Joel M Bradshaw

15[Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16For by^f him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17And he 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, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.–Colossians 1

Let’s walk through this pivotal passage:

Verse 15: God is invisible in the sense that all else is visible. Jesus made God visible in the flesh. He images God. Think of firstborn in terms of preeminence like a Jewish Rabbi would. The firstborn son eventually claimed the authority of the father and had preeminence over the rest of the family. The Greek pictures firstborn ‘over all’ creation and therefore reflects that.

Verse 16: This verse causes us to reflect in a Trinity sense on God the Son and serves to further explain Genesis 1:1. God the Son created all things and all has its ultimate purpose centered in him. We are not surprisedJesus the Son of God had miracles that restored creation by healing and even controlled creation. The basic theological timeline is that God the Son always was…he took flesh in the person of Jesus who was and is uniquely both God and man…he is Jesus fully and forever. So there was a time when God the Son was not in the flesh, but Jesus is fully God. So when we go to heaven and can experience the Trinity, we expect God the Son to be Jesus.

Verse 17: His rank is number 1. He is both creator and sustainer.

Verse 18: Jesus uniquely heads the church which serves to uniquely represent and glorify him. His resurrection guarantees that of those who belong to him.

Verse 19: Up until this point, people could (wrongly) argue that Jesus was a created being instead of God. But Paul made sure we understood that all of God is fully in Jesus. Philippians 2 pictured The Son of God humbling himself to take on flesh, but after his resurrection, that was no longer the case. In Jesus, all of God dwells uniquely. This is not the case or an angel or a man. Mankind images God and is therefore not fully God.

Verse 20: God the Father reconciled us through Jesus because of this dual nature. Jesus being fully God made it so that he was a perfect sacrifice able to satisfy the requirements of God’s holy wrath against our sin. Jesus being fully man made it so that he could serve as our substitutionary sacrifice in our place.

Pivotal theology. Essential Christology. We are led to worship in gratefulness and awe.–JMB