Colossians 1:15-23

Christ is All

Bible Passage: Colossians 1:15–23

Good evening, Banner Church, and welcome to Midweek! My name is William Graves, and I am excited to be able to gather together with y’all and worship the Lord. Tonight, we will be continuing in our study of the book of Colossians. If you would like, go ahead and open your Bibles to Colossians chapter 1, starting in verse 15. Last Midweek, we got to hear Jake faithfully open us up in the book and set the tone for the rest of the semester. If you were not here last week, he brought up a question to us: What is the Gospel?

That question was relevant to the Colossians. For it was the Gospel that their lives were changed by. It is the Gospel that they were called to live by. And if you know much about the church in Colossae, you know it was attacked by many outside influences that tried to tell them how to live or add to the Gospel. Banner Church, Christian in the room tonight, we have the same dangers in this world that want to pull us away from the Gospel.

So, to continue in our time together tonight in Colossians, I want to ask you another question: Who is Jesus? You see, that is the heart of our passage tonight. Paul has spent some time in just a few short verses talking of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Now he is going to remind us and proclaim to us who Jesus is. This is important because our view of Christ is central to our Christian identity. Kevin DeYoung once said, “God is not just the object of our study. He is the one who reveals all there is to know about himself and the one in himself who is worthy of all our devotion.” -Kevin DeYoung. We need to be able to answer the question of who Jesus is because it is directly tied to our worship of Him, and He is more than worthy of our worship.

We will only cover a few verses tonight, but we still have a lot to cover, so if you are willing and able, stand with me and direct your eyes downward at the text as we read our passage for tonight.

“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[g] under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.” -Colossians 1:15-23

Thank you, you may be seated. And before we get started, if you will, pray with me for our time discussing His word tonight.

Pray that God’s word about Christ would penetrate the hearts of those He has gathered. Pray that His word would be seen clearly and would be a nourishment to our souls.

The passage we have for tonight is often referred to as a Christ Hymn. And if you need a simple definition of what that is, “A Christ hymn is a New Testament psalm celebrating Christ by highlighting his nature, actions, attributes, and the redemptive outcomes of his life and death.”

One of the issues threatening the church in Colossae was the denial of Christ's deity. So Paul pours out one of the most beautiful passages in the bible simply telling us who Christ is. The passage emphasizes not only Christ's role as the creator and sustainer of all things but also His mission to reconcile humanity through His sacrificial love, inviting us into a transformative relationship with Him. So let me go back and ask the question for tonight: Who is Christ? Well, first, we see that He is God.

1. Christ is God

Colossians 1:15-16

Paul opens this section by saying that Christ is the Image of the invisible God. The Greek word Paul uses here for image is the word from which we get our word icon. This means that Christ is the very imprint and image of God. In every way, Christ is 100% God, the perfect image of Him! Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. And let me be clear, Christ has always been God. If you have been with us on Sunday, odds are we were going through the Gospel according to John. To open the Gospel, John does not start with a birth narrative or describing the circumstances of Christ’s coming. Instead, he shares who Christ is. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John describes Jesus as the Word. Notice that the Word, who is Jesus, was not created, but simply was. Jump a little ahead to John 1:14: “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.” So, the Son took on flesh. When Paul says in Colossians that Christ is the image of the invisible God, he is saying that Jesus is God who took on flesh and is the perfect and exact likeness of God. Because of this, Paul then describes Jesus as the Firstborn of all Creation. Now, this can be confusing given what I just said. If Christ is God and was not created, then how can He be the firstborn? Well, in this culture, the firstborn son received the largest inheritance. What is interesting is that this was not always the son who was born first. We see examples of this in other parts of Scripture. The story of Jacob and Esau is one example. Esau was born first, yet it was Jacob who was blessed and received the inheritance. Jacob is later renamed by God to Israel. It is the sons of Jacob or Israel who make up the nation of Israel in the Old Testament. I mention this so we can have a little bit of an understanding of this title, but also so we can see another example of where the Lord uses the title of firstborn, and at first glance, it seems confusing, but when we understand that it is a title of honor and inheritance, it makes sense. See what Exodus 4:22 says, “Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son. '” Here, Israel is clearly not the literal firstborn. Esau was born before Jacob or Israel. And the nation of Israel also is not the first nation, yet they received that title because of the inheritance they received. And so it is here with Christ. He was not the firstborn in a physical sense of the term, for He is God and has always existed. But He is the firstborn in terms of honor and glory and inheritance from God the Father. The literal voice of God the Father affirms this at Jesus’ baptism, see what Mark 1:10–11 says, “And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” It is in Christ that God the Father is well pleased, and it is the name of Christ that God the Father puts above everyother name. This is the heartbeat of what Paul is saying: Christ is entirely and perfectly God and has always been, and it is in Him that God the Father blesses and gives the inheritance of His kingdom. In just this one verse, Paul has stated two important theological truths: Christ is Lord and Christ is King. How is it that utter sinners can be changed by the Gospel? Because this is the Lord and King who made it so!

Okay, one verse down, seven to go. I’ll try speeding up a little.

Verse 16 continues to attack the issues that plague the church. There were some in Colossae who insisted on the worship of angels. There were even some who claimed Jesus was just another created being in the ranks of the angels. Paul sternly addresses those claims here. Jesus Christ was not some created being or angel, for in fact all things were made through Him. Jesus is the very Agent of Creation. Verse 16 says, “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.” Nothing is excluded here. Every single thing has been created by Him. Every single person, bird, fish, animal, angel (holy or fallen) has been created by Christ, and let's really latch onto this part, “all things were created through Him and for Him.” Everything was created by Christ. And there is evidence of this, for creation sings of the Glory of Christ. The beauty of everything in this creation, from the trees and mountains to the stars and the sea, all of their beauty reflects the beauty of their Creator, Christ. And that beauty sings of His glory. Now take us, who the Lord has given us the special honor of bearing His image. You and I are made in the image of God, and He has given us voices to cry out and sing His glory. If we can testify that creation glorifies the Lord, then how much more should we, who bear His image and have the voices to do so? For all things were created through Him and for Him, us included. My second point for us tonight is that Christ is Lord and Head of His Church

2. Christ is Lord and Head

Colossians 1:17-19

In verse 17, we see again that Christ has always been. Paul says that He is before all things. Nothing comes before Christ. This reminds us that Christ is eternal. He is the God who was, and is, and is to come. He is far superior to all things because in Him all things are held together by Him, Christ Jesus. We must never let the created thing limit, define, or set the expectation of who God is. For the created exists because and for the Creator. It would be crazy for us to let a vase have authority over the potter, so why would we let anything of this world have authority over our lives except God alone, who created us and holds us together. Why would we search for who God is and try define who He really is outside of the given word He has given us to do that very thing? The Christ that we proclaim is Lord and Creator of all things and always has been. And He holds all creation together with His rich mercy to reveal Himself to us and for His glory.

But Christ is much more than even that. He is Lord over creation, and He is Lord over our lives. Rodney reminded us on Sunday that the Gospel is bloody. Christ paid a price so we could have life in Him. The perfect Son of God, Creator and sustainer of all creation, was nailed to a cross. Not because He was guilty of any crime or sin, but because of my sin and yours. His blood was shed by our hands. We are covered by His blood, and the awesome work of the Gospel is that if we place our faith in the God who died for us, then the blood that should stain us with guilt instead washes us clean. And it is by that blood that we are bought by Christ. So, we, the Church, should have no objections to Christ’s headship of our lives and the Church. Banner Church is not led by Malachi, the staff, tribe leaders, or anyone who stands behind the podium; it is led, sustained, and held together by the Savior it was bought by and the word He has given us. Because of His death, we have been justified to God the Father, and in His resurrection, we have eternal life. See the latter half of verse 18, which has that title 'firstborn' again. This time, however, it says that Christ is the Firstborn from the Dead. Here, we actually can think of a chronological term. Christ is the first to be resurrected to never die again. This will be something that will apply to all. Those who place their faith in Christ will be resurrected into eternal life with Him, and those who do not will be resurrected into eternal torment in hell. But don’t just take my word for it, see what Christ says about it in John 5:28–29 “Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.” The good that Jesus speaks of in that passage is believing in Christ, and the evil is to reject Him. But for those who have faith in Him, Paul reminds us of the assurance we have in Christ in verse 19, for Christ is able to save because He is fully God. He is more than able to save, and we can have total hope because of that.

Our passage tonight also tells us that Christ is our Reconciliation.

3. Christ is our Reconciliation

Colossians 1:20-22

As mentioned before, we are justified and reconciled to God because of the cross of Christ. And the justification is not just a temporary satisfaction but an entirely perfect one, never failing. The Greek word Paul uses here for 'reconcile' is an intensified form of the word. This is meant to show the total and complete nature of Christ's sacrifice for believers. No longer do we have to live with the enmity between God and us because of our sin. By a wonderful display of Grace, we have peace with God, for our debt was satisfied in Christ if we believe in Him. Because we truly were enemies because of our sin, verse 21 confirms that. We were totally cut off and separated from God. Not because God is a cold or distant God, but because we have sinned against Him. And this is nothing new, sadly, for it has been an issue we have chosen since the Garden. But verse 22 confirms for us that our salvation is secured only in Christ. He not only helps make a way for us stand before the Lord, but we are also presented as holy, blameless, and beyond reproach. Meaning, as Christ is Holy, so God the Father looks at us. Something we could never attain on our own. Blameless, without any blemish, though our sin ran so deep and we are covered with the blood of Christ, we are as pure and white as snow. Beyond reproach, meaning no one can bring a charge against us who are found in Christ, for His work on the cross is perfect to save.

Paul ends this passage by urging us to cling to Christ.

4. Cling to Christ

Colossians 1:23

When we receive salvation, we must and cannot continue in our old lives. For in that life, there was only death and separation from God. Instead, we should continue in the faith, as Paul puts it. I love how the author of Hebrews puts it in Hebrews 12:1–2 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” If we are going to keep our eyes on Christ, then we must have the right perspective of who Christ is. He is our Creator, Lord, King, and friend. He loves us and made us in His image. To know Him is to have peace in a less-than-peaceful world. Robert Smith, who is a professor at Beeson Divinity School just over in Birmingham, said once that, “I don’t understand many things about tomorrow, but I know who holds tomorrow. When I don’t know what, I know who. When I don’t know when, I know who. When I don’t know where, I know who. When I don’t know how, I know who. I know who holds tomorrow, and I know He holds my hand.” -Robert Smith I don’t have any elibrate five application steps for you tonight. My prayer for us tonight is to adore Christ as He is. Our application is to behold Him and hold fast to the hope He gives. Paul calls us to live our lives in response to the Savior and the Gospel He offers us. If you do not have faith in Christ Jesus, the Christ Jesus Paul describes in this chapter, the offer of salvation is open still today. All there is to do is turn to Him in faith. He is perfect and powerful enough to save and present you as holy, blameless, and beyond reproach. If you have faith in Christ, adore Him and glorify Him for all that He is and all that He has done for you.