Jesus, Preeminent & Supreme Holder of All Authority in Heaven & Earth
Summary : He is above all, over all, in control of all, and “Lord of all.” Who? Jesus Christ! There is nothing in heaven or earth that God the Father has not placed under Jesus’ Lordship. So you can serve Him with absolute confidence that nothing in this world can separate you from His love and His almighty power that He is willing to use on your behalf.
Colossians 1:18, KJV
- • Other translations use similar expressions for Jesus’ exalted position: “the chief place … above all others … the primacy … far above everything … the supremacy.”
- • In our earthly lives many things compete for first place in our priorities. Some are good things (family, ministry, church, jobs, etc.). Some are harmful things (love of money, striving for status, pursuing worldly pleasures, etc.).
- • But that which should have the absolute preeminence, the primacy, the sovereignty, the chief place above all others in our lives, should be the Person of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, through Whom alone we are able to come to God the Father (John 14:6).
- • Our highest aim in this life should be a close walk with God the Father through a personal salvation relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ. Let’s live our lives so that “in all things [Jesus will] have the preeminence.” Now let’s look at some ways in which Jesus’ preeminence can affect your life for good.
Jesus is Lord of all, the possessor of all authority in heaven and earth.
- • No matter what is going on around you, no matter what dangers, troubles, afflictions and more that you are facing, Jesus is Lord of all! He exercises absolute dominion over the entire creation.
- • The devil doesn’t control this world. Terrorists will not gain ultimate victory. Sin and sickness don’t have a right to overcome you. Why? Because all authority in heaven and on earth belongs to Jesus. There is no force on earth powerful enough to withstand the power of Jesus Christ — crucified, resurrected, and working in the lives of His followers.
He is the Savior, the Lord over sin.
- • Before faith in Christ comes, we are all lost sinners. All have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) and are separated from God by our sins (Isaiah 59:2).
- • But God has provided a remedy for our sins in the death, burial, and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).
- • If we will repent of our sins and have faith in the Savior Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21), He will save us, give us new birth, and make us sons and daughters of God who will be blessed with eternal life with God. Christ’s preeminence extends even to the forgiving of sin and the granting of eternal life.
Water Baptism points to Him and is in His name.
- • The very important Christian ordinance of water baptism is to be done in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
- • This is only fitting, because it was Jesus who died for our sins, was buried, and rose again. In our water baptism we follow Him spiritually in these things. Having come to Jesus in faith and repentance, we are “buried with Him in baptism” and then arise from the waters of baptism to “walk in newness of life” just as Jesus rose from death to new life (Romans 6:3-6).
It is Jesus who gives us the mighty baptism of the Holy Spirit.
- • The life-changing baptism with the Holy Spirit — the same Holy Ghost anointing that the early Church had (Acts 11:15-17) — is available to you.
- • The first church’s members in Jerusalem were all filled with the Spirit and began to do mighty works and to witness with power to others about our Lord. How did they receive this power? All four Gospels tell us that it is Jesus Christ who baptizes His followers with the Holy Spirit.
- • If you wish to receive supernatural power from God (Acts 1:5,8) to be effective witnesses for Christ, then ask Jesus to baptize you with His Holy Spirit. He will fill you full of the Spirit, you will begin to speak in new tongues, and power for ministry will be dramatically increased in your life. I recommend this Pentecostal experience for every Christian. And its Giver, from His place of preeminence at God’s right hand (Acts 2:33), is our Lord Jesus.
He is Lord over demons and Lord over sickness.
- • Our crucified, resurrected Lord has absolute supremacy over demons (Colossians 2:14-15). His power over Satan’s hordes is so complete that He even delegates some of that authority to believers, telling us that in His name we will drive out demons!
- • Our resurrected Savior is also Lord over sickness. Jesus has borne not just our sins, but also our sicknesses (Matthew 8:16-17 and 1 Peter 2:24). And here too, in the spiritual realm of healing the sick, Jesus has commissioned His followers to impart healing in His name!
It is through Jesus that we have access to God the Father.
- • There are not “many roads to God,” as some falsely claim. Quite to the contrary, Jesus said of Himself, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). There is just one way to the Father, and that way is Jesus Christ.
- • At the moment of Jesus’ death on the cross, the veil of the temple in Jerusalem was supernaturally ripped apart, from top to bottom (Matthew 27:50-51). Under the Old Covenant, only the high priest could go through that veil into the Holy of Holies. But Jesus’ death and resurrection bought access into the presence of God Almighty for everyone who would come to God through the salvation provided by His Son Jesus.
Prayer is empowered and made effective through Jesus Christ.
- • All the promises of God are said to be “yes and amen” in Jesus Christ. Think of that! It is through Jesus Christ that we can confidently come to God and ask for the fulfillment of His promises for the various needs in our lives — for salvation, for healing, for gifts of the Holy Spirit, for encouragement, for deliverance from evil, for “all the promises of God.”
- • Because God the Father has given “all authority in heaven and on earth” to His Son, we can boldly come to the Father in prayer through Jesus the Son, and we will be helped in doing so by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:18) — a beautiful illustration of the complete unity and cooperation within the divine holy trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The Son of God deserves honor just as God the Father does.
- • This is a striking affirmation of the supremacy of Jesus in all things that has been granted to Him by God the Father (Acts 2:36). We are told to honor Jesus the Son just as we honor the Father. The Son of God is to be honored no less than our Father in heaven!
God has entrusted judgment to Jesus, and everyone who has ever lived will appear before His judgment seat.
- • Saved and unsaved, heathen and believer, man, woman, boy, girl — “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ” (Matthew 25:31-46). Some, the saved “sheep,” will be ushered by Christ the Judge into the eternal presence of God [34, 46]. Others, the unsaved, lost “goats,” will be judged guilty and will be condemned to everlasting fire and punishment [41, 46].
Eventually every knee shall bow to Jesus Christ.
- • The Scriptures tell us that “it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27, NASB).
- • As we have seen above, every one who has ever lived will stand one day before the judgment seat of Christ, the preeminent One to whom God has given all authority in heaven and earth. And there will be no excuses! Every knee shall bow before Christ’s absolute Lordship.
- • The saved will bow the knee in joyful adoration before their beloved Lord. The unsaved, who have chosen not to receive Christ’s salvation, will also bow the knee. But they will be bowing in terror, facing their damnation to hell for having refused God’s gracious offer of salvation in Jesus Christ (2 Thessalonians 1:8).
Our Savior Jesus has, by God the Father’s choice, been designated “Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36) … “Lord of all” (Acts 10:36) … the One who has “all authority in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18) … the one who “in all things [has] the preeminence” (Colossians 1:18).
Whatever your need — for salvation, for healing, for the empowerment of His Holy Spirit, for comfort, for a touch from God in any way — look to the Son of God. For all God’s promises are “yes and amen” in Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20).
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©2015, James H. Feeney.
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Pentecostal Sermons and Bible Studies
by Pastor Jim Feeney, Ph.D.