WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:03.439 Colossians chapter 1, verses 15 to 20. 00:00:03.680 --> 00:00:16.559 And again, that's where we'll find ourselves as we continue on in our series this morning through the book of Colossians, thinking about and considering why it is and how it is that Christ is above all. 00:00:16.719 --> 00:00:19.440 In many ways, that this passage highlights that. 00:00:19.519 --> 00:00:27.120 It points to what the whole theme of Colossians really is about the supremacy and sufficiency of Christ above all things. 00:00:28.320 --> 00:00:37.039 Maybe for you, around this time of year, as the fall draws near, you you maybe think back to some time in your life where maybe you played some sports. 00:00:37.200 --> 00:00:39.840 Maybe that's where some of you uh find yourself even this morning. 00:00:39.920 --> 00:00:44.240 You're a student, and so you're in uh season with football or soccer or something like that. 00:00:44.399 --> 00:00:49.679 Maybe you're a coach or something like that, and the fall time is a time where you begin to play some sports again. 00:00:49.920 --> 00:00:56.880 And everyone knows the whole point of sports, the whole point of what you do, all you put the practice and the effort and the energy into. 00:00:57.039 --> 00:00:59.920 The reason that you do all of that is to win. 00:01:00.159 --> 00:01:04.959 Is at the end of the season to be the championship, to be the champion, be the best. 00:01:05.200 --> 00:01:09.680 You know, back in my elementary school days, one of the first sports that I ever played was baseball. 00:01:09.920 --> 00:01:12.560 I did not stick with it very long because it went kind of like this. 00:01:12.640 --> 00:01:17.359 I would play baseball, I tried to do my best, but often we would lose and I would cry. 00:01:17.519 --> 00:01:18.640 It did not go well. 00:01:18.719 --> 00:01:24.319 I was very upset about losing, I was not excited about continuing to play baseball because it felt like we just lost. 00:01:24.400 --> 00:01:28.480 And sometimes people would try to come up to me and console me and say, hey, well, it's just a game. 00:01:28.799 --> 00:01:30.400 You tried your hardest. 00:01:30.640 --> 00:01:33.040 And if you're a little bit like me, you're like, what? 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:35.439 That's not the point of the game. 00:01:35.599 --> 00:01:39.200 The point of the game is not to lose and to be as happy with losing as winning. 00:01:39.280 --> 00:01:40.159 No, the point is to win. 00:01:40.239 --> 00:01:42.079 You want to win, you want to be the best. 00:01:42.319 --> 00:01:43.519 That's silly. 00:01:43.760 --> 00:01:45.599 And we know in athletics that that's the point. 00:01:45.760 --> 00:01:49.680 That's what you want to do, and that's what you want to pursue as you play sports. 00:01:49.920 --> 00:01:57.280 Yet so often I think sometimes in life, we can be pretty content and okay to settle for second best. 00:01:58.319 --> 00:02:02.239 To just be okay with mediocrity. 00:02:02.480 --> 00:02:16.719 Well, we would just, maybe if you think back even for yourself in this last week, you think and consider maybe ways that you've spent your life, ways you've used your time and invested your energies into things that you would just admit, they're not all that important. 00:02:17.280 --> 00:02:19.199 They're not all that significant. 00:02:19.520 --> 00:02:20.479 You know, we all do this. 00:02:20.560 --> 00:02:22.319 Maybe a couple examples. 00:02:22.560 --> 00:02:23.199 You know what? 00:02:23.280 --> 00:02:32.479 I wonder why so often are we prone to scroll on our phones rather than talk to the people right before us who we say that we love the most? 00:02:32.719 --> 00:02:38.800 Or maybe why is it so often easy for us to get angry or impatient about little things? 00:02:39.039 --> 00:02:42.960 Maybe impatience with our children or the person that cut us off on the road. 00:02:43.120 --> 00:02:50.159 And we let those small things linger and snowball to affect our days and our weeks, maybe even our lives and our relationships with other people. 00:02:50.240 --> 00:02:52.560 Why do we let those small things build up? 00:02:53.360 --> 00:02:56.879 Or maybe why do we care so much about what people think? 00:02:57.039 --> 00:03:00.800 And maybe especially people who don't really know us that well. 00:03:01.599 --> 00:03:03.759 Why do we let these little things build up? 00:03:03.919 --> 00:03:05.840 Why do we make them so important? 00:03:06.319 --> 00:03:08.639 Why do we settle to live for second best? 00:03:09.520 --> 00:03:12.879 We can do this, we know probably in our Christian lives too. 00:03:12.960 --> 00:03:21.680 We we know, we confess that we we worship, we serve this God of the universe, and yet so often we find ourselves living for and serving other things. 00:03:22.159 --> 00:03:23.199 We're like what C.S. 00:03:23.360 --> 00:03:24.240 Lewis said. 00:03:24.560 --> 00:03:33.599 We're like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. 00:03:33.919 --> 00:03:36.400 We are far too easily pleased. 00:03:36.719 --> 00:03:38.479 So why do we settle for second best? 00:03:38.719 --> 00:03:44.159 Well, I think it's often because we don't have a vision for what Lewis calls a holiday at the sea. 00:03:44.400 --> 00:03:45.520 And what is that really? 00:03:45.680 --> 00:03:46.560 What is that ultimately? 00:03:46.639 --> 00:03:49.199 Well, well, the Bible would say it's Christ. 00:03:49.759 --> 00:03:57.280 We don't have a vision for all that Christ is and why he's worthy of every single moment of our existence and every thing in our lives. 00:03:57.520 --> 00:03:59.439 We don't have a vision for that. 00:03:59.840 --> 00:04:02.319 And so we're we settle for second best. 00:04:02.719 --> 00:04:11.680 We're okay and content to live and use our lives, enjoying the mud pies, only because we've never really seen the sea. 00:04:11.919 --> 00:04:19.199 And actually, this morning in our text, what we want, what God wants us to see in his word is all that Christ is for us. 00:04:19.439 --> 00:04:27.360 That we would be compelled to live everything and give everything for him because this is who our creator is, this is who our God is. 00:04:27.759 --> 00:04:35.519 So our main idea this morning is this that because Christ is first over all, he must be first in us. 00:04:36.160 --> 00:04:40.720 That because Christ is first over all, he must be first in us. 00:04:41.279 --> 00:04:46.560 So let's go ahead and read our passage in Colossians chapter 1, verses 15 to 20. 00:04:48.319 --> 00:04:53.920 It says, He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 00:04:54.720 --> 00:05:06.800 For everything was created by him in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things have been created through him and for him. 00:05:07.360 --> 00:05:12.319 And he is before all things, and by him all things hold together. 00:05:12.639 --> 00:05:14.800 He is also the head of the body, the church. 00:05:14.959 --> 00:05:21.279 He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. 00:05:21.759 --> 00:05:36.079 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile everything to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood shed on the cross. 00:05:36.480 --> 00:05:44.639 So this morning we're going to look at kind of two locations or two places where we see Christ's supremacy, and then consider what that means then for us in our lives. 00:05:44.800 --> 00:05:48.399 So first we see that Christ has supremacy over all creation. 00:05:48.639 --> 00:05:50.560 Christ has supremacy over all creation. 00:05:50.639 --> 00:05:53.360 That's what these first few verses tell us about. 00:05:53.680 --> 00:06:06.879 If you recall back from last week, Paul was writing and actually praying for the Colossians, that they would walk worthy of the Son of God, that they would live a life for him, whose kingdom they now belong to. 00:06:07.040 --> 00:06:10.959 And in our text, Paul is going to tell us who is this Christ that they belong to? 00:06:11.680 --> 00:06:12.480 How does he rule? 00:06:12.639 --> 00:06:14.879 How does he supreme over all? 00:06:15.120 --> 00:06:19.120 You know, that's what that word supremacy, or maybe if your translation has preeminence in it. 00:06:19.199 --> 00:06:21.680 That's kind of what I want you to think about when you think about that word. 00:06:22.160 --> 00:06:30.720 That it kind of means, or shorthand, you would think, first place, or primary position, or top spot, or maybe today in our language we might say greatest of all time. 00:06:30.879 --> 00:06:31.920 Like that sort of idea. 00:06:32.079 --> 00:06:33.120 Like he is on top. 00:06:33.279 --> 00:06:34.160 He is first. 00:06:34.639 --> 00:06:41.839 And verse 15 to 17 here tells us why there are no rivals to Christ and his first place in all of creation. 00:06:42.079 --> 00:06:45.759 Paul tells us, gives us a first two kind of titles for him in verse 15. 00:06:45.839 --> 00:06:50.000 He says, He's the image, the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 00:06:50.560 --> 00:06:51.199 Let's look at those. 00:06:51.279 --> 00:06:53.600 Those are really important to understand who Christ is. 00:06:53.839 --> 00:07:00.160 First, when we hear image of God, you might be thinking back to the account in Genesis, where God created man and woman. 00:07:00.319 --> 00:07:03.600 God created Adam and Eve in the image of God. 00:07:03.759 --> 00:07:05.439 And what was that image meant to do? 00:07:05.519 --> 00:07:09.680 What was to shine forth, to show all of creation what God is like? 00:07:09.759 --> 00:07:17.279 That Adam and Eve, they were to live as visible representations or images of God on earth, showing that he's king. 00:07:17.439 --> 00:07:21.920 And this is what this king rules like and rules how he rules the world. 00:07:22.240 --> 00:07:23.600 But then they sinned. 00:07:23.839 --> 00:07:32.879 And Adam and Eve, they distorted or tainted the image of God in the world so that the world would no longer be able to see God and what he was like. 00:07:33.040 --> 00:07:34.879 They no longer gave an accurate picture. 00:07:34.959 --> 00:07:36.800 They were like a broken mirror. 00:07:37.439 --> 00:07:42.639 And so when Christ comes and when he takes on flesh, Adam and Eve, they were made in the image of God. 00:07:42.720 --> 00:07:46.639 It says that Christ here is the image of God. 00:07:46.800 --> 00:07:49.040 That Christ is the image of God. 00:07:49.279 --> 00:07:53.439 He is the exact imprint of God's nature. 00:07:53.759 --> 00:08:12.879 That's who we see in Christ, that the Son shows outwardly the invisible God, that this God who can't be seen or known unless he reveals himself in his creation, has done so now through Christ, the Son who takes on flesh, that he is the perfect reflection of God's character over all creation. 00:08:13.040 --> 00:08:15.040 And so in Jesus we see God fully revealed. 00:08:15.120 --> 00:08:26.800 And so when Jesus is walking about in creation and the way that he deals with sinners and sufferers and those who feel like they're too far gone, when we see Jesus dealing with them, we see what God really is like. 00:08:27.040 --> 00:08:31.680 We see what God really acts like and lives like and rules like in his creation. 00:08:32.480 --> 00:08:35.039 I wonder if you've maybe ever encountered a person. 00:08:35.279 --> 00:08:43.279 Maybe someone who's loved you well, someone who's cared for you, someone whose kindness maybe surprised you or shocked you. 00:08:43.440 --> 00:08:49.919 You can maybe think about somebody in your life, maybe who was generous when you had such a need that it felt like it was beyond your grasp. 00:08:50.000 --> 00:09:00.240 Or maybe you can think about somebody who was compassionate and listened to you when you needed somebody, or someone who was an encouragement when you were despairing or discouraged. 00:09:00.559 --> 00:09:07.279 And then consider that that person is simply a tainted, marred image of God. 00:09:08.080 --> 00:09:10.399 And Jesus is the image. 00:09:28.639 --> 00:09:35.519 And this is what makes Christ supreme over all creation, because all of creation was actually made and exists for God's glory. 00:09:35.759 --> 00:09:41.679 And so Jesus, unlike any other, he actually lets all of creation, all of us, in on the glory of God. 00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:45.919 He helps us see this God that we could not see without Him. 00:09:46.240 --> 00:09:52.159 Maybe imagine if you lived in a land where there were no mountains and no sea. 00:09:52.399 --> 00:09:54.480 Maybe that's Indiana for you. 00:09:54.879 --> 00:10:00.320 You lived in a land, no mountains, no sea, and and you'd heard about them, but you'd never seen them. 00:10:00.559 --> 00:10:01.840 There's no pictures. 00:10:02.080 --> 00:10:07.919 And people maybe said something like this, this was like this distant historical thing, and now there's none of it. 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:10.799 You can't see it, you can't go anywhere to see it or find out about it. 00:10:10.879 --> 00:10:12.320 And what would happen in that land? 00:10:12.399 --> 00:10:16.720 Well, what would happen is that people would never long for the mountains. 00:10:17.120 --> 00:10:19.679 They would never want to go take a vacation at the sea. 00:10:19.919 --> 00:10:30.240 They wouldn't know what to picture, they wouldn't know what that's like to breathe in fresh mountain air, or to smell the sea, or to get in the ocean, or to watch a sunset over the beach. 00:10:30.480 --> 00:10:32.799 They wouldn't want it, they wouldn't know it. 00:10:33.840 --> 00:10:37.039 See, without Christ, that's where we would be. 00:10:37.279 --> 00:10:38.799 In a world without Christ. 00:10:39.039 --> 00:10:41.840 Unable to see this glorious God and all that he is. 00:10:41.919 --> 00:10:44.799 We could not see him, we could not know him, we could not long for him. 00:10:45.279 --> 00:10:48.000 We could not have him without Christ. 00:10:48.159 --> 00:10:55.440 And that is why he is first above all creation, because he's the image, the picture, or reflection of this invisible God. 00:10:55.600 --> 00:10:58.559 It also tells us that he's the firstborn over all creation. 00:10:58.799 --> 00:11:03.679 Now, in our minds, when we hear firstborn, you might think of your firstborn child, like the first one who was born. 00:11:03.840 --> 00:11:07.039 And so we might think, well, Jesus maybe is the first created being of God. 00:11:07.360 --> 00:11:11.440 That's often a heresy that's actually been talked about for many centuries. 00:11:11.600 --> 00:11:16.799 Maybe Jesus is just like the greatest human, like the best one of them. 00:11:17.039 --> 00:11:18.559 But he's not fully God. 00:11:18.799 --> 00:11:22.320 Well, what we see from the rest of this passage shows us that that can't be true. 00:11:22.480 --> 00:11:23.600 Let me show you a few reasons. 00:11:23.679 --> 00:11:28.399 Well, first it says, for, the very next verse, for everything was created by him. 00:11:28.559 --> 00:11:31.519 So it's saying that he, Jesus, is the image of the invisible God. 00:11:31.600 --> 00:11:33.679 He's the firstborn over all creation. 00:11:33.759 --> 00:11:36.399 And what's the reason that he is that? 00:11:36.639 --> 00:11:40.240 It's because everything was created by him. 00:11:40.720 --> 00:11:43.120 He's the one through whom God creates everything. 00:11:43.360 --> 00:11:49.919 And that means if he was created, then there would be something that was not created by him. 00:11:50.320 --> 00:11:51.919 So he must be uncreated. 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:53.200 He must also be God. 00:11:53.360 --> 00:11:57.120 It also says that all things have been created through him and for him. 00:11:57.840 --> 00:12:01.519 We know that God does not share his glory with another. 00:12:01.919 --> 00:12:04.159 That God will not be second. 00:12:04.399 --> 00:12:18.559 And so if he's to give Christ this supreme position, this preeminent place, this first place above all creation, then it means that God would be giving worship and glory to someone or something that's not God if he isn't. 00:12:18.879 --> 00:12:23.679 See, it would mean that in some ways he would be giving worship to a creature and not the creator. 00:12:23.840 --> 00:12:26.559 He would cease to be the God who he says he is. 00:12:26.799 --> 00:12:29.039 So Christ must be fully God. 00:12:29.279 --> 00:12:33.840 This idea of firstborn is the idea of supreme role or authority. 00:12:34.240 --> 00:12:36.240 We can actually look at Psalm 89, 27. 00:12:36.320 --> 00:12:40.240 It's maybe a helpful verse in the Old Testament where you get this idea of firstborn playing out. 00:12:40.320 --> 00:12:41.039 It says this. 00:12:41.279 --> 00:12:46.159 And it says, I will make him, my firstborn, greatest of the kings of the earth. 00:12:46.399 --> 00:12:47.519 Well, what's the psalm about? 00:12:47.679 --> 00:12:57.519 Well, Psalm 89 is actually, if we read the whole thing, it's a psalm about God's covenant with David, about his faithful love to David, God's king. 00:12:57.679 --> 00:13:01.279 And why you maybe have to think, why did God make David the king? 00:13:01.519 --> 00:13:05.120 What was God's sovereign initiative and choice to choose David as king? 00:13:05.200 --> 00:13:07.919 Because remember, David was not the firstborn. 00:13:08.159 --> 00:13:09.200 David was not the firstborn. 00:13:09.279 --> 00:13:09.919 He was actually the last. 00:13:10.000 --> 00:13:10.720 He was the smallest. 00:13:10.799 --> 00:13:13.919 He was the one that they all looked over and thought, this guy's not going to be king. 00:13:14.080 --> 00:13:19.120 But God chose to make him king, greatest of the kings of the earth. 00:13:19.440 --> 00:13:26.559 See, this firstborn we see has to do with supremacy or greatness or first position that God gives. 00:13:26.879 --> 00:13:33.679 It's because of who he is that God declares his son firstborn, the exalted status above all. 00:13:33.840 --> 00:13:41.200 And that's what verse 16 then tells us why Christ is given these titles, because he is the reason that everything was created. 00:13:41.360 --> 00:13:44.639 Everything was created by him or through him. 00:13:45.200 --> 00:13:50.080 He's the agent or the cause of all of creation coming into its existence. 00:13:50.240 --> 00:13:54.240 Everything that you see in the heavens and on earth, the visible and the invisible. 00:13:54.399 --> 00:13:57.279 And then he gives us a list of rulers, authorities, thrones, dominions. 00:13:57.360 --> 00:14:00.159 You might be a little confused as to what that means. 00:14:00.320 --> 00:14:02.080 But maybe let me put it just simply. 00:14:02.240 --> 00:14:19.679 When he's giving all of these lists of things, what he's saying is that the most evil, the most powerful rulers, both in our world and in the unseen spiritual realm, all those things that would or could oppose us and might make us fearful, all of those things submit to him. 00:14:20.080 --> 00:14:21.519 They're created by him. 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:23.120 They're under him. 00:14:23.759 --> 00:14:26.320 He is the ruler, and they are not. 00:14:26.960 --> 00:14:34.559 And the reason that he has first place over all creation not only is because he's creator of it all, but all things exist for him. 00:14:34.720 --> 00:14:38.799 That's what it says at the end of verse 16, that all things have been created through him and for him. 00:14:39.039 --> 00:14:46.399 That he's actually the goal or the reason that creation has come into being is because of who he is. 00:14:46.639 --> 00:14:50.159 You might say that Christ created all things for Christ. 00:14:50.320 --> 00:14:54.240 Like that's the reason is for his glory, to make much of himself. 00:14:54.639 --> 00:15:06.399 In some ways, God the Father made creation through his son, so that in all creation we would see and we would love the Son like the Father does. 00:15:06.559 --> 00:15:11.519 That we would they would be able to see in all creation all that the Son is through His creation. 00:15:11.919 --> 00:15:12.879 Maybe think about this. 00:15:13.600 --> 00:15:21.039 Maybe a great artist, maybe a great singer, if you go see a concert or something like that, or you go to an art museum, what's the point? 00:15:21.120 --> 00:15:25.039 What's the reason that an artist, or what's the greatest achievement of an artist? 00:15:25.200 --> 00:15:30.080 Is it not to have their work, their effort, their songs applauded? 00:15:30.399 --> 00:15:37.039 That people would love them and enjoy them and maybe sing them and want to go see them. 00:15:37.279 --> 00:15:39.120 Like that's what an artist wants. 00:15:39.440 --> 00:15:41.360 Well, what did God do in creating the world? 00:15:41.519 --> 00:15:48.879 Well, he created the world that everyone and everything would see the greatness of his son. 00:15:49.360 --> 00:15:52.879 What would see that he is great above all else? 00:15:53.519 --> 00:15:58.639 God created the world so that everything would make much of his son, that they would admire and enjoy him. 00:15:58.879 --> 00:15:59.919 Like going to a concert. 00:16:00.240 --> 00:16:04.320 The world, the earth is a theater where God's glory is known. 00:16:04.720 --> 00:16:09.919 Constantly shining forth and compelling our implause and enjoyment of God. 00:16:11.039 --> 00:16:16.240 So when we taste a great meal, it's meant to show us Christ is great. 00:16:16.720 --> 00:16:24.960 Or when we see a beautiful sunset over an ocean somewhere far from Indiana, it's meant to show you that Christ is great. 00:16:25.519 --> 00:16:32.320 Or when you enjoy a vacation or some great time with wonderful friends, it's meant to point you to the fact that Christ is great. 00:16:32.799 --> 00:16:43.519 Or when here soon, as the fall colors begin to change and you hear the wind rustling through the branches and you feel the warmth of the sun on your skin, it's meant to show you that Christ is great. 00:16:43.759 --> 00:16:45.759 That he's first above all. 00:16:46.399 --> 00:16:51.519 In some ways, these verses answer the all-important question that we want to know the answer to. 00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:53.360 Why do I exist? 00:16:54.559 --> 00:16:56.720 Why do we exist? 00:16:57.600 --> 00:17:00.480 Colossians 1 tells us that we exist for him. 00:17:01.120 --> 00:17:07.200 That he has first place over all creation, which means God created you and I for his glory. 00:17:08.079 --> 00:17:11.200 I wonder, do you live like that? 00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:15.680 Do you live like it's true that you exist for him? 00:17:16.720 --> 00:17:23.279 I think the reason that sometimes we settle for second best is because we get that flipped the other way around, that we exist maybe for ourselves. 00:17:23.519 --> 00:17:25.519 That our life really is about all about us. 00:17:25.599 --> 00:17:28.960 And so I can do with it what I please. 00:17:29.200 --> 00:17:31.119 I can live how I see fit. 00:17:31.359 --> 00:17:34.000 Maybe we look out at the world and we see it as our oyster. 00:17:34.160 --> 00:17:39.279 Endless possibilities and things that we can pursue and that we can live for and that we can go after. 00:17:39.359 --> 00:17:42.240 That my life is about me. 00:17:42.880 --> 00:17:48.559 My life is about uh making a name for myself or pursuing whatever pleasure I want. 00:17:49.119 --> 00:17:51.759 See, Christ says that you exist for him. 00:17:52.799 --> 00:17:57.119 Because that's the way he's made us, that's the way he's designed us innately. 00:17:57.359 --> 00:18:02.240 And maybe this morning, you've been living in your life like you exist for you. 00:18:02.480 --> 00:18:04.240 Like that's that's the way that you've been living. 00:18:04.319 --> 00:18:08.640 And maybe you're here because it's been kind of confusing. 00:18:08.799 --> 00:18:11.839 It doesn't seem like it's working or going the way that you thought that it would. 00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:21.279 That the world that tells you you do you, you pursue everything that you want to, it doesn't feel like it's working out or that it's worthwhile. 00:18:21.599 --> 00:18:23.119 You just feel empty. 00:18:24.160 --> 00:18:36.480 Well, this passage tells us that that's because you were created by a creator who made you for himself, who made you to know him and to enjoy him and to love him and live for him. 00:18:37.440 --> 00:18:43.680 I wonder maybe for some of you, maybe you've not been living like you exist for God, but that God exists for you. 00:18:44.000 --> 00:18:52.400 That you begun following Jesus, but as you've gotten along the way a little bit further, it's not all you signed up for. 00:18:52.880 --> 00:18:56.000 You kind of are like, man, I thought that this was gonna make my life easier. 00:18:56.160 --> 00:19:00.319 I thought that being a Christian was gonna make my life better, but it feels like it's just making my life harder. 00:19:00.559 --> 00:19:03.839 It doesn't feel like it's working out in the way that I thought that it would. 00:19:04.319 --> 00:19:12.559 You see, when we think that God exists for us and life doesn't go how we think it should, it's gonna leave us disappointed with God. 00:19:12.799 --> 00:19:16.640 We're gonna be frustrated at the things that he puts in our lives and he puts in our paths. 00:19:16.720 --> 00:19:17.759 Why are you doing this, God? 00:19:18.079 --> 00:19:19.759 I thought that serving you was supposed to make it better. 00:19:19.920 --> 00:19:24.000 I thought, I thought doing this for you, you do something for me. 00:19:24.880 --> 00:19:28.799 Friends, Christ the Creator says, You and I, we exist for him. 00:19:29.759 --> 00:19:31.279 It's not the other way around. 00:19:31.440 --> 00:19:37.200 And he must have first place, and that means that we yield everything in our lives to him. 00:19:37.759 --> 00:19:39.119 We say, he's in control. 00:19:39.200 --> 00:19:47.359 We say that if we're gonna follow Jesus, if we're gonna be Christians, then what that means is we say, Jesus, wherever you're taking me, I'm signing up. 00:19:47.920 --> 00:19:49.359 I'll follow you there. 00:19:49.759 --> 00:19:58.079 Even if it means hardship, even if it means suffering, even if it means obedience different than I expected it to, I'm following you. 00:19:58.480 --> 00:20:01.359 Because you're first, and I exist for you. 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:14.319 And so, friend, maybe if right now, this morning, and in your life, Christ has been crafting your story in a way where you actually find yourself in the valley, in that hardship, in that suffering, you can be sure. 00:20:14.640 --> 00:20:17.359 One that God will use that for him. 00:20:17.519 --> 00:20:20.079 And what's he been doing for himself in all of creation? 00:20:20.160 --> 00:20:22.000 Well, he's been making himself known. 00:20:22.319 --> 00:20:41.279 And so it might be that maybe in this season that you're in, that God might make himself known to you in this hardship and suffering, unlike you would be able to know him outside of it, that he's drawing you, that he's helping you, that he's with you in it, so that in the end that all may see that he is great. 00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:47.119 You're made to live for Christ, and we'll only find our life when we exist for him. 00:20:47.680 --> 00:20:52.319 See, it's because Christ is first over all that he must be first in us. 00:20:52.720 --> 00:20:57.680 Which leads us then to the other location where Christ has supremacy that we see. 00:20:57.839 --> 00:21:01.599 It's among those people who actually begin to live like they exist for him. 00:21:02.079 --> 00:21:06.640 What we'll see in verse 18 to 20 is that Christ has supremacy over the church. 00:21:06.880 --> 00:21:09.440 Christ has supremacy over the church. 00:21:10.480 --> 00:21:16.960 See, God not only appointed Christ to be the firstborn over all creation, but also over his church. 00:21:17.119 --> 00:21:19.359 He has authority and rule over his people. 00:21:19.519 --> 00:21:31.440 Now, when I'm speaking of the church, I'm speaking of all people who've been reconciled to Christ, all people everywhere who have trusted in Christ, all people who say, I'm repenting, I'm turning away from living my life like I exist for myself. 00:21:31.599 --> 00:21:37.440 I'm turning away from living like the world is all about me, and I'm trusting in this God, putting him first. 00:21:37.519 --> 00:21:40.160 I want him to be first in my life. 00:21:40.880 --> 00:21:43.519 This, these are the people of the church. 00:21:43.759 --> 00:21:48.400 Verse 18 tells us that he also, Christ, is the head of the body, the church. 00:21:48.480 --> 00:21:53.519 He's the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. 00:21:54.000 --> 00:21:59.839 See, just as Christ is the Lord over all creation, he's also the head of the body, the church. 00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:04.000 It means that Christ is the supreme authority over his church. 00:22:04.079 --> 00:22:05.680 He's its head or its ruler. 00:22:05.920 --> 00:22:12.240 Maybe some of you kids, maybe some of you students, maybe some of you adults, you've recently learned how to ride a bike. 00:22:12.400 --> 00:22:23.759 And as you've learned maybe this summer how to ride a bike and you've begun to do that, one of the things, I'll let you get on a little secret to ride a bike is that in order to keep your balance, you need to keep your head straight. 00:22:23.920 --> 00:22:24.799 You need to focus. 00:22:24.880 --> 00:22:35.920 And for a kid, as they learn how to ride a bike, that might seem like backwards, because you're like, well, I got a pedal and I gotta hold on to the handlebars, and I also need to make sure that nothing's gonna come and hit me from the right or to the left. 00:22:36.079 --> 00:22:37.839 Why do you need to keep your head straight? 00:22:38.079 --> 00:22:39.759 Well, it's because that's that's where you're gonna go. 00:22:39.920 --> 00:22:40.640 That's your direction. 00:22:40.720 --> 00:22:43.200 That keeps your balance, that leads and directs you. 00:22:43.519 --> 00:22:47.440 Well, just like that, Christ as the head of the body, he directs us. 00:22:47.759 --> 00:22:50.559 He leads us, he's our ruler over us. 00:22:51.200 --> 00:22:56.880 Friends, this is why here at the Fields Church, we want everything to be centered on Christ. 00:22:57.119 --> 00:23:05.839 Even as we gather in all that we do, we want the word of Christ to be central in what we teach and what we sing and what we pray. 00:23:06.160 --> 00:23:08.960 Because we want to be directed by our head, by Jesus. 00:23:09.200 --> 00:23:13.839 Because that's the role that God has given to Jesus in every true church across the globe. 00:23:14.079 --> 00:23:26.640 That we don't get our direction from what we think is best or what seems right or what other people might want us to talk about, what we get our direction from him, from his word, that that is central to all that we do. 00:23:27.519 --> 00:23:37.359 That he not only leads and directs us, but we also know that we need him because we are united to him, that he's actually the source of our life as a body. 00:23:37.519 --> 00:23:43.680 That just like a body is gonna be lifeless without its head, that we are gonna be lifeless if we're not connected to Christ. 00:23:43.920 --> 00:23:48.160 That just as we need his direction, we also need him to help us to grow. 00:23:48.480 --> 00:23:53.279 And this means that if we're a part of his body, we need to abide in him. 00:23:53.680 --> 00:23:58.240 We need to seek our nourishment and our help and our hope from him alone. 00:23:59.119 --> 00:24:10.079 We know that Christ, he does not rule over us as like a dictator, dictating from a distance, saying, you do this, you do that, from without, and just doing it only to serve him. 00:24:10.240 --> 00:24:12.079 No, he actually does it for our good. 00:24:12.559 --> 00:24:14.319 He's the head, we are his body. 00:24:14.480 --> 00:24:20.079 And we find nourishment and growth and rest by being in him. 00:24:21.039 --> 00:24:34.799 And so, church, we were made to give Christ first place in our lives so that we would find our nourishment in our life, our rest for our souls, wisdom for direction of things from him alone. 00:24:35.440 --> 00:24:41.440 Maybe it's the reason that maybe some of you find yourself a little bit languishing or tired or worn down even this morning. 00:24:41.759 --> 00:24:47.920 Could it be that something else that's not Christ has taken first place in your life? 00:24:48.160 --> 00:24:52.000 And so there before, because of that, you're you're not filled up in him. 00:24:52.480 --> 00:24:55.119 You're not being nourished by Christ, and there's something else. 00:24:56.160 --> 00:24:58.799 See, Christ has supremacy over the church. 00:24:58.960 --> 00:25:04.079 He's our head, he directs us, but he's also, it says, the firstborn from the dead. 00:25:04.319 --> 00:25:13.200 So again, this term firstborn used again for Christ here is supposed to help us think about that he's the most important, supreme authority, highest position over all. 00:25:13.440 --> 00:25:15.680 So he has that position in the church. 00:25:15.839 --> 00:25:21.279 And his role as the firstborn also means that he's the author and the founder of our salvation. 00:25:21.519 --> 00:25:26.640 And when it says firstborn from the dead, well, it's firstborn in some ways of the resurrection from the dead. 00:25:26.720 --> 00:25:30.000 That's what it's talking about, the fact that Jesus raised from the dead. 00:25:30.160 --> 00:25:34.000 And that firstborn language is also pointing to the fact that he's the first of many. 00:25:34.160 --> 00:25:46.319 That's what the Bible also says later, that he's Christ is the firstfruits of resurrection or the first of many brothers, that Christ is bringing about resurrection life in all of us and in all creation. 00:25:46.960 --> 00:25:55.920 See, the New Testament, it doesn't just see Jesus' resurrection as an amazing work of power that he did for himself to just prove that he's God. 00:25:56.240 --> 00:26:08.960 But it also sees Christ's resurrection as the beginning of all that he's going to do for his people, all that he's going to do in all creation, that he's going to make a new creation. 00:26:09.279 --> 00:26:16.319 See, just as our there's a parallel here in our passage, at the beginning of our passage, it's talking about how Christ is first over creation. 00:26:16.480 --> 00:26:22.640 And now here it's talking about how Christ is first over the church, which is the first of the new creation that God is making. 00:26:22.799 --> 00:26:24.799 That God is making all things new. 00:26:24.880 --> 00:26:29.440 And the beginning of that work of God making all things new is the church. 00:26:29.839 --> 00:26:32.319 Now, new creation is a key concept in the Bible. 00:26:32.480 --> 00:26:38.240 And what we're talking about here is God's work to restore all things as he intended it to be. 00:26:38.400 --> 00:26:43.359 The new creation is God working to restore all things as he intended it to be. 00:26:43.519 --> 00:26:44.319 And what is that? 00:26:44.480 --> 00:26:54.079 Well, it looks like people who are made in the image of God who actually begin to reflect him, who actually begin to exist for his glory. 00:26:54.319 --> 00:27:12.000 It looks like all of creation that in some ways is crumbling and groaning and chaos and disaster and difficulty and suffering renewed one day, made new, in a way that it has peace and fullness of life as it was intended to. 00:27:12.319 --> 00:27:14.799 See, Christ is the firstborn over the new creation. 00:27:15.039 --> 00:27:18.559 He's the source of its life and how he's going to make everything new. 00:27:18.799 --> 00:27:22.640 And it's through the resurrection that Jesus secures that we will be made new. 00:27:22.880 --> 00:27:23.920 And so what is the church? 00:27:24.079 --> 00:27:38.160 The church is then this place, this place where what God intended the old creation, all of creation to be, a place where his glory is being made known, where all of creation is seeing that they exist for this God and this king. 00:27:38.480 --> 00:27:41.599 The church now becomes the place where that's starting to be true. 00:27:41.839 --> 00:27:56.319 That our lives now reflect that we live for him, that we're all about him, that we live everything for him, that we exist for him, that he is this glorious Christ who deserves first place over all and over our lives. 00:27:56.799 --> 00:28:05.440 So we're to be a people who exist for him, and as verse 18 says, that we would be those who he might come to have first place in everything. 00:28:05.839 --> 00:28:13.200 And so this newness that's begun in us actually points to the fullness that God one day is going to make all things new in all creation. 00:28:14.000 --> 00:28:19.359 And he's going to bring them back to its intended purpose and design, which is what verse 19 and 20 then speak of. 00:28:19.440 --> 00:28:32.640 It says that God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile everything to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood shed on the cross. 00:28:33.279 --> 00:28:45.680 See, Christ is supreme over the church, because he's the only way for us, for all things, to be reconciled back to the God that we were made for, that we were intended to exist for. 00:28:46.240 --> 00:28:52.400 Because the truth is that we are those who are creatures made by this creator. 00:28:52.640 --> 00:28:55.759 But because of sin, we're far from him. 00:28:56.000 --> 00:28:56.799 We're distant from him. 00:28:56.960 --> 00:28:59.119 We're actually opposed to him. 00:28:59.599 --> 00:29:02.079 We actually don't want Christ to rule. 00:29:02.400 --> 00:29:03.359 We want to. 00:29:04.000 --> 00:29:04.799 That's what sin does. 00:29:04.880 --> 00:29:11.039 It puts us as first place in the universe, first place over all, the place that Christ was meant to have. 00:29:11.359 --> 00:29:12.960 We put ourselves there. 00:29:13.440 --> 00:29:17.599 And so because sin has infected us, we are hostile to God. 00:29:18.079 --> 00:29:22.960 Now, when two parties are at odds, there's a few ways that you can make peace. 00:29:23.200 --> 00:29:23.599 Right? 00:29:23.759 --> 00:29:27.119 One of them is simply destruction. 00:29:27.680 --> 00:29:29.680 You can make peace by destroying and conquering. 00:29:29.759 --> 00:29:30.960 That's certainly a way to make peace. 00:29:31.119 --> 00:29:34.079 Maybe you think about the fact of what an artist does. 00:29:34.240 --> 00:29:39.119 Because Christ, he's the creator, and so in some ways, he's like the artist over all creation. 00:29:39.279 --> 00:29:39.519 Right? 00:29:39.680 --> 00:29:40.799 So he's making all of creation. 00:29:40.880 --> 00:29:48.559 And what happens when an artist starts working on something, starts painting something, starts making something, and it's not turning out quite like they want it to. 00:29:48.799 --> 00:29:50.640 They ball it up and you scrap it. 00:29:50.799 --> 00:29:51.680 You get rid of it. 00:29:52.000 --> 00:29:52.720 That's what you do. 00:29:53.519 --> 00:29:57.200 You destroy it, you wipe it out and do it all over again. 00:29:57.759 --> 00:30:01.200 God could have done that, but he didn't. 00:30:01.440 --> 00:30:09.279 No, God found another way to make his creation all that it was intended to be: to make peace with creation. 00:30:09.599 --> 00:30:21.920 And the way to peace was actually required his own son, the creator, stepping into his creation to restore the relationship between creator and creature, between God and man. 00:30:22.559 --> 00:30:29.519 And so Christ stepped in, taking upon himself the just punishment at the cross that we deserved. 00:30:29.759 --> 00:30:32.640 Think about in the beginning when Adam and Eve sinned. 00:30:32.880 --> 00:30:35.279 What was the fruit, or what was the result of that? 00:30:35.599 --> 00:30:36.880 What was death? 00:30:37.200 --> 00:30:40.720 What was all of creation now infected with because of sin? 00:30:40.880 --> 00:30:41.519 It was death. 00:30:41.680 --> 00:30:44.000 And what did our creator take for us? 00:30:44.400 --> 00:30:45.039 Death. 00:30:45.680 --> 00:30:48.559 He took our death in our place. 00:30:48.960 --> 00:30:57.680 Our sin and rebellion that we, for rebelling against this creator who is good and who is God and who is owed first place, he took our death for us. 00:30:58.160 --> 00:31:01.440 See, we were the ones who God should have wiped out to make peace. 00:31:01.680 --> 00:31:04.799 But instead, he wiped out his son in our place. 00:31:05.440 --> 00:31:14.240 And when Christ rose from the dead, he was declaring that death is not going to have the final word on all of his creation, but that there will be life. 00:31:14.400 --> 00:31:20.799 And that there will be new life springing up for all who find themselves in his body, in his church. 00:31:21.119 --> 00:31:30.480 That new creation work has begun and one day will be completed when everything in heaven and on earth is made new, is reconciled to him. 00:31:31.039 --> 00:31:40.799 See, just as the creation was the canvas upon which God's glory was meant to be displayed, now the cross is this new canvas where we can see God's glory. 00:31:40.960 --> 00:31:44.400 We can see his love and his character on fold display in Christ. 00:31:44.640 --> 00:31:48.240 So we would love him and that we would worship him and that we would live for him. 00:31:49.279 --> 00:31:51.200 So we would give him preeminence. 00:31:52.000 --> 00:31:54.240 First place above all. 00:31:55.440 --> 00:32:01.039 See, Christ made peace on the cross so that he would be first in us. 00:32:01.519 --> 00:32:04.880 So you would give him the place that he is oh, that he deserved. 00:32:05.119 --> 00:32:07.839 And that actually our lives were made to exist for. 00:32:09.759 --> 00:32:13.759 Because Christ is first over all, it means that he must be first in us. 00:32:14.079 --> 00:32:23.519 And so the question then for us, we see all of this, all that God did to make Christ first over creation, and first over the church. 00:32:24.400 --> 00:32:28.240 The question is is he first for you? 00:32:29.119 --> 00:32:33.519 Does Christ have first place in your life? 00:32:34.400 --> 00:32:37.119 You may have wondered why I skipped verse 17. 00:32:37.759 --> 00:32:41.519 Because there's actually so much in there that we could probably spend a whole nother sermon on. 00:32:41.759 --> 00:32:42.480 I won't do that. 00:32:42.640 --> 00:32:43.839 You're welcome. 00:32:44.480 --> 00:32:48.720 But I do want to use this verse to apply this to our lives. 00:32:48.960 --> 00:32:54.079 What might it look like for us to have Christ as first place in our lives? 00:32:54.240 --> 00:32:55.920 Look at verse 17 again. 00:32:56.160 --> 00:33:02.160 It says, He is before all things, and by him all things hold together. 00:33:02.480 --> 00:33:10.480 So remember the point is being made that we would give Christ first place in all things, that we would submit to him as Lord first over all. 00:33:10.720 --> 00:33:12.720 As Abraham Kuyper put it, he put it well. 00:33:12.799 --> 00:33:19.279 He says, there's not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry. 00:33:19.519 --> 00:33:21.839