Discovering Your Hidden Treasures (Colossians Series #1)

Many years ago, the Spanish Armada was sailing off the coast of Florida. A hurricane struck, and those ships that were laden with millions of dollars in gold and silver ingots went to the bottom, in shallow water. People knew the treasure had been lost, but they didn’t know where the ships had gone down. One ship went down near Vero Beach, Florida.

No doubt, over the years thousands of people have been in that water, swimming, scuba diving, snorkeling, spear fishing, but they didn’t come up with any millions. The ships were there in shallow water. Fisherman, doubtless, fished over that spot sometimes. They would hang a hook, perhaps, on a lump of gold, and curse their luck, because they had hung a hook down beneath the water on something they could not see.

Then one day, an explorer said, “The ship must be here.” They went out, and they made the surveys; they tested, and they went down into the water. Then, there it was, in shallow water—so shallow that any of us who could swim normally could have gone to the bottom. They brought up millions of dollars. All along people did not know in the shallow waters were the treasures from a previous generation.

In Colossians 1:9-20 we read, “For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: 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: who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 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. 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. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; and, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven” (Colossians 1:9-20). And then, in chapter 2 and verse 3, it says, “In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3).

In Him—in Jesus Christ—“are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3). Think of that—all of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are in Christ Jesus.

How can those treasures be ours? I key verse for us to obtaining these treasures is Colossians 1:18: “And he—that is, Jesus—is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead;— now here’s the key phrase—that in all things he might have the preeminence” (Colossians 1:18). We need to come to understand God’s eternal plan.

I. We Need To Understand The Sovereign
Determination of His Preeminence

We read verse 18. Look, if you will, in verse 19: “For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell” (Colossians 1:19). What does that mean? It pleased the Father, that in all things—verse 18—Jesus should have preeminence, for it pleased the Father that in Him—in his Son—should all fullness dwell (Colossians 1:18–19)

When we comprehend these verses, it will unlock the key to the mystery of history, and to all eternity. God has one eternal plan—just one—and it is that his Son, the Lord Jesus, will have the preeminence. Understand that: “For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell” (Colossians 1:19). Paul is going to tell us, in Colossians, that this is a part of the vast eternal plan of God. It is the purpose of history.

Why did God send the Holy Spirit? That Jesus might have the preeminence. Jesus said, “When he…is come…he [will] not speak of himself…he [will] glorify me.” (John 16:13–14). The ministry of the Holy Spirit is to glorify Christ.

Even in the final judgment—is that in all things Jesus will the preeminence. Why? Listen—God is going to judge the world. Why? “And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:11).

Now, listen—if you want to get in on what God is doing, if you want to understand what God is up to, if you want to bring your life in line with almighty God, then make it the purpose of your heart and of your life that God’s purpose will be your purpose, that Jesus will have the preeminence. Now, my dear friend, you can never know the fullness of God in your life until the one single aim of your life is that Christ, and Christ alone, will be exalted.

S. B. Gordon said, “In every heart there is the throne. When self in on that throne, Christ is on the cross. However, “when self is on the cross, Christ is on the throne.” I would like to ask you a question. In your heart, right now, more than anything else, is Jesus Christ preeminent? Jesus Christ is not looking for a place in your life; He doesn’t want a place in your life. Jesus Christ is not looking for prominence in your life; He does not want prominence in your life. Jesus Christ deserves and demands preeminence in your life. Jesus Christ is not someone that you can tack onto your life. Jesus Christ doesn’t want to be the spare tire; He’s the steering wheel. Jesus Christ is to be Lord of your life. “It pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell” (Colossians 1:19).

If we are going to discover our treasure, we need to understand the sovereign determination of His preeminence. This is the mystery of history. All that God is doing is that His Son might have the preeminence.

II. We Need To Undertake The Sweeping
Dimension of His Preeminence

What should Jesus be preeminent in? We read, “that in all things he might have the preeminence” (Colossians 1:18).

A. He is Preeminent in the Revelation of the Father 

He is to be preeminent in the revelation of the Father. We read in Colossians 1:15, Jesus is “the image of the invisible God.” He is preeminent in revelation. God is unseeable; God is unknowable; and, God is unapproachable, apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. You will never know God, apart from the preeminence of Christ. You cannot know God through reason. You cannot know God through religion. You cannot know God through ritual. The only way that you can know God is through a relationship with Jesus Christ. The preeminent Christ has a monopoly on the revelation of God.

I want you to listen to this marvelous verse, in Matthew chapter 11 and verse 27— Jesus Christ said, “All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him” (Matthew 11:27). The only way we can know God is for the Son to reveal Him to us. If you worship God any other way other than through Jesus Christ, you’re worshipping an unknown God. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). He has cornered the market on revelation. He is preeminent in the revelation of the Father.

B. He is Preeminent in the Regulation of the Universe

Not only is He preeminent in the revelation of the Father; but He is preeminent in the regulation of the universe—verse 16: “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” (Colossians 1:16). Jesus Christ is preeminent in the regulation of the universe.

1. Christ is the Power of Creation

Jesus is the power of creation. It was all done by Him. Who created this vast, mighty world? Who was it that flung out the stars? Who was it that scooped out the seas? Who was it that heaped up the mountains? Who is it that paints the rainbow? Who is it that sculpts the mountains? Who is it? It is Jesus Christ.

The little baby of Matthew chapter 1 is the mighty God of Genesis 1. There was not one blade of grass made, not one grain of sand created, without the Lord Jesus Christ. And, when Jesus Christ came into this world as a little baby on the breast of His mother, He was the One who had already created His mother. When He was born, He was older than His mother, and as old as His Father.

There are some, today, who try to tell us that they believe in evolution. If that is true, we have three problems. First, we have a problem with the Scriptures—for the Bible tells us that, “the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7). And, if this book is not sufficient to tell me where I came from, it’s not sufficient to tell me where I’m going. If it’s wrong about the origin of the species, it’s wrong about the destiny.

Second, if we don’t understand that Jesus made it all, then not only are we going to have problem with the Scripture, but I’m going to have a problem with salvation. If man just simply evolved, if there was no Garden of Eden, if there was no fall in the Garden of Eden, if we are not by nature sinners, if we’re just evolving onward and upward, then we don’t need to be saved; we don’t need to be born again. But, the Bible says, “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22). And, if Genesis 3 is a myth, John 3 is a farce.

Third, not only will we have a problem with the Scriptures, and not only will we have a problem with salvation, but we are going to have a problem with society. If you teach people that they came from animals, and before long, they’re going to be living like animals.

2. Christ is the Preserver of Creation

Not only is He the power of creation, but He is the preserver of creation. Look in verse 17: “And he is before all things, and by him all things consist” (Colossians 1:17). Jesus Christ holds it together. Jesus is the glue of the galaxies. Jesus Christ is the One who regulates the universe. Jesus Christ is the One who fuels the sun, so that it can burn. Jesus Christ is the One who veils the moon with beauty. Jesus Christ is the One who guides the stars and the planets in their mighty orbits. The scientist talks about natural law. There is no natural law; it is the law of God.

Jesus is the One who regulates the universe. Just as Christ is preeminent in the revelation of the Father, He is preeminent in the regulation of the universe.

C. He is Preeminent in the Reconciliation of the World 

Christ is preeminent of the reconciliation of the world. In Colossians 1:18-20, we read, “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. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; and, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.” Jesus made peace through the blood of His cross.

There is no salvation apart from Jesus Christ. He is preeminent in salvation. He made peace with the blood of his cross. If you tell me there’s some other way to get to Heaven apart from Jesus Christ, then I will tell you that you are a heretic. There is no way apart from the Lord Jesus Christ.

As a matter of fact, if there is some other way other than Jesus Christ, then Jesus Christ is none of the ways at all. If there’s some other way apart from Jesus Christ, then Jesus Christ is a fake, a fraud, a liar, and a deceit. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). If there’s another way other than Jesus, then the apostles are false witnesses. For the Bible says, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

If there’s another way other than Jesus Christ, then I lose my respect for the One who is called God. If God allowed His darling Son to die in agony and blood upon that cross, when there was some other way, then God should have taken it. I mean, if God allowed His Son to die that agonizing, excruciating, death, and there was some other way, I’d hate to meet that God in a dark alley on this earth.

III. We Need To Utilize The Sacred
Demands of His Preeminence

Third, I desire for us to know about the sacred demands of His preeminence. What does this mean to me? What does it mean to you? Well, it means that in my heart and in my life He must have the preeminence.

A. His Deity Demands It

There are two things that demand that Jesus have first place in my life. First, His deity. Vrse 18 says, “And he is the head of the body, the church” (Colossians 1:18). Now, Jesus Christ is God, and He is head. He is King, and, has a right to demand of me His preeminence.

Because of His deity, He is God. There can be no rival. There can be no refusal. There can be no rebuttal. Christ is God, and because of that— because of His deity—He demands preeminence.

B. His Death Demands It

But, not only because of His deity, but because of His death. In verse 20 we read, “And, having made peace through the blood of his cross” (Colossians 1:20). When you put verse 18 through 20 together, then you understand why I must bow the knee to Jesus Christ. First, He is God, and He died for me. Second, because of His deity, and because of His death.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” (1 Corinthians 6:19). Christ bought us and we have no right to our life.

How does all of this play out in our lives? If Jesus Christ is Lord—and He is; if he died for me—and He did; if God has determined that in all things Jesus Christ should have the preeminence, then what does that mean to me?

1. We Should Give Him the First Thought of the Day

What does this mean to me? He comes first. I must give Him the first thought of the day. We read, “My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up” (Psalm 5:3). Is the first thought of your morning to the Lord?

2. We Give Him the First Day of the Week

The first day is not the Sabbath; it is the Lord’s Day. It belongs to Him. In Acts 20:7 we read, “And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them” (Acts 20:7). In 1 Corinthians 16:2, we read, “Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him.”

3. We Should Give Him the First Fruits of Your Income

We should give Him the first fruits of your income. In Proverbs 3:9—10, we read, 10, “Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.” We don’t pay all of the rest of our bills—the mortgage, and all of the rest of it— and then see what you have left for God. We take God’s tithe off the top, and give it to God. The tithe is the Lord’s. It belongs to God. If you keep it, you rob God.

4. We Should Give Him the First Consideration in Any Decision

Give Him the first thought in the morning; give Him the first day of the week; give Him the first fruit of your income; and, give Him the first consideration in any decision. In 2 Corinthians 8:5 we read, “But first gave their own selves to the Lord.” Just give it all to Jesus.

A man who loved Jesus with all of his heart was getting ready to propose to his girlfriend. He said to her, “I love you deeply, and I want to ask you a question. Are you willing to take second place in my heart?” She said, “Yes, I am.” Later, they were married. The best thing a woman could do is to marry a man who loves Jesus more than he loves her, because he’ll love her in a way that he could never have loved her before.