Christ Is The Center of Christianity – Part 2

Colossians, Chapter number one. We started our study on Sunday night in the Book of Colossians. And again, the theme of the Book of Colossians is this, that Christ is the center of Christianity. Christ is the center of Christianity. Everything that we do in this Christian life ought to revolve around the Lord Jesus Christ. We don’t live our Christian lives for notoriety. We don’t live our Christian lives so that our name can be put on a sign. We don’t live our Christian lives so that others will recognize who we are. Our life is life that ought to be lived for the Lord Jesus Christ and for him alone. And so Christ is the center of Christianity as we go throughout this book. By way of review and by way of reminder, we are going to cover these four aspects in all four chapters. The first aspect, in chapter number one, we are going to deal with the Christian and his Christ. And that is what we dealt with on Sunday night a little bit. And we got into that. And then of course, we are going to deal with chapter two, the Christian and his creed. Then in chapter number three, we’re going to deal with the Christian and his character. And then in chapter number four, we’re going to deal with the Christian and his Christianity. The Christian and his Christianity. So we got into the aspects in chapter number one, and we dealt with the path of Christ, and we dealt with the plea of Christ. And then we dealt with the aspect of truth in this Christian life and how we ought to present truth to everybody that we come across. And here we’re going to get into the aspect of the preeminence of Jesus Christ. And the word preeminence means first place. And we will show you that here. Look at verse number eighteen. And we will get down there to it in just a little bit. But this is where we are going to read. And then we will pray. Look at verse number eighteen. And he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead. Notice the last phrase of the verse, that in all things he might have the preeminence. The word preeminence means first place, meaning that Jesus Christ is number one. He is first place. He. He is preeminent. He is above everything else. Let’s pray. Father, we love you. We thank you for the truths of the word of God. Lord, help us to make you first place in our lives. Help us, Lord, to make sure that you are the first and the foremost in everything that we do. You are the reason why we do the things that we do you are the person that we are trying to get others to recognize when we do the things that we do. And you are the person that we are trying to live our lives to please when we do the things that we do. And I pray, Lord, that you’d help us to understand that tonight and help us, Lord, to recommit to living our lives in such a way that we are living for the audience of one to bring joy and favor to you and you alone, living our lives to please you. And I pray, Lord, that you take these truths, help us to apply them. We’ll praise you and thank you. We ask these things yous name and pray. Amen. Notice verse number thirteen. This is where we’re going to pick up. We left off at verse number twelve where it said giving thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints of light. We discussed the witnessing aspect there at the end of the verse on Sunday night. Now in verse number thirteen here, who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son. Notice verse fourteen. In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sin. So here we are going to talk all night long about the aspect that Jesus Christ ought to have preeminence in our lives because he is the reason for everything that happens in our lives. Listen, the fact that we say during Christmas time that Jesus is the reason for the season. Listen, that sounds fine and dandy around Christmas time, but the reality is Jesus is the reason for everything, not just the season. Ok? Jesus is the reason for everything that we do in the Christian life. Again, verse thirteen tells us that he was the one who. Who had. Talking about Jesus Christ who hath delivered us from the power of darkness. Notice this. First and foremost we’re going to get through nine aspects tonight of what Jesus Christ ought to be. First place in he is number one in our redemption. He’s number one in our redemption. So here notice he had delivered us from the power of darkness. Notice that we have been emancipated, meaning that we’ve been delivered. We’ve been set free. You know the old. The famous speech that was given by Abraham Lincoln by back in eighteen sixty three, the Emancipation Proclamation. Alright. Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. I’m not going to quote the whole thing for you. Anyway, moving on. That is the Emancipation Proclamation and it was to free the slaves. We know all that. And it was to give them the same recognition that others had in that day and age. But notice Jesus Christ is the one that. Who delivers us from the power of darkness. Meaning that we’ve been emancipated from the devil. We’ve been delivered, we’ve been set free. We are no longer a slave to sin. We are no longer in bondage. We don’t have to live a life that’s dedicated to sin and that’s dedicated to slavery because he is number one in our redemption. He has emancipated us. Notice also in verse number thirteen, it says, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son. Not only has he emancipated us, but also he has extracted us. Meaning that he has pulled us out from where we were and put us in a new location. The term extraction is really a military term where you go and you try to extract or pull out somebody that is behind enemy lines or in a territory and they are in a place where they are not supposed to be. You go and you extract them from where they are at. You go and draw them out. And Jesus Christ has. Has taken us out of the darkness and put us into the light. He has extracted us from where we were and given us a new life in Him. So he is number one in our redemption through emancipation, through extraction. But notice verse fourteen, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sin. He has also exonerated us, meaning that we are no longer guilty. Charges can no longer be brought against us. We. We don’t have to go to trial for the sins that we’ve committed in the past. They’re covered by the blood. Praise God. We’ve been exonerated. We’ve been set free. He is number one in redemption. Notice next, by the way, these are alliterated, but it’s alliterated by sound, ok? Sound, not letter. You’ll get to that. You’ll understand what that alliteration is later. Okay? My son told me if it’s not alliterated, it’s blasphemous. So he’ll learn one day. It’s okay. Here. Jesus Christ is number one in redemption. Number two, I want you to notice in verse number fifteen, Jesus Christ is also number one. In revelation, Notice it says, who is the image of the invisible God? Remember, it was Jesus Christ. The Bible says in John, chapter one, verse number fourteen. And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory. The Glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Jesus Christ is God incarnate. Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. He is the visible image of the invisible God. This is what the Bible says. Who is the image of the invisible God. And so he is number one in Revelation. Understand that not only did Jesus Christ reveal Himself in the flesh, but every time you read your Bible, Jesus Christ will reveal Himself to you in the Scriptures as well. He’ll always reveal Himself. And he’s constantly revealing Himself in every area of our lives. If we would just simply pay attention to what he’s doing. He’s constantly trying to reveal his working hand behind the scenes of our lives. He’s number one in redemption. He’s number one in Revelation. Thirdly, I want you to notice according to verse fifteen as well, he’s also number one in location. Notice he’s the firstborn of every creature, meaning that he was in the beginning of everything. Now the Bible tells us in John, chapter one, verse number one, in the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. We know that Jesus Christ wasn’t created. We know that he is God. He has always been, he always will be, and he will always be forever. He is the eternal, the immutable, the unchanging God. And so we understand that he’s also number one in location. He’s before everything. He’s the firstborn of every creature. He’s before everything. Because of Jesus Christ, we can all have life. Remember, in John, the Bible says that he has come to give us life and that we might have it more abundantly. So yes, he came to give us life, but he also came to give us the abundant Christian life, meaning that we can live life more fully because of who he is and because of the things that he has done. Here, number four, I want you to notice. Look at verse sixteen and seventeen. It says, for by him were all things created that are in heaven, that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created by him and for Him. And he is before all things. And by him all things consists. I want you to notice also that he is number one in creation. This is fourthly. He is number one in creation. He is. We notice in verse sixteen, he is the power of creation. Again, for by him were all things created. Jesus Christ is the Word that was made flesh. But also, how was everything created? In the book of Genesis, it was spoken by by word, meaning that Jesus Christ is the one that spoke it into existence. So here he is, the one that created everything for him. By him were all things created. Notice that are in heaven. That would include all the angels. That would include all the celestial bodies. That would include all the stars. That would include the universe. That would include the parts of the universe that man doesn’t even know exists right now. The reality is we don’t know half of what we think we know. And God knows everything. And here he knows how many stars are in the heavens. He’s numbered them all. The Bible says, notice not only the things that are in heaven, but look and that are in earth. He’s created everything that we ever see on earth. Listen. The Bible says in Psalms nineteen one that the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork. You can’t help but when you go outside and look, you can’t help but see the good grace of God. Now listen, I understand that we live in Oklahoma, but we don’t live out far west where all you see is tumbleweeds and dirt. Amen. We have some greenery that is here and. But you can’t help but look out and see the blessings of the hand of God. You see it in the sunrise. You see it in the sunset. You see it when the clouds go by and the rays come through the clouds. You see the glory of God in everything. You hear it in the birds that are chirping. You hear it in the animals throughout the morning. Those of you that spend time in the woods and spend time hunting, you spend time in a tree. You listen to the creation of God and you can hear as the creation of God will sing praises to the God that created them. See, he is the creator of everything that’s in earth. Notice what it says. Visible and invisible. You realize there’s things that we see here on earth, but there’s also things that we don’t see right now as we are in church. There are spirits of heaven and there are spirits of hell that are here in this place. There is a spiritual battle that has taken place and it is everywhere. We are at. It is constantly at our beck and call. It is constantly with us even though we don’t see it. This is the invisible part of things. Jesus Christ is in the midst of all of that and his protection is there. Notice whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. These are the same words that are used in Ephesians, chapter number six, verse Number twelve and thirteen, when it says we wrestle not with flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. These are some of the same things that are referred to when it refers to the spiritual world. So we know here this is referring to the spiritual world that we don’t see the thrones and the dominions, the principalities and the powers. But again, still he is number one in creation because he’s the power of creation. Notice what it says again. All things were created by Him. Not only is he the power of creation, but notice also he’s the purpose of creation. All things were created by him then notice and for him, he is the purpose of for every one of our existence. Our existence should bring praise and honor to God. And if it does not, then we are wasting the existence that God gave us. That is the purpose of our existence. Notice, all things were created by him and for Him. Meaning that we were created for the glory of God. We were created so that we would give praise to Jesus Christ in our lives. So he is the power of creation, but he is also the purpose of creation. Notice, verse seventeen. He is before all things. Notice. He’s also the planner of creation. Have you ever noticed? We have time to go to it tonight. But in Genesis chapter one and chapter number two, you ever notice the days of creation are in a specific order? God says, let all things be done decently and in order. You know, God created the water before he created the fish. You ever thought about that? Because there has to be a plan for it. God created light and the sun before he created plants. Why? Because plants get their life from the sun. They get their nutrients through a process called photosynthesis, where they get their things from the sun and the water from the soil. And so God knew all of this in the beginning. Jesus Christ is the perfect planner of everything we know. The Bible says that all things work together for good. It doesn’t say all things are good in your life. When you’re going through trials, when you’re going through hard times, when things are happening in our lives and you don’t understand what’s going on. Excuse me, you don’t understand what God is doing. Understand that Christ is still the planner of everything that’s happening in your life. He knows what’s going on. And he knows in order to get you to right here in your Christian life, he’s got to take you from the place where you’re at to and mold you and shape you and get you to the place where he wants you to go. Sometimes that takes some beating in our lives. Sometimes that takes some brokenness in our lives. Sometimes that takes us not really understanding what God’s doing or why God’s doing it. But understand this verse seventeen. He is before all things. Meaning that he knows what’s going on in your life. He knows what’s happening in your life. He. He knows the situation that you’re currently in. And guess what? He orchestrated it for a reason. Because he’s trying to draw you closer to him. And everything that we do is to be drawn closer to Jesus Christ. And everything that we do. According to Romans chapter eight, verse number twenty nine, we are to be conformed to the image of the Son of God. He is the potter, we are the clay. Correct. He is the planner of creation. I heard a preacher say one time before, Brother Thoreau said it as well. Has it ever dawned on you that nothing’s ever dawned on God? Or has it ever occurred to you that nothing’s ever occurred to God? Nothing takes him by surprise. He knows exactly what’s going to happen, exactly when it’s going to happen, exactly how it’s going to happen. And all we’ve got to do is trust him. That’s hard enough in and of itself, us trusting. Yes, hard. But understand, he is the planner of all things. He’s before all things. Notice in verse seventeen. And by him all things consist. Also he is the preserver of creation. It says by him all things consist. He is the reason that we have anything that we have in this life today. He brings consistency in your life. Everything consists because of who he is. He’s the preserver of it. He gives it life, yes, but he also gives it life more abundant. So here he’s number one in creation, verse eighteen, I want you to notice. He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead. Here he’s also number five, number one in administration. He is the head, the Bible says, of the body, which is the church. He is the number one administrator of the church that he has left here. Listen, everything that we do as Cornerstone Baptist Church, we do under the leadership of Jesus Christ. Now, yes, God may have me to be your pastor and I may be the under shepherd, but he is the good shepherd. I may be the underleader, but he is the head leader. Jesus Christ is above everything. He is the head of the church. He is the one that makes the decisions for the direction that we had as a church by the Way. Every decision that made from this pulpit, in this office, behind closed doors, all the different decisions that are made as a church, we ought to bathe those decisions in prayer and make sure that we’re following our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and everything. Because he is the head. And the body cannot go where the head will not lead them. Understand that. Now, there are some churches that are operating outside of the leadership of Jesus Christ. But you know what those churches are? They’re headless. Jesus is the head. Correct. And if we’re operating outside of his protection, then you are operating headless. You know how long you can live headless? Not very long at all. You can be open to all the attacks, all the destruction, all of the inconsistency, all of the death that is involved for someone that is headless. By the way, not only churches that try to do things without the leadership of Jesus Christ, not only are they headless, but churches that try to lead, or pastors who tried to lead in directions where Jesus Christ doesn’t want to lead. There becomes now two heads in the church. And understand this. Anything with two heads is a monster. Amen. Anything with two heads is a monster. The church was never intended to have two heads. We only have one, and that is Jesus Christ. I’m not the head of the church. Jesus Christ is the head of the church. Now God has left me here to be the overseer and the pastor. Brother Thoreau had the same philosophy when he was pastoring. He understood he wasn’t the head of the church. Now, ultimately, yes, somebody has to make decisions here. And that’s what the pastor is left to do. The pastor is not a dictator and a tyrant to be in charge of everything. The pastor is in the place where God has placed him to make sure that you don’t take charge of everything. Amen. We are all to follow the leadership of Jesus Christ in our lives. It’s okay. Y’ all can smile. Amen. He is the head of the church who’s the beginning, the firstborn from the dead. So he’s number one in administration. Everything that happens in the church ought to happen under the leadership of Jesus Christ. The direction that the church is going, the duty that the church follows, everything that the church, the ministries of the church should follow the head, which is Jesus Christ. Then notice verse eighteen as well. It says that in all things he might have the preeminence. Understand, number six, that Jesus Christ is number one in elevation. Now, no, I’m not talking about the contemporary Christian music that’s out there. Today, ok, there’s something that’s called elevation. I ain’t talking about any of that. We’re talking about elevating Jesus Christ above everything. If you don’t know that, good, praise the Lord. You don’t even know about that stuff here. That in all things, he might have the preeminence. Jesus Christ ought to be elevated to first place in everything that we do. Why do we still have a bus route? Because we’re trying to point others to Jesus Christ. Why do we have different ministries? The Sunday school ministry? Because we’re trying to train people and point them to Jesus Christ. Why do we have a Christian school? In our school handbook, we state that our goal and our purpose is to lead all children to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. That’s the purpose and the goal. And then to raise them to. To be profitable Christians in the world that can also do the same thing, lead others to Jesus Christ as well. As a matter of fact, just as a side note, when we were going through the process of accreditation, we were meeting with the NAPS organization and the heads. One of the guys that we met with was a pastor there in Kansas. We were doing a zoom call and he had made the statement. He said, I want to commend your school for having that statement in your school handbook. You’re not shying away from what God’s called you to do as a ministry and what God’s called you to do as a church. I said, brother, listen, when we started the school twelve years ago under the former pastor, we decided to put that in the school handbook because that is the purpose, that is the goal. And if people don’t like it, then they don’t have to put their kids in the Christian school. But that is the goal. We want to see souls get saved. We want to see kids grow up in the nurture and admonition of Jesus Christ and to be able to do the very same thing to train others how to live for God as well. Raise families that will make a difference in the world today. Raise young people that can be profitable to society and not a leech in society. Amen. Here in all things, Christ might have the preeminence. He’s number one in elevation. We’ve got to put him first in everything that we do. The reason we have the ministries that we have at Cornerstone Baptist Church is so that Jesus Christ can be lifted up and exalted. Remember, the Bible says, and Jesus said, and if I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me. Our duty, our purpose. Is not to do more things, but to do the right things that matter. And make sure that what matters is that we lift up Jesus Christ and we’re pointing others to Him. He’s the one that made a difference in your life. Correct. He made a difference in my life. And if he can make a difference in our life, surely he can make a difference in someone else’s life. Surely he’s not done with us yet. No, he can still do it. He’s number one in elevation. Notice. Next. Number seven. I told you we’ll hurry through this. Verse nineteen. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell. And having made peace through the blood of his cross and by him to reconcile all things unto Himself by Him I say, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven. Here Jesus Christ is also number one in his qualifications. Nobody else is qualified like your Savior, Jesus Christ is qualified. Nobody else was born like he was born. Nobody else lived like he lived. Nobody else died like he died. And nobody else was resurrected like he was resurrected. Listen, nobody’s qualified like Jesus is qualified. So why is it that we trust the doctor’s opinion more than we do Jesus opinion? We want to trust the doctor more than we do the great physician. We want to trust everybody else in this world more than we do Jesus Christ. We go to everybody else and we find out their opinion on the matter. And then we spend some time praying about it. If we even do that. Here he’s number one in qualifications. Notice verse nineteen. The resolve of his preeminence. It says it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell here, God the Father was pleased that everybody would be pointed to His Son, Jesus Christ. Now remember, God the Father gave his only Son, Jesus Christ to die for all mankind. Correct. He loved us that much. So if he loved us that much to sacrifice his only begotten Son, then surely it would please him that much, if not more, if we would also look to Jesus Christ in our lives. I mean, if he has given so much to us, surely for us to go to him, that would be something that would please Him. Think about it. In your life, the things that you do for the people that you love. You sacrifice and you give for your spouse, or you sacrifice and you give for your children. If your children never say thank you, but they turn around and spit in your face, you would feel used and abused. Correct? How about us as Christians? We never took the time to thank God for what he allowed to happen to Jesus Christ. If we never took the Time to recognize his working in our lives, then he would feel wasted. Right? This is the resolve of his preeminence. It pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell. Understand that you get your fullness in your Christian life from Jesus Christ. Which means you get your fullness from walking with Him. There’s a song in your hymnbook. It’s number seven, Fill My Cup, Lord. I lift it up, Lord. And it talks about us getting a feeling from Jesus Christ. Ultimately, where does that feeling come from? It comes from our walk with God. And if we’re not walking with God, then we can’t get him poured into us so that we can pour him into others. And what happens? Oftentimes we just pour ourselves into everything without getting a pouring and a fresh anointing from Him. Here we see the resolve of his preeminence. It please the Father that in him should all fullness dwell. But also notice the reasons for his preeminence. It says, and having made peace, This is the reason. He brought peace to a peaceless world. He brought peace to a broken relationship. Remember when Adam and Eve sinned in the garden? They lost all fellowship with God, and he had to come to them still seeking fellowship. But then a sacrifice had to be made for them to restore that fellowship. The same way in our lives. We were born as reprobates. We were born as sinners. We were born as those that weren’t seeking after God. But when we trusted in Jesus Christ, it restored fellowship that was once lost. This is the reason for his preeminence. So that he could restore some things. How did he do it? Through the blood of his cross. Through the blood of his cross. He had to die for us. Sacrifice had to be made. But listen. Listen. The sacrifice had to be made for salvation. But listen, the sacrifice doesn’t have to continue to be made for the forgiveness of your sins. We don’t have to keep putting Jesus Christ back on the cross. He doesn’t have to die over and over and over again for our sins. It was once and for all. Hebrews chapter ten tells us he’s number one in his qualifications. Then next notice, number eight. He’s number one in his reconciliation. Notice, it says by him to reconcile all things unto himself. And it says, by Him, I say, whether they be in earth or things in heaven. Paul felt it necessary to reiterate the fact. He said he meant to reconcile all things to himself. And then he says it again by Him. I say, in case you missed it, whether they be things on Earth or things in heaven. His goal was to reconcile everything back to him or to put everything back in balance. When you reconcile your checkbook, you balance your books, you agree with what the bank says. Or if you have a disputation, then you try to make the bank agree with what you say, right? That doesn’t always go well. But here, to reconcile something that means to agree with. And Jesus Christ, he reconciled or he brought things back into agreement. How? Unto Himself. He said, if things are going to agree in this world, they are going to agree with me. Why? Because he is the Creator. He knows what it is supposed to be. He knows how things are supposed to operate. He knows the necessity of everything. So when he reconciles things, he reconciles them unto Himself. You see, when we reconcile people, we reconcile them back to Jesus Christ. When Jesus Christ reconciles them, he just reconciles them back to Himself. Because there is none greater. Amen. He is number one in reconciliation. Notice this is to those who are alive. He reconciles all things unto Himself. This is also for those who are asleep or those who are dead. I say, whether it be things on earth or things in heaven. This is again where we get the same. We say it all the time. This is where we get the statement that anybody that dies and goes to hell, dies and goes to hell with their sin debt being paid for. Because here we understand they chose to reject Jesus Christ. But also anybody that’s in heaven today is in heaven because they trusted Jesus Christ and He reconciled them to Himself. So this is those who are alive. This is those who are asleep. Notice next in verse twenty one, these are those who are alienated and you that were sometimes alienated. Have you ever felt in your Christian life that you were light years away from God? You ever felt like you were trying to walk with God and you were trying to find him and you’re somewhere in the darkness, in the midst of it all. And you’re reading your Bible and you’re praying and you’re crying out to God, but it seems like he’s nowhere to be found. You feel alienated. Listen, we’ve all been there. And if you haven’t been there, sooner or later you’re going to be there in your Christian life where you’re going to question, is this all really worth it? I came to some dark times in my Christian life where I’ve had to answer that question. And let me go ahead and tell you young people, yes, yes and yes, over and over again, it is always worth it. It’s always worth it to See the lives change. To see God work on your behalf. It’s always worth it to know that you have a one on one connection with God, the creator of the universe. It’s always worth it. You don’t have to be alienated. It says in you that were sometime alienated. Every one of us at some point in time in our lives have felt alienated away from God. We felt like God’s forsaken us. But realize that’s just a lie of the devil. Remember fear? I talked about it Sunday morning. Is false evidence appearing real. That’s just the devil telling you that God left you when all reality God said in Hebrews thirteen five, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. So God can’t break his promise. But guess what? The devil’s a liar by nature. He’s the father of lies. That’s all he does is lie. Here, God will reconcile those who’ve been alienated. You feel like you’re away from God. You feel like God’s not answering. I’m telling you right there. God is right there. He’s ready to reconcile you back to himself. But listen, he’s going to do it on his terms, not yours. When he reconciles back to himself, he does it on his terms, not ours. Well, God, I’ll serve you, but I still want to do. And then fill in the blank. Now that’s we don’t bargain with God. He’ll reconcile according to his purpose and according to his plan. Those that are alienated, then notice and enemies in your mind by wicked works. Yet now hath he reconciled. Here he reconciles those who are alive, those who are asleep, those who are alienated, but also those who are adversaries. Remember, you were once an enemy of God before you got saved. He said I was never like the wicked crowd. I never blasphemed God. Listen, if you were a rejecter of Jesus Christ and all of us before we got saved, saved, rejected Jesus Christ. Ok, before you got saved, you were a sinner. That’s why we’re called sinners. Saved by grace. We rejected Jesus Christ and then that’s why we had to receive Jesus Christ as our personal Savior. We have all been adversaries at one time. But notice we were enemies in our minds by wicked works. We thought we had it all figured out. But guess what? God can even reconcile the worst of the worst. God can save anybody. God can bring balance to anyone’s life. God can restore absolutely anybody. And then lastly, notice in verse twenty two, we see in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and unblameable. And un reprovable in his sight. Here, God Jesus Christ is number one in distinction. Notice it says, in the body of his flesh through death. Because of his death. This is what his death did for us. Are you listening? It presented us to God as holy. We couldn’t be holy on our own. We can’t still be holy on our own. Paul said, in me dwelleth no good thing. He made the statement in Romans, chapter seven. Who shall deliver me from this body of death? He says in Romans, chapter three. There is none that doeth good. No, not one. We cannot be holy on our own. We have to be holy through Jesus Christ. And because of his death, because of his shed blood, he now can present us a child of God that is holy. But not only holy. Notice it says, and unblameable. We’ve used the illustration time and again. But when God sees us and when the accuser of the brethren, that be the devil himself, goes to heaven and tries to accuse us of wrongdoing, he tries to tell God the Father all the things that we’ve done in our lives. God looks over the portals of glory. He looks over at us and he says, satan, I don’t believe you. All I see is the blood of my son, Jesus Christ. Here it says, we are unblameable. We are unblameable. Meaning we are covered in the blood of Christ. This only happened through Jesus Christ. He is number one in distinction. Nobody else can do that in your life. Nobody else can make you holy. Nobody else can make you unblameable. Now, other people can point the blame to you. We’re all good at doing that, right? But nobody can make you unblameable other than Jesus. And then it says, unreprovable in his sight. Meaning that here, because of his shed blood, we’ll never have to face death and hell. Because Jesus Christ took the reproof of our sins. He took the beating for our sins. He suffered hell on the cross for our sins. By the way, Jesus Christ sat down on the cross. He said, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? When God the Father turned his back on Jesus Christ, that was Christ suffering our hell on the cross. Now, he may not have suffered the flames on the cross, but right there he suffered the separation from God. And what is hell? Separation from God? Yes, there are eternal flames and torments. That’s added persecution. But here, when somebody is cast into hell for rejecting Jesus Christ, they’re going to have Eternal separation from God. And Christ suffered our hell on the cross when God the Father turned his back on us so that we would never have to touch hell. We’re unreprovable in his sight. So here tonight, understand that Christ is the center of Christianity. We ought to understand the preeminence or the first place of Jesus Christ. He’s number one in everything. Listen, I love sports. I say this all the time. There’s different players, and I don’t agree with the vast majority of these players in their personal lives, but you can’t argue with the numbers that they put up. Specifically lebron James. Or as Aiden says, Jaron lames and Jabran’s lame. That’s what he says. That’s what it is. He’s number one in minutes played. He’s number one in points scored. He’s number one in all these different categories. But none of those categories matter because my Savior is number one in anything that matters. Nobody is like Jesus Christ. He ought to have the preeminence. If there were a Mount Rushmore, it would just be Jesus. Wouldn’t be anybody else because he’s number one. Nobody else can handle his glory. And thank God for His preeminence tonight. Stand with me with heads bowed, with eyes closed. The preeminence of Jesus Christ tonight. Do you have him as number one in your life? He ought to be. He wants to be. He’s done everything and deserves to be. But when you made your decisions today, did you make your decision out of habit? Did you make your decision out of personal want? Or the decisions that you made, did you make them out of anger, frustration? Or did you make them because you wanted to make sure that Jesus Christ was glorified? He ought to have the preeminence in everything. Let’s pray. Father. We love youe, Lord. I know we failed you today. I know I have. I can’t speak for everybody, but I know we’re all sinners in here. I know there’s times throughout our day today where we did what we did, but we didn’t think a lick about making you first place. And even I, as a pastor, I struggle with that at times. We get into the busyness of life. We get into the busyness of doing things the way we think that they ought to be done or should be done. The consistency of things. And we just do it out of habit and out of routine, and we forget to make sure that you have first place. We forget to make sure that we do it to honor and glorify You. I pray that you’d help us to make that right tonight. Help us, Lord, to get back to being a people who are going to honor and glorify you. With every breath that’s taken, with every step that’s taken, with every word that’s spoken, with everything that’s done in our lives, we’ll praise you, we’ll thank you for it. We ask these things. In your name we pray. Amen. As the pianist, play as you come. Maybe you just need to recommit to making Christ first place in your life. I don’t always understand why he does what he does, but I know he’s in control. We got to trust him on that. He’s in control. Sometimes we get into the busyness of things and the routine of things, and I do this because I know it’s the right thing to do. But did we even think about having Christ first? Did we think about reading our Bible before we did whatever we did? We wake up in the morning, the first thing we do is we turn on the television for noise. How about wake up in the morning, the first thing we do is open our Bible. Every morning when I wake up, the first thing I do before I get out of bed is I give my wife a kiss. I tell her I love her. But I wonder how long throughout the day do we go before we tell God we love him? Sometimes we do things out of habit and we don’t even think about it. It’s easy to get into the habit of going to church. It’s easy to get in the habit of doing different things that are scheduled. But even when we read our Bible, are we doing it out of habit and schedule? Are we doing it because we really want him to be first place and everything? He might have the preeminence he deserves. First place. He wants first place. The question is, do we want to give it to him? Listen, we want to be first. I’m a very competitive person. I love. I love competition. I will compete with anybody. If there are two ants that are racing, I will. I will bet on one of them. I’m not a gambler by any means, but I want to see the competition. Looking forward to seeing what’s going to happen. I’m going to choose one of them to be the winner. I watch a game, I’m going to pick sides one way or the other. There’s sometimes when I watch games against teams, I don’t like either team and I wish both of them could lose, but that’s not an option. It’s not now. They can tie, and that’s close enough. But the reality is, somebody’s going to be first place in your life. Somebody is. And God will not compete for glory. His glory is his alone. The question is, are we going to give him first place?

Scripture Reference

Colossians 1:18 — And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

Introduction

Title: “Christ Is The Center of Christianity — Part 2” preached by Dr. Terry LeQuieu. In this message from Colossians chapter one we are reminded that Jesus Christ is the preeminent One — the One who is first in every area that matters. He is not merely important among many; He is supreme. Dr. LeQuieu walks through a powerful series of truths showing how Christ occupies first place in redemption, revelation, location, creation, administration, elevation, qualification, reconciliation, and distinction.

Quote from Preacher

And he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead. Notice the last phrase of the verse, that in all things he might have the preeminence.

Outline

Preeminence Defined — Jesus First
1. Meaning: Preeminence = first place; Christ is to occupy the foremost position in life and church.
2. Explanation: Preeminence is not merely a title; it is the demand and design of God for living. If Christ is truly first, then decisions, priorities, ministries, and motives will align with His will.
First in Redemption — Emancipated, Extracted, Exonerated
1. Emancipated: Colossians 1:13 — Jesus delivers us from the power of darkness; we are set free from slavery to sin.
2. Extracted: He translates us into the kingdom of His dear Son — He pulls us out of spiritual danger and places us in His realm.
3. Exonerated: Colossians 1:14 — Redemption through His blood; our guilt is removed. We stand forgiven because Christ paid once for sin.
4. Pastoral note: Freedom in Christ results in responsibility — freed believers live under His lordship, not license.
First in Revelation — The Visible Image of the Invisible God
1. Scripture: Colossians 1:15 — Christ is the image of the invisible God; John 1:14 confirms the Word became flesh.
2. Explanation: Jesus reveals God’s character, purpose, and plan. Reading Scripture is encountering Christ’s revelation — He is the clearest portrait of God we possess.
First in Location — Before All Things
1. Eternality: Colossians 1:15 — “firstborn of every creature” speaks of priority in time and relationship, not created origin.
2. Practical point: Christ’s eternality means our hope is anchored in One who is unchanged by culture, trends, or trials.
First in Creation — Power, Purpose, Planner, Preserver
1. Power: Colossians 1:16 — By Him were all things created; He spoke creation into being.
2. Purpose: All things were created by Him and for Him — human life has divine purpose: to glorify God.
3. Planner: Verse 17 — He is before all things and works in order; God’s plan is wise and purposeful even when we suffer.
4. Preserver: By Him all things consist — He sustains creation continually.
5. Application: Worship the Creator in creation; let awe of God shape how you treat life, work, and nature.
First in Administration — Head of the Church
1. Scripture: Colossians 1:18 — Christ is the head of the body, the church.
2. Church life: All church decision-making, direction, and ministry must be under Christ’s leadership. Pastors are under-shepherds, not ultimate heads.
3. Warning: Churches that refuse Christ’s headship are “headless” or become “two-headed” when men usurp authority; both situations bring confusion and harm.
First in Elevation — Lifted Up to Draw Men
1. Obligation: “That in all things he might have the preeminence” — Christ must be exalted over every program, personality, and pastime.
2. Ministry focus: Ministries (bus routes, Sunday School, Christian schools) must prioritize pointing souls to Christ, not merely activity.
3. Christ-centered measure: Evaluate ministries by whether they exalt Jesus and advance His gospel.
First in Qualifications — All Fullness Dwells in Him
1. Fullness: Colossians 1:19 — It pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell; no one else is qualified like Christ.
2. Implication: When facing needs, crises, or counsel, Christ is the perfectly qualified Savior and Lord — trust Him above every human authority.
First in Reconciliation — Peace Through the Cross
1. Scope: Colossians 1:20 — By Him to reconcile all things unto Himself, whether things in earth or things in heaven.
2. Subjects: Reconciliation includes the living, the dead, the alienated, and even former enemies — Christ’s work reaches to every need.
3. Terms: Reconciliation is done on Christ’s terms: repentance, faith, and trust in the finished work of the cross.
First in Distinction — Presented Holy, Unblameable, Unreprovable
1. Result: Colossians 1:22 — Through His death believers are presented holy and unblameable before God.
2. Comfort: When Satan accuses the believer, God points to Christ’s blood — our standing is Christ’s righteousness, not ours.
3. Urgency: Live in light of this distinction; be holy not to earn standing, but because you already have it in Christ and desire to honor Him.

Summary

Dr. LeQuieu’s message from Colossians 1 calls the church back to the single greatest truth: Christ must have first place. The preeminence of Christ affects salvation (He redeems), truth (He reveals), existence (He created and sustains), the church (He governs), mission (He is exalted), and our personal standing before God (He makes us holy). This is not merely doctrine to be admired — it is a practical command that reshapes daily choices, church life, ministry purpose, and personal worship.

Quote to Ponder

Somebody’s going to be first place in your life. Somebody is. And God will not compete for glory. His glory is his alone. The question is, are we going to give him first place?

Application for the Week

Make Christ first this week with concrete, measurable steps. Ask a trusted Christian friend, spouse, or mentor to hold you accountable for at least three of the following actions. Pray about which ones the Lord would have you start with, then begin immediately.

Begin each day with Christ — Instead of reaching for your phone or TV, open God’s Word first thing for 5–15 minutes. Read Colossians 1 each morning this week and ask, “How does this change my day?”
Reorder your priorities — Pick one regular activity you will reduce (social media time, TV, hobby) and use that time to serve someone or to pray and read Scripture.
Practice Christ-centered decisions — Before making a significant choice (words, purchases, commitments), ask: “Will this give Christ preeminence?” If uncertain, fast and pray before deciding.
Engage your church mission — Volunteer for one ministry this week that clearly points people to Jesus (visitation, bus route, outreach). Bring people to the foot of the cross, not just to activities.
Confess and recommit — If you sense you’ve allowed other things to be first, confess that to the Lord and to one trusted believer. Recommit publicly or privately to give Christ first place.
Memorize Colossians 1:18 — Hide this verse in your heart; recite it through the week and use it as a lens for decisions and devotion.

Prayer suggestion: “Lord Jesus, help me to put You first. By Your Spirit, reorder my heart and my schedule so that You have preeminence. May my life point others to You. Amen.”