GRACE AT HOME STUDY GUIDES
Small Group Guide: The Supremacy of Christ (Part 2)
Overview:
This guide is designed to help your group go deeper into the truths presented in this sermon on the supremacy of Christ. The passage challenges us to think not only about what Christ has done, but about who Christ actually is. Use the questions and reflections below to foster honest, substantive conversation.
Key Takeaways:
1. Christ is the head of the church. He has never relinquished his authority over his church. Pastors and leaders are under-shepherds, not lords. The church belongs to Christ alone.
2. Christ holds supremacy over life and death. The resurrection is not merely a historical event to celebrate once a year. It is the foundation of Christian hope. Christ laid down his life on his own initiative and took it up again, proving his divine authority over death itself.
3. Christ possesses the fullness of God. All the fullness of deity dwells in Christ bodily (Colossians 2:9). He is not a partial representation of God. He is God in the flesh, fully and without diminishment.
4. Christ's work of reconciliation is cosmic in scope. His redemptive work extends beyond individual salvation. All of creation groans for the restoration that Christ will bring when he restores all things to himself.
Opening Question:
Take a few minutes at the start of your group time to reflect on this question before diving into the discussion.
Discussion Questions:
Section 1: The Supremacy of Christ Over the Church
Section 2: The Supremacy of Christ Over Life and Death
Section 3: The Supremacy of Christ in Divine Fullness
Section 4: The Supremacy of Christ in Reconciliation
Practical Applications:
Choose one or two of the following to commit to as a group or as individuals before your next meeting.
1. Audit your Christology. Set aside time this week to write down in your own words who you believe Jesus is. Be specific. Then compare what you have written to passages like Colossians 1:13-20, John 1:1-14, and Hebrews 1:1-4. Where do your beliefs align with Scripture? Where do they fall short?
2. Pray with the fullness of Christ in view. Before each prayer time this week, take a moment to recall that you are approaching the one in whom all the fullness of God dwells. Let that shape the reverence, the confidence, and the expectation with which you pray.
3. Memorize Colossians 1:18. Commit this verse to memory as a group. Review it together at the start of your next meeting and discuss how it shaped your thinking throughout the week.
Closing Reflection:
The sermon opened with a prayer describing us as broken cisterns that cannot contain the grandeur of what Scripture declares about Christ. As you close your group time, consider praying together using that same image, asking God to immerse you in his word so that even in your brokenness, the truth of who Christ is would sustain and restore you.
Suggested Reading for Further Study:
This guide is designed to help your group go deeper into the truths presented in this sermon on the supremacy of Christ. The passage challenges us to think not only about what Christ has done, but about who Christ actually is. Use the questions and reflections below to foster honest, substantive conversation.
Key Takeaways:
1. Christ is the head of the church. He has never relinquished his authority over his church. Pastors and leaders are under-shepherds, not lords. The church belongs to Christ alone.
2. Christ holds supremacy over life and death. The resurrection is not merely a historical event to celebrate once a year. It is the foundation of Christian hope. Christ laid down his life on his own initiative and took it up again, proving his divine authority over death itself.
3. Christ possesses the fullness of God. All the fullness of deity dwells in Christ bodily (Colossians 2:9). He is not a partial representation of God. He is God in the flesh, fully and without diminishment.
4. Christ's work of reconciliation is cosmic in scope. His redemptive work extends beyond individual salvation. All of creation groans for the restoration that Christ will bring when he restores all things to himself.
Opening Question:
Take a few minutes at the start of your group time to reflect on this question before diving into the discussion.
- When someone asks you who Jesus is, what is your instinctive answer? Does your answer focus more on what he has done or on who he actually is?
Discussion Questions:
Section 1: The Supremacy of Christ Over the Church
- The sermon raised the question of who is truly functioning as the head in many churches today. What are some practical signs that a local church has drifted from recognizing Christ as its head? What does it look like when a church is genuinely submitted to His headship?
Section 2: The Supremacy of Christ Over Life and Death
- The pastor said, "God in the flesh enters humanity to taste death that you would not have to." Hebrews 2:9 is referenced in support of this. What does it mean to you personally that Christ tasted death on your behalf? How does that truth shape the way you think about your own death?
Section 3: The Supremacy of Christ in Divine Fullness
- Colossians 1:19 says it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Christ. F.F. Bruce is quoted as saying that all the attributes of God are disclosed in Him. What does it mean for your prayer life and your relationship with God to know that when you come to Christ, you are coming to the fullness of God Himself?
Section 4: The Supremacy of Christ in Reconciliation
- The sermon explained that the reconciliation described in Colossians 1:20 refers not only to individual salvation but to the cosmic restoration of all creation. Romans 8:19-23 describes creation groaning and waiting for this restoration. How does this broader view of redemption change the way you think about the physical world, environmental stewardship, or the future of history?
Practical Applications:
Choose one or two of the following to commit to as a group or as individuals before your next meeting.
1. Audit your Christology. Set aside time this week to write down in your own words who you believe Jesus is. Be specific. Then compare what you have written to passages like Colossians 1:13-20, John 1:1-14, and Hebrews 1:1-4. Where do your beliefs align with Scripture? Where do they fall short?
2. Pray with the fullness of Christ in view. Before each prayer time this week, take a moment to recall that you are approaching the one in whom all the fullness of God dwells. Let that shape the reverence, the confidence, and the expectation with which you pray.
3. Memorize Colossians 1:18. Commit this verse to memory as a group. Review it together at the start of your next meeting and discuss how it shaped your thinking throughout the week.
Closing Reflection:
The sermon opened with a prayer describing us as broken cisterns that cannot contain the grandeur of what Scripture declares about Christ. As you close your group time, consider praying together using that same image, asking God to immerse you in his word so that even in your brokenness, the truth of who Christ is would sustain and restore you.
Suggested Reading for Further Study:
- Colossians 1:13-23 (read the full passage in context before your next meeting)
- Romans 8:18-25
- Ephesians 1:15-23
- Psalm 2
- Isaiah 11:1-10