Our Beliefs : Sermons : Sermon Archive - 2004 : November 21, 2004
Christ Our King Reigns Supreme
4th Sunday of End Time -- Christ the King
Most of us don't need to have read Tom Sawyer or Huckleberry Finn to know those books were written by Mark Twain. Twain wrote another novel that you may not have read: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. In this book, King Arthur is enjoying the best time of his life -- there are no wars, no real strife, and his subjects are happy. But one day he decided to find out exactly what his subjects thought of him, so he dressed up as a peasant and lived the life of a peasant for a time. To his horror, he found out that most of his subjects were living miserable lives while he lived in luxury. They only said nice things to his face because otherwise they might lose what little they had and be thrown into prison for treason against the throne. When King Arthur returned to his throne, he wanted to change things for his subjects, but he found that even though he was king, he was powerless to change much because then he would lose his high position and it might throw the country into chaos.
I'm not sure if Mark Twain thought about Christianity much, but he certainly made a good character that we could compare to our King, Jesus. Like Arthur, Jesus' heart went out to his subjects -- all sinners. But unlike Arthur, Jesus could do something about it. Jesus didn't just dress up like a human being, he became a human being, to be our substitute. He left his heavenly throne and did for us what we could never do -- took our sins away, and changed us from being slaves to sin and Satan into being heirs of eternal life. Now, as our glorious King once again at God's right hand, he reigns supreme for our good. This morning is Christ the King Sunday, the last Sunday of the church year. Today as we look at Colossians, I encourage you to turn to that book in your Bible. Here we see that Christ Our King Reigns Supreme in two ways: first, he reigns supreme in creating us and most importantly he reigns supreme in redeeming us.
When you see a magic trick, what is your first feeling after you see it? "How did he do that?" Right? The Colossians wanted to know secrets also. Some false prophets in Colosse were saying that Christianity was just too good to be true, that a person can't be saved by faith alone in Christ -- that was too easy. No, you need to have a secret knowledge that everyone needs to have in order to go to heaven. Part of that secret knowledge was that you had to worship angels -- can you believe that? And this knowledge was meant for only a select few -- those who were "in the know." Sounds pretty intriguing, doesn't it? The problem was that it was turning the Christians in Colosse away from Christ who is everything we need for salvation.
So Paul showed how Jesus was supreme in all things, and nothing else was needed besides Christ. Paul said, "He is the image of the invisible God." When God created man, he made them in his own image -- in other words, they were perfect, without sin and followed God's will to the letter because they were in harmony with God. In this verse we hear that Jesus isn't just "created in the image" of God, but that he "is the image of the invisible God." Jesus isn't just a created being, but Jesus is the Creator himself. "For by him all things were created." What did he create? "Things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him." Those false teachers were saying that, besides worshiping Jesus, you had to worship some secret angel beings to be saved. Paul says, 'No way!' Just as Jesus created mankind, so he also created everything else, including all the angels. These words are talking about different ranks of angels -- thrones or powers or rulers or authorities. We don't even know what the differences between these classifications are, but that doesn't matter -- Jesus is over them all. Even the most powerful angel -- even the devil himself -- can't even hold a candle to the almighty Jesus. That's why Paul also called Jesus "the firstborn over all creation." Just as the firstborn son usually received his father's property and wealth in Paul's day, and so received power and prestige over anyone else in the house, so Jesus is the only-begotten Son of God, and so he had power and prestige and authority over everything in all creation because he created it. "He is before all things" in time because he was there with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit in eternity; "in him all things hold together" because without Jesus directing and holding in place the laws of his created order, everything would fall apart. "And he is the head of the body, the church" which shows that he rules over his church of believers -- without him they are nothing; "he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead" because he was the first to rise from the dead by his own power, never to die again, and so he showed that he has power ever over death itself, "so that in everything he might have the supremacy."
Notice how many times Paul says "all things" and "everything" are subject to Christ. It shows that he is the ruler of heaven and earth and hell -- nothing and no one is more powerful than Jesus. But as awesome as Jesus is, one thing stands out above everything else. And this is Paul's main point: God's Son had the supremacy over all creation, yet he set aside his kingly crown of glory and power and took up a crown of thorns for all sinners. So he also became supreme in redemption by taking our place and becoming a human being to save us.
Paul said, "For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and 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." Since Jesus had all the fullness of God in him, he could make what he did as a man apply to all people of all time -- that's how he reconciled the world to God. He made peace between sinners and God, when before there was only hatred and war. That peace was secured for all people and even all creation which is under the effects of sin when Jesus cried, "It is finished!" from the cross and gave up his life.
Does it seem like we are at peace with God through Jesus' blood shed on the cross? Then why do we see this world still in the throes of sin? Why do we see hatred and jealousy and murders and stealing and every other sin we can think of? And why do we see some horrible, terrible sins in ourselves, too, sins that should send us to hell because they are an affront to God and his holiness? It is because we still live in a sinful world. Even though we do have peace with God through Jesus' all-sufficient sacrifice, yet the world is still under sin, and we are still in a world of sin and we sin each and every day, even though we are saints of God through Christ. But one day all that will end. One day there will be no more war against God and no hatred of his law and no violation against his holy will. When will that be? On Judgment Day, or when you die, which is your personal Judgment Day. What an awesome day that will be, and terrible as well! Because on that day, everyone will be judged by Christ when he comes again in all his awesome glory and splendor. You should fear that Day, but you don't because you know Jesus and believe in him, and so you have everything you need for salvation. You have believed in God's only Son and know that his sacrifice on the cross was sufficient to take away every single sin that you ever committed in your life. Before God you are found to be without sin through faith in Christ.
Who is the most important and most powerful person in the world? Many say the President of the United States. Would you be a little scared to go to his house and speak with him? I'm sure it would be a little daunting, but maybe not completely so, because you know that he is a sinner and fallible just like you, even though he holds the highest office in the world. But how daunting would it be to sit before the judgment seat of the holy God, with your whole life open before him, and with just one sin enough for him to say, "Away from me you evildoer. For your sin you will spend an eternity in hell!" I would feel very much afraid of that day. Well, we will stand before God's judgment seat one day, and we will have nothing to say for ourselves. But Jesus will speak for us. He will tell his heavenly Father that he paid the price of your sin and that he gave his perfect life to you and me and that only by the working of the Holy Spirit has he created faith and preserved that faith in our hearts to believe that fact. Will anything else be needed? Will we then have to reveal some secret knowledge that no one else knows about how we think we should be saved? No. We will trust solely in Christ, our King. Paul says, "[God] has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."
You don't have to wait to be in that kingdom of Christ; you are in that kingdom already and enjoying all its benefits, like forgiveness of sins, right now through faith in Christ. There is nothing we did to be in that kingdom -- Christ did it all for us. Now how will you show your appreciation to God for all he has done for you in Christ? Will you live in the kingdom of darkness and sin, being dominated by Satan? Or will you serve your new King, Jesus Christ, who has taken all your sins away?
When you order pizza, do you get the one with everything on it? What do they call that kind of pizza? Supreme. If you want to, you can take your court case to the highest court in the land. What do they call that court? The Supreme Court. A supreme pizza has every topping you could ever need. The Supreme Court has the final say -- you can't go any higher. Well Christ is supreme also. He has everything we need for life right now and eternal life forever in heaven. So when you sin by not treating him as the Lord of your life, go to him and his forgiveness is yours. When you are hurting and in need of comfort, go to him; he will heal you. When you have any difficulty or trial or situation that you can't control, go to your King, the supreme King of creation and redemption, who reigns over all things for your good, and he will give you everything you need. Christ our King reigns supreme. Remember that. Remember what he's done for you -- created you and redeemed you. Remember what he continues to do for you. And live every moment for him, waiting for that day when he takes you to your heavenly home. Amen.
