An inquisitive Sunday school student asked the question, “If Jesus came back today, would he be able to understand computers?”That also begs the question—would Jesus know how to use an Ipod, Ipad, or Iphone? Some people today wonder whether Jesus, who walked the dusty roads of Palestine years ago, has any relevance for a world filled with the technological wonders of computers, instantaneous communication, nuclear power, and space stations. Most people doubt it!

It seems as if Jesus has fallen on hard times here in America. All of the scientific discoveries, technological advances, and new spiritualities leave little room for Jesus today. They have even caused people to ask the questions, “Who is Jesus?” and more importantly “What does it matter?” Have you ever asked these questions? We live in an age and place where Jesus’ supremacy is seriously undermined!

This is exactly the same problem the Colossian church was experiencing. There was a group of false teachers that arose and were advocating heresies that undermined the supremacy of Christ. It was causing so much confusion in the church that it compelled Epaphras, the church’s pastor, to travel to Rome and seek Paul’s advice. We can tell by Paul’s response, the heresies bore a resemblance to the secularism, legalism, and pluralism we see today.

Paul responds to these heresies by employing a hymn or creed. Scholars debate whether Paul composed this hymn himself, borrowed it from someone else, or adapted it. Regardless of its origin, it is clear that Paul used it to challenge the heresies in the Colossian church and reestablish the supremacy of Christ.

This hymn tells us who Jesus is and why it matters! Let’s take a look!

1.) Christology & Cosmology: Jesus Christ is supreme over creation. (15-17)

The hymn opens by asserting the deity of Christ. It gives Jesus the title “image of God.” He is in fact fully God! He is the perfect revelation of the nature and character of God. Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God. Both the Old and New testaments make it clear that “no one has seen God” except for those who saw Jesus Christ in human flesh. He is the full embodiment and exact representation of God.

Paul first establishes Jesus’ relation to God so that he can affirm his supremacy over creation. If I asked you which part of the Holy Trinity created the world—Father, Son, or Holy Spirit—what would you say? Many Christians think that only the Father created the world, but the correct answer is all three persons of the Trinity played a role in creation. This is what Paul is getting at with his second title for Jesus—“firstborn over all creation.” This term is not meant to be understood in the temporal sense of the first child to come out of the womb, but it is used to highlight his preeminent status. In ancient Jewish culture the firstborn child was always regarded as the most exalted one. Jesus is the greatest and most exalted human being of all time because of his divine nature.

Verse 16 explains that the reason Jesus is preeminent is because he is pre-existent—that is, he existed before the world was created. Before anything was, Jesus was! And since he created the world, he has supremacy over it. The universality of “all things” is explained with three sets of examples. They all express the totality of creation by distinguishing its physical and spiritual realities—whether it is in heaven or on earth, visible or invisible, a human or spiritual power or authority, Jesus created it and is supreme over it.

He is not only the source of everything in the world, but he is also the goal of everything. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. The world was created by him and for him, and he is the one who holds it all together. Contrary to popular belief, the world is not held together by an idea, virtue, or scientific law, but it is held together by a person; the resurrected Christ!

The world-famous physicist Stephen Hawking, in a new book ironically titled “The Grand Design” aims to banish a divine creator from physics. He argues that, given the existence of gravity, “the universe can and will create itself from nothing,” according to an excerpt published in The Times of London. “Spontaneous creation is the reason why there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist,” he writes in the excerpt. “It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the universe going,” he writes.

Well, I’m no scientist, but I got some news for Professor Hawking. There is a God and his Son Jesus is the spitting image of him. As a matter of fact, they are exactly alike and together with the Holy Spirit, they created everything in the heavens and the earth. The world was indeed created, but it wasn’t created spontaneously. It was created purposefully by him and for him, and that is why there is something rather than nothing! Jesus is the reason the universe exists! Jesus is the reason we exist!

I do agree with Hawking’s last comment though. It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue tough paper and set the universe going—because he already has! Not only did he set the universe going, but he keeps it going. If Jesus was not actively sustaining the universe, gravity would lose its grip, electrons would cease to circle nuclei, the planets would spin out of orbit, we would all be dead, and the universe would be completely out of control. Jesus is the cosmic glue that holds everything together! Jesus is supreme over his creation!

2.) Christology & Ecclesiology: Jesus Christ is supreme over the church. (18a)

Just as Paul combats the heresy of secularism by asserting Jesus’ supremacy over creation, he goes on to combat the heresy of legalism by asserting Jesus’ supremacy over the church. He employs the common metaphor of a human body (as he does in his other letters) to describe the church. The people compose the body of the church, but he teaches the Colossians that Christ is the head of the church. In the ancient world, the head was conceived to be the governing member of the body, that which both controlled and provided for its life and sustenance. Paul highlights Jesus’ supremacy as the antidote to any legalistic tendencies in the church—that is, when human authorities or traditions become more important than Christ himself.

There are still many legalistic tendencies in the church today! Some churches hold their pope, priest, or pastor in higher regard than Christ. Others hold their denominational affiliations, theological traditions, and worship practices in higher esteem than Jesus. And many churches fall into the old trap of legalistic moralism where they are more concerned about how you look, how you talk, or how you act than they are about your faith in Jesus Christ. They say, “As long as you don’t drink, smoke, chew, or go with girls who do…you are welcome at our church!”

Always remember that Jesus is supreme over his church. He is more important than any human authority, tradition, rule, or regulation!

3.) Christology & Soteriology: Jesus Christ is supreme over redemption. (18b-23)

Paul orchestrates this hymn to a beautiful crescendo by finally showcasing Christ’s supremacy over redemption. Christ’s redemption is rooted in his resurrection from the dead. He was the first person in history to be resurrected (that is received a glorified body), thus exercising his supremacy.

By shedding his blood on the cross he makes peace with God and reconciles all things to him. Paul applies this redemption directly to the Colossians. They were once alienated from God because of their evil deeds; in fact, they were actually God’s enemies. But Jesus sacrificed his physical body and endured all the pain of the cross to reconcile people and all of creation to his Father. Jesus’ blood cleansed them from their sins and presented them holy in God’s sight, without blemish and free from accusation. Jesus’ death and resurrection show his supremacy over redemption!

Jesus was supreme over redemption for the Colossians two-thousand years ago, and he is supreme over redemption for us today. We are in the exact same boat as they were. We are alienated from God because of our sin. We are in fact his enemies because of our evil minds and behavior. How many times have we sinned against God? How many times have we lied, gossiped, or looked at another person with lust in our hearts? If our lives were laid open and bare for what they really are, we would see so many blemishes that we would automatically conclude that we are beyond redemption.

But the gospel of Jesus Christ is good news for sinners like us. Jesus is supreme over redemption! He suffered and died on the cross; his blood atones for all of our sins, even the ones that no one else knows about. His resurrection from the dead offers us reconciliation with God right now and the hope and joy of heaven forever. Even though we are God’s enemies, he offers us peace and a restored relationship with God. Jesus offers us all of this because he is the only one supreme over redemption.

The American church is facing the same heresies that the Colossian church faced. Jesus’ supremacy is undermined all the time. I most often hear it articulated in two popular phrases: “I’m not religious, but I’m a spiritual person!” and “All religions are basically the same!”

Let me take on false spirituality first! When people say, “I’m spiritual but not religious!” they usually mean that they acknowledge spiritual reality and may even be favorable to it, but they are not and usually don’t want to be part of any institutional religion or church. This is one of the biggest cop-outs in our culture today. It means that they can pick and choose aspects of various religions and philosophies without being accountable to any of them. So many people are on an endless search for some esoteric spirituality, but they neglect the supremacy of Jesus Christ. Outside of Jesus Christ, there is no true spirituality!

And now to “all religions are basically the same.” I have a word for that, but I’d better not say it in church! Instead, let me use the word, “Hogwash!” All religions are not basically the same and there are not many roads to heaven! There is only one Jesus Christ who created the world, is the head of his church, and died and rose again for the redemption of his people.

Buddha may be able to enlighten your mind, but only Jesus shed his blood for your sins! Confucius may be able to make you wise, but only Jesus rose on the third day! Mohammed may help you live morally, but only Jesus can reconcile your broken relationship with God and present you to him without blemish and free from accusation. There is only one gospel whereby we can escape hell and overcome death. There is only one Christ who is supreme over all!

Are you continuing in this faith? Are you established and firm? Are you holding on to the hope held out for you in the gospel?

Allow me to conclude with Alice Meynell’s (1847-1922) wonderful little poem “Christ in the Universe.”

With this ambiguous earth
His dealings have been told us. These abide:
The signal to a maid, the human birth,
The lesson, and the young Man crucified.

But not a star of all
The innumerable host of stars has heard
How He administered this terrestrial ball.
Our race have kept their Lord’s entrusted Word.

Of His earth-visiting feet
None knows the secret, cherished, perilous,
The terrible, shamefast, frightened, whispered, sweet,
Heart-shattering secret of His way with us.

No planet knows that this
Our wayside planet, carrying land and wave,
Love and life multiplied, and pain and bliss,
Bears, as chief treasure, one forsaken grave.

Nor, in our little day,
May His devices with the heavens be guessed,
His pilgrimage to thread the Milky Way
Or His bestowals there be manifest.

But in the eternities,
Doubtless we shall compare together, hear
A million alien Gospels, in what guise
He trod the Pleiades, the Lyre, the Bear.

O, be prepared, my soul!
To read the inconceivable, to scan
The myriad forms of God those stars unroll
When, in our turn, we show to them a Man.