Colossians 1:15-20
“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.”
Paul is talking in this passage about Jesus. Jesus is the image of the invisible
God, the firstborn of all creation.
I’m immediately reminded of one of the very first verses of Scripture –
Genesis 1:26a. “Then God said,
‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.’” Notice use of the word “our.” This
follows Genesis 1:2b which states, “And the Spirit of God was
hovering over the face of the waters.” God is providing us with revelation
regarding His triune nature within the very first Scriptures of the Bible (and
reinforces this revelation throughout Scripture). Before the world ever existed was God – God the Father, God
the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
God’s Spirit hovered over the waters. God’s Son, as the firstborn of all creation, pre-dated all
created things. “Let us
make man in our own image, after our likeness.” Jesus Christ was present
and instrumental in the creation of all things – those things in heaven, those
things on earth, those things that can be seen, and those things that
can’t. Paul’s words indicate that
even leaders in their positions of earthly power were put there by the hand of
Jesus. (I Timothy 2:2 takes this
one step further and encourages us to [pray] for kings and all who are in high
positions.) Not only were some things created through Jesus, but all things were created through Him. And, perhaps even more importantly, all
things were created for Him. Everything was created for our Lord
Jesus Christ – to be used by Him and to be used for Him – to bring Him glory
and honor and praise. And, He is
the One who holds all things together.
Throughout the ages, wise and learned men have worked to understand the
laws of nature – gravity, motion, friction, etc… All too often they’ve used their human understandings to
explain away the need for any form of deity. They consider faith to be foolishness that flies in the face
of science. And yet, science
exists and works because of the person of Jesus Christ. It is He who holds all things
together. If one day Jesus were to
choose to use, for instance, the waters of the Jordan to heal some men of
leprosy, He could easily make that occur (Luke 17:11-19). Likewise, if Jesus wanted to make the
sun and moon stand still (such as happened in Joshua 10:12-13), He need only
say the word. He holds all things together.
Paul also establishes Jesus’ role as the head of the
church. This is a natural role for
the One who existed before any created thing, for the One whom God determined
to have preeminence above all other things. The next verse paints an incredible picture of the standing
that Jesus has with His Father. “For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased
to dwell…” Wow! All of the
fullness of God! In our finite
minds, we can’t even begin to imagine all the fullness of our incredible
God. And yet, all of that fullness
– holiness, awesomeness, love, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness,
compassion, faithfulness, etc… - all of it is found in the person of Jesus
Christ! As if that weren’t
awe-inspiring enough, now recognize that it pleased God to have all that
fullness dwell within His Son – not just some of it, but all of it. Not just satisfied,
but pleased! What an incredible
truth! Yet, if all this fullness
were found in the person of Jesus but we were unable to enter into relationship
with Him, where we would be? The
incredible news for mankind is that Jesus is not only filled with all the
fullness of His Father, but that He was given so that we might be able to be
reconciled to Him. Apart from His
willing sacrifice, we would be separated from God, lost in our sin, and headed
for hell. But, because of His gift
of love, we can be reconciled to God and have His Holy Spirit alive within
us. The same fullness of God that
is pleased to dwell in the person of Jesus Christ is the same fullness of God
that we can have inside of us. We
are joint heirs with Jesus! Romans
8:15-17 says “For you did not receive the spirit of slaves to fall
back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom
we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit Himself bears witness with
our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs – heirs of
God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order that we
may also be glorified with Him.”
Jesus serves as our example. He was the firstborn of all creation. We are created in His image. In Him all the fullness of God was pleased
to dwell and the same is true for us today. In fact, God is so pleased to have His Spirit dwell within
us that He gave His Son to make such a relationship possible. What an incredible gift from our
steadfast God!
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