We’ll close with just a practical illustration of how we will weave such a thing into all of our preaching. So God planned it long ago, God promised it through the prophet, God sent and brought his son Jesus and now God is sending to the nations. Now let me read you one passage of Scripture so that you get the flavor of why I say God’s supremacy is the main heartbeat of God and therefore it must be the main heartbeat of preaching about God. I conclude that the educational enterprises in our universities are all superficial. Jesus is the head of the body, the church (18). And when the Jews heard him say this, they picked up stones to stone him, because in claiming this name for himself, Jesus was claiming to be none other than the eternal God who always is and has always been and always will be. The stars in their courses obediently shine. Question number one then, why should be supremacy of God be the passion and the theme of our preaching? The Supremacy of Christ Tony Nester Colossians 1:15-20 How big is your Jesus? Will you give Christ first place in your life? He is author of. – Genesis 1:26-27; John 14:8-9; 1 Timothy 6:16; Hebrews 1:3. Not only did he create them, but he knows their number and he knows their name. Why? Where did the spiritual world come from? And here’s the real clincher, it’s the bottom-line gospel. Let’s start at verse 17 and I’ll simply show you why I call this the most God-centered, God-exalting, God-saturated sermon in the Bible. When you talk about the world do you say God did this and God did that and God did this and God did this and God did that and God raised up this president and got but this president down and God raised up the senator and output that senator down and got put this man in placing God put that down and God ordained this simple strategy and God, when his purpose was done, did this and did that and he reigns over the nations. When it is followed by a singular, it means rank or superiority over that class. I have five kids and two of my boys are out of school now. Preaching Today provides pastors and preachers sermon prep help with sermon illustrations, sermons, sermon ideas, and preaching articles. Rather it means Christ’s superiority over all creation, that he is the ruler and heir over all creation. Jesus created all things; Jesus inherits all things; Jesus existed before all things; Jesus sustains all things. Early writers tried to rank these spiritual beings and figure out which ones were more powerful than others. Read Hebrews 1:1-3 reflecting upon the supremacy of Jesus. It’s the same way with any false teaching about Jesus Christ. Jesus affirmed this to Peter in the gospel of Matthew. Therefore I conclude that the communication media in America are all superficial. If he created all things, then he cannot be a part of creation himself. Maybe see him in geometry, that they see him in history, may they see him in philosophy, maybe see him in English, made a see him in physical education, maybe see him in spelling. It wasn’t the nations who owned the land of Canaan, God owned the land of Canaan and he gives it to whomever he pleases Paul says. You can also check out the Top Posts page to get a feel for the site. There was a time when I was not a father. The sun is one of those modest size ones with a temperature around the edges of about 6,000 degrees Celsius, it travels at about 155 miles per second and therefore will make it first orbit around the galaxy in about 200,000 years. In fact the firstborn was used as a title for the Messiah who would rule over and inherit God’s kingdom. – Romans 11:36; Hebrews 1:2, Jesus not only created all things; he also inherits all things. In fact, I believe that is why Einstein had so little use for organized religion although he strikes me as a basically very religious man. The false teachings of Arianism and the Jehovah’s Witnesses are both a distortion of the person of Jesus. God raised him from the dead. Why? Reading The Supremacy of God in Preaching is a refresher on the majesty of God and the gravity of preaching. Jesus alone is the head of the church. It is God’s plan for preserving us and bringing us safely to glory. As the body of Christ we are united with Christ who is our head. Now here we are, public school teachers. He must have looked at what their preachers said about God and felt that they were blaspheming. And here we learn that Jesus is the firstborn over all creation. This morning we are going to look at verses 15-18 which focus on the person of Christ – who Jesus is. They provide us with a solid doctrinal grounding in the person and work of Jesus Christ. I didn’t become a father until my first child came into existence. What do we mean when we say Jesus is the firstborn over all creation? : A sermon, delivered in the Second Independent Church, in Charleston, S.C. April 22, 1826. “For God so loved the world he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him would not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 ESV). And the fact that that sounds odd to us shows how infected the CMA, the Baptist General Conference and all American evangelicals are with our God neglecting, God-belittling and increasingly God-despising age. Last question: How should we do this? In other words, Paul selects a word from John the Baptist that controls all relief or all attention to Jesus, the Son of the living God. Most of them are reading books and most of your people aren’t either but one hour a week, maybe two, maybe three, they’ll listen to you and if you don’t lift up the glory of God and try to wean them off their breast of God neglecting America, who’s going to do it? Now, what are we going to do with this? Job 38-41 is longest speech of God in the Bible, of all the times God has spoken audibly in human history, this is the longest, so I think we can see its importance. You would be dead. Spelling, and I can hear the cynics write a Christian spelling. And then Colossians 1:18 ends with a summary of this whole section: “… so that in everything he might have the supremacy.” (Colossians 1:18) Christ’s resurrection from the dead completes the picture. That is the gospel. He is at the center of who God is; he is at the center of the universe; he is at the center of the church. Third, Ben, God is love and his love is scorned when we treat him as a matter of indifference whether or not we communicate good things for other people that they desperately need to hear from us. I’ve had two kinds of sons. Look at a penny. One is to ask why this is so. Jesus is alive! And here we find that he is the head of the body, which is the church. This is why we have at the bottom of our stationery that word that sums up all of my theology, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.” This is the good news. God says. He created human minds to understand his glory, he created human hearts to delight in his glory and he gets more glory when mind and heart are engaged with thoughts and feelings that if only mind or only feeling are engaged. What is supreme to God ultimately is God. J. That distinction belongs to Jesus. He is the ruler. Who is this sender? Our text continues the opening sentence of Hebrews. Why should the supremacy of God be the passion of our preaching? And that means that we will be raised from the dead, too! "God Is" - John Piper (Sermon Jam) - Duration: 12:26. These words from verses 25–26: “To whom then will you compare me says the Lord. But it’s not the last thing A.W. There was never a time when God the Father was not the Father, because there was never a time when Jesus was not the Son. Mark Vroegop. We live in an unbelievably, naive and superficial age and it’s the last thing most people will think to say about it. Where did the physical world come from? Tozer and a few others are heroes of mine, and the book that made this point in my life and a life-changing way about twenty-five years ago now is called “The Dissertation Concerning the End for Which God Created the World.” That’s the short title. My guess is that he simply felt that religions he had run across did not have a proper respect for the author of the universe. Therefore I plead with few pastors to make him supreme in your preaching. In verse 27, he says that those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize him, nor understand the utterance of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled these by condemning him. Faught adapted this article from a sermon … 15-17) The first part of this hymn claimed that Jesus is the Lord, the maker and upholder of all things in the universe. For example we read in John 1: “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” (John 1:1-3) If all things were made through Jesus and without him nothing was made that has been made, then he cannot be part of the “all things” that were made. How then shall we preach? So that’s who Jesus is in relation to God. One is in college and one is in high school and my little girl hasn’t started school yet and I pray that in all of their learning they would seek God. He had seen much more Majesty than they had ever imagined and they were just not talking about the real thing. II. Rather, just as in verse 15, it means supremacy – that Christ’s resurrection is the basis for all other resurrections. We find this same teaching expressed in a slightly different way in 1 Corinthians 15 where Christ is described as the firstfruits rather than the firstborn. This supreme revelation comes from Him, the One who is more than a prophet — the very Son of God. Click here to return to the Sermons page. Christ is supreme over all creation because he created all things, he inherits all things, he existed before all things, and he sustains all things. Godless answers all. B. Phillips said people everywhere tend to shrink down their concept of God to the size of their own ideas and feelings. Behold the awesome supremacy of our God (vs. 33-36). Paul is on a mission for the sake of the supremacy of his God. You’re in his image son, you’re in his image and to be a human being is no small thing. For my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? That’s what’s in Paul’s mind here as he enunciates the removal of Saul and now verse 22, second half. The earth is the Lord’s. And here in Colossians God’s providential care of the universe is revealed as the sustaining power of Jesus, the firstborn over all creation. Welcome! It is one of one million such galaxies within the optical range of our strong telescopes and in our galaxy there are about one hundred billion stars. Academic and nonacademic and they fit the pattern perfectly. An awe and dread and fear of not knowing, loving, trusting or obeying such a God. (see John 1:3; Hebrews 1:2). God alone ultimately is worthy of our faith, for he alone reigns supremely. Next we want to see who Jesus is in relation to creation. CONCLUSION: Why should you live the Christ-centered life? You won’t have as high self-esteem. He who brings out their host by number calling them all by name. God’s quest to be glorified and your quest to be satisfied are not at odds, they are one in worship. Look at verse 18: “And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.” (Colossians 1:18) The “he” at the beginning of verse 18 is emphatic. Because Jesus is the head of the body, and because Jesus rose from the dead, we who are part of the body of Christ will be raised from the dead, too. And here are the answers: 1) in relation to God – Jesus is the image of the invisible God (15a); 2) in relation to creation – Jesus is the firstborn over all creation (15b-17); and 3) in relation to the church – Jesus is the head of the body, the church (18). 1 Timothy 6:16 says that God “lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see.” (1 Timothy 6:16) Have you ever seen God? Regular, disciplined Bible intake is not optional for God’s people. It was the first chance I ever had to stand in the pulpit of the chapel at Wheaton College. Do you want to know what God looks like? We've learnt that God is transcendent, there is none above Him, there is none beyond Him, or none like Him - He has all supremacy. First of all, he is the beginning of the church. This is one of the most important passages about Christ in the whole New Testament. It doesn’t look like it, doesn’t sound like it. And you may also remember that the galaxy of which our planet, solar system is apart, Milky Way, is about 100,000 light-years across, that’s about 587,000 trillion miles. Jesus raised Jesus from the dead. But back to Colossians now Paul continues in his description of the “all things” that Jesus created. What I would like to do is take you to a sermon that I think is probably the most God-centered sermon in the Bible and if you have a viable and you can read it in the light that’s out there for you, you can turn with me to Acts chapter 13. I got up in front of these 2,000 students and said the chief end of God is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. God raised them up. This is the blasphemous answer, the standard answer, the twentieth-century answer, the public school answer. It’s interesting, the rabbis taught that the world was created for Messiah, but they didn’t know that the Messiah also created the world. And here’s another answer, my answer to my son and to anybody who’ll listen. He is the firstborn. Why this passive verb? This doctrine is essential to our view of and worship of Christ. They give a false understanding of who Jesus is. Colossians tells us that Jesus created all things in heaven and on earth. And secondly, how shall we then preach? You’ve got this kid in your class and he raises his hand after flunking his second spelling test. They taught that all matter was evil, whether the material world or the human body. Let me read it very carefully for you. That’s what Colossians 1:15 says: “He is the image of the invisible God.” (Colossians 1:15) The Bible tells us that God is spirit which means that he is invisible. Why do you make so much of the supremacy of God being the theme of preaching? Believers can celebrate God’s supremacy. If you give something to somebody as an inheritance, you own it. The things in heaven and on earth that Jesus created are further described as “visible and invisible.” There is both a physical and a spiritual world that God created. “The Dissertation Concerning the End for Which God Created the World” and in it he makes this point, I’ll read you the thesis. B. Jesus inherits all things (16b) Every star in the universe has a name. See what's new with book lending at the Internet Archive. These rulers didn’t rise up on their own: Samson, Deborah, Gideon, etc. Let’s put it positively, surely then the theme, the spirit, the atmosphere of our preaching should be the majesty and the glory and the supremacy of God and everything else that we talk about should be brought into relationship to this and it should be the passion of our preaching and our lives. Now that’s the way a cynic, a superficial, 20th century saturated God-neglecting cynic response to talking about God-centered spelling. As the beginning of the church Jesus is both the founder and ruler of the church. They claim to be talking about the absolutely eternal, infinite, unchanging creator of the universe, but it doesn’t feel like it. In verse 26, Paul is drawing the people of Antioch, telling them that they have been sent the message of salvation. At His pleasure, the Red Sea divided and its waters stood up as walls (Ex. “The DuVal family: Will, Polly, Ellery & Elijah” I love the book of Ecclesiastes, which essentially outlines King Solomon’s testimony. Jesus has finished his priestly work of sacrifice on behalf of the world, and upholds the universe by the word of his power. A couple of years ago, I was doing this interview with Preaching Today and they asked me that question on the telephone. Title: The Supremacy of God Text: Job 38-42 Preached by Pastor Phil Layton at Gold Country Baptist Church on 2-18-2007 www.goldcountrybaptist.org Last time I spoke, it was on the importance of being a God-centered person rather than man-centered, that God Himself is … The whole story is about Jesus. Because Christ is supreme. He is the Potter, they are but the clay in His hands to be molded into vessels of honor, or to be dashed into pieces (Ps. Why should I care about communicating? As the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep, the resurrected Jesus was an indication that we too would be raised from the dead. He is the firstborn over all creation, and he is the firstborn from among the dead. We still use images on our coins today. In other words, Paul chose words here, Paul chose words in the sermon that would get all attention and all authority and also promises and all centrality for the one main actor in the universe, God. And I want to so speak tonight as to the cut preachers and inspiring preachers and those who form search committees in call of preachers so as to want never to have that said of us. If it ever came to the end of Philippians 2 and every tongue will confess, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the father. Back in 1952 an Englishman by the name of J. All of our resources exist to guide you toward everlasting joy in Jesus Christ. If you wanted to state it as precisely as possible, you should probably put it this way: God the Father created the world through Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit, and God the Father saves us through Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. The supremacy of the true and living God might well be argued from the infinite distance which separates the mightiest creatures from the almighty Creator. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” (Matthew 16:16-18) Jesus founded the church on the solid rock of Peter’s confession of him as the Christ, the Son of the living God. Because Jesus rose from the dead, we will be raised also. There are Christian ways to spell words. But after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.”. Jesus is the firstborn over all creation (15b-17) This is the only place in the whole New Testament that we find this word “supreme.” It is a word that means “to be first” or “to hold first place.” I like the way the New American Standard Bible translates it: “so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.” (Colossians 1:18, NASB). And yet I believe it is a fair statement about much preaching in the American pulpit. But Christ is supreme. He goes into the synagogue, he’s invited to address the people and he preaches a survey of redemptive history and he does it in a way that I wonder if any of us speaks. From verse 23, it was God who brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus. I do see the design of the universe has essentially a religious question that is one should have some kind of respect and awe for the whole business. Not a God of spelling anarchy and you know if you’re sitting out there now and you don’t care about the supremacy of God in spelling, then you won’t get my plea tonight. He is the beginning of the church So here’s Paul arriving at Antioch of Pisidia. When we compare Scripture to Scripture it becomes clear that Jesus was not a created being. And so the best antidote to false teaching is to know the truth about who Christ is and what he has done. And for the second week, we get to look at it. Verse 29: “And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb.” So right to the end, it’s all fulfilling of God’s word and God’s plan. If you said to me or to the people in Antioch that God promised these things, they are in the word, and therefore in harmony with God, who did them. Finally, verse 30, it was God who raised Jesus from the dead. Now pay attention to that question. INTRODUCTION: We are working our way through the book of Colossians together, and our message series is called “Living the Christ-Centered Life.” Up to this point in the letter the focus has mostly been on God the Father, but with this passage Paul turns his focus to Jesus the Son. And when Jesus came, the invisible God became visible. An illustration of a magnifying glass. It wouldn’t be as incredible. Whether it’s counterfeit money or a counterfeit painting, the best way to recognize what is false is to know what is true. For example, there was an early heresy in the church called Arianism. Jesus never came into existence. Now what I want to do tonight is to pose two questions about this. The church is the body of Christ, and Jesus is the head of the body. Paul wrote that Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God. Because Jesus is the image of God. John Piper is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. And he’s a great communicator, you should want to communicate and not be indifferent to putting obstacles in the way. Christ is supreme over creation in the past, in the present and in the future. Item Preview C. Jesus existed before all things (17a) That’s not the point anyways. In fact it is one of the high points in all the Bible talking about Christ (along with John 1:1-5, Philippians 2:6-11, Hebrews 1:1-4; Rev 5:11-14). As my closing plea is this, preachers especially and all of us if we preachers don’t lift up the supremacy of God week in week out and show a passion for the supremacy of God in all things including spelling, boating, sex, eating, leisure, stock market, if we don’t show the supremacy of God and how the glory of God has a bearing on everything then who’s going to do it? Tozer thought to say about it. Well everybody here remembers perhaps from high school physics that light travels at about 5.87 trillion miles a year. Every star, every planet, every atom, every molecule at every moment is completely and totally dependent on Jesus Christ. 23 But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.” (1 Corinthians 15:20-23) At harvest time the firstfruits were an indication of what was yet to come. But Piper couples the call to gravity with a plea for gladness, rooted in the character of God: So who is Jesus in relation to creation? We are not to make any idols or representations of God. As the head of the body, Jesus is the beginning of the church. Christ is supreme because God is supreme, and Christ is the image of the invisible God. Baptist Distinctives: The Supremacy of God. The Supremacy of God Item Preview remove-circle Share or Embed This Item. Every hammer blow on the nails through his wrists was the work of his Father in fulfillment of his promises to vindicate his glory and save the nations. Do you want to know what Abraham Lincoln looked like? The Supremacy of God in Preaching makes a significant contribution to the church, and specifically to preaching, by elevating the glory of God as the principle purpose in preaching, as this is reflected in the glad submission in the hearts of God’s people. School physics that light travels at about 5.87 trillion miles a year of how we will be from. The almighty God fact, if you push it all the way the apostles preached trusting or such. 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