Colossians 1:15-23: Christ the Supreme

Introduction: A Lesson in Reading

Good morning.

As we get started today we are going to be in Colossians 1:15-23. I’d appreciate it if you all found that passage in your Bibles so that you can see it and work through it with me.

So as you find Colossians 1:15, I would like to pre-game a few ideas for you:

First, as we read it, I think you ought to hear an element of frustration. I think you will hear that because it appears Paul is at his wits end, he is at the utter limits of human language, he is straining and stretching in order to capture the grandness of God in Christ. And it remains outside of his reach. I am struck as we approach this text by a theological hero of mine, the reformer John Calvin and his comments on Scripture, he said:

For who is so devoid of intellect as not to understand that God, in so speaking, lisps with us as nurses are wont to do with little children? Such modes of expression, therefore, do not so much express what kind of a being God is, as accommodate the knowledge of him to our feebleness. In doing so, he must, of course, stoop far below his proper height.

- Institutes of the Christian Religion (1.13.1)

This passage of Calvin is often referred to as his baby talk view. That scripture teaches us rightly and truly about God, but human language cannot tell us fully. I point this out because in this “stooping” there are a few points that will need clarity.

Second, as Drew has been unpacking the previous three paragraphs for us he has informed us that this church at Colossae was wrestling with an aberrant theology called Gnosticism. If you haven’t been with us for the previous sermons, we might summarize gnosticism by two fundamental errors.

(1) It valued the mind over body. Essentially, the soul is what matters and the body is totally irrelevant. That is a deeply problematic view and we’ll get to one of the many reasons in this text.

(2) Gnostics, at least as a Christian heresy, believed true salvation or true spirituality might begin with Jesus, but ultimately it had to move beyond Jesus by way of some secret knowledge.

That is important because our text is a full-force repudiation of such false belief. Our text is an assault on Gnosticism with the supremacy of Jesus as the only weapon. And, as such, Paul seeks to paint for us a visual of who Jesus really is—to harken back to our paused-Mark Series—Paul is answering the question of the disciples in the boat with Jesus.

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41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

And what Paul finds is that human language fails him to totally answer that question, yet in divine grace God still gives us truths so that we might know in part our truly incomprehensible God.

So that is the premise of the text we are looking at, but I fear that if we move too quickly we will ultimately fail to grasp even a fraction of what Paul is saying. So this morning we will read and simply linger on the text.

Please pray with me then we will wade into the waters of this text.

Here we go.

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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 under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

I take this text to tell us much about Jesus, but it can grouped together in three categories, which many Bible Scholars believe comprise a two verse hymn and Paul’s gospel riff motivated by it:

Christ’s Supremacy Over Creation

Christ’s Supremacy Over the Church

Christ’s Supremacy Over You in the Gospel

Let’s proceed in that order.

Christ’s Supremacy Over Creation

Our passage springs from the the previous paragraph in which Paul had drawn our attention to Jesus commenting:

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13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

It is critical that we see this as the origin of our text in order to understand the proper purpose of the text. As Drew pointed out last week, theological knowledge is vitally important for the Christian life and the Christological confession...

The Message of Colossians and Philemon 1. The First Clue: The Connection between the Supremacy and the Sufficiency of Christ

that Christ is the true Lord of all is the essential foundation of all Christian discipleship.

Paul wants the Colossians to experience the fullness of the Christian life and in an irony of ironies they are in danger of losing it by seeking it in an attractive, deceptive, and false theology.

Biblical scholar John Stott wrote:

The Message of Colossians and Philemon Christ, Supreme Lord and Sufficient Saviour (Colossians 1:15–20)

The reason for this approach must be that Paul well knows that the Colossians are not wilfully unfaithful. It is simply that they are young in the faith, with their convictions as yet unformed and immature. Because of this, the speciousness of the visitors’ arguments has not been detected. It had not occurred to the Colossians that to welcome this new teaching was to be disloyal to the old. It seemed to them an exciting fresh revelation of truth taking them on from Epaphras’ beginnings.

We need to hear this in order to be warned. We are a young church and many here would likely say that they are in need of much growth in their walk with Jesus. Further we are products of a culture which idolizes the new and novel.

In other words, Santa Cruz Baptist we need to be mindful that we may be open to the same such unintentional drift into theologies and philosophies that cannot co-exist with the gospel we believe and profess.

We are primed for attachment to the new and the hip and the relevant due to our youth and our culture.

So, let’s hear this antidote to such drift:

Image of the Invisible God

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15 He is the image of the invisible God

The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon and to the Ephesians (1) First Main Strophe (1:15–16)

To say that Christ is the image of God is to say that in him the nature and being of God have been perfectly revealed—that in him the invisible has become visible.

Jesus himself states this clearly, John 14:8:

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8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 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’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.

Similarly the author of Hebrews,

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3 He 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.

I love the concept that Jesus is the “radiance of God.”

The word “radiance” is defined as “light or heat as emitted or reflected by something.”

Interestingly enough the authors of the New Testament hail from a culture where heat and light could not come from human invention but emanated outward from objects because of what the object itself was—by nature of the object. Think of a fire. It is the essence of the fire to emit heat and light. A fire that does not would be rather odd indeed. And when we think of fire we think of the heat and light.

Back to Colossians Paul is getting at something similar. Christ is the image of the invisible God. The word image could also be translated idol and draws us back and into the ongoing narrative of scripture which begins with creation in Genesis 1 and in Genesis 1:27 the Triune God who has created all things creates man in his image.

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27  So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them.

Humanity—male and female—are designed to be living, moving, breathing idols of God.

What is an idol for?

Idols are images or material symbols of deities or supernatural powers which individuals, communities, or nations might use to inform and direct their worship.

As such we might understand that the first idol was humanity. Crafted by God in order to inform creation and direct worship to him. This is why the fourth commandment forbade the construction of idol of God. Because God constructed his own idol to communicate about his character and nature and to direct worship to him. Any other idols would fail. to communicate truly about him.

Humanity failed in it’s image-bearing task. Which is to say that humanity failed to image the character of God in such a way as to inform each other about God.

I should say, as well, that though we have failed. The image of God is still present. It is distorted not destructed. And what we find is that in Christ’s success we have a pathway to a renewed image-bearing as we seek to follow Jesus.

This is one of the reasons we are beginning to put such an emphasis on discipleship. It is living the way we were always intended.

Paul goes on to tell us that Jesus is

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the firstborn of all creation.

Here is a point where good reading is required. You see a reader, not specifically a reader of the Bible mind you, but a good reader in general must enter into the world of the text in order to understand and evaluate it. Poor reading of these few words have lead many astray.

As of 2018, there are approximately 8.36 million Jehovah’s Witnesses. Their formal doctrine declares that Jesus is the first and greatest of all of God’s creatures. They point to this text as a defense of such a doctrine.

Such is a poor reading because it appears willfully ignorant of the world in which Paul is writing. For Paul, the concept of being the first born is fundamentally about status. It was a title which one gained or lost on the basis of the pleasure of the Father.

Yes, birth order played into it, but there are numerous examples in scripture of “firstborn” being used as an honorific title.

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22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD, Israel is my firstborn son, 23 and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.’ ”

Here God’s figurative firstborn is juxtaposed against Pharaoh’s literal firstborn.

In Psalm 87:27, the psalmist writes in the voice of God concerning the God’s covenant with David,

English Standard Version Psalm 89

27  And I will make him the firstborn,

the highest of the kings of the earth.

Yet David is not the first born of his own family. And, as we know he is later superceded by the Son of David—Jesus—according to Hebrews 1:6.

This line that Jesus is the firstborn of creation is a signal that Jesus is supreme over creation. In fact, I would argue that Paul is expositing himself when he writes,

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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.

What does it mean to say that Jesus is the firstborn of creation?

That it is his.

In American common law there are five recognizable ways to come into ownership of something.

You can buy it.

You can make it.

You can maintain it at your own expense for a time

You can be given it.

Or you can inherit it.

Did you see each of them in our passage?

Verse 15 firstborn is an inheritance term.

Verse 16 tells of creating.

Verse 16 as well tells us it was for him, like a gift.

Verse 17 tells us that he maintains and even sustains all things.

Verse 20 tells us that he purchased reconciliation with his blood.

Paul is proclaiming loud and clear Jesus’ ownership.

Consider that by his power everything was created from nothing.

That by his good pleasure it is sustained.

I want you to feel the gravity of this claim:

Is there anyone in here who is good with numbers? What number is this?

133,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. ( 1.33 x 10^50 )

This is a rough and likely low ball estimate from the US Department of Energy’s Jefferson lab for the number of atoms which make up the earth.

Jesus. holds. that. together.

Without his active and on going sustaining of those atoms the Earth would disintegrate. It boggles the mind to consider what that means for a universe of continuous expansion.

This is supremacy.

And no one outside of scripture has articulated the meaning of this better than the Dutch theologian Abraham Kuyper:

There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign over all does not cry: Mine!

And quite honestly, in this light, we see the gravity of sin. All things were created and sustained by Christ, so too are all things created for him. Yet in sin we are in outward rebellion against Christ our sustainer. We refuse to exist for him. In this sense sin is a sort of existential suicide. A rejection of the very life that hold existence as we know it together.

Christ’s Supremacy Over the Church

At this point Paul pivots to an issue that will be a focus for the rest of the letter. Having encountered the supremacy of Christ in creation, I think many would find this next turn to be a sort of anticlimax.

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18 And he is the head of the body, the church.

Paul turns to the church and paints a picture of a new creation. Paul draws our attention to this by mirroring the previous section.

Thus as we are told that Jesus is...

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15 He is the image of the invisible God

So too...

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18 And he is the head of the body, the church.

Meaning that he is in charge of the church both universal and local.

As I said at the beginning, our culture is given to seduction by the new or next thing. But if Jesus is the head of the church we have little room for innovation because of the fundamental consideration that our head might have thoughts and desires about his worship and the professed beliefs of his body.

As well Jesus is...

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the firstborn of all creation.

and ...

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He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,

Thus in the resurrection, as in the act of creation, Jesus displays his supremacy. And finally as his firstbornness over creation is unpacked as ...

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16 For by him all things were created

His firstbornness from the dead is unpacked as...

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that in everything he might be preeminent.

This mirroring effect draws our attention to this conclusion:

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For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell

Here we see another phrase that we may need some help with. The author’s intention was clearly to have us linger here. As it breaks with the rhythm of the rest of the hymn.

What does it mean that the fullness of God dwelt in Jesus?

The Pillar New Testament Commentary: Colossians and Philemon 2. The Heart of the Gospel: The Supremacy of Christ in Creation and Redemption (1:15–20)

We might paraphrase, “God in all his fullness has chosen to dwell in Christ.”

Further he delights or is pleased to dwell. God delighting in being embodied? A mortal wound to the gnostic theology.

God. in his power. in his beauty. in his love. in his grace. in his mercy. in his justice. in his fulness. was and is still pleased to be embodied as Jesus.

God feels no need nor desire to was his hands of the human form which he took on. No he did it willingly and, according to Hebrews 12:2, joyfully.

Why? Because of the result.

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through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Pause. Slow down. Think for a moment.

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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

For the JOY SET BEFORE HIM? How unusual is that? Jesus approaches both the incarnation and the cross with Joy for two reasons.

(1) Because his deepest longing and desire is to do the will of his father.

(2) Because he desires to reconcile all things to himself. Jesus tells us, in the sermon on the mount, that peacemakers will be blessed and Paul is telling us that Jesus is the peacemaker of all peacemakers because he knows of the reality of Hell and desires that none should perish (2 Peter 3:9 tells us).

So he seeks peace by taking on the judgement for sins. His blood for ours. His sacrifice for our life.

Christ’s Supremacy Over You in the Gospel

Paul, feeling the moment of this hymn, is carried into an exposition of our salvation. Which he begins by confronting our reality before God.

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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 under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Consider these words

Alienated - Isolated, Estranged, Set Apart From, Cut Off, Shunned.

Hostile - At War, In Contention, Antagonistic, Opposed.

or the phrase “Doers of Evil”

Take a moment and think, was there a point where you saw yourself this way. At war with and set apart from God.

It has been said that “you cannot count yourself forgiven by the work of the cross if you do not number yourself among the crowds shouting crucify him!”

That is another way of saying that you cannot see yourself as reconciled to God if you don’t first see yourself as a sinner. Alienated, hostile, and lost.

This is fundamentally offensive to a world of expressive individualists. That is a world in which we believe we define everything. And by expressing it, it becomes true. Right and wrong, good and bad, even the self. No science, history, theology, philosophy can adjudicate truth. Only the individual. To that message the gospel says no, there is an external and objective source of truth.

And the truth is that those “in Christ” were once—perfect tense, meaning that they are no longer because the action is completed the implications are dealt with, and the status is no longer applicable, the action is perfect in that it has come to its ends.

But those who are not in Christ are still alienated and hostile to God. Though they may be “friendly” toward the idea of God, they are guilty of “high treason” before their sovereign creator.

While that is a harsh realization look at the result of Christ’s work.

Reconciled and...

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present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him

What is the opposite of someone known as an evil doer?

Someone above reporach.

What is needed when two entities go to war?

Reconciliation.

What is the reverse of being set apart from God?

Being set apart for God—the definition of holiness.

Do you see what is happening here? Paul is declaring Jesus’ the results of Jesus’ actions on behalf of those who turn to him. Who are found in him.

And I don’t miss how Paul takes another shot at the gnostics.

How did Jesus accomplish this?

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in his body of flesh

Notice that Paul could have just said body. He could have just written flesh. But Paul emphatically doubles down on the incarnation. Jesus could only accomplish salvation in embodiment. And he remains embodied.

There is so much more to say, but I want to close with a reflection

Discipleship

In this text I was struck by the words of one commentator, who wrote,

Those are not relative statements. They are categorical, emphatic, and, dare I say it, universal. And that is scandalous.

So what does all of this mean? What do we do? How do we respond?

In my missional community we read Acts 2 and I noticed this,

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37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

If anything I have said this morning has made you think that you have missed the gospel in part or whole please talk to myself, or Drew, or Ross or Dustin.

And it is almost too obvious to say. But if we take nothing else away this morning let it be that Christ is preeminent and we must recognize it to be so in our lives. We must put Jesus first.

First place in our families

First place in our marriages

[First place in our singleness]

First place in our professions

First place in our mission and ministry

First place in matters of intellect

First place in time

First place in love

First place in conversation

First place in pleasure

First place in eating

First place in play

First place in athletics

First place in what we watch

First place in art

First place in music

First place in worship

- Kent Hugues

We must seek him in faith and trust

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stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven,

of which we, Santa Cruz Baptist, are ministers.

PRAYER