Date:   02/08/09

Text:   Colossians 1:15-20

Title:   The Supremacy of Christ

Theme:    Because Christ is above all, submission to Him must be the hallmark of Christian living.

Introduction:

    I remember asking someone about so and so, for I had not seen him for some time. I was quite unprepared for the response, “Oh, he is no longer with us, he's been going to a Mormon church.” How can this be? Doesn't he know what the Mormons believe? On second thought, my question instead should be: do we know what we believe?

In recent weeks, we have been talking about Connecting with God. When we come to know Christ, we are connected with him. However, how much do we know this Jesus with whom we are connected? It's almost like asking how well do we know our spouse? Jesus asked his disciples, “whom do people say I am?” “Whom do you say that I am?” for the last 2000 years, people are still asking: Who is Jesus? Why is this such an important question that it transcends culture and time? The answer to this question will determine our relationship with him. This answer will also determine how we respond to the Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses and the Muslims.

The passage before us is considered by many as one of the most important, majestic and rich in content passages in the bible. It is recognized that any attempt to further explain and preach on this passage, will only reveal the preacher's smallness and limitations. Instead, we are to let the text speak to us directly, and sink into our minds so we can appreciate its glory and majesty.

    Who is Jesus Christ?

I•  We submit to Christ because He is the Lord of all creation.

The Mormons believe that Jesus is separated from God the father. He was created as a spirit child by God the father and Mother in heaven. The Jehovah's Witnesses believes that Jesus is not God. Before Jesus lived on earth, he was the archangel Michael. Islam believes that Jesus is one of the 124K prophets God sent to different cultures. He was born of a virgin but is not the son of God, sinless but not God. But what does the bible say here? Paul writes in v15, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” This tells us that Jesus is the very substance of God. He is God. If you see him, then you have seen God. Do you want to know what God is like? Look at Jesus. This is what John means in John 1:18, “ No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.”

Jesus Christ is also the firstborn. Firstborn means “first in rank and honor”. When Paul called Christ the firstborn over the creation, he meant that the highest honor belongs to Jesus Christ.

V16-17, “ 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” This tells us that being God, Jesus is also lord over the entire creation. Why? Because he created the entire heaven and earth and all that is in it. He is Lord over the created world including the governments. We may not like certain governments or leaders, but it is important to remember, even though we may have difficulty understanding this, Jesus Christ is the lord over all.

Certainly we can devote many sermons to the application of these verses, yet this morning I want to call your attention to the issue of Science. In the president's inauguration address, he called for the return of science to its proper place. This has brought the applause of the scientific community. Have you given thought to what it means by proper place? Or where was it before in the first place?

Modern science began in the early 18 th century. The unifying theme and objective was that an orderly God had created an orderly world. Therefore men could seek orders and laws that governed the universe. The purpose of science was to discover and understand how the created world, including human beings function. Through such observations and discoveries, among many things, we begin to understand how cells and DNA operate thereby inventing new drugs and developing new procedures to cure sicknesses. So in the beginning, modern science was under the Lord of creation. However, as we entered the 19 th and 20 th century, science and human reason began to elevate their positions; from under God to above God, and eventually moved God out of the picture completely. He is no longer there.

Today, when we say ‘bring science to its rightful place', it really means that we are to let science be the king, let the scientists decide what is best for humankind. But as Christian scientists, we think differently, right? Yes, Science can be powerful and beneficial, but it is still under the lordship of Christ. Take the Embryonic stem cell research as an example. Using the president's phrase, this complicated issue is beyond my pay grade. However, as Christians, especially those of us in the life science research, we need to spend time to discuss and think through the ethical issues from the biblical perspective. Before we become Christians, we are guided by pragmatics and grant money, but now, having come to know Christ, we must learn to see life through the eyes of God. In the next few years, there will be plenty of grant money for this research. But it is important we remember that what is good is not necessarily right. To bring science back to its proper place is to submit our minds and methods under the Lordship of Christ.

II•  We submit to Christ because He is the Lord of the church.

V18, “And he is the head of the body, the church;…” Jesus Christ is supreme over the church. The church is the gathering of all believers, unlimited by space and time. No matter where you are, if you are a believer, then you are a member of his church, his body. It also includes believers who gather in a local church like this. Jesus Christ is not only the head of the universal church, but also the head of this church. Pastors, elders and deacons are not the head of the church. Jesus Christ and Christ alone is the head of the church. What does this mean?

If he is the Lord, the head, then the questions we should constantly be asking is: “What does Jesus Christ want this church to do and become? Are our visions, projects and programs compatible to the biblical worldview?” In the midst of our visions, projects and programs, Jesus wants His church, this church, to manifest his beauty, holiness, righteousness, glory and love in this broken world.

If Jesus Christ is the head of this church, what do we do when problems arise? If you face problems at work, what do you do? You bring it to the attention of your boss. What happens when there are problems in the local church? Some of you would say, bring it to the senior pastor. How about me? There are issues that you need to bring to the sr. pastor, yet I feel we all need to learn to bring it to Jesus Christ, tell him about it. As we pray, God will show and help us how to be a part of the solution. I remember a former member of the church in STL shared this with me, “Whenever I see a problem in the church, I always pray first. Sometimes, through prayer, God took care of the problem. Other times God used me to help resolve the problem. Then there are times, after much prayer, I would share my concern with the pastor or other leaders.”

We all need to remember that Jesus Christ is the head of this church. Pastors also need to be reminded that we are not the head, but it is Jesus Christ.

III•  We submit to Christ because He is the Lord in Reconciliation .

    Vs. 20-22, “ and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,… ” Let me briefly explain this passage. When God first created the heaven and earth including men, he saw everything was good. It was perfect. There was perfect relationship between God and man; God was the supreme lord over his creation. But after Adam and Eve deliberately sinned against God, what was normal and perfect now became imperfect and abnormal. The relationship between God and men was broken and hostility took the place of harmony. We were separated from God, our thinking is against him, our behaviors are evil. We had become His enemies. 2K years ago, Jesus Christ, the son of God, entered the world and became man. He took our sins upon himself, died on the cross to make peace between God and men, between man and man, man and himself and between men and nature. He came to bring reconciliation between God and his creation. To restore the creation to what it meant to be when first created. His ultimate purpose, v18b, “….so that in everything he might have supremacy.” His purpose in coming was to redeem us and to bring us back to God so that he will once again claim his lordship over us. What does it mean if Jesus Christ is my lord?

1•  Personal Lives . To be reconciled to God means that in everything I do, I will glorify God. That is, causing others to speak well of God. I will not do anything that will dishonor him. In all my decisions, I'll first seek what pleases him. As I search for a major or career to focus, I'm to explore what he wants me to do and be. He is first in my family life. I am to treat my family members according to his teaching. He is first in my social life. What I say to friends, how I relate to them, must give the world an adequate picture of what God is like. He is the lord of my time. My daily schedule, how I use time, is to reflect his lordship. Do I allocate time to advance his kingdom on earth? How much time a week do I spend in serving Jesus in the local church? He is the lord of my finance. Looking at my checkbook, does it reflect Christ's lordship over how I spend money?

2•  Emotion. To be reconciled to God, also means that he is to be lord over my emotion and personality. I want to handle these two categories with great care.

    Don't we often say, I can't help how I feel. I feel lousy today, too bad you are around me. It appears that because I have such negative emotion, then it legitimizes its presence in life. We need to know that because we are fallen creatures and sin has affected every aspect of our being. Some of our emotions are ugly and wrong, therefore they are to be kept under control.

    We remember a dentist, Clara Harris. 5 years ago, her husband's affair triggered her anger. In a rage, she drove her Mercedes over him and killed him. She could not control what her husband did, but she could control her expression of anger. She is now serving a 20 year prison sentence. I often say that at times it is difficult for us to control the coming of our strong and negative emotions triggered by events and words that we have no control of. Yet our challenge is to control the expression of such emotions. If not, dire consequences can follow. We may not be able to control what others do or say, but we can certainly control how we express our emotion.     

    When feelings and emotion are clearly in contradiction to God's standard, then its wrong. When Christ is my Lord, we are to bring our emotion under His lordship. We are to ask him to help us rid and change such feelings into ones that reflect his character and beauty.

3•  Personality Issues. Some of us are Drivers, others are Influencers, Thinkers or Relational. We perceive things differently and act accordingly. We thank God for our uniqueness and diversity. However, its also our various personalities that get us into trouble. As we look at problems in this and other churches, how often are they related to doctrinal or biblical issues? Very, very few. Most if not all, have to do with our personalities. When we say, so and so has a strong personality, it usually means that his personality is dominating and intimidating others. In other words, I feel that very often, we have allowed our particular personality bent to act out in a way that is displeasing to God. And all this time, we say, this is me, I can't help it. We have let our particular personality overshadow who we are in Jesus Christ.

    We thank God for the diversity in personalities we find in this congregation. But, when we allow our personalities to interfere with God's work, when our different personalities cause unresolved conflicts, hurting others, making us insensitive to other's feelings and needs, driving people away from church and from God, then something is wrong. We are to bring our personalities under the lordship of Jesus Christ. In Oswald Sanders' words, “to voluntarily and cooperatively surrender to His control.” This does not mean we change our personality. But with God's help and empowerment, we are to make an effort to develop the fruit of the holy spirit within us. That we become more loving, joyous, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle and self-control. Our prayer and objective is to allow the beauty of Jesus Christ shine through our particular personality.

    When Jesus Christ is my lord, I am to subject my entire being, including my emotions and personality to his control.

Conclusion:

    Who is Jesus? We can say what the Mormons, the Jehovah's Witnesses and Muslim believe. But who do we (you) say Jesus is? How do we know who is the real Jesus?

    (SLIDE) How do we know which $100 bill is real? We need to know what a real bill looks like. It has the security thread, the dollar amount on the right bottom corner will change color under the light and the picture in the water mark is the same as the main portrait. The more you know the real one, the easier it is for you to point out the fake one.

    The same is true with our spiritual journey. How do we know who is the real Jesus? Go back to the bible. Why the bible? Because we believe that the creator God reveals his heart to humans in this bible. This is why last Sunday we mentioned that if we are to know God, we are to take his words seriously. Only by studying this bible, then we will have a better understanding of the real Jesus.

    Today's passage teaches us that Jesus is the son of God, he is God. He is supreme over the entire creation. He is the lord of this church, and He is also the Lord over your and my life. For this reason, submission to him must be the hallmark of our faith. He is the standard by which all other faith are to be measured against.