Colossians Chapter 1B

Christ Above All. “The Great Christology”

“We must be careful not to look for Him anywhere else, for apart from Christ whatever offers itself to us in the name of God will turn out to be an idol” – John Calvin Reformation Study Bible pg. 2,123

Scholars believe that verse 15-20 are an early Christian hymn. There are no hard evidence to this, but it is accepted by many as an early hymnal sung by the Christians. This is what is called a doxology to the grandeur and glory of Jesus Christ. Reformation Study Bible pg. 2,123

Read Colossians 1:15

Jesus is the image of God. God the Father is a Spirit seen by no one. Jesus is God and has declared the Father. John 1:18. Jesus expresses God to us. He is the visible member of the Triune God.
- Passages that talk about the visible God that is Christ – Philippians 2:6, John 1:1-3. He who has seen Me has seen the Father – John 14:8-10
Jesus is the Firstborn of all creation – This has nothing to do with birth chronology. It is referring to preeminence and superiority regardless of chronology. Exodus 4:22. “Thus says YAHWEH, Israel is my firstborn son…”
- Were the Israelites the first humans God created? No. Then what does God mean? “Firstborn” means important, having nothing to do with chronology and everything to do with preeminence. Christ is the most important. The firstborn of creation, meaning higher than anything created in the physical realm i.e the universe and every living thing in it, and the Spiritual realm and everything in it. Naked Bible Pod Cast Ep. 227.
- The firstborn in Old Testament and up through the first century meant the one that inherits the most. All things were given to Christ.

Read Colossians 1:16-17

Vs. 16 – Paul here is expressing Jesus Christ superiority by making sure the Colossians understand that Christ created everything, not just on earth but in the spiritual realm as well. This is what Paul means by “visible and invisible”. John 1:3 – Nothing exists that was not created by Jesus Christ (The Word). God through Christ made everything in the Heavenly realm as well as the Earthly realm.
- “…whether thrones and dominions or rulers or authorities”. Here, Paul is referencing what is called the “Deuteronomy 32 Worldview”. You can further study this worldview in Heiser’s book called, “Unseen Realm”. I will touch on it briefly, but to get a full understanding of what I am talking about you will need to understand what Deuteronomy 32 is talking about.
  - Deut 32:8 – God portioned the people, divided them into 70 nations and set over them lesser gods. These invisible heavenly beings ruled over the people of the earth. You can find the 70 nations starting in Genesis 10 (dividing the 70). Then in Genesis 11 why God divided them and confused their language at the Tower of Babel. You might be thinking why in Genesis 10 are the languages already different, but it’s not until chapter 11 we read about God confusing the language? The culture at the time of writing Genesis did not care about chronology. Today it is important part of telling a story, but in those days it was not. The story was more important than chronology.
  - Thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. Read in context Paul here is refereeing to nonhuman powers. Powers within the divine realm. “Within the Pauline corpus only 4 letters use these terms in contexts implying that they are spiritual powers. Romans, 1 Corinthians, Colossians, and Ephesians. Dictionary of Paul and his letters pg. 747. F.F Bruce in his commentary on Colossians said, “in all five classes of angle-princes seem to be distinguished in the NT and could represent the highest orders of the spiritual realm. Thus, Paul is making the statement that Jesus created and is above them as well.
- …all things were created through Him and for Him. – What does Paul mean through Him and for Him?
  - Through Him – Jesus is the agent by which God brought the universe into existence. Hebrew 1:2 and John 1:3
  - For Him – He is the goal to which all beings attain to mirror. Study these passages to see why God gave Him the creation as a “love gift” for His sacrifice.
    - John 6:37 – All that the Father gives comes to me
    - John 6:39 – All the He has given me I will not lose
    - John 12:32 – …draw all men to me.
    - Isaiah 8:18 – I and the children whom the LORD has given me…
Vs.17 – He is before all things and in him all things hold together – We cannot go back in our minds to when Christ did not exist. God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit are one in three and they have never not existed. He holds the universe together. Gravity, Atoms, Rotation of the Earth, and its distances from the Sun.
- The sun has a surface temperature of 12,000 degrees Fahrenheit. If it were any closer to the earth, we’d burn; and if it were any further, we’d freeze. If the moon did not remain a specific distance from the earth, the ocean tide would completely inundate the land twice a day. Things don’t just happen in our universe by accident, Jesus Christ sustains the universe. He is the principle of cohesion. We are all utterly dependent upon Christ for our existence. As God said to Belshazzar, “The God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all the ways”; or Paul to the Athenians, “In Him we live and move and have our being, and He himself giveth to all life, and breath, and all things.” Every living thing is sustained in being by the Lord Jesus Christ. – David B. Curtis

Read Colossians 1: 18

He is the head of the church, He is the beginning, without Him there would be no church. He is the firstborn of the dead. He was the first in human form to rise from the dead and go into heaven. Not the first to be raised from the dead. See others in 1 Kings 17-17-24, 2 Kings 4:18-37, 2 Kings 13:20-21, Luke 8:40-56, Matthew 27:50-53, John 11, Acts 9:36-43, Acts 20:7-12. But He was the first to be raised and ascend into heaven. In everything He is the most important, above all things in heaven and on earth. The preeminent.

Read 1: 19-20

Reconcile all things to Himself and through His sacrifice make peace with a fallen, sinful people.

What does Paul mean by the fullness of God was pleased to dwell?
- Christ is the fulfillment of the Old Testament Temple. God dwelt in the Temple and Christ as a man He dwelt in Him. Jesus told Philip in John 14:9, whoever has seen me has seen the Father. Jesus is God. John 2:19-20 Jesus told the Jews destroy this temple and I will raise up in 3 days.
Vs. 20 – through Him to reconcile to Himself all things. This is talking about the atoning death satisfied God’s righteous judgement on all men/women b/c all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Even the rebellious Spirits have been subdued because of the cross. We can now approach God without a mediator, which before Christ you needed a priest to mediate for you. Christ is our mediator, and we can come boldly to God.
- Because of Jesus work through Him the creation is right in God’s eyes and to Him all the elect come.
Whether on earth or in heaven all has been restored to God and everlasting peace has been achieved. Paul finished vs. 20 with “by the blood of His cross”.

Read 1:21-23

Keep the faith and you are blameless in the sight of God.

Vs.21. Who is the “you” Paul is referencing here?
- The Gentile Colossians is the “you”. Paul tells them they were alienated from God. Only the Israelites had the one true God and the oracles of truth. Up until Jesus mankind was dead in their sin and wickedness. Hopelessly lost and unable to know the true God of the universe. No one was to see God unless you were a Jew and followed the Law and put your faith in Yahweh.
  - Psalms 58:3, Ephesians 2:12, 4:18.
Vs.22. But He has now reconciled in His body of flesh by death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before Him.
- He being Jesus died on a cross an innocent man condemned to die that the elect may be able to stand in front of a holy God and be blameless and above reproach.
Vs.23. Paul says you will continue to be above reproach if you keep the faith and not walking away from Christ and the hope that the gospel offers.