Colossians 1:15-19
Here is the Word .doc for the following lesson. Colossians Study 4
What does it mean to enjoy supremacy? In our country‘s system of jurisprudence it means that 9 people in black robes have the final say over what it constitutional and not. Their decisions are absolute and unappealable. In the realm of political rule, the closest examples are found in nations such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Here, kings rule in a system of government that we refer to as an absolute monarchy. An unelected man serves as both head of state and head of government, thus wielding political power over the sovereign state and its subject peoples. He is unbound by elections, a parliament or a constitution. He is all powerful. Then there was the trio of young girls from a Detroit housing project who went on to set the standard for all female R&B performers during their run of hits in the mid 60’s.
But here’s the thing. Those Supreme Court judges may be impeached and removed from office. That Saudi Arabian king can die from cancer, thus ending his reign. And for what happened to the Supremes I’ve got three words, “No Diana Ross”.
We call and consider people and things supreme that bear no resemblance to true supremacy. In just a few verses Paul paints a picture the Lord Jesus Christ that ought to sober the drunk and awake the sleeping. The height, width and breadth of his power and domain are without borders. Let’s look at His supremacy as it relates to three areas:
- God the Father
- Creation
- The Church
God the Father
“He is the image of the invisible God”
I’m sure each of us can recall statements from unbelievers that go something like this. “I can’t believe in something that I can’t see.” Or we’ve experienced times of desperation and waning faith where we wish we could behold with our eyes what we are struggling to hold onto in our hearts. To them and us this verse is an absolutely extraordinary statement. The invisible God has made Himself visible! Just consider that for a moment. Now while you are considering that, consider this. The eternal God who transcends not only time and space also transcends form. What kind of watch do you think God wears? “That’s stupid”, you say. That it is. Time is a divinely created human construct that was instituted by an eternal God. But we don’t honestly believe that God is bound by it. He condescends Himself to it so that we have some frame of reference in which to identify with His creatures. When we look out into space and ponder our Milky Way galaxy we say this is God’s realm. And it is. But we don’t limit His ownership to simply this galaxy or universe. It’s ALL His. And when we say ALL, that again is a human construct we use in an attempt to try and understand God’s vastness. For His domain has no domain.