Christ Alone, King of the Cosmos (Colossians 1:15-20)

Introduction

A. Preliminaries

Good Morning. This morning we will be taking a break from our sermon series in the book of Nehemiah.

This being Reformation Sunday, I wanted to preach on one of the five solas, which are the five distinctives of the Reformation, or the five claims or propositions that lie at the center of the Protestant Reformation.

The first of those is Sola Scriptura or “the Bible Alone,” the idea there being that God’s Word in the Scriptures is our sole infallible authority. We do have other legitimate authorities, but the Bible is the only perfect one.

Sola Gratia—by Grace Alone. That is, salvation is by the grace of God alone. We cannot earn it, we cannot even get ourselves ready for it. It is from start to finish a gift of God’s grace.

Sola Fide—by Faith Alone. Even as we confess that true faith must bear the fruit of godly living, our works are not ever to be seen as the things that save us or somehow contribute to our salvation or make us more save-able. God does this by faith alone.

Solus Christus—through Christ Alone. This is the affirmation that Jesus Christ did everything necessary for sinners to be saved. Jesus has given us a perfect righteousness before the Father, and on the cross Jesus Christ purchased not only the possibility that we might believe, but every bit of the faith we will need to face today’s trouble. He is our only Savior, and there is no other hope for us except in him.

Soli Deo Gloria—to the Glory of God Alone. This is the one that sums up all the others. That all we do and indeed even all God Himself has done is to the praise of his glory, not our accomplishments. We want God to get glory in all he does i and through and for us.

So this morning, I want to talk about Solus Christus—Christ alone.

B. Sermon Text

And for that, I will invite you to turn to Colossians 1:15-20. It is on Page 1168 of the Bibles in your pews

Colossians 1:15–20 ESV

He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 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. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 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. 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.

This is the Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God!

C. Background

I trust that many of you are familiar with at least the basic idea of the Protestant Reformation. Though some date the start of the Reformation earlier than Luther, most will agree that the whole thing started with one Augustinian Monk who in 1517 proposed a series of statements for debate. He was concerned about errors that had sprung up in the church that needed to be corrected. He was not seeking to start a new church. He was not seeking to start a new anything. He was trying to revive an old thing, and to return to an old thing. This is why we should always be clear that the Reformation was not an invention of a new thing. We already have a word for that, and that word is revolution. But the Reformation was not an invention of something new. It was a reinvigoration of the original, authentic, and biblical design of Christianity.

And part of that work was to answer questions of authority. And this is the Reformation principle of Christ alone. In Solus Christus, we are confessing that there is one mediator between God and man—the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the head of the church. He has given himself to us. And nothing is outside of his authority. Christ is the one we worship, he is the one to whom we come seeking forgiveness and mercy an help, he is the one we trust in, and it is in his name that we preach, pray, and sing.

In fact, speaking of singing, our text this morning in Colossians 1 is thought by some commentators to be an early hymn or chant or creed.

Paul writes to the church in Colossae in order to correct false teaching that was threatening this young congregation. The false teaching seems to have been a blend of Jewish legalism, pagan mysticism, and early Gnostic or proto-Gnostic ideas. And this was the what was at the heart of the false teaching: a claim to higher, secret spiritual knowledge through angelic intermediaries and high intensity spiritual disciplines. So in Colossae, you have claims to secret knowledge, that only the hyper spiritual have. You have the claim that the only way to attain this special knowledge is by worldly philosophy and speculation, and also destruction of the body—just fast harder and maybe someday you’ll get it. And you have a growing problem of early Gnostic ideas. Gnosticism was many things and it has many ideas within it. But for our purposes—two of those ideas are the idea that the spiritual is good and the material is bad, and the idea of secret knowledge only available through special enlightened teachers or through denial of the body.

Paul’s response to the Colossian heresy is a powerful Christology: he exalts Christ as the supreme Lord over all creation, declaring that believers need no other wisdom, no other power, no other mediator. The letter, in short, is a pastoral defense of Christ alone against every philosophy or practice that would dare add to Him.

D. Sermon Points

So there are at least three things I want to show you and celebrate with you this morning from our text.

The first is Christ is Revealed.

The second is Christ is Reigning.

The Third is Christ is Reconciling.

Let’s Pray

E. Sermon Prayer

O Lord, make your word a swift word, passing from the ear to the heart, from the heart to the lip and conversation; that, as the rain returns not empty, so neither may your Word, but accomplish that for which it is given. Amen.

(Prayer by George Herbert)

I. Christ is Revealed

Colossians 1:15 ESV

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

The top part of our text this morning sets before us a seeming impossibility. That Christ is the image of the invisible God. Now at first read, that sounds contradictory. How can you have an image of something that is invisible?

And I think Paul’s point is “Exactly.” This is the miracle of the incarnation that God Himself who is (to quote our Confession of Faith) “a most pure spirit, invisible, and without a body”—that God has put on flesh and come down to us. And the point Paul wishes to stress is that Christ is not simply a messenger of God or an emanation from God. Jesus Christ is God Himself, made visible.

And it is likely Paul is making this point in response to false teaching in Colossae, who wanted to frame up life as a mystical ascent to God. And they taught that if you beat up your body with harsh fasting and abstaining from pleasure, you would eventually be rewarded with keys to unlock secret knowledge, or even to have powerful mystical visions of God.

And the reason why Paul is committed to exposing that as nonsense is because he is writing to people who have already received Jesus Christ. The Eternal Son of God, who took on flesh, and he is the image of the invisible God. The idea there is that God the Father would have remained shrouded in much mystery unless Jesus had come. Before Christ we have knowledge about God. In Christ, God Himself draws near to us. You see, Paul’s point here is not simply that Jesus is like God. He is actually saying God is like Jesus. If you want to know the God of the Universe, then come to know his Son, the Godman, Jesus Christ.

What this means is that any questions we have about God get answered by Jesus Christ.

Is God Compassionate? See Jesus, healing the leper.

Is God able to handle what frightens me? See Jesus, silencing a deadly storm with a few words.

Can God really forgive me of all my sins? Hear the words of Jesus from the cross, forgiving his own enemies who crucified him.

Does God care about children? Hear Jesus insist that they come to him.

Speaking of children, look back at the text. Paul also calls Jesus the firstborn of all creation.

Now as early as the fourth century, we have records of the heretic Arius using this text to say Christ is not God Himself, but is merely the first among God’s creatures. It is what the Jehovah’s Witnesses teach today, that Jesus is not the eternal God but is an exalted creation of God. But as is the case with many interpretive errors, they start to work themselves out if you just keep reading. Verse 16 says all things were created through him and for him and verse 17 directly states he is before all things.

Jesus is called the firstborn of all creation because Firstborn is a title of authority. The firstborn is the one who receives the greater portion of the inheritance. Jesus is the firstborn (that is, the authority-bearing Son) of the inheritance of all creation. He has the rights of the first-born son over all of creation.

So, in short, this does not mean “first created” it means “first in authority over creation.” He is the rightful heir of all creation, and we owe him our allegiance.

And when it comes to the revelation of God to us, that revelation is given to us most abundantly in Jesus Christ. What we can learn from this is If you try to imagine God apart from Christ, you will only end up inventing a new idol. The only God who exists is the one who came to us in Jesus.

II. Christ is Reigning

Colossians 1:16–18 ESV

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

Paul builds on this idea of the exalted Christ by proclaiming the extent of his creative hand. He is saying “You see all this? Jesus made it.” And all the stuff you cannot see? He made that, too. All the stuff that you observe with your senses and in abstraction—thrones, dominion, rulers, authority—He made that too.

Scottish Theologian John Eadie writes,

Every form and kind of matter, simple or complex—the atom and the star, the sun and the cloud—every grade of life from the worm to the angel—every order of intellect and being around and above us, the splendours of heaven and the nearer phenomena of earth, are the product of the First-born.

John Eadie, A Commentary on the Greek Text of the Epistle of Paul to the Colossians, (1856).

Not only did he make it, but it’s all for him. In other words, the world was made for Jesus.

Richard Phillips, the guy whose book we just finished reading in our Iron Sharpens Iron men’s group—his commentary on Colossians was very helpful to me in preparing this sermon. He writes,

The world was created as the place where Christ would become incarnate, where he would be crucified and resurrected, and to which he would return in glory at the end of days. The creation of all things is for the sake of Christ and the full display of the divine glory that would come to fruition in him.

Richard D. Phillips, REC: Colossians and Philemon

In other words, the world was made through Jesus, and the world was made for Jesus. Jesus Christ is the goal of all creation. Everything exists to display his glory. He is not the garnish, he is the very goal. And what this means for us, as created being ourselves, is that we were made to glorify him. We were not made to glorify ourselves or even to find ourselves. We were made to live for the glory of Another, and to find ourselves in Him.

And so against this backdrop we come to grips with how wretched our rebellion and sin really is. It is rebellion not only against the one who made us (that would be bad enough). It is rebellion against the one for whom all of this exists. This means that while there are powers in the world. Some of them visible and held by men, others invisible, and held by angels and demons—thrones, dominions, rulers, authorities—all of it is soli deo gloria. To the glory of God alone. All of it will either glorify his mercy or glorify his justice. All creation will either glorify him as happy servants or as his stricken enemies.

Paul also says he is before all things. That is, eternal in his nature. There has always been a Father, a Son, and a Holy Spirit. Before time existed, the Son of God always has. This is the very point Jesus Himself made in John 8:58, when he told the Jewish leaders “Before Abraham was, I am.” Paul also says in him, all of it holds together. So he is the maker. He is before it all, and he is the one who continues to hold it all together.

The point is that Jesus Christ reigns over all of it. We see this in verse 18

Colossians 1:18 ESV

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.

As inheritors of the work of the Reformation, we will always affirm that Christ alone is the head of the church, and he does not share that title with any pope, priest, or pastor. Bryan Rhodes is not the head of this Church. Jesus Christ is.

Jesus is the head of his body. In the same way that the head provides life and energy to a body, so it is with Christ and his Church. And I would submit to you that the church today is just as tempted to find some elusive secret path to special knowledge when what we really need is to press further into meaningful communion with Jesus Christ Himself. By His Word, Sacraments, Prayer, and Fellowship with his people. There is a place for study and contemplation in our faith. But God is not primarily found in isolation, because he has not primarily promised to be found there. He has promised to be the head of a body, and it is as part of that body that we find Him.

The point is that Christ is not simply the first in a line of important things. He is the first in everything. He does not rule only on Sunday mornings, he rules every day of your week, and every beat of your heart. He is the exalted king over every area of human existence, which is why we proclaim all his words, to all people for the whole of life. Every part of it. He is Lord over your parenting, your job, your free time, your health, your fitness, your sleep, your money, your resources. All of it. That in everything he might be preeminent.

III. Christ is Reconciling

Colossians 1:19–20 ESV

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.

All the fullness of God is who Jesus Christ is. All the fullness of God is what Jesus brings to us. Every attribute of God dwells in Jesus Christ. There is no lesser God behind him. He is God in the flesh, and he gives himself to us. There is not a heavenly chain of command that we must follow before we get to Christ. Christ himself—the fullness of God for us—comes to us.

John Calvin puts it this way. He says

...we must draw from the fullness of Christ everything good that we desire for our salvation, because such is the determination of God—not to communicate himself, or his gifts to men, otherwise than by his Son.

Which means apart from Christ you do not have God. You might have ideas about God. Suppositions and speculations about God. But apart from Jesus Christ, you do not have God, and you do not know God.

What we also find in this text is the reality of reconciliation.

Colossians 1:19–20 ESV

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.

Through Christ, God is reconciling to himself all things. Now, reconciliation assumes a breach. And there has been a breach between us and God since our first parents fell in the garden. And wherever relationship is broken, someone must take the initiative to restore it.

Paul tells us God Himself did this. But sending his eternal Son to take on flesh and accomplish our salvation. And God was pleased to see this done. God did it and he wanted to. And he did it even while we were his enemies. Before you had a God-thought, God was at work, establishing reconciliation, so that your sins could be forgiven, and you could live forever.

Because this is the good news of the Gospel—that God has risen up to turn his enemies into his friends. He has spoken love to those who hate him. He has been wronged, and yet he has made it right.

And by his own power, he is undoing the fall and realigning the cosmos such that it is rightly placed under his command.

And this is why we preach Christ to those who will gladly hear, and even to those who will not. Because Jesus Christ is the sole agent of God’s reconciliation, all those who deny him cannot be saved but must fall under God’s judgement.

In the end, all will worship, either in bitterness under judgement or in joy under grace, but there is no escape plan from this glorious end. That is why Christ has come to make enemies into sons.

And that is the reconciliation he still offers today. It is a totally sufficient work. No indulgence or penance can add to it. And it is all accomplished by a cross. On that cross the Son cried out “It is finished” and heaven agreed. For those in Christ, God’s wrath has been exhausted. The cup is empty. Even if through some spiraling episode of miserable self-despising, you wanted God to give you what you deserve, there is no wrath left for you in the cup, Christian. Jesus Christ drank all of it.

And today you stand. Cleansed from sin. Reconciled to God. Now and forevermore.

And so we are confronted with this reality, which was a central reality of the Reformation: If Christ’s blood reconciles all things, then there’s no part of your life He doesn’t want back from you.

CS Lewis talks about how when Christ comes into the house of our life, we think he’s just going to tidy up the place. But then he comes in with renovation. And starts knocking rooms down. And transforming the place. Every inch of it.

And that is true enough. Christ is Lord of all of it, so he has claim over all of it. Your work, your family, your art, your music, your tastes, your preferences, your hobbies, your books, your entertainment, your social media, your politics and your voting, your civic actions and your daydreams...all of it belongs under His redeeming rule.

So come and welcome to the Lord Jesus Christ, who has made himself Lord of Heaven and Earth. Who has made Himself King over every authority. And who has made himself yours. Forever.

In the name of Jesus, Amen.