The Preeminent Christ (Col 1:12-20)

Creeds are definition statements containing core Christian truths, which we’ve focused on in this series. It’s important to be clear about these core truths, and to find ways to remind ourselves of them. Some may have the unfortunate view that doctrinal statements divide Christians because they’ve church splits over doctrine. But to the contrary, we should not forget that what we believe, or our doctrine, is essential in maintaining and establishing unity. After all, what we believe is what holds us together.

In this passage, Paul writes to the church in Colossae. Though he did not plant this church, this letter to them is a way of him encouraging and pastoring the church facing doctrinal confusion and under the attack of false teaching. The focus of the passage is who Christ is and what we believe about Him, which is itself of great significance to the church. What do you believe about Christ Jesus?

(A) Christ Preeminent in creation (COl 1:15-17)

Paul writes to the Colossian church in this opening chapter to tell them that believers have “redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Col 1:14). They were delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred to the kingdom of his beloved son (Col 1:13). 

Now they share in the inheritance of the saints in light (Col 1:12), in the inheritance under the covenant!  Paul also says that they are now qualified. Whereas before, they were unqualified, now, in Christ, they are qualified with legitimacy and certain rights that they can assert and should hold to. How did this come about? Not a result of their own efforts and work, but of God’s own initiative. 

This is Paul’s way of addressing their relationship to Christ. The pre-eminent Christ Paul will expound on is the same Christ that brought this church together. And who is He? 

In Colossians 1:15, we read that this Christ is “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation”. We’re going to unpack the phrase “image of the invisible God”. This invisible God created Adam and Eve in His image, and part of this involved having dominion over this creation as His image bearers (Gen 1:26). They were to rule over all creation as His visible image bearers, like a mirror or reflection of what He was like. Male and female, God created them (Gen 1:27) to reveal Him to the rest of Creation. But when they chose to disobey His commands, they failed to live up to their mandate to rule over creation and marred the image of God on them. The rest of the Bible unpacks God’s redemption plan to restore that image in His broken and fallen image-bearers, and this world they inhabit. 

But where Adam and Eve failed, there was another who iimaged the invisible God perfectly. In Hebrews 1:3, we read of Jesus the “radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature”. Because He is the perfect image of God, His work, like God’s is perfect as He “upholds the universe by the word of his power”. Finally, “after making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high”. In this glorious, exalted, ruling Christ, we have a perfect picture of God. How does this work?

The Bible tells us that God came in the flesh in Jesus Christ. John 1:18 tells us that no one has seen God, yet the Father has made Him known through Christ. Today, many think they are searching for God – for ultimate security, purpose, joy and satisfaction – what we expect to find in God our Maker. Perhaps even some in the church struggle to come to terms with who God is and to know Him. But we don’t need to guess. He has revealed Himself in Christ. 

At the same time, some of us are tempted to remake God into the image that we want, or that suits us. Have we relativised God and cast Him in a different light based on what we like and dislike about Him? Perhaps we accept His love and mercy, but we struggle to desire His justice and holiness. We like a God who accepts everyone, but we eschew a God who judges sin in righteousness. In what ways have we remade Him in our own image and design? We should know Christ as He reveals the Father perfectly, unaltered and untainted. 

Paul also describes this Christ as “the firstborn of all creation” (Col 1:15b). Firstborn speaks not just of His birth order, but also of His rank. John 1 tells us that Christ the Word of God was not birthed or created since He was with God in the beginning. Thus, the uncreated Christ has the highest honour in eternity past as the object of the Father’s love (Jn 17:24). Moreover, He has been given the name above every name (Phi 2:9-11). This is where the term pre-eminence come from as Christ is supreme in rank and without rival. As Psalm 89:27 writes of His exaltation, “And I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.” 

Together with it comes the idea that He has received the right to an inheritance. Christ is guaranteed the inheritance of His family wealth. He is assured of all the blessings of the Father because He is pleased with Him. 

Colossians 1:16 also tells us that the Christ is the Creator, and thus, He is stands separate from any created being. We should not confuse the modern idea of being a “creator” like a “content creator” or a “creative” with Jesus’s creative work. As the Creator, His creation is ex nihilo – He created everything out of nothing. This distinguishes Him from us, though we are like Him being made in His image. By His power and through the ingenuity of His design, He made all things. As Creator, He knows each one of us too and also has a purpose for all Creation. He has a reason and cause for all. He did not create because He needs us. Rather, He created all because of the  good intentions and wise purposes of His heart.  

Modern culture may bristle at the thought that human beings were created for the plans and purposes of Christ our God. We simply cannot imagine having a relationship with one who is perfect in wisdom and sovereign in purpose and living joyfully as His creation. But as many of the Psalms of the Bible teach us, the relationship of the Christian to our God is one of love, trust and joy. That’s one of the reasons why the Psalms are full of joyful singing to Christ – He brings us joy and we can trust Him for everything. As we sing, we feel a sense of rightness in praising Christ our God because we were made for His glory. 

This Christ is also “before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Col 1:17). He sustains all Creation throughout all time. He has been doing this since the beginning of time. He is also outside of time. He keeps the planets rotating. He keeps our earth, even simple things like the law of gravity. He gave us every breath we breathe today. 

Christ’s glory does not depend on any of us. It depends on His own self-sufficiency, on Him holding everything together. He is the Cosmic Cause and Sustainer of all reality. We must remember not to diminish Him. He is not just one of many powerful gods in a pantheon. This was something the church at Colossae had to fight to remember (c.f. Col 2:8-10). This is our pre-eminent Christ.

Have we diminished the honour and pre-eminence of Christ? If we have, remember that this is not a sudden occurrence but often it is a gradual process of turning away from Him. It could begin by us pursuing things that seem good to us, which begins a slow dimming of the heart towards Christ. He no longer appears to be the treasure of great price (Matt 13:45-46). Will you guard your heart against such idolatrous drift? Colossians 3:5-11 calls us to know Jesus afresh and renew ourselves in knowledge after the image of our Creator, and put to death what is earthly in us.

(B) Christ Preeminent over the Church (Col 1:18-20)

The Christ over Creation is also the Christ over the New Creation. He is the head of the body, the church (Col 1:18a). As its head, He has authority over the church (c.f. Col 2:10). That He rules over His church and His leadership over the church means that we must honour Him, treat His words with reverence and fear and not exchange His words for forms of competing truth. So the church rightly gathers to listen to the words of Christ from the Bible each week, to remember His commands and seek His agenda for our lives. 

In Colossians 2:18-19, we also see that our Head sustains our Christian growth. Paul highlights how the different parts of the body are nourished by the Head. Christ as Head of the church provides for the church by supplying its needs and causes it to grow. This metaphor shows how Christ sustains the faith and growth of His people in the church as they cling to Him, and in doing so, the church grows. A growing church is one that abides in Christ the Head and nourishes itself in Him.

Jesus is also the firstborn, not just of creation, but from the dead. Thus He is the first New Creation. Moreoever it is important to see that His resurrection was different that of Lazarus and others whom He raised in His earthly ministry. Unlike Lazarus who was raised to die again, Jesus was raised never to die again. Thus Christ is the first of a whole new race, of many more to come. Those who died in sin and were unable to save themselves now have a new hope in the One who lives again and never dies. Sin has been utterly defeated. A new way is open for His people to enter into eternal life through and with Him. 

Jesus is firstborn over Creation and New Creation. There is no place where He is not supreme, not least in His church. 

Isn’t it interesting that when Paul speaks of the New Creation, he also speaks of the church in the same breath? It begs the question of whether we are part of Christ’s church today. When we join the church, we humble ourselves under His rule, pledge ourselves to His kingdom, and display the pre-eminence of Christ our King. Practically, we gather with the church each week to sit under His Word and rule, and to help other kingdom citizens live under His authority – rejecting the claims of sin and death over us, and encouraging each other to live as His people. No one Christian individual can live out the fullness of His kingdom. We were not meant to live the Christian life individually, and certainly not by watching sermons at home online or listening to podcasts. Life in the church is life in His body and He joined us together to be a display of His rule and wisdom. 

See how Colossians 1:19 speaks of the fullness of God dwelling in Christ. Christ is filled with the power and wisdom of God Himself, like God dwelling in human form, in 3D. It reminds us of Old Testament images such as in Ezekiel 44:4, where God’s presence filled His temple in a moment of blessing and fullness. 

And what does this Christ, filled with God’s presence done? Wonderfully, He makes all things new. Jesus has reconciled all things, including sinners to a holy God (Col 1:20). Paul rejects universalist teachings that promise a world with no judgment, and universal access to heaven. Instead, only repentant sinners who trust in the effective death of Jesus Christ on the Cross, atoned by His blood have been reconciled to God . The relationship broken by sin can only be restored in Christ. His rule brings peace and reconciliation. And at the centre of His work is the Cross, where He died to bring many to Him back under His authority again. 

In the next chapter, Colossians 2:9-10 tells us that God who fills Christ also fills us when we live under His authority. We have everything that we need as we participate in the body of Christ under His reign. When we obey and submit to Him, we are filled in Christ! All the teaching that the Colossian church, and that we need to heed is found in the Christ of the Cross. 

As we read this passage, don’t miss the connection between the Cross and His church. His is a blood-bought rule, worked out by amazing love. May we embrace the rule of this loving King, knowing that this pre-eminent Christ gave up His life for the body. We should heed the warning of Colossians 2:19 and hold fast to Christ our Head. 

Today, what have we done with Jesus Christ, the image of the invisible God and have we honoured His pre-eminence? How might we help others see His glory by delighting in His supremacy? How are we holding fast to the Head that we might participate in the One who nourishes our faith, and participating in His body, the growing church?

As we humbly confess these truths about Christ pre-eminent and make this doctrine our creed, let us worship and adore Him, Christ the Lord.