In the ancient city of Rome there was a golden milestone set up in the very center of the city. All of the other milestones in the great Roman Empire were measured out from this one specific golden milestone. It was the
"Preeminent" milestone in all the Roman Empire. Astronomers tell us that there is one fixed star in the heavens. They measure all other stars from this one fixed star. It is the "Preeminent" star in all the solar system. In Washington D.C. all of the downtown streets run toward the Capitol. The Capitol is the "Preeminent" building of the city. What is it that has preeminence in your life? Is it sports, alcohol, cars, music? That which should have complete, unabated, unadulterated, unceasing, uncensored, unconditional, undeniable, undeterred, undiminished, undisputed, unforgettable, uninterrupted, unrelenting, unrestrained, unshakable, unwavering preeminence in your life is the Cross of Christ and Him crucified! All the angels and the entirety of Heaven itself take great interest in the Cross of Christ, all of the demons and the entirety of hell are terrified of the Cross of Christ, mankind is the only one who ignores it and its meaning.

One day many years ago someone walked up to my dad and said "I never get tired of hearing you talk about Jesus." I believe that no true preacher EVER gets tired of talking about Jesus and I also believe that no true Christian ever TIRES of hearing about Jesus. The Scripture given at the beginning of this article (Colossians 1:18) states that we must give Christ "Preeminence" in ALL things. He is certainly the greatest and most preeminent person of all the ages. Christ is preeminent with the Father. He was with the Father in creation: John 1:3 states that "All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." Christ was with God when He said "Let there be light" ( Genesis 1:3). He was with God when He said, "Let Us make man in Our image" (Genesis 1:26). In fact, if you project your mind as far back as your imagination will carry you....all the way back in time when there WAS no world - no stars - no moon - no sun - no sea - no land - no living creatures - and no man, you will see God - and you will also see Christ right there by His side.

Christ is preeminent throughout the Scriptures: A person does not understand the Old Testament if they do not see that it points to Christ. The Old Testament is a sign-board which says, "This Way To Jesus Christ." There are a lot of people today who say that they believe in God but not in Jesus Christ, yet the Bible itself declares that the only way to God is through the Son!" Jesus Himself declared "I am the way, no man can come to the Father (God) except through Me" (John 14:6). Further - Isaiah 53:5 states, "He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed." Who is the prophet Isaiah speaking of here? He is of course talking about Jesus Christ! The Old Testament is really a closed book if you do not see Jesus in it.

Christ is preeminent in Salvation: Throughout the ages man has searched everywhere for his salvation: through false Gods, through false religion, through idol worship, and yet never has he found any hope of eternity nor the assurance of his salvation in any of these things. It is an endless and fruitless search until we realize that "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). Eternal Life (the Bible says) is the gift of "GOD" (Romans 6:23) not Buddha, not Krishna, not Allah. Over and over again the Bible declares "the Lord is the TRUE God" (Jeremiah 10:10), "the ONLY true God" (John 17:3), "the living and TRUE God" (I Thessalonians 1:9), "this is the TRUE God, and eternal life"
(I John 5:20). It is only "the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).

Christ is also given preeminence by the Holy Spirit: Jesus said of the Holy Spirit, "When he comes..he will testify of Me" (John 15:26) and that is precisely what he does. First he brings us to see our sin (and we see our sin against the background of Calvary). Secondly, he points us to Christ as our ONLY hope.

Jesus Christ should be preeminent in ALL of our life: He should be given preeminence in our prayers. Often times my dad was asked to offer a prayer at the meetings of various groups and organizations. There was one time when, afterwards, he was told that there had been some present there who did not believe in Christ and that he ought not to have prayed in JESUS NAME. My dad’s only comment was, "I know no other way." Christ is to be given preeminence in our prayers and He is also to be given preeminence in every sermon that comes from behind every pulpit. Paul said it very simply, "WE PREACH CHRIST CRUCIFIED!" (I Corinthians 1:23). And in reality this is the only message that we have, it is the only message that we need, because it is the only message that will bring results!

And so now the question is this: "Is Christ preeminent in YOUR life? When Leonardo da vinci had finished his painting of the "Last Supper" he invited another artist to view the painting. The other artist’s first comment was, "What a beautiful cup in the hand of Christ," and immediately da Vinci grabbed a brush and painted out the cup. He said "Nothing in this painting is to detract from the face of Christ!" The point is this: if there is anything at all in our lives that detracts from the glory of Christ then we must CAST IT OUT. HE must have preeminence because one day you and I are going to meet Him face to face. And so we must seek God’s help daily to live a life that gives Christ preeminence so that in that day we will hear Him say, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant:..enter thou into the joy of thy Lord" (Matthew 25:21).

God bless you,
Mark Shutts

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