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Jesus made radical claims about himself. He claimed to be equal with God (John 5:17,18), and he said that we can only access God through Him: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). Just before his ascension, he even said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18). No sane and intelligent person has ever made such sweeping claims for himself.
All this means that if Jesus’ claims are true, then He is the ultimate sovereign over all of creation. Unique in His authority, Jesus Christ is “King of kings and Lord of lords” (Rev. 19:16). “In him dwells all the fullness of God bodily” (Col. 2:9). This week, let’s focus on this wonderful and important truth. Jesus Christ is supreme over all things in our relationship with God.
As the “incarnation” (meaning “in the flesh”) of God, Jesus Christ fully represents God to mankind. He is “the image of the invisible God” (Col. 1:15). Things about God that would otherwise be incomprehensible become understandable when we see them depicted in the human form of Jesus. The Hebrew writer said that he is “the brightness of God’s glory and the exact imprint of his nature” (HB 1:3). The nature of God is explained to us in His Son, Jesus Christ: “No one has seen God at any time; the only God, who is with the Father, has made him known” (John 1:18). Jesus was not only like God, He was God!
These truths are interesting, there is no doubt about it. But when we consider the matter of our separation from God in sin, they become not only interesting but also essential to life. It is only in the supreme Jesus Christ that we can find “salvation, the forgiveness of sins” (Col 1:14). If we turn away from Him, there is nowhere else to turn for the thing we need most: eternal life. The forgiveness of our sins and the restoration of our right relationship with God is impossible outside of Christ. So Peter’s answer was correct when the Lord asked whether he and the other apostles were going to forsake Him like others who had turned away: “Lord, to whom should we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:67,68). Jesus is the “principal” source of our salvation!
Monday: Colossians 1:15-17
Main idea: Jesus Christ is “the firstborn of all creation.”
Questions for family development: Was Jesus the first thing God created? Consider JN. 1:1-3. If not, what does it mean that He is “the firstborn Son of all creation”? What do you think it means that “all things were made by him and for him” (v.16)?
Knowledge for today: Proverbs 13:8.
Tuesday: Colossians 1:18
Main idea: Jesus Christ is “the Head of the body, the Church.”
Questions for family development: Putting this passage together with Eph. 1:22,23, What do we learn about the relationship of Jesus Christ to the church? What privileges does the “head” of the body have? How much authority does Jesus have over the church?
Knowledge for today: Proverbs 13:9.
Wednesday: Colossians 1:18
Main idea: Jesus Christ is “the firstborn from the dead.”
Questions for family development: What makes Jesus Christ the “firstborn” from the dead? Hadn’t other people been raised from the dead before him? What does the word “major” mean when it is used to describe the resurrection of Jesus?
Knowledge for today: Proverbs 13:10.
Thursday: Colossians 1:19; 2:9
Main idea: In Jesus Christ “all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.”
Questions for family development: What does the word “Avatar” mean? What does JN do? 1:14 Teach us? Is there anything about the Godhead that does not reside in Jesus Christ? Was Jesus the Son less “God” than God the Father?
Knowledge for today: Proverbs 13:11.
Friday: Colossians 1:20
Main idea: In Jesus Christ all things have been “reconciled” to God.
Questions for family development: Is it possible to be saved from our sins through any other means than Jesus Christ? What do we learn from JN? 14:6 and AC 4:12? How would you describe what it means to be “reconciled” to God?
Knowledge for today: Proverbs 13:12.
Gary Henry – WordPoints.com AreYouaChristian.com
