AIM: As God's people how should our Christians walk be affected by Christ's Supremacy?
1. Dependency on Him
- Depending on Jesus because of who he is, not because I've crashed and burned my life.
- Forward looking knowing he is going before me and I'm following him
- He is previous, before all things (Col 1:15), "He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation"
- He maintains creation Col 1:17, Heb 1:3 (upholds the universe by the word of his power word)
- Christ identity should inspire our dependency, trust him more and more
- God loves dependency, yoke yourself to him
Application:
- Dependency is practiced in prayer that believes and hopes in the power of the Holy Spirit
2. Admitting Inadequacy doesn't always lead to Dependency but it should
- Hell will be filled with self-sufficient people
- Col 1:18, Jesus is the founder of the Church, Heb 12:2, only he is the reason for Christiananity and the Church
- First born from the Dead: Gal 1:1, 1 Cor 15:20, John 11 (Lazarus wasn't resurrected to a glorified body, but resuscitated - later died and will be resurrected on the last day)
(John 11:23-25) 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
Reflection: These emotional statements in John 11:24,33,35,38 could show that Lazarus was not going to be resurrected on the last day, could it be he hadn't believed even though Jesus loved him John 11:36. Therefore he was resuscitated that he would believe (John 11:40-44). (I'm currently studying John 9, so this statement in John 11:37, made me think about how the blind man came to faith with that healing).
Application: Prayers for loved ones matters, God can "resuscitate" those in our lives who appear totally dead even for 4 days, 4 years or a lifetime. Praying God would work this miracle for those whom I love, praying earnestly for resuscitation, that they may know it was God who did that work and bring him glory, trusting Jesus as Messiah, the Son of God, Savior and Lord.
Christianity, however, is founded, not on what Jesus taught (and this distinction is vital to grasp) but on who Jesus is and on what Jesus accomplished. Of course, as Christians, we stand firmly on His teachings. No one ever spoke and taught like Jesus, but ultimately, the value of what He said was dependent upon who He was and what He did and the abundant historical evidence that authenticated His life and words. This gave the teachings of Christ authority and placed them alone in the category of absolute truth. The truthfulness of Jesus and His teachings stand on the validity of historical records which are subject to investigation and examination. - The Uniqueness of Jesus ChristWhat if Jesus hadn't been born?