The Incomparable Christ

Do you ever stop to wonder why we talk so much about Jesus? Do you ever pause to think about that emphasis? In your mind, are you ever tempted to think that there are much more practical things that we could talk about or deal with?

I mean, think of everything that is happening in the world around us! Foreign governments attempting to affect our elections, others threatening warfare, tragedies like the horrific loss of life in Florida this past week. Gender identity crisis, the economy, Donald Trump, The superbowl! I mean honestly, can’t we talk about something else for once?! Don’t you pastors ever think about anything but the Bible and Theology and this God stuff?

These are valid questions. Maybe you’ve thought this way, maybe you haven’t. I know that many do - many who are sitting in church pews across our land today are thinking of these questions. They’re examining the heartache both individually and nationally. They’re hearing the chaotic cries of injustice, both valid and invalid claims. They’re seeing the shifting of a culture before their eyes. They’re feeling the weight of political arguments and social scientists from many perspectives. They’re sensing unrest and unease - tension that at times could be cut with a knife, so to speak.

Are they distracted? Are they dragged aside by these things? Perhaps, but we unfair to totally dismiss their concerns, would we not? I mean, we’re all living in this world today. We’re all experiencing the narrative of history unfolding from our own perspective.

And they’re asking the same question - some in their minds, some on social media, some to their friends, some more vocally - why do we Christians spend so much time talking about Jesus?

I believe this passage does much to answer that question, if we will be honest enough to scale our priorities correctly.

Colossians 1:17 ESV

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

He is before all things. That is, temporally before all things (in time), logically before all things, and prerogatively before all things — that is, in emphasis, importance, influence.

As we look at this passage, we really see the comparison, or relation, of Christ to all things. And without getting ahead of ourselves, may I say that it should cause us to view all things through this Christocentric paradigm - that is, the lenses of our worldview are tinted with Christ.

And furthermore, as we see the comparison of Christ to all things, we really will see that there is no qualitative comparison that can be made between Christ and all things! Its not comparing apples to apples, its not comparing apples to oranges, its not even comparing apples to prime rib - its comparing apples to the creator of the apple. Incomparable.

Colossians and Philemon: So Walk in Him Chapter 4: Christ and All Things (Colossians 1:15–20)

If we hear carefully, understand clearly, and believe firmly what the apostle has written here, we will be equipped for every threat and challenge that life might bring. That is a bold claim. It is warranted by this remarkable portion of God’s Word.

And there are many threats and challenges. We see them physically in our health, we see them emotionally with the tragic newsreels of our culture, and we see them spiritually as we are tempted with faithlessness and unbelief.

Our society is changing. I was only a boy when the events of 9/11 took place. It is still vivid in my mind. I remember people crying, people in panic, in utter disbelief. I also remember a national emphasis on prayer. I even remember some talking about the possibility of that tragedy leading to some sort of revival. I don’t think that took place, but there was some sort of, at least respect, for spiritual things.

Fast forward 17 years. When tragedy hits, it seems now that the only place for prayer in the public sphere is to be put up as something to be mocked. Any spiritual remark is put down - and perhaps this is due to media emphasis, but they have the hearts of many.

The reality is this - many in our culture desire for the complete triumph of secularism and the abolition of any kind of belief in God. The push is to be once again “Enlightened” by claims of evidence - to get “woke” as they say, to the real facts. Of course, very few are actually thinking on their own when it comes to these claims - but rather thinking after those who have reached these conclusions. Consider popular opinions on abortion or the gender identity crisis - how many individuals have actually processed what they claim to believe thoroughly and logically? Very few, but they have all adopted the thinking emotionally.

Consider a few quotes.

“I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world.”

“One of the things that is wrong with religion is that it teaches us to be satisfied with answers which are not really answers at all.”

“We are all atheists about most of the gods that societies have ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further.”

Now, don’t be concerned - these quotes are not mine, but rather they are all quotes from Richard Dawkins, a renown Ethologist, Biologist, and outspoken Atheist author.

Undoubtedly Dawkins is a mastermind, an excellent communicator, and can spin a convincing argument - but the reality is this. The arguments don’t have to be that convincing at all for the masses to flock to this thinking - why? Because when you are looking everywhere but the right place for the answer to your questions, then just about any answer will do.

And so this is the society, at large, we are faced with. Moral relativism, socialist ideals, postmodern thinking, these all flow from missing the point of everything - from missing the focus of everything.

Our call today from the text is to not miss the point of everything, but to keep our minds fixed on the Point of everything!

Our call today from the text is to not miss the point of everything, but to keep our minds fixed on the point of everything! This text highlights the high, exalted, position of the preeminent Christ! So as we examine it together, feel free to ask that question, “why do we spend so much time talking about Jesus?” And let the text answer your questions.

Today as we study,

Let us rest assured that our Redeemer is the Incomparable Christ!

In order to see this, I want to look at this text in three modes of comparison, starting with Christ compared with all things, and leading to Christ as He relates to you and I.

1. The Pre-existent Creator of Everything - Vv. 15-17

As we dive into the text, it is worthy of noting that there is good reason to believe that these verses we’re considering are some form of an ancient hymn. And if that is the case, what a remarkable testimony to the fact that the truth of who Christ was pervaded the hearts and minds of the believers. We sing many great songs and hymns in our fellowship, but what a rich song this is! Perhaps one of the greatest songs about Christ!

He is the Image...

the greek here is Eikwn, which is where we get our word, (you guessed it) Icon.

Another way to say this is that Jesus is the very stamp of God the father - that is, before the incarnation, and now. Image obviously denotes likeness or sameness, but it also, and perhaps more so, implies representation and manifestation. Like the head of a ruler that is printed on a coin, Christ is the “Exact representation” of God. You may remember that from our study of during advent.

John 14:9 ESV

Jesus said to him, “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’?

Anyone who saw Christ, the visible manifestation of the invisible God, has in a way “seen” God.

John 1:18 ESV

No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

Now, the term “image” in and of itself does not require the understanding of “exact representation,” but this paired with other scripture demands that understanding when it comes to Christ.

You may be thinking to yourself, “well aren’t we made in the image of God?” and you would be correct in your thinking! However, man certainly is not the perfect image of God, or the exact representation of Him. Consider what Dr. MacArthur says here.

“Humans are made in God’s image in that they have rational personality. Like God, they possess intellect, emotion, and will, by which they are able to think, feel, and choose. We humans are not, however, in God’s image morally, because He is holy, and we are sinful. Nor are we created in His image in essence. We do not possess His incommunicable attributes, such as omniscience, omnipotence, immutability, or omnipresence. We are human, not divine.” - John MacArthur

Furthermore, the image of God is marred in mankind through sin. When Adam fell, and all of humanity fell with him, he forfeited much of the sharpness of that image-bearing. Because of Sin, the curse, and death, which define the natural man, are not the image of God, but the consequences of rebellion against Him.

Gloriously, when we are saved we are set back toward being conformed to that image once again! But unlike man, Jesus Christ is the perfect, absolutely accurate image of God.

So by using this work “Icon”, Paul emphasizes that Jesus is both the representation and manifestation of God. He is the full, final, and complete revelation of God - He is God in human flesh.

The Firstborn of All Creation

Now, as we read this, you should note that many cults both ancient and modern have taken this phrase and squeezed the life out of it to try to prove that Jesus is just merely a special created being. Of course, when they do this they ignore the whole testimony of scripture, and even the immediate context of the very book the verse is found in!

To see the error in that logic, we need to dive first into what is meant by “firstborn” and then into some other references. The term here for firstborn can mean first chronologically, but that makes no sense seeing that Christ did not come into this earth as a man until after many others had been created! Even if we allow for pre-incarnate appearances of Christ in the Old testament, even then, Wasn’t Adam the first created? Well, no, he wasn’t even first! Before Him were the animals, and the plants, and the sun, and the moon, and the earth, and the universe, and the angels, and any form of physical existence at all!

Firstborn, then, in a Chronological sense, doesn’t fly wit the timeline of incarnation. Nor does it fly with the testimony of Christ’s work, but more on that in a moment.

Firstborn, we see, primarily refers to priority - not necessarily referring to time, but more specifically to status and rank. And here, it refers to the status and rank that Christ has over creation. Israel is called Yaweh’s firstborn in the Old Testament, although they are very much not the first people to live! Christ is also called the firstborn from the dead, even though, Chronologically speaking, He was not the first to be raised from the dead.

So the very scriptural idea of the “firstborn” does not jive with the cults’ twisting of these words, but the rest of the passage before us does not either!

Consider Verse 16-17

John 1:3 ESV

All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Hebrews 1:2 ESV

but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

How does a merely created being go about creating all things that were created? If you are a created being, then logically you cannot create all created things, because you cannot create yourself!

An important designation is made at the end of verse 16.

“All things were created through him and for him.”

John Woodhouse notes here something spectacular.

Colossians and Philemon: So Walk in Him b. Why

Here is the ultimate unity of everything. This is not a piece of abstract philosophy. Paul is speaking, astonishingly, of the one who had recently been executed in Jerusalem, and who had risen from the dead, and appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus. This is what he is saying about him: All things have their origin, existence and purpose in him!

All things are created by Him, all things are created through Him, all things are created for Him! Created in his sphere of influence, by his awesome power, and for His glory and pleasure. What a thought! Do we begin to see the incomparable nature of Christ?

Verse 17.

When Paul says he is “before” all things, the meaning is dual. He is both “before” all things in that he pre-exists all things, and that he is preeminent above all things.

The preexistent nature of Christ is stated throughout the New Testament. But take Christ’s own words.

John 8:58 ESV

Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”

Christ is the eternal, perfect image of God. He is the eternal creator of all things. He is the rightful heir of all things, things which were created by Him, through Him, and for Him.

He is before all things Chronologically, and also in His supremacy. Everything that exists - and think of what that entails - everything that exists owes its being, continuation, and meaning to Christ! Christ is the controlling and unifying force in nature.

The fact that Christ relates to all things, all people, all circumstances in this awesome manner is a wonderful cause for our worship of Him!

But we see that not only is Christ the Pre-existent creator of everything, but as we trickle down the stream of His rule, we see that He is also the Preeminent Head of the Church.

2. The Preeminent Head of the Church - Vs. 18

Here Paul gives us several ways to look at How Christ relates to the church. First, and primarily, he speaks of Him being the Head.

Many metaphors are used in scripture for the church - the bride, the building, the household, the flock, the vineyard, but the most vivid, perhaps, is the body! The church is the body, and Christ is the head of the body!

Think of that - If Christ is the head, there is no meaningful existence of the body apart from Him. He is the one in control, He is the vision, He is the source of information, and also the focus of attention.

To put it plainly, there is no head of the church but Christ! No outspoken leader can usurp Christ’s place as head of the church. No elected officer can undertake the authority and majesty of that pace! No Bishop of Rome, even if he does call himself the Vicar of Christ, is fit to be honored in such a way - no, Christ is the head! Remember, He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together - this is true of creation, and it is true of His church as well!

Arche, Beginning, Source.

Along with being the head of the church, He is also the source of the church! The church was not dreamt up by the imagination of worshippers, but rather it was the plan of Christ Himself!

Ephesians 1:4 ESV

even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love

Firstborn from the dead.

Here we have the same term for firstborn.

As believers, we have to glorious promise of resurrection. We will die physically, but we will be raised incorruptibly. Christ is the source of that resurrection, the example of that resurrection, but also is the highest in rank of all the resurrected ones!

That in everything he might be preeminent.

Think of this progression

John 1:1 ESV

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The Eternal Word of God, God Himself.

John 1:14 ESV

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.

The Eternal Word of God, God Himself, Became Flesh,

Philippians 2:8 ESV

And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

He humbled Himself unto death.

Philippians 2:9 ESV

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,

He has been given the name above all other names! From the highest, to the lowest, to the highest, Christ is preeminent in all things!

He is the Pre-Existent creator of everything,

the Preeminent Head of the Church,

and as we take one step further, we see how he compares to you and I.

3. The Prodigious Redeemer of Sinners - Vv. 19-20

Prodigious meas remarkably great.

Why do I say it is prodigious?

Remember in verse 16 we saw three prepositions. All things were created by him, through him, and for him.

by him, through him, for him.

In verses 19-20, we see that the fulness of deity dwelt in him, and through him he was reconciling all things to him.

In Him, Through Him, To Him.

This is the same language of Christ in creation, now speaking of Him in redemption. What can we say of this?

In the death of Christ, God was doing something just as grand and spectacular as he was in creation. He was doing something just as noteworthy, just as awesome, just as powerful!

May we know and remember that God is not dismayed by tragedy and hardship as we are. While we are wringing our hands and grasping at straws, God has already worked a miracle of reconciliation for all who will come to Him.

Christ is the great reconciler of all things. Why did all the fulness of God dwell in human flesh? for the purpose of reconciliation.

If we go back to our original question, why do we spend so much time talking about Jesus? well here is our answer. If we agree that things are awry, if we agree that things are chaotic, if we agree that things are not right, if we agree that tragedy and loss and heartache are horrible things that we face, then we also agree that there needs to be a solution.

Things will not be reconciled by the goodness of man, but his best intentions in word or deed. Things will not be reconciled by our moral efforts, or our mere cooperation with people. Things will not be reconciled by ideologies or dreams or even radical legislation. The reconciliation that is needed is found in being reconciled to the one by whom and for whom all things were created!

Romans 8:18–23 ESV

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

Dear ones, this is why we speak of Christ. He is our only hope - The incomparable one is the only reconciler. The indescribable one is the only savior. The incomprehensible one is the only redeemer.

So as we weary of the tragedies, the losses, the pains, the sufferings, the unrest, the dreary days of earth, remember the one by whom and for whom all things were created. Remember His work of redemption. Remember also that there is no other redeemer!

Let us rest assured that our redeemer is the Incomparable Christ!