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People in many churches are settling for cheap substitutes for Jesus Christ, God's Word, and the one true Gospel. God's people must accept no substitutes.
Paul told the believers at Colosse, "Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power" (Colossians 2:8).
In other words, accept no substitutes for God's inerrant Word, for the Christ of the Bible, or for the authentic Gospel. The cheap substitutes are, in fact, Satanic counterfeits. Satan the great deceiver is the great counterfeiter. For every truth of God, Satan has his opposing lie - even a false Christ, an Antichrist, subtly substituted for the real Christ.
Thus, in Colossians chapter one, Paul declares the preeminence of the genuine Christ. Cling to Christ above all, he exhorts. Accept no substitutes. In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead in a body, and if you are truly trusting in Him alone, by grace alone, through faith alone, for your salvation, you are complete in Him. There is no other Word from God. There is no other Savior of men. There is no other way to be reconciled to God than to come through Jesus Christ by faith.
The Preeminent Christ
In Colossians chapter one, verses 1 through 14, Paul declares that Jesus Christ is preeminent in the Gospel. The central focus of the Gospel, and the central focus of the Christian life, is genuine knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
If you do not understand who Jesus Christ is; if you do not understand why Christ's coming to earth was necessary; if you do not understand that God the Father in His Son Jesus Christ has provided the only way of reconciliation for condemned sinners; if you do not understand that it is by the will of God through the finished work of Christ that you are saved - if you do not understand these things, you do not understand the Gospel. Jesus Christ is preeminent in the Gospel.
In chapter one, verses 15 through 17, Paul declares that Jesus Christ is preeminent in the Creation. He is the pre-existent Second Person of the Godhead. He is eternally existent. He had no beginning. He was before everything. He created everything. He sustains everything - the entire created order, the entire universe. And, He is going to restore all things to their original state, and to an even more glorious state than the original creation.
That is the ultimate purpose of God's plan of redemption. That is the ultimate purpose of Christ's coming into the world. Our salvation is part of that great restoration. Paul is emphasizing the fact that the Christ who came into the world to save sinners is no mere man. He is fully God and fully man - two natures, unmixed, in one body. And it is because Jesus Christ is preeminent in the Creation that He was able to come into this world, into the world that He created, and accomplish our salvation.
In chapter one, verses 18 through 23, Paul declares that Jesus Christ is preeminent in the Church. We who were by nature the enemies of God have now been reconciled to God by the death of Christ.
The end goal of that reconciliation is that Jesus Christ will, in the consummation of all things, present us to the Father, holy, and blameless, and above reproach. Jesus Christ is now building His Church - the true Church, those who are truly His because they have by the work of the Holy Spirit believed on Him, and their sins have been paid for, paid in full, once and for all, by His blood. Jesus Christ is preeminent in the Gospel, and in the Creation, and in the Church.
Finally, in chapter one, verses 24 through 29, Paul declares that Jesus Christ is preeminent in genuine Christian ministry. There is no genuine Christian ministry unless Jesus Christ has first place in it. He alone is the Head of the Church.
The Focus of Authentic Christian Ministry
The focus of genuine Christian ministry is Christ and His Word - nothing else, and no one else. The message of genuine Christian ministry is "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). The purpose of genuine Christian ministry is "that we may present every man perfect [or complete] in Christ Jesus" (1:28). The power of genuine Christian ministry is not the power of man but the power of Christ - "His working which works in me mightily," Paul says in verse 29. Jesus Christ has first place in genuine Christian ministry, and that is because He has first place in the Gospel, in the Creation, and in the Church.
Accept no substitutes, Paul says. Accept no ministry that does not proclaim the genuine message of Scripture concerning Christ, the genuine purpose of His coming, and the genuine power He has given to His Church.
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