Paul writes to the Colossian Christians and tells them that Christ Jesus is pre-eminent, number one. He is the incomparable Christ.

Colossians 1:15-20 15"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things have been created by Him and for Him 17and He is before all things and in Him all things hold together. 18He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the first-born from the dead; so that He Himself might come to have first place in everything. 19For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell; 20And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself...."

This passage indicates that Christ is Pre-eminent, First Place.

Years ago when our kids were in high school, the home football team was undefeated. They won district, bi-district, quarter-finals, and were ready to go to the semi-finals. The whole town was excited. They held a giant city-wide pep-rally downtown. My daughter was a cheer-leader, so naturally I was right in the middle of the rally. Everyone yelled: "We're Number One!" It was a great day. The next day was the big day. We expected to defeat the opposing team, then go on to be state champions. Unfortunately, things didn't work out as anticipated. We were soundly defeated, and came home with chins dragging, disappointedly, we weren't number one any more.

Down through the ages there have been many men and women who claimed to be the greatest, number one, the best. The Bible tells of men like Nebudchadnezzar, Cyrus, Caesar and others who felt they owned the world, they were number one. History records the names of Alexander the Great, Napoleon, Hitler, and we could name many others. They felt the world was beneath them. They were number one for a short time.

Could we bring all the great ones and have them stand before us and compare them to the lowly Nazarene, we would discover there is No Comparison! Ask this mighty group: "How many of you ever stopped a storm? Walked on the water? Touched a blind man and he could see? Raised the dead? After you had died, been dead for three days, walked out of the tomb?" Silence. There is no comparison. Jesus is the Incomparible Savior!

In relation to God, then, Jesus is "the image of the invisible God." That's why Christ could say in John 14:9, "If you've seen Me you've seen the Father." That's not unreasonable if you look at the life of Christ.

Think of it this way. What would we expect of a man who was truly God?

If God were a man, here's my list of what I would expect him to be like:

I would expect Him to be sinless, Jesus was. "He was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin." Even Pilate who sat as His judge, came to this conclusion..."I find in Him no fault." Nobody could ever bring an accusation against Him.

If God were a man I would expect Him to speak the most profound and greatest words ever spoken. Jesus did. The people who heard Him said: "We never heard anybody speak like this." And every time He preached they were absolutely astounded.

Now if God were a man I would also expect Him to perform great miracles. Jesus did...repeatedly, publicly,dramatically, thus demonstrating He was Who He claimed to be .

If God were a man I would expect Him to show us what God was like. He did. We saw in Him love and kindness and mercy and grace that was beyond anything any human could ever experience. And we saw in Him a level of virtue, fairness, wisdom, like the world has never seen.

Anyway you look at it, if God were to come into the world as a man, He would come out Jesus Christ. And that's the case. Jesus Christ is the exact reproduction of the invisible God. He makes the invisible God visible.

Some people may be confused about whether Jesus claimed this. Certainly the Jewish people of His time weren't. They wanted to stone Him for blasphemy, John 10:33 says, because they said, "You...being a man...make Yourself God." Indeed He was God. Thomas had it right when he reached out his hand and commented, "My Lord and my God."

#At a high school reunion, they were celebrating 25 years since graduation. All the former students were gathered in the gymnasium, getting reaquainted. Everyone seem to know each other, except one stranger. His face was terribly disfigured, scarred beyond recognition. The people were embarrassed to ask him his name. Finally one man walked up to the stranger and said: "Pardon me, but I know everyone else, may I ask who you are?" The stranger replied: "Joe, don't you recognize me? Wait a minute. I'll help you remember." He motioned for a young lad about seventeen years old to come to him. The young man came to his side. The stranger said: "Joe, look at him. He's my son. Then tell me if you recognize me." Joe looked at the boy, and saw a young man who was the image of his best friend, whom he had not seen since graduation. He replied: "Now I know who you are! I can see you in your son. He is the image of my dearest friend." Jesus said: "Look at me and see the Father." He is the image of the Father.

Verse 16 says, "For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible." Then at the end of the verse, "All things have been created by Him and for Him and He is before all things and in Him all things hold together."

We're dealing here not with a man, not just with a great man, we're dealing here with the creator and the sustainer of the whole universe. Whatever is in heaven and on earth, whatever is visible or invisible, it's all created by Him, it's all created before Him. He is before all of it and in Him all of it hangs together. He is the CREATOR of the universe.

Creation, of course, involves the work of the whole Trinity. It is proper to say that the Father willed there should be a creation. All the initiatory movements of history begin with the Father. He willed it. The Son, then, planned it. He programmed it and designed it, even to its slightest detail as its Architect and Designer. The Spirit is the executor: He carried it out. He made it actually appear, according to the plan and program of the Son. We may say a certain man is a home builder even though he does not drive the nails. He oversees the whole operation. The Son was Master Builder, the Holy Spirit provided the power, the Father willed it.

Think about the vastness of the univerrse: A ray of light travels at 186 thousand miles per second so it reaches the moon in 1.5 seconds. At that speed, one could reach the sun in less than ten minutes. The nearest star is over 2 light years away. Consider the vastness of creation. It is beyond our understanding, but we know that our Lord made it all.

"And in Him all things consist (hold together)." He is the one who holds it all together. HE IS IN CONTROL!

Do you understand that if the earth's rotation slowed down, we would alternately freeze and burn? He's got to keep everything moving at the same speed all the time.

If the moon didn't remain at the exact precise distance it is from the earth, the ocean tide would flood all the land twice a day.

Water is composed of hydrogen and oxygen, two gasses when placed together are combustible, but water does not burn. Why? He has it under control.

Who sustains the delicate balance? It is Jesus Christ, He is before all things and in Him cohere, all things hold together.

Nothing can happen without his permission. He is worthy of our praise. He is creator and sustainer of this universe, and everything beyond. He is truly the Mighty God in human flesh.

But creation is not only by him, it is also for him. This universe exists to bring honor and glory to His name. One day, He shall repossess the planet earth, and every knee will bow and every tongue confess that He Is Lord!

Verse 18 states: "He is also head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead so that He Himself might come to have first place in everything."

He is the head of the body, the church. Here the church speaks of all born again believers. The church meets locally in congregations and it is called "the church". Christ is head of the local church and the church universal. He is head over all believers.

The church is like a body and Christ is like its head. That's comprehensible to us. It means what we would assume it means, the ability to maintain life and produce growth. Life is centered in the brain. So long as the brain sends out electrical impulses to the body, the body lives. We live because we are spiritually connected to our Head, the Lord Jesus.

The head directs and controls the body, and Christ is Director of the individual believer and of the corporate body of believers, the local church. We have a King, and we are to yield absolute obedience to Him. He is pre-eminent. He is Number One in the life of every true believer. He deserves to be first place, pre-eminent, Number One, in the life of every believer, and certainly in the congregation of believers when they meet for worship and service. Let Him be Number One!

1:20 "And through Him, to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross".

Why did Christ come into the world? To save sinners. To go to a cross, to shed His blood through death, pay the price for sin in order that He might present you to God holy and blameless and beyond reproach. He came to gather a redeemed humanity to take back to God. He came to reconcile all men and the whole universe to make peace where there was animosity between man and God. He came into the world to save sinners. That's why He was to be called Jesus. He came to bring reconciliation between sinners and a holy God. He came to remove the curse of the universe and to reconcile the universe to its original intended created purpose. He came so that He might gather together men and women like you and like me and all the others throughout all of human history that God set His hand upon and to gather them together and present them to God holy and blameless and beyond reproach. He came to save from sin and bring us to God, to reconcile the lost. He took our flesh in Him that we might become holy as He is holy.

#Years ago, the Governor of Massachussetts was George Briggs, a fine Christian gentleman. Once his friends planned a trip to the Holy Land. They invited the governor to go with them, but he was so busy he couldn't make the trip. When they toured the city of Jerusalem, the went to the place called Gordon's Calvary, on the edge of the city. They walked up that hill that looks like a human skull. They found a straight limb, and one of them said: "I've got an idea. I'll take this stick home and make a walking cane for the governor. This will let him know we were thinking of him." When they returned home, the man went into his workshop, sanded the stick, stained and shellaced it, then applied a beautiful brass endpiece to the stick. Then they applied a brass plaque, with the Governor's name on it. Several days later they took it to the Governor's mansion and presented it to him. One of the men said: "Governor, we found this stick on Calvary's Mountain. We brought it back to let you know that when we climbed that mountain, we were thinking about you." The Governor was quiet for awhile, then he said: "Fellows, this means so much to me, but when you said the words, 'When we climbed up Calvary, we were thinking of you', I thought about Someone else Who thought of me and you when He climbed up that old mountain. It was my Jesus. "

Thank God! When Christ was crucified on Calvary's Mountain, He was thinking of me and you. Were it not for His death on that rugged cross, we'd have no hope of eternal life. If you were the only person who ever broke God's Holy Law, Christ would have gone to Calvary just for you.

Is Christ Number One in your life? Have you surrendered control to the Master and given Him the throne of your life. True faith means absolute surrender to the control of the Master. He has a right to control your life. He has given you life and all the blessings you enjoy. He has purchased you, by dying in your place on that old rugged cross. Now he waits for you yield to Him, to invite Him in. Do it now. He loves you and has a beautiful, meaningful life in store for you. Call on Him. Tell Him of your failures, your longings. Plead for forgiveness and He will cleanse your life. Yield to His control and He will make your life blessed.

If I may be of encouragement to you, write a note by e-mail and I will respond quickly. May God richly bless your life.

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