Verse: Colossians 1:15-20
15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And 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. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and 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.
Devotion
I love passages like this that just lay it all out there. Verses like this are good for our faith. They serve not just as reminders, but as anchors. We read what the earliest believers believed about Jesus, and what the Holy Spirit was revealing through the writers to us. This morning let’s take a moment to really appreciate all the profound truths that are in this short passage. (Watch out, I’m about to make another list!)
1) Jesus is God. I know this is pretty basic, but do you ever have a passing doubt about this? I know I have. Did Jesus really claim to be God? Did his earliest followers think that? Did the early church actually teach that? Or did it get added later? This is pretty obvious here. The book of Colossians was written within 30 years of the ascension of Jesus. This was a fundamental teaching right out of the gates. It is, in fact, much of why Jesus was crucified!
2) Jesus, as God, is Creator. Just in case we were wondering if God the Father pre-existed Jesus. Nope! Jesus was, and is, God – for all time. Even before time! “All things have been created through him.” The Creator came to earth in bodily form!
3) Jesus is the head of the church. This should also be pretty obvious, but the Church is this beautiful organism that is meant to be the body of Christ on earth after his ascension. And he is the head. He is the leader. He is the source. He is the life flow that animates the body. It’s all about him, not us!
4) We will be resurrected. Jesus is the “firstborn from among the dead” directly refutes those of Paul’s day who would argue there was no resurrection. This is the good news! Even though we die, we shall live! In Jesus there is hope for salvation from sin and death.
5) His crucifixion reconciled us. Even today there are false teachings out there attempting to cast doubt in Christians about this. It is, however, a very clear and plain teaching of the Scripture. Jesus “made peace” for us to have restored relationship with God, just as it was intended in the garden of Eden. We can now, thanks to his blood “shed on the cross” walk with God, talk with God, and have union with God again.
There’s more in this that I didn’t even list! Suffice it to say, Jesus is all in all! He is the One, the Redeemer, the Healer, our Hope, our Salvation, our Truth, and our Deliverer. He is everything that the Old Testament prophesied. All we can do when we read passages like this is praise his name, and thank him for his amazing love and grace in our lives.
Author: Christian Dunn
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