Colossians 1: 15-18
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LRE: Turn and Talk, who is Jesus?
LRE: Turn and Talk, who is Jesus?
Have the students come up with as many things as they can. Give them 4 minutes, or until they stop talking.
Lead them to Jesus is YHWH incarnate.
First, some context on this section of verses.
This is a hymn that was likely composed by Paul for this letter. It was probably not something that Paul took from other sources and adapted for the purpose of his letter.
We can divide this passage up into two sections. First, verses 15-17. These are emphasziing Christ’s power over the created order. in this, we see the various ways that Christ has authority over everything that has been made.
The second section runs from verse 18-20. show Christ’s authority His family. Paul is showing that christ is the Lord over salvation as well as creation. In this, Paul is demonstrating Christ’s complete authority over everything in the world. Basically, Paul is telling us that everything belongs to Christ.
Christian Standard Bible Chapter 1
15 He is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn over all creation.
How can something that is invisible have an image (rhetorical). It kind of seems like Paul is making an oxymoron by saying that Jesus is the image of and INVISIBLE God.
In what sense could Paul be using the word Image here to be referring to Christ?
One way to think about it is like a face. What you look at when you look at me, that is my image. It is a part of me, and it is how you see me. You could say that a picture of me is my image, and that would be true. It is an image that is disconnected from me. But in another sense, you could say that what you see when you look at me is my image. In this sense, my image and me cannot be separated. My image is me.
Colossians and Philemon The Image of the Invisible God, the Firstborn over All Creation (1:15–17)
As God’s representation and representative, Christ brings clarity to our hazy notions of the immortal, invisible God, who lives in unapproachable light
Lets look at Genesis 1:27
27 So God created man in his own image; he created him in the image of God; he created them male and female.
How is the way that Adam and Eve were made in the image of God different from the way that Jesus is the image of God?
Men are made in the image of God, they are like the photograph, while Christ is the subject of the picture.
Colossians and Philemon The Image of the Invisible God, the Firstborn over All Creation (1:15–17)
Human beings are also made in God’s image (Gen. 1:26–27), but the Son is the only satisfactory likeness of God. As the perfect image of God, Christ teaches us what God intended humans to be: “renewed in knowledge in the image of [our] Creator
By saying that God is the image of God, he is not trying to draw connections between people and Christ. He is drawing connections between God and Christ.
The firstborn over all creation
Does this mean that Jesus was created?
There are a number of sects that use this clause here to say that God created Jesus. That would make Jesus less than God.
How else could firstborn be being used? What does the firstborn son get from his father?
He gets his inheritance. He gets all of the power and authority and wealth that the father had. By calling Jesus the firstborn over creation, he is saying that Jesus has all of the father’s authority over creation. He has the authority to do whatever he wants over creation.
Here we are. only 1 verse in, and already, Paul is hammering home on how similar Christ is to the father. But he is about to take it up a notch in verse 16.
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.
Who created the heavens and the earth
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
New City Catechism question 5
The New City Catechism: 52 Questions & Answers for Our Hearts & Minds Question 5: What Else Did God Create?
Question 5
What else did God create?
Answer
God created all things by his powerful Word, and all his creation was very good; everything flourished under his loving rule.
Genesis 1:31
And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.
Now, Christ has created everything. This includes the sun and moon and stars and ocean and buildings and cell phones, and everything else that we can see.
This also includes everything that we cant see.
This includes the angels. The Demons and Satan.
Everything, was created by Jesus.
Colossians and Philemon The Image of the Invisible God, the Firstborn over All Creation (1:15–17)
The point Paul celebrates is that Christ has majesty and power over all of them, whatever shape they take (see Col. 2:10, 15). They, like all things, were created by him and for him.
So far, what do we know about Jesus?
Jesus is the image of God
Jesus has the authority of God
Jesus created everything.
Lets move on to the next little bit, and we will find out even more about who Jesus is.
The last bit of verse 16 into 17 say
Colossians 1:16–17 (CSB)
all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and by him all things hold together.
Breaking this down, we see that all thing were created through him and for him
Everything exists for Christ. You and me and everything else exits to glorify Jesus
Christ is before all things.
Lets read Jn 8: 54-59
54 “If I glorify myself,” Jesus answered, “my glory is nothing. My Father—about whom you say, ‘He is our God’—he is the one who glorifies me. 55 You do not know him, but I know him. If I were to say I don’t know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him, and I keep his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and was glad.” 57 The Jews replied, “You aren’t fifty years old yet, and you’ve seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.” 59 So they picked up stones to throw at him. But Jesus was hidden and went out of the temple.
Christ predates everything. This means that before we read Genesis 1:1, before God created the heavens and the earth, before the begenning, Christ existed.
In addition to this, Paul goes on to state the Christ holds all things together. Here is a quote on that
Colossians and Philemon (The Image of the Invisible God, the Firstborn over All Creation (1:15–17))
Christ has precedence over all things in terms of time and status and is a kind of divine glue or spiritual gravity that holds creation together. God did not simply start things off and then withdrew from his creation; Christ continues to sustain the whole universe.
Everything, that exists in the world exists because of Jesus. He holds the whole world in his hands, and everything else too. This means that there is nobody and nothing that exists apart from Christ’s continued sustenance. God’s greatest enemies are able to exist because Christ is sustaining them. Even though they deny Him, they are totally reliant on Him for every breath.
A verse that is similar.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.
Before moving on :
What we know about Christ:
He is the image of God
Rules over creation
Created everything
Predates everything
Sustains everything
Who is Jesus?
Jesus is God
If God is so concerned with sustaining all of creation, everything including His enemies, how do you think he feels about His people?
This is the second section of the Hymn, and we will only touch on it a little bit.
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.
Something that is interesting here, is that the first section was devoted to Christ’s divinity. Paul really wanted to hammer home the divinity of Jesus, But in these next verses, Paul is emphasizing the humanity of Christ. By moving away all of creation, and focusing of Christ’s work in the church, we can gain an appreciation for the need for Jesus to not only be God, but also be man.
Colossians and Philemon The Head of the Church, the Firstborn from among the Dead (1:18–20)
The image of the invisible God entered the plane of human experience in order to reconcile all things in heaven and on earth by means of his humiliating death. Christ establishes his Lordship in house churches, prison cells, and families, as well as in the furthest reaches of the heavens.
Christ is the head of the church:
Usually, When christ is called the head, and the chruch is the body, The point that Paul is making is that the chruch needs to be unified. However, here, the point has little to do with the behavior of the church, and everything to do with the glory of Christ. The only reason that the church can exist is because Christ is the head. Without Christ there is no church. He provides the church with life and strength
He is the beginning
How does Genesis 1:1 start?
in the begenning.
That is when God created Everything.
Similarly, it is in the begenning that the church was created. In Christ the Church was created.
Now, We see that Christ is the firstborn from the dead. There that word “firstborn” is again.
If Christ being the firstborn over creation means that he has all of the Father’s authority over creation, what does it mean that he is the firstborn over the dead?
That means that he has authority over the dead. But we can give it another meaning here. It means that he was the first back from the dead. He led the charge out of the grave as he went from death to life.
And finally, “So that he might come to have first place over everything”
Exalting Jesus in Colossians and Philemon He Is Sovereign over the Church (1:18)
Paul summarizes not just this immediate section but everything that has been stated thus far, culminating in Christ’s obtaining and occupying “first place in everything” (v. 18). The phrase of confirmation, “so that he might come to have,” does not diminish his eternal dominion over creation, but it reflects the definitive declaration of his sovereignty and lordship through his bodily resurrection (cf. Rom 1:4; Phil 2:9–11). Therefore, in the church, in creation, in salvation, and even in death, Christ holds the titles and privileges of the firstborn. He is preeminent over all
Paul begins this passage by giving a list of everything that Christ is. He tells us that Christ is the image of God. The ruler and creator of the universe. The reason for everything as well as the cause of everything. Christ is the head of the Chruch, her creation, and the first one who defeated death and led the charge out of hades. In short. Christ is everything.
Paul doesn't stop there either. In the rest of this passage, He goes even further to magnify the glory of Christ.
