Message Notes from NEXT: Christ's Preeminence

I am going to post my message notes from the NEXT conference as time permits over the next week or so. The sermons are available online on the Resources page at thisisnext.org and I can't encourage you enough to take the time to listen to the messages. In fact, I am re-listening to one of them right now. :)

Christ's Preeminence by Josh Harris

Colossians 1:15 "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation."

Jesus never went more than 100 miles from His birthplace of Nazareth, yet nearly 2 billion people describe themselves as followers of Christ.

Jesus is preeminent in all things and His preeminence is past, present, and future.

There is no spiritual force greater than Jesus. Jesus is the One who made all things and will fix all things.

"Most here at this conference would agree that Christ is preeminent, but are you living your life based on the fact that Christ is preeminent?"

It's one thing to say Christ is preeminent, but do we live like Christ is preeminent?

What does it mean for Christ to truly be preeminent in our lives?

Luke 6:46-49 "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great."

We assume that the man building his house on the sand is not a Christian. Actually, Jesus is not talking about atheists; He's talking about people like us.

His preeminence needs to be what we are building our lives on.

1) Come to Jesus

So often, we "come to Jesus" on our way to something else. He becomes a ticket to something else.

We come to Jesus with our eyes on what He's going to do for us.

Jesus says, "Come to me".

Saving faith is faith in Jesus.

Jesus= the historical person who lived a real life and died a real death

We make His teaching more about what we can do "for Him", not what He has done for us.

The rock of our faith is the person of Jesus Christ.

John 17:3 "And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."

Everything we do should be an expression of what Jesus has done for us.

2) Hear Jesus' Words

Jesus is speaking to us. Are we hearing Him?

Luke 21:33 "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away."

Doctrine= truths from the Bible

Studying His words and understanding what it means involves effort.

"If you want to feel deeply, you need to think deeply." -CJ Mahaney

A lot of us want an experiential, deep feeling, but feeling built on feeling is empty.

Emotion and feeling need to be built on something solid and unchanging.

Dig your way to the truth and then the emotions will come. You will be founded on the unchanging truth of who He is.

3) Put His Truth into Practice

You can know "Christianity" backwards and forwards, but if you don't put it into practice, it is nothing.

Christian doctrine is for living.

It is not enough to have your life in close proximity to the rock.

When Jesus is preeminent, He pushes other things aside.

His demand on us is the greatest expression of His love for us.

Ways to Make Christ Preeminent:

Digging into Christ's truths

Prayer-- expresses dependence on Christ-- "pray without ceasing"

1) Come to Jesus

2) Hear Jesus

3) Put His truth into practice

Run to His word, which reveals His character and His love for us.

"The nearer I get, the bigger He becomes..."