The World and the Flesh Always Challenge the Supremacy of Christ

There is a popular movement nowadays to delegitimize Scripture, whether the Old Testament (I’ve heard some people say “we’re a New Testament Church, why do we need to listen to that?!), or the writings of Paul, or the authenticity of the Gospels. Why? Why does this happen so often? Why do people, even within Christendom, seek to challenge the teachings of Scripture? The Apostle Peter had an answer:

“Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.” 2 Peter 3:14-16

The unstable and ignorant twist the Scriptures to their own destruction! And why? Because the Supremacy of Christ is unacceptable to the ignorant and unstable! They want a religion that pushes them to the center, whether by works, or affirmations, or many other such things. Loved ones, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, James, Peter and Paul all proclaimed the supremacy of Christ Jesus. He is the Living Word of God, and He is given all authority on Heaven and on Earth. He is the Image of the Invisible God, and He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one gets to the Father but through Him. THIS is offensive to those who desire to live according to the flesh, and the flesh does not always mean sensuality or sexual immorality! When we create religious works that satisfy ourselves, even done in the name of Christ Jesus, that is gratifying the flesh! Jesus said ““Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” Matthew 7:21-23

Why did He say this? Because people will do Spirit filled works without being known by Him! They do it for themselves, and not for Him. Loved ones, He is supreme. He is above all things. All things were made through Him and are for Him, and belong to Him. It is by His blood that all creation is redeemed from sin, and it is by His resurrection that eternity is ours. So, I will bow down and give Him all glory. I will follow His word, even when it offends me. And I will say Christ is supreme in all things, and all of my worship, every thought, every breath, and all that I am shall be laid at His feet.

Colossians 1

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.