It’s All About Jesus (Col 1:15-23)
Introduction
My plan this morning is to dive deep into this amazing text and I hope to lead all of you to high praise of Jesus. But I hope to do this not only by teaching and preaching this passage, but by leading you to ask questions and make discoveries yourself about ourJesus. I want to take advantage of the size of this group and discuss some things together. I’ll ask some questions to you that I want you to answer. I also want you to have your Bibles open and to take notes this morning as things catch your eye. I want you to marvel with me at Jesus and the best way to do that is to look closely at him through what he recorded for us in Scripture about himself. Now, before we jump in, let’s pray that God would give us hunger for him and enable us to delight in Jesus this morning in fresh ways.
Context
As Dale mentioned last week, Colossians gives us a huge view of Jesus, which we always need, but especially as we lay the foundation for Light House Church. Today’s text does that perhaps better than any other place in Scripture.
The reason this focus on Jesus was important for Paul in this letter to the Colossians, which we’ll see as we keep going in this letter in weeks ahead, is that there were false teachings coming into the church that diverted the focus away from Jesus as our all-sufficient Savior and God towards another salvation. Particularly, it seems that the Colossians were being misled to believe that by their extreme personal religious practices and by the reliance and worship of particular angels, they would be saved.
Now, these false teachings are not what we are currently battling in our context, though I have Christian friends in other cities and Christian circles who are battling similar false teaching. Regardless, false teaching will inevitably come and Paul shows us that the solution. His church in all places and all times must ground their hope in Jesus alone. Our hope crumbles without him. He is the foundation of everything we are. He is the center of our faith. Which is why God the Holy Spirit has recorded for us such high praise of Jesus in this text.
Let’s get started. Look at verse 15.
The Beloved Son
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.”
Who is “He”? Jesus, the beloved Son.
In verse 13, Paul writes,
English Standard Version Chapter 1
13 [The Father] has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
We were part of a different kingdom, a kingdom of darkness, but through hearing the Good News of Jesus and putting our faith in him, we were rescued by the Father through the Beloved Son and transferred into the kingdom of Jesus. It’s in him, Paul says, we are redeemed. That is, our purpose, which was tainted and broken by sin, is restored as he forgives us and enlists us in his army.
The Image of God
Look again at verse 15: “He [the beloved Son] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.”
When you read phrases like “God is” or “Jesus is” please pay careful attention. We ought to dig deep and think about it because these identity statements for God shape our worship and our daily living. We become like the one we behold, so we want to know him rightly.
These two identity statements are actually highlighting qualities of Jesus’s humanity and divinity. As you study the person of Jesus, you cannot escape that he is the God-man come to reconcile the world to himself.
So, when you think of the image of God, where does your mind first go?
Mine goes to the first man and woman, created in the image of God. Adam was also called a son of God by virtue of being created in the image and likeness of God, even as Adam’s sons were begotten in his likeness and thus his sons. Likewise, you and I being made in the image of God like Adam and Eve, makes us God’s children.
So what makes Jesus different than every other man and woman made in the image of God?
Jesus uniquely images God both in his humanity and his divinity.
How do you think he uniquely images God as a human?
Humanity: You and I are truly sons of God and image bearers, but Jesus is uniquely so since he is not like the first Adam or any of us who failed in sin to properly image God. Even in sin, we all remain in the image of God, but that image is severely tainted, which is why we are desperate for someone from outside of us that can show us what God is really like. Church, as we grow mature in Christ, we become good examples that we can truly call others to watch and imitate. But we are never the focus. Jesus is the one to behold. Christ in us is what makes someone beautiful and worth imitating.
How does Jesus image God uniquely in his divinity? I’ll answer this one.
Divinity: Paul calls Jesus the “beloved Son”. Jesus is the uniquely loved Son of God. John’s Gospel calls him the “only Son” or “only begotten”, that is, the unique Son of God (Jn 3:16). The Bible teaches us that Jesus eternally existed as the Son of God, perfectly reflecting the Father. This does not mean that the Father created Jesus like he did an angel or man, but rather that he has eternally existed in the Godhead as unique from the Father, yet himself divine. This is why the Apostle John strives for language to describe this in his Gospel. The Word was with God; the Word was God; He was in the beginning with God; the Word became flesh. And this is why Paul similarly strives with language to describe the fact that Jesus is God. He says in 1:19: In [Jesus] all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.” He says in 2:9: “in [Jesus] the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.”
Jesus is God with us, God who took on flesh! He took on creatureliness when he became a man, and therefore bears God’s image as a man, but he uniquely bears God’s image because he is the eternal God enfleshed. If you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus. Apart from Jesus, you cannot know him!
But he came that we might know him. Praise be to God!
The Firstborn Of All Creation
Next, Paul identifies the Son of God as “the firstborn of all creation.”
This phrase is closely tied to the first phrase and highlights again both aspects of Christ’s humanity and divinity.
Now, I don’t know about you, but this firstborn idea has tripped me up in the past, making me question Jesus’s divinity. Have any of you ever been tripped up by this phrase? If Jesus was born at all does that make him a created being and thus less than God. Because contrary to the various polytheistic religions, the Bible teaches that the One true God is not created but the One Creator. So, if by this statement Paul intends for us to believe that Jesus is the first created being, I believe we have to conclude that Jesus is not God, but rather some sort of lower being in the order of creation. Sadly, nearly every major religion has embraced a view of Jesus as being an extremely exalted being or man but not the one and only true God. Additionally, heretical Christian groups including Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, and others have misunderstood Jesus’s identity and thus call for very different worship and living.
But I do not believe this is what Paul intends for us to believe for many reasons. Instead, I believe he intends to highlight the authority and sovereignty of Jesus over all creation. Let’s see.
First, I believe Paul is making a connection to Adam who was the firstborn of humanity and thus the head of humanity. The Bible teaches that the firstborn inherited a firstborn birthright or authority. Likewise, according to his humanity Christ is the firstborn of the new creation. He is the last Adam, and the head of the new man being redeemed and created in the image of God. This means that Jesus inherits the firstborn rights, having authority over all creation as head. One commentary highlighted that Paul is likely drawing from Psalm 88, which refers to the coming Messiah as the “firstborn” who would inherit a position “higher than the kings of the earth,” with a “throne” that lasts “forever” (Ps. 88:27–29, 37. (Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament Colossians 1:15)
The phrase in verse 1:17 “he is before all things” further highlights this role as firstborn, a last Adam who would properly image God and sovereignly rule the entire earth as king.
But there is a second reason Jesus is the firstborn over all creation tied to his divinity. What do you think that is? He is the creator of all things.
If you are every confused in the Bible, please read on. There is usually more clues to understand. Paul shows us what he means when He starts in verse 16 with the word “For” or because. This means that he is about to unpack what else he means by “Firstborn of Creation”. He says, Because “all things were created by him.” By all, he means all. He goes on to paints a picture of every part of the created order, “in heaven and earth, visible and invisible, [including every angelic being] - thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities - all things were created through him and for him.” So, he cannot be the firstborn as in first created, because all things were created by him. That is, through him. Everything was made by God’s Word. He is in the Sovereign Creator category, not creature.
Paul keeps hammering this home by saying that it was all made “for him.” Who else can receive that kind of glory but God. God the Son, our Jesus is the inheritor of all creation because he sovereignly created it all by his Word.
Look also at 1:17 which highlights that Jesus is sovereignly upholding everything by his very being.– “in him all things hold together.” Who else but God can be so consequential to heaven and earth’s being? This is our Jesus.
Therefore, the firstborn of all creation highlights his humanly position over creation as the firstborn head or chief, fulfilling what we were originally called to, while simultaneously highlighting that he Lord of all creation by virtue of being the Creator God separate from all that he made. This is our Jesus! Behold your Creator and God.
Thrones and Dominions
Notice also that Paul mentions that Jesus created the thrones, dominions, rulers, and authorities. Paul is using Jewish terms for ranks of angelic beings. This not only shows that Jesus is not just some created angelic being, but also that he is sovereign over the spiritual realm. This includes angels and demons. The Colossians, who were being misled to worship angels, needed to be brought back to the truth that Jesus is Creator and Lord over every angelic being and thus alone to be worshiped. Jesus created every angelic being so they must worship him alone.
Head of the Church. Firstborn from the dead.
Now, let’s look at verse 18. It just keeps getting better! Paul is going to keep highlighting the preeminence of the Son of God, but show how his sovereign authority is bent towards us in love, towards reconciliation through sacrifice.
English Standard Version Chapter 1
18 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.
Not only does every human and angel and creature in the universe owe Jesus our worship and obedience because he is our Creator, we owe him our worship and obedience because he is the head of the church. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul expounds on this idea even more, but he compares the church to a body and Christ as our head. He is the chief, the Lord, the one who gives us our orders. He is Lord. This is why Jesus said “I will build my church.” He is the Chief Shepherd. We are all his body, regardless of our role in the church. Without Jesus their is no church.
He is also called the beginning, the firstborn from the dead. Here is that firstborn language again. He is the first of the new humanity, which we belong to first when we are born again through faith in him, and second, when we are resurrected just as he was raised.
In Everything, Christ is Supreme
Paul’s conclusion could not be more fitting - “that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 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.
Did you noticed how many times Paul uses the phrase “all things” or the word “all” here? Do you get the picture? Jesus is supreme. Our worship of him today is so fitting! Oh that we could give him more.
This reminds me of Jesus’s words in John’s gospel. Turn with me to 5:21:
English Standard Version Chapter 5
21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. 22 For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father.
The Father and the Son have the same authority and receive the same worship, not only in heaven as the preincarnate Son but also on earth as an enfleshed man. The Father has given to Jesus the role of Creator and Re-Creator, fully God, yet also fully man, who in his humanity reconciles all things to God. Why, so that in everything he might be supreme, surpassing all. There is no greater position or power, no one more worthy of our only worship. His Lordship and authority has no limits. Everything is quite literally all about Jesus!
By His Bloody Death
Now, If you aren’t amazed enough, just focus in a moment on these words in verse 20, READ IT ALOUD “making peace by the blood of his cross.”
And read 21-22 with me aloud: “And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death…”
Church, our awesome God, our immortal Creator stooped low in love for us, took on a human body that was mortal so that he could bleed for us and die for us on a cross.
Why? To make peace with his enemies. We who were far from God, at war with God in our mind and in our deeds.
At the center of reconciliation and renewal with God, that is peace with God, is a bloody cross. It took a sacrificial death because the wages of sin is death. Our sin earned eternal death, but Jesus took our place so that we might earn the life that he alone deserves. At the heart of the Gospel is a substitution, a spotless Lamb slain in our place. Their is no salvation apart from Jesus going to a cross. There is no peace with God a part from his wrath-appeasing death.
This truth, my friends, is always on the chopping block by false teaches, because the devil knows that it’s where power and victory over sin lies. So we must never let go of this.
To Present You Holy and Blameless
Now, many others like to stop here at reconciled. We’re in! The job is done by Jesus so we can get to heaven. But Paul says there is a much bigger purpose for reconciliation through the cross. What is it? Verse 22:
“…in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him.”
Don’t ever forget this either. We are saved - past tense, but we are also being saved - present tense, and we will be saved - future tense.
Reconciliation with God was made possible by the finished work of Christ that purchased our freedom and forgiveness. But no one can be in relationship with this holy God without changing and becoming like him. Jesus’s work via the Holy Spirit continues as you are daily pruned and disciplined, matured and sanctified in greater ways. If you are not growing in Christ likeness, you need a serious check up. Chances are, you’ve stopped saying yes to Jesus and thus following him as Lord, or you simply haven’t been near him enough. Because again, anyone who is near this Jesus will see their sin and need to repent over and over again until Christ can truly present us to the Father holy and blameless. It is Christ’s intent to present you to the Father as perfectly blameless and holy by virtue of his work on earth, but also as having born fruit, imperfectly, but truly holy and blameless by virtue of the work of the Holy Spirit in us. Oh how I long to be as pure and holy for my God when I meet him face to face.
Continue In the Faith
We close in verse 23 with these challenging words: “if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.”
If anyone pushes back on my last point that we have real work to do in our Christian journey, I hope Paul’s conditions are clear enough. You and I must continue on. There is a tendency to shift because the world, our own flesh, and the devil are at war with us. We are all prone towards sin which can easily entangle us. We have encountered false teaching in our lifetime and we will encounter more. And mark my words, all of it will aim at shifting your attention away from Jesus and the transforming power of the Gospel.
Therefore, our aim in teaching the Word, in shepherding you Light House, in belonging to one another in this body, is faithfulness to Jesus Christ, stability and steadfastness in the message that saved us and redeemed us even as it redeemed a sinner like Paul, as well as ever increasing holiness – that is becoming like him.
Our Jesus is supreme. Give him your worship.
Our Jesus is peace, our reconciler and healer. Give him your hope.
Our Jesus is the sanctifier. Give him your full obedience.
Though the earth war and rage against him, he still rules and reigns over all. He is seated on throne until the day he is sent once again. Every eye will see him as he is. Every knee will bow and every tongue confess that he is Lord. Oh that we would worship him rightly until that day.
How Should We Now Live
I want to take five minutes to hear from you. What landed on you this morning in terms of how you should live in light of this truth? What is Jesus showing you about himself and what does that mean for your life this week?