Jesus Christ truly is the King of kings Preeminent.
Jesus Christ is the “Preeminent One” in the universe and He earned the right to this title. Colossians 1:18 concludes with a purpose clause: “that in all things He might have the preeminence.” God the Father declared that His Son would be the preeminent one in this verse in Colossians.
THE SUPERIORITY OF THE HUMANITY OF CHRIST
Hebrews 1:4
“Being made (having become) so much better (in His humanity not His Deity – deity cannot be improved upon) than the angels, as He hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.”
Jesus Christ as the Preeminent One is Superior in every way. In verse 3 of Hebrews Chapter 1, the transcendent glory of Christ is clearly defined: “Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things (how?) by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high.”
The superiority of Christ is dramatically expounded in this beautiful verse and then is continued in verse 4. The angelic creation is the highest form of God’s created beings. Man is vastly inferior to angels, but because of Christ (His life, His sacrifice, His burial, His resurrection, and His current session at the right hand of the Father), the believer at the point of salvation instantly becomes far superior (positionally) to angels, through our newly acquired union with Christ.
At the Rapture the believer will become (experientially) higher when we receive our resurrection bodies. We as believers are joint heirs with Christ and we will always and always share in His destiny and majesty for all eternity.
SUPERIOR IN RELATIONSHIP
Hebrews 1:5-13 reveals several ways in which Christ is superior to angels in his humanity: “For unto which of the angels said He at any time, Thou art my ‘Son,’ this day (the day of incarnation) have I begotten thee: (Hebrews 1:5a). This is a quotation of Psalms 2:7 (look it up).
“Son” in the New Testament is used only for Christ as a member of the human race and for believers in union with Christ in the “Body of Christ.” Collectively, angels are known as “sons of God” in the plural (Genesis 6:2; Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7), but they are never referred to individually or personally as “a son.”
“And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son” (this verse is speaking about the “humanity” of Christ — Hebrews 1:5 b). The second half of this verse is a quote from 2 Samuel 7:14. Because of our relationship with Christ we can now have a relationship with the Father.
“… wherein he hath made us accepted IN THE BELOVED” (Ephesians 1:6). “Therefore if any man be IN CHRIST, he is a new creature (species) (2 Corinthians 5:17). Christianity is a relationship to God the Father through God the Son — Jesus Christ — the Messiah! Christianity is not a religion! God hates religion.
SUPERIOR IN HIS SECOND ADVENT
“And again, when he brings in the first begotten into the world, he said, And let all the angels of God worship Him” (Hebrews 1:6). “When he brings in” apparently refers to the Second Advent because the Greek word indicates someone “brought back” into something and in this case: the world.” When Christ is brought back at the Second Advent, believers in Heaven will be brought back with Christ to reign with Christ (Hebrews 1:13). “All the angels” refers to both elect angels and fallen angels. When Christ returns at the Second Advent He will defeat Satan and the other fallen angels (this is called “operation footstool,” Hebrews 10:13) and remove them from the earth.
SUPERIOR IN HIS MINISTRY
We now look at Hebrews 1:7-8: “And of the angels he saith, Who makes his (elect) angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire (administers of judgment — quoted from Psalms 104:4). “But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God (note this is God saying to Christ) — Thy throne O GOD is forever and ever: a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom” (quoted from Psalms 45:6) God the Father addressed Christ as Deity — Jesus Christ is God.
Verse 8, introduces a contrast between angels and Christ. Christ as Sovereign and angels as servants. As a man, Christ’s throne is the throne of David, where he shall reign over the house of Israel forever. Christ seated at the right hand of the Father is ruler over the Church. Christ will reign forever and because the believer is in union with Christ, the believer too will reign with Christ forever. Jesus Christ is our celebrity. He is Messiah. He is the KING of kings and LORD of lords.
CHRIST IS SUPERIOR IN HIS CHARACTER (Hebrews 1:12)
He is unchanging in person and character being forever the same. In Hebrews 13:8 Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. “For I am the Lord I change not” (Malachi 3:6).
SUPERIOR IN HIS POSITION AS KING
“But to which of the angels said he at anytime, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool (Hebrews 1:13)? We know man is inferior to angels, but here God refers to Christ in his humanity as superior to angels – a man (Christ) superior to angels. Our Savior Jesus Christ is so unique. “On my right hand” is the greatest and highest place of honor and authority.
Christ earned His place of highest honor when He died for you. This is by far the most dramatic point of history — Christ upon that Cross, to save us from eternal damnation.
What is God’s Plan? God gave His only Son — Jesus Christ to save us from His judgment. It is God who came down to save mankind from God’s own wrath, through the Cross of Christ.
As believers in Messiah (Jesus Christ), we are “heirs of salvation” superior to angels, because Christ is superior to Angels, and believers are IN CHRIST. As such, angels now minister to believers. Each of us has one or more guardian angels to keep us safe while here on earth representing Christ during His absence. This is the purpose of our life after salvation (Hebrews 1:14).
Angels serve the believer and the believer serves Christ.
The Superiority of Christ is revealed throughout the book of Hebrews. Read it carefully and often so that you never lose touch with the reality of the Deity of Jesus Christ.
CHRIST IS THE REDEEMER OF MANKIND
“In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:14. See also: 1 Peter 1:18, 19).
CHRIST IS THE VISIBLE IMAGE OF GOD
“Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature (Colossians 1:15). Here, in one sentence, Paul clearly states the remarkable uniqueness of Christ as true humanity and true God in one person. The first part of this phrase asserts His deity while the second part expresses His humanity.
In the original Greek, Christ is the EXACT image of the invisible God. Jehovah’s Witnesses (which are anything but) misinterpret this important verse and therefore denounce the deity of Christ as eternal God. For example: the absence of the definite article calls attention to and emphasizes the character of the person (Christ). Thus, this verse declares emphatically and unequivocally that JESUS CHRIST IS ETERNAL GOD!
He is co-equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit as God. He is exactly the same in essence. The One Imperative issue that other religions such as the Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, Moonies, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christian Scientists, Scientology, New Age movement, and The Way international, etc., all have in common is that they all deny the deity of Jesus Christ or the fact Jesus is LORD, or that Jesus is Jehovah.
So, what does the Bible state? Turn in your personal Study Bible and read for yourself 1 John 2:23; John 5:21-23. See also Micah 5:2 Matthew 2:5-6.
I want to call your attention to the ten “I Am’s” in the Gospel of John. Remember the number ten in Scripture represents completion of the divine order. As you read each verse below, pause and be sure to meditate on each verse: John 6:35; 6:41; John 6:51; John 8:12; John 8: 18; John 10:7; John 10:14; John 11:25; John 14:6; John 15:1. Jesus declared His own deity in Mark 14:60-64.
ONLY GOD CAN BE THE IMAGE OF GOD. Jesus Christ is eternal God who came to Earth to restore (redeem) fallen humanity. To do so, God had to become a man, therefore, he was born of a virgin, without Adamic Nature (fallen nature), thereby fulfilling the requirement of God, that a man must redeem mankind. (See Roman chapters 1-3). God, the second person of the Trinity entered the world to save the world. God delivered all things to the Son (Matthew 11:27).
Also, please note that the word “firstborn” in Colossians 1:15 is an expression for rank. It does not imply that Christ was created. This word is not related to creation or birth, but is a title. It means a designation for the sovereign or head of a family. Therefore, Jesus Christ is the Sovereign leader of the new regenerate creation.
CHRIST IS THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE
“For by him (Christ) were all things created, that are in heaven (space), and that are in earth (physical universe), visible and invisible (material and spiritual), whether they be thrones, or dominions (humanity), or principalities, or powers (angels): all things were created by him and for him” (Colossians 1:16). Christ is omnipotent. He is the omniscient one sustaining the universe (entire creation). See verse 17 in Colossians, chapter one.
Christ holds everything together by the word of His power (Hebrews 1:3). While Christ was on the Cross suffering for you and me He was also sustaining the universe. That is absolutely fantastic. The more you learn about Christ the more you will appreciate our God-Man-Savior, which brings us back to where we started this phase of our study of the Preeminence of Christ.
Our blessed Savior is the unique person in the universe. He is the Preeminent King of kings and Lord of lords. Jesus Christ is God and His Deity is proclaimed throughout the Bible. To Christ be glory and dominion forever and ever.
Christ declares that He is the Good Shepherd John 10:11, the Great Shepherd in Hebrew 13:20, and the Chief Shepherd in 1 Peter 5:4. As the believers Shepherd, Christ is our blessed assurance and our protector against the wolf — Satan.
There is nothing greater or more valuable than the Essence of Deity. Yet Christ did not consider His Deity more important than our souls. To be able to go to the Cross and pay the penalty for our sin (Romans 6:23), Christ must become true humanity. Jesus Christ was/is so occupied with us in eternity past that he did not consider His equality with the Father and the Holy Spirit a treasure to deny the salvation of you and me (mankind).
Think on this: Christ was always occupied with the salvation of future believers. We believers in the here and now, should be occupied with Jesus Christ who came to rescue us from the slave market of sin. This is Divine selflessness. This is Divine love. Thank you, LORD Jesus for saving my soul.
I have always loved my Lord as my Shepherd since I was a small boy. Christ has always made me feel loved and I have always trusted Him to hold me in His arms as a little sheep. What about you? What have you decided? Are you occupied with Christ through faith in Him? Believe on the LORD Jesus Christ and be saved and your household (Acts 16:31). For Christ so loved the world that He gave His life a ransom for many. Are you one of the many?
Happy Studying in Fields of Grace!