The Preeminence of Our Lord Jesus Christ

 

“And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.” (Colossians 1:18)

 

It is my hope that, by reminding you once more of this blessed fact, you who trust the Lord Jesus 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 you, who as yet are without Christ, may be brought to him in faith, committing yourselves to him who alone is able to save your souls, and who alone is worthy of your trust. It is the will, purpose, and pleasure of the triune God that Christ Jesus, the God-man Mediator, our Surety, have preeminence in all things.

 

In Predestination

 

Christ is preeminent in the eternal purpose and decrees of God. God almighty, the God of the Bible, the only true and living God is a God with an eternal, unalterable, absolute purpose, a purpose which can never be defeated, overturned, frustrated, or hindered to any degree. He has predestined and foreordained everything that comes to pass. The Scriptures are crystal clear in teaching this (Romans 8:28-31; Ephesians 1:11). According to the Scriptures, in all the purpose and decrees of the Almighty the Lord Jesus Christ is central, primary, and preeminent. In other words, everything that God purposed to do and everything he does is for the glory of Christ as our Savior (Ephesians 3:11).

 

In Election

 

Christ was chosen and set up in the covenant of grace as God’s Elect. In that same sovereign, eternal decree a great multitude of sinners was chosen in him unto salvation (Ephesians 1:3-6; 1 Thessalonians 5:9; 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14). All who have been, are, and shall be saved by the grace of God are saved because of God’s election of them unto salvation in Christ before the worlds were made. The Lord God purposed and resolved to save us by the substitutionary sacrifice of his dear Son. It was appointed and ordained of God that “in the fullness of time” Christ would assume a human body and soul, work out perfect righteousness for his people by his holy life of perfect obedience to God as our Representative, and then pour out his precious blood and lay down his life as our sin-atoning Substitute, redeeming us from the curse of the law by fully satisfying the justice of God for us. And so it came to pass ( Hebrews 10:5-7; Galatians 3:13; 1 Peter 1:18).

 

            It was also purposed of God from eternity that every chosen, redeemed sinner be saved through the “sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth,” by the regenerating power and grace of God the Holy Spirit, through the preaching of the gospel, by which faith is communicated to us (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14).

 

But God’s purpose of grace toward us did not end there. He also purposed that all the called be forever preserved in grace in Christ by his divine power and sealed by his Spirit, so that in the last day Christ would lose nothing (Isaiah 49:6; John 6:39; Ephesians 1:13-14).

 

In Creation

 

Our Lord Jesus Christ is preeminent in all the works of creation and providence, too (Colossians 1:16-17). He is the Creator of all things. Jesus Christ our Lord is not a creature of God, but the Creator who is God. Remember, this passage is specifically describing his preeminence as our Mediator. It is as our Surety that the Apostle tells us that, “All things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist." Everything that has been made proclaims the wisdom and power of God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He who is our Savior is also our Creator (John 1:3; Hebrews 1:10).

 

Our blessed Savior is also the God and King of providence. This universe is not held together and governed by laws of nature, but by the Son of God. “By him all things consist!” He is “over all, God blessed forever” (Romans 9:5). It is Christ our Redeemer who upholds “all things by the word of his power” (Hebrews 1:3; Revelation 19:16).

 

His disposition of all things in his sovereign providence is for the salvation of his people. God the Father has made his Son, as our Mediator, the Sovereign Monarch of the universe, trusting to his hands the reins of universal government, that he might give unto every chosen, ransomed sinner eternal life (John 3:35; 17:2).

 

In Salvation

 

The Lord Jesus Christ, as our Savior, is preeminent in the whole affair of our salvation. When you think of God’s salvation, never limit it to your experience of grace. Salvation is the whole work of grace, by which the triune God saves the objects of his everlasting love. And in all the works of God’s saving grace, Christ is preeminent (1 Corinthians 1:30-31).

 

We were chosen to salvation in Christ in eternal election (Ephesians 1:4). In his free, everlasting love our God predestinated us to be conformed to the image of Christ (Ephesians 1:5; Romans 8:29-30). We have redemption through his blood (Ephesians 1:6). With his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us (Hebrews 9:12). We are justified freely by God’s grace through the redemption that is in Christ (Romans 3:23-28). We have forgiveness through his blood. Redemption, justification, and forgiveness go hand in hand. It is impossible to have one without the other two (Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14).

 

The new birth is having Christ formed in us by the power and grace of his Spirit (2 Peter 1:4; Colossians 1:27). Christ is our sanctification. We were set apart in him in divine election as the objects of God’s grace to be made holy (Jude 1). We were declared to be holy when Christ washed away our sins at Calvary (Hebrews 10:10, 14). And we have our Savior’s holy nature imparted to us in the new birth (2 Peter 1:4).

 

The Lord Jesus Christ keeps and preserves his chosen, redeemed, called sheep in the arms of his almighty grace. It is our preservation by him that makes certain our perseverance in him (John 10:27-30). He will keep us ‘til the river rolls its waters at our feet.” Then, when our blessed Savior comes again every chosen, redeemed, regenerate sinner shall be raised up to glory in the last day (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). An when we have been raised up from the dead, all God’s elect shall be glorified together, transformed into the very image of Christ, and made to possess that very glory that he now possesses as our glorified Mediator (John 17:5, 22). And throughout eternity, he shall have all preeminence in all things still.

 

 

 

 

Don Fortner

 

 

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