The Supremacy of Christ

Colossians 1:15-18 make it very clear that things are only as they should be, in any sphere (family life, friendships, on the job, as we gather as church, in the board meeting, ….), when Christ is being accorded the supremacy (first place) that is rightfully His (cp. also Matt.28:18ff; Col. 3:1ff.; Phil.2:10).

John Piper’s way of putting this is especially appropriate: ‘seeing and savoring the supremacy of Christ.’ “Seeing” is the right word, because it’s not a matter of us making Christ preeminent and supreme – God has already done that (“giving Him a name/title [‘Lord’] that is above every other name/title” – Phil.2:9). So what we must do is recognize – see – the supremacy of Christ in all things, for that’s the way things really are.

But ‘savor’ also is a good word for how to rightly respond to that recognized supremacy. For unlike the unregenerate, those who have been born again delight in recognizing all the glories of Christ, including this profound reality that “God has exalted Him to the highest place” (Phil.2:9). And, in spite of the opposing tug of indwelling sin so long as we remain in this life, deep down our truest desire echoes the apostle’s aspiration (Phil.1:20ff.) that Christ might always be exalted in our own lives – in the big things and the little things, in the decisions we make, in the priorities we choose, how we invest our time, our emotional energy, our resources – in every area over which we have any say, we too want to live in light of the reality of the supremacy of Jesus Christ, always giving Him the first place that is rightfully His.

And what this also means is that anything or anyone that interferes with Christ being recognized (and savored/celebrated) as supreme – that is the essence of sin. Even if that interference comes from something that is innocent enough when it is secondary; such a thing is seriously sinful if it is allowed to usurp or to rival the first place that Christ alone deserves (e.g., Matt.10:37).

And what is liberating in all of this is to know that all I have to do is to aim to live a life (enabled by grace) that sees and savors the supremacy of Jesus Christ. For if I’m doing that, I’m living the life I’m supposed to live, and so I no longer need to fear what other people may think of me, or the life I’m living (c. Rom.14:4, 10-12; 1 Cor. 4:1ff.)

It seems to me that a recognition of what I’ve here summarized is at the very heart of what it means to be a Christian – it means being a person who, led by grace, has come to the place where our fundamental aim and aspiration is to see and savor the supremacy of Jesus Christ in everything.