Everlasting Supremacy

What do you think of when you hear the title, Supreme Commander, Supreme Commander, Star Wars?

I thought that too.

It certainly has the ring of a fascist or maybe communist.

It's the language or self-expression of a dictator, and I would be confident looking around that probably not many of us would warm to serving a dictator.

We like democracy.

We live in a country that's not run by a dictator.

When we come to Colossians 1, 15-20, the Apostle Paul is describing Jesus as the Supreme Commander, isn't he?

Absolutely.

And in the context of where Paul is living, he's in Rome and he's writing to Colossae, which is over in Turkey, a new church that's then called the Colossian Christians.

And he's very aware of a Supreme Commander, a dictator in Rome who would look a little bit more like one of these emperors.

Yet he points the Christians and all who would read his letter to the truth, the reality that Jesus Christ is absolutely supreme as the Commander of the Universe.

So we're in our first series of the year, and we're calling it Everlasting Reality.

The theme of the year is everlasting, and this series for Colossians is Everlasting Reality.

Because the truth is what you bump into when you're wrong.

And Colossians explains what the truth is, what reality is.

The most real version of human wisdom and comprehension must acknowledge that Jesus Christ is supreme.

And we know that he is eternal.

We know that he is eternal, which means he has everlasting supremacy.

That's the title of today's sermon.

Everlasting supremacy.

Paul says Jesus has everlasting supremacy because of his being, firstly, his being.

The son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

The son refers to Jesus.

The son is Jesus, the son of God, who lived probably about 30 years before Paul writing this letter.

The son, Jesus of Nazareth, is the image of that which has no image.

He is the image of the father who is spirit.

Paul is saying, what we know from broader theology, that Jesus is not only human, fully human, he is fully God.

He is the exact representation of God.

If you want to know what God, the father who is spirit, is like, look to Jesus.

He is the exact image.

And this is what he says in Colossians 1.19, for God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, in the son.

Isn't that an amazing text?

Colossians 2.9, for in Christ, all the fullness of the deity lives in bodily form.

Wow.

What a line.

All the fullness of the deity is there in Jesus.

The son is the image of that which is invisible.

And Jesus isn't the firstborn, literally, like he was the firstborn son of Mary.

This is a title.

This is a mark of honor and prestige, the firstborn.

Psalm 89, 27 puts this idea of firstborn in the context that we need to understand it in.

I will also appoint him my firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth.

It is Christ's status in creation, is what we are meant to take from this idea of a title, the firstborn.

He has the highest honor.

It's been said, J.

I.

Packer said, theology is for doxology.

Does that make sense?

Theology, the science of God, is for the science of glory.

Doxology, worship.

We are meant to understand who God is and what he has done, so that we can more fully and fittingly give him glory.

Amen?

Theology is for doxology.

We worship Jesus today because there is no one more worthy.

This is the truth.

This is the reality we bump into, whether we're right or wrong.

It's just the truth.

I love those few times in the Gospels and Acts when there is this picture, this insight that you don't normally see, about how glorious Jesus is as the image of the invisible God.

Do you remember those times when people just fell down?

They just fell down.

I'll read out a few of the examples.

Matthew 17, they're still speaking.

A bright cloud covered them and a voice from the cloud said, This is my son whom I love.

With him I am well pleased.

Listen to him.

When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground terrified.

There was this, aha, whoa.

This Jesus who is our friend, our leader, our rabbi, he's more than that.

This is God, the image of God with us.

John 18, the soldiers come for Jesus in the garden, and they're looking.

Jesus of Nazareth, they replied, who are you looking for?

And then he says, the ego, I am he, the I am he.

That great line that is saying, I am God.

And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.

When Jesus said, I am he, they drew back and fell to the ground.

They could do nothing else.

The image of the invisible God is there in the garden.

Acts 9, the persecutor saw, as he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him, and he fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?

It's what happens when you see the reality of who Jesus is.

And of course, it's reminiscent of that great moment in the Book of Revelation when no one can open the scroll and then one comes who can, the lamb.

And the court of heaven says, worthy is the lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise.

And then John says, I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea and all that is in them saying, to him who sits on the throne and to the lamb be praise and honor and glory and power forever and ever.

Christ has everlasting supremacy because of who he is.

Amen.

How do you remain in a state of this understanding, of this comprehension?

How do you stay with the reality of the being of Christ, of his worth, in the forefront of your mind and heart?

Anyone find that it's sort of sometimes hard to do that?

Theology is for doxology.

That's how you do it.

We need to renew our minds with truth.

That is the bottom line.

If you do not read the Word of God, if you don't sit in truth, and you might receive that word through song, but if we're not coming under the Word of God, we will lose our capacity for doxology.

Would you agree?

I'm struck by the tragedy of the reality of the parable of the sower.

Have you seen this in your life?

Have you seen it in your own life?

Someone who's walking with the Lord, but they neglect the Word of God, they neglect the renewal of the mind, they reject theology that makes sense to them, not some sort of crazy, highfalutin theology from some big textbook and scholar.

No, just theology, the truth about who God is and what he's done in the gospel.

When we neglect that, the parable of the sower becomes true.

There's a plant, and the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desire for things, choke out the plant.

I've seen it so many times in my life.

It's tragic.

But what is a way to safeguard against that?

Stay in the truth.

Stay in the word of God.

Theology is for doxology.

Jesus is to be worshiped for who he is and what he has done.

He has everlasting supremacy because of his doing.

Paul writes, in him, all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rules or authorities.

All things have been created through him and for him.

He is before all things and in him, all things hold together.

This is the teaching style called a chiasm.

It's chiastic.

So it's symmetrical.

So you can see on the screen what he's doing is he's talking about heaven and earth, and then he explains what earth is visible.

And then he goes back in the symmetry.

Heaven is invisible.

He's just saying in a poetic way, he's in charge of everything because in him, through him and for him, it has been made.

Do you notice the two words that are repeated quite a bit?

All things.

In heaven and earth, all things created for him.

There's a big theological question that you ask when you study Jesus in theological study.

And the question is, what was his self understanding?

When he was walking around, did he have any idea that all of creation was created through him?

So, that's a debatable question.

But I think, to be honest, it's not so debatable.

Because when he says, in multiple places, but when he says in John 8, before Abraham was, I am, I think he's giving it away.

I think he has a very strong understanding that he is God incarnate.

He says to Thomas, if you've seen me, you've seen the father.

So what do you reckon?

I think he has a strong sense of, I am the supreme commander of the universe.

And yet in John 13, we read that that supreme commander puts a towel around his waist and goes and washes feet.

Blows our mind, doesn't it?

Theology is for doxology.

We need to keep renewing our mind in the truth of who he is and his awesome humility.

All things bow down because he has made them and he sustains them.

Everlasting supremacy for his being, his doing, his leading.

He is the head of the body, Paul writes, the church.

He is the beginning and the first born from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy for God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him.

Christ is worthy because he is the portal through which life mortal enters life immortal.

Remember when he said in John 10, very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.

He was meaning that really very literally.

It is through Christ and through his resurrection, through his bloodshed on the cross, but it's through that portal of new creation that we can enter the life of the new age of resurrection.

Sometimes people get it wrong.

They think that Lazarus was resurrected.

He was resuscitated.

Now, don't get me wrong.

He was fully dead for four years, not four years, four days.

That would have been something, a reconstructive resuscitation.

But yeah, that's a good way to describe it.

Jesus is the only one resurrected in the fashion of 1 Corinthians 15, wasn't he?

There is a type of mortal flesh that we have as humans in this age, and there is a renewed, immortal, everlasting flesh for those who are found in Christ, that we will experience and live in and through in the new age, when the resurrection of all things takes place.

Jesus is the one who has started that process.

He is the gate into the new order.

And in a beautiful way, we've often said this, they thought he was the gardener, didn't they?

And of course he is.

He is the eternal gardener, leading people into the new garden, the new creation that Romans 8 says creation is longing for, the resurrection of the whole earth for those found in Christ.

Christ is the greatest leader because he opens a way for us to find eternal, everlasting life.

And that's why in Christ is so important, isn't it?

The two words, in Christ, we only find life when we are in Christ, and it is through Christ that we find this life.

He leads the way through death.

He's the leader, and he leads the way through death.

The biggest, scariest, most unknown door there is.

Christ makes it not scary at all.

Appreciate you praying for me tomorrow.

I've got an incredible privilege to do.

I'm leading the funeral Thanksgiving service of my mum at 2 o'clock, and I'm hoping I can hold it together, because as much as I feel like I will, by God's grace, you wonder, because it's your mum, it's your dear old mum.

But one of the wonderful things that we want to be doing, and because mum knew the Lord tomorrow, is celebrating that death is not scary for those in Christ, because He's the gate.

He's the gate through which we enter.

We cross over from death to life.

And that's why He's worthy of everlasting supremacy, because He transforms the darkest moments, death, into the most joy-filled, a joy unspeakable that no one can take away when we are in His presence, awaiting the resurrection.

So we worship Him for His everlasting supremacy, for His being, His doing, His leading, and beyond all comprehension, really, this Supreme One gives His life as everlasting Saviour.

He is supreme for His redeeming, through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood shed on the cross.

The Lord Jesus lived the perfect life that we could never live, so that He could offer His perfect blood as the atoning sacrifice for sin.

And He did that.

And Christ, Paul says, has reconciled all things to Himself.

Does this mean we should all be universalists?

When we read that, it says, all things have been reconciled.

Universalism is on the rise, actually.

When I was 27, I was a pretty new pastor at a church, and I was really shocked to find out that my 63-year-old senior pastor was a universalist.

He said, I believe in the wider hope.

Christ has not gone through all this to get a measly few on a narrow road.

Everyone will be saved.

And he would quote something like Colossians here to say, all things will be reconciled.

I would say to you, be careful when you find one thing in the Bible that doesn't make sense across the full revelation of the Bible.

It's not what the Bible teaches.

You can't read Revelation.

I would say to you, really, I don't believe any book of the New Testament.

You could ever think that there is no judgment and separation.

There is a separation.

We need to repent and believe.

I think, honestly, what this beautiful text is saying is Christ has done enough to reconcile everything, but holding that in the fullness of the wisdom of the whole revelation of Scripture, we need to repent and believe to enter into that reconciliation.

I hope you would say amen to that.

That's certainly evangelical belief.

But, interestingly, in the 21st century, there is a rising movement of universalism.

I would say that all are saved, but it's not...

I really don't believe that is what the Bible teaches.

Paul has given us a masterful unveiling of Christ's supremacy in all things.

His being supreme, his doing, creating supreme, his leading supreme, his redeeming and rescuing supreme.

The supreme commander is Jesus.

But do you believe he's the smartest person?

Is he just sort of the aloof, oh, he does management like universal management really well, but on the ground?

I find my wisdom from other teachers.

What do you reckon?

It's the problem that Christians deal with.

People can think, yes, I agree with this biblical, lovely stuff about a great distant God and King Jesus, but he's not the smartest person who ever lived.

But I would put to you, yes, he is.

He is.

And that's why we need theology to inform doxology that then turns into how we live our lives as disciples of Jesus.

If you believe he's supreme, do you believe that he's the smartest guy when it comes to dealing with hurts, grudges, forgiveness and reconciliation?

Because he says a lot about that in the Sermon on the Mount.

That's for sure.

He says, if you want life, let the grudges go.

Let God deal with that.

Let the cross deal with these things.

If you believe he's supreme, do you believe that he's the smartest guy when it comes to how we deal with our desires, sexual desire, whether you're a teenager or any other stage in life.

I'm struck by the reality of friends who are in the latter part of life and they get divorced.

Suddenly, they're a teenager again, young adult, and they're wondering, do the rules apply to me about holiness?

And it's something that we should deal with in community and encourage one another and say, yes, they do.

They do.

What the Bible teaches about purity and holiness, what Jesus says, remains to be true our whole life.

Amen?

No matter what stage you're at.

If you believe he's supreme, do you believe that he's the smartest guide when it comes to your money, your treasure, what you desire above all else?

Or again, is he sort of supreme and aloof?

If you believe he's supreme, do you believe that he's the smartest guide when it comes to serving others, preferring others, and living a life of humility?

If you believe he's supreme, do you believe that he's the smartest guide when it comes to how to deal with anxiety and stress?

The truth is what you bump into when you are wrong.

And I would suggest it's also what you bump into when you're right.

Have you worked out that when Jesus says in John 14, I am the way, the truth, and the life, that's actually typically sequential about how it works.

The way of the master.

Jesus says, come follow me.

We have to as Christians, we put our faith in Christ, and we get this glorious truth, this hope, I'm going to go to heaven when I die.

I'm going to live forever.

But that's only part of the equation.

Discipleship is come follow me, isn't it?

So the way of the master is following Jesus, and by grace, putting into practice what he suggests about how to live a flourishing life.

And what happens when you're on the way of the Jesus, the way of the master, and you're following him, and you're putting in practice what he teaches by grace, and you're coming back when you fail, and you're trying to stay, you're training the way he says we can live.

You bump into the truth, don't you?

Has anyone found that?

When you put in practice the way of the master, you find on the way, this is pretty true, isn't it?

And then what do you find?

I think this is the life.

I think this is true life.

As I follow the way, and I know in my heart and my mind, this is true.

And it feels like, wow, this is the life.

I think the truth is often what you bump into when you follow the way.

Jesus is worth listening to about everything in life that we will ever face.

He has everlasting supremacy because of his being, his doing, his leading, his redeeming.

Lord Jesus, we thank you for your grace, your mercy that's new to us this morning.

We confess to you that we have failed and we will fail again.

But we cling to your mercy and your grace, and we desire to become stronger, more capable Christians who know how to access the grace that teaches us to live the way you say we can live.

Lord Jesus, for us as a church, NorthernLife Baptist here at Hornsby, may you be supreme in our hearts.

May you bless the worship of 2025.

May you renew our minds that we might have good and sound theology that esteems the Gospel above all else.

The truth of what you have done in your life, death and resurrection.

And as we are familiar, deeply familiar with the truth of your word, may we experience doxology.

May we know what it is to glory in our living God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

We want to be a church where Jesus is lifted high.

We want to exist for the name above every other name.

Would you have your way, Lord Jesus, Commander Jesus, our Saviour Jesus, Worthy Lamb of God, lead us on in this year where we focus on everlasting.

In your name I pray, Amen and Amen.

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