Christ is Supreme
Text: Colossians 1:1–23 ESV
Welcome and New Series Introduction
Good morning, Table Rock! What a fun milestone we have this morning: we have wrapped up our first series on our Table Rock Priorities and are moving on to our second series, the book of Colossians. Here at Table Rock we love that God has not left us with just general revelation—the fact that we have proof that God exists through what we can see and sense of him through his creation around us and through our very nature—but that he has also left us his special revelation—the good news of a God who has rescued his people from their sin by dying for them—through Scripture.
Whether we teach through a topical series like our Priority Series, or if we go through one specific book or section in Scripture, we pray we are always being faithful to preach what God has actually said to us. We want to be careful not to bring our own ideas into Scripture, and we want to be careful to not avoid what God tells us…even when it is hard. For that reason, most often we will pick books of the Bible and go straight through them. This way we encounter God’s word in the context it was given—a whole unit of a book, story, or letter—and we simply teach what God is teaching.
We also have a goal to help everyone here—Christian and non-Christian—to know the “whole counsel of God.” We want everyone to see and appreciate the full breadth of what God is saying to us. Old Testament and New Testament. The Law, the Prophets, the Psalms and Proverbs, Gospels, Epistles, and Revelation. This also means that while we may slow down at times and look at just one or two verses in depth, we will often tackle larger sections of Scripture to help you see the broad picture and the bigger biblical theological flow that is at work. We likely won’t be the church that spends seven years in Romans (at least that isn’t what we have sensed God calling us to at the moment!). You may at times feel like there is more to be said after a sermon, and we will likely circle back on much of Scripture over the years and hit the same concepts and passages again and again! Praise God we have it all recorded for us and we can go back at any moment we want to!
In this new series, we are tackling what is called an Epistle—a letter that is part of Scripture. Specifically, we are going to look at Paul and Timothy’s letter to the Colossians.
Colossians Introduction (1:1-2)
“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,To the saints and faithful brothers [and sisters] in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.” (Colossians 1:1-2 ESV)
Letters of the first century had a very defined structure, much like ours today. Unlike ours, they would often tell you right up front not just who it is to, but who is writing it. In this case we can see three important points.
First, it is Paul and Timothy who are writing this letter. Paul, the one who was originally called Saul, was a fervent Jewish teacher and persecutor of Christians but had been saved by Jesus on the road to Damascus. Ever since, he had been fulfilling his commission as an “Apostle of Jesus” to go and take the good news of the gospel to the Gentiles, the unbelievers throughout the world. Timothy is one of the young men that Paul is teaching and discipling. Timothy has been with him on at least one missionary journey (Acts 16), and had been commissioned by Paul to stay at Ephesus and to help establish the church and elders there (1 Timothy 1:3).
Second, this letter is to fellow believers, not just one individual or to the people of Colossae in general.
Third, these believers are in Colossae. Colossae is a city in what is now western Turkey. They were a part of Asia Minor, where Paul ministered extensively, and close to another city he wrote to, Laodicea. And as we are going to see in a moment, these are not believers whom Paul personally witnessed to.
These are all helpful background points to keep in mind. Paul and Timothy are writing to fellow believers in a city that is near where they ministered during their missionary journeys.
Thankfulness (1:3-8)
“We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven.” (Colossians 1:3-8 ESV)
Here we see clearly that this is not a church Paul or Timothy planted themselves:
“since we heard of your faith in Jesus Christ and of the love that you have for all the saints” (Colossians 1:4 ESV)
But Paul is excited about this group of believers nonetheless. Why? Because he has heard of them, and two things have been said about them. First, their faith in Jesus Christ is noticeable and noteworthy. Second, their love for the saints in the church, likely both in Colossae, nearby towns, and in their giving to the global cause of the gospel, is known. One point we are going to see again and again in Colossians, is this pairing of actions with our faith in Jesus Christ. Even here, in the introduction, Paul makes this connection.
And Paul is anticipating an argument, or an issue, when he mentions that the basis for the Colossians’ faith and their love for others is the amazing hope they know they have that is waiting for them in heaven. We will see this more in depth as we look further at Colossians 1 next week, but Paul knows life is not all cheery for us here on earth. There is suffering. There is illness. There is death. Yet he places the ultimate location of our hope as “in heaven.” It is there, one day, when God makes the new heavens and earth that we will ultimately see the reality of what Jesus has accomplished for us on the cross. We see glimpses of it today, but we will see the complete reality of it on that day when we are with him.
Now, most of Scripture is there to show us the reality of who God is and his amazing grace and mercy for us through Jesus Christ. We don’t come to it as a manual for life nor just raw facts. Yet, it also contains simple, practical wisdom through example. In the next few sentences Paul takes a quick sidebar, and it is worth noting what he does:
“Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf and has made known to us your love in the Spirit” (Colossians 1:5-8 ESV)
Paul does two noteworthy things here:
-
Paul basically says, “I’m sure you know this.” “Of this you have heard before.” Isn’t it amazing what such a small phrase can convey! We often forget to stop and reassure others that we are not saying something because we think they are stupid or forgetful or ignorant. Paul reassures the Colossians that he knows they are fellow heirs and similarly love Jesus and the gospel of his salvation. This goes a long way in conversations, and I would commend it to you as well.
-
Additionally, notice how Paul is praising others. This is Paul. The apostle Paul. I’m sure for the Colossians this is somewhat like having your favorite actor, politician, or pastor write a letter to you. He is likely seen as the “big deal” in town. Yet, he praises God for Epaphras. And not just light praise, he calls him a “fellow servant” and a “faithful minister.” Paul is quick to praise how God has used Epaphras in his great work of spreading the gospel. Are you and I quick to praise others for how God is using them? I know I am often slow in this department.
Behind these two statements is a heart that begs our first application question:
Application
Paul and Timothy have seen the Colossians succeeding in their faith, and largely because of the efforts of Epaphroditus. In my estimation, there are largely two types of personalities that emerge when we see someone else succeeding. This can be at our work, in sports, and it can even happen in a ministry context where we want to see others know more about God. On the one side is the happy observer, glad that someone is doing the work and is happy it is getting accomplished without much effort from them. “Way to go!” they cheer from the sideline. On the other extreme are those who are jealous that it isn’t them. They weren’t the ones who scored the goal, or made the stellar business decision, or whom God used to share the gospel. Where do you fall on this spectrum, Table Rock? Are you more inclined to sit back and watch others, or are you jealous when you aren’t used?
As in most situations, we really want to be in the middle. That is especially true for our work of spreading a passion for God’s glory. We want to be passionately pursuing the same purposes and goals as one another and excited as God works his goals of spreading the gospel all around us through many means. Let’s stop this morning and think of other churches, brothers and sisters, and ministries that God is using here and abroad and want to thank God!
It’s this joyful pursuit of God’s glory that permeates Paul’s response. And Paul’s immediate reaction beyond joyfulness and thankfulness is to pray for the Colossians.
Prayer (1:9-12)
“And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.” (Colossians 1:9-12 ESV)
Application
Isn’t that amazing! Not only is Paul thankful for what God is doing in the Colossians and has used Epaphras to help accomplish for the sake of God’s glory, but he is also moved to pray for them. That isn’t my first thought when I am thankful for someone or something. If it is a person I am thankful for, I usually just want to tell them and praise them. If it is a thing, I usually spend my time pursuing it or enjoying it. Yet, Paul doesn’t praise them directly, rather he thanks God for them and holds these saints up in prayer. We should be starting to wonder, “What is it that has gripped Paul so that this is his first and natural response to this type of news?” More on that in a moment!
And what does Paul pray for the Colossians:
“And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,” (Colossians 1:9 ESV)
Unceasing prayer—the Colossians are obviously very important to Paul, and he doesn’t forget them. Paul wants the Colossians to continue to grow through the knowledge that only God can bring them. This sounds great! I want all wisdom, knowledge, and understanding! How do I get that? Before Paul answers that question explicitly, he tells us why he wants this for the Colossians, and why he wants it for you.
Outcome: Walk Properly
“so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him” (Colossians 1:10 ESV)
Your faith, the Colossians’ faith, cannot consist only of a mental acknowledgement of God and his truths; it must include a life that demonstrates we know, love, and treasure those truths. Believing in gravity keeps us from jumping off cliffs without parachutes or bungees, and believing in the properties of liquids keeps us from trying to walk through the ponds down below us without realizing we will get wet!
James would say,
“So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. (James 2:17 ESV)
And Paul believes that being filled with this knowledge of spiritual wisdom and understanding will manifest itself in three main ways:
“bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” (Colossians 1:10 ESV)
First, Grammatically, we are meant to read these two together. As our knowledge of God increases, so too will our good works. This is why the world cries “hypocrite” when leaders and those who purport to believe something (especially Christians) do exactly what they say everyone else shouldn’t. And, that is the struggling life of Christians here on earth. We agree that what God says is true, and until he rids us permanently of this sinful body and sinful nature, we will always prove our need for a savior.
“being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience” (Colossians 1:11 ESV)
The second outworking of being filled with this knowledge is to be strengthened. Knowing God's plan and his wisdom will help us to not falter, especially as we find the need for endurance and patience. We will talk about that more next week.
“With joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.” (Colossians 1:12 ESV)
And third, the wisdom and knowledge of God should produce joyful thanksgiving to God. What an amazing God we have who has given us—rebel sinners—an inheritance with all the saints.
The Gospel and the Supremacy of Christ!
And here is where Paul cannot contain himself any longer. God’s plan in the good news of our salvation is the knowledge that the Colossians need and we need. This is what has changed Paul and will change us! JESUS is the source and content of the spiritual wisdom and understanding Paul is praying the Colossians will have. Just as we began in Jesus through the gospel, we continue in Jesus as we grow. As we like to mention here at Table Rock, whether it is for the first time or the hundredth time, disciples are made through knowing Jesus and the good news of our salvation through him alone! We read in 1 Corinthians 1:24 that Jesus is the wisdom of God. While others before him pointed to the way of life, he is the way and the life in John 14:6. All of God’s promises find their “yes” in Jesus (2 Corinthians 1:20). And, in this very letter Paul states later in Colossians 2:3 that in Jesus are “hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
As is often the case with Paul, he can’t begin expressing how we should be thankful to God for what he has done without breaking out in that exact same praise himself. This is what we should be giving thanks to God about—with much joy! Here, he begins a beautiful description of the gospel. This might be a hymn/confessional text from the early first century. This is often debated. What isn’t debatable is that it places Christ as the center of God’s plans and grace in the gospel, and as the wisdom and knowledge of whom we need to know!
Father
“He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:13-14 ESV)
Paul starts with the Father. He is the one who captures us, who takes us from darkness to light, as he has just stated. The father is the one who does what we ourselves cannot do. As Paul says in Ephesians 1:11, it is the father who chooses us before he even made us or creation to be saved in Jesus Christ! And it is through his Son, Jesus, that he accomplishes this.
The Son: SUPREME!
What we see here, in Colossians 1:15–20 is really the high point of the entire book, and the summary that we have taken for our series. Jesus Christ is Supreme! There is no other like him. This is no mere prophet or good teacher. Rather, we first see that Jesus is supreme over all creation.
Jesus is Supreme over all creation
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.” (Colossians 1:15-16 ESV)
Often when we see this idea of “image” in Scripture, it is about representation. You and I are made in the image of God and at the very least that means we ought to represent who he is and what he is all about. Idols are in the image of man, animals, and demons, and so represent what is antithetical to God.
Now Jesus, he is the image of God. The one who perfectly and fully reveals the glory of God to us. This is not mere representation, but it is God himself! God made visible to us in flesh and blood, that we might fully see and know his glory!
And he is the firstborn of all creation. Don’t imagine firstborn as in order of birth, as though Jesus was created…he wasn’t. Paul affirms that in just a few sentences. Rather, he is the firstborn in that he has the preeminence. You ever wonder why the firstborn was such an important picture throughout the Old Testament? It isn’t that God hated the second, third, fourth, or fifth born. As a firstborn I like to think that by nature makes me just more important, but rather it was a picture. A picture of prominence, first importance, that was imaging Jesus Christ. Jesus is “preeminent” as Paul says in two more verses—the highest, the most important, the quintessential and only image of God. And the proof this is so is what Paul lists: All things were created by Jesus. The things visible and invisible. Everything you and I can see in nature this morning and all the things that are operating—forces, galaxies in motion, spiritual beings. These were all made through him and in him! Paul includes a transition section here that summarizes both what we just saw and what he is going to say next.
Transition: Creation and his people
“And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church.” (Colossians 1:17-18a ESV)
Here, Paul summarizes the previous statements by reminding us that Jesus is before all things (pointing out his eternality), and that all things are found to have purpose only in him. He also gives a summary of the next section: Jesus is the head of the body, his people, the church. What he is showing us is that Jesus is Supreme for and over his people.
Jesus is Supreme for and over his People
“He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” (Colossians 1:18b-20 ESV)
Jesus’s prominence is not just in his position in creation, but also in what he did for us. His death even proves his supremacy in that he was willing to be the one to die for us that he might raise himself in power that you too might be raised to new life with him. Again, Jesus is the one in whom we fully see God. And it is through Jesus' act that God actually accomplished our reconciliation and the means by which he can bring us back into “his kingdom” as Paul says. Back into a relationship with him because Jesus paid the price with his blood and death on the cross.
You
As Paul works this section together, we see this pattern of pronouns. “He” (God the father) working on your behalf through Jesus, “He” (Jesus) descended and died for you, and finally now we see “You” (Christian) reconciled through Jesus.
“And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.” (Colossians 1:21-23 ESV)
You were apart from God. An alien and hostile. But Christian, remember this: you are now found holy and blameless in Jesus Christ! That is amazing. Every sin past and every sin future is paid for by Jesus on the cross that God might find you holy and blameless. But there is a caveat: If you don’t swerve from the gospel, your only hope. Christian, don’t make your life in Jesus about self-help. Don’t make it about Jesus and XYZ, whether it is Jesus plus security, Jesus plus happiness, Jesus plus knowledge. It is only about clinging to the hope of the gospel—that Jesus paid it all.
What a beautiful summary of the gospel. And Paul is setting an argument he is going to make for the Colossians. They have been attacked by false teachers, and Paul is setting the stage for the only answer: the supremacy of Jesus Christ!
Conclusion & Main Applications
What an amazing section of this letter. We see that God is at work all over this world, and we should be excited to see him working for the sake of his own glory, and we should pray that those through whom God is working will continue! Table Rock, please do that! Pray for us, your leaders. Pray for other churches. Pray for believers in other parts of the world. As God gives you grace to meet other believers, be excited and thankful for what God is doing in and through them.
And, do what Paul and Timothy are doing. Paul and Timothy demonstrate a pattern of dwelling on Christ and what God has done through him and for all of us. Should we not do the same? Don’t just come to the gospel when you talk to a person you don’t think believes in Jesus yet, but come back to this wonderful and glorious good news again and again. It is not only what saves you but also what grows you and shapes you every day.
Benediction
May you, Table Rock, be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding—found only in our savior, Jesus Christ—so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience, and with joy giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.