Christ is Supreme

Queen Elizabeth hasn’t resided in Buckingham Palace since March of this year. In fact for much of this year she has been in isolation operating within a bubble for the protection of hers and Philips health. But the UK has managed okay without our Queen. It is meant to. Her title is honorary and traditional. We love her but we just get on with our lives. We vote for other people to rule our lives and then moan at them when they do.

That’s how some people view Jesus Christ. He is there but distant. They love Him but it is merely a title. The Apostle reacts against what he is hearing the Colossians are being threatened with and actually what I think is the greatest threat: the dethroning of Jesus Christ in our lives. The threat is not the denial of Jesus but the reduction of Jesus. Paul counters this in this beautiful poem/hymn:

And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. (Colossians 1 v 18)

Christ is supreme; pre-eminence; the first place; the highest place; above anything and everyone.

Is Christ supreme in all things in your life? Or has He been dethroned?

Do we proclaim the gospel or are we the gospel embodied?

I seem to spend most of my life dealing with power struggles.

When are we going to realise that we are not that important but that Christ is supreme?

The Church’s gospel is not only to be preached from the pulpit or Youtube or heard from the pew or zoom but it is to be within the lives, the vocabulary, the finances, the time and focus of every follower of Jesus.

Oh and what is that message? It is Jesus is Lord and it is Christ and Him crucified! Can the world see it? They won’t if the Church continues to be inward looking, struggling to be the lord of any situation, self-centred and without love.

Check the hatred, the pride and the division on social media. It doesn’t always come from outside the Church.

Jesus Christ’s supremacy MUST be seen in our lives if people are going to find Him as their Saviour.

The Church becomes sick and declines when our programmes, worship, buildings, efforts, discipleship, vision and goals are not revealing the supremacy of Christ.

The Church coming out of lockdown MUST be restored. The restoration is for the centrality of Christ in our lives. He is pre-eminent and He is supreme and the world MUST see this in us.

So what does this mean for our lives?

I was laughing with a friend the other day about how Christians sometimes use the strangest of ways to sign off a letter. We were in hysterics remembering some of the Christian-ese ending of letters from our HQ in the past such as, “Yours because His” we weren’t even really sure what some of these meant! As a Pastor I remember getting these letters from a certain person who would sign their letters “In His Grip.” It always used to make me laugh for some reason that only my immature mind understood. Major apologies if you sign off your letters/emails with either of these 2 ways. If nothing else you make people smile and that’s a good thing!

However, ‘In His grip’ is actually true when it comes to the outworking of Christ’s supremacy.

We have never lived a year quite like this year have we?!

Our world is struggling, the citizens of the world are troubled and we live in tension as everything that was normal is not anymore.

My future may be uncertain but Jesus Christ is supreme and He gives me security to know it will be okay.

My circumstance may look hopeless. The spiritual powers behind the many thrones of life may strike fear into our hearts but we combat that by knowing Christ has a throne and He is on it!

In this world of selfishness I don’t need to join in. It is a choice to live for yourself. To lay yourself down for your friend is the ultimate experience. Christ and Him crucified is the message I bear.

I may seem nothing, inadequate, alone, a small voice in a very loud world but I boast only Christ. I am not perfect but He is. I will try and become a better man not so that I can be praised but so that in seeing a better version of me the world will see Christ the Supreme Lord.

Yours with Christian snuggles

Paul