Colossians 1:15-19
15Christ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,
• Paul is positively asserting the supremacy of Christ
• Christ is God in the flesh; He is the unique God-Man, the head of the Church and the Lord of all creation
15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
• Image of the invisible God
John 1:17-18
17For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only,who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.
Hebrews 1:3
3The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
2 Cor. 4:6
6For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
• He is the First-born over all creation
• Protokos: title of preeminence, priority, authority
• Jesus is not only deity, He is perfect humanity and stands in preeminence over creation, because he is the author and source of creation
16For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.
John 1:1-4
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
Hebrews 1:1-3
1In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. 3The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.
• Jesus stands apart from and in priority over His creation
• Jesus is the object of creation, all things were made by Him and for Him, for His glory and purpose
• Included in this are all creatures visible and invisible; earthly and heavenly
• Jesus is over all angelic beings including demons and Satan
Colossians 2:15
15And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
Ephesians 1:19-22
That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church,
Hebrews 2:14
14Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might defeat and dethrone him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—
• Jesus has authority over creation including satanic opposition!
17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
• The preposition pros meaning before
• Jesus is before all things temporally
• Jesus is before all things authoritatively
• Jesus is before all things preeminently
• Jesus is before all things because of His relationship to all things
• Jesus is the invisible glue that holds all things together; both metaphysically and actually
Acts 17
24″The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. 25And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. 26From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 28’For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.”
• Our thinking and our being does not make sense unless we understand the centrality of Christ
18And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.
• In relationship to creation is before all things and in relationship to the church He is the Head
• He is the Authority and He is the Source
Colossians 2:10
and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.
Colossians 2:19
He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.
Ephesians 1:22
22And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
Matthew 16:16-18
16Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
• In relationship to the church Christ is the head; the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead
• These are titles of source, authority, preeminence and rulership
• Christ’s position in relationship to the church is that He should have the supremacy!!!
1. His position
2. He is the goal
3. He is the leader
4. He is the source of life
19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,
• The gospel is the message of Christ’s fullness
• Pleroma; fullness of deity and fullness of reconciliation
• The fullness of deity
Col. 2:9
9For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form
• The fullness of reconciliation
Col. 2:20
20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
• Jesus is the unique God-Man, the only Savior who has reconciled us to God by means of His death on the cross
• Christ accomplished a cosmic reconciliation; Christ made peace through His blood shed on the cross
• Christ is the unique Savior