The Supremacy of Jesus Christ.

Steve Gentry

[0:05] We’ll go ahead and have a seat. [0:10] Welcome to Village Church. [0:11] This is your first time here. [0:13] My name is Steve. [0:13] I’m one of the pastors here at Village Church and as always I’m thankful and grateful to [0:17] see each and every one of you.

[0:18] If you have a Bible, go ahead and open it to Colossians chapter one. [0:21] We’re going to be starting in verse 15 this morning. [0:24] This is our third sermon in our series where we’re going through the entire book of Colossians. [0:30] And thus far what we’ve seen is Paul has addressed the church through a greeting that entailed [0:35] Paul’s hope through the gospel and in the gospel for the church at Colossae as well [0:41] as his prayer for how they would grow in the gospel and through the gospel.

[0:46] Paul very much rooted the solution to the issues that they were dealing with where false [0:51] doctrine was concerned in growing in many areas of discipleship. [0:58] Paul wanted them to anchor themselves to the truth of scripture. [1:01] He wanted them to seek to obey all that it commands and all while growing in their knowledge [1:07] and experience of the power that God would give them through faith in Jesus Christ to [1:12] live for his purposes.

[1:15] He focuses these, excuse me, he focuses these first few chapters on both the identity and [1:20] the supremacy of Jesus Christ over all of creation and points specifically to the hope [1:27] that they were to have of salvation in him and in him alone. [1:31] He wanted them to anchor themselves to the truth of scripture. [1:34] He wanted them to realize that it is through Jesus that they were going to be able to [1:39] accomplish all that scripture had entailed for them to do.

[1:42] But then in verse 14, what you covered last week, he shifts his focus to an argument and [1:49] begins to make an argument about Jesus Christ. [1:52] He doesn’t shift as many would expect him to again to talking about the Colossian people [1:57] themselves, but rather he defines for them who Jesus is and why it is that Jesus can [2:04] be such a trusted savior. [2:06] And through that, he’s going to begin to refute what many have called with the Colossian controversy.

[2:13] But he does this by declaring the truth of Jesus rather than simply refuting the specific [2:18] error. [2:19] If you remember from the first sermon in Colossians, he focused on a controversy that [2:25] was about the person of Jesus, the reality of who he was. [2:29] And he refutes what the Greeks had brought into the church, which had been really a [2:34] heresy that had formed kind of a philosophic dualism in which they believe that the spirit

[2:39] was good, but anything material, anything of this physical world was necessarily evil. [2:45] Therefore, if Christ was good, then he couldn’t have possibly had a physical body. [2:52] But then on the flip side, they also believe that since God becoming man is an absurd statement [2:58] and many had claimed that they had actually met the physical Jesus Christ, that Jesus [3:02] couldn’t have possibly been God since he was, in fact, a human being. [3:07] As the chapters unfold, this is actually going to lead to the introduction in the Colossian

[3:12] church that many were trying to get them to focus on mystical practices and even a [3:17] Gnostic philosophy that Paul is going to refute. [3:20] But where he begins is by pointing to the supremacy of Jesus Christ in all things. [3:26] And he presents to them really the most essential truth of the historic Christian faith, that [3:32] Christianity is in Christ and Christ is, in fact, God. [3:36] He’s the Lord over heaven and earth.

[3:38] He’s the Lord over his church. [3:40] He’s the Lord over redemption. [3:42] He’s the Lord over all of creation. [3:45] And for anyone to have life, then you must submit to Jesus Christ in absolutely all things. [3:53] I want to begin reading in verse 15.

[3:57] Paul writes and he says, Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all [4:03] creation, for by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible. [4:09] Where the thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through [4:14] him and for him. [4:16] And he is before all things and in him all things hold together. [4:22] And Paul begins really with a simple series of statements that basically say one key fact.

[4:30] Number one, this morning, Jesus is the Lord of heaven and earth. [4:34] Jesus is the Lord of heaven and earth. [4:37] And what you’re going to see as we go through this series of verses is that he’s presenting [4:42] to you Jesus’s lordship over two things. [4:46] First, he begins in this section in verses 15 through 17 by presenting Jesus as the [4:52] Lord over all of creation.

[4:54] And by creation, what he means is the first creation, that creation that goes all the [4:59] way back to the book of Genesis, where God speaks and everything exists. [5:03] And then he reaches into the dust of the ground and forms humanity. [5:06] And he says, Jesus is, in fact, the Lord over that. [5:11] But then as you’re going to see, he’s then going to stretch it into the fact that Jesus [5:16] is the Lord over the new creation because of what he does in his death, burial and

[5:21] resurrection. [5:22] The focus that Paul carries, though, into the first creation in this first section is [5:28] to state his deity. [5:29] Yes, he is God, but he’s more than just God because you have to apply what it means to [5:35] be God. [5:35] He’s meaning to show that Jesus has supremacy over all things in the universe.

[5:42] And this is the basis, really, for which the book of Colossians was written. [5:47] He does mean to say that apart from Jesus, quite simply, there is no Christianity, but [5:53] he doesn’t reduce it to that. [5:55] The greater point here, according to Paul, is that without Jesus, not only is there no [6:01] Christianity, but there’s nothing else either. [6:04] Without Jesus, he’s saying there is no creation at all because he is, in fact, the creator

[6:13] God. [6:15] Therefore, understand the deity of Christ has greater ramifications than most people [6:20] think through. [6:22] Many, maybe even you, have adopted a version of Christianity in which the lordship of Jesus [6:27] is reduced kind of to your own personal spirituality. [6:31] Many people will think or even say, sure, Jesus is the lord of my life through my faith.

[6:39] Many will say, sure, my discipleship depends on Jesus. [6:44] Many will even say, yes, sure, I need to obey Jesus with my life. [6:48] Sure, I depend on Jesus and submit to him in all things. [6:54] But then in the next breath, maybe you would say, but you can’t expect nonbelievers to [6:59] obey Jesus. [7:01] Many will then stretch it out and say, well, yes, Jesus is my lord, but that doesn’t mean

[7:07] he’s your lord. [7:09] That doesn’t mean that he’s everyone’s lord because it’s only through faith that Jesus [7:14] can be your lord. [7:16] But look at what Paul says. [7:18] Paul doesn’t talk about my personal lord and savior, Jesus Christ. [7:23] No, Paul talks about the lord, Jesus Christ.

[7:27] What Paul is saying is, is that no matter what you think about Jesus, no matter what [7:32] you personally believe about Jesus, no matter what you personally assent to about Jesus [7:37] Christ, whether you believe him or whether you don’t believe him, Jesus is lord of all [7:43] the earth. [7:44] Therefore, if you are in the earth, guess who your lord is? [7:47] It’s Jesus Christ.

[7:49] You can deny him. [7:51] You can rebel against him. [7:53] You can run away from him. [7:54] But that does nothing to discount the reality that Jesus Christ is absolutely lord of [8:02] every one and every thing. [8:06] Paul is meaning to lay out this statement here that he furthers throughout the rest

[8:10] of the book, specifically in these first three chapters, that the lordship of Christ [8:15] can never and must never be reduced to just your life. [8:22] Jesus is, in fact, preeminent over all of creation because all of creation is sourced [8:28] in Jesus Christ. [8:31] And he begins with this all important statement in verse 15 that he is the image of the [8:37] invisible God.

[8:38] Now note that this is not a statement that he is equal to the image of God that is in [8:46] you. [8:47] If you note in Genesis chapter one, what does the Godhead say? [8:50] He says, let us make man in our image. [8:53] And so when he reaches into the dust of the ground, he forms man and he takes a rib out [8:58] of Adam and forms Eve.

[8:59] How does he give us life? [9:01] It says that he breathed life into Adam. [9:04] And that’s what we mean by saying that we have a soul. [9:06] That’s what sets us apart from all of creation as humanity. [9:10] We bear what is the breath of God or the image of God in our lives. [9:15] Yes, sin has corrupted it greatly.

[9:17] But every human being on this earth bears the image of God. [9:21] But in verse 15, when he says he is the image of the invisible God, he’s not saying that. [9:28] What he’s saying is that if you’ve looked at Jesus Christ, you’ve looked at God himself. [9:34] He’s saying he is the very revelation. [9:37] He is a sufficient standard by which you can judge God because he is very much God. [9:43] He is unique in that he reveals the image of God in an unparalleled way because he is God

[9:50] incarnate. [9:52] He is God become a human being. [9:55] Look at what Jesus himself says in John, chapter 14 in John 14, starting in verse eight. [10:00] It says, Philip said to him, Lord, show us the father. [10:02] And it is enough for us. [10:04] I love what Philip says here because he’s basically saying, Jesus, you’re a great God,

[10:07] but I want to see God. [10:09] I’m saying, everything that you’ve told me, you haven’t shown me God, show me the father. [10:15] And Jesus, in an offended way, looks back in verse nine and Jesus said to Philip, [10:19] have I been with you so long and you still do not know me, Philip? [10:23] Whoever has seen me has seen the father. [10:26] How can you say show us the father?

[10:30] Jesus doesn’t look to Philip and say, Philip, look within yourself and you will see the [10:38] reality of God. [10:40] That’s how we know what verse 15 says about Jesus is not what Genesis chapter one means [10:44] by the fact that we bear the image of God. [10:47] It means something greater. [10:48] It means something more.

[10:49] It means that Jesus bears the fullness of God, as he will say. [10:57] He doesn’t look to Philip and say, Philip, you’ve been missing it all along. [11:01] The light of God is in you. [11:04] That’s what many of us want to believe. [11:05] That’s what the New Age element in philosophies will tell us to believe. [11:09] No, Jesus is peculiar in that when you look at him, he’s saying that is a sufficient

[11:15] revelation of who God is. [11:19] Therefore, if you want to know God, who do you need to know? [11:23] You need to know Jesus Christ. [11:25] That is never said in any of the revelation of God about anyone else in human history. [11:31] It is reserved only for Jesus himself. [11:36] Jesus states that he is the image of God made manifest in physical form because Jesus

[11:44] has something that I don’t have and you don’t have. [11:46] He has the incommunicable attributes of God. [11:50] In other words, there are things that God has that I don’t know that we do not share [11:55] God’s image and perfect morality. [11:59] We’re sinful. [12:00] God is not.

[12:02] Jesus is not. [12:04] We do not share his image in being perfect in eternality because we are marred by our [12:10] sin, nor do we share the attributes that he has in omnipotence, omniscience. [12:17] Jesus bears all of the image of God. [12:20] But note further, God is holy. [12:23] I am not.

[12:25] Jesus is holy because he is God. [12:29] Friends, Jesus perfectly represents God in every single way. [12:36] Therefore, he is sufficient in his deity. [12:41] And Jesus is supreme in authority over all creation, which I am not to create [12:47] and rule the first creation. [12:50] Note what he says in the next stanza.

[12:52] I promise the rest of it won’t be this tedious. [12:55] He says that he is the firstborn of all creation. [13:00] Now, some specifically Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses may come to your door and share [13:05] a good news about Jesus Christ. [13:08] That is no good news at all because they would rob Jesus of his eternality. [13:13] And if you rob Jesus of his eternality, you rob Jesus of his deity.

[13:18] And then you go back to the first statement and you rob all of the validity of what Paul [13:22] first says that is the image of the invisible God saying that he is the firstborn of all [13:28] creation is not a statement of his biology, nor is it a statement of his beginning point. [13:35] Firstborn literally means supreme over. [13:39] The cultists will tell you that being labeled as the firstborn or elsewhere in [13:43] scripture says that he is the begotten son means that Jesus cannot, in fact, be the eternal God.

[13:49] What they miss is that this is actually a statement of preeminence rather than biology. [13:54] It is a statement and a designation that actually is used in the Old Testament to describe God’s [13:59] relationship with Israel. [14:01] And Exodus 422, God speaking to Moses says, then you shall say to Pharaoh, [14:06] thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son.

[14:11] Now, no one would look at that and say he’s clearly talking about the beginning point of Israel. [14:16] No, he’s talking about the preeminence of Israel among all creation. [14:21] He is very much looking to Moses and saying Israel is supreme among the nations. [14:28] And what he’s saying about Jesus is that Jesus is supreme over all of creation. [14:34] This is a designation. [14:35] This is a rank.

[14:37] The list, then, that you see in verse 16 confirms that look at what it says. [14:41] It says by him, all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, [14:47] whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him [14:52] and for him. [14:56] Verse 16 is actually an explanation of verse 15. [15:00] He’s saying this is what I mean by what I’m saying.

[15:03] The firstborn of all creation. [15:05] There is nothing in existence that Jesus himself did not create. [15:11] And you cannot miss what he’s saying. [15:15] He’s saying Jesus is God. [15:17] He’s saying the one in Genesis that you see speaking the earth into existence, [15:23] speaking the cosmos into reality.

[15:26] That is Jesus himself. [15:28] It is the how and the why of existence. [15:32] And he wields his authority in lordship over everything. [15:36] The great theologian, Kuyper, once said there is no square inch of the universe [15:40] that God does not point to and say mine.

[15:44] And by God, we’re talking about Jesus. [15:48] You’ll see another heresy that comes up further in the Book of Colossians that Paul refutes here. [15:55] Jesus is no mere being, nor is Jesus somehow from an angelic line of beings. [16:03] Rather, Jesus is the Lord and source of all creation, according to this text. [16:08] John, chapter one, verse three makes it clear that everything that exists was created by him. [16:18] You see, he’s pointing out the supremacy of Jesus Christ over all things,

[16:23] because this is the foundation upon which everything he’s going to say [16:26] in this book about faith, everything that he’s going to say about the person, [16:31] the work, the deity of Jesus Christ is built on this very foundation. [16:36] More than that, all of creation doesn’t just exist from Jesus. [16:42] Look at the end of verse 17. [16:44] All of creation exists for Jesus.

[16:48] Excuse me, the end of verse 16 is all for him. [16:53] Every creative activity of God is sourced in Jesus and finds its reason for existing in Jesus Christ. [17:05] Not only that, but look at verse 17. [17:08] It reveals that everything holds together also through the power of Jesus. [17:16] He’s before all things in him. [17:17] All things hold together to know Jesus is to know the one on whom everything depends to exist.

[17:30] And all scientific research and scientific studies, which is the new God says, trust the science. [17:39] But note that in all of the scientific measurements, which are profoundly helpful, [17:43] they’re a gift from God to us that we can know the things that we know. [17:47] Note that science still can’t explain many things. [17:51] You know, science can’t even explain science. [17:54] Science cannot tell you why science exists.

[17:57] Science also cannot tell you why all of this holds together in perfect symmetry. [18:05] Science cannot explain to you why things do not move out of line into chaotic states. [18:12] Yet that’s exactly what scripture explains to us. [18:15] Scripture explains to us everything holds together [18:19] by the hand of our sovereign and supreme Lord Jesus Christ. [18:26] But note, it’s not just an explanation for why everything doesn’t kind of cascade off into oblivion.

[18:33] Have you ever felt chaotic in your life? [18:36] Like everything’s going to fall apart at any minute.

[18:42] You ever asked yourself why life holds together? [18:46] Why your life holds together? [18:50] See, God is not some deistic deity who creates and then walks away and everything just goes the way that it goes. [18:57] No, he’s eminent where creation is concerned. [19:00] He’s personal in his control over all things. [19:04] And the reason that with all of the stresses and all of the anxieties in life,

[19:08] that you can still lay your head on a pillow at night and find perfect rest if you’re a follower of Jesus, [19:16] is because you know that no matter how things may look, [19:19] that there is a God who is holding all things together and he is holding you together. [19:24] That’s why life is so difficult to face. [19:28] I mean, it’s difficult to you are a Christian. [19:29] It’s impossible to face, I believe, if you’re not a Christian,

[19:33] because you have no hope. [19:35] You have no purpose. [19:36] You have no objective Lord in whom all things depend and on whom all things depend. [19:42] But no matter how hard things look, I walk through this world undaunted by anything that happens around me. [19:49] And I lay my head on a pillow at night, no matter what anyone does to me, [19:54] because I know that not only is he holding the oxygen in the atmosphere to give me breath of life,

[20:00] but he is holding my inner self together so that I can walk through this world in peace. [20:08] Friends, if you follow Jesus Christ, if you give your life to Christ, [20:12] no matter what decisions anyone makes around you that may cause you trouble, [20:19] you can still find perfect rest, because while they may not believe, [20:24] you know he’s holding you together every moment. [20:28] Friend, you shouldn’t try to make it through a single day of existence

[20:34] without deep faith and trust in the reality that Jesus is personally holding you together.

[20:44] He’s a personal Lord. [20:46] He is a personal Savior. [20:48] But number two, this morning, he is also the center and reason for all creation. [20:55] And so everything that I’ve said thus far is very important for us to understand the world. [21:00] It’s the Christian worldview. [21:03] But how many of you have spent countless months, years even searching for significance,

[21:11] saying not why do people exist, but why do I exist? [21:16] Why am I here? [21:17] You’re looking for a reason for your life. [21:19] You’re looking for a purpose for why you exist. [21:23] You’re looking for the reason why you can do anything [21:27] and why you can bring any life into the world.

[21:32] And the good news of the gospel is that he doesn’t just tell us Jesus is supreme. [21:38] He tells us how Jesus wields his supremacy. [21:42] Look in verse 18. [21:45] And Jesus is the head of the body, the church. [21:48] He’s the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. [21:55] For in him, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell and through him

[22:00] to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, [22:05] making peace by the blood of his cross. [22:09] This is where he goes from the first creation, everything that just is to the new creation, [22:17] everything that he is doing inside of it. [22:20] And he says that he wields his purpose through his body, the church. [22:25] But then he explains how the church came to existence.

[22:30] These texts lay out really what is the Christian worldview. [22:34] And I’ll tell you, this has been the predominant worldview throughout all of human history. [22:38] We’ve forgotten that in contemporary modern history, [22:41] but throughout world history, this is the predominant worldview. [22:45] Why don’t we believe it? [22:47] Well, theologian Stephen Wellam points out that human sinfulness seeks to obscure this reality.

[22:53] But until the age or the era that was called the [22:57] enlightenment, rather, people accepted that for us to know the reason for existence itself, [23:03] God must reveal himself to us. [23:07] But in the era that’s called the enlightenment and all of the false [23:11] worldviews that came out of it, even to this day, man has sought answers from within him or herself. [23:18] Rather than what the first era was built on faith, seeking understanding,

[23:24] humanity began to turn to the opposite. [23:28] I believe what I can understand. [23:31] Therefore, the human definition of reason, [23:34] possibly what you have been conditioned to believe much of your life has convinced you [23:40] that for something to be true or even for something to be real, [23:44] it must fit your criteria for what is possible or what is reasonable.

[23:50] And what the apostle Paul is actually telling the Colossian church [23:54] is that for them to understand the world around them and why they even exist and live within it, [24:01] they need God to reveal himself. [24:05] They need God to intervene in their lives and choose to give them the revelation of his [24:10] existence. [24:11] And what Paul is saying is good news.

[24:13] He has he’s given himself in his perfect authoritative word, the scriptures, [24:19] and he’s also come and the person and work of Jesus Christ. [24:25] So Jesus not only created all, not only does Jesus reign over all, [24:30] but then Paul turns to what the point of his coming into creation was for. [24:35] It was in order to redeem and renew his creation from sin. [24:41] Note how Jesus wields his authority through the work of his life, death and resurrection.

[24:47] It says that he did this to be the head of the body, the church. [24:53] And what that means is, is that you exist not to build your own version of purpose, [25:01] not even your own version of church. [25:06] Because I don’t know about you, but the decisions that I make have profound effects on my body. [25:11] Some good, many bad. [25:14] But my body isn’t dictating apart from my head what it should do.

[25:21] Rather, that would be a great disability. [25:23] Rather, my head makes decisions that affect my body. [25:27] And what he says is that Jesus is the one who makes the decisions for his church. [25:33] The church exists for the design that Jesus gives it. [25:37] The church exists for the mission that Jesus gives it. [25:41] The church exists for the purposes that Jesus gives it.

[25:46] But also the church exists to act in the ways and for the ways [25:52] that he has determined for it to exist. [25:55] And if you think that means we don’t get say in how this works, that’s true. [26:02] But by his grace, he’s given us his revelation so that we can see it. [26:06] The good news is that we need intervention by God to have truth. [26:13] And Jesus has intervened to reveal himself as the truth.

[26:19] Yes, natural creation and natural law speak to the existence of God [26:24] and even speaks to the reign of God over all that is. [26:27] But God has been more gracious. [26:29] He’s been gracious enough to reveal himself in specific and special ways. [26:33] How has he done that? [26:35] Luke 24, 26 to 27 reveals Jesus after his resurrection.

[26:41] And Jesus explains from the entirety of scripture that it is all a revelation about him [26:45] that leads us to him and reveals to us his glory. [26:50] Jesus, speaking to two men on the road, says, [26:52] was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory? [26:57] And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, [27:00] he interpreted to them and all the scriptures, the things concerning.

[27:05] Himself. [27:07] In other words, he says, you want to know what and who the Bible is about? [27:11] By the way, the Bible is not about you. [27:14] The Bible is about Jesus Christ. [27:16] The Bible is for Jesus Christ and is to lead us to the glory of Jesus Christ. [27:23] And Paul in Colossians one, starting in 18 and 19,

[27:29] he states that Jesus reigns over the church with three titles. [27:35] The first title that he gives Jesus, as I just said, the head of the church, [27:40] that the church is to be a representative of the lordship of Jesus Christ over all things. [27:46] We do as he wishes. [27:48] We submit to his commands. [27:50] Jesus doesn’t need a pope because Jesus is sufficient to lead the church through his word

[27:57] to which we must submit. [28:01] But then he continues and he gives him another title. [28:03] The second one is that Jesus is the firstborn from the dead. [28:08] But note that he gives explanation before he gives the title. [28:12] The first term that he uses before firstborn from the dead is that he’s the beginning. [28:17] This means that he is the source and authority for the church.

[28:24] But it also speaks to the new life and creation that comes from where? [28:30] Well, the church wouldn’t exist without the resurrection. [28:33] So how does he get the title? [28:34] The firstborn from the dead? [28:36] I’ll tell you how by being the firstborn from the dead. [28:40] Again, the same title that we saw a few verses previous

[28:44] to talk about his reign being supreme over the first creation. [28:49] Now he’s saying that his resurrection makes him supreme over the new creation [28:54] by resurrection from the dead. [28:56] And he wants to gift that to all who believe. [29:00] You see, friends, this is about the resurrection for all who believe. [29:05] But if you don’t believe, this isn’t accomplished for you.

[29:08] His resurrection is what reveals his preeminence. [29:12] Friend, if you want to know God, if you want freedom from the curse of sin, [29:16] you will only ever know. [29:18] You will only ever know and find new life and ultimate freedom from Jesus Christ [29:23] because he is in human history, the only one that by his own strength got up out of the grave. [29:30] But there’s a third statement there about Jesus that his resurrection has gained him,

[29:36] it says that Jesus is preeminent.

[29:41] You see, friends, this is significant. [29:43] And then it does reveal, yes, that he’s the head of the church. [29:47] But I think that the apostle Paul says that he’s preeminent [29:50] because he wants us to understand he’s not just the head of the church, [29:54] he’s also the head of everything else. [29:57] That is the point that he made in the first three verses is the same point that he’s making here.

[30:03] You can deny him, you can leave the church, [30:06] you can exist for a purpose outside of the church, his body that he is building [30:11] that will do nothing to discount his lordship over your life. [30:17] Because the church is to be a picture of the new creation. [30:21] Yes, through faith. [30:22] Yes, through submission.

[30:23] Yes, through living out the reality of the lordship of Jesus Christ in all things. [30:29] But his preeminence actually comes from the fact that he is the incarnate Christ. [30:37] He is the God man. [30:39] He’s the only one to become a human being because he is the only Lord God that exists. [30:46] He’s God become human being. [30:49] But again, he doesn’t just stop there in verses 19 through 20.

[30:54] He says that it is through him that all things can be reconciled to God. [31:01] That is the ultimate glory of the gospel. [31:04] This is how humanity, a humanity that knows very well our sinful state friend. [31:10] I do not have to talk to anyone long believer or unbeliever alike.

[31:18] To convince anybody that things are not as they should be. [31:22] You watch the news for 30 seconds this weekend and if something doesn’t bubble up inside of you, [31:28] say this is not as it should be.

[31:32] Well, then you’re not paying attention, but it’s not just external events. [31:36] I don’t have to talk to anyone about their personal lives for very long to convince you. [31:41] You are not as you should be.

[31:48] You’ve experienced the curse of sin. [31:50] You have experienced the problem of sin in your own life. [31:55] You have experienced personal choices that have brought pain into your life. [32:02] But here’s the key.

[32:05] Verse 19 says, excuse me, verse 20 says [32:12] that as the fullness of God was pleased to dwell in him and through him to do what? [32:18] To reconcile to himself all things. [32:21] And you might be getting a very interesting thing from this text because it seems like [32:27] everything comes from Jesus. [32:29] Everything goes through Jesus, but then know what he says there.

[32:33] Everything’s going to come back to him. [32:36] It’s almost as if it’s all about Jesus.

[32:40] It’s almost as if Jesus is the point of everything. [32:43] It’s almost as if Christ is preeminent in and on and for and through and to all things. [32:51] But here’s the amazing news that you need to know that if you’re not a follower of Jesus [32:57] Christ, you may be holding on to hope that all of your wishes to rob from him that preeminence, [33:03] even if you say I will go to hell rather than submit to him. [33:08] Who do you think created that?

[33:13] Friends, you will never escape his lordship. [33:18] It will either work to your benefit or it will eternally work to your detriment.

[33:28] Because number three, this morning, only through Jesus can you know God and have life. [33:36] That’s it. [33:38] That’s it. [33:39] No, he says in verse 20, through him to reconcile to himself all things, [33:45] whether on earth or in heaven, what authority, but as it do, how does he do it?

[33:53] Making peace by the blood on his cross.

[33:59] Friends, [33:59] friends, without the cross, we can’t know him.

[34:08] Without the cross, you can’t know him.

[34:13] Do you feel the weight of sin? [34:15] Do you feel the pain of the curse?

[34:19] This sovereign, supreme, preeminent being

[34:28] willingly chose to allow sinful, [34:34] cursed human beings to nail him to a cross for you. [34:42] Look in verse 21. [34:44] And you, I know some of you, you come to church for inspiration. [34:48] Well, here’s the part where you come in, but it’s not good news. [34:53] Keep reading.

[34:56] And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind doing evil things.

[35:06] Why would he tell you that? [35:08] Why in all that he’s saying about Jesus and all of this amazing news, [35:12] I mean, even saying in him to reconcile to himself all things through what he has done on the cross, [35:20] only God can do that for you. [35:22] And now he wants to give you very bad news. [35:24] And I will tell you why he has to give you the very bad news,

[35:28] because only Jesus can save you from the wrath that God has for sin. [35:32] That’s it. [35:34] Verse 21 actually explains why verses 15 through 19 are a problem for us. [35:42] I mean, all of those texts, it says Jesus is sovereign. [35:45] He is supreme. [35:46] He is preeminent.

[35:47] He is the supreme Lord of all and has clearly revealed himself to everyone. [35:52] What an amazing statement from the apostle Paul. [35:55] Yet I am always so surprised and amazed when I talk to people [36:01] about the wonderful, great gospel of Jesus Christ and they reject it.

[36:08] I say, no, a world that is consumed with false ideology, [36:13] a world that is consumed by the curse of sin. [36:16] You must ask yourself at some point, if you are a follower of Jesus, [36:19] how could anyone reject such a great God and King? [36:24] And here is how he explains it. [36:27] He says your sin alienates you from God, but it also makes you hostile in your thoughts.

[36:37] You can’t think straight. [36:39] That’s sinful.

[36:41] My own mind is warped against the supreme Lord of all that is, [36:49] but it is because mankind is alienated from God, hostile in mind towards God, [36:56] and only then do you start doing the evil deeds that keep you from God.

[37:03] We do that which God commanded us not to do. [37:07] Sin is the problem. [37:08] I recently heard a friend state that many people reject God [37:12] because of what atheists have called the problem of evil. [37:17] This is the problem that they say if God is so good and God is so sovereign, [37:22] then how can evil exist?

[37:24] How can suffering exist in this world? [37:27] But the reality, my friend said, is that it is only a problem [37:30] if you see no evil in the mirror looking back at you.

[37:35] Problem is not God. [37:36] The problem is in verse 21. [37:38] The problem is me.

[37:41] I am hostile in mind. [37:44] I do evil deeds.

[37:48] There’s ultimately, I’ll tell you in all that I’ve read, [37:52] all the people that I’ve talked to, there is no reason on earth to reject Jesus Christ. [37:58] There’s no reason to reject the reality of God. [38:00] There’s no logic behind it. [38:02] There’s only sin that makes humans think this way. [38:08] Look at this amazing way that the text goes.

[38:13] Verse 22.

[38:16] Jesus has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death [38:23] in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him. [38:30] There’s an amazing circle that you go on. [38:32] He does it. [38:33] He accomplishes it. [38:34] But then it has to come back to him.

[38:38] I think Romans chapter five explains this really well when it states since therefore,

[38:46] we have now been justified by his blood. [38:48] Much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. [38:53] For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, [38:58] much more now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. [39:04] More than that. [39:05] Bonus round.

[39:06] We also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received [39:16] reconciliation.

[39:19] Here’s why I think that is so helpful. [39:22] Paul reveals in the first parts of the text that we read in this sermon, [39:27] the immensity of Jesus Christ. [39:31] There is no hyperbole. [39:32] There is no exaggeration. [39:35] He is supreme overall.

[39:41] And then from verses 20 through 23, he says that immense, involved, righteous, holy, supreme God,

[39:55] he wants to forgive your sin. [40:00] He wants to erase his own wrath towards you by reconciling your relationship with God, [40:12] by taking the debt and penalty for your sin. [40:17] Why? [40:19] So that you sinner can move from God’s wrath to God’s favor.

[40:28] By God’s action, you can not save yourself.

[40:38] Only Jesus by his grace can save you.

[40:44] Verse 22 states, think about this. [40:48] Jesus did it all to present you holy, blameless, and above reproach before himself to the Father. [40:57] You are none of those things. [41:01] I know from personal experience, I am none of those things. [41:04] I’m not holy. [41:05] I’m not blameless.

[41:06] And I’m certainly not above reproach.

[41:10] But Jesus is all of those things according to the text. [41:14] And he desires to gift all three of those things to you. [41:22] But here’s the fascinating thing. [41:25] So that he can present you to himself without sin, [41:33] so that he doesn’t have to pour his wrath on you for all eternity, [41:37] because he wants to pour his love on you for all eternity.

[41:41] That’s a great exchange. [41:43] And that is also why you must submit in all things [41:50] to the Lord Jesus Christ. [41:51] You must. [41:53] You must. [41:54] There is no other alternative.

[41:56] This is it. [41:58] And Ephesians 1 tells us what Jesus is doing right now with it. [42:03] And what is the immeasurable greatness of his power towards us who believe [42:08] according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead [42:15] and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, [42:19] far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named,

[42:27] not only in this age, but also in the one to come. [42:30] And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, [42:38] which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. [42:43] I love how Paul doesn’t stop the list until you stop objecting. [42:48] He’s like, I’m throwing it all at you. [42:51] Jesus is ruling and Jesus is reigning through and over his church.

[42:57] He has immeasurable power still, and the resurrection has proclaimed for all time [43:04] that Jesus rules with authority, power, dominion above every name that is to be named in [43:12] every age. Everything is under his feet. [43:18] And so what does that mean? What’s the point? Look at verse 23.

[43:29] If. If indeed you continue in the faith, what’s Paul talking about there?

[43:39] He’s talking about why the truth of who Jesus is, is so important and how destructive [43:49] allowing any false doctrine to come into the church would be on the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. [43:58] He says, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the [44:05] of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven and of [44:12] which I, Paul became a minister. Here is the problem with false doctrine about Jesus. [44:19] If you believe lies, it means you don’t believe the gospel.

[44:25] And Paul says that he has given them the truth of Jesus Christ, [44:29] and he is saying that everything depends on that truth. The only way to continue in the faith is [44:35] to continue in the truth by submitting and giving your entire life to it. [44:43] Do not shift. Do not entertain the lies of the enemy in any false ideology, in any false doctrine, [44:56] and do not believe the lies of wicked philosophies. Friends, you shift from the hope of the gospel [45:04] when you believe the lies of the enemy. Submit to Jesus, and therefore you are submitting to God.

[45:18] But submit to the real Jesus that has shown who he is through scripture, who he is through his [45:26] resurrection. And you follow him with everything you have and never deviate from that path. [45:37] A few explanation or application points rather this morning.

[45:42] First, form your view of all things through God’s revelation.

[45:48] Don’t depend on human reason, it’s flawed. Depend on the revelation of God. See the world [45:55] through the lens of scripture, because it is perfect. Secondly, submit to Jesus’s authority. [46:03] He’s not just your personal Lord and Savior, he’s the Lord of all. He is God. Thirdly, build [46:12] Jesus’s church. Paul has revealed there, there are no lone ranger Christians. [46:18] You are not on a personal journey with Jesus. You’ve been given a mission and you’ve been given a [46:26] people that if you’re a follower of Jesus, you belong to God’s people, the church, build it.

[46:33] And then finally, anchor your life to the truth of Jesus Christ and never deviate from it.