The Lord Jesus Christ

Colossians 1:18-20

“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. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, 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.”

성경전서 개역개정판 1장

그는 몸인 교회의 머리시라 그가 근본이시요 죽은 자들 가운데서 먼저 나신 이시니 이는 친히 만물의 으뜸이 되려 하심이요

19 아버지께서는 모든 충만으로 예수 안에 거하게 하시고

20 그의 십자가의 피로 화평을 이루사 만물 곧 땅에 있는 것들이나 하늘에 있는 것들이 그로 말미암아 자기와 화목하게 되기를 기뻐하심이라

1. INTRODUCTION

2. BODY

a. Jesus is Lord over the Church (1:18)

i. Paul starts verse 18 in connection to what he wrote in verse 17. Not only is the creator of all things, He sustains all things. Paul explains that He is the author of all creation but not only that. He is before all things, nothing was created without Him and He is the reason why all those things hold together.

ii. So not only does he hold all things together, Paul continues that thought by saying that He is also head of the body, the church. Paul from verse 17 to verse 18 is moving the thought from creation to the new creation. Paul has been describing how Christ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. He is speaking primarily of the physical realm. Paul is making it clear that God is the one who created the Heavens and the Earth and both Heavens and Earth were created through Him and for Him (1:16).

iii. But now, as we have said earlier, that creation and salvation are utterly compatible. Creation is hard to understand apart from salvation and vice versa. Thus, Paul moves the train of thought from creation to now, the new creation. Paul naturally speaks about the new creation by speaking about the church. If we are new creations, if we are new in Christ, then we are apart of a new relationship.

iv. Paul then writes that He is also head of the body, the church. Paul makes it clear that Christ and His people are now in an organic relationship together, one that has been authored and sustained by Him. We see that He holds all things together. He holds the church together. He is the one who supplies life and exercises control and direction while His people are His body, under His control, obeying His direction and performing His work. Through this relationship, we are in Christ.

v. This statement here is extremely important. When Paul writes that He is also head of the body the church, then follows by saying He is the beginning, Paul is emphasizing that Christ has authority over the church. He is the head which expresses His authority. But not only that, not only is He authoritative over the Church, He is the beginning.

vi. This phrase He is the beginning is critical to our understanding of His headship. The word here “beginning” is the same word for beginning in John 1. It refers to the first principle or source and indicates priority in both time and rank. Paul is describing here that He is the source of all things. Why is that important? Because of Paul’s next phrase. “The firstborn from the dead.” This goes to show that Paul is sovereign even over death and the power of death. Christ’s rule is over the final great enemies of mankind so that it will be clearly evident to all that He truly is first place in everything. Nobody is superior over Him. Nobody can exercise authority over Him.

vii. We see from this phrase that He is the firstborn from the dead is linked to the beginning. Just as all the creation came into creation through Christ, all those who die, will be raised to life through the beginning, the firstborn of creation after Christ. Jesus is the reason and source of how the whole world was created. In the same way, Jesus is the reason and source of how all the redeemed in Christ will also be risen.

b. Jesus is Lord over salvation (1:19-20)

i. Paul goes further here in verse 19. He states in verse 18 that Christ is the head of the church, the beginning the source of all things, the firstborn from the dead which identifies to us that Christ is the first to be risen from the grave. He is the source of salvation, because He was the first to rise from the dead.

ii. Furthermore, it was the Father’s pleasure for all the fullness of God to dwell in Him. Here, we see the fullness of divinity dwell in God. Paul is now calling attention to focus on the fullness to dwell. What does this mean? Paul was previously talking about Christ and how He was the source of all creation and all of salvation. It was this Christ, who is first and the beginning of all things, this Christ in the words of verse 19, where the fullness of divinity dwelled.

iii. We could say, God in all His fullness has chosen to dwell in Christ. What is this fullness and why is it important? We hear a lot in Christian circles how we must be filled of the Spirit or this idea of being full of the Spirit. From this language we can surmise that the Colossian heresy spoke about some experience that was greater than the Christian experience. Colossians 1:9-2:23 details what we call the Colossian heresy where it seems some in the church were teaching a philosophy that was contrary to the teachings of Paul. By this language here in verse 19, we can see that certainly the crux of what was at stake was the divinity and fullness of Christ.

iv. Based on verse 19-20, it seems that they taught there was a true fullness by following their philosophies (2:8) to which Paul here is responding by saying, true fullness is only in Christ (2:9).

v. When we read 2:9 with 1:19, we can see that the fullness of Christ, is found in 1:20. What is the fullness of Christ? It is to know and experience the love of God through Christ. How do we know and experience this? To know that it was through Christ that all things, all those who put their trust in Christ have peace through the blood of His cross.

vi. When we think about the Colossian heresy, this is common even in today’s climate. Some think that the fullness of Christ is some greater understanding of God or some mystical understanding of God. Much of false religion banks upon this false experience. We see charismatics emphasize this experience and many have fallen astray to this philosophy. But Paul brings us to the heart of the Christian experience. The heart of the Christian experience is found in knowing Christ who has reconciled us through the blood of His cross.

vii. The key word here is reconciliation. When we think about reconciliation we think that Christ was the one who reconciled all things to Himself. Although that seems correct, it does not flow correctly here in the context. It was the Father’s pleasure for the fullness of God to dwell in Christ. The fullness of God, borrowing the words of verse 20, was reconciled through Christ. What does this mean? It means that God chose one mode of salvation. All reconciliation would flow from the person and work of Jesus Christ. Therefore, we could look at verse 20 to say that God has reconciled all things to Christ. How will all things to be reconciled to Christ? Paul says, we have been reconciled to Christ through the blood of His cross.

viii. Although it is not wrong in idea to think that Christ reconciled every believer to Himself by the cross, what Paul is telling us here is that God chose for all reconciliation to be through His Son. There is no other mode of salvation unless one is reconciled through the Son. This was the Father’s good pleasure.

ix. But how does this become personal to us? It seems like a high truth that we can’t simply fathom. Why would Paul write this? Because he’s trying to tell all of us, a simple truth. If we look at verses 15-20, the frequency of the word “all” comes up 7 times. Paul is trying to tell us that all people, everyone needs reconciliation.

x. This is utmost importance. Everyone needs this. Not some, or a few. But every person on this planet. They need to be reconciled to God and Paul reminds us that there is only one way to the Father. It is through the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

xi. What this verse reveals to us is that all people need one thing. We think to ourselves that if only we had more money or we had more opportunities or more of anything that we need, we would be happier or we would feel fulfilled. But what Paul reveals to us is that everyone needs reconciliation. What is the blessed hope here? In verse 20, it is simply that it was God’s pleasure for the fullness of God, the salvation of God to dwell in Christ. And because this fullness of God dwells in Christ, through Him and only Him, we have peace with God through the blood of His cross.

xii. This is the essence of Biblical Christianity. Everything hinges and falls on this point. If the person and exclusive work of the Lord Jesus Christ is not upheld, everything we believe in is shaken. Unfortunately, many today don’t understand the significance of this central doctrine. We must never fall from this point. Like Paul, we must find our confidence in His reconciliation. There is only reconciliation through this person Jesus Christ. And not only that, He is the only offering in which God will accept. There is no other offering which God will be appeased. Paul writes very clearly here that Jesus, has made peace with the Father, through His blood. This is the only acceptable payment in which God will accept. May we glory in His Son and glory in the fact that we know and have experienced the reconciliation Paul speaks of. May we be bold to preach this Good news to others.

3. CONCLUSION