WOP - Devotion; The Preeminence of Christ
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Preeminence means to have the first place. In our text Paul describes why Christ has it.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.
17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
18 He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.
19 For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him,
20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.
Historically, at the time of writing, a great heresy was gaining a foothold. It was called Gnosticism; from the Greek word for knowledge, gnosis.
BTW - the gnostic heresy is still alive today in the JW’s and others who deny the deity of Jesus Christ.
Paul is writing to combat these heresies, as was John in the Epistle of 1 John. Gnosticism held that salvation was all to do with special secret knowledge that could only come from an enlightened individual.
Gnostics believed that the flesh and material world was evil and that only the spirit was good. Thus they believed that God who is supremely good could not have created the universe directly. They held that only a far lesser, and one far removed from God, called an emanation could have created the Earth. This teaching has led to many other heresies like epicurean and stoic philosophies. Paul will touch on these in Chapter 2.
So with that brief understanding it will help us see the depth of what Paul is explaining.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
The word here for image is eikōn.
The Greek Orthodox and other Orthodox churches use “icons.” Which really just a picture or a statue of a Holy Person. The Greek word here speaks of a likeness or image. If you have a coin with you you see an Icon an image of a former president.
Here in our text, it indicates the exact representation of God in the sense of moral character and holiness. Jesus said;
John 14:7–9 (NASB95)
7 “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”
8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Jesus is in every way God. In theological terms He is the theanthropos, The God-Man.
The word firstborn is not in regard to birth order but is referring to priority and preeminence. There are many examples of this throughout the bible. Think of Isaac, Jacob, Ephraim. They were all called firstborn but not according to birth order.
Look at verse 16;
Colossians 1:16 (NASB95)
16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.
People will often question that Jesus is God. Yet here Paul lays it out very plainly. Here Paul pulls apart the Gnostic understanding piece by piece. Notice;
In verse 16 notice, For by Him all things were created “By Him” who is Him? Jesus.. how many things were created? All things. How many is all? All!! But just in case one would say well that's the physical universe Paul says;
“ both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.”
Unequivocally stating Jesus of Nazareth is the creator God!
In verse 17 Paul says something very interesting;
17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
Did you know that science can not explain how atoms hold together. Scientists call it Atomic glue. Some unknown force that holds everything together. Currently at CERN in Switzerland the worlds nations are spending multi-billions of dollars to discover the so-called God-particle. We do not have a reason that an atom doesn’t just explode having like charges they should repel. But they don’t.
Why? Because Jesus is holding it all together. Jesus is the atomic glue that holds everything together
BTW - that’s what a nuclear bomb does it breaks the bond and the expulsion of energy is incredible. Just a tiny amount was in the bomb that fell on Hiroshima.
One day Jesus will break that bond and we will get what Peter describes;
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.
And then of course, as foretold in Isaiah and Revelation; God will create a new Heaven and a New Earth.
Paul finishes his thought with this;
Colossians 1:18–20 (NASB95)
18 He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.
The KJV uses the word Preeminence here.
19 For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him,
Greek word for fullness is pleroma. John writes about this fullness,
John 3:34 (NASB95)
34 “For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure.
20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.
So Our Lord Jesus is the head off all; of everything. Because, unlike us who have been given a measure of the Holy Spirit, Jesus has “all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” Everything that’s in Jesus is God. He is literally bursting at the seems with the divine, because he is God, and He alone deserves all Glory and Honor. He truly is Emmanuel!