The Supremacy and Sufficiency of Christ

Introduction

“The modern church is producing passionate people with empty heads who love the Jesus they don’t know very well.” – Voddie Baucham

I don’t know whether you would agree with that statement or not. Sadly, I think it rings truer than we would care to admit.

The reality is that the Church, like our contemporary culture, is more concerned about what ‘feels right’ rather than what is actually good and true and life-giving. So often, even in ‘good Presbyterian churches’, Believers today are more concerned about being touched by a worship experience than being transformed by meeting with Christ and being conformed to His likeness.

So we must listen today as Paul gives us one of the most marvellous descriptions of the person and work of Jesus found in the Bible. In these verses we learn two precious truths about Jesus Christ that are designed to inspire and encourage every true Believer. Here we learn that Jesus is:

Supreme Over Creation

Sufficient for Redemption

We can be confident in Jesus because of who He is: the supreme and sufficient Lord who reveals God’s character, authority and purposes in His world; and who shows what He has done- He has reconciled a rebellious world to God through His death on the Cross. Through our supreme and sufficient Jesus, we are invited into the grand story of the Gospel. Our responsibility is to stay grounded in Him alone as we live for Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

He is sufficient for redemption and, firstly…

Supreme Over Creation

We live in a world obsessed with image. Image dominates and shapes society. Just a few moments in the world of social media reveals that everyone feels the pressure to conform to certain pictures of beauty, popularity, and prosperity. And the culture around us uses the power of image to shape us (think of the images that were used to encourage us to wear masks and keep our distance during the worst of the Covid Pandemic).

In Colossae the dominant image was Caesar. His image was everywhere and was used to project the power of the Roman Empire. Rome demanded allegiance and in return promised peace and prosperity. The Believers in Colossae were under pressure to conform to the world around them, to give their allegiance to Caesar and prove their loyalty to Rome.

We too face a similar pressure today. The world around us is seeking to shape our hearts and minds. The world around seeks to squeeze us into it’s mould and demands our conformity to it’s agenda. Think about how T.V., movies and social media are used to promote and normalise what God has said is unnatural and against His most perfect Will. So, how are we to respond?

As Believers, made in the image of God, our focus is to be completely upon the God-man Christ Jesus. He is the true revelation of God; in verse 15 we read:

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

 

Here we learn that Jesus is the exact representation of God- He makes the invisible God visible. He provides the greatest window into the character and purposes of God. When we gaze upon Christ we see what God is actually like because Jesus is God; come to live a perfect life and die a sacrificial death for His People.

So, we do not need to look anywhere else to see what God is like. In Christ God has shown us what He is like and how life is to be lived. So, we must look to Jesus and fill our minds with the truth about who He really is and how He lived. Jesus must be the dominant image in our lives, He must shape our hearts and minds.

Jesus is also called ‘…the firstborn of all creation….’. Now, Paul is not saying that God’s Son is a created being like the rest of creation. Instead, the term ‘firstborn’ speaks of His status: Jesus is the eternal, supreme Son of God and so He is before, above and beyond all things.

In a world where anything goes, and truth is a mix of opinion and angst it vitally is important we remember that our God is completely distinct from His Creation and has ultimate authority over everything. All creation is His and is under His control and so only He is worthy of our trust and devotion; we see this as we turn to Paul’s next declaration.

In verse 16 Paul declares Christ’s comprehensive power and authority:

¹⁶ For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 

This is a staggering claim. In our contemporary world it is downright offensive- Christ, and only Christ, can claim complete authority over everything!

Consider this truth: Christ is the starting point and whole goal of creation. Jesus was the one at the beginning: He was before all things; He created all things. He holds everything together, and it is for Him that everything exists.

Jesus Christ is the Creator of all that is in existence and so He alone has authority over all that exists. He made everything. So, He owns everything.

From the microscopic to the cosmic; the physical and the spiritual; the biological and geological; even the human and demonic. Every nation-state, political party, president, prime minister and first minister is under His Lordship. Jesus made all things and Jesus has authority over all, no exceptions.

We must remember that this is our Father’s world and our Saviour’s creation. Therefore, whatever powers there may be, visible or invisible, they are under His ultimate control. The Believer, in Christ, has nothing to fear. There are no rogue molecules in the universe, and we do not merely exist in this world by chance. God is in control of everything past, present and future; God is sovereign over our past, present and future.

As if that wasn’t enough to boggle the mind, then Paul’s next point surely will stretch it to breaking point. In verse 17 we read:

¹⁷ He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 

Jesus, the carpenter from Nazareth, who walked throughout ancient Judea and was crucified outside Jerusalem, existed before it all began. Jesus is both the unifying principle and the personal sustainer of all creation.

 

Christ, no other being or impersonal force, keeps the universe in order. Without Him, the cosmos would be chaos. Everything finds their beginning and end and purpose in Christ. So when we are separated from Jesus in any degree it leads to breakdown and fragmentation in our lives and in our world.

Jesus Christ is the One who holds all of life together. Jesus is the One in control of all creation. So, He is the only One we can entrust our lives to. Indeed, because of who He is we must trust Him in every situation and circumstance we face. Only He is really worthy of our trust.

Paul wants the Colossians, and us, to realise that Jesus is Supreme over Creation as Creator and Sustainer of everything. And Jesus is also Supreme over the new creation; in verse 18 we read:

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.

The Church is a body not an institution. And Jesus, the creator and sustainer of all things, is the Head of His Church. As the Head He gives direction and nourishment. He exercises authority over and provides life for the Church. Jesus and the Church are interrelated- He makes us part of Himself and His eternal purposes for the whole created order.

At times our view of the Church is far too small. So, consider what Paul is saying here: the Church is an outpost in time and space displaying God’s everlasting, all-conquering Kingdom. The Church is called to be part of Christ’s work of restoring the world to the way it is supposed to be. Jesus has called us to play our part as we witness to and work for His glory as His People in this place.

We are encouraged and empowered to do this as we remember: Jesus is Supreme Over Creation and…

Sufficient for Redemption

I wonder, when was the last time you really considered what Jesus actually accomplished at the Cross?

In verses 18 to 20 Paul sets the Cross into its proper perspective and gives us a fuller picture of the redemption that was accomplished by Jesus Christ. Here we see that the Cross is about the complete reconciliation of all things under Christ’s Lordship.

In the second part of verse 18 Paul explains why Christ truly is Sufficient for Redemption; we read:

…He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.

The One who is the beginning in creation is also the beginning and firstborn in the new creation through His resurrection. Jesus’ resurrection is THE decisive moment in history. Jesus’ resurrection marked His triumph over all the forces that held men and women captive.

That first Easter morning saw the dawn of a new hope for humanity; an everlasting hope of death defeated and life eternal. His own resurrection is the beginning of the great resurrection of His People; the dawning of a new era, a new creation where sin and death have been defeated and await their ultimate annihilation. This is why Christ is the one who is supreme over all: He is the Creator and King of the New Creation.

And in verse 19 Paul declares that the One who defeated death was the only acceptable sacrifice for sin as He was both fully man and fully God. As one commentator has phrased it:

…the totality of the divine essence and power is resident in Christ. He is the one, all-sufficient intermediary between God and the world of humanity…

In other words, redemption is the story of how the hands that placed the billions of stars and galaxies in the universe willingly surrendered those same hands to nails on a cross; the almighty creator God has reconciled us to Himself in Christ.

So, in the person of Jesus, the eternal, almighty, infinite God stepped into time and space, into the world He created to redeem us. Therefore, we do not trust in anyone or anything else apart from Christ for reconciliation with God and adoption into His Family. Christ alone is sufficient for redemption.

However, we must understand that this rescue plan, this reconciliation was about more than just us. Jesus’ life, death and resurrection had cosmic consequences for every atom in the universe. All things had to be reconciled because all things had become corrupted by sin.

And so, in verse 20 we read these awesome words:

 …and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

 

 

Because Jesus is Lord of all, no part of the created order will escape the benefits of the Cross. Paul, here, is not advocating a universalism whereby all people will be saved Instead, he is teaching that the final end of Christ’s work is cosmic reconciliation: the putting right of all things under Christ’s lordship.

Through Adam, sin ‘fractured’ the entire cosmos, everything was broken. Through Christ, the Second Adam, everything is mended and eventually returned to the way it was supposed to be: one day God’s People, from every tribe and tongue, will dwell in perfection with their God and glorify Him as one – all because of Christ.

Paul is teaching that the death of Christ atones for the sins of His People and puts them right with God. However, beyond this fundamental truth there is in view the reversal of the curse of sin which has impacted the whole created realm.

Christ’s accomplishment was so great that no aspect of creation can go untouched by what happened at Calvary. At His return, what is now broken in nature will be fixed, the redeemed will be free of evil and pain, and we will dwell with God forever. One day every knee will bow and every tongue confess. Willingly or unwillingly one day all will recognise the truth: Jesus is Lord over All.

This is what the Cross means: a setting right of all that has gone wrong, a defeat of sin and death and the glorious, eternal, universal reign of Jesus Christ. And so we are a people of great hope.

 

 

 

We belong to a Jesus who holds everything together and who has reconciled all things to Himself. All things, all places, all times and all people are under God’s control and He will achieve His perfect purposes. The stench of sin still remains until that day when Jesus finally eradicates sin forever but we are assured that the war is won and we will see all things reconciled. Through the Cross Jesus has won the victory over Satan and over all evil in the entire world.

Be amazed by the totality of the reconciliation- everything in our world and our life will be redeemed and is redeemable. No situation, circumstance or person is beyond redemption.

 

Conclusion

In verses 21 to 23 Paul takes these wonderful, universal truths and applies them directly to his readers:

²¹ Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. ²² But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— ²³ if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

Here we see how utterly hopeless and helpless our condition is without Christ: enemies of the almighty Creator, corrupted completely inside and out in mind and body, destined for eternity without the sweet and gracious presence of Jesus.

And yet, in Christ we experience true and lasting peace, joy and hope for this life and the next because we are made holy, blameless, and totally free of imperfection. Christ’s sacrifice far exceeds and outweighs the weight of our sin. Here we see how completely supreme and sufficient our Jesus is: He is the creator and sustainer, the reconciler and the perfector.

And so, in response we must keep our focus completely upon Him minute by minute, day by day. No one else can have our focus. Nothing else is worthy of our devotion. We must look to Him, gaze upon Him, seek to be like Him and trust in Him with all that we have and are. Christ alone is Supreme Over Creation and Sufficient for Redemption. He is the only One big enough to satisfy our deepest longings and meet our truest need. Let us stay grounded in Him now and forever.