Lesson Eight

The Preeminence of Christ

Preeminence -- highlights Christ's unmatched authority, glory, creative power, and role in God's plan for humanity.

Preeminence as our Creator:
Eph. 3:9 God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
John 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Col 1:15-16 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn (having preeminence over) every creature:
For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

Christ the Word is God; one with God.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Col. 2:9 For in him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
2:10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:

Christ is the "head" having preeminence over the church -- His followers, His people,
Col. 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning.
Eph. 5:23 "Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
Eph. 5:27 That he might present it (His church) to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

He holds preeminence in the role of our salvation:

The name of Jesus:
Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

Preeminence concerning the resurrection:
1 Cor. 15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept
Col. 1:18 the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
1 Cor 15:17-18 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.

There were resurrection prior to Jesus resurrection -- but ALL resurrections and life itself comes only through Jesus, who is:
John 11:25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life:
John 1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

He holds preeminence in righteousness:
Philippians 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
Romans 5:21 so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

Question asked in Thursday's lesson (lesson eight):
What is the reconciliation that comes through Christ and His death upon the cross?
How comprehensive is it?

Colossians 1:19 For it was the good pleasure of the Father that in him should all the fulness dwell; 1:20 and through him to reconcile all things unto himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross; through him, I say , whether things upon the earth, or things in the heavens.

Col. 1:21 And you, being in time past alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil works, 1:22 yet now has he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and without blemish and unreproveable before him:

This reconciliation is the work of God. It's not that of a lessor being, but One who was with God, and was God, one with God. The fullness of God was in Christ. All the boundless love, goodness, holiness, of God was fully revealed in Jesus. Only thus was He able to redeem and transform alienated, enemies and bring them before God without spot or blemish, holy, willingly rejoicing and praising God..
Only thus are the doubts about God which were created by Lucifer (Satan) forever dispelled in the minds of all intelligent beings in the universe.

Lesson nine
Reconciliation and HOPE

Read for This Week's Study: Col. 1:20-29, Eph. 5:27, Eph. 3:17, Rom. 8:18, Eph. 1:7-10, Eph. 3:3-6, Prov. 14:12

Memory Text: "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (2 Corinthians 5:21).

This lesson was a powerful lesson on the centrality of what Christ did upon the cross.
This subject is sadly often debated by people who want to be saved by their own efforts in overcoming sin.
Yet Paul makes it clear, we can never earn salvation by improving ourselves.

Christ was made sin for us, He Who knew no sin. He suffered the full penalty the violated law demanded. That we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.

The thoughts below come from the book "Heavenly Places" page 15, by Ellen White

"The God of justice did not spare His Son. . . . The whole debt for the transgression of God's law was demanded from our Mediator. A full atonement was required. How appropriate are the words of Isaiah, "It pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief." His soul was made "an offering for sin." "He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities" (Isaiah 53:10, 5).

"Jesus suffered the extreme penalty of the law for our transgression, and justice was fully satisfied. The law is not abrogated; it has not lost one jot of its force. Instead, it stands forth in holy dignity, Christ's death on the cross testifying to its immutability. Its demands have been met, its authority maintained.

" God spared not His only-begotten Son. To show the depth of His love for man, He delivered Him up for us all. "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). Behold Him dying on the cross. Behold Him who was equal with God, mocked and derided by the mob. Behold Him in Gethsemane, bowed under the burden of the sins of the whole world.

" Was the penalty remitted because He was the Son of God? Were the vials of wrath withheld from Him who was made sin for us? Without abatement the penalty fell upon our divine-human Substitute.

"Hear His cry, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Mark 15:34). He was treated as a sinner, that we might be treated as righteous, that God might be just, and yet the justifier of the sinner. . . .

" The love existing between the Father and His Son cannot be portrayed. It is measureless. In Christ, God saw the beauty and perfection of excellence that dwells in Himself. Wonder, O heavens, and be astonished, O earth, for God spared not His own Son, but gave Him up to be made sin for us, that those who believe may be made the righteousness of God in Him. . . .

"Language is too feeble for us to attempt to portray the love of God. We believe it, we rejoice in it, but we cannot comprehend it.

Lesson 10
Complete in Christ

Read for This Week's Study: Colossians 2; Heb. 7:11; Isa. 61:3; 1 Cor. 3:6; Deut. 31:24-26; Rom. 2:28-29; Rom. 7:7

Memory Text: "So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ" (Colossians 2:16-17, NKJV).

Let no man judge you.
Let no one judge you --

When the Holy Spirit convicts a person, they may face opposition and have to take a decided stand for truth. A person who has a true estimation of the love and law of God will not base his convictions of truth on what the traditions and philosophies of men dictate. He will judge his life by the holy law of God. A follower of Christ does not permit opposition, ridicule or critical censorship to turn him from living a life in harmony with Christ.

Let no man judge you --
We have been warned that the worldly powers WILL try to judge everyone concerning a Sabbath day. They will not simply voice their preference, they will literally pass laws to enforce a false Sabbath and take people to court to judge them concerning the sabbath day and other points of worship. In fact we may not be able to buy or sell unless we honor the sabbath day the worldly governments enforce as the "Christian Sabbath".

I always wondered about verse 2:17 -- Paul is writing this verse in the future tense, years after the crucifixion.
It's not saying which WERE a shadow of things that have come.
It says "which ARE a shadow of things to come."

People back then were judging others as to how to worship, a foreshadowing of a system that would enforce and judge people as to how and when to worship.

Yes, Christ is the One we are to follow and to Whom we surrender our lives. He is the substance of salvation, truth and life.

Let no one cheat you of your reward with a false worship system. (2:18)
Christ is the HEAD of His people, not some man who claims that position, hold fast to the true Head.

Lesson ten, continued.

What was nailed to the cross in Colossians 2:14.

We could look to the song writer of the famous hymn "It is Well With My Soul".
He wrote:"
My sin-- O the joy of this glorious thought --
My sin, not in part, but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more:
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

Looking at the Bible verses themselves, I think that song writer had it right.



Colossians 2:12-14
In Him you were buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working God who raised Him from the dead.
You being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,
Having wiped out the handwriting (the enormous debt) of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

Notice our problem -- dead in trespasses
Hopelessly entangled in sin as one dead, having no way to rise above it.

But remember last weeks verse: "Christ was made sin for us, He who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Cor. 5:21
and
Christ, Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. 1 Peter 2:24

It was our sins, which Christ took upon Himself and bore in his own body on the cross. Our sins were nailed to the cross.
It's our sins that was against us.
Our sins condemned us to death.
But by taking the penalty for our sins, He has made us alive, having forgiven you all trespasses.

It's true that sacrificial rituals also ended.
Christ, our Passover is sacrificed for us: (1 Cor. 5:7) thereby bringing an end to sacrifice and offering rituals (Dan. 9:27). We don't sacrifice lambs anymore, because the Great Lamb of God, died for us. His death is all sufficient.
But this man, (Jesus) after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; (Hebrews 10:12)

The emphasis here isn't the ceremonial law, it wasn't nailed to the cross, yet it ended because it was no longer necessary for people to preform it's rituals in order to find forgiveness of sin. The emphasis is on Jesus Who alone can forgive sin! The blood of animals and other rituals, could never take away sin, they were only a promise that ONE was coming Who could and would remove sin and we can be declared righteous in Him.

Lesson Eleven
LIVING WITH CHRIST

Read for This Week's Study: Col. 3:1-17, Rom. 1:18, Rom. 6:1-7, Eph. 4:22-24, Deut. 7:6-8, 1 Sam. 16:23

Memory Text: "But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection" (Colossians 3:14, NKJV).

Our focus -- it's so important that our focus be right.
We can not "put on love" unless our focus and faith is on Christ.

Col. 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

Our focus needs to be on things above.

Seek those things above the things of the earth?
Way above our present habitat and the things around us, to where Christ is sitting on the right hand of God!
But how can we, as earthlings, do this?

First we need to believe. We may know the Biblical story, and even understand in theory Bible history, but do we believe? We may acknowledge that He created everything and rules over land and sea, and even that He died because He loved the world. But what does it mean to us personally? Do we believe God is there for us personally?

Heb. 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Believe that He is real. That He is personally very much interested and caring about me.
Like the song says --



Psalms 105:3-4 Glory in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD. Seek the LORD, and his strength: seek his face evermore.

Jeremiah 29:13-14 And you shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the LORD:

Study-- study the scriptures, for they reveal Him!
Pray that the Holy Spirit enlightens the mind to see and grasp these truths.


Set your affections on Him and the things above.

Read Colossians 3:5-6 (see also Rom. 6:1-7). How do we experience what it means to be dead to self and to earthliness and alive to "those things which are above" (Col. 3:1)?

Col 3:1,4-5 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God...
Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth;
fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:

Big questions!
What does it mean to die to self?
Is this why we hear of devout people who have flogged themselves and deprived themselves of the necessities of life in hopes of obtaining eternal life? Or is it something else?

Romans 6:3-7 Do you not know, that as many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life
6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.

What needs to die? God wants us to be thinking, reasoning individuals who are alive, so what needs to die -- it is selfishness, self sufficiency, pride and sin in us that needs to die, and in their place we are to find our joy and fulfilment in Christ, and doing His will.

Because Christ died to sin, taking all our sins upon Himself and nailing them to the cross as He died there, therefore when we accept Christ as our Savior, we are to reckon ourselves dead to those sins, they are taken off our record, no longer condemning us, so why should we continue any longer with them, let us move on with Christ in a newness of life.

It's a whole change of FOCUS,
It is a change of citizenship to Christ's kingdom.
A renewing of the mind.

And as we now walk with Christ, inviting Him into every aspect of our lives, sin gets cleaned out, and righteous thoughts and acts take their place.

What Christians need to do today, not wait till its too late...

LESSON TWELVE

LIVING WITH EACH OTHER
In the home, in the marriage,
In the work place, and society in general,
In the church.


Read for This Week's Study: Col. 3:18-4:6; Eph. 5:22-25, 33; Prov. 22:6, 15; 1 Pet. 2:16;
1 Thess. 5:17

Memory Text: "Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one" (Colossians 4:6, NKJV).

Living with others, in situations where there is considerable contact, can be a challenge.
Probably the biggest wrecking bar in relationships is "selfishness".
Even within the church quarrels and angry disputes can occur.

Ellen White wrote a statement that is often quoted:


When Christ's character it perfectly reproduced in us.

What do we understand by that statement?
His holiness being reproduced in us? Yes,
His kindness being reproduced in us?? Yes,
But what is the main characteristic of God?

John 4:16 God is love; and he that dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him. 1 John 4:8 He that doesn't love does not know God; for God is love.

So let's rephrase EGW's quote:


John 13:34-35
Love one another; as I have loved you, that is how you, also love one another.
13:35 By this shall all [men] know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

Lesson Thirteen

Standing in All the Will of God

Read for This Week's Study: Col. 4:7-18; Eph. 6:21; Acts 15:36-40; 2 Tim. 4:10-11; 2 Pet. 3:10-14; Isa. 60:1-3

Memory Text: "In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" (1 Thessalonians 5:18, NKJV).


Three major themes in this week's lesson are"

1. For a church to be successful in outreach, it needs a team of dedicated members that can work closely together, their gifts complimenting each other as they work for the same goals and purposes.

2. For the church's mission to be successfu,l the church leaders need to equip the members in the work. And the Holy Spirit must lead, so that church members may "stand perfect and complete" (Col. 4:12

3. Nurture a profound love for Jesus, which will result in removing the spirit of compromising with sin, and forsaking the greed, and selfishness that composes sin.