Christ Before All: Colossians 1:15-23

Introduction

I could never be Jewish, even if my parents were. This may sound offensive, but it’s just a statement of fact according to modern definitions. I cannot be Jewish because I believe that Jesus is Immanuel, God with us, and the Messiah. I believe that Jesus is divine, he is God, and this is why I would never be allowed to be Jewish.

In 1948, Israel was reestablished as a nation and they instituted what was called “the law of return” in order to ensure a Jewish majority in the new nation. If you had at least one Jewish grandparent you were invited to immigrate to Israel and establish a new life. It was a successful policy, but one that required some further clarifications in the 50s to ensure that those coming were sufficiently Jewish.

Eventually, the Israeli Supreme Court gave the requirement that someone who is born Jewish is considered a Jew "as long as he or she does not accept another religion.” Which is an understandable exception, except for the fact that someone could be an atheist and still considered Jewish and welcome to move to Israel, but as soon as someone believes that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah they forfeited that honor, even if they believed in and followed the Old Testament and the God of Abraham, Jacob, and Isaac.

In speaking to this concept, Rabbi Walter Jacob said,

"'Messianic Jews' claim that they are Jews, but we must ask ourselves whether we identify them as Jews. We can not do so as they consider Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah who has fulfilled the Messianic promises. In this way, they have clearly placed themselves within Christianity. They may be somewhat different from other Christians as they follow various Jewish rites and ceremonials, but that does not make them Jews… The theology and underlying beliefs of ‘Messianic Jews’ remove them from Judaism and make them Christians."

Less than a year ago, a bill was proposed in Israel (but ultimately failed) to outlaw the attempts to convince people of the truth of Christianity with the punishment being a year in prison, or two if the attempted conversion was toward a minor.

This law of return has been successful in drawing people back to Israel while keeping Christians out. To this day, less than 2% of the population of Israel is Christian, a number that includes Messianic Jews who make up less than 10% of that 2%.

And this is not just the opinion on Christianity and Judaism in Israel.

Colossians & Philemon for You Chapter 2: Christ the Universal (Colossians Chapter 1 Verses 15 to 20)

As one writer said:

“It is the rejection of Jesus as Christ that binds American Jews together. It is by the rejection of the messiahship of Jesus that we proclaim to the world that we are still Jews.”

(Stan Telchin, Abandoned, page 100)

They make their point clear. You cannot be a Jew and believe in Christ. It’s astounding right? Jesus is the fulfillment of all they have been waiting for for millennia and historically to believe that is true means that you are shunned from Judaism!

But they’re far from the only group who would say that. I could never be a Unitarian, a Oneness Pentecostal, a Muslim, Mormon, Hindu, or Buddhist either. All because I am convinced that Jesus is the One True God.

And how could I not believe this after all he has claimed and how all of history hinges on the life of this one man.

The great science-fiction novelist H. G. Wells wrote, “I am an historian, I am not a believer, but … this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very centre of history.”

Though this is a scandalous claim to make for many in the 21st Century, it was no less scandalous in the 1st Century. Colossians is a scandalous letter. It collides with our human assumptions. It stands starkly against nearly all the claims of our culture. To our peers, it makes us look bigoted and backwards to claim that Jesus alone is the way to salvation. Who are we to determine what is true or what is false? To modern ears Colossians sounds ridiculous and no where more so than in Colossians 1:15-23.

We started our study in Colossians last week with the first 14 verses and we saw that Paul began his introduction with thanksgiving for the believers in Colossae and a prayer for their continued growth and faithfulness. Throughout it all Paul is calling on the Colossians to remember and believe who Christ is and what he has done. In our passage this morning, Paul seeks to give his readers a view of Christ that instead of focusing on the minutiae of life that we can so often get distracted by, focuses on how Jesus is the head of all things, he is king of all things, and he is before all things. He has exclusive claims over all of Creation.

The great Dutch pastor, theologian, university founder and Prime Minister, Abraham Kuyper is perhaps most well known for his quote “there is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: ‘Mine!’ ”

What a statement! And we see why he can accurately make such a statement in our passage this morning.

Colossians 1:15–23 ESV

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 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. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 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. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. 21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 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.

Sermon

We particularly see 3 ways that Jesus is before all things. Jesus the Creator, Jesus the Rescuer, and Jesus the Redeemer

Jesus the Creator: “The firstborn of all creation” (15-17)

1. Jesus, the God of Everything (15)

15 He is the image of the invisible God...

God is invisible, we cannot see him and we are not supposed to try to make up what he looks like. As soon as we attempt to make him into an image made of materials of earth we desecrate his image. This is why the second of the ten commandments is to not make graven images of God.

But now, in what appears to be paradox, the Son, Jesus, is the image of the invisible God. He is the way to see God.

Where God told his people they were not to make any images of him, it was because Jesus was already the perfect image and likeness of God and any other attempt to duplicate his image will be immensely flawed and therefore lead people to worship a flawed image of God. It is idolatry to do so.

This fight against the human tendency to idolatry was one of the great pillars of the Protestant Reformation. Throughout many cities and nations they destroyed the idols, the images, set up in the church buildings in order to bring the focus on Jesus who is the sole image of the invisible God!

And this is where images of Jesus also get so dangerous. It is so easy to get an image of Jesus in our minds that is based on a painting or an actor and not based on what we know to be true about him from the Scriptures. So our prayers become imaginative, skewing toward the created image of Jesus that we find to be most palatable, most relatable, and we don’t think of him as the very image of God himself, but rather someone who looks just like how we want him to look.

Images of Jesus are graven images and they usually lead us to worship falsely because they create an image of Jesus in our minds that we then pray to. Somewhere in the past 500 years (primarily in the last century) we have forgotten that truth and embraced the Roman Catholic concept of allowing images in worship and decked out our churches with pictures of Jesus. We must get back to our roots and recognize that the living Christ is the only acceptable image of God and we do not know what he looks like.

It takes a certain sense of humility to be able to live in the mystery of Christ’s incarnation instead of trying to remove that mystery with images and we must strive to live confidently in that mystery and not stray into the arrogance of thinking we have any right, as creatures from the dust, to depict the perfect and glorious God, whether Father, Son, or Spirit, from our fickle imaginations.

Do you want to see the image of Christ? Look around this room and look at your fellow church members, your brothers and sisters in Christ. Do you want others to see the image of Christ? Then represent him faithfully and humbly.

In Romans 8:29 we see that those God brings into his family are brought in and shaped to be made into the image of his Son, so that Jesus may be the firstborn of many children of God.

Romans 8:29 ESV

29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

God decides his image, not us, and he has chosen to make his image clear in Christ and his people. Jesus is the image of the invisible God and we are shaped into his likeness through our sanctification and one day when sin is no more we will see Christ’s perfect image in one another. But for now, we see a darkened image of what will one day be perfect. May we earnestly yearn for that day.

Next in our passage, we see a phrase that troubles some people.

… the firstborn of all creation...

Some, like Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons, who follow the ancient Arian heresy, believe that this means that Jesus was a created being like you and me, just a human and nothing more. He is special because of his position and authority as “firstborn”, not because he is God. He is simply the first among equals.

But this misses the point entirely. The word “firstborn” meant something very specific to Paul and his culture. It was about being the main inheritor of the family’s wealth. Though this typically was given to the firstborn son, there certainly were exceptions. The point Paul is making is about what is inherited, not who the biological father is. Jesus is the rightful inheritor of all creation.

And we see why this is in the next verse.

Jesus is the creator of everything.

2. Jesus, the Creator of Everything (16)

16 For by him all things were created,

All things are created BY HIM. If everything is created by him, then he is before all created things. He is not created himself.

What does this mean for us? It means that Jesus is eternal! He was God at the beginning, and he will be God at the end! He always has been God and he has never stopped being fully God for one nanosecond!

So what does this firstborn status give him? The right over all of creation! He made everything so he owns everything and he owns the right to tell what he made how they must live!

And Paul really means everything here. He continues in verse 16:

For by him all things were created

in heaven and on earth,

visible and invisible,

whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities,

The heavens and earth, the spiritual and physical beings, things we can see and things we cannot, and all nations, authorities and kings were created through him!

What does this mean? What is there that exists that has not been created by Christ? Nothing!

And where does Paul draw this from? First from Genesis 1 where God creates the world through what? His Word.

And then this is described further in John 1

John 1 (ESV)

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it...

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth...18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, but he (Jesus) has made him known.

This sounds really familiar to our passage this morning, but what is John’s argument here in verse 1? In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Who was the word then? Jesus! He is the living Word of God and it is through that living word that all things were created! Jesus is the Word of Genesis 1 and John 1 and he is the glorious Creator of all! All that we look at, all that we experience, all that we love, all that we hate, all that we feel and think about - the Sovereign Creator Jesus looks at each of these and declares “Mine!”

It isn’t just the physical world that has its foundation in Christ, it’s the heavenly realms as well! All the great hosts of heaven, all the stars in the sky, the galaxies and black holes, the planets and comets - all of them! - are created by Christ and are in submission to Christ!

And as much as it can be hard to believe sometimes, Jesus’ authority and creation extends even to the nations and those who rule over them. From the Roman Empire to our nation today, Jesus stands tall above them as their ruler and creator.

And all things were created not only by him, but the rest of verse 16 tells us that:

all things were created through him and for him.

Not only was Jesus the Creator of all things, Creation was made through him and his power, and for what purpose? For Him. All of Creation is for Jesus!

3. Jesus the Sustainer of Everything (17)

If that isn’t enough to boggle your mind, Paul says in verse 17:

17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Jesus is before all Creation! As we already spoke about, though he is the firstborn of Creation, he is before creation!

He is before all nations and rulers, he is before all the things we hold dear, and the very fabric of the universe is held together in him!

He is not only God and the creator of all things, he is also the sustainer of everything.

Jesus the Rescuer: “The firstborn of the ‘New Creation’ - the dead” (18-20)

Now the next few verses are designed in such a way that they parallel verses 15-17.

Jesus is not just the head of all creation, he is also the head of the church! The body of Christ! That means that the only opinions that matter in this church are Christ’s. Your opinions do not matter, and neither do mine. Jesus is the Head, and we are the rest of the body doing what the head tells us to do.

He is the firstborn, the beginning, of all Creation and the beginning of the new creation! The firstborn of the dead! The first of the ones who will live after death so that in life or in death he is before all things!

I have been blessed to read a book every night with my kids called “Little Pilgrim’s Progress.” It is a retelling of the great allegorical work “Pilgrim’s Progress” by John Bunyan a Puritan from the 1600s. He wrote much of the story while sitting in prison in England for refusing to bow to the Church of England and it has blessed many generations of Christians across the world.

The story follows a man by the name of Christian Pilgrim and his journey to the Celestial City. It is an allegory of the Christian life and it is filled with shocking insight and biblical truth. Along the way Christian faces many perils, but when he is almost to the end of his journey, all that stands between him and the city is the River of Death and he must cross over if he is to see the grand city of his King.

This chapter naturally sparked conversation with my boys about the reality of death and the fact that we all must face it. It was a difficult, but wonderful conversation. And as my boys struggled through the realization that they and all the people they love will have to cross the dreaded River of Death, our minds were drawn to the ending of the story where Christian comes through death to find his king waiting for him to welcome him in to his city. And we spoke of Jesus and what he has done.

What did Jesus do?

He died on a cross, Dad.

But did he stay dead?

No! He came back to life!

So do you think Jesus is strong enough to bring his people out of death?

Yeah!

Will he leave his people to die?

No! He will bring them back to life!

That’s right! We can trust him!

And this is the great hope we have as Christians! That Jesus is the firstborn of the dead, the one who will raise his people from death and lead them into his city, the New Jerusalem, where God himself will be tangibly present and he will be our light and God. He has rescued for himself a people from one of our great enemies, death itself! By walking through death and coming out victorious, he is constantly reaching back into death and drawing up his bride into new life as the New Creation to share with him in his inheritance!

And if Jesus is both the firstborn of living Creation and the firstborn of the Dead, where does Jesus hold a position of privilege?

In everything! He is before all things! Nothing came before him and nothing will come after him. Nothing is more important than him! The ESV calls this the “preeminence” of Christ in verse 18. He surpasses all things!

And why does Jesus surpass all things? Verse 19 tells us:

19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,

Jesus is before all things because God is before all things! And the very fullness of God dwells in Christ! In John 14:9 Jesus says: “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”

Jesus is God! And we have become so familiar with that statement that it does not bring us to the proper awe it should. For many in our culture, we accept this as true, but we don’t actually believe it. Because if everyone who says they believe that Jesus is God were to actually believe it, our society would be changed.

We would see groups meeting all over the world publicly and openly to study the Bible because they actually believe that this is the Word of God and they can’t imagine surviving another breath without filling themselves with the knowledge of His Word.

We would see churches bursting out the doors because the people who say they believe that Jesus is God believe when he said through his apostles to not neglect the weekly gathering of the saints.

We would see church members striving to mutually disciple each other, knowing that the only way to join in Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is to die to our fleshly desires daily, seeking Jesus’ will over our own!

We would see sacrificial and shocking giving of earthly possessions in order to fund and plant churches locally and globally to see disciples made in every nation!

We would see radical love for people who do not look like or think like us, with sacrificial love and forgiveness offered for those who are our enemies.

We would see a care for our thoughts and our words toward others recognizing that Jesus himself said in Matthew 12:36

36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,

Do we actually believe that Jesus is God? Then why don’t we act like it by following his warnings and commands? Why are we so quick to speak poorly about people and just spout off everything we like hearing from people on social media, the radio, and TV? It’s because we don’t actually believe that Jesus means what he says and we don’t actually believe that he actually is God.

You see, this statement that “Jesus is God” should leave literally nothing untouched in your life and where you are not changed by this statement, those are the places in your life where you worship a false idol.

Where you do not in thought, word, and deed follow Christ perfectly, especially in those areas that you refuse to recognize as sin, you are refusing to acknowledge Jesus in his rightful place as King over everything! In effect, you are looking into the eyes of the Creator of the universe, tightening your grubby fingers on the toy you don’t want to give up, and screaming “No, mine!”

All the while, Jesus is simply looking to save you from your own sinful arrogance, but you refuse to see it because it is offensive to you and you refuse to let go of the very thing that will kill you.

But in those areas where you recognize your sin and you want to get rid of it, you don’t get rid of it by trying to cast it off of yourself. Instead, you loosen your grip on your right to your own possessions, money, vocations, opinions, family members, words, deeds, pleasures, disgusts, comforts, and time! and you hold open your hand to Christ offering all of it to him, declaring, “yours.”

Christ is before all things, and the King of all things. Are you going to keep clinging to your sinful pleasures? Whether that’s sexual temptations, addiction to a substance, over-indulgence in comforts, being able to be judgmental over the people we deem to be worthy of judgement, or getting to rail against all the moral ills we are disgusted by without actually doing anything or loving people sacrificially. Whatever it is, are you going to cling to it or are you going to hand that over to Christ?

This is what it means to recognize the truth that Christ is before all things and that in him the fullness of God dwells. It means that we give up our rights to everything. Even our freedoms and our opinions. Believing this truth means submission in all things to him. It means that everything changes.

And verse 20 tells us that the fullness of God not only dwells in Christ, but also lives out through him in order to redeem all things to himself. And how does he do this? How in the world can sinful rebellious humanity be redeemed to God? How can there be peace between such goodness and such wickedness?

Verse 20 says that Jesus makes peace by the blood of his cross. In Jesus’ death he took upon himself the wickedness of all who would believe him and turn away from their sin and to Christ, and placed his righteousness on them instead. He took our dirty rags and gave to us his shining robes. He offered himself as the perfect passover lamb to cover the sins of his people, the lamb that was cut to enact the new covenant, and in doing so was the lamb who was slain.

But the Father accepted the sacrifice and made it clear through the resurrection of his Son on the third day. And now Jesus stands as the Son of Man at the right hand of the Father, the living slain lamb, and he intercedes for his people, making peace with God on our behalf.

We can only have peace with God through the blood of Jesus poured out on the cross. He is our God, and he is our rescuer. And we see in verses 21-23 that he is also our redeemer.

Jesus the Redeemer: “He has now reconciled you...” (21-23)

Verse 21 says something very interesting. In speaking to the Colossians, but also to all Christians, he does not call us noble-hearted seekers. What does Paul call us? Alienated, hostile in mind, doing evil deeds. Paul isn’t just judging others though. In his first letter to Timothy he says:

1 Timothy 1:15 (ESV)

"...Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.”

Without Christ all we are is sinners. Rebels.

Without the new heart given through the Holy Spirit, we too are dead and lost, sitting under the right judgement given to rebels. There is no good or good reason in us that we should be saved.

And yet, verse 22 continues speaking to us evil rebels:

Colossians 1:22 ESV

22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,

What?! He has reconciled us, he has redeemed us by dying for us?! WHY?! We’re not worth that! We’re the ones who rebelled!

The cosmic Prince stepped out of his glorious majesty to be beaten, spit on, and gruesomely murdered by the very creatures he formed from the dust of the earth! WHY?!

In order to present us as holy, blameless, and above reproach before his Father. Jesus gave everything, humbled himself to even death on the cross, so that he could present a beautiful bride on the day when the heavens and the earth will be reborn and the great Marriage Supper of the Lamb will be enjoyed. Christ died to present his bride, the church as perfect on the day of the consummation of all history.

And husbands, Paul says that is our responsibility to our own brides as well. In Ephesians 5:25-27 Paul says:

Ephesians 5:25–27 ESV

25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

Is that our goal as husbands? To love our wives so much that we are willing to give up our time and even our preferred livelihoods in order to seek to present the women that God has entrusted to us as holy and blameless? I think we often excuse our lack of Christ-like love for our spouses by simply saying a husband’s duty is just to provide for the physical and financial needs of your wife. But that is an American ideal of husbands. Christ expects more than that. Christ expects you to provide for her spiritual needs like he provided for yours.

And what does this look like practically?

By leading our families in daily worship. If you’re an empty nester, then husbands lead your wives into daily times of worship by singing, reading the Scriptures, and praying together. It doesn’t have to be profound or deep, but it does need to be faithful.

We also do this By making the Word of God a priority in our families’ lives.

By studying the Word so that we can wash our families in the Word as we just read in Eph 5:26.

By getting off the couch when we get home from work and loving our families with our time and energy!

By putting in the work to even be able to teach our families the Word of God.

I am fully committed to complementarianism, but when I read 1 Cor 14:35

1 Corinthians 14:35 ESV

35 If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.

I weep for the women who seek to honor this instruction but their husbands have abandoned their responsibility to know the Word!

So these women are spiritually stunted because their husbands would rather dedicate themselves to their job, their politics, or their hobbies than to washing their families in the Word of God!

Men, step up and study so that you can follow Paul’s instruction in his second letter to Timothy:

2 Timothy 2:15 ESV

15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

This is the exact same responsibility that pastors have to their churches. Nowhere in the Bible does it tell pastors to become a great motivator, a funny and engaging speaker, or to grow the church in numbers.

But all through the New Testament pastors are told to hold firm to the Word of God, so that whenever the day comes, we pastors can present our local churches to Jesus as his Bride, holy and blameless, washed in the Word. That is the primary biblical responsibility of pastors.

I could grow this church to hundreds of people, who leave every Sunday feeling great about themselves, and still, in my presentation of the bride of Christ to him realize that I failed miserably in my duties as your pastor.

I could pastor this church for decades and find that the Lord has not granted us growth, and present before the Lord a humble church of a couple dozen Word and blood washed Christians and find that I did everything the Lord asked of me.

Faithfulness to the Word of God, washing of the people entrusted to us in the Word of God, so that we may present them to Christ as something holy and blameless is faithfulness to God. Christ exampled that perfectly so that we may reflect it in faithfulness.

But we must hear one word of caution in the end of this section. The final verse gives a condition to this redemption that Christ offers. You, rebel, are redeemed and reconciled to God:

Colossians 1:23 ESV

23 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.

So here’s my question for you, are you remaining in the faith? Stable and steadfast, unshifting?

Because if you are clinging to sin in your life,

if you clinging to arrogance in thought words or deeds,

if you are holding on to anger and bitterness toward someone or a group of people,

if you are gossiping about people or situations that you have no true understanding of whether that’s with your words or by quickly sharing something on social media that you haven’t taken the time to verify,

if you are refusing to gather with the Lord’s people,

if you are refusing to wash the people God has entrusted to you in the Word,

if there is one square inch in your existence in which you are tightly clinging when Jesus had already declared “mine!”

then you are not stable and steadfast in the Gospel and the faith that Jesus and then Paul proclaimed. And if you do not remain steadfast in the faith, then you cannot claim the promise of redemption.

But that doesn’t mean you are forever cut off and hopeless. Swallow your pride and recognize how wicked and rebellious you are. Recognize that there are things you cling to that must be let go of if you have any desire to taste that great marriage feast at the end of all history. And then believe that Jesus is greater than all things and submit ALL of your life to him. Turn from your sin and toward Christ.

He. is. worth. it.

We’re going to pray in just a moment, but let’s take some time to respond in our hearts to Christ’s supremacy. Let’s confess to the Lord the things we are grasping to and open our hands and say “yours”.

Let’s take a moment now to pray.

Prayer of Confession

Lord, we know that we are quick to cling to lesser things. Help us to see the truth of those lesser things and how they hold us back from truly knowing you. Help us to confess our sin and repent, turning to Christ in belief that he is who he says he is. May you be glorified by granting us the willingness to let go of everything and turn to Christ.

Jesus thank you for your sacrifice.

Assurance of Pardon

Colossians 1:21–23 (ESV)

21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 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.