Colossians 1:16a

Colossians 1, verses 16 and 17, for by Him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created by Him and for Him. and he is before all things, and by him all things consist. May God bless to us the reading of his holy and sacred word this morning. John Haldon was an unbelieving scientist who once suggested that John Knox, the minister and church leader, that there was no criminal. creator. As he put it, the unbelieving scientist, in a universe containing millions of planets, it was inevitable that life would appear by chance on one of them. To which John Knox replied, sir, if Scotland Yard found a body in your Saratoga trunk, would you tell them there are millions of trunks in the world? Surely one of them must contain a body. I think Scotland Yard would still want to know who put it there. The Apostle Paul has been continuing to explain to us exactly who Jesus Christ is. And we see that here in verses 16 and 17. We’ve already looked at the fact that he is the Redeemer, and he has begun to explain that he is, of course, the mediator. the express and perfect image of God the Father. He that has seen me, has seen the Father, but he’s also, we see the firstborn of every creature. We said that this related to two things. He is first in the decree of God, the human nature of Christ, according to God’s eternal purpose, would be the firstborn of every creature. Everything would revolve around then Christ as the God man. And as the Son of God, of course, Christ has, does not have a place among the world of creatures. He has a divine nature equal with the Father. But his human nature is given a primary place in the plan of God. And we also said it means first in dominion or in rulership. For the word firstborn in scriptures often refers to the one who is the head of the family, the one who is the heir of all things. And so in that case, Christ is the ruler of the kings of the earth, and certainly he is the one who is the heir of all things. Paul now having explained generally, Christ’s relationship to God and his relationship to the creature as the God man, he speaks of his relationship. to all creation in detail here before us in our text. And we’re only going to be able to look at the first part of this text this text this morning. But let me begin by saying this. You find the person of the creator here. For by him were all things created. This indicates, of course, that Jesus Christ existed prior to the creation. of this world in his divine nature. John’s gospel precludes the word or the Son of God as being a mere creature because all things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made. All things received life and being from Christ the Creator. He is the maker of all things then, therefore, without exception. Now our observation on this, it should be pretty basic, you should realize there’s a creator. Napoleon Bonaparte at one time was on a ship crossing the Mediterranean Sea, and he was joined on deck one starlit night by a group of scientists, and they were discussing the various theories of the origin of the world. And, of course, they had no time for God in their discussion. They denied the cosmos was the creative work of some powerful God. Napoleon listened quietly. and at first he made no comment and then at last singing one of the scientists who was the most vehement in denying the existence of God the literal general pointed up to the heavens and he said this and who made those stars natural science or do they make themselves gentlemen i don’t agree with you at all not at all the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament show with forth his handiwork there was a wine company that placed an ad in the Newsweek magazine and the ad read this the earth gives us wonderful grapes the grapes give us wonderful wine the wine wins us lots of friends thank you earth modern man thinks that mother earth is the source of all life and all nourishment for the creatures and so the earth is praised and the earth is extolled as the source of all goodness and not God. That’s modern man. So in our day and age we see that there’s often a denial of a creator of God. Various theories are put forth. But all of them deny that Jesus Christ is the creator and we must understand that. For many years the prevailing theory of the universe was the steady state theory. that supposedly the universe has always been and always will be. It’s ungenerated and indestructible. Of course, that has given way to what we call, or what is known as the Big Bang theory, that somehow there was an explosion. And 15 or 20 billion years ago, and out of this gigantic fireball, all of life eventually came into being. And that’s where our soldiers were, systems came tumbling out. If this theory were true, it would tell you nothing about who caused the big bang, or what caused the big bang? Nor does it explain how complexity can come out of a gigantic explosion and diversity and order. It would be like an explosion in a print factory and all of a sudden you have a well-composed book. That this doesn’t happen. It. Anything that’s involved in explosion is spread out and disintegrated and separated. One of the insurmountable problems with the scientific method that is used today is what we call the fallacy of induction. Science cannot observe the universe today and then reason backwards to come to its origin and explain it. What human being was present to observe the creation of the world. What scientist was writing down everything that took place? Who was doing the measurements? What was, you know, what kind of observation was going on? I thought science involved all that. Carl Popper, one of the 20th century’s greatest philosophers on science, said this. We know that our scientific theories always remain hypotheses. In science, we never have sufficient reason for the belief that we have, obtained the truth. Our knowledge, our doctrine is conjectural. It consists of guesses of hypotheses rather than of final and certain truths. The reason why you have so many like theories of evolution, there’s not just one theory. There’s all kinds of theories of evolution. It’s because nobody can agree and nobody can come to a conclusion. Well, this has to be the truth. Science, as we know it, can’t come to the truth. by their methods. But what all this guesswork is and all this effort is is to get rid of the Creator. We don’t want to have Christ as the Creator. It’s another attack or a denial of the person and work of Jesus Christ that we see so evident in our world today. If Christ is the Creator, then you are responsible to Him. You are going to have to give an account to him as your maker about the right and the wrong that you’ve done in this life. He’s going to be your final judge. He’s going to assess what you do. He has a standard by which he’s going to evaluate you and he’s told you in his word what it is. And therefore, if we do away with the creator, we can get that out of our minds. And my friends, we’re told in script you’re very infatuation. Christ is the creator of all things. So you find the person of the creator for by him were all things created. You find the particulars of creation laid out before us here. He created all things, the Bible says, in heaven and that are in our. Now when we read about heaven, we realize that the scripture uses heaven in a threefold sense. Paul, when he had a vision one time he said it was caught up into the third heaven. So there seems to be like three levels of heaven. We have what we call the airy heaven, which is the earth’s atmosphere, if you would. We have the starry heaven, which we would call outer space. And of course we have the heaven of heavens, God’s a boat. But Christ is the creator of all things in the airy heaven, certainly all the birds and the very species of birds that are. fly about. Christ is the creator of all things in the starry heavens, the sun, the moon, the stars, and so forth. The galaxies, the comets. And certainly Christ is the creator of all things in the heaven of heavens. We talk about angels and cherubims and seraphims and archangels and so forth. And then he says on earth, this certainly would include the land and the sea. We know in the sea there is the fish and the whales and the sea creatures and the crabs and the jellyfish and the giant squids and the octopi and the oysters and the clams and who knows the coral and the seaweed and sea plants and so forth. The land, we could talk about the metal and the minerals and all the plants and the herbs and the trees and every beast of the forest, the cattle on a thousand hills, and of course God’s crowning achievement. Man, all that is created by Christ. And then he says, here further in describing this the visible and the invisible. Now, when we think about visible things, obviously, you know, anything you can see with the eye, the sun, the moon, the stars, the planets, the animals, human beings walking around on Earth. So for whatsoever, whatever is material, the invisible here, he would refer to those angelic beings, both good and bad, and of course the souls of man. that we don’t see with the eye. The most prominent and powerful of all creatures are created by Christ. We read here about thrones and dominions and principalities and powers also being created by Christ. Now, the Apostle teaches that not all the creatures that all the creatures are not only made, but there is a sense in which we might say that they were arranged by Christ. Their pecking order, their status in this world is also up to Christ, given their place or their position or authority, all degrees of preeminence and command are arranged and appointed by Christ ultimately. He is the creator of all. government rulers, officials, kings, presidents. And we also must see that these words are used of the angelic beings as well. And in fact, if you look in scripture, it’s used of both. And so it would refer to the various orders among the angelical or invisible beings that exist as well. So we could use this language. of either one. So while the text may refer to different grades of civil magistrates on this earth, mayors and governors and congressmen and presidents and so forth, it seems to go beyond this because Scripture certainly talks about the angelic order and uses these kind of words with regard to both good angels and evil angels, or demonic forces. So all these terms have reference to both. And a careful study of scripture indicates to us, and this is what’s interesting because there’s an intertwining between human rulers and these various forces that are invisible and these very powers and principalities. We should recognize that. I want you to look with me at Daniel chapter 12, if you would. Now, while God, through Christ, has created all things, he certainly created all things good. But with the fall of man and, of course, the fall of Satan, we have those who are in sin. So we have demonic forces, and we have evil creatures that we must deal with. But here’s an interesting passage of scripture in Daniel chapter 10 and verses 12 and 13. Then he said, unto me, fear not Daniel. This is an angel sent from the Lord to Daniel. For from the first day that thou did set thine heart to understand and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days. And lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, and I remained there with the kings of Persia. And then if you would, verse 20. Then he said, knowest thou, wherefore, I come unto thee, and now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia. And when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grisha shall come. Now this passage does not speak about the human ruler of Persia, Cyrus or one of his sons, or the more normal title, king of Persia, would have been used. No human king or even prince could withstand an angel. Who could hinder an angel? Who could cause an angel to be somewhat hindered or withstand an angel? Such as Gabriel, who often appears in the book of Daniel? So since good angels don’t fight with one another, because they’re all on the same side, and they’re all carrying out of God’s will, we have an idea here from this text that it refers, verse 13, to an evil angel, a demonic force, a spiritual prince or ruler. Satan are one of his chief fallen angels who is employed here to battle against this angel coming to Daniel. And then Michael comes, and we know he is classified as the archangel. He seems to aid the angel here and help him overcome this enemy force that is bad on him. This evil angel seems to be employed in creating mischief in the court of Persia against the people of God. The good angel’s mission in the court of Persia was to work in the minds of the king of Persia and his nobles to influence their decisions so that they would favor the Jews in the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple. The evil angel stirred the king of Persia against the people of God, moving the Samaritans against the people of God, moving the Samaritans to offer gifts to Persia, Persian officials and the king to act in favor of those who oppose the Jews. So we have this behind the scenes look, and we see that connected closely with various kings or various government officials, we can have demonic forces involved. And so our text here could certainly include both because there’s is an intertwining. Now, when it uses the word thrones here, we certainly know that this can be used of human kings. We read about the throne of David. It can be used of the throne of God. We read that in Revelation many times. It can be used of the rule of the apostles over the church, because they would rule over the 12 tribes of Israel, sitting upon thrones. In Revelation, we read in King James that where Satan’s seed is, where Satan’s throne is. We refer to Satan, or the throne of the beast, who is guided and directed by Satan. In Ephesians 612, we read about the rulers of the darkness of this world. These are demonic forces. Dominions here. the word dominion here, Curiotis, has to do with lordship, the Lordship, the Lord over someone else. We can, we obviously, Jesus talked about how the Gentiles lord it over their subjects, and, you know, the Christian disciples are not to be lording it over the church. And so it can be referred to human rulers, even church rulers, can be referred to, referring to angelic rulers, good and bad in scripture. Principalities. here has to do with someone being in first position. Human magistrates, Titus 3 wants, be subject to the principalities and powers. That seems to be human government that is over you. The holy angels are called that, principalities and powers. The evil angels are called that. You notice in Colossians 2115 that Christ, upon his resurrection, spoiled principalities and powers. These are evil forces that are being talked about in evil angels. Powers speak about those who have authority, some type of freedom to act as they see fit. It could be military command. There’s Roman centurion says, I have a man under authority. I have power. I can command people to do this or that or the other. It can refer to government authority. When we read about pilot understanding that Jesus was under Herod’s jurisdiction, under Herod’s power, is the literal word. The same word that’s used here. Of course, it can also be used of Satan’s authority as the prince of the power of the air. It’s used of angelic authority, both good angels and bad angels as well. It’s used of God’s authority. Have not the potter power over the clay to do as he wants. So these are the most prominent and powerful of all the creatures created by Jesus Christ here that are mentioned. It doesn’t matter who they are, it doesn’t matter what place they have they were created, brought in existence, given their position by the Lord. Now these observations I will make before. The first is this. You should realize that this material world is not all that exists. you see here he talks about things visible and invisible. There are things that are invisible. Now, you live in a day when many deny there is a spiritual world and whatever is material, whatever is visible to the human eyes, the only thing that really is considered to be in existence. People often refuse to accept the existence of holy angels, of Satan, of God himself. even immortal souls. We become so-called scientific that if you can’t observe it, you can’t weigh it, you can’t measure it, you can’t examine it, it must not exist. You remember when the false prophet, Bealam went with the messengers from the king of Moab, he wanted to go and he wanted to have Balim, Balam went to curse the Israelites. But on his way, his donkey kept acting strangely. this donkey, first of all, turned off the road into a field. He gets it back on the road, and he’s going down the road, and next thing you know, he crushes his foot against the wall. And finally, the donkey just sits down, and he’s not going forward any further. And, of course, the incensed prophet gets his stick out, and he’s beating the donkey. You know, he’s mad at the donkey. He’s incensed. This donkey’s just behaving oddly today. And then the Bible says that the Lord opened the eyes of Balam, the prophet. He didn’t see what the donkey saw. The angel of Lord stood in the way for an adversary against Balim, and his sword was drawn in his hand. That’s what the donkey saw. That’s why the donkey stopped. But the Lord opened the eyes of Balam, and he saw the angel of Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand. All of the sword was drawn in his hand. sudden now he sees it but his eyes had to be open to see it his ass saved his life his donkey saved his life by stopping but he didn’t realize how close he came to death many many people there are like balaam because they go through this world all they think about is material things they’re not even thinking that beyond what we can visualize there’s another dimension there is the visible dimension that Jesus talks about and the word of God talks about. There are the activities of angels and demonic forces. People can’t see Satan and therefore they conclude there is no such a being. It must be a religious myth. Scripture calls upon you to believe in invisible spiritual beings for Jesus Christ created them. Now you can’t see your soul. You’ll never see a soul pass out of a body and either ascend to heaven or end up in hell. Your body dies and is lifeless, but the scripture reveals that your soul lives on. And either you’re among the just men made perfect in heaven, or you’re like the rich man who lifts up his eyes in hell being in torment. That soul is invisible, but it’s not. It lives. It does not die with the body. So you should realize the physical world is not all that exist. The Bible constantly is reminding us of this. The second thought is this. You should realize spiritual beings move and sway earthly rulers and men. Look at 2 Corinthians chapter 4 in verse 4 with me this morning if you would. Let’s read 3 and 4. 2 Corinthians 4, 3 and 4. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost. In whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God should shine unto them. We’ve already talked about satanic influence among government officials from Daniel chapter 10 but here we see Satan’s work even among ordinary people who live on this earth. If we could separate the curtain, we could pull back the curtain between the material world and the spiritual world, we would see an awesome sight because you would witness a fierce struggle. There are angelic forces and demonic forces engaged in activities that we cannot see or witness with the naked eye. Book of Revelation, we talk about there’s war in heaven and the spiritual realm between Michael and his angels and the dragon fought with his angels. There’s a battle taking place. Daniel learned this as we talked about from Daniel 10. So the struggle is not merely between let’s sense. say Washington, D.C. a Moscow. It’s not merely between, let’s say, U.S. led coalition and the terrorists. But we should realize there are clashes on earth are a reflection of something else. There’s something bigger going on. Satan is at work. And, of course, he’s opposing the kingdom of God as it is advancing in the kingdom. world. And so there’s this perpetual struggle between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. And Satan, his demonic forces are trying to influence and move government officials against the people of God. And God’s angels are busily engaged in thwarting Satan and protecting the people of God. And Christ has sent forth his holy angels to minister to those who are the heirs of salvation and watch over them. But let me bring this down to a very practical level. for you this morning. There are evil spiritual beings, princes and powers and dominions and rulers of darkness, that influence and penetrate the minds of men and women in this world. We’re not wrestling against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers. as Ephesians 6 tells us. Now, for example, when you speak the gospel, you talk to your neighbor or a coworker, and you begin to explain to them the gospel of Jesus Christ, and you might find that people don’t understand it. And you might think to yourself, well, maybe I didn’t do a very good job of presenting it. Maybe I didn’t explain it as well as I should have. maybe I wasn’t clear enough. Of course, we could all do better at presenting the gospel. For friends, it’s not necessarily your method. It’s not necessarily what you said to them. It’s much more than that. For the Bible tells us here in 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 4 that Satan blinds minds. What did Jesus teach in the in the parable of the sower? When the seed is spread out, are not the demonic forces going up and going along and picking up the seed of the word so it doesn’t take root? Isn’t Satan involved in trying to thwart the progress of the kingdom? In Acts chapter 13, we see Satan raising up opposition to Paul and Barnabas. They go out, they’re sent out by the church to be missionaries, and they go to the island of Crete, and they’re preaching the gospel, and people are being converted. They run into a man named Alimus, who is a sorcerer and a false prophet, were told. And the Bible says that he would not cease to pervert the ways of the Lord. Tried to persuade the governor of the island, not to believe the message of the Apostle Paul. That was Satan at work. That was Satan at work doing that. And so, when we, are engaged in the work of the ministry of Jesus Christ, not only just preaching, but your everyday efforts to give out the gospel. Remember, there are invisible forces at work. Satan is at work. His angelic forces are at work, his demonic forces, and trying to blind and snatch away the seed. This is why it takes the almighty power of God to save us all. because people are entrapped by Satan and blinded, and he’s doing all he can to prevent the advancement of Christ’s kingdom on this earth. Well, let me close this morning by saying that John Haldane, that unbelieving scientists said, well, with all the millions of planets, surely there’ll be life on one. And as John Knox says, with all the millions of Saratoga trunk, surely there’d be a body in one, but Scotland Guard still one. wants to know how that body got there. We want to know how we got here. The Bible says Christ created us. That’s the biblical and true answer of why we exist and why all things exist, visible or invisible in heaven and earth, even the most mighty men or the most mighty angelic forces that exist. Let us bow then in praise in adoration of our creator, the Lord Jesus Christ. for he deserves all praise and glory, for he created all things that exist. Let us close with God.