Christ at the Center

Welcome

We have been working our way through the book of Colossians. Last week we looked at the encouraging prayer that Paul was praying for the believers in Colossae. We looked at the process of sanctification, that is the process of becoming holy in God’s eyes and what it would take to live a life worthy of the Lord. We said that spiritual knowledge always points us to spiritual action and a transformed life is filled with the power of Christ, through his Spirit.

I hope that your life is transformed by the power of the Spirit and that you are following the ways of Jesus Christ our Lord. That is the core of what we are studying in the Book of Colossians as we look at one of the core doctrinal hymns in the New Testament.

We looked at this transformed life last Sunday, as well as on Wednesday night. Thank you making an effort to be here on Wednesday, those of you that joined us. We had a lively discussion of the passage from last week. Wednesday night Bible study is truly the best night of the week. If you’re not joining us on Wednesdays, you’re really missing out.

This week we move away from Paul’s introduction and prayer for the church at Colossae. He goes straight into praise mode by Christ is first and foremost. He is in all and above all.

Let’s continue reading in Colossians 1, where Paul transitions into this great hymn of Christ...

Colossians 1:15–20 CSB

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities— all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and by him all things hold together. 18 He is also the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile everything to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Colossians 1:21–23 CSB

21 Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds as expressed in your evil actions. 22 But now he has reconciled you by his physical body through his death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before him—23 if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith and are not shifted away from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become a servant of it.

[pray]

We call this a hymn, though we are not certain whether it was sung by the early church or not. It is a poetical description of the nature of Christ and his role in the kingdom of God. The focus here shifts from a prayer for and encouragement of the believers at Colossae to this extended statement about the nature of Jesus Christ.

In review, Paul wrote the book of Colossians to address an issue within the church that was threatening the understanding that the believers had been taught about who Christ is.

The threat of gnosticism was weakening their understanding of the gospel message of Jesus Christ. This false teaching was spreading among the believers in the church and they needed to be reminded of the power and the joy that God gives to each believer.

Gnosticism taught that Christ had no physical body, which they believed would make him evil. However, these teachings had the effect of corrupting the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Think about what that would mean for the gospel if Christ had no physical body, but was a spirit come to earth to teach us good lessons.

What would Christ’s suffering and death on the cross mean for us if he had no physical body?

What would Christ’s resurrection mean to us if he was only spirit—if he was God, but not human in his form?

What would it mean to us if Christ was not human, but only deity when he ascended to the right hand of Father God?

The implication here is that if Christ were not fully human, in physical form—if he were purely spirit—we would lose the power of Christ’s death, his resurrection, his ascension, and his continued role as part of the Triune Godhead.

What better way to remind us all of these truths about Christ than a poem or a song that gets right to the heart of the matter and explains to us who Christ is and what his role is in the grand nature of creation.

This is almost certainly a song that was sung in the early church. The rhythm and lyrical style are stylistic clues that tell us that this passage is, indeed, a hymn to be sung.

The hymn is a bit difficult to study in terms of structure, however the themes and divisions provide us with two sections for our consideration: 1) Christ’s relation to the created world answers our questions about the origin and the purpose of creation, and 2) Jesus relationship to the redemption of what he created.

I. Christ, the Creator

Pastor Warren Wiersbe points out a fourfold relationship of Jesus Christ to creation: He claims that 1) Christ is placed a position over all creation, as 2) the Creator of all things, and says 3) that all things were created for Christ and 4) Christ actually holds all things together.

A. Christ Over Creation

Colossians 1:15 CSB

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

First, Paul says that Christ is “the image of the invisible God.”

This idea of Christ being the “image of God” indicates that Christ is the “visual representation” of the invisible God. Christ is God come earth. Interestingly, the Greek term here is εἰκών eikōn or where we get our English term, icon. Paul is saying here that Christ is the physical or visible representative of an invisible God here on earth.

He is also saying that Christ was not just a symbolic representation of the invisible God, but that Christ was God manifested here on earth. The meaning here was that Christ was not just a messenger or a representative, but actually God manifest here on earth. The Apostle James put it this way in his letter to the Hebrews...

Hebrews 1:3 CSB

3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

Going back to Paul’s letter...

Colossians 1:15 CSB

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

Paul calls Christ the firstborn in a couple of places in this hymn. The Greek term is πρωτότοκος prōtotokos, which translates precisely as “firstborn” in English. One might look at this and ask the question, “Was Christ born? Does that mean that he is a created being?” But what Paul is talking about here is that Christ’s position or place is the first and foremost among creation. In the Jewish and Greco-Roman mindset, the term was used to describe one who took precedence. It was talking about the rights and privileges of the firstborn heir.

While Christ was not born as a created being, he held the first place that the firstborn heir would hold, only he held the position of authority over all creation.

Furthermore, Paul says that Christ holds this first place over all creation. He is the heir of God and holds a premiere place of authority over every created thing.

B. Christ, Creator of All Things

Paul goes on to describe Christ’s role in creation, saying that he is supreme over all things...

Colossians 1:16 CSB

16 For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities— all things have been created through him and for him.

Christ was the Creator!

We can find evidence of three ways that Christ was in first place through this verse...

This verse uses three verbs. creation was created “by him,” “through him,” and and “for him.”

By him—while this says that “everything was created by him” it actually means that everything sprang forth from him. Jesus conceived of creation—he worked out the details, and took on the responsibility to make it happen. This is not to say that God, the Father, was removed from Creation—in fact, he was involved and determined to bring Creation into existence. In a poor analogy, one might say that Christ was the developer, planner, and site foreman, God was the architect and the engineer, while the Spirit was the building contractor and the construction crew.

Through him—this wording intends to represent that creation was formed through the use of Christ’s power and ability. Christ is the agent of creation. We can see this in John 1:1-3 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created.”

For him—when we look at this literally, the Greek phrase carries the sense that everything was created “unto him,” which means that Jesus is the sum total goal of creation. Everything exists to point to Christ and glorify him.

The other aspects that we see here are that all of creation is made up of things seen and unseen—the visible is earth and the universe as we know it and the invisible is the spiritual realm. Which we know to exist, but cannot touch or put our finger upon it or even point to it and say, “There it is!”

C. Christ Holding All Things Together

Paul continues in verse 17...

Colossians 1:17 CSB

17 He is before all things, and by him all things hold together.

We see two statements here, Christ is “before all things” and “by him all things hold together.”

This prepositional statement “before all things” indicates that Christ came first before everything that we know to be physically created matter.

The second statement about the binding work of Christ seems to indicate that Jesus keeps things in order. He has not forgotten Creation, in fact he is actively working to hold it together and without him, perhaps all matter would fly apart into unorganized chaos.

II. Christ, Head of the Church

Moving into the second stanza, we continue to find more and more statements about the theology of Christ...

Colossians 1:18 CSB

18 He is also the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything.

Christ is not only the image or the representative or the embodiment of God, and not only is he the firstborn of creation, and the Creator, “he is also the head of the body, the church.”

Head of the church is clearly a place of authority that places Christ as the ultimate authority over all churches that follow his teachings and proclaim his name before the nations. This is—and has been—the practice of this church and many other Christian churches in the world even still today.

The second part of this verse reiterates many of the early parts of this hymn.

Dr. Todd Still, dean of theological studies at Truett Seminary says that Christ was resurrected to answer the question of death and to secure his premiere place as the head of the church and the Lord over creation.

Philippians 2:9–11 CSB

9 For this reason God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow— in heaven and on earth and under the earth— 11 and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus’ resurrection set into motion the events that would bring all people in all nations and everything under heaven and earth, whether things physical or things spiritual—all things would be placed under his authority. And all would be reconciled to him...

III. Christ Reconciles All Things

It is only fitting that once Jesus beat death, that he should be placed in a position of supreme reign over the universe.

Colossians 1:19–20 CSB

19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile everything to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

God’s entire plan regarding the resurrection was to make sure that Christ could reign supreme. For this reason God was pleased to put all of himself within the person of Christ.

This reminds me of John 1...

John 1:14 CSB

14 The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

…skipping to verse 16...

John 1:16 CSB

16 Indeed, we have all received grace upon grace from his fullness,

All of our grace comes from Christ, who gets all of his grace from the Father.

This meant that the Colossians (as well as you and I) had no need to worry about how they might be filled or made complete in Christ.

Colossians 2:9–10 CSB

9 For the entire fullness of God’s nature dwells bodily in Christ, 10 and you have been filled by him, who is the head over every ruler and authority.

God’s reason for uniting with Christ was for the reconciliation of all creation.

This word “reconciliation” is a word that speaks to repairing broken relationships. It carries the sense of restoring a harmonious relationship that has been severed or broken. It refers to the broken relationship that God had/has with humanity, and in fact, all of creation, since the fall of man.

This reconciliation only became possible through Christ’s work on the cross. This was God’s successful attempt to begin the work of repairing creation.

Colossians 1:20 CSB

20 and through him to reconcile everything to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Paul explained in this hymn (v20) that God was making peace with creation through this act of sending Christ to the cross. Or perhaps a better way of saying it is that God was making a way for creation to a place of peace with himself.

Paul reminds the Colossian church who they were before they knew Christ...

Colossians 1:21 CSB

21 Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds as expressed in your evil actions.

He reminds them that they were separated and even hostile against God.

Ephesians 4:18 CSB

18 They are darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them and because of the hardness of their hearts.

But that has changed with Christ...

Colossians 1:22 CSB

22 But now he has reconciled you by his physical body through his death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before him—

They could understand here that it was the breaking of Christ’s physical body (that which they were considering evil) that brought them out of a hostile place and reconciled them before God and made them holy and valued by God. While the Colossians had been separated from God, they had been given a chance at this reconciliation and they were no longer separated.

And they had a security in this place with God. They were considered holy (set apart), faultless, even considered blameless by God They were completely and totally free from accusation (as we are, who are in him).

Paul adds this note of contingency saying that their pardon, their state before God, is their greatest hope, as long as they remain grounded in their faith...

Colossians 1:23 CSB

23 if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith and are not shifted away from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become a servant of it.

Paul is saying that persevering in the faith is critical to salvation, which comes to its fullest fruition in the end. Should any of us, who believe in Christ, treat the things that we have been taught—those things that we have taken as our convictions and commitments before God, and disregard them or toss them aside—that blameless status, that saving faith is suddenly jeopardized and weakened, drained of the power of the Spirit.

Jesus said...

Matthew 24:13 CSB

13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

It is the saving faith of Christ that continues and endures, persevering until the end.

While we have been saved, and we are being saved, salvation will not be completed until the end, when we are reunited with Christ.

Yes, we can have assurance of our salvation, and that assurance is found at its fullest in our perseverance.

Conclusion