Supremacy of Jesus Christ

 

The Supremacy of Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ is the supreme Sovereign of the universe. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Hebrews 13:8

The most important decision that you can make in your life is what will I do with Jesus Christ? Accept him as Lord of my whole life or reject him? No decision is a decision in itself, it means you have wrongfully rejected him.

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“Colossians 1:15-20 gives seven reasons why Christ is preeminent. These verses are at the heart of the epistle’s main emphasis on the exaltation and preeminence of Christ.

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Jesus Christ “is the image of the invisible God” (v. 15). Jesus is supreme because of His relationship with God the Father. He is the perfect resemblance and representation of God. God is invisible and unknown except by self-revelation. In the person of Jesus Christ the unknowable God becomes known.. The very nature and being of God have been perfectly revealed in Christ.   Jesus said, “Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Everyone who saw Christ, the visible manifestation of the invisible God, has thereby “seen” God indirectly. The apostle John who saw Jesus face to face wrote, “No one has ever seen God, but God the only Son . . . has made Him known” (v. 18). Jesus Christ is the perfect visible representation and manifestation of the “invisible” God (1 Tim. 1:17). Jesus is the perfect image, likeness and glory of His Father. He is “the exact representation” of the Father’s being (Heb. 1:3). The Son is in the “exact likeness” of His Father.

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Jesus is supreme over all things because He is “the firstborn over all creation” (Col. 1:15). He preceded the whole creation, and He is Sovereign over all His creation. As Creator He has dignity, supremacy, sovereign power over it. As “firstborn” Jesus is the Messiah-God (Ps. 89:27-29). Jesus Christ was not created, but is the Creator who is Sovereign over all His creation.

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Jesus is supreme because “in Him all things were created” (Col. 1:16-17). “All things were created by Him,” and “for Him,” and “in Him they all hold together.” Not only is He the final Cause of creation, but also the conserving Cause that keeps it together. Everything in the universe continues to exist because of Him (Jn. 1:3; Heb. 1:2; Rev. 3:14). Nothing is to be excluded in His supremacy in creation. Christ reigns supreme over all creation, visible and invisible, material and spiritual (Eph. 1:21; 3:10; 6:12; Phil. 2:9-10; Col. 2:10, 15; Rom. 8:38-39).

Jesus Christ is supreme because He is head of His church (Col. 1:18; Eph. 1:22-23; 5:23). Paul has in mind the invisible body of Christ into which every believer was baptized by the Holy Spirit when he believed in Christ as his Savior (1 Cor. 12:13; Gal. 3:28; Eph. 2:15; 3:4-5; Col. 1:26).

Jesus is supreme because He is “the firstborn from among the dead” (Col. 1:18; Rev. 1:5). Christ rose from the dead never to die again (1 Cor. 15:20). His resurrection marked His triumph and supremacy over death forever. Jesus “was declared with power to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead” (Rom. 1:4). He lives for all eternity “on the basis of the power of an indestructible life” (Heb. 7:16). Because He lives He is given preeminence and supremacy over all creation. He is exalted over all creation by God the Father “to the highest place” and has been given “the name that is above every name . . . to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:9-11). There is no name like the name of Jesus. He is the Sovereign God of all because He rose from the dead.

Moreover, He is supreme because “all the fullness dwells in Him” (Col. 1:19). “All the fullness of the Father pleased to dwell in Him.” In Christ Jesus God in all His fullness was pleased to take up His bode. The Divine nature in all its fullness dwells in Christ. Phillips translates, “It was in Him that the full nature of God chose to live.” Another way of saying it is, “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form” (2:9). “Fullness” means “completeness.” Paul says the full and complete deity dwells, abides permanently, and supremely in Jesus Christ. He is the absolute and perfect God.

Jesus Christ is also supreme because we have peace with God through His blood (Col. 1:19-23). He has reconciled “all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven” (v. 20). Jesus is supreme because He is the Reconciler. Through Him God reconciles sinful man to Himself. “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (Rom. 5:10). We have received reconciliation through Jesus Christ. Peace has been made through His blood. We were alienated, strangers, cut off from God, and the blood of Jesus has reconciled us to the Father. Our reconciliation is appropriated through faith in Christ. God is not reconciled to us; we are reconciled to Him by Jesus Christ.

Such preeminence and supreme exaltation of Jesus Christ should cause us to spontaneously break forth in praise, adoration and worship of our great Savior from now throughout eternity.”

 http://www.abideinchrist.com/messages/index.html

“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and THE EXACT REPRESENTATION (charakter) of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs. For to which of the angels did God ever say, ‘You are my Son; today I have become your Father’? Or again, ‘I will be his Father, and he will be my Son’? And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, ‘Let all God’s angels worship him.’ In speaking of the angels he says, ‘He makes his angels winds, his servants flames of fire.’ But about the Son he says, ‘Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.’ He also says, ‘In the beginning, O Lord [the Son], you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.’ To which of the angels did God ever say, ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet’? Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” Hebrews 1:1-14

see also

http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/22781.htm

http://anyonecare.wordpress.com/2010/02/15/hear-the-word-of-god/