Christ’s Pre-Eminence In Preaching

Colossians 1:18

Christ is and must be pre-eminent in all true preaching. That man must not be considered a faithful gospel preacher who does not preach Christ. Preachers are like the pole to which Moses fastened the brazen serpent. Our only function is to hold up Christ crucified before sinners. The gospel we preach is Jesus Christ. We do not merely preach a Christ centered gospel. Christ is the gospel we preach. There is a huge difference.

When our Lord himself began his public ministry in the synagogue at Nazareth, his sermon was all about himself. Listen to what he said, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord" (Luke 4:18-19).

As we read the writings of the Apostle Paul, we cannot help observing that to him the preaching of Christ, the preaching of the law, the preaching of the gospel, and the preaching of the Scriptures were all the same thing. Read his own description of his preaching (Acts 20:27; 1 Cor. 1:17, 23, 24; 2:2; 2 Cor. 4:5).

We preach Christ when we preach him in the fullness of his redemptive grace and glory as God our Savior. Let me be explicit and clear. I want no one to misunderstand what I am saying. The preaching of the gospel, the preaching of all the counsel of God, the preaching of Christ of necessity involves the preaching of his...

1. Eternal Deity and Godhead (John 1:1-2).

2. Suretyship Engagements (Heb. 10:5-10).

3. Supernatural Incarnation (1 Tim. 3:16).

4. Obedience as our Representative (Rom. 5:19).

5. Efficacious Atonement (Heb. 9:12).

6. Sovereign Dominion (John 17:2; Rom. 14:9; Phil. 2:9-11).

7. Saving Power and Goodness (Heb. 7:25).

8. Unfailing Intercession (1 John 2:1-2).

The preaching of Jesus Christ and him crucified, when attended with the power of God the Holy Spirit, is the effectual power of God unto salvation (Rom. 1:15-17; 10:13-17). The preaching of the gospel is the catalyst by which grace is wrought in the soul (1 Pet. 1:23) This same message is God’s message of grace for the reproof, correction, comfort, inspiration, correction, and instruction of his saints in righteousness. Nothing so inspires devotion as the gospel of Christ. Nothing more severely reproves our sin and unbelief. Nothing ministers comfort to our souls like the doctrine of Christ crucified. Nothing promotes holiness like the message of God’s rich, abundant, free grace flowing to us through the blood of our crucified Savior! Christ is our only hope of salvation. Christ is our only rule of life. Christ is our only motive to godliness. Christ is our only inspiration to devotion and consecration (Rom. 12:1-2).

Don Fortner