The Preeminent Christ

The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Colossians, speaks of the preeminence of Christ in the believer's life. In Colossians 1, 17 and 18, he speaks of Christ in these terms. And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

And he is the head of the body, of the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence. I believe it was F.B. Meyer who once said, In a believer, Christ is present. In some believers I've known, he is prominent.

But alas, in very few, he is preeminent. I know what F.B. Meyer meant in his illustration. But I believe the old boy has his out of order.

To be prominent means to be noticeable. In most believers, Christ is not noticeable, rather they are. Christ is only prominent in the life where he is preeminent in the heart.

When he has all your affections, in a life of utter surrender, then he is prominent. Then others will take note of a God-filled channel, as the Shunammite woman said of Elisha. And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God, which passes us by continually.

When God is prominent in your life, friends, others will notice Jesus in you. This was true of two men I knew in my life. One was Adrian Rogers and the other Stephen Olford.

In both these men, it was quite evident to all who saw them and knew them that Christ stood out in their lives and was prominent. Because both Dr. Rogers and Dr. Olford made Christ preeminent in their hearts, in the seed of their affections. He was first and foremost.

All others and all other things were secondary. I will never forget one day I was having lunch with both of these men at the peak of their power. And while I was sitting there with them, even in their conversation, in their manner, in their entire attitude, Christ was first and foremost because Christ was preeminent in their hearts.

Thus Christ was prominent in each of these men. To be with them made you feel you were in the company of Jesus. Both these men lived lives of surrender.

Adrian Rogers would often tell the story about when he was a young man first called to ministry. And he was out walking in a field in Florida and dedicating his life to God. And he got down on his hands and knees right there in the middle of the afternoon and prayed and told God he was willing to get low enough for him.

And he realized that wasn't low enough. So Adrian lay on his belly in the grass and said, is this low enough now, Lord? And he realized it wasn't. So he took his finger and dug a hole in the dirt deep enough to stick his nose in there.

And he prostrated himself flat on the ground with his nose in that hole and dirt up his nostrils and he cried, Lord Jesus, this is as low as I can go. Adrian Rogers lived his life under the lordship of Christ and Christ was preeminent in his heart. And the result was, Jesus was prominent in his life.

Stephen Alford had the power of God on him more than any other man I ever knew. And it was because Christ was preeminent in his heart and thus prominent in his life to such a degree that an example of this is he was to preach at a Baptist church in Dallas. And the pastor of that church asked his seminary intern to go to the airport and pick up Stephen Alford.

The young student asked to see a photo of Dr. Alford so he would recognize him. The pastor smiled and replied, no need for that. Just go to the airport terminal where the plane from Memphis lands.

And as the passengers deplane, look for a man who has the power of God on him. Sure enough, the seminary student picked Dr. Alford out from the crowd because Christ was prominent in his life. Dr. Alford knew the cost of the cross and the life of the believer.

And his life verse was Galatians 2.20, which states, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

Dr. Alford used to say, what cost counts and what counts costs. He knew the cost to have Christ to be so prominent in his life that there was a sacrifice attending it. If he's not prominent in your life, friend, it's because you've not made Christ preeminent in your heart.

You've never made him preeminent over your laziness, over your lack of prayer, over your lack of witness. He's not preeminent over your lusts, over your selfishness, over your greed, over your rights to always have your way, over your need to always be recognized because of your spiritual pride. For Christ to be preeminent, self must be dethroned and another enthroned there, the preeminent Christ, Jesus, be Jesus in me, should be the prayer of all our hearts.

Let us pray.