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Kingstanding SDA Church | Sabbath School | The Pre-eminence of Christ

Title: The Pre-eminence of Christ Scripture: (Colossians 1:15–17, NKJV) “He [Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist” Sermon: With this week’s lesson, we resume our consideration of Colossians (see Lessons 1 and 2). In Lesson 2, Thursday, we saw that in Colossians 1:9–12, Paul prays for believers in Colossae, asking that they may live in a way pleasing to God. In verses 12 and 13, he contrasts two realms: that of light and of darkness, “the kingdom of light” (Col. 1:12, NIV) and “the dominion of darkness” (Col. 1:13, NIV). God the Father has qualified us to share in the eternal inheritance of the realm of light, delivered us from the power of darkness, and “transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:13, 14, ESV). In other words, it is in Jesus, the person of Jesus, who is also God our Creator, that we have redemption. He worked out our redemption for us, and by faith in Him we have been moved from the realm of darkness into the kingdom of His beloved Son. This week we will look at one of the most comprehensive and sublime statements about Jesus in the New Testament. What does it mean that Jesus is “the image of the invisible God,” yet also “the firstborn over all creation” (Col. 1:15, NIV)? Further Thought: “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”—C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (New York, Collier Books, 1952), p. 41. “The Father is all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and is invisible to mortal sight. “The Son is all the fullness of the Godhead manifested. The Word of God declares Him to be ‘the express image of His person.’ ”—Ellen G. White, Evangelism, p. 614. “Christ is the pre-existent, self-existent Son of God. . . . In speaking of his pre-existence, Christ carries the mind back through dateless ages. He assures us that there never was a time when He was not in close fellowship with the eternal God. . . . “He was equal with God, infinite and omnipotent. . . . He is the eternal, self-existent Son.”—Ellen G. White, Evangelism, p. 615. Discussion Questions: 1. Dwell more on the question of the eternal deity of Jesus. Think through the implications of the entire plan of salvation and the meaning of the sacrifice at the cross if Jesus had been anything other than the eternal God, One who had never been created but had always, from eternity past, existed. Why is that teaching so important? In class, talk about what it would mean if, in fact, Jesus were not eternal but, in some fashion, had been created. Again, what is lost in that kind of thinking? 2. When we think about Jesus, the gospel, and the plan of salvation, why must we keep the concept of the entire universe’s involvement and interest in what Jesus has done here as part of our thinking? What must have gone on in their minds when they saw their Creator, their eternal Creator, on the cross? It’s one thing for us to be awed by it, but the unfallen universe knew Him in His eternal glory. What must have gone through their minds as they witnessed the One whom they had worshiped in heaven die on the cross? 3. What would you say to someone who does not believe that the Father and the Son have always coexisted? Why is this such an important truth? How would you explain that there has never been a time when the Father was without the Son, except at the cross, when there was a temporary “sundering of the divine powers”? (See Ellen G. White Comments, The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 7, p. 924.) We hope you have a blessed day with us Don't forget to Like, Share, Hype and Subscribe!