We all need to learn that this universe is under God’s administration and that God’s intention in His administration is to make Christ preeminent, to cause Him to have the first place in everything.
God’s desire is to give Christ the preeminence in all things – He wants Christ to have the first place in all things (see Col. 1:15, 18).
In the old creation, Christ is preeminent – He is the firstborn of all creation. In the new creation, Christ is preeminent – He is the firstborn from the dead.
The entire world situation is under God’s rule so that it would match His economy for Christ to be the first, the preeminent One (see Dan. 7:9-10; 4:34-35). The God of the heavens rules on the earth so that the situation on earth would match His plan, His purpose, and His economy for Christ.
In our personal universe, it has to be the same – Christ needs to be our center and our everything, having the preeminence in every aspect of our living. In His administration over us God has the intention that Christ would be preeminent in all the things related to us.
He wants to be the first in our personal life, in our emotions, in our education, in managing the finances, in our family life, and in every area of our being and living!
Lord, we give You the first place in all things by faith! Lord Jesus, may nothing and no one take Your place in all our heart. Come in, dear Lord, and replace anything that has preeminence in us apart from You. Work Yourself into us and constitute us with Your element until we have You as our center, our circumference, and our everything. Lord, have preeminence in us!
God Rules so that Christ may Have the First Place
The entire world situation is under God’s rule – the heavens rule! God today rules and administrates the world situation so that there would be a situation for Christ to return.
His return is imminent – the Lord is right at the door and the time is near. We as believers in Christ need to wake up and realize that the world today with all it has to offer is NOT for us. We are God-men, we are for Christ, and every day we need to prepare ourselves to meet the Lord, so that we may receive a reward from Him when He returns.
We need to give Christ the first place in everything by cooperating with God in making Christ the centrality and universality of His move on earth. God rules not only over the world situation but also over our personal situation, so that Christ may have the preeminence in all things in us.
Our environment, our family life, our work life, the city and country we are in, all are under God’s sovereign rule and arrangement to help us give Christ the preeminence, the first place, in all things. Will You Give Christ the First Place in All Things in Your Life?
Christ is the Preeminent One
In Colossians we see that Christ is the preeminent One – He’s the first in the old creation (Col. 1:15) and He is the first in the new creation (Col. 1:18). Christ is the firstborn of all creation, and He’s the firstborn from the dead in His resurrection.
In God’s eyes, Christ is the first. In God’s work and economy, Christ is the first. Christ is the first both in the old creation and in the new creation. The church today as the new creation of God expresses Christ in full by giving Him the first place in all things.
When the believers in the church choose “the democratic way”, Christ is put aside. But when all the members of the Body are holding Christ as the Head (Col. 2:19) and give Him the preeminence, He will head up all things in Him and He will be fully expressed through the church.
We need to open to the Lord and tell Him,
Lord, have the first place in our family life. Be the first in our church life. Lord, have preeminence in the way we care for our health, our family, our finances, our marriage, our job, our relationships, our speaking, and in every aspect of our life. Lord, have the first place! We want to love You supremely! Have the preeminence in every stage and aspect of our human life. We want to hold nothing back or seal off. Have access to every part and be the Preeminent One!
Christ is the All-Inclusive One
In Christ all the fullness was pleased to dwell (Col. 1:19). He is the fullness of the Godhead in a bodily form. He is the all-inclusive One, the reality of all the positive things in the universe.
We don’t believe in “many Gods”, neither do we say that the heavens are God, the earth is God, etc….But Christ is the reality of all the positive things God created in this universe.
Christ is the reality of the heavens, the earth, man, air, food, sun, life, light, the stars, trees, flowers, rivers, drink, etc. Also, Christ is the reality of all our human virtues – He is the real humility, patience, kindness, love, endurance, joy, peace, etc.
Christ is the embodiment of all the divine attributes like love, power, holiness, righteousness, kindness, compassion, joy, etc.
In the church, Christ is the Head, and He is also every member of the church – He is all and in all. In God’s building, He is the foundation stone, the cornerstone (Eph. 2:20), the topstone, the living stone (1 Pet. 2:4), and every stone.
Christ is the center and everything of what God is, has, does, and desires. This Christ needs to become our center and our everything in our daily life. We need to accept His sovereign arrangement in our daily life and never do anything to hinder Him from what He desires to do in us or in others.
Lord Jesus, we want to cooperate with Your operation in our being. We can’t do this in ourselves – only by Your dispensing and Your central work of building Yourself into us can we have Christ as our center and our everything. Lord, may You be the first in our marriage life, in our diet, our health, and in all our interactions and relationships with people. We give You the first place, dear Lord. Be our center, and be our everything!
References and Further Reading
- Sharing inspired from brother Ron Kangas’s speaking in this message and portions in, Life-study of Daniel (p. 5) and life-study of Colossians (pp. 41-44), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on Crystallization-Study of Daniel and Zechariah, week 1 (entitled, The Rule of the Heavens, the Economy of God, and the Excellent Christ as the Precious and Preeminent One in God’s Move).
- Further reading: The Centrality and Universality of Christ, ch. 1; Life-study of Revelation, msg. 18.
- Hymns on this topic:
# I give You the first place in all things by faith. / Let nothing take Your place in all my heart. / Infuse me with Yourself abundantly / ’Til we meet, dear Lord. / I’ll love You with the best love.
# Thou art before all creatures, / In Thee all things consist; / Of all Thou art the center, / By Thee all things subsist. / Thou art the sole beginning, / The Firstborn from the dead; / And for the Church, Thy Body, / Thou art the glorious Head.
# Lord Jesus, I love You! / I give You the preeminence in what I do. / Enjoying You is the overcoming way. / Thank You for Your recovery; Your Word we will obey. - Pictures credit: Inspiration Unlimited (facebook page), and via here.
As the all-inclusive One, Christ is the centrality and universality of God….Christ is the center and the circumference of God’s purpose. Christ is both the centrality and universality of God’s purpose. He is the hub and also the rim. In other words, Christ is all. Again I say that this is not pantheism. It is simply a statement of the fact that Christ is both the center and the circumference of God’s economy….In God’s economy Christ is everything. (Life-study of Colossians, pp. 41-44)
A great mystery has been revealed to us. This mystery is concerning CHRIST. The entire world situation is under the rule of the heavens by the God of the heavens to match His economy for CHRIST – which is to give Christ the PREEMINENCE in ALL things, to cause Christ to have the FIRST place in EVERYTHING. Under His heavenly rule, God is using the environment to make Christ the centrality (first) and universality (everything) to us. We must wake up and realise that the world is not for us. We, as well as the whole universe, are for Christ! And everyday we must prepare ourselves to meet Him. How? Daily open to Him (e.g. by calling O Lord Jesus!) and allow Him to have the preeminence in all our life, all we say and do, all our interactions, our thoughts, feelings and decisions. Just by the simple starting step of calling on His name, we are giving Him the ground, the first place. In order for Christ to have the preeminence, He needs to have a group of people who will give Him the first place in their personal universe. This requires us to spend much time with Him, and it requires us to LOVE Him. Just come to Him as you are. Let Him accomplish His work in You. Lord, we love You! We open to You, have the first place in everything!
God rules in our personal universe in our daily life, work life, family life and church life in order to make Christ the preeminent one , i.e. so that Christ will have the first place in all things. Lord, gain us to be the group of people You need to make Christ our everything.
Amen, He is also the all-inclusive One.Christ is the reality of all the positive things in the universe. if we know the Bible and God's economy, we shall realize that Christ is the heavens, the earth, the sun, life. light, the star, trees, flowers, water, air, and food, the material things pictures of what He is to us.Christ