As far back as I can remember, each Christmas brought with it special memories of special gifts. One year it was the Flintstone Building Block set; styrofoam technology at its best allowed me to construct Bedrock in my bedroom. There was the Tonka fire engine complete with my own fire hat and flashlight. When I was 8 I got a great gift, a G.I. Joe Jeep with a machine gun on back just like on Rat Patrol and search light towed behind. Each of those years I recall one special present, but I don’t recall what else I received.

Each year there may be that one special gift, but after a week, a month or a year goes by the gifts lose their luster. The toy breaks, the sweater is hopelessly out of style, the pants don’t fit and the fudge is all gone (I wonder if the last two are related?) Gifts are wonderful, but certainly fleeting. That G.I. Joe Jeep went the way of many of my toys. As I entered adolescence I found a new love. No not girls - explosives!

As an adult I no longer play with G.I Joe or M-80’s, but my toys, as treasured as they are, so soon become obsolete. Today my toys are digital and we all know how fast today’s technology becomes tomorrow’s pterodactyl. But we expect that out of Christmas, don’t we?

Unfortunately we can easily carry over that same attitude into our relationship with Christ. When faith takes a hold in our lives, whether when young or old, it is like unwrapping a wonderful gift. When God’s grace envelops your life, with the sense of all He has done, you are like an eight year old staring at the mound of gifts under the tree. You can’t wait to rip into them. But then, as the years past it seems the gift of eternal life becomes entirely too practical. Like another set of underwear from your Aunt Millie, sure you need it, but it become a little embarrassing to tell others about. In time, the gift of Christ becomes just another memory, wonderful as it may be, but beginning to fade.

As we enter this time of year when we find ourselves giving and receiving many gifts, it is imperative we stop to remember that the greatest gift is unlike anything we’ve ever given or received. The gift of Christ is one which will not wilt with the poinsettia, will not get tossed on the curb with the old tree. The gift of Christ is supreme over all others and for that reason it is entirely sufficient for all our needs. We began last week looking at Colossians 1:15-17 to see how Christ clears the Christmas confusion as the Incarnation shows us that Christ is supreme over all creation. In Colossians 1 Paul takes the next logical step in the verses which follow. If the supremacy of Christ over all creation gives us hope this holiday, how much more will the supremacy of Christ over the Church remind us that as we celebrate His birth this year, He is a gift which will never fade.

8. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.

19. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,

20. and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

You’ll recall the problems facing the church in Colosse. Their culture had a hard time with Jesus Christ for many of the same reasons people do in our day and age. A baby born in a cattle stall doesn’t really sound all that spiritual. Sure, the humility portrays a sentimentality which some may warm our hearts, but how can it really change our lives? The commonness of Christ made Him a less likely candidate for God, so the people thought, where was the majesty, the pomp and circumstance, where was the awe? It was all too physical, not very ethereal. To that Paul made it clear: the physical was created by Christ and is ruled over by Christ. It doesn’t get any more otherworldly than that. Paul’s argument is quite logical. He begins will all creation moving then to the Church. Having argued that Christ is the firstborn of creation, that as He is supreme over all He has made, then it stands to follow that He is supreme over the Church.

The gift of Christ is supreme - (verse18) 2 ways to illustrate supremacy of Christ

As Christ is head over the entire organism of the universe, as He is the master of all powers and principalities – how could there be any debate that He is not also head over the Church? He is head over the first creation and now over the new creation, over a new humanity called the Church.

This metaphor of the body is used by Paul elsewhere, in 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 2 and 4. But here he uses it with a different focus. Elsewhere the image of the Body is used to convey the mutual dependence we all have on one another. But here the focus is not on how we relate to one another, but how we all relate to Christ. There is to be total dependence of the entire Church on Christ for its very existence and continuance.

In order to define the Church, the Body of Christ, we must properly understand that Christ is the Head. When Christ is not given pre-eminence, the Church is cut off from the Head and cannot grow.

Just as we are surrounded by people who celebrate Christmas without a clue as to the reason why, just as we, in our frenetic lives, find ourselves only thinking about gifts and concerts, traveling and family get-togethers – so also there is a deadly phenomenon which takes place in so many churches – the Body forgets about the Head.

We can be busy doing so much good, helping people, loving one another, strengthening marriages, raising moral children, but all the while the Body is separate from the Head. The work of Christ takes second place; like the lonely nativity obscured by the mountain of presents, Christ no longer becomes the commander-in-chief. Instead, like an obsolete monarch who makes appearances at certain functions, but has no authority, in some churches Christ makes appearances only as a figurehead. It is like cleaning up the wrapping paper Christmas morning only to discover that you’ve thrown out baby Jesus from the nativity under the tree.

Cornerstone is not my church. I hope not one of you are so pathetic that you are here because of me! Nor is Cornerstone our church. Cornerstone is Christ’s church. He founded it, and He is in charge of it. In this day when more and more emphasis is on making the Church more like a corporation with the Pastor as CEO, it is important that we remember that the Church is not a business enterprise. We are His body. We do His bidding. Christ calls the shots. We must not consider issues of body life in this church to deal only with the horizontal to the exclusion of Christ.

Christ uses means to guide and direct this church. There is a shepherd, there are elders, there are members whose voices are heard. But let us never forget that whenever decisions are made, when classes are taught, when opinions are voiced in this church, it is our desire that we speak not out of our own hearts, but diligently seek God by means of Christ, in His Word.

The reason we say that Christ is the Head of the Church is because He is the beginning of the Church. He initiated, created this institution. The Church came into being not because 2000 years ago a group of people were enamoured with a teacher called Jesus. The Church is not an institution organized to enshrine Jesus.

In Revelation 22:13 Jesus defines Himself as the "Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." Jesus defines Himself as the bookends to all creation and all history. It is a common mistake for people to imagine that the Second Person of the Godhead, the Son of God, came into existence in Bethlehem. This passage lays that to rest. Jesus Christ was the eternal Son.

But translating this word "arche" as beginning is rather thin. The term means first principle, source. It points to priority in time as well as rank. This same word is used in verse 16, translated there as "authorities." Again in 2:10,15 the term is used of persons of stature. There is no authority, nothing with a beginning which is before Christ. There is no power greater than His. As you and I look at our world, what power seems to have the greatest say in our existence? Death.

In the NIV the translators inserted an "and" between beginning and firstborn, but that is not in the Greek. The word "firstborn" modifies and further explains how Christ is the beginning. Christ is the beginning by being raised from the dead. He began creation. He began the Church. He conquered death so He has authority over all. He is the first one to be raised never to die again.

In the Old Testament in 2 Kings 4:32-37 we have the account of Elisha raising the Shunammite's son from the dead. Also in 2 Kings 13:20-21 we have another raised from the dead when his body is thrown into Elisha's grave. In the New Testament we have several occurrences that proceed Jesus's resurrection. In Matthew 9:18-26 Jarius’s daughter is raised by Jesus. In Matthew 27:53 we read that at Jesus's death "the tombs were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised." Luke 7:14 records the raising of the son of the widow at Nain by Jesus; and of course John 11:44 records the resurrection of Lazarus by Jesus. So the question is, how then could Jesus be regarded as the "firstborn" from the dead?

Each of those God miraculously rose from the dead later died. Their resurrections were just a stay in the impending sentence of death which we all must face. But Christ’s resurrection is one to new life, never having to face death again. He is victorious over death. With Christ’s resurrection there is the inauguration of a new age, a new authority, a new power.

All this has a reason – so that in creation and the Church, Christ would be pre-eminent; He would hold the highest rank, have first place. He possesses superior rank to all else.

We’ve recently endured a protracted process to determine who our next President will be. No matter what people thought of the process, all agreed that whoever would be sworn in would have some doubt cast on his legitimacy. But with Christ, there exists no doubt, there is no debate; no contest is possible, no recount can ever be demanded.

After Christmas as you line up your gifts and someone were to ask you the tough question, "Which one is the best?" you may be hard pressed, for each one has special meaning. But when it comes to Christ, God’s gift to us is clear. His supremacy demands our worship. But what is more, if Christ is supreme over the Church; He is then sufficient for the Church.

The gift of Christ is sufficient - (verses 19-20)

Christ is sufficient because of the incarnation

Just as verse 16 gives the reason for Christ’s supremacy over creation, so verses 19-20 give the reason for His supremacy over the Church. First we see again the centrality of the Incarnation. Christ is sufficient for everything because He is fully God. The Incarnation, God taking on flesh, is described here as setting up a tent, making a home in Christ.

There was nothing of God that was not in Christ. That the fullness of God dwelt there tells us that there is nothing we need to seek outside of Christ; there is nothing more we need to add. The mistake of people then and now is to imagine that while Jesus is all well and good, we need something else besides Him. But if the fullness of God dwells in Christ, then there is nothing more we need.

How often have you opened a present Christmas morning, only to realize that in order for the toy to work you had to purchase some other part or there were batteries you forgot to get. The sufficiency of Christ for all our needs is spelled out here when we are told that it was God’s pleasure to see to it that Jesus Christ was fully God and fully man so that there would not need be anything else we had to do in order to have God’s pleasure on us.

How often people spend years seeking for something more, wandering aimlessly in search for a better experience with God. Christ is well and good; they would never imagine setting Him aside, but there is something lacking. This passage puts an end to that.

The Father’s pleasure is not only to have the full deity indwelling in Christ, but also to reconcile. It is not enough to send Christ, hoping people will get their act together.

Have you ever received a guilt present, a gift from someone you didn’t expect? You feel bad you didn’t get them something so rush out to get something for them in return. That is the way some present Christmas: God surprises us with Christ so we feel bad for all the bad things we’ve done and now, hopefully, we’ll get our act together...but we never do.

Rather this passage reminds us that Christmas is not the final goal, but the initiation of reconciliation. Christmas tells us that God will accomplish what He has set out to do.

We understand reconciliation. We do it all the time. You get your bank statement at the end of the month, then you sit down at the table with a pencil and a calculator. You are bringing your account into agreement with the bank’s record. When it comes to the bank, if we are out of sync then it is up to us to make it right. It is there the similarity ends. If we are not in agreement with the bank, we must change. Notice who does what in verse 20.

Reconciliation is a work of God. The Bible is not a story of man’s search for God.

The initiative belongs to God. If verse 21 realistically describes man’s moral and spiritual state there can be no hope of peace unless God undertakes the work of peacemaking. Verse 19 precedes verse 20 precisely to make clear that God must even take human flesh to provide the Man who will be able to represent all men. So it is only through Christ that reconciliation can be attempted and accomplished.

The goal of incarnation is reconciliation and this is done by substitution. Just as reconciliation is a work of God, so reconciliation is a work in God by means of Christ’s death in our place. We do not need to wait for reconciliation until the end of time, for peace has been made by the death of Christ. Therefore reconciliation with God waits not upon our achievement but upon our acceptance. For there to be a change in our relationship with God, the change had to take place in God.

The gift of Christ at Christmas is not to conjure up in us feelings of warmth so that we would at last be nice toward others and respectful toward God. Rather the Incarnation is a picture of the great lengths to which God went so that His wrath would not be poured out on us. Baby Jesus in the manger, Christ dying on the Cross, is not so that our hearts melt with shame for foolish rebellion. The work of Christ is directed toward the Father, so that His wrath would be poured out on His innocent Son instead of us.

What Paul lays out in our passage here he described in greater detail in 2:9-15 and applies it to our lives. How does the gift of Christ affect us now?

The fullness of God in Christ is now our fullness. As Christ is the Head and we the Body, what is His is now ours. (verses 9-10). What is more, as we are in Christ, that is, as His body, as we by faith accept the greatest Christmas gift ever given, then we too receive the benefits of Christ’s work. What are they?

Putting off of the sinful nature

In the Old Testament the rite of circumcision illustrated the necessity of a work of God in the hearts and lives of His people – the cutting off of sin. But what men did only pointed toward. The reality was a work of God’s grace. When Christ hung on the tree not only did He did, but as He is our federal head, our substitute, we died as well. Our old nature is gone, no longer under the authority of Adam; we are now under new management, with a new head, Jesus Christ.

Putting on the new nature