Jan 26
25
Old Testament Reading: Psalm 33
“Shout for joy in the LORD, O you righteous! Praise befits the upright. Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre; make melody to him with the harp of ten strings! Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts. For the word of the LORD is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness. He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD. By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host. He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap; he puts the deeps in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him! For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm. The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage! The LORD looks down from heaven; he sees all the children of man; from where he sits enthroned he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth, he who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds. The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength. The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue. Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us, even as we hope in you.” (Psalm 33, ESV)
New Testament Reading: Colossians 1:15-20
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by 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. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And 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. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” (Colossians 1:15–20, ESV)
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Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church, but without the benefit of proofreading.
Introduction
The text that is open before us today is very deep. You can feel the depth when you read it, can’t you? It’s like sailing in the ocean and watching the depth finder drop from 50 to 500 feet as the color of the water changes from light to dark blue—you can feel the depth of the water beneath you. And so it is with this portion of Holy Scripture. We are sailing over deep waters, brothers and sisters.
To understand our text, we must remember the previous one. In Colossians 1:9-12, Paul revealed the content of his prayer for the Colossians. The last thing he said about his prayer was that he prayed for the Colossians that they would give “thanks to the Father, who [had] qualified [them] to share in the inheritance of the saints in light” (Colossians 1:12, ESV).
What does it mean to be qualified for something? To be qualified for something is to be adequate, sufficient, or fit for it. To qualify for a loan, you must demonstrate that you are in an adequate financial position to pay it back. To qualify for a race, you must prove that you are sufficiently prepared and physically fit to run in it. That is what it means to be qualified for something.
And what did Paul say the Christians in Colossae were qualified for? He says they were qualified to “share in the inheritance of the saints in light.” This means they were qualified to be citizens of the kingdom of God. They were qualified to enter heaven when they died. They were qualified to live in the new heavens and earth at the resurrection of the just on the last day. That is quite the achievement, would you say?
But the question is, why? Why were these Colossians qualified to share in this marvelous inheritance? Why were they regarded as sufficient for these things? Was it something they had done? Did they do something to set themselves apart—something to make themselves worthy to take possession of this glorious inheritance? No, the text says that it was God the Father who qualified them. God the Father is the active subject, and the Colossians were passive. Therefore, Paul prayed that the Colossians would “walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him… giving thanks to [God] the Father, who [had] qualified [them] to share in the inheritance of the saints in light” (Colossians 1:10, 12, ESV).
Now, the question becomes, how did God the Father do this? How did the Father make these guilty sinners in Colossae (guilty sinners like you and me) qualified to share in an inheritance as good and glorious as the kingdom of heaven?
Paul’s comment in Colossians 1:13-14 answers this question: “He [God the Father] has delivered us [guilty, vile sinners] from the domain of darkness [that is, Satan’s domain, where Satan, sin and death reign supreeme] and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son [Jesus Christ the Lord], in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13–14, ESV).
So, how does God the Father make sinners qualified, adequate, or sufficient to inherit his eternal kingdom? How does the Father make sinners fit for heaven? He delivers or rescues us from Satan’s dark kingdom and transfers us into the kingdom of his Son (Israel’s deliverance from Egypt was a picture of this, by the way). It is only in the Son (through our faith-bound and Spirit-wrought union with him) that we have this redemption or rescue, and the forgiveness of our sins. This is how the Father makes sinners fit for heaven! He rescues us from bondage and cleanses us from all sin to make us fit for life in his eternal kingdom. This he does through his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, the question is this: who is the Son? Who is he? He must be very powerful to have accomplished a redemption like this, wouldn’t you agree? He must be very great to have rescued us from Satan’s kingdom and to have transferred us into his own! And he must also be holy and pure to have the power to wash our sins away. Who is he? Who is this Son of God the Father? That is the question our text for today answers.
As you look at Colossians 1:15-20, notice the repetition of the phrase, “he is.” “He” refers back to the Son who was mentioned in verses 13 & 14. And in verses 15-20, the phrase “he is” appears four times.
Verse 15: “He is the image of the invisible God…”
Verse 17: “And he is before all things…”
Verse 18a: “And he is the head of the body, the church.”
Verse 18b: “He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead…”
Clearly, Paul’s objective in this text is to reveal who the Son of God is. His purpose is to open our eyes to the greatness, all-sufficiency, and preeminence of Jesus Christ the Lord. The Colossians desperately needed to hear this because they were being tempted by a form of false teaching that diminished Jesus Christ and questioned his sufficiency. And you and I need to hear this, too, for I’m afraid our thoughts concerning Jesus of Nazareth, his person and his work, are often far too small and low. The truth is, our Savior is great and glorious. And the work he has done is all sufficient. Indeed, the apostle is correct—in him all things hold together (see Colossians 1:17b). Therefore, in all things Christ must be regarded as preeminent (Colossians 1:18).
Well, let’s work our way through this marvelous text with this question in mind: Who is this beloved Son of God the Father, through whom we have been delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred into his kingdom of light, and in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (see Colossians 1:13–14). Who is he?
Our text consists of two main parts.
In verses 15-17a, Paul focuses his attention on who the Son of God is in relation to the first and original creation.
In verses 18-20, Paul focuses his attention on who the Son of God is in relation to the second or new creation.
Though I will not present you with the details, you should know that our passage exhibits a five-part chiastic structure wherein the last two parts of the text mirror the first two parts, and these two mirroring parts turn or swing on a central phrase found in verse 17b. The central phrase is this: “and in him all things hold together.”
When I began writing this sermon, I thought we might get through both parts of this text. In fact, I will be devoting two sermons to this passage. We will consider verses 15-17 today, and verses 18-20 next Sunday, Lord willing.
Who Is Jesus Christ, The Son Of God, In Relation To The Original Creation?
Today, we will ask the question, who is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, in relation to the original creation?
Jesus Christ, The Son Of God, Is The Image Of The Invisible God
In verse 15, we read, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation” (Colossians 1:15, ESV).
Dear friends, God is invisible. Not only is it true that we cannot see God or comprehend him, because he is great and glorious and immense and beyond our capacity — how could we, who are finite, possibly comprehend or grasp the infinite one? Yes, God is invisible to us in this sense—he is too great, grand, and glorious for us to behold. But it is also true that we cannot see God as he truly is because he is invisible. To use the language of our confession, he is a “most pure spirit, invisible, [and] without body…” (see Second London Confession 2.1). You say, but what about those passages in Holy Scripture that speak of men seeing God? Moses saw God in the bush that was burning and yet not consumed (see Exodus 3:1-6). Moses also saw God’s “backside” when he was put in the cleft of the rock, and the glory of the Lord passed by him (see Exodus 33:17-23). And what about the heavenly vision that Isaiah saw? He says, “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple” see Isaiah 6:1-7). Brothers and sisters, in these instances, God did manifest or show something of his glory to men, but these men did not see God in his essence, for he is invisible. Christ taught us this, saying, “No one has ever seen God…” (John 1:18, ESV). And a little later in John, we hear Christ say, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24, ESV). Paul also teaches this elsewhere. He was speaking of God when he said, “who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen” (1 Timothy 6:16, ESV). And our text is sufficiently clear, isn’t it? Here, God is said to be invisible. It is not only true that God has not been seen, he cannot be seen, for he is, in his essence, invisible —he is a most pure spirit.
Having established the fact that God is invisible, let us return to our question. Who is the Son of God? Our text reveals that “he [the Son of God] is the image of the invisible God.”
So what is an image?
I’m afraid that many assume the Greek word translated as “image” must mean visible image or representation. If this is what the word “image” means, then Colossians 1:15 must only be about the incarnation of the Son of God in the man Jesus Christ.
The flow of thought would go like this: God, in his essence, is invisible. The Son of God is here said to be the “image” of the invisible God. And because all images are visible, this can only be a reference to the Son of God incarnate, Christ Jesus the Lord.
The trouble with this interpretation is that it does not agree with our text. As we will soon see, it is not the incarnation of the Son of God that is in view here, but the Son of God in his eternal state. We are here considering the Son of God as the only and eternally begotten Son from the Father; the one by whom and for whom all things were created; the one who is before all things and in whom all things hold together.
When Paul says, “he [the Son of God] is the image of the invisible God”, he is not primarily talking about the incarnation. No, he is talking about the essential, eternal, and unchangeable retaliation between God the Father and God the Son. Who is the beloved Son of God the Father? The first thing we must confess is that he is the eternally begotten image of the Father.
The truth is, “image” does not necessarily mean “visible image”. Instead, it means likeness.
In his commentary on Colossians, John Davenant helpfully lists three characteristics of an image.
“First, that what is called an image must possess the likeness of some other thing. For if no likeness subsist between them, it is absurd and contrary to all reason to call it an image: for it cannot represent the other; which is the peculiarity of an image [it is the thing that makes an image].
Secondly, it is required in an image, that that which is properly understood by this term should be in some way drawn and derived from that of which it is called the image. For a mere resemblance where there is no deduction or derivation of the one from the other, does not constitute a proper character of an image: as, for example, we do not call milk the image of milk, or an egg the image of another egg; because the one is not derived from the other.
Lastly, it is required, that the likeness which exists between the image itself, and that of which it is the image, should pertain to the specific nature of the prototype, as far as to its participation in, or, at least, its designation of the species. When it pertains to the very nature of the species, it is called an essential and natural image, or an image of equality: when it extends only to the outward designation of the species, it is called an accidental or artificial image, or an image of imitation. In the former way, the image of a king is said to be in the prince his son: In the second, the image of a king is said to be impressed upon his coin, or painted on a picture” (Davenant, 172-173)
Davenant is correct. If we think of an image in these terms, then it is not hard to see how the Son of God is the image of God the Father, not only in the incarnation, but also essentially, eternally, and unchangeably.
Davenant goes on to ask, “What sort of an image of God [is] Christ our Redeemer… or in what sense is he called the image of God”? His answer is wonderful because he first distinguishes between Christ as he was (and is) the eternal and invisible image of the Father before creation, and as he is the visible and manifest image of the invisible Father after the assumption of the flesh (see Davenant, 173).
Listen to Davenant again.
“Christ, then, was from all eternity, and always will be, the uncreated WORD, the perfect, essential, and invisible image of his invisible Father. Before either angels or men existed, to contemplate this image by mental vision, yet even then, he was the image of his Father:
1. Because he possessed the exact likeness of him, for he was… Heb.i.3, the express image of his person.
2. He moreover had this likeness drawn and derived from God the Father through that wonderful and ineffable [inexpressable] generation from the Father. For the eternal Father, knowing himself from eternity, begets the Word, the consubstantial image of himself…
3. Lastly, it is not a shadowy image of the Father that he bears, in a nature dissimilar, but in the same essence and divine nature.” (Davenant, 174-175)
Please do not misunderstand, brothers and sisters. I am not denying that the man Jesus Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. This is indeed true! Jesus Christ is the person of the eternal Son of God, incarnate. He is, therefore, God with us. He is God in the flesh. And this is why Jesus uttered mysterious sayings like this: “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works” (John 14:9–10, ESV). And this is why Thomas was not rebuked as a blasphemer when he spoke to Jesus, saying, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28, ESV).
Is Jesus Christ, the Son of God incarnate, the visible image of the invisible God? Oh, yes. In Christ, the “Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14–15, ESV).
But this is not what Colossians 1:15 is primarily about. Here, the Apostle wants us to know that our redeemer, Christ Jesus the Lord, is the beloved Son of the Father, “born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father…” (Nicene Creed). Who is this redeemer of ours? Who is this beloved Son who “has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us [into his] kingdom… “in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14, ESV). The first thing we must say about him is that he is the essential and invisible image of God the Father, the Son or Word whom the Father eternally begets.
Jesus Christ, The Son Of God, Is The Firstborn Of All Creation
The Apostle goes on to call the Son of God “the firstborn of all creation.” What does this mean?
First, notice what it does not mean. Paul does not refer to the Son as the first creature. All that exists may be divided into two categories. On the one hand, there is the creator. And on the other hand, there is the creation. Which category does the Son or Word of God belong to? He is to be regarded as our creator. He is not a creature. Is the Son begotten of the Father? Yes! But as the Creed says, he is “true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made.” Friends, there was never a time when the Son of God was not. He is not a creature. He is the eternally betton Son from the Father, our Creator and Redeemer.
That the person of the Son is the one through whom the Father created all things is clearly taught in the Scriptures.
John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word [another name for the person of the Son], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:1–3, ESV).
1 Corinthians 8:6 says, “yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.” (1 Corinthians 8:6, ESV)
Hebrews 1:1-3 says, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.” (Hebrews 1:1-3, ESV)
All of this agrees with the creation account of Genesis 1. There, the repeated refrain is, “and God said”, “and God said”, “and God said”. The Scriptures are clear. The Son or Word of God is not a creature; rather, he is the creator of all things.
What then does Paul mean when he calls the Son “the firstborn of all creation”? In what sense is he the firstborn? Well, it is just as we have been saying. The Son is the firstborn in that:
One, he is the first to proceed from the Father. He is no creature, but the one (and only) thing that distinguishes between the persons of the Father and Son in the Godhead is that the Father begets the Son (and the Father and Son breath forth (spirate) the Spirit). In this sense, the Son is the firstborn of all creation—he was begotten of the Father from eternity, before anything was made.
Two, the Son is called firstborn of all creation because he is the one through whom and for whom all things were made. As you likely know, in ancient times, it was the firstborn son who would inherit the father’s possessions. And I do believe this is what Paul had in mind when he referred to the Son as the firstborn of all creation.
In fact, Paul explains what he means in verses 16-17a. “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by 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. And he is before all things…” (Colossians 1:15–17, ESV).
So there you have it. The Son of God is not a creature; he is the creator—“by him all things were created.”
And to be sure we understand what is meant by “all things”, Paul adds “in heaven and on earth, visible, and invisible.” So it is not only the physical, material world that was created through Christ the Son, but also the spiritual and immaterial world—the world of heaven and of the angels, fallen and unfallen.
And to be clear that Christ is supreme over all principalities and powers, the Apostle adds, “whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities…” Every realm that exists in the physical and spiritual world, and every ruler that rules in each one of these realms, was created by God the Father through Christ the Son.
More than this, “all things were created through him and for him…” What does it mean that all things were created for the Son? It means all things were created for his glory, honor, and praise. So then, not only is the Son of God the efficient cause or source of all creation, he is also “the final cause, on whose account all creatures were made” (Davenant, 199).
When the Apostle says, “he is before all things”, he sums up all that was said before. In eternity, and before the worlds were made, the Son existed as the eternally begotten Son from the Father. As it pertains to the creation, he is the source and foundation of every created thing.
Jesus Christ, The Son Of God, Is The One In Whom All Things Hold Together
Near the beginning of this sermon, I told you that the central phrase on which the chiastic structure of our text hinges or turns is found in verse 17b: “and in him all things hold together.” This will be our final observation for today. Who is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, in relation to the original creation?
He is the image of the invisible God. He is the firstborn of all creation. He is before all things. And in him all things hold together or consist.
What does this mean? As it pertains to the first creation, it means that, not only was it through the Son that all things were created, but it is also through the Son that all things are upheld. It means “that he not only made all things at first, but that he also sustains and supports them by his Divine energy, in such a manner that if he should withdraw it, they would sink into their former non-entity” (Davenant, 203).
This is not only the place where the Scripturers teach this. When Paul was preaching the gospel of the Areopagus, he spoke of God, saying, “for ‘In him we live and move and have our being’” (Acts 17:28, ESV). And Hebrews 1:2-3 expresses that it is through the Son that God upholds his creation: “but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he [the Son] upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high…” (Hebrews 1:2–3, ESV).
Not only is the Son the creator of all things, but he is also the sustainer of all things. By the way, this did not change when the Son became incarnate. When the Son took to himself a true human nature, body and soul, being conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary and born of her, he did not cease to be the Son of God proceeding from the Father. God does not change, friends, but is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And so, when the person of the Son took to himself a human nature to redeem us from our sin and misery, he became what he was not without ceasing to be what he always has been and forever will be—the eternally begotten Son from the Father, the one through whom all things were made, and the one who upholds the universe by the word of his power.
What a wonderful central phrase this is, for it beautifully sums up all that has been said about the Son of God in relation to the first creation, and it prepares us for what will be said about his relation to the second, new creation. For, as we will see, it is through the Son that all things in heaven and earth are reconciled to the Father, thus making peace through the blood of the cross. What a wonderful thing to say at the heart of this glorious text. In Christ the Son, all things hold together or consist. Truly, Christ is at the very center of the story of God’s creation and re-creation. It’s true. “[I]n him all things hold together.”
Application
Here are a few suggestions for application.
The first has to do with our thoughts. If, when you think about Jesus Christ the redeemer, your mind only traverses as far back as the virgin birth and to life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, your thoughts concerning Jesus are too small. It is true, the man Jesus Christ did not exist until he was born of the virgin about 2,000 years ago, but the person of Christ existed before that, for the person of Christ is the person of the eternal Son of God. This is why Jesus said, “ before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58, ESV). And if, when you think of Jesus Christ the redeemer, it is only his work of redemption that comes to mind, your thoughts concerning Jesus are too small. You must remember that it was through Jesus, the eternally begotten Son of God, that God created all things seen and unseen, and it is through the Son that all things are upheld. Brothers and sisters, if you are thinking little of Jesus, this must stop. Our thoughts concerning him—his person and his work—must be informed by the holy Scriptures.
My second suggestion for application has to do with our affections. If your thoughts concerning Jesus are small, then do not be surprised if your love for him is small, too. Friends, we have a wonderful Savior in Jesus. He is preeminent and all sufficience. He is our Lord and our God. As we contemplate what the Scriptures reveal about Jesus’ person and work, our love and appreciation for him ought to grow and grow. Dear friends, I hope you trust in Jesus, but I also hope that you love and adore him.
My third suggestion for application has to do with our walk. Dear friends, Paul has already expressed in this letter his desire to see us walk worthily. “And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him…” (Colossians 1:9–10, ESV). He will say it again in 2:6: ”Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving” (Colossians 2:6–7, ESV). Here is the truth: if your thoughts concerning Jesus, his persona and work, are small, and if your love and affection for him are puny, then your walk with Christ in this world will inevitably be weak and wavering. Dear friends, do not disconnect your believing and your loving from your walking. Who will walk faithfully with Christ Jesus? Is it not those who know him truly and love him sincerely? May the Lord, by his grace, enable us to know Jesus, to love him fervently, and to walk before him worthily, so that our precious God and Savior (see Titus 2:13; 2 Peter 1:1 is well pleased.
Structure of Colossians 1:15-20
A – (15) “He is the [image] of the invisible God, the {firstborn} of all creation.
(16) For by 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.
B – (17) And he is before all things
C – and in him all things hold together.
B’ – (18) And he is the head of the body, the church.
A’ – He is the [beginning],
the {firstborn} from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
(19) For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
(20) and through him to reconcile to himself all things,
whether on earth or in heaven,
making peace by the blood of his cross.”
