Jesus is supreme - Pt 2
Published:Sunday | April 16, 2023 | 12:14 AMâHe is before all things, and in Him all things hold togetherâ Colossians 1:17 (NIV). Jesus existed before everything else, as He declared in John 8:58 (NIV), âBefore Abraham was born, I am!â To âhold togetherâ means to prevent something from falling into complete chaos. Christ is before all things, both in time and rank. He is not only the Creator of the world, Heâs also the sustainer of the world. He is the cohesion that keeps it all together. By Him everything came to be, and by Him everything continues to be. Hebrews 1:3 reminds us that He holds everything together by His powerful Word. If Jesus were to remove His sustaining power, everything would dissolve into disorder. Jesus is supreme over all other gods. In our polytheistic world, many say âall roads lead to Godâ, but this is not so. One road leads to God, and it is through Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
Jesus is also head of the Church. The Word of God states, “ 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.”A personal pronoun is used here that is very emphatic. It literally means ‘He Himself is the head’. Only Jesus qualifies to be the head of the Church. The word ‘head’ means that Jesus is the authority, or source of the Church. The Church would not exist if Christ did not exist. The head gives the body instruction and the ability to produce and grow.Without it, the body would die. As churches, we can never forget this. If Jesus Christ is not supreme in a church, then there is no church.
Jesus is the ‘beginning’, which means that He is the source. The word has two meanings, ‘to rule’ and ‘to begin’. In Matthew 16:18 (NIV), Jesus said, “I will build my church.” The Church is the creation of Christ and as such, we must follow His lead. He is the “firstborn from among the dead”, signifying that as the supreme one, His resurrection is the guarantee that we, too, will rise again. We don’t need Jesus with anything additional for salvation, we only need faith in Him.
God’s fullness was in Jesus. “For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him” Colossians 1:19 (NIV). The fullness of God dwells “in Him”. It was not around, upon, or under Him, rather it was in Him. The word ‘dwell’ means to ‘take up residence’ and points to the incarnation. In the Old Testament, it’s used to convey the sense of a permanent dwelling, and reminds believers of God’s desire to choose a place for His name to dwell. The Word states, “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form”Colossians 2:9 (NIV).
When Jesus was crucified, it was God that was crucified to reconcile people to Himself, not an intermediary. This is why Jesus was the perfect sacrifice. The Apostle Paul says, “ Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behaviour” Colossians 1:21 (NIV). We were “alienated”. ‘Alienate’ means ‘to estrange; to withdraw’. We were outsiders when it came to God, but Jesus is the door to reconciliation.
The Word instructs, “…if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” Romans 10:9-10 (NKJV).