This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

Welcome to day four of our look through Colossians chapter one in daily
drive-time devotions. As we take a look beginning today at Colossians 1 verse
13, we're going to be focusing on Jesus in first place, who Jesus really is, the
person of Jesus. And I want to focus in a personal way on how you and I can live
with Jesus Christ in first place in our daily lives.

Listen to what Colossians chapter one verses 13 to 14 have to say about Jesus.
For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and has brought us into the
kingdom of the sun that he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of
sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

As you and I begin to talk about what it means to live with Jesus in first place
in our lives, I want to suggest to you some things that these verses challenge
us to do. First of all, if I'm going to live with him in first place today, not
just as an idea, but as a reality, I've got to thank him for my salvation today.
I have redemption in him.

I have the forgiveness of sins. In fact, notice the words that are in just these
few verses about what has happened to us because of Jesus. He delivered us from
the dominion of darkness.

That's like calling 911. He came and rescued us from the worst of places to put
us in the best of places. He brought us out.

He translated us. The idea there is of a deportation from one country to
another. He took us out of enemy territory and put us back where we belong, put
us back at home.

He redeemed us. That means we're set free, and then he forgave us, delivered,
translated, redeemed, forgiven. We could spend hours talking about any one of
those words.

They are words to thank him for. You want to live with Jesus in first place?
Thank him for your salvation.

Second thing you and I need to do is believe the truth about him. We began that
at the end of the last few verses we read. He is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of all creation, and then continuing on in verse 16, "For by him
all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible,
whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities, all things were created by
him and for him.

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 and the firstborn from the dead, so
that in everything he might have the supremacy. " You want to put Jesus in first
place today?

Believe this truth about him. The Colossians were living with this false
teaching that was being taught in their church and their city that threatened
this view of who Jesus really is. Gnosticism attacked Jesus.

The idea was that all matter was evil, everything in this world was evil, so God
couldn't possibly touch this world, so the idea that Jesus had come in human
flesh to this world, it couldn't possibly be true. And they had a lot of ideas
about what Jesus really was and how he really didn't touch this world, but
that's not the Jesus that you read about in the Gospels. And Paul writes to say,
"Here's the truth about Jesus, he's the image of the invisible God.

" Now, Gnosticism is what threatened the view of the people in Paul's day about
who Jesus really is. The question as we talk about these verses is, what is it
that threatens your view? What is it that causes you to think of Jesus as less
than who he really is?

You see, a false teaching about Jesus most often doesn't deny Jesus, it simply
dethrones Jesus, makes him less. It doesn't take away his prominence, it might
just take away his preeminence that he is first. A false teaching about Jesus is
willing to still say he's a way to God, but it's not willing to say he is the
way to God.

What is it that threatens your view about who Jesus really is? What do these
verses say is the truth about Jesus? He is God.

He's the image of the invisible God. You want to see what God looks like? Well,
nobody's going to see the exact physical image of God because the Bible says no
one's ever seen him at any time.

But the idea of who God is in his person, you see it in Jesus Christ. He isn't
some disembodied spirit walking around in Jesus, he is Jesus Christ walking this
world, showing us what God is really like. And that word "image" there doesn't
mean a copy, it means he is the real thing.

That's the idea of the word "image" that Paul uses here. He is God. He is
firstborn.

Now, what does "firstborn" mean? Because Jesus wasn't born, he's been from
forever, he's always existed and always will exist. The idea of firstborn in
both Old Testament and New Testament has the idea of supremacy.

So when the Bible talks about Jesus being firstborn, it's not saying he was a
birth child of God, it's saying he gets all the inheritance rights before God.
Firstborn was the idea of someone who got all the rights and Jesus has them all.
He is God.

He is firstborn. He is creator. Everything was created in the loving hands of
Jesus Christ.

Everything that you see every day, even yourself. We are a creation of God and
Jesus, again and again in the Bible, is attributed as this one who is the
creator. In fact, all three, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are said to be
creators.

Jesus is the creator. He is also the owner. All things were created by him and
for him.

He is the owner. When I recognize that God is the owner, that Jesus is the
owner, that stops me from living as the selfish owner, and it helps me to begin
living as a loving steward. A Dutch theologian once wrote about this, "When
Jesus looks at his universe from his exalted throne at the right hand of the
Father, and he sees the great galaxies whirling in space, the planets and the
people upon the planet, and all the minute details of life here including the
details of our individual lives, there is nothing that he sees anywhere of which
he cannot say, 'Mine.

'" It's all his. Not selfishly his, because he's God, he's not selfish. But
wonderfully his, because he's the creator and he is the owner.

He is also the sustainer. In him all things hold together. Everything holds
together in him.

Everything is sustained in him. God holds every atom in this universe together.
When you talk to physicists about this and look at what they look at in the
depths of electron microscopes, they can see the tiniest particles, smaller than
electrons, but they realize that even behind that there is some force, some
energy, that's holding those particles together.

What is that? Well, all the physicists may disagree about this. The Bible tells
us that it is God.

God holds it all together, every moment of every day. He's the sustainer. Who is
Jesus?

He is also the head of the body. When it comes to the church, Jesus Christ is
our leader and guide. We serve each other.

We sometimes may be in leadership positions where we help each other to serve.
But all in all, Jesus is our leader. Jesus is our head.

And without Jesus as the head of the body, we're like a chicken with its head
cut off. It might be a lot of energy, a lot of activity, but there's no life.
Jesus is the head of the body.

In fact, to go on, he is the beginning of the church. He started it all. He's
both originator and operator of the church.

He's both beginner and builder of the church. And these verses also say that he
is the first resurrected. The promise of your resurrection, my resurrection, is
in his resurrection.

Who is Jesus Christ? He is God in human flesh. Who is Jesus Christ?

He's the one who loved you enough to die on the cross for you. And when I
recognize this truth about who Jesus really is, it changes my priorities. In
fact, that's how you know.

That's how you know you've recognized this truth, not just given lip service to
it. You know you've recognized this truth about who Jesus is when it starts to
rearrange the priorities of your life, your family, your business, everything
about you. You want to live out the fact that Jesus Christ is in first place?

You got to live out a thankfulness for your salvation every day. You got to live
out this recognition of the truth of who Jesus is. And then there's a third
thing.

You also have to trust him for your future. The Bible says this in Colossians 1,
19 to 23, "For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and
through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or
things in heaven, by making peace through his blood shed on the cross. Once you
were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil
behavior, but now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death
to present you wholly in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation, if
you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held
out for you in the gospel.

This is the gospel that you heard and has been proclaimed to every creature
under heaven and of which I, Paul, have become a servant. " Paul uses three
striking words here to describe our condition prior to the cross, alienated,
enemies in our mind, doing evil deeds. And then he uses three words to express
our condition after the cross, "holy.

" Without blemish, free from accusation, wow, that is what only Jesus Christ can
do. So I can trust him for my future. Oh, you can trust yourself and maybe even
build a nice future for yourself in this world.

Maybe not, it might fall apart. But even if you build a nice future for yourself
in the 60, 70, 80, 90 years that you live on this planet, that's not your
future. Your future goes all the way into eternity.

Who are you trusting for that future? Are you trusting yourself? The good works
that you've done?

Well then you just have the first three words, alienated, enemies in mind, doing
evil deeds. That's how God sees us before we come to Christ. It's only in Christ
that we become holy without blemish and free from accusation.

Now I know in human terms we look at ourselves and we see some people are better
than others. But we don't look in human terms, not at salvation. God looks at us
in his terms and he says, "I need you to be holy to relate to me.

I need you to be without blemish. And I can do that for you by applying what
Jesus did on the cross to your life. That forgiveness is now your forgiveness in
your daily life.

" That's what only Jesus Christ can do. We've talked today about three words
that enable you and I to give Jesus rightful place, first place in our daily
lives. And we have gone quickly through this incredible passage of scripture.

I encourage you to go back and read through this again about who Jesus really
is. But as we end, I want to pray back to God those three words. Lord, we come
to you with these three words, thanks and truth and trust.

Lord, we thank you. Thank you for our salvation. Thank you that we have new life
in you.

And Lord, we are grateful for the truth. And we pray that we could live out the
truth of who you are. You are God.

You do hold everything together. You are creator. You do know things that we do
not know.

Help us to live on that truth. And God, we trust. We trust you for our future,
not ourselves.

Faith, hope, and love. You're where our hope is. You're where we find faith.

You're the only one that can create genuine love in our lives. We trust you for
that. Jesus Christ, you are Lord.

And we thank you for the truth that you are Lord. We trust in the truth that you
are Lord. In your name, amen.