BONUS AUDIO: A Reading of Paul's Letter to the Colossians

Back to Message Archive

Introduction – Christ Over All

Christ Over All.This is one way of saying that Christ is supreme; that He is preeminent; that there is nothing before Him and there is nothing above Him. Christ is the one who created all things and all things exist for Him. So, Christ Over Allspeaks to who Jesus is in relation to all things and all people.

But, Christ Over All can also speak the place we as the people of God should give Jesus in our hearts. As the people of God, as people who have been saved through the sacrifice of Jesus, we should be a people who recognize the supremacy of Jesus and who maintain hearts that exalt Him Over All.

To be clear, He already holds this position, He is the preeminent one, but the question is the orientation of our hearts: Do we worship Him for who He is? And do our daily lives reveal this heart of worship? That is to say, do we give Him authority over our relationships and our work and our time and every other part of our lives? The letter of Paul to the Colossians helps us both in seeing who Jesus is and in applying the impact of our position ‘in Him’ to our daily lives.

The Theme and Purpose of the Letter

At the heart of the letter to the Colossians is this theme of Christ Over All. It can also be referred to as the Supremacy of Christ or the Preeminence of Christ.

Following his third missionary journey Paul was put in a Roman prison because of his work for the sake of Christ. During this imprisonment Paul received word from a fellow believer named Epaphras that false teachers were threatening the church at Colossae. These false teachers were misrepresenting Christ, His position of authority and His work of salvation and the faith of the Colossians was at stake.

Paul wrote the Letter to the Colossians in order to help them see Christ for who He is and also to help them recognize how being “in Christ” should change every moment of every day and every part of life.

As we read and study Colossians our goal should be twofold: We should seek to see Christ for who He is and we should also desire to understand how our relationship to Christ affects every other aspect of our lives. Christ is over alland we should desire to have lives that reflect this reality.