Colossians 1:13-21                                   

 

Who is Jesus Christ? What makes Him unique? Why does this one Man stand out above all others? To explain Jesus is impossible. To ignore Him is disastrous. To reject Him is fatal. Dr. John Blanchard estimated that since the dawn of civilization, about 60 billion people have walked planet Earth. Of those, only a handful actually changed the world. Of that handful, One stands head and shoulders above all others. His name is Jesus.

 

Jesus has received more attention and opposition than any person who has ever lived. His every recorded word has been analyzed. After 2,000 years, never a minute passes that millions are not studying His words. He lived in a tiny land two millennia ago, yet His birth divides our calendar into BC and AD.

 

The great historian Kenneth Scott Latourette said, “Jesus has had more effect on the history of mankind than any other of its race who ever existed.” He had only a handful of followers, but they changed the world.

 

To know Him is to love Him. To love Him is to trust Him. To trust Him is to be radically, eternally transformed.

 

Jesus Is the Preeminent One

 

“Preeminence” means to hold first place, to be distinct, superior, above all others.

Colossians 1:13-18 says He is:

 

  • God’s dear Son (v.13)
  • our atoning sacrifice, our Savior (v.14)
  • the exact image and likeness of God the Father (v.15)
  • the firstborn over all creation (v.15) 
  • Creator of all things in Heaven and Earth (v.16)
  • the one who holds all things together (v.17)
  • the head of the Church (v.18)

 

Firstborn (v.15) indicates the honor and privilege of His exalted position. Jesus is the Second Person of the Trinity. He said, “Before Abraham was, I Am.” Not “I was,” but “I Am” (John 8:58).

 

Jesus deserves preeminence in your life for three reasons.

 

Reason #1:  Jesus reveals the Father

 

He has cornered the market on revealing the Father. Jesus is the image of the invisible, unfathomable, unapproachable God. Without Him, you cannot know God. Reason, religion, and ritual won’t work. You’ll know Him only by revelation—and He has chosen to do that through His Son, Jesus Christ, the exact representation of the invisible God.

 

He is God manifest in the flesh. Jesus didn’t say, “I am a way.” He said: “I am THE way, THE truth, THE life” (John 14:6).

 

Would you like to know what the invisible God is like? Would you like to know His heart? You’ll only find Him in Jesus. Colossians 2:9 sums it up: “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” He was both God and man.

 

Reason #2: Jesus rules the future.

 

Jesus is the power of creation.

 

“All things in heaven and on earth were created through Him, and nothing was made without Him” (Colossians 1:16). The baby in Matthew 1 is the mighty God of Genesis 1.

 

Jesus is the preserver of creation.

 

“…in Him all things consist” (Colossians 1:17).

 

Jesus Christ is the glue of the galaxies. What keeps it all from falling apart or coming apart? Jesus. In Him, all things hold together.

 

Jesus is the purpose of creation.

 

“For the Lord is our Judge, The Lord is our Lawgiver, The Lord is our King; He will save us” (Isaiah 33:22).

 

The climactic moment of Earth’s history will be when Jesus returns and establishes His kingdom. Everything will climax in the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Friend, it is all headed to Jesus. He is the key to the mystery of history. We’re moving toward the time when the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ.

 

Reason #3: Jesus reconciles the fallen.

 

Jesus is the peacemaker, the redeemer, reconciling God and man.

 

Colossians 1:19-22 tells us that through Jesus:

 

  • God chose to reconcile everything, whether earthly or heavenly, to Himself.
  • There is peace between God and man.
  • We’re no longer alienated from God.
  • We’re presented to Him holy, blameless, above reproach.

 

Because Jesus is God, His death provides our eternal salvation. The one who made every seed, limb, and tree, died on a tree. When Jesus created the universe, He did it with His Word. When He saved us, He did it with His blood. 

 

I cannot make peace with God. Jesus made peace for me through the blood of His cross. We must enter that peace by faith, trusting the Lord Jesus.

 

Does He have preeminence in your life?

 

If in your heart there’s darkness, gloom, depression and despair, there is Someone who can light the candle of joy. His name is Jesus.

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