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Introduction
Christ is still relevant for today.
In the technologically advanced world in which we live, people often struggle to see scripture and Christ as relevant.
As a child once asked, “If Jesus came back today, would He understand computers?”
While the child very well may not have intended the following, his question gets to the heart of an issue – Is Christ still relevant?
“Christ was great when people didn’t know very much, but we know much more now.
We have invented so much.
We have access to so much information.
We can control so much.
How could Christ be relevant to us today?”
When we are so impressed with our own achievements and scientific genius, Christ may indeed seem irrelevant.
He can be easily dismissed as a fading relic of past religious piety, who has nothing to offer for the unprecedented issuer facing us today.
What does Christ have to say to a world in which humans have the power to clone animals and alter the genetic makeup of plants and animals?
Scientists continue their search for the “holy grail” of science, the “theory of everything,” the simple set of laws that explains every complex detail of our universe.
Christ is the theological theory of everything.
He is the key who unlocks the meaning and purpose of the universe.
But he is not a set of physics laws; he is a person, who has shown his love for us by giving his life.[1]
Overview of next two messages.
As we consider the theme of Christ’s birth over the course of the next two weeks, we will do so by means of two messages.
The first will consider Christ as the creator and on Christmas day we will consider Christ as the incarnate redeemer.
To fully appreciate his condescension into humanity by means of a humble birth and horrific death, let’s first appreciate his position as creator.
Let us accomplish that by turning to one of the most magnificent hymns in all of Scripture.
Christ is the Image of the Invisible God
“He is the image of the invisible God” (Col 1:15).
To what does the word image refer?
(1) It can refer to the representation of something.
For instance, a student is doing a project for school and they need to find images of the grand canyon.
They get on their computer, go to google, type in Grand Canyon, click on the image tab, and they will see thousands of images of the Grand Canyon.
That is not what this is referring to.
In fact that is hardly ever what image refers to in scripture.
(2) Image can as well refer to the living manifestation of God or the visible manifestation of that which is invisible.
We find this meaning much more in Scripture.
Man was created in the image of God.
This is what are told in Genesis.
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27 ESV).
We possess personality and all that goes along with it such as thinking, feeling, and making decisions.
These are all aspects of the image of God.
But even prior to the fall, mankind did not possess God’s moral and essential attributes.
We’ve never been all powerful or all knowing.
We’ve never been unchangeable or infinite.
We’ve always been bound to time.
God is not.
So while there are reflections of God’s personality and character in mankind, they are still not the exact image of God.
Since the fall, we are even further from accurately representing the image in which we were created.
This understanding of image may be likened to when a child is the “spitting image” of their parent.
They probably possess similar physical traits, such as height and facial features and expressions.
They may have similar mannerisms, personality, and abilities.
When you look at the child, you may feel like you are seeing a duplicate of the parent at a younger age.
They possess a lot of similarities, but they are still distinct.
This is similar to how mankind is in the image of God.
Christ is the exact imprint.
Christ is “the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power” (Hebrews 1:3 ESV).
Christ possesses all of the same attributes of God, equally.
He is God.
The apostle John informs us of this reality when he writes, “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 (John 1:14 ESV).
As well, Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:4, “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
Christ is Preeminent in All Creation
Christ is the Firstborn (1:15, 18).
In this passage Christ is referred to as the firstborn two times.
The first time He is called the firstborn of all creation and the second, the firstborn from the dead.
To better appreciate this title, let us first consider the word firstborn.
The most obvious meaning for the word, and the most often used, is that of a firstborn child.
For instance, in Luke 2, Mary “gave birth to her firstborn son” (Luke 2:7).
This meaning implies origination and in each case, existence began at the point of birth.
This is not what is meant by firstborn in this passage.
Firstborn can also refer to position instead of origination.
It can carry the idea of “superior to, above all, existing superior to all creation.”
It is that sense in which we find our word in Colossians 1:15.
This is the same sense in which it is used in Psalm 89:27, “I also shall make him My firstborn, The highest of the kings of the earth.”
The psalmist is referencing how David would be set up in the highest of positions.
He’s not referring to birth or origination.
Why can’t “firstborn of all creation” mean that Christ was the first creature created?
(1) If Paul was teaching that Christ was a created being, he would have been agreeing with the heresy he was writing to refute.
(2) If Christ is the Creator of all things, it is impossible that He was created.
Colossians 1:16 tells us that all things were created by Him.
As well, the apostle John writes “All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3).
(3) Firstborn cannot mean first to be born in time.
It is clear that Jesus was born well after the birth of millions of other people.
Firstborn is a reference to position, not time.[2]
Christ is as well referred to as the beginning and firstborn from the dead (1:18).
His resurrection from the dead allowed for men, who identified with Him, to both be raised from the dead spiritually and physically.
Consider the phrase “firstborn from the dead” in light of the discussion about “firstborn of all creation.”
It seems a bit more clear here that firstborn must mean something besides first to be born or created.
That would not make sense here.
It would make sense for firstborn to mean preeminent or first in rank.
Therefore, Christ is the preeminent one in all who will be raised from the dead.
Christ is the Fullness of Deity (1:19).
“In Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.”
A similar statement is made by Paul in Colossians 2:9, “For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.”
Paul was writing to a culture in which deities shared powers and no one deity was all powerful.
Stating that Christ was the fullness of all Deity would have been counter cultural, alarming, and quite powerful.
Christ is not just one of many gods.
He is the only true and all powerful God.
Following the establishment of Christ as the preeminent deity over all creation, Paul goes on further to explain why this is the case.
He does so by citing three specific ways in which Christ is related to creation.
All was created by Him, through Him, and for Him.
Richard Melick offers a helpful illustration in light of these three phrases.
Paul’s argument in these verses may be illustrated by an artist who produces a sculpture.
Originally the idea and details of the sculpture come from the mind of the artist.
He builds the proportions, the perspectives, the figures, and the emphases desired from the statue.
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