The Supremacy of Christ

I don’t know about you, but when I read the headlines, watch the news on TV, or listen to podcasts, it often seems like the world is chaotic and out of control.  When I watch the increase in lawlessness, the disrespect for life and common decency, the evil going on in Ukraine, the atrocities in China, etc., it can be so discouraging and disheartening.  Wrong is right. Right is wrong. Truth is relative. Sin is rampant.  Many people have become cold-hearted and don’t have any respect for life itself.  When I view life from my limited human perspective, it can often seem like Satan is winning and evil is triumphing.    

But, as believers in Jesus, we know this is not true.  We recently celebrated Easter and were reminded of the fact that Satan was crushed at the cross and Jesus rose from the grave to defeat sin and death.  Jesus is alive and He reigns!

Let me repeat that again – Jesus reigns.  Don’t ever forget this – don’t doubt it – claim it and embrace it.  Let this truth be your daily song just as the Apostle Paul wrote in Colossians 3:16, “Let the message of Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives.  Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom He gives.  Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.”
Earlier in the letter to the Colossian Church, Paul had given them a beautiful description of Christ and specific reasons concerning why they should sing daily to God with thankful hearts.  In Colossians 1:15-20, Paul provides one of the most complete and descriptive statements about the supremacy of Christ in all of the Bible.

In these six verses, Paul opens his letter to the Colossians with a hymn of praise to Jesus.

1. 1:19 – Jesus was God in the flesh (“In Him was the fullness of God)
2. 1:16 – Jesus created all things in the heavens and on the earth
3. 1:15 – Jesus is the firstborn of all creation (He deserves all honor and dignity)
4. 1:17 – Jesus sustains all creation (“All things hold together through Him”)
5. 1:16 – Jesus is the purpose behind creation (“All was created through Him and for Him”)
6. 1:20 – Through Jesus sacrificial crucifixion, He absorbed the guilt of us all
7. 1:20 – Through Jesus resurrection, He reigns triumphant over all creation
8. 1:20 – Now, Jesus offers us His peace

Jesus reigns supreme over all creation and is worthy of all worship, praise, honor, and glory.  Therefore, we can sing with joy – we can sing with hope – we can sing with confidence.  And we know that through our praise, Jesus is working in us and through us to bring about our good and to accomplish His purposes and plans.