The Image of the Invisible

The New Revised Standard Version The Supremacy of Christ

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; 16 for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 He is 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. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

21 And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him— 23 provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel.

Paul’s Interest in the Colossians

24 I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. 25 I became its servant according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26 the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints. 27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 It is he whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil and struggle with all the energy that he powerfully inspires within me.

Tell a story about being in Rome

Divi Filius & Octavian

On 1 January 42 BC, nearly two years after the assassination of Julius Caesar on 15 March 44 BC, but before the final victory of the Second Triumvirate over the conspirators who had taken his life, the Roman Senate recognised him as a divinity. He was therefore referred to as Divus Iulius ("the divine Julius"), and his adopted son Octavian styled himself Divi filius[1][2] ("son of the deified one, son of the god"). The fuller form, divi Iuli filius ("son of the divine Julians"), was also used.[3]

Octavian used the title divi filius to advance his political position, finally overcoming all rivals for power within the Roman state.[4] The title was for him "a useful propaganda tool", and was displayed on the coins that he issued.[5]

A story of either/or — the contrasting of human kings and leaders with Christ

Tell a story about being in Rome

Contrast Vatican City with the Roman Colosseum or the Pantheon

Roman Forum

A God-soaked world — Rome

The Supremacy of Christ

Language about Christ being the “image of the invisible God”, firstborn of Creation — its a direct play and reworking of the Caesarian myths. (Julius and Octavian, in particular)

Julius Caesar - 2 years after his assassination, the Roman Senate recognized him as a divinity, referring to him, after death, as the “divine Julius.”

Adopted son Octavian took on this mantle for himself, as he succeeded Caesar. Octavian claimed himself as “Divi filius” or the “son of the deified one, son of the God.”

What was first a nod to Julius, Octavian then could use as a tool of propaganda, claiming his divine right as emperor.

By claiming this divine right, it allowed Octavian and successive Roman emperors the ability to control and demand loyalty in ways that go beyond what would simply be given an earthly ruler. What was once a title became a mandate — following the orders of the emperor became the same as expecting loyalty and submission to the demands of a god.

For Rome, with their rich history and mythology around divine beings, this propaganda tool was not only acceptable, it made sense to the Roman mind. Of course the emperor is powerful, divine, chosen by the gods to rule.

The Divine Right of Kings is not unique to Rome. Many cultures, even to this day, have their own myths and ways of reinforcing the power of their leaders. This was a very popular method of ensuring succession of power in Western Europe throughout the Middle Ages and into the Enlightenment. We see it in its own forms in places like Britain even now, where particular families are blessed with the right to the crown, not because of their merit, but because of their bloodline, both implicitly and explicitly linked together with the powers of the church.

This is how the world understands kings and rulers. It is not new and it is likely not going away.

Back to Rome

Throughout Rome, you will find temples and monuments, statues and fountains all on display as remembrances and celebrations for the emperors, generals, and divine beings celebrated by Roman society. It is a stunning city and amazing examples of devotion and collective mythology.

And, these constructions, with their beauty and grandeur, also serve a purpose of reinforcing collective ideals and agreement about who is in power.

One of the most striking places I found while I was in Rome was the Roman Forum. It is a huge section at the heart of Rome that is littered with statues of the gods, temples to various religious traditions within the Roman pantheon, as well as political and legal buildings where Roman legislation and governance were carried out. The heart of Rome, both religiously and politically. Here, you could sense the deep intwining of how the people of the Roman empire were instructed to make meaning of their world. The gods were celebrated. Logic and law were celebrated. And all was financed and constructed by the ruling powers, who through their benevolence and magnificent buildings, would be seen as powerful, good, and ensured of their position in power.

With all of this in mind, let’s turn again to our passage this morning and consider what kind of King we find in Christ. As I’ve said, this is a story of either/or — compare and contrast.

In this poetic opening section to the book of Colossians, we get a incredibly beautiful description of the core, essential claims about who Jesus the Christ is.

It’s something of a purpose statement for Paul to the Colossians — an argument for Christ’s supremacy. In the face of all the mythology of Rome, the powers of the world that surround them, the divine right of kings, we see this claim of Jesus Christ as Lord.

But is this claim using the same method, or is it subversively spinning it around, turning the emperor’s claims of divinity on their head?

Vs. 15 — He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

Immediately, we hear that Christ is Divine. The Greek word for image is eikon — a vessel or visage which we see through to see the thing behind the thing. It is through Christ that we see and encounter the divine. He is the one through whom we enter into connection with the Divine — the divine is not someone put on a pedestal above us, the divine is here with us to be looked through and therefore witness God!

Vs. 16-18

There alone,

Christ is then positioned in his rightful place — not as another ruler among earthly rulers, but the one in whom all creation came to be, all thrones and dominions and powers and rulers — “all things have been created through him and for him.”

The worldly ruler wants to stake a claim for their nation, their people, over and above all others. The Christ the King instead claims that all orders, all powers, all creation belongs to him — there are no separate nations, there are no thrones that a better than other thrones — all thrones are of his creating and under his rule.

“He himself is before all things and in him all things hold together. He is 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.”

And it just keeps getting better and, truly, more contrasted with the way that rulers of the earth seek to claim their power.

Vs. 19-20 goes on “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.”

The presence of God dwells in Christ, this human being, and through this dwelling, all things are made whole again. Christ is divine — absolutely and a claim that sits him alongside earthly rulers who would claim the same. But in that divinity, as we will see in later verses, Christ is not setting himself apart from creation to lord power over or separate and control. Christ’s divinity is one that invites our participation, our reuniting with God, our reconciliation and being made whole through it, specifically through the act of Christ’s death and resurrection.

Let’s pause and consider the cross in all of this. We hear “through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.”

Compare and contrast — Caesar used the method of crucifixion to put to death dissenters, to make examples of those who were out of line, to control and overtake other people groups. The cross is not a place where a leader goes to die.

But in Christ, the cross becomes the site of a whole new kind of power and leadership and love — it becomes the site, through Christ’s submission to the atrocity of crucifixion and his subsequent resurrection, where the power of death is undone. Death has no power over this ruler. And this King, this divine king, does not use death to hold power over others. This king uses death to liberate all people and undoes the power of death to hold anyone hostage, any longer.

Umm…this is really exciting, good news, right?

Let’s keep going, this is fun!

Estrangement of the Other — Reconciling Love

How might an earthly ruler gain and hold power? One way is to estrange people who are different, to mark people as other, outsiders. Perhaps because of the color of their skin, their country of origin, their religious belief system. Create an enemy, make them seem hostile and a threat. A leader like Caesar could do this to then hold power and distance over the ones who they wanted to control.

The “othering” of people groups was and is a common practice of powerful rulers to claim control and push their agenda. And of course, it is a practice of the gods — there are the holy and there are the infidels. You ostracize and demonize the infidels so that you may overthrow them and feel good about it.

Can you think of any examples of how this has played out in global history? I’m sure you can site a few harrowing examples. This is what rulers of the earth do — this is how they hold their claim to power.

So let’s bring it on home with to see how the Lord of Creation, Jesus the Christ, shows us another way.

“And you who were estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his fleshy body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him — provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven.”

All the outsiders, all the messy people, all the sinners and those who are pushing on the edges of what’s considered “ok” and right and proper. All the barbarians and the weirdos and the self-righteous. All the religious folks, the pious, the good Sunday School attenders. All the doubters, the cynics, the ones that are giving up. All these people who would once be estranged or hostile in mind, doing evil deeds — these are all reconciled to the King. They are reconciled to the King, not sent away.

This King, Christ the Lord, does not send away, does not other, does not separate, marginalize, say you are not welcome, go back to where you came from. This King welcomes into his arms. This king claims the lost, claims the broken, holds them as beloved and says “you are mine.”

Can I get an amen? Paul closes the passage, vs. 23 “I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel”, this good news.

I’ll claim that — I, Seth, became a servant of this gospel, that King, this way of reconciling love. This way that is so very subversive to the powers of the world. It undermines the way of dominance and human claims for power. It tears down systems of oppression that would say one person has a right to life over another. This gospel, this good news, is the heartbeat of a way of life that liberates, that opens up the family and says “you are welcome here!”

I want to read through the rest of the chapter so we can see how Paul rejoices at this good news.

The New Revised Standard Version Paul’s Interest in the Colossians

24 I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. 25 I became its servant according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26 the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints. 27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 It is he whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil and struggle with all the energy that he powerfully inspires within me.

The central claims about Christ

What about us? What does this say for us?

A purpose statement, an argument for supremacy

I leave you with a few questions to chew on today.

Our purpose is wrapped up in Christ’s — we claim Christ as Lord

Who do you serve? Are they a ruler or leader like Christ or are they seeking their own claim to fame, fortune, and divine power?

We claim his concrete, humanness

This indwelling of God’s image — it is passed on to us, too. You are presented and reconciled to God through Christ.

We claim his mystery, his divinity

Will you claim that for yourself? Will you claim that the messes of your story no longer hold you captive? Will you claim your own participation in the creation of this new kind of world?

Or will you stay locked by the power of Rome?

Christ is not being brought down to the level of Caesar. Caesar and all other rulers of the earth are placed in their rightful submission to the Lordship of Christ.

Hold fast in faith, my friends. Rejoice, because the liberating power of Christ is offered to you freely.

Amen.

The Divine Right of Kings

A human king claiming a greater persona, a divinity which reinforces their power and right to the throne.

Especially powerful mythology that if it is used over successive generations, can solidify a family’s position in ruling and control.

The Lord of Creation

Christ the King who lets go of his divine right to rule and takes the form of a human.