Sermon or Lesson:  Colossians 1:18 (NIV based)
[Lesson Questions included]

TITLE:  Jesus Has Supremacy In Everything

INTRODUCTION:  Have you ever encountered a person or supervisor who thought, talked, and acted like he/she is god of and supreme over their little corner of the universe?  And of course, you wanted to take them down a notch or two or three, correct?  Well thankfully, we believers have on our side a real, authentic God who is actually supreme - over everything!  Let's find out more.
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READ:  Colossians 1:18, with vv.12-17 for context 

BACKGROUND:
- - Jesus is qualified to "redeem" or buy "the forgiveness of sins" through His suffering and death on the cross because He is the visible manifestation, in physical bodily form, of the invisible God.  (vv.14-15)
- - Being deity Jehovah God Himself, in fullness, Jesus has intrinsic authority and ability with which He created all things, in both the invisible spiritual realm and the visible physical realm.  (vv.15,19,16)
- - Being deity, Jesus has intrinsic supreme authority over all of the kinds and levels of authority that exist.  (v.16)
- - Being deity, Jesus led the activities of the Triune Jehovah God, to create all things from the supremacy position of being 'within Him', 'by Him', 'through Him', and 'for Him'.  (v.16)
- - Being deity, Jesus exerts comprehensive supremacy before and within all of creation, as its Designer, and Creator, and Sustainer.  (v.17)
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v.18 - READ

[Lesson Questions:  What are the implications of Jesus the Son being head of the church?  Corresponding to the description here that the church is the body of the head, Jesus, what are the major aspects of what the church is intended to be?]

SECTION POINT:  Jesus the Son has supremacy over the church.

"he is the head of the body, the church;"
- - In a continuation of the assertion that Jesus the Son has supremacy in everything, this verse 18 focuses on the supremacy of Jesus in the spiritual realm, pertaining to the manifestation of God's Kingdom on earth - "the church".
- - The Son not only has sole headship and supremacy over all creation, but He also has supremacy over the church, which comprises and implements God's program for God's Kingdom among the humans who are alive on the earth.
- - He has the authority to be the head, leader, author, administrator, director, sustainer, and protector of the body, the church.  (Matthew 28:18; 16:18)
- - By implication then, the Son reigns over the church, holds its highest authority, determines and sets its direction, provides for its needs, influences its functioning, empowers its activities, and etc.

- - The church is to be the human institution at the heart of God's program, the headquarters of ambassador servants (body members) dedicated to the task of reaching the world for Christ and building His Kingdom by going and making disciples, who then are to go and make disciples, and so on.  (Matthew 28:19-20)
- - The church is also to be an incubator, a fertile environment in which prospective new members of the body, unbelievers, are assisted and guided to place their faith in Christ for salvation, and then to progress to spiritual maturity that produces good deeds for His Kingdom.
- - The church is to be the active living body: the arms, the hands, the legs, the feet, the eyes, the ears, the voice of Christ Jesus - the various aspects that are designed to collaborative-ly function as a whole in accomplishing all that the head, Christ Jesus, directs them to do.
- - The church is to be a refuge, characterized by such virtues as love, forbearance, patience, service, giving, mutual edification, peace, unity, and etc. for its body members, and it is not to be a house characterized by any abuse, anger, control, territorialism, favoritism, personal gain, selfish ambition, quarrelling, division, and etc.  (see James 3:13-4:3)
- - The essence of the church, all that it is and all that it does, is to be a direct and excellent reflection of all that its head is, in fullness - Jesus the "...head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way".  (Ephesians 1:22-23)
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[Lesson Questions:  What are the implications of Jesus the Son being "the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead"?  And in context, "the beginning" of what?]

SECTION POINT:  Jesus the Son has supremacy over life, death, and resurrection from the dead.

"he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead,"
- - In the context of this verse 18, Jesus the Son also has supremacy pertaining to life, death, and resurrection from the dead - being "the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead".
- - He is "the beginning" or the source of all physical life, in association with the physical realm - the 'first cause' that generated life, in the midst of completely sterile dirt, water, light, and warmth - all initially entirely devoid of any life.
- - Aside from humans, some of the physical life forms have intelligence, but they have no spiritual component or spirit nature to their essence.

- - Jesus the Son also is "the beginning" or the source of all spiritual life, in association with the spiritual realm, pertaining to a spiritual component or nature to their essence - a soul that lives on and continues to exist and function, even if they have a host body that dies.
- - - - The life forms that are specified by Scriptures to have a soul or spirit essence that lives on are angelic beings, and humans.

- - In correlation with His resurrection from the dead on the third day, Jesus the Son has supremacy over being raised from the dead.
- - He has supremacy in being the first person to be raised from the dead, in that He is the first to henceforth live in His resurrected body forevermore.
- - So, He is "the beginning" of the return of one's spirit essence back into one's body, now recomposed and alive again, which had previously died and decomposed at some point in time in the past.
- - Thus, the Son is "the beginning" of immortality in one's body, both in being the first person this happened to and in being the author or originating source that accomplishes bodily immortality of every human.
- - Thereby, the Son is established as having supremacy even over death and resurrection from the dead, two extreme conditions of human existence.
- - An important note here is that prior to the resurrection of the Son, every human that was raised from the dead presumably went on to bodily die again (Lazarus, for example (John 11:1-44)), because there is no mention in Scriptures of them being translated directly into heaven after their resurrection or still being alive and living on the Earth now 2,000 years later.  The two humans that were translated alive into heaven, Enoch and Elijah, will most likely come back to Earth one day and die bodily.  (Genesis 5:24; 2 Kings 2:11; Revelation 11:3-12)
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[Lesson Question:  What dynamics have been occurring for and between the Father and the Son in regard to the reality that Jesus the Son has supremacy "in everything"?]

SECTION POINT:  Jesus the Son has supremacy "in everything", being exalted as God because He is God, in "fullness", all of which glorifies God the Father.

"so that in everything he might have the supremacy."
- - In this phrase, the overarching and concluding reason is supplied as to why Jesus the Son is all of these things that are described in verses 14-18.
- - Logically, God is the only being in all that exists who deserves to have supremacy in everything and the only being that is allowed to have supremacy in everything.  (Psalms 89:6-8; Isaiah 40:21-26)
- - And that distinction remains true, but with the nuance that because of the self-sacrifice of Jesus the Son on the cross to endure the severely torturous punishment for sins unto death of His body, the Son (in specific distinction) deserves to have supremacy in everything, including having supremacy over life, death, and resurrection from the dead.  (Philippians 2:5-11)

- - Notice the intent and the all-inclusiveness of this supremacy - "in everything", which implies and indeed intentionally contains a predominant ingredient of highest exaltation.  (Colossians 1:18; Philippians 2:9-11)
- - God the Father is glorified both by the atoning self-sacrifice of God the Son on the cross, and by the consequent exaltation of God the Son to have the supremacy in everything.  (Philippians 2:8-11; Colossians 1:13 "the kingdom of the Son he loves", v.1:14 "in whom we have redemption", v.1:18 "the firstborn from among the dead", "so that in everything he might have the supremacy", v.1:19 "For God was pleased")
- - God the Father is glorified that everything is subservient to the supremacy of God the Son and that nothing exceeds the supremacy of God the Son.
- - Therefore and by necessity, the supremacy of power and the supremacy of authority of the Son must be intrinsic to Him, within His nature, and they must far exceed any limitations in this physical universe and in the spiritual realm, so that God the Father can and has exalted the Son, being appropriately exalted as God because the Son always has been and always will be deity, in "fullness" - God the Son.  (v.19)
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BIG IDEA:  Jesus the Son has supremacy "in everything", including over the church, life, death, and resurrection from the dead, which exalts Him as God and thereupon glorifies God the Father.

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APPLICATIONS:

- - Does the leadership in this church actually and effectively make the Son its head and supremacy for this church?
- - Do our leaders in this church take specific steps or a process in having the Son set direction, policies, activities, objectives, hiring of staff, recruiting of teachers and workers, dispensing of finances, designing of programs, selecting of curriculum, maintaining of sound doctrines, and etc.?  If so, exactly what specific steps do they take?
- - Do our leaders in this church refrain from or suspend making decisions until the Lord's counsel is thoroughly sought?  Or instead, is the reality that they naturally determine in their mind what they are going to do and then they seek the Lord's counsel only for the purpose of acquiring His blessing on what they have already decided to do?
- - Do our leaders in this church exert extensive diligence in ascertaining as best as possible and following the direction that the Son has for this church?  Or instead, is the reality that our leaders in this church usually act from some impulse, whim, or desire that one of the leaders has, while making no serious or tangible inquiry of the Lord for direction?
- - In conducting the various activities of this church, do our leaders consistently act in obedience to all that Jesus the Son mandates, as extensively detailed in the Scriptures?  Or instead, do our leaders in this church essentially operate from a business mindset, or from spiritual deadness, or from entrenchment, or from an autocratic mindset, or from a comfort mindset, or from a personal benefit mindset, or from fear or insecurity, or from cronyism or nepotism or favoritism, and etc.?

- - Is this church actually and substantially making disciples who bear fruit for the kingdom of the Son?  Or instead, is everyone content with coming each week, sitting comfortably in their pew, putting in their time of hearing the message in order to make God happy, and then going off to live the remainder of the week according to how they want to live it?
- - Is this church actually and substantially and directly fostering and assisting unbelievers to come to faith in Jesus Christ for salvation?  Or instead and in reality, no one in this church is doing that?
- - Are all of the members of the body of Christ in this church honored equally and treated equally?  Or instead, do some members of the body of Christ receive recognition and compensation for their work in this church, while others are ignored and taken advantage of for the same amount of work even though their work is menial?

- - Are God the Father and God the Son glorified by how the leadership is being conducted in this church?  Or instead, is dishonor and disgrace being heaped upon God the Father and God the Son by how the leadership is being conducted in this church?
- - Are you, as a member of this body, conducting yourself and significantly contributing to this church bringing glory and honor to God the Father and God the Son?  Or instead, are your words and/or your actions and/or your un-involvement actually bringing discredit, and shame, and disgrace upon this church and its head, Jesus the Son?
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[Additional Lesson Questions to ponder (optional, if time allows):
- - Discuss, analyze, and formulate from the Scriptures what specific steps should be taken when trying to determine what God's will and direction are for the local church to follow or pursue.  Hint: Be sure to include and precisely explain how "testing and approving what God's will is" (Romans 12:2) and "for we walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7 NAS) fit into your series of steps.]
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Works Cited:
Bible. The Comparative Study Bible: A Parallel Bible Presenting New International Version, New American Standard Bible,
     Amplified Bible, King James Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1984.

Bible. “The Holy Bible: New International Version.” The Bible Library CD-ROM. Oklahoma City, OK: Ellis Enterprises, 1988.
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Copyrights:
Scriptures taken from Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®
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Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Copyright © 2017, 2018 Mel W. Coddington, and permission is hereby granted that this document may be used, copied, and distributed non-commercially to non-profit organizations, individuals, churches, ministries, and schools worldwide, provided the copies are distributed at no charge and retain this sources documentation as supplied herein. This document is not for sale, resale, or for use as a gift or premium to be offered in connection with solicitations or contributions.
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File name:  Colossians1_18-SermonOrLesson.___ (.htm, .rtf, .doc, .pdf)
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