Jesus is First in Everything
Let's first begin in prayer. Father, Lord, we thank you that we have this family here. Lord, that we are brothers and sisters in Christ. Lord, this is a body. And so, Father, we pray, Lord, that we will be built up together today. We pray, Father, that your spirit will be at work in our hearts and our minds and that you would open our eyes and our ears to receive your word, to be transformed and changed by it all, by the power of your spirit, pray in Jesus' name, amen. Still going through Colossians, working through it slowly, little bit by little bit. If you remember anything about last week, and again, it's not that you need to know what happened last week, but just a little recap, whatever, we built a train. I know it sounds funny, but we had all these different bits, all these pieces that came together to make what we call the Christian life. But the most important part, and the part that I really think is unpacked throughout the rest of the book, was this, from verse nine. It says, from the day we heard, have not ceased to pray for you asking that you be filled with the knowledge of his will and all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And now this idea of wisdom is just all through the book. He is constantly telling people what is wise. Basically, he's being the Solomon of his time, right? Telling people the way in which they should go, the way God wants them to live. And you see, we talked about what wisdom was. It was this idea of living in accordance with reality, or what we call common sense. You just know that there are certain truths about the world, and so you operate your life in accordance with them. If you throw a ball, it's gonna come down. If you don't put piers in your concrete slab, it's gonna shift. These kind of things. Things we know that just make sense. And so, Paul here is trying to teach us the wise way in which to live. that there are certain truths we need to know to be able to orientate ourselves right. To do without them is to be foolish. And so we here are heeding a call to be wise. And so this here is what Paul, just what Olivia just read out then, is Paul's proclamation about what is wise. He says he wants us to be filled with the knowledge of God's will. And one of the most important parts about God's will is knowing who he is and what his son came to do. There is nothing more important. You get that, you get the gospel. That's what the gospel is. It's who Jesus is and what he did. And so here, in this hymn, you can read the gospels and you get a different picture of Jesus in each one. And that's a good thing because the reality is I couldn't fit who each and any one of you were in a single book because you've got a whole life, a whole story that could never fit in just one book. So it's great. We have these four gospels that show different sides of Jesus. But here as well, we are given a picture of Jesus. But this is him in his most elevated state. Just in, just if you ask like, who is Jesus at His highest level, right? Because what we really hear is talking about the divinity of Jesus, as in Him being God. And so, Paul is desperate for us to know these truths because you see, the same problem that faces us faced the Colossians back in their day. They had begun to weave truths from other religions into their beliefs about Christianity. And so, they had this weird view of Jesus. But the big problem was this, was that they, what it did was that it lowered Jesus' importance. It said, know, yes, we're here. Jesus saved us from our sins and He's also here to give us uh health and wealth or whatever. And naturally something that is put in the way lowers Jesus' importance and what He actually came to do. When we put something else in the middle, Jesus is lowered. And so what Paul wants to do is give us such a big picture of Jesus that there is no way we could physically put something else in His place. It would just be absolutely foolish. to do anything else, because putting anything else there when you're given this picture of him would just be idiocy. And so if you imagine it, Paul is gonna paint it in this way. He's gonna paint it like a solar system, in a way. And this is really what it is like to be a Christian. What do we have in our solar system that's probably more important than anything, except this planet we're living on? Does anyone want to take a stab? What's the thing that holds everything together? The sun, right? Exactly. You switch anything else into that place, it'll go... If you switch the sun with the earth, put them in different places, everything goes gangbusters, all right? It just goes... crazy. Because you see, the sun is this gravitational thing which holds everything in place where it should be. And so you see, the moment you put something else in that place, it goes wrong. So it is the same thing that, and it's just a funny thing that, you know, the sun is also known as the sun, S-O-N. When we put Jesus, the Son of God, not in the place where he should be, there at the center of our lives and all that we do as a church, everything falls out of whack. And so, really, get to it when, all you have to see in this, the whole point of this message is just gonna be Jesus is first in everything, absolutely everything. So that's how Paul painted for, Paul will paint it for us. So four points we'll be going through, which I'll hopefully pop up. First one, we'll tackle, verse 15, Jesus is creator, the creator. So let's read through it. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. Now we'll attach, we'll deal with the image part in a bit. Actually, sorry, yes, we will read verse 16 as well. That was my fault there. For by Him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible, invisible, where thrones, dominions, rulers, authorities, all things were created through Him and for Him. So again, skip over the image part, we'll get back to that. Firstborn of all creation. What does that mean? Anyone want to take a stab? No, no one game enough, that's fair enough. All right. So inevitably you're gonna think, it just means he's the first thing, right? Yes, but that's actually not the important part because it says it later that he's before all things. The important part here is that he's a first born. And what is the other thing that a first born gets beyond just being the first one? They receive the inheritance. They are the one to which when, it's like, you you ever watch the, um the movie The Lion King, You know, Mufasa takes Simba up on the stage, everything the light touches, right? At least in the original. He says, that's all ours. That one day will all be yours. And so this is saying that exact same thing about Jesus. He says, everything, this is what the Father says to his son, one day everything will belong to you. And everything does now belong to him. So, it is simply a point that He is this supreme being, God, to whom everything belongs. So if there's something written on the bottom side of everything, you know, someone with the person's name on it, who owns it? It is God. And then He goes on in verse 16. If you want to sum it up quickly, everything is made by Him, through Him, and for Him. This is exactly what Paul is just praising when he says in Romans 11, 36, for from Him, through him, to him are all things. To him be glory forever, amen. And so you see, all he is simply saying, everything is from him, everything originates in him. Nothing has its source, nothing was ever created apart from Jesus. Nothing, because he is the creator. Everything happens through him, meaning everything receives power, receives ability. Nothing can go forward apart from him. Everything is attached to him by some charging cable, all right? Everything needs its power from him. Nothing can come to pass without him. So he is in the middle there, then everything is to him, meaning the ultimate purpose of everything that happens. Every Adam and all creation has a ultimate purpose and that is to bring glory to him. That means that the whole point of it is to bring praise and honor to who he is. That when you look at that thing, you're gonna look at it and just say, man, wow, can't imagine the fellow that made that. That is the purpose of everything that has been made. And so he just realized from beginning, middle to end, Jesus is the whole thing. It is all about Him. And this is what Christianity is meant to be about. We do not come here on a Sunday because us. We come here because of Him, because of what He did, because of who He is, and we come because everything is about Him. And so the great realisation for us is that we must realise He is our Creator, and we were made for Him. You see, this is one of the most important things to understand because naturally the lie that easiest comes into Christianity is the belief that God made us and He was made for us. That the idea that we walk through this life and that the whole point is that He's some cosmic genie that you meant to rub and He just answers all our wishes and our desires. Yeah, of course, most of us think, oh, that's kind of silly, but inevitably we all slip into this at some points. We all think, God, if you could just do this, everything would go a bit better. Naturally, we just wish him to answer our wishes because we think it would be right, but we forget often that we were made for him. And so you see, this is a great thing because this gives us purpose to all that we do. And don't we all love a grand purpose for everything in life? I don't know if you guys, remember being in high school, it was just a natural thing when people asked, what is the meaning of life? And impunerantly, it was the number 42. I think it's from some old movie or something, I don't really know. Anyway, we're always sure of that. But if you just search for the questions like that, what is the meaning of life? What is the purpose of everything? We want an overarching story, an overarching purpose to everything. Because of course, all of us love to have a reason and purpose for everything we do. We need to have a reason for what we do. We don't just walk through just kind of like robots doing whatever. We need a grand purpose. And we love these things, but it is about having the right grand purpose. Because naturally we can create our lives around a grand purpose of, I don't know, I want my children to have a better life than I did. Not a bad thing. I wanna... create a legacy, can even be a godly one. I just want to live a happy, content life. All these things, not necessarily harmless in and of themselves, sorry, not harmful in and of themselves, but they miss the main point. They can never be an overarching thing because it is still about us, that is still us at the center. It is something other than God. And so you see, the reality is when we place anything at the center of our universe, the center of our lives, except for God, It is spitting in his face and it is doing something incredibly foolish. Because this is what he says in verse 16, right? If you'd come with me and we'll read through it just quickly again. Because I said all things are made by him, through him, for him, But then he has this bit in the middle. All things are created in heaven and on earth, visible, invisible, whether thrones, dominions, or rulers, authorities. So he just lists all these different things, rulers, powers, dominions, authorities, basically just a blanket statement for everything you could possibly imagine, right? Every ruler, every power. anything that could rule over us in any way, whether spiritual or physical, everything was made by Him and is ruled over by Him. And you see, this is the important thing, because see, the Colossians had this problem where they were trying to introduce angel worship into their Christianity, basically. You know, saying, can worship Jesus and also worship these angels. I don't know all the ins and outs of how it works, but they were looking to bring that in. Now, what is the grand problem with that? What is really the problem? Is it that they're worshiping angels? Well, yes, that's part of the problem, but that's not the overarching problem. They could have switched it out for worshipping porcupines. It doesn't matter. The problem is that they are worshipping something that is subservient to Jesus. They're worshipping a servant. You do realize that we were made as the epitome of creation. We're the crowning jewel. There's nothing else that you could actually physically put into that place that is meant to be higher than us. Even angels are made to minister to us. All right? The only thing that is higher is God. And so to worship anything else is again, just plain foolishness. And so the whole point that he brings out is that the only place, the only thing that can sit at the center that can hold our lives in place is Jesus. And He is the one to whom all honor should be directed. So then going on to the second one, verse 17, we continue. And He is before all things and in Him all things hold together. Now want to ask you a question. What was there before Genesis 1 verse 1? God, right? Obviously there was nothing. There was nothing except for Him. So when it's saying He's before all things, I'm sure you guys can figure out what that means. He is God. I know it seems like a small point for us because we all simply believe that. You've got to understand it wasn't a simply believed back then. Here's Paul coming along telling them, hey, Did you know that there's a fellow that's come down who's born in a stable and he's God in human flesh? I'm sorry, we've had 2,000 years of being told it and we can, you know, there's a of reasoning behind it. That's crazy. And so, we need to understand that this is an incredible thing that he's saying that this man who was born, this Jewish man in Bethlehem who lived in Judea is God. the eternal God before all creation. And then he goes on to an even more humbling truth. In him, all things hold together. So this is something that obviously naturally, as we've increased in our knowledge of science and things like that, people have seen as an excuse to, well, cool, we've solved that problem, so we don't really need God and that and all these kinds of things. And yeah, well, it's pretty silly because the whole thing that they see is we've gotten rid of it. See how this runs by itself now. We don't need God in the picture anymore. Apparently our God is simply one that just fills in the gaps we don't know. actually the one who truly is, which is the one who upholds everything. We have laws in this things, laws in this universe that everything must obey, but yet we think that there is no one who upholds them, but we know that there is, that Jesus at every moment sustains everything. So when a plant withers, when a person dies, when a star explodes, why is that? Because at that moment, Jesus stops sustaining that thing. That is why. Yes, there are scientific processes that go through all of it because of God's... God made science. He's not opposed to it. but understand that underneath all of that sits a spiritual reality of Him upholding all things. Why is this important for us? Well, I hope you would realize why understanding that God is the one sustains us is pretty important. Why do we spend more time doing than anything? For some more, for some less, we all work. Okay, yes, maybe some of you retired, but then you probably say, and just living is working. because it's hard work, right? The reality is, yeah, you may not be getting a wage, but life just is work. And better yet, why do we have to work? Because we have to live, survive. Yes, we might be very comfortable here, but everyone's very well aware we need food, we need shelter, we need water. That's why we build houses. We can make them as pretty as we want. Their basic purpose is to keep rain off our heads. The reality is we stock our pantries. Yes, it may have many beautiful foods in it, but what is the grand purpose? So that we don't die from hunger. All these things, we spend all this time so that we might be sustained, so that we might live on to the next day. We spend so much time doing it, and that's fair enough because it's an essential thing to do. But the thing that we often take for granted is the most essential thing to our continual sustaining. That is Jesus. He is the one thing we take for granted. because inevitably some of you have probably had times where you're like, oh, food's a bit rough, could do with something a bit nicer. There are times where you do truly appreciate your food, the water we have, the house over your heads, though we may take them for granted as well, but nothing is taken more for granted than the one who sustains everything, who gives us everything, Jesus himself. And so Paul is trying to help us understand what sits at the center of what nourishes us. What is the thing that sustains you? Because you see, naturally, we can make our lives about those things because see, we want security. We want to feel assured that we will live on. And so naturally we can place, you know, I need a bit more of this, I need a bit more of that. We can put that thing in the center of our universe, but it's a pointless thing because we have a God who freely gives everything, who does not ask price, but simply asks that we give. And so He, So Paul is asking us, you spend so much time planning your finances, filling your pantries, ensuring everything that is precious. Please take the time to turn your attention, to turn your thoughts to that very thing without which you would cease to exist in this very moment. The very one who you might think you can just breathe because scientific processes or whatever. Every single one is a gift given to us by God. And so we ought to realize how indebted to Him we are every day, and how dependent we are upon Him for everything. And better yet, this is a great encouragement to us because do you realize now you can have someone at the center of your galaxy, your solar system, who will hold you together. And it doesn't have to be you. It doesn't have to be the things you have. All of us have walked through times where you're saying, man, I could just fall apart. I am just done. I am over this. I am sick of this place. All of us have been there, surely, unless maybe you're one of those amazing people who just never gets sad or anything. I'm not that type. I need someone who sits there who tells me, you can fall apart, I won't. I will hold you together. I will keep it. You will make it through this because I am bigger than you. I hold all things in my hands. So it is this encouragement that when you're at the end of yourself, don't put something else there in the middle. All of those things will fail you. Put Christ there, he will uphold you through everything. And so we need to realize always where our strength comes from. Our strength comes from Him. Put Him at the center. It is the truth of who He is, His sustaining power and the promises He has made to us that will keep us going. So on to the third point now. Verse 18, Jesus and the church. I think it says Jesus is head of the church, so I'm not quite sure of the point. Anyway, so we'll read verse 18 now. and he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead that in everything he might be pre-aminent. Why are you guys a part of the church? I not quite jumping to why you come to church yet, you know, coming to the Sunday service. I understand the church isn't a building, church is a family. The people here, this is what the church is. Why are you a part of it? Why do you rock up to the things that we do as a family? Got to do it because, I don't know, it's good for the kids to come along too? Do I do it because it's what I've always done? Why do we come to this place? Why do we gather as a family? What's the point? We've got to understand, we've got to have a good reason because there is only one reason that is good enough. If we come for any other reason, look, good for you, but it's kind of a pointless thing to do. First thing, we gather because we understand that we are a body. The reality is none of you is a whole body unanticipated themselves. Sounds a bit weird, I know, but the reality is, I don't know, Zeke, you are a pair of lungs, all right? And Rick over here, he's a toe, all right? And the reality is, if you leave a toe out by itself, it's not going nowhere. Put a pair of lungs out by themselves with no heart, no nothing to pump it around, it dies. The body needs every part. And so there's a reason that we come together. Because there is a grand purpose. Because you need each person in this room. It's not to say that you're gonna have the most intimate connection with every single person. But I'm telling you right now, there's people that you probably haven't had more than a conversation with, but they've actually prayed for you. There are people here who are sowing into your lives that you're unaware of even. Each of us need each other. It is not about trying to figure out who's the kidney and who's the lung and who do I really need. It is simply understanding that we must appreciate all the people here because they are all necessary. But that is not a reason in and of itself that is good enough. We do need each other, but what do we need most? We gather together because we're connecting to what? A body needs, most importantly, a head. Right? Isn't that simple? Because naturally, if you've ever watched, not watched, but you know in the movies they have executions, guillotines, axes, things like that, what do they chop off? Their head. Because that is the thing that gives life. You chop off their head, it's done. We're not snakes. You chop off their heads, we're gone. Alright? Done and dusted. And so you see, we desperately need our heads. We need our head. And who is our head? He is Jesus Christ. So you see, that is the reality of what we do here. We come here to reconnect to the one who gives us life, who gives us direction, who centers everything and who points us in the right way. Jesus is everything. Jesus is the one that we're here for. He is the one that we gather together so that we might experience, be reminded of the truths of who he is, all of it together, and that we might encourage each other to remember him. And so then obviously this is a warning of the reality of trying to live our lives outside of the church. There is no such thing as a lone wolf Christian. I know every single one of us knows someone who hasn't been in church for 10 years and yet still seems to be a strong Christian. I get that. But it's still a very dangerous thing to do. Because Christ has called us to be in community with one another. Lungs can't survive by themselves. We need to be together. And better yet, it is here where he is experienced, where you are reminded of him. If you're alone, one day you're gonna forget. but you can forget and I can remember so I can remind you or I can forget and you'll remind me. That is the beautiful thing about this body and it is why we desperately need it. And so then the next thing he says right that he is the first born from the dead. Now the first thing that peaks, you know, first question that popped into my head, he's the first born from the dead, but he's not the first one to be raised from the dead. Lazarus was raised about a week ago before him. So what's going on here? Well, of course, do you know what happened to Lazarus after he was raised from the dead? He died. Obviously not straight away afterwards, but eventually he did die. As with every single person who has been resurrected in the Old Testament and before Jesus. Every single person. He was the first one to be raised to eternal life, to be taken up into heaven, to be completely renewed. And so, he's the first born from the dead, meaning he's not the last one. But imagine it's still taking the image of a body. Now I know this is not a perfect analogy, because not all babies come out the same way. But when most babies come out, what comes out first? Most babies. The head, right? I know, yes, everyone has a pregnancy story, a birth story, yes. Most babies come out with the head first, all right? And then what follows? the body. So you see, in a way, the first thing that is presented to the world is the head. The first one that displays the destiny of the church is Jesus. And then the body follows. Then all of us. Our destiny is shown for what it will be. But it's funny enough, Romans talks about the world being in the pains of childbirth because the baby's not all the way out yet. Our destiny has not been fully realised. We have not fully emerged as we are. And so what does this truly do for us? It reveals our destiny, which we desperately need to know. Because what is the thing that worries us more than anything? The future. Could be for a million different reasons. I'm worried about what's gonna happen to my possessions. I'm worried about what's gonna happen to my kids. I'm worried about what's gonna happen to my retirement fund. I don't know, whatever. Throw whatever you want in there. We are worried endlessly. It is just part of being human. We worry. And so what helps us to quash that anxiety. It is to know the one who can give us hope and certain assurance about what lays ahead. Who is that person? He is Christ. His resurrection gives us the hope we need that goes even beyond this life. His resurrection is the thing that assures us that there is hope for this world, that it has not been left to die. We have not been left to die. There is something that lays ahead for us. because the head cannot be resurrected without the body. All of us will be resurrected. And so what is the point of all of this? All these things that Christ has done and all that he is, so that he says in verse 18, That he might be preeminent. As I said at the start, that he's first. He is first in absolutely everything. He is the priority. When you think about this world, it does not make sense. There is nothing unless the center, of it is Jesus. Everything is about Him. And so what is the great problem? Like we said at the start, since Genesis 3, since the fall, Jesus has not been the center. God has not. From that very moment when he did sit at the center, when we were in that garden, when we were in paradise, things were good. But we were given dominion over this whole world. And so because of our choice to shift the center, the whole world broke. because we chose to rebel. So now this whole world is broken, disordered, and it doesn't make sense. This whole world doesn't have God at its center anymore. Instead, the devil and sin sits there, and now everything is breaking down. Surely you guys don't need me to evidence that to you. I'm sure you quite know. Which leads us on to the final two verses, 19 to 20. For in him, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. Essentially, God came, the fullness of God just means all that God was came to dwell in human flesh. Jesus was God, completely and entirely. Why did He come down? His great purpose? To reconcile everything. Everything was estranged. The relationship was broken. It did not know God. His creation didn't know Him. That's why it's decaying. We didn't know Him. That's why we rebel against Him. And so He reconciled us. by the blood of His cross. How did He do that? Said He made peace. We were estranged and that estrangement was always going to remain unless two things were destroyed. which is the power of sin and Satan in our lives, enslaving us to our continued rebellion against God. And then the second thing, the debt that stood against us because of all the sin we committed for the punishment that we deserved. Once those two things are gone, we can be reconciled. We can be brought back to our God. And so you see, it is this truth. It is contemplating this reality, that the debt is gone, that the power of sin and Satan in our lives enslaving us to the old ways in which we used to live is defeated, contemplating that and seeing its death upon that cross is the way that we are reconciled with our God. It is this truth that brings Christ back into our solar system and brings everything back into alignment. But the great problem 2 Corinthians 4, 4. In their case, the God of this world has blinded the mind of unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God. Now, this is where we go back to the very start where I was talking about that. He is the image of the invisible God. What does that even mean? The image of the invisible God. It simply means He is the one who makes visible what is invisible. If you didn't know, God doesn't have a body. God the Father anyway, He's just a spirit. No body, you can't see Him. But obviously what he's saying when he's making God visible, isn't talking about his physical appearance, because again, God doesn't have an appearance. What he's making visible is what, is who God is and what he does. And so you see, the devil is desperate that all of us and every person in this world would not see the truth of what Christ has revealed. Because you see, it is at the cross where you see who God really is. Where every lie of the devil that he uses to blind us, to keep us from God, is destroyed. We must see Jesus. We must put Him at the centre, always reminding ourselves of Him, because otherwise the lies of the devil will take Him away. Will disthrone Him again. There is a million lies in this world. God doesn't want what's best for you. God's not even happy with you. There are a million lies that he could use. Every single one of them goes to death at the cross. You think God doesn't love you, sent his son for you. You don't think God has what's best in plan for you. You haven't seen his plan. You don't know what heaven will truly be like. And so, in conclusion, wrapping this all together, this is a call to wise living. If you want to know anything, what is Colossians? It's the Proverbs of the New Testament. It is a call to live in the right way. And the way to do that is to recognize that Jesus is King. These defeated sin, death and Satan forever at the cross. to live a life of sin is to live without Jesus at the centre. That is what it looks like. But Christ died that He might be put in the right place again, that we might be free to put Him there again. So all I'm asking is that you would see the God who made you, see the God who loves you enough to send a son to die for you, and see the God whom you were made for. Simply see Him on the cross. Remind yourself of it every day, the truths that are present there. and your life will have something that is actually meant to center. make your life all about the Son. So we'll wrap up now in prayer. Father, Lord, we know that there is sin in our lives, that there is a devil out there constantly clawing to dethrone you from the center of our lives, to take you from the place which you belong. Don't let him far, but rather Lord, keep the truth that defeats his lies, that renders him powerless. Keep it before our eyes, that your wrath, that your anger is gone because you... have satisfied it on the cross because your Son took it for us as the sacrifice on our behalf. Lord, there is no condemnation. Lord, we inherit peace with you if we would just simply have faith. We do not need to work. We do not need to do anything. We just need to believe in you and so make it that we would, Father, by the power of your Spirit and let us live in that joy the rest of our lives. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.