Welcome to Day 2469 of Wisdom-Trek. Thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Day 2469 – Crowning Christ as Lord of All – Daily Wisdom

Putnam Church Message – 09/22/2024 Jesus Christ, Our Lord – Crowning Christ as Lord of All Colossians 1:15-23 Last week, we began the letter of Colossians and ended the first 14 verses encouraging us to pray for three specific items that all believers need. Pray for knowledge, Pray for God-honoring lives, and Pray for strength. Today’s passage is Colossians 1:15-23, on page 1832 of your Pew Bibles. This section is titled Christ is Supreme. I am reading from the NLT. ¹⁵ Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,^{[e] 16} for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. ¹⁷ He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. ¹⁸ Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead.^[f] So he is first in everything. ¹⁹ For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, ²⁰ and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. ²¹ This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. ²² Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. ²³ But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it. The hymn that comes to mind with this passage is also our closing hymn today. “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name.” It is referred to as the “Diadem” or  “National Anthem of Christendom.” All hail the power of Jesus’ name! Let angels prostrate fall. Bring forth the royal diadem, And crown him Lord of all. Bring forth the royal diadem, And crown him Lord of all! The writing of such God-exalting hymns has gone on for millennia. Throughout the Old Testament, we find songs composed to praise and thank the Lord for His marvelous works. The book of Psalms is an entire inspired collection of ancient hymns that many churches still set to music and sing in worship services. For two thousand years, gifted Christian songwriters and composers have been writing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs for worshiping the Lord through music (see Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16). As we turn our attention to Colossians 1:15–20, we find embedded in this little letter one of the earliest distinctly Christian hymns written in praise of Christ. Like “The Diadem,” its purpose was to “hail the power of Jesus’ name” and to “crown Him Lord of all.” Its words are packed with deep reverence for Christ and profound theological truth. It focuses on His unique person and work, underscoring the absolute sufficiency of Christ as Lord. —1:15–20— Most scholars today agree that Colossians 1:15–20 contains a first-century hymn to Christ. Many Bibles structure these verses in the form of poetry, with the indentation of separate stanzas. This is how it is listed in the NLT. This hymn was either written by Paul or, more likely, adapted by Paul from a hymn previously written by another apostle, prophet, or early church leader. Like most great hymns of the faith, Paul’s hymn in Colossians 1 centers on the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. This passage is one of the most extraordinary statements in all of Scripture regarding the authority, supremacy, headship, and sufficiency of Jesus Christ. For a church struggling with forms of false teaching that were shifting the attention from the central truths of the gospel of Christ toward mythical, mystical, and mysterious speculations, Paul used this memorable hymn to refocus all eyes on Jesus. (Bulletin) I see six realms in this hymn in which Christ is supreme. I’ll treat these topically to see what Paul asserts regarding Christ rather than moving through the passage in strict order. First, Christ is supreme in eternity (1:15, 17). Paul establishes Christ’s eternal relationship with the Father, affirming that God the Son “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.” (1:15). God, who is by nature utterly transcendent and unable to be looked at by finite mortals, has made known His attributes, character, power, will, and works through His Son. Hebrews 1:3 conveys a parallel idea: The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God. He is equal to the Father. The point for Paul’s original readers—and us—is clear: To truly know God, we must focus on God the Son, through whom the transcendent Godhead has been revealed. Christ also “existed before anything else” (Col. 1:17). Before planets, before galaxies, before matter and energy, before time and space—as far back as our finite minds can hope to imagine—God the Son was already there. Theologians call this the “coeternality” of the Son with the Father. Although not addressed in this Christ hymn, the Holy Spirit, too, is coeternal with the Father and Son. Never was the eternal Father without His eternal Son and eternal Spirit. All things visible and invisible originate from the Father, through the Son, and by the Holy Spirit. Second, Christ is supreme in creation (1:15–17). Not only is Christ the visible image of the invisible God.” but He is “supreme over all creation,^[e]” (1:15). Paul explains, “for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth.” (1:16). Paul notes that He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. In short, nothing—from subatomic particles to massive galaxies—exists apart from His creative power. This thought is similar to a statement in the opening lines of the Gospel of John: “God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him.” (John 1:3). Paul then adds, “He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.” (1:17). This statement is true both literally and figuratively. All things in heaven and earth are literally held together by Christ’s supreme authority over all creation. The author of Hebrews puts it this way: “he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command” (Heb. 1:3). Figuratively, all things hold together as a meaningful whole because of Christ. That is, they find their ultimate meaning and purpose in Him, because all things were created not only “by Him” and “through Him” but also “for Him.” Third, Christ is supreme in the church (Col. 1:18). Having presented a clear picture of Christ’s absolute supremacy over time and space (1:15–17), Paul brings the cosmic and abstract down to an area more tangible for his readers. Remember, believers have been rescued “from the domain of darkness” and transferred into “the kingdom of the Son he loves” (1:13). We are no longer subject to sin and the evil forces of the world. We who are in the church are now under Christ…the head of the church (1:18). Although Paul doesn’t elaborate on the image of the “body of Christ” here, he does so in other writings, especially in letters to the Corinthians and the Ephesians. In Ephesians, the portrayal of the headship of Christ over the body emphasizes not only His sole authority over the church but also the unity of the members with one another (see Eph. 1:22–23; 4:15–16; 5:23). The unity of the body of Christ isn’t comparable to the unity of a man-made society like a club or organization. Instead, the Holy Spirit baptizes believers into spiritual union with Christ (1 Cor. 12:13), joining them all into one spiritual body, united to Christ as the head. Note that Christ—and Christ alone—is the head of the church. Not a pastor or a pope. Not a council or a congregation. Not elders or deacons or bishops. Not an archbishop or a monarch. Though Christ has established undershepherds to carry out His earthly ministry (Eph. 4:11–12; 1 Pet. 5:1–3), He is the “Chief Shepherd” (1 Pet. 5:4). The church must never surrender the headship of the church to anyone but Christ alone. Fourth, Christ is supreme in resurrection (Col. 1:18). Paul doesn’t mean that Christ was the first one to experience a restoration to bodily life after dying. In the Old Testament, the prophet Elisha prayed to the Lord to restore life to a dead child (2 Kgs. 4:32–37). And during His earthly ministry, Jesus also raised the dead as a sign of the coming kingdom (Matt. 11:5; Mark 5:35–43; Luke 7:11–17; John 11:41–44). However, in each of these cases, those restored to mortal bodies were again subject to death. Their resurrections were temporary resuscitations. The resurrection of Christ, however, was the first of its kind. He was raised in a glorious, incorruptible body that could never again suffer death. “Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.” (1 Cor. 15:20). Later in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul compares the present body with the future resurrection body, demonstrating the qualitative difference between the two: Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. ⁴³ Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. (1 Cor. 15:42–43). Because Christ’s resurrection is superior to death, death has lost its sting (1 Cor. 15:55). Because He is our head, we are united with Him in all things, including the experience of our own glorious resurrection. In Philippians 3:21, Paul says, He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control. This means we should no longer fear death. If we are in Christ—united to Him by the Holy Spirit through faith—we have absolute confidence in our own resurrection. Because of the supremacy of Christ in resurrection, we, too, have victory over death. Fifth, Christ is supreme in redemption (Col. 1:19–20). In these last two verses of the Christ hymn, Paul describes in two statements the person of Christ in relation to His work of redemption. First, For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, (1:19). Second, because of who He is—fully divine and fully human— and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. (1:20). Since the fall of Adam, all of humanity has been in disharmony with God. However, because of Christ’s substitutionary death in our place—the righteous for the unrighteous—we have been reconciled with God (see 2 Cor. 5:18–21). In our helpless, hopeless state, God took the initiative to make peace by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. (Col. 1:20). Our whole being—body and soul—is saved by the work of Christ. Sixth, Christ is supreme in everything (1:18). At the heart of the Christ hymn, Paul makes the ultimate statement for Christ’s all-supremacy: So he is first in everything. Because of who Christ is and what He has done, we can surrender everything to Him. Over little things and big things, over the past, present, and future, and over things seen and unseen—Jesus Christ is Lord. He is to have first place in everything. —1:21–23— The resounding chorus of the Christ hymn reached its climax in 1:20. With the profound lyrics still echoing in the air, Paul picks up the theme of Christ’s work of reconciliation and turns it into a personal challenge for his readers and for us. The hymn of Colossians 1:15–20 has spoken generally of “all things,” “the church,” and “the dead.” Now Paul moves from the general to the particular, from the universal to the personal, with one little phrase: This includes you. All of us, being sinful by nature and by choice, need reconciliation. It isn’t enough to think Christ has abstractly reconciled heaven and earth through His incarnation, death, and resurrection. This reconciliation must be made personal and practical. The Colossians experienced this when they received reconciliation with God by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Those who were once far away from God manifested in wickedness (1:21). Paul didn’t have to make a list of their sins; You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. But when the reconciliation Christ accomplished| became theirs through His sacrificial death for them, |their transformation from sinful to holy had begun. The purpose of their salvation was not only forgiveness of sins<(1:14). Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. <(1:22). Whatever the specific danger threatening some among the Colossian church, Paul saw the need to add a sobering warning to this positive statement. He says, But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. (1:23). At first glance, this conditional phrase seems to suggest that if they failed to continue steadfastly in faith and hope, then they would lose their salvation and forfeit their reconciliation with God, once again becoming alienated and hostile toward the One who had redeemed them. Does this mean that our salvation is ultimately based on our own faithfulness? It is true that an “if” phrase can sometimes indicate that kind of conditional relationship, as in the statement every child dreads: “If you eat your vegetables, then you can have ice cream.” The implication is clear: If you don’t eat the green food, no dessert for you! However, an “if” phrase can also be used to demonstrate the genuineness of something, as in the declaration, “If you can play this rhapsody by Franz Liszt, then you’re a real pianist.” Playing the music doesn’t make you a pianist; being a true pianist is evidenced by playing a difficult piece. This is how Paul is using the “if” phrase here. He’s saying that if the Colossians persevere in their original faith and hope, it will prove they are truly members of the body of Christ. Paul set the record straight with the Christ hymn in 1:15–20 and a personal application in 1:21–23. Jesus Christ was sufficient as their supreme Lord. Application: COLOSSIANS 1:15–23 We Need to Stand Firm in the Faith After proclaiming the absolute superiority of Christ over everything (1:15–20), Paul places a burden on his readers; you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News.  (1:23). As we are reminded in Jude 1:24, God is ultimately responsible for preserving us: He is referred to as “Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault.” It is not us but God. However, He has also called us to faithfulness and perseverance in order that we might receive the abundant blessings of the Christian life. Both of these aspects of perseverance are needed. We rest in the security of our salvation by grace through faith, and we take responsibility to walk with integrity before God by the power of the Spirit, knowing that God is working His power in and through us. But what specifically should we do to stand firm in the faith, according to Paul’s message in Colossians 1:15–23? Let me suggest a couple of practical instructions that true believers in Christ can adhere to in their desire...