All right, let's turn to Colossians 1, and we'll read the hymn. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. And through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. This is a passage about origins, a subject about which science is ignorant. They try to speak authoritatively on the subject, on the origin of the universe, but they get it wrong. All they have is theory. Let me illustrate it. Let's say a scientist walks into a room and sees a pendulum clock. going back and forth. Let's assume he's never seen one before. So he sees this thing going back and forth and back and forth and he takes, he wants to, he begins, he's a scientist, so he begins to analyze. He observes the swing of the pendulum, he observes the movement of the hands of the clock, he takes some measurements and he comes up with an equation. It's evident that the pendulum is gradually slowing down and that eventually the pendulum will stop swinging. His equation can tell him when that will be. He now decides to investigate the past. How long has it been swinging? How did the pendulum start swinging? He changes certain factors in the equation and begins to probe back in time. And for a while, it works. It makes sense. But the further back he goes, the more his data no longer really works. the swing of the pendulum becomes greater and greater in order to have all that movement. In fact, it's hitting the ceiling with each swing and then it's swinging in two directions at the same time. And what his findings are is absurd. There must be another explanation. You see, although he can measure the laws that now govern the working of the clock and the swinging of the pendulum, those laws do not explain how the pendulum began to swing at the beginning. Something quite different than what is now happening happened then. But what was it? He doesn't know. The familiar laws of energy and motion do not extend that far. He can, of course, theorize. He can say, I think this is what happened. I think it happened at such and such a time. But he can't speak with authority about it unless he talks to an eyewitness who was there at the time the pendulum began swinging. It's the same with the universe. We can measure the laws that govern our universe now and all the material world, but those laws do not explain how it all started. Like the pendulum theorist, scientists come up with suggestions, but at that point they are no longer speaking as a scientist, they are speaking as a philosopher. He's not saying this is what we know, it's this is what we think. To be honest with the science, like the pendulum theorist, the only way to know when and how the universe began is to listen to someone who was there and witnessed it. And there is an eyewitness to that. The Holy Spirit, who in the beginning hovered over the face of the waters, has revealed in scripture that Christ Jesus, the Son of God, began and made it all. But the scientists and the humanists object to a divine creator. Why? Because if they admit that Christ created all things, then he is superior to all things. And they are his creatures. And therefore, they owe him their allegiance and worship. but they love their independence. And so they remain willfully ignorant of the facts and explain origins another way. But it's just not true. For Jesus Christ, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, Paul says in verse 16, by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him. Christ stands superior over the cosmos. And since he is the image of the invisible God, verse 15, he has authority over all creation. And according to verses 16 and 17, he also is the agent of creation. The word for, that begins verse 16, explains all the dignity and dominion that Christ has over the cosmos. Christ is supreme over all things for he is the creator of all things. By him, all things were created. In other words, Jesus is not only the image of deity, he also does the works of deity, proving that he is the uncreated creator. He's not the first created thing and then made all things. All things were made by him. All things were created by him. And as I tried to show last time, the scope of his creatorship, that it's all things. And I tried my best to describe all things, but you just can't. Anybody falls short because the only person who knows all things is God. I'm not He, sorry to let you know that. But then the text gives us an explanation of Christ's creatorship with three little words, three prepositions. And when I was in school, going through grammar, learning all of that, what stuck with me how to identify a preposition, there was a picture in our book of a big block of Swiss cheese. And it was hanging on a string. And there were mice all around it. You have a mouse poking his head out of the cheese. That's a preposition, out. And there was one going into the cheese. There was one under the cheese trying to get a bite. There was one on top, on the cheese. There was one going toward the cheese. There was one running around the cheese. So in all the time when I'm thinking of prepositions, that block of cheese is always in my mind, all right? And Paul here uses three prepositions to describe Christ's relationship with creation. Notice them in verse 16. He says, for by him all things were created, and at the end of the verse, all things were created through him and for him. By, through, and for. A knowledge of these prepositions are important for our understanding of this verse. Allow me to illustrate this with with the construction of a house. You want to build a house. You first hire an architect to draw up the blueprints and he formulates all the plans, the lists of the many specifications that are needed and how everything is to be constructed. After you get the plans, then you hire a builder, a contractor to actually put the things together. What's on the blueprints Then he makes it, so he puts down blocks and cement and uses nails and boards and siding and roofing and all the things that come in order to build the house. And then, once it's built, the house fulfills its purpose. The purpose for which it was built. That is, you move in. You occupy it and you enjoy all of its many features, the hot tub on the back porch and whatever else. You enjoy the house that's been built for you. That illustrates Christ's relationship to creation. All things are by, literally in Christ, that is Christ is the architect, he planned it. All things are through Christ. Christ is the builder who produced it. And then all things are for Christ. Christ is the purpose of creation. And all of these things show us how greatly preeminent Christ is over creation. So let's look at these three. First of all, Christ planned all things. That's the preposition by, really in, and there is division on which translation is correct. Is it in? It's the Greek word en, and it's normally translated in, I-N, throughout the New Testament. But there are occasions where it is translated for. But let's look at, consider them. In, if it's in, it presents creation as occurring in the sphere of Christ. If it's by, it has an instrumental sense, making Jesus the instrument through which the heavens and earth were created. But if it's by, it would parallel the second preposition, through, which is definitely instrumental in cause. Yet Paul's use of three different prepositions seems to be that he's making three different points about Christ's creative activity. And so therefore, I really think it's in. And there are several that back me up on that. It's in him. Now, we're familiar with that preposition used in relation to Christ. Throughout Paul's writings and the whole New Testament, we find in him. Christ all the way through and it's usually used in It's a term used between Christ and his people and it's used that way in Colossians. Look at chapter 1 and verse 4 Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that You have for all the Saints. So does that first phrase since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus Look down at verse 14 Speaking of Christ, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. That's in the sphere of Christ. All right, look down at chapter two, verse six. Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, in the sphere of the Lord. Verse 17, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith. All right, then we look at, there's several others in chapter two and chapter three, look at chapter four, verse seven. Tychicus will tell you all about my activities. He is a beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord, in the sphere of the Lord, in the sphere of ministry for the Lord. And Paul uses that preposition in the same way with regard to the entire created order. Christ is the sphere in which the work of creation took place. Now to help you understand that, we can look at its use in Ephesians chapter one, verse four, where it's used the exact, it's the same phraseology. Ephesians one, verse four, with the father's work of election. He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. Same word, same phraseology, and so creation, like election, takes place in Christ, not apart from him. It takes place in the sphere of Christ. All creation is grounded in the Son's life-giving capacity. This is what John wrote in John 1-4, in him, was life. Paul also ascribed our life to Christ in Acts 17 when he was speaking to the Athenian philosophers on Mars Hill. He says, in him we live, we move, and have our being. We live in the sphere. That's his relationship to creation. Now what does this signify? That all things were created in Christ. Well first, in him implies something prior to the through him and for him at the end of the verse. If all things are through him, he existed before he brought it about, before he was the instrument in bringing it about. Secondly, in denotes his divine ingenuity behind creation. According to his wisdom, all things were made. He drew up the plans. He was the architect. He's the one in whose eternal mind the blueprints for every nook and cranny of the cosmos was conceived. All of God's creative work took place in terms of or in reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. All the laws which guide creation and govern the universe reside in Christ as its meeting point. Think of the cornerstone when a foundation is laid. You have that cornerstone and everything is measured off of that so you don't have a miscued square or rectangle for your house. This one takes off of this side of the Cornerstone this side goes off of that and then you may have a right angle off of that to make make the foundation That's what Christ is to creation all things work All things were originally created with reference to Christ he is the point of reference Everything that is owes its existence to Jesus Christ and therefore also because of that also owes him loyalty and worship. So in him takes us to before creation, and the next one, through him, leads us along the process of creation. Christ produced all things. Notice again verse 16, at the end, all things were created through him. Now that word through is a Greek word dia, It speaks of the one who actually does something, the one who does the work, like Matthew 1.22. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. The prophet spoke the words. Acts 2.43, many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. They were the ones doing the miracles. Romans 5.5, God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. All those prepositions are dia, the same word that's used here. First Corinthians 8.6, there is one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things and by whom we exist. So again, note the time reference. Christ stands at the beginning of creation already there as the one through whom creation comes into existence. And if all things are made by him, he already existed before all things. Again, that's the argument that Arius missed back in the 320s and that division that occurred in the church. He had to exist if all things were created through him. And that shows him to be the eternal God. superior to all creation. Christ is not part of the cosmos as they taught, but he's the agent behind his creation. Everything came into being through Christ. John adds his testimony to this as he begins his gospel in verses one through three. He uses the same preposition, dia, to show Christ's participation in creation. And in fact, he uses it refers to it in both a positive and a negative way for emphasis. John 3, 1 through 3 on your outline, I've shortened it. In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made by, dia, through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. Again, the time reference. He predated creation. In the beginning, God already was. And the word was God. So he predated creation as God. He's not the first created being, but eternal God. Then he says, all things were made by him. From subatomic particles to galaxies. All means all. He made it all. And then he said all things were made by him. He's not the one of the things made. Not even the first and the highest of all things made. He made all things. And without him was not anything made that was made. John shuts out all doubt and affirms that there is no exception. There was not one single thing, however minute or unimportant, which was not made through Christ. Christ is the agent behind everything that exists. Nothing is excluded. So though science struggles to provide a single provable theory of origins, the Bible answers the question with one name, Jesus. All things trace their existence, not to some primeval ooze, but to the preexistent Christ who created all things out of nothing before there was anything to make anything out of. And then the book of Hebrews, the writer of Hebrews adds his testimony to John and Paul in Hebrews chapter one, as he begins his letter in verses one and two. Long ago at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets. But in these last days, he has spoken to us by his son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom, dia, through whom also he created the world. Now note the order of two phrases there. Whom he appointed heir of all things and through whom he created the world. Do you see how the appointment clause precedes the creation clause? From all eternity. That's where that phrase is taking us back to. If he was the heir of all things, we're going back in eternity past here. From all eternity Christ was heir of all things and then he created all things. It seems more normal to us to reverse the order. The son created everything and therefore he's the heir of all things. but the Son was appointed heir of all things before there was any one thing in existence, showing again Christ's eternal superiority over all things. And Paul's point is the same in Colossians. Surely the one who shaped the universe is more than just one of many created angels that did the creating for God. Surely he is God himself, and surely then, when that is applied to our lives, especially to the lives of the Colossians here, he could keep these Colossian Christians secure in his kingdom, if he's that kind of God. and he can successfully guide them through life unto eternal glory. Nothing else is needed. As Paul will say in verse three of chapter two, in Christ are hidden all the treasure of wisdom and knowledge. There's no need for any secret knowledge of wisdom from these new teachers that infiltrated the church. In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And so, if Psalm 104, 24, in wisdom you made them all, and if Proverbs 3, 19, the Lord by wisdom founded the earth, then surely with all of his wisdom, he can keep us safely and secure, and he can provide for all of our needs. That's what Paul's getting at here, founding them. in the knowledge of the person and work of Christ so that they'll be firm in their faith. In him, the creation finds its source. In him, creation finds its explanation. And through him, all things were brought into being. So he stands superior over all and is deserving of all praise. according to the third preposition. Four, Christ is the purpose of all things. All things were created for him. Sam Storms puts it this way. He's the reason, the goal, the aim, the intent, the point, the purpose, the end, the terminus, the consummation, the culmination of every molecule that moves. Consider an artist that makes a sculpture. The original idea forms in his head. Then he puts chisel to marble or whatever medium he's using, and then he chisels away what that vision was in his head, and he makes this beautiful sculpture. And then everybody comes and marvels at the sculpture, and they praise the artist. And when we look at creation, that's what's meant to happen. the praise of our creator, the praise of the Lord Jesus Christ. And two things in this last phrase point to Christ as that eschatological aim of all creation, where all creation is added. First of all, the verb tense. He says, the end of verse 16, all things were created through him and for him, were created. You see that exact translation at the first part of verse 16 where he says, for in him all things were created, but it's a different tense at the end than it is at the first. The first is an aorist tense, past tense verb. In other words, the first one refers to creation in the beginning. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. That creation, that's what he's referring to. They were created in Christ. But the last verb is the perfect tense, which is an action that takes place in the past with continuing results. It emphasizes the present state that is resulting from a past event. In other words, the ongoing state of creation will be upheld by Christ, which by the way is what he's going to get at in verse 17 when we get there. But the ongoing state of creation is gonna be upheld by Christ in order to accomplish its future end time goal that was set in Christ's mind, well actually within the Trinity, in eternity past. And that end time goal is found in the preposition for him. For, ace is the Greek word, E-I-S, transliteration, or often translated unto, same kind of idea. Creation is for Christ in the sense that he is the end for which all things exist. He's the goal toward whom all things were intended to move. We are meant, we, that is every created thing, is meant to serve his will and to contribute to his glory. Our whole being, whether willingly or unwillingly, moves unto him. We think the universe was made for us to experience, for us to explore, for us to enjoy. But creation is for the praise of Christ's glory. All things exist to be in awe of his majesty. Isaiah 6.3, the whole earth is full of His glory. Psalm 19.1, the heavens declare the glory of God. That's its purpose, that's its end goal. Romans 1 verses 19 through 20, what can be known about God is made plain because God has shown it to them for his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made. They've been made to declare his glory. Every moment of every day and everything that happens on every day is bearing witness to the supremacy and the ultimacy of Jesus Christ. And this is why we so strongly oppose naturalistic evolution. It's a frontal attack on the glory of Christ. Evolution seeks to displace him as the source of all things. It pivots on the premise of random chance, like a big bang or whatever, or natural selection as the reason for the ongoing existence of everything. But the reality of the issue is that in Christ, all things were created, and all things were created through him, and all things are moving toward him. They are for him. and to believe any other way, as Paul says in Romans 3, 4, that God be true and every man a liar. So you see, Christ is ultimate over everything. And yet, because of his own glory, and according to his own good pleasure, he gave us all creation to enjoy. And so it is we who are obligated to praise and worship and serve him forever. Everything about us we owe to Christ and should offer him praise for it. We owe our life to him. We owe our breath, every breath we take to Jesus. Acts 17.25, he himself gives to all mankind life breath, and everything. And verse 28, in him we live and move and have our being. And so in the words of Romans 11, to him be glory forever and ever. David says in Psalm 139, verses 13 and 14, that we owe our bodies to him. You formed my inward parts, you knitted me together in my mother's womb, so He sums up, I praise you, from him fearfully and wonderfully made. It's God also who gave us our intelligence. Job 38, 36, God speaks of his own ultimacy and rhetorically asks Job, who put wisdom in the inward parts, in your inner mind? Or who has given understanding to the mind? See, all things are in him, through him, and for him, so our praise is due him. They are for him. David says in Psalm 40, verse five, many, O Lord, my God, are your wonderful works which you have done, and your thoughts toward us cannot be recounted to you in order. If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered. And so what is David's conclusion after he dwells upon this greatness of the Lord? Verse 16, great is the Lord. And that all things work toward Christ's glory and praise is often stated in scripture. I referenced it earlier, Romans 11, verse 36, Paul says, for from him, that's a different preposition, from, and through him, dia, and to him, ace, are all things to him be glory forever. In the Christ hymn of Philippians 2, we find Christ as the crescendo of the created order. At the name of Jesus, every knee will bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. All creation, all history is headed toward the exaltation of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's pictured in Romans 8 verse 19 as birth pains before delivery of something really good. That's what creation is leading up to, for the glory of Jesus Christ. In 1 Corinthians 15, 28, it's the absolute and final subjection of all things of the universe to Christ. In Ephesians 1, 9 and 10, it's the unification of all things through him. Or it's in Jesus' own words in Revelation 22, 13, I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Each of these passages enunciates the same truth in different ways. Christ is the goal of the universe. just as he was the starting point. Everything began with him, everything's gonna end with him. All things sprang up at his command and all things will return to him at his command. All things work toward his glory as their final end. And so if we ask where all things come from in the beginning and still today, We have to answer they come in Christ. If we ask how all things came into being and remain in being today, the answer is they come through Christ. And if we ask why everything came into being and are as they are today, we have to say they are for Christ. He is the beginning and he is the end. the Alpha, the Omega, and one day everything will give him the praise and glory. Everything that exists has its source, its center and its goal in Christ Jesus, the creator God. If we think the universe is for us and revolves around us or that we are the source of our own ways, that we're the source of our own lives, then according to this verse, we are in gross error. That kind of thinking represents secularistic humanism. It's man-centered thinking. And the best illustration of man-centered thinking is in the book of Daniel in chapter four with the life of Nebuchadnezzar. He was the king of Babylon. Now remember, Babylon at this time is the world empire, all right? It was the empire of the day. One day, while Nebuchadnezzar is on his roof, overlooking Babylon, looking at the hanging gardens, one of the wonders of the ancient world, all the aqueducts that he had there, he begins to feel pretty good about himself. And he says, is this not great Babylon I have built as the royal residence by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty? Nebuchadnezzar there said that Babylon found its source in him. The I is emphasized. He said Babylon found that it was through him, I built by my mighty power, And he said Babylon was for him, for the glory of my majesty. That was false, of course. Jeremiah and Ezekiel prophesied ahead of time that Nebuchadnezzar would be successful because God would make him successful. And God proved his superiority by causing Nebuchadnezzar to go insane, so he lived like and behaved like a beast for seven years. In other words, he went insane. For seven years he ate grass. He lived like a beast. And when his reason returned, he extolled God's greatness. Daniel 434, at the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the hosts of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand or say to him, what have you done? In other words, Nebuchadnezzar learned that secular humanism is a crazy way of looking at the world. To think ourselves as the center of the universe is illogical and, as he found out, dangerous. But a renewed mind knows the truth. And so he says in verse 37, I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of Heaven. You see, a renewed mind gives glory to God for all things. Everything's headed that way for the glory of Christ. And a renewed mind also seeks to live therefore completely for his creator, and any other course is completely irrational for the believer. Paul used similar logic in that Romans 11, 36 passage. After saying, all things are from him, through him, and to him, to God be the glory forever, the very next verse, Romans 12, 1. He calls on believers for total commitment to this one, that is, all things come from him, through him, and are headed to him. He says, I appeal to you, therefore, based on what he just said, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as living sacrifices unto God. And then he concludes saying, this is your reasonable service. It's the Greek word logikos, from which we get our word logic, rational. It's the logical outcome. If all things are from him, through him, and to him, we must give ourselves to him. If everything's for him, we must give ourselves for him as well. As a believer, is your life rational or irrational? To what are you living? For what are you living? Are you living totally for Christ or you're living outside rationality for your own purposes? The whole universe finds its fulfillment and its consummation in Christ Jesus. And believers should also find comfort in this because there's no political force, there's no tyrant, there's no world leader, and there's no policy that holds ultimate terror We know that all creation, everything, all creation is headed to a point where Christ is glorified. It's all headed to the praise of our Redeemer. He's the goal of it all. Everything that is and everything that happens, everything that occurs is working toward his glory. He's the goal. And if we truly believe that Jesus is the supreme Lord of the universe, we should be more thankful for that which we have because he's working it all. He's doing it all. It all comes from him. And we should also be less anxious because we know Christ is sufficient and that he cares. But by emphasizing Christ's role in creation, Paul is also establishing the accountability of the entire created universe to Christ Jesus. Everything is accountable to him. And that should affect the way we witness. Have you sometimes tried to witness and found people to be such relativists? that your exclusive claims and insistence on Jesus only disgust them? Look, they say, I'm happy if you have Jesus, if you find your happiness and your fulfillment in Jesus. But we all have our forms of spirituality. And you have yours. I have mine. I'm quite a spiritual person already, though it's not the same way You believe spirituality comes in different forms. You don't have the right to tell me that yours is better than mine. So just back off or I'm not going to hang around with you anymore. How do you respond? Well, be tactful. Don't cause unnecessary offence where you shut a door, you'll never be able to talk to him again. But sooner or later, you must say something like, Mary, John, whoever, I don't mean to be rude, but I can't back off from this because you don't know how much danger you are in. Jesus made you and you owe him. You will give an account to him. And you will do it whether you like it or not. I'm just telling you this because I love you. Isn't that what you have to say somewhere along the line? In other words, spirituality is not grounded in personal preference. It's grounded in revelation. Human accountability. And in that revelation, human accountability is based on the doctrine of creation. If you lose that, then all of us, instead of thinking of ourselves as created beings who owe everything ultimately to the creator, are likely to drift toward personal preference for our understanding of spirituality, and we will be condemned in the end. Because the creator, according to Acts 10 and other places, the creator will one day be our judge. And what will you say to him on that final day if you've trusted science and their evolution instead of trusting him as your Lord and creator? Jesus says in John 12, 48, the one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge. The word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day." Which are you going to believe? The scientist who says we've evolved, or the Bible that says Jesus, the image of God, the firstborn of creation is the one in whom all things were created, and the one through whom all things were created, and the one for whom all things were created? Don't mess with this. The doctrine of divine creation is of utmost importance. It's the doctrine of creation which finally makes us accountable to the same God that will be our judge on the last day. Don't remain an evolutionist if you are. For on the last day, You will become a creationist, but it will be too late then. So run to your creator now. Bow before him as your Lord. Surrender your life to him. Trust him to be your savior. You see, without him, according to verse 21 of our text, You are alienated from God, hostile in your mind toward him, doing evil deeds. But, verse 22, you can be reconciled to God by Christ's death. For in him you will be holy and blameless and above reproach before him. In other words, God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him will not perish, but you'll have everlasting life. He's the source. He's the instrument. Everything is for him. Don't turn your back on him. Trust him for everything, especially trust him for your salvation. Let's pray. Our dear heavenly father, we stand back in awe at your son, the Lord Jesus Christ, that in him and through him and for him are all things. That means me. What and who I am right now at this moment is because of Jesus Christ. Every person here is who and what he is because of Jesus Christ. We are all, we live, we move, we breathe. We see, we smell, we taste, we feel, we walk, everything about us is because of Jesus Christ. He stands so far above us that we should then fall on our knees before him and surrender in worship and adoration and then get up from those knees and serve him faithfully everywhere we are, telling others about him, glorifying him with our speech, with our attitudes, with our thoughts, with what we look upon, where we go. May our lives be so filled with a desire to praise the Lord Jesus Christ, who in him and through him and by him and for him are all things. Help us to respond to his work of creation with praise. and with his work of salvation, with praise again, and with service and worship. And it's in Jesus' name we give thanks for his work in our hearts, and in our lives, and in our being. We give thanks in Jesus' name, amen.