The Pre-Eminence Of Our Lord Jesus Christ

Colossians 1:18

Pre-eminence belongs to only one person. Two people cannot be pre-eminent. And God the Father, indeed all three of the divine Persons, have determined that the Lord Jesus Christ, as the God-man, our Mediator, Surety, Substitute, and Savior, shall have pre-eminence in all things! It must be stressed that this universal pre-eminence has been given to Christ not as God the Son, the second Person of the holy Trinity, but as Christ our Mediator and Surety. As God it could not be given to him, for he is in every way one with and equal to the Father and the Spirit (1 John 5:7). But as our Mediator and Surety, the One who would become incarnate to save us, our Lord Jesus Christ was given pre-eminence in and over all things as the “appointed heir of all things.”

Christ has this pre-eminence now. He has had it from everlasting. And he shall have it for ever more. It is his by indisputable right! That is the thing that needs to be understood. In all things our Lord Jesus Christ is and forever must be pre-eminent. His Father decreed it. He fully deserves it. His saints desire it. His satisfaction demands it. Our Savior has this pre-eminence by right as our Mediator.

I hope that, by reminding you once more of this blessed fact, you who trust him will be inspired with greater confidence in him, led to worship him, and moved of God the Holy Spirit to commit yourselves to him with renewed devotion and zeal. And I pray that if you are yet without Christ you may this day be brought to him in faith, committing yourself to him who alone is able to save your soul and who alone is worthy of your trust. Obviously, my subject is infinitely bigger than my puny brain. I cannot begin to exhaust it. When I have said all that I can say about it, there will be far more yet to say. But I want to show you from the Word of God seven aspects of our Savior’s great and glorious pre-eminence.

1. Christ is pre-eminent in the eternal purpose and decrees of God.

2. Our Lord Jesus Christ is pre-eminent in all the works of creation and providence.

3. Christ the Savior is pre-eminent in the Bible, the Book of God.

4. The Lord Jesus Christ, as our Savior, is pre-eminent in the whole affair of salvation.

5. Christ crucified is and must be pre-eminent in all true preaching.

6. Our Lord Jesus Christ shall be pre-eminent in the day of judgment.

7. Our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, shall be pre-eminent in the glory of that great, eternal world to which we are going.

There is nothing that has been, is, or shall be where Christ is not pre-eminent. His pre-eminence may not yet be made manifest to our dim eyes; but our failure to see it now does not diminish it. The day is coming when it shall be seen by all in heaven, earth, and hell. It is the decree of the Father, the reward of the Son, the testimony of the Spirit, and the delight of all believers “that in all things he might have the preeminence!

Don Fortner