The Preeminence of Christ

1 John 1:1

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;

In this scripture, “The beginning” can refer to eternity or as John’s and the others first encounter with the Word, in the personage of Jesus Christ. However, there are theologians who will interpret ‘in the beginning’ to mean ‘before the foundation of the world’, because of the phrase, “Word of life”. It was the Word that created heaven and earth. Nevertheless, John declares in his gospel that the same Word was made flesh and dwelt among us (St.John 1:1).

The Word is the second person in the Godhead; the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost (1 John 5:7).

This makes God a triune being; three in one. With that being said, we can also say that the Word existed before time, as well as in the beginning of time. When John wrote 1 John 1:1 he was referring to the time when they first met Christ. However, when he spoke of the Word in St. John 1;

John 1:1

1 in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,

he referred to The Word as being in eternity; before entering into time.

Colossians 1:12-15

12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:

13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:

14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:

15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

Jesus Christ, as“the firstborn of every creature”, refers to Him being the firstborn of every new creature; the sons of God. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature (2 Corinthians 5:17).

To further prove that God calls His sons creatures, consider the following:

Romans 8:18-21

18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,

21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

Colossians 1:16-17

16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

Without Christ, nothing would exist and nothing would be able to sustain itself, because He is the Word of God. All things are upheld by the Word; for Jesus declared that heaven and earth will pass away before one jot or tittle of His Word fails. Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things 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: (Heb. 1:3).

Colossians 1:18-19

18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;

This scripture verifies that what John says in 1John 1:1 when he writes, “that which was from the beginning”, makes reference to this being their first encounter with the Word as Christ.

However, in this verse, we also see Christ’s transition from being the eternal Word, to becoming the head of the Church. The Word descended from heaven and took on flesh; becoming the Word of life; Son of God as well as Son of man. Nevertheless, in order for Jesus to establish the Church and become the head, He must first die and be born again, which would bring us, who were dead in trespasses and sin, into His kingdom. This is what it means when the scripture says, that in all things he might have the preeminence (Colossians 1:18).

In other words, there would be no process that we go through, that Christ wouldn’t also go through. A good working definition for preeminence is something that is done first; first authority. In order for Jesus Christ to become preeminent in all things, He had to die the same way we died. It was sin that caused us to die; it had to be sin that caused Christ to die. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Sin separated Him from God, just as it separated us from God. The preeminence that Jesus Christ obtained was a mystery that was hid in God. No man could take Jesus’ life; He was the Word of life. Therefore, He had to lay down His life. To further substantiate the precept (principle) of Christ’s preeminence, we will continue to use the method of precept upon precept.

Hebrews 2:14-17

14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.

17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.

In order for Christ to redeem man, He had to become a relative to man. He partially fulfilled that by being born through the womb of Mary; thus providing Him with a body. However, He was not completely related to man. He was God in the flesh; the Lord from heaven; a quickening spirit. We were sinners by nature. Satan had preeminence over our lives. In order for Christ to gain preeminence lawfully, He had to take on sin and death just as we took it on. He couldn’t be killed, but sin had to be the reason why He died.

Because He did not have sins of His own, God placed our sins on Him to satisfy the law of relationship. He was not related to us in that He was life and we were dead; therefore, He had to submit to death to become kinsmen to us. Because He did not personally sin, it was lawful for God to resurrect Him. God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee (Acts 13:33).

Jesus was born again by the Spirit of God. As sinners, we had to die in Him, that we might be born again, as He was. He now has complete preeminence over us, in that everything we have gone through, He went through first. He is the author and finisher of our faith. Satan stands before God in accusation of the brethren and God. As in the example of Job, Satan stood before God; accusing Him of having a hedge around Job that prevented him from being able to touch Job. God removed the hedge; allowing Satan to touch everything Job had, except his life. Not knowing what God knew, Satan believed he would cause Job to curse God.

However, Job cursed everything but God. In this, God proved both His manifold wisdom and His testimony of Job as being a perfect and upright man. This is a type of what God is doing with the Church. Looking at this using precept upon precept, God will have the same testimony of the Church. He will again show Satan His manifold wisdom; this time, through the Church.

Ephesians 3:9-10

9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,

The precept here, is the purpose of God is to make known to heavenly principalities and powers (which includes Satan and his angels), His manifold wisdom by the Church the same thing He made known by Job. Job is an example of the Church. Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy (James 5:11).