The Pre-Eminence Of Christ

The Father’s Love for and Honor of His Son Colossians 1:18

The Lord Jesus Christ is everything to his Father. The Father loves the Son, delights in the Son, honors the Son, exalts the Son, and magnifies the Son. Therefore he has determined that in all things his Son shall have the pre-eminence (John 3:35; 5:23). Christ is to his Father what Benjamin was to Jacob, the Son of his love. The Father’s love for the Son is evident for all to behold in the honor he has put upon him in giving him the pre-eminence in all things and over all things.

In Colossians 1:15-20, Paul gives us a wonderful picture of our Savior, a picture drawn by divine inspiration. Here we see the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our Redeemer, our Savior, our Friend, our great King holding all things in his almighty hand. He who loved us and gave himself for us has got the whole world, the whole universe in his hand! He who died upon the cross knows the most distant star by name. He not only knows it, he fuels its light by his constant command. Still better, he who holds the universe in his hands guides it and controls it with such absolute, sovereign power that he makes it serve the interests of his people.The fact of Christ’s pre-eminence assures us of four things.

1. The Lord Jesus Christ is an all-sufficient Savior. As in our day, there were many in Paul’s day, especially at Colosse, who taught that Christ is not enough. They taught that Christ alone was insufficient, inadequate, and incapable by his own merit and grace to save sinners. To dispel this heresy, Paul simply declares that Christ is pre-eminently all-sufficient as our Savior Col. 1:9-13).

2. The Lord Jesus Christ is not only an all-sufficient Savior, he is also a sovereign Savior. He who died at Calvary rules all things absolutely. Nothing can ever separate him from the people he loves. No harm shall ever befall those who are loved of him who rules all things. No evil shall happen to the just (Pro. 12:21). We shall never perish! To the fearful, trembling, anxious, fretful believer, our text says, “Let not your heart be troubled. Christ is pre-eminent.”

3. The Lord Jesus Christ is a rich and bountiful Savior. He has all things; and he freely gives all things to all his people. Yet, his riches are never diminished. To you who worry about your daily needs, to you who fret about the lean years that may lie ahead, to you who fear you will have no pension in your old age, the Holy Spirit says, “Be content with such things as you have. Christ is pre-eminent.”

4. The Lord Jesus Christ is a Savior worthy of our hearts’ trust and devotion. You can safely trust this great God, our Savior, in all things and give him the devotion of your heart. He is pre-eminent in all things and over all things. He who owns the universe does not need me. If he accepts me into his kingdom, if he receives any love, honor, service, gift, or praise from me, it can only be because of his love and goodness to me. He to whom God the Father has given pre-eminence should have the place of pre-eminence in our hearts.

Don Fortner