The Preeminence Of Christ
              DECLARED


Text:  Luke 9:23-25
                                            Introduction

  The message of this book is greatly needed
today.  In a time when Christ is scorned and his
teaching rejected, we need to hold forth the grand
truth of this inspired letter penned by the apostle
Paul.  (Be sure to read the background study sheet
for the background on this epistle.)

  Paul's main these was "The Pre-eminence of
Christ."  It was time when false teachers (the
Gnostics), and Judiazers were attacking the gospel,
and Christians themselves were not living up to
principles it set forth.  We will look at the book
under these headings:

  Ch. 1  The Preeminence of Christ Declared.
  Ch. 2.    The Preeminence of Christ Defended.
  Ch.3-4    The Preeminence of Christ
Demonstrated in our lives.

  Paul begins by showing the Preeminence of
Christ in five areas:

1.  Christ is Preeminent In The Gospel.  (v.1-12).
  
  The Gospel is the "good news" of the solution to
man's 'sin problem' which has separated him from
God (Isaiah 52:2-3).  And this good news is
centered in a person, JESUS CHRIST.  Some false
teachers at Colossae were trying to remove Jesus
Christ from His place of preeminence, but to do
this was to destroy the gospel. 
  
  The Gospel is the "word of truth" (1:5), which
means that it came from God and can be trusted. 
"Thy Word is truth" (John 17:17).  There are many
messages and ideas that can be called true, but
only God's Word can be called Truth.  Satan is the
liar; and to believe his lies is to be led astray into
death (John 8:44).

  The Gospel is the message of God's grace (1:6). 
God's love and favorable disposition toward man
has been His motive for providing us with a
Savior-centered gospel.  There is no man that God
doesn't look favorable upon and doesn't want
saved, "The grace of God that bringeth salvation
hath appeared to all men" (Titus 2:11).

  The Gospel is for the whole world (1:6).  The
Word of God is the only seed that can be planted
anywhere in the world and it will bear fruit.  It is to
be preached "to every creature which is under
heaven" (1:23).  If people are to be saved, they
must hear the gospel.

2.  Christ is Preeminent in Redemption. 
    (v.13-14)

  Man's problem is SIN and he needs a SAVIOR. 
These two verses present four vivid pictures of
Christ's actions on our behalf:

  1)  He delivered us (1:13).  This means that he
rescued us from the danger of an eternity apart
from God.

  2)  He translated us (1:13).  This word was used
to describe the deportation of a population from
one country into another.  Jesus did not rescue us
from bondage only to have us wander aimlessly,
He moved us into His own kingdom of light.

  3)  He redeemed us (1:14).  This words means
"to release a prisoner on the payment of a ransom." 
Satan seeks to imprison us because he knows we're
guilty of breaking God's law.  But the ransom has
been paid on Calvary and through Christ we have
been set free.

  4)  He has forgiven us (1:14).   Redemption and
forgiveness go together (ph.1:7).  The word
forgiveness means "to cancel a debt."  Christ has
not only set us free and transferred us to a new
kingdom, but He has canceled every debt so that
Satan cannot find anything in the files that will
indict us!

  Jesus Christ is preeminent in salvation.  No
other could redeem us, forgive us, transfer us into
God's kingdom, and He did it "through His blood"
(v.14).

3.  Christ is Preeminent in Creation.  (v.15-17).

  1)  He existed before creation (1:15).  The term
firstborn  doest not refer to time, but to place or
status.  This verse is not teaching that Jesus Christ
was the first being created, since He Himself is the
Creator of all things.  Firstborn simply means "of
first importance, of first rank".  Solomon was
certainly not born first of all of David's sons, yet he
was named the firstborn (Ps. 89:27).  "Firstborn of
all creation" means "priority to all creation."

  2)  He created all things (1:16).  Christ is the
Firstborn because He created all things.  It is no
wonder that the winds and waves obeyed Him, and
diseased and death fled from Him, for He is
Master over all.  "All things were made by Him"
(John 1:3).  

  3)  All things exist for Him (1:16).  Everything
exists in Him, for Him, and through him. 
Everything exists for His glory and honor and the
Living God gives us all things richly to enjoy.

  4)  He holds all things together (1:17).  Again
this is an affirmation that Jesus Christ is God. 
Only God exists before al of creation, and only
God can make creation cohere.  To make Jesus
Christ less than God is to dethrone Him.  We can
dearly sing "This is My Father's World"

4.  Christ is Preeminent in the Church.  
    (1:18-24).

  There are many images of the church in the New
Testament, and the body is one of the most
important (Rom. 12:4ff; I Cor. 12:14; Eph. 4:8-16).  
Each Christian is a member of this spiritual
body and Jesus Christ is the Head. In Greek usage,
the word head meant "source" and "origin" as well
as "leader, ruler."  Christ's preeminence is declared
by his "headship" over the church.

  1)  Christ's church is God's kingdom on earth
today (1:13).  Hebrews 12:28  "Wherefore we
receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let
us have grace, whereby we may serve God
acceptably with reverence and godly fear."

  2)  Christ's church is a "body" of followers with
Christ as the "head" over all things pertaining to
the "body".  He is the lawgiver, and he provides
salvation for whose who are a part of His spiritual
body (Eph. 5:23).

5.  Christ's Preeminence Declared in Paul's
    Ministry.  (1:23-29)

  1)  Paul's imprisonment (v.23-25).  Paul was a
minister of the gospel of Christ and was not
ashamed of his imprisonment but was willing to
rejoice in his suffering to fulfil his God given task.

  2) Paul's responsibility (v.25-27).  Had Paul
compromised with the Jewish enemies of Christ he
might have been spared a great deal of suffering.   
But God had committed the Gospel to him, to
declare the mystery (how God reconciles both Jews
and Gentiles in one body).  The word mystery was
used in the first century to mean a "sacred secret"
hidden in the past and now revealed by the Holy
Spirit (See Ephesians 3:1-13).

  3) Paul's preaching (v.28-29).  "Whom we
preach."  Paul didn't preach himself but Christ
Jesus (2 Cor. 4:5).   Paul "preached," "warned,"
and "taught" in verse 28.  And a literal translation
of the first part of verse 19 would read "For this I
labor to the point of exhaustion, agonizing".

In Chapter One the Preeminence of Christ is
DECLARED.



QUESTIONS ON COLOSSIANS 1:1-23

1.  What had Paul heard of the Colossians?  1___
    ___ ___ ___ ___ __ __ __ __ __ 2__ __ __
    __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
    From whom could he have heard it? _ _ _ _ _
    _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


2.  Where is our hope? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Where
    had the gospel gone? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
    _ What does it bring forth? _ _ _ _ _ _ _

3.  With what should we be filled? _ _ _ _ _ _ _
    _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ How should we walk? _
    _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

4.  In what should we be fruitful? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
    _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ In what should we
    increase? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

5.  Strengthened with might unto what? 1_ _ _ _
    _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 2_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
    _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

6.  What has the Father done for us? 1_ _ _ _ _ _
    _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
    _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _
    _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 2 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
    _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
    _ _ _ _ _ _ 3_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
    _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

7.  What do we have in Christ? 1_ _  _ _ _ _ _ _
    _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 2_ _ _ _ _
    _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
    How is Christ described?
  (v.15) 1_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _   2_ _ _ _ _
  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  (v.16) 3_ _ _ _ _ _
  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  4_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
  _ _ _ _ _ _ (v.17) 5_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
  _   6_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
  (v.18) 7_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  8_ _ _ _
  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _             9_ _ _ _
  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

8.  What dwells in Christ? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _
    _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ How are
    men made enemies of God? (v.21) _ _ _ _ _ _
    _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Tell how Christ
    makes peace. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
    _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

9.  How would Christ present us in His sight? 
    1_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  2_ _ _ _
    _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _   3 _ _ _ _
    _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ On what
    condition?  1_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
    _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 2_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
    _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
    _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

10.  Where was the gospel preached? _ _ _ _ _ _
     _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ To whom
     had God's mystery not been known? _ _ _ _ _
     _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ To whom now
     known? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _   What
     did Paul do for every man? 1_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
     _  2_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  3_ _ _ _ _ _
     _ _ _ _ _