"Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son: In whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins" (Colossians 1:13-14).

Throughout the precious book of Colossians we see Christ presented in great majesty. Our Lord Jesus Christ not only reigns supreme over His first creation (the created universe), but also over His new creation (the Church). He is the universal sovereign Creator "Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature" (1:15). "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" (1:18).

Christ is also preeminent in our reconciliation, "having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself" (1:20), so that He can "make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (1:27).

Additionally, our Savior is unsurpassed in wisdom, as it is Christ "In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (2:3), far above man's "philosophy and vain deceit . . . the tradition of men . . . the rudiments of the world" (2:8).

Christ furthermore transcends all religion, invalidating man's rules, regulations, and ritualistic observances that are of no added value to our Lord's sacrificial work on the cross. All the ceremonial dietary restrictions, festivals, and sacrifices were simply "a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ" (2:17).

Finally, Christ is preeminent in our daily Christian lives, that as we "seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God" (3:1), we can then do everything "in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him" (3:17). MDR