believed." The Father
trusted our souls, our redemption. He trusted all of his people
into the hands of his Son. You take your bank, you take
your money and go to the bank, Friday afternoon, Friday evening,
whenever you go to the bank, and you deposit it into that
bank. And in depositing your money
into the teller's hand, You're trusting your money to the teller
and the bank. The Father, from old eternity,
deposited His people in the hands of His Son. He trusted His Son
with it. He trusted His Son to bring us
safe unto glory. The Father not only trusted His
Son with His people, but He trusted His Son with His entire creation.
Turn over to Psalm 2. Psalm 2. This is one of those
messianic prophecies. spoken in the Psalms of our Lord
Jesus Christ. The Lord God says, I will declare
the decree. The Lord hath said unto me, Thou
art my Son. This day have I begotten thee.
Now look at verse 8. Ask of me, and I shall give thee
the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost part of the
earth for thy possession. The father gave the son his people. And in order to accomplish and
guarantee the redemption of his people, the father gave his son
the whole world. Gave his son the entire, everybody,
everything is in the hands of the son. And the father trusted
the son with his own clothes. He said, he said, now son, here's
my people. And here's the world that we've
made. And here's the glory of the eternal Godhead. Make my
name glorious. And the Son left the Father's
throne and came into the world and said, I come to do my will,
O my God. I'll make His name glorious. And when it's all over, He's
going to say, here I am. Your name is glorious. Your name
is glorious. God the Father makes Christ the
preeminent object of his heart's affection, the preeminent object
of his trust. God the Father has made Christ
preeminent by giving him the place of highest honor, majesty,
power, and dominion. Let's look at Hebrews chapter
1. There are a lot of passages I could show you, but let's look
at Hebrews. The book of Hebrews, all the way through, is telling
us that Christ is glorious. Christ is glorious. Christ is
glorious. He's better than the angels.
He's better than Moses. He's better than Aaron. He's
better than the Old Testament tabernacle and the Old Testament
temple. He's above everything. Look here
in Hebrews 1 and verse 3. Who being the brightness of his
Father's glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding
all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself
purged our sins, once his job was done, he sat down on the
right hand of the majesty on high, being made so much better
than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent
name than they. For unto which of the angels
said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten
thee. And again, I will be to him a
father, and he shall be to me a son. And again, when he bringeth
in the first begotten into the world, he saith, And let all
the angels of God worship him. And of the angels he saith who
maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.
But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and
ever. A scepter of righteousness is
the scepter of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness
and hated iniquity. Therefore God, even thy God,
hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows."
Look in chapter 10 of Hebrews, Hebrews the 10th chapter. Christ
said, I come to do thy will. Paul said, this is the will by
which we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once for all. Now look at the end result of
his performance. Verse 12, this man, this man
who is God, this man who is God in human flesh, this man, after
he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on
the right hand of God, from henceforth expecting, till his enemies be
made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. Wherefore God also hath highly
exalted him, and given him a name that is above every name, that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven,
and of things in the earth, and of things under the earth, and
that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. to the glory of God the Father.
God the Father has placed everything under the rule of His Son. Everything. And God the Father will give
His Son everything He asks of Him. Everything. If not anything
the Son can ask, the Father won't do. Nothing the Son can request,
the Father won't give. The Son has power with the Father. He asks anything, the Father
will do it. He'll do it. That ought to kind of encourage
us a little bit. Our Savior has all the fullness
of the Godhead, Father. He possesses all things. He has
all power. He rules over all things. He's
promised to do us nothing but good. And He gives all things
to us. And He says, whatever I ask,
My Father will do it. He'll do it. Now, He's going
to do all things good for His people. Everything. This matter
of giving Christ the preeminence, then, is more than just fancy
words or pretty phrases. It's more than religious sentiment.
It's more than just standing around and saying, hallelujah,
well, praise the Lord. It's more than saying, well,
God bless us, He's the Lord, and we worship Him. It's more
than just religious sentiment. God has given His Son the preeminence. He gives Him His preeminence
by devoting Himself, His heart, His creation, yes, His very being
to the glory and honor of His Son. Now, if you'd give the Son
the preeminence, it's not a matter of just clapping your hands and
saying, hallelujah. It's not a matter of saying, well, bless
the Lord. It's a matter of devoting yourself. your heart, your possessions,
your very being to the glory and honor of the Son. That's
what it is to give him preeminence. Wherein is Christ preeminent?
The text says that in all things he might have the preeminence. Now what does that mean? It means
all things. The Father has arranged for the
Son to have preeminence in everything. The Lord Jesus Christ is preeminent
in the purpose of God. Turn back to Romans chapter 9,
Romans 8 rather, Romans the 8th chapter. We know, verse 28, that all things
work together for good to them that love God, to them who are
the called according to God's purpose. But what is God's purpose? For whom he did foreknow, he
also did predestinate, look at it, to be conformed to the image
of his son, that he might be the preeminent one among many
brethren, that he might be the chief one, the firstborn among
many brethren. Christ was God's first elect,
and Christ's glory was the object of our election. God said, I'll
choose him. And I'll make him glorious among
many brethren. So I'll choose him. And I'll
choose her. I'll call this woman. They'll
be conformed to the image of him who is my son. Christ's preeminence
is also seen in the creation. Back here in Colossians 1 again.
Colossians the first chapter, verse 15. Who is the image of the invisible
God and the firstborn of every creature. Do you remember when God was
about to create Adam? God said, let us make man in
our own image and after our likeness. And then look at this, verse
15. Who is the image of the invisible God? I know the theologians say,
when God created Adam, he made Adam a man with intellect, emotion,
and will. And that's true. That's true.
But Christ is the image of God. He's the image of God. Though
Christ's human body had not yet been formed in the womb of the
Virgin, God Almighty had made Him, in His covenant of grace,
in that very human body, to be the image into which man was
created. Man was created in that image,
in which God would come to the earth and make Himself known.
Christ is the image of the invisible God. God said, let's make man
in the image of Christ. Let's make man in the image of
the Son, the substitute. Christ in the image of God came
into this world. And Christ in the image of God
is the beginning of the creation of God. He's the firstborn of
every creature. Everything in creation comes
from Him. More than that, Paul tells us
in this first chapter of Colossians that Christ is preeminent in
providence. Look in verse 16. For by him
were all things created that are in heaven and that are in
the 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,
that is, He's the preexistent One, and by Him all things consist. Now Paul is telling us plainly
that Christ, the God-man, upholds all things, sustains all things,
rules all things, and He shall have the praise of all things.
I don't know how. I can't begin to to declare to
you how everything is going to praise the Son of God. I don't
know that. I know it's going to, Dave. Everything is going
to praise Him. Everything. From the lowest creature
in the earth, even those small insects that have a microscope
to see, to the highest angel in heaven, everything, every
being and every event shall praise Him who holds all things for
Himself. Everything. I'm content. I believe I'm content to wait
and see now. Just go ahead and do whatever
you will, Lord. I'll wait with anxious anticipation for that
day when everything is going to praise the Lord, everything. Christ is also preeminent in
the Word, in the Word of God. You remember when he was walking
with the disciples on the road to Emmaus? He opened to them
and told them how all the prophets of the law and the Old Testament
spoke of him saying, this book is a hymn book, H-I-M, it's all
about him. Everything in this book, everything,
from beginning to end. The Old Testament, in its types
and in its prophecies and in its foreshadowing, says, He is
coming. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and
the book of the Acts say, He has come. And the Epistles and
the book of the Revelation declare, He is coming again. Everything
in this book speaks to Him. He's preeminent. Every word in
the book It's the revelation of the Word, and points to the
Word, who is Christ Jesus the Lord. Everything. And Christ
is preeminent in the Church of God. Look here in verse 18. And
he is the head of the body, the Church. He is the head of the
body, the Church. And when he speaks of the Church,
obviously, he's not talking about this little band of believers
in these four walls here in Danville, Kentucky. He's talking about
the church universal. He's talking about the body of
Christ in its universal aspect. He's talking about every man,
woman, who is born of God's Spirit in every age, who's united to
Christ Jesus by faith. He's saying Christ is the head.
We're the body. And when we say that Christ is
the head of the church, when God says Christ is the head of
the church, we're saying He's the living head. He's the living
head. They've invented artificial hearts
now. And they can put a piece of plastic
in a fella and keep him alive for a long time. They can even
get him out of the hospital and he can live the rest of his life
laying in a bed. They can give a fella an artificial
heart. They have a tough time giving a fella an artificial
head. That's tough. They hadn't come up with that
one yet. Life resides in the head, y'all. In the head. From
the head, all life comes. In the head, all life exists. In the head, all life is flowing. In the head, all life is power. All life's strength, all life's
being is in the head. Now listen to me. He's the head. All our life, all our strength,
all our being comes from Him and is in Him. He's the living
head. And the head's in heaven. That
means we're secure. That means we're secure. You
ever tried to drown a fellow? No, you certainly haven't. Kind
of a foolish question. But if you were trying, you're going
to have to somehow get his head underwater. You've got to get
his head underwater. You can't drown him with his
arms underwater. You've got to get his head underwater. The
Lord Jesus Christ, our healer, is above water, and we cannot
perish. We cannot perish. Christ Jesus
is the representative head of this church. When we send somebody out to
count a crowd, we count heads. We don't count the bodies, we
say we're counting heads. The head represents the body.
Well, Christ is the representative of His body before God Almighty. So that God looks to the head,
God deals with the head, God speaks to the head, God accepts
the head, and in His looking to, dealing with, and acceptance
of the head, He accepts us. Christ is the responsible head.
He is the legal head of His congregation, the legal head of His body, so
that what He does, He does for the body, and He is responsible
in all things to perform everything for the welfare of the body.
He's the responsible head, and He's the ruling head. The ruling
head. His word is law. in God's church. His word is law. His will is
law. His voice is authoritative. Nobody else's is. Christ Jesus
is preeminent in the salvation of God's elect as well. Look
in verse 14. In Him, we have redemption through
His blood. What does that mean? Well, to
put it in a few words, even the forgiveness of sin. That's what
redemption's all about. Through the blood of Jesus Christ,
my sins are all taken away. Well, what else has He done for
us? Look in verse 20. 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, you that were
sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works,
yet now has He reconciled. The Lord Jesus Christ, by His
blood, has put away our sins. By His blood, He's reconciled
an angry God to His offending people. No, He didn't reconcile
God's heart to us. That was never taken from us.
God never took His heart off of us, but He reconciled the
law and the justice of God to us, so that that justice and
law which once said, damn forever that man must be, now says that
man cannot perish. He's reconciled God's justice
to us. He's reconciled also our hearts to our God. We were enemies
in our minds by wicked works, but one day, by the power of
the blood of His cross, presented through the gospel, applied to
our hearts by the Spirit, He's reconciled us to God. And one
day, by the power of that cross, He's going to reconcile the whole
world to God. No, He's not going to turn everybody's
hearts to God. but is going to reconcile all
of God's creation, everything, everything, to the glory of the
Father, everything. Christ is preeminent in His mediatorial
possessions as well. For in Him it pleased the Father
that all fullness should dwell. All the fullness of the eternal
Godhead is in Christ. All the fullness of grace is
in Christ. All the fullness of eternal glory
is in Christ. And the Lord Jesus Christ shall
be preeminent in that great day of the resurrection. Look here
one more time in verse 18. He is the head of the body, the
church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead. He was the first one that came
out of the grave. And because He came out of the
grave, we shall come out of the grave. He's the preeminent one. What's it going to be like in
the resurrection day? Whatever he's like, that's what
it'll be like. What's the resurrection body going to be? Whatever his
is, that's what it's going to be. How shall we behave in the
resurrection? However he behaves, that's how
we'll behave. He's the first one to arise from the dead, and
he being the firstfruits guarantees that we shall follow. Now, I've
said all of that, but I want to try to answer this question.
Why? Why should Christ have the preeminence? Why? God has given Him the preeminence
in all things. I'm calling for you and I to
give Him the preeminence. I'm calling for this assembly
to give Him the preeminence. Why? Why should everything be
put under Christ? Why should He have no rival?
Why should nothing and no one be equal with the Lord Jesus
Christ? I'll tell you why, five things. First of all, Christ
must have the preeminence because God the Father said he must have
it. That's reason enough. I will
make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth. Why was Joseph made prime minister
in Egypt? Why is it that everybody who
bought corn had to deal with Joseph? What on earth has he
got to do? Why is it that the citizens of
the land who were natural born Egyptians had to go to that Jewish
boy, Joseph, and buy corn from him? Why is he prime minister?
Because Pharaoh said he's prime minister. That's all there is
to it. Why is Christ king? Because God
said he's king. That's why. Why is it that Mordecai,
should be led through the streets of the city with pomp and pageantry
and ceremony, with Haman leading his horse along like a submissive
slave. Why? Because King Ahasuerus said,
let him lead him. That's why. The king said, give
Mordecai preeminence. And I'm telling you, God the
Father said, give my son the preeminence in everything. That
means He's going to have it. That means He's going to have
it. Secondly, Christ must have the preeminence in all things,
because He was born to it. Turn over to Isaiah 9. Isaiah
the 9th chapter. The firstborn son, according
to Old Testament law, the firstborn son has the right of inheritance. The only son of the Father, rightfully
possesses all of the Father's property. According to Old Testament
law, he rightfully has a claim to all of his Father's property.
Well, now, the Lord Jesus Christ, being the firstborn and the only
begotten of the Father, was born to the right of preeminence over
the Father's creation. For unto us, Isaiah 9, 6, unto
us a child is born, and 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. 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 to establish it with judgment
and with justice from henceforth for even forever, the zeal of
the Lord of hosts will perform it. Christ must have the preeminence
because the Father said He'll have preeminence. He must have
preeminence because He was born to it. It's His by right. Thirdly,
Christ must have the preeminence in all things because He paid
for it. I watched a newscast last week. Seems like these days that's
not all I see on television, but I turned it on in the morning
and I was watching one of those CNN special reports. There are
a lot of Texans who've got a lot of money. And they are buying
up lordship titles from England. They just have a lot of money,
and they think, well, it'll give us a little prestige, so that
they purchase a title, and now they call the fella Lord Fortner. And that gives him some prestige,
you know. Well, Christ Jesus bought a title, Lord. He bought
a title to lordship. Look in Isaiah 53. Isaiah chapter
53, verse 9, or verse 10 rather. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. He hath put him to grief. When thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin, he shall see his seed. He shall prolong
his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his
hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore, therefore, as a result of what he purchased, as a result
of what he did, 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 was numbered with the transgressors,
and he bear the sin of many, and made intercession for the
transgressors. Now, he who buys an estate is lord of the estate
until he sells it. He's lord of the estate. And
Christ Jesus bought the right to rule this world as sovereign
lord, and he will never give up the claims. Never. Why must
Christ have the preeminence? Because he's the only one who's
able to manage it. He's the only one who can. Look
here in Isaiah 52 verse 13. Behold, my servant shall deal
prudently. He shall be exalted and extolled
and be very high. I'm sure glad that Christ has
the preeminence because He is wisdom. He deals prudently. He knows how to manage things. He knows that, he's the only
one who can. We had a, one of the men in the president's cabinet,
that fellow, can't remember his name right now, he's always got
his foot in his mouth, he was taking care of all the state
parks and all that, all the national parks and all that stuff, James
Watt, that's who it was, and they put him out because he didn't
have enough sense to manage it. Now he might could have managed
okay if he could have just kept his mouth shut, but he just couldn't
keep his mouth shut. So they put him out. And they
got somebody else in. Maybe he doesn't do as good a
job, but he can keep his mouth shut. Our Lord Jesus Christ wisely
knows how to manage everything exactly as it ought to be managed. We fret and worry. We sit around
and think to ourselves sometimes, how often we say, oh, I sure
wish this weren't happening or this was happening. But it'd
be so good if this could take place or that could. It'd be
so good if we had this or we had that. If it would be good,
it'd happen. If it would be good, you'd have
it. If it would be good, it'd be
done, because Christ is managing. He's manager. He's manager of
His estate! And He takes care of it perfectly
well. He's the only one who can. Christ
must have the preeminence in all things, finally. Because
He alone deserves it. He's the only one who deserves
it. He earned the right to preeminence
over God's creation. He said, Father, I finished the
work thou gavest me to do. Now glorify me with thine own
self with the glory that I had with thee before the world was."
What he's saying is, Father, I've earned the right to rule
the world. I've earned the right to rule
the world. And he has surely earned the
right of preeminence with me. What shall I render unto the
Lord for all his benefits toward me? I have a devoted wife, a loving daughter
who give me constant delight, but they must not have preeminence. They must not have preeminence.
That is reserved for Christ alone. I catch myself saying things
sometimes that I don't mean. I say to my wife sometimes, honey
I love you with all my heart, I don't. I say to my daughter,
I love you with all my heart. I don't. That's reserved for
him. For him. He's the only one who
has right to it. He's the only one who has right
to it. He alone must be preeminent.
Who else has loved me so fully? I have friends who love me and
a family who loves me. But I'll be honest with you.
If you knew me like he knows me, you wouldn't touch me with
a ten-foot pole. He loves me. Who else has done
so much for me? He chose me. He created the world for me. He lived in righteousness for
me. He redeemed me. He saved me. He preserves me. He intercedes
for me. He gives me everything. Who else has done so much for
me? Who else has given so much to
me? He not only has given me all
that He has, He's not only given me His life for righteousness
and His death for atonement, bless His holy name, He's given
me Himself. Himself! All that is, Christ
gives Himself to me. Now who else deserves preeminence?
Huh? Who else deserves preeminence?
Who but Christ has been so faithful to me? Now, let me try to answer this
question. How can I give Christ the preeminence
in all things? Well, in much the same way as
God the Father has given Him preeminence. I must give him
the preeminence. Christ ought to have the preeminence
in the first place, John Gill said, in the affections of our
hearts, in the contemplations of our minds, in the desires
of our souls, and in the highest praise of our lips. I give Christ the preeminence. in all things when I trust Him
with all things. And trust Him in all things. I give Christ the preeminence
when I love Him above all things. Turn over to Matthew 10. Matthew
the 10th chapter. Verse 36, our Lord says, A man's
foes shall be they of his own household. And I know that includes the
idea and the fact that many who follow Christ meet with opposition
in their own families. It includes that. But I believe
there's something more there. A man's foe shall be of his own
household. And here's the explanation. He
that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of
me. He that loveth son or daughter
more than me is not worthy of me. I have a responsibility to my
wife, to my daughter, You have responsibility to your families.
It's more than a responsibility, it's a privilege to which we
are obliged by love to care for them, to love them, to minister
to them, to serve them, to provide for them, to protect them, to
please them. But if my love for my wife or
my daughter causes me to neglect the worship,
the service, and the honor of Christ, then they become my foes. Huh? They become my foes. Our
Lord says if you love them more than you love me, you're not
mine. You're not mine. I cannot allow
their wishes, their desires, their pleasures, no matter how
much they may show love for me, I cannot allow that to interfere
with my worship and service of my Master. I can't. He alone
must have the feeling. He alone must have the love of
our hearts preeminently. To give Christ the preeminence
is like God the Father. to gladly give Him the rule of
everything. I wish, oh God give me grace to gladly give Christ the rule. Just give Him the rule. He's
got it. He's got it. but for my heart
to be gladly resigned to it, that he should do for the glory
of his name. To give Christ the preeminence
is to obey Him in all things. As the Father does whatever the
Son asks of Him, we must do whatever the Son requires of us. To give
Christ the preeminence is to render praise to Him for everything. And everything you ask is everything. And my friends, you must get
Christ. You must get Christ. He that
hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God
hath not life. In all our preaching, in all
our worship, In all our service, in all our affairs, in all our
gifts, in all our desires, let us be in agreement with the Father
and determine in our hearts that in all things He, the Lord Jesus
Christ, might have preeminence. Amen.