• That prayer should always consist out of two parts, petition and thanksgiving
• We also saw that we should always pray for each other
• We should pray for knowledge, wisdom, understanding, fruit, endurance, growth and strength.
• These are all Godly things to pray for each other.
• This week we look at v 15-19, which deals with the pre-eminence of Christ, the excellence of Christ
• Now, we all know that the whole Bible is in fact a book that speaks about Jesus
• The old testament, every part of it basically points to His coming and the work He would do.
• The gospels speak of Him as He became flesh and lived among us
• Acts talks about how His message went out and He started forming His bride
• The epistles teach the Theology of His teachings, His life, His work and His making Himself known through His body, the church.
• And then we find Revelations, speaking about Him as King of kings and Lord of lords, on His throne, forever
• Luk 24:27, Joh. 5:39
• But no scripture compares to the one we are looking at tonight
Col 1:15-19 who is the image of the invisible God, the First-born of all creation. (16) For all things were created in Him, the things in the heavens, and the things on the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created through Him and for Him. (17) And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist. (18) And He is the Head of the body, the church, who is the Beginning, the First-born from the dead, that He may be pre-eminent in all things. (19) For it pleased the Father that in Him all fullness should dwell.
• As we saw in the introduction, the heresies that were coming out in the town was attacking the person. of Christ
• They put Christ on the same level as other lesser spiritual beings that came from God – basically same as angels
• They thought it was stupid to think that God himself could become a man.
• According to their belief, Christ could not bring salvation either
• Salvation needed secret, higher knowledge, worshipping of angels and keeping of the Jewish ceremonial laws.
• In the first 3 chapters of this book, Paul confronts the heresies head on
• In Col 2:9 he tells them that the full deity of God dwells in Christ
• In Col 2:18 he rejects their worship of angels
• He also speaks against their ceremonialism in 2:16-17
• In 2:3 he tells them that only in Christ is the knowledge, their is no higher knowledge.
• For Paul the most serious of these was the attack on Christ’s deity
• He starts by defending this
• He shows this by relating Christ to 4 things, God, The universe, the unseen world and the church
Jesus Christ in relation to God
who is the image of the invisible God, the First-born of all creation.
• To defend the fact that Christ is not some lesser spiritual being Paul says He is the image of God
• The Greek word used here is eikōn which means image or statue
• This is the same word used to describe how man was created
• The difference is this.
o Man is not holy but sinful
o We do not possess his attributes like omnipresence, omnipotence, omniscience or immutability
o We are human, He is divine
• What is the same
o We have a rational personality – intellect, emotion and will – we think, feel and choose
• There was an original image of God in man, which was destroyed with the fall of man
• Before the fall man was innocent, free of sin and incapable of dying.
• Those who put their faith in Christ are promised that they will be restored to that original image
• Rom 8:29, 2 Cor 3:18
• We will become sinless again when we enter the final stage of our eternal life
• Jesus, unlike man, is the perfect, absolutely accurate image of God.
• He did not become this image after being born again but has been it from all eternity
• Heb. 1:3 says He is the shining splendor of His glory
• Phil 2:6 says that He is in the very vorm of God – so Jesus could say what He said in John 14:9
• In Christ, the invisible God became visible.
• By using eikōn to describe Christ Paul was saying that He was the representation and manifestation of God.
• He was the full, final and complete revelation of God
• He is God in human flesh
• He claimed this in John 8:58, John 10:30-33
• Scripture also claims that the man Jesus was fully God – Rom 9:5, Tit. 2:13
• To think anything less of Christ is blasphemy
• Secondly Paul describes Him as the first born of all creation
• This Greek word prōtotokos is sometimes used for someone who is born first, but mostly, and in this text it is used to show rank or position
• In Jewish and Greek culture, it is this first born that got the inheritance.
• This does not mean the oldest son.
• Esau was born first, but Jacob was called the first-born.
• Jesus is the heir of all things – Heb. 1:2
• These people were saying that first born means that Jesus was a created being, but he was a superior being
• The Jehovah’s witnesses still argue this point with this very verse today.
• But everywhere where this word, is used with regards to Jesus it points to His superiority above all other beings
• The very next verse Paul says that He created everything that exists, how can He then be created?
Jesus Christ in relation to the universe
For all things were created in Him, the things in the heavens, and the things on the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created through Him and for Him. (17) And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist.
• We just looked at Jesus as God, as Paul is showing the supremacy of Christ
• Now Paul proves His supremacy by looking at the universe.
• Firstly, Paul says that Jesus is the creator therefore more supreme than the creation.
• These guys who started the heresies believed that a good creator could not be evil, or create evil.
• Because Jesus was in flesh, and the flesh is evil by nature, He cannot be God
• Paul rejects this blasphemy by saying by Him all things were created.
• In heaven, on earth, under the earth, visible or invisible.
• Secondly Paul says, Jesus is more supreme, because He was first
• Before Him there was nothing.
• All things were created through Him
• The third reason that Paul gives for His supremacy is that in Him all things hold together
• He did not just create everything, He is holding it all together
• He is sustaining the whole universe
• Keeping everything perfectly balanced so that we can live
• He is gravity, He holds every star in its place,
• In a oxygen nucleus there are 8 positively charged protons and 8 neutral neutrons,
• Positive repels positive, but negative and positive attract.
• Scientists are amazed that everything that exists exist, because according to the law of physics, these protons in every single atom should repel each other
• Yet, some strange, undiscovered force is holding them all together
• Everything around us is a potential nuclear bomb
• 2 Pet 3:10 talks about how God is going to destroy the earth one day, and He might use this power to do it.
• If every atom does what the law says it is supposed to do, this world will explode in one big bang
• I am so glad that Christ upholds everything by the power of His word Heb. 1:3
Jesus in relation to the unseen world
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers
• As these guys were saying Jesus was like one of the angels, this scripture argues that teaching
• Thrones, dominions, rulers and authorities here speak of the ranks of angels and fallen angels
• This is confirmed by the writer of Hebrews who makes a clear distinction between Christ and angels Heb. 1:7-8
• Eph 1:20-21 states that Jesus was seated FAR ABOVE all these powers and principalities
• That is why every knee will bow, every includes not just humans but angelic being as well
• Angels, according to scripture worship Him
• His authority over these beings also proves He is God.
Jesus in relation to the church
And He is the Head of the body, the church, who is the Beginning, the First-born from the dead, that He may be pre-eminent in all things.
• Here Paul shows four great truths about Jesus’ relation to the church
• 1. Christ is the head of the church
• The church is often spoke of as the family, a kingdom, a vineyard, a flock
• But the nicest metaphor is that of a body of which Christ is the head
• Not the head as in the boss of a company, but as the head of a living organism
• He gives it direction, He controls it, He sustains it’s life
• Christ is not some angelic being serving the church Heb. 1:14 – He is the head
• 2. Christ is the source of the church
• Source here is translated from the Greek word archē which means beginning
• We were chosen in Him from the foundation of the world – Eph1:4
• And He gives it life
• 3. Christ is the first-born from the dead
• Of all those who has been raised from spiritual death and ever will be, Christ is the head
• He holds a supreme position over them all
• 4. Christ is the pre-eminent one
• Because of His death and resurrection, He has first place in everything
• Phil 2:8-11
• Paul sums up his argument in verse 19
For it pleased the Father that in Him all fullness should dwell.
• Contrary to the teachings that were raising its head, that the fullness of God is divided into small packages
• which was divided between the angelic beings, of which Jesus was one
• Paul is saying NO!!, the fullness of God dwelled in Jesus, not just a part of it
• Paul is telling these people that they do not need angels to help them get saved
• They are complete in Christ
• We as Christians share in His fullness John 1:16
Application
Know that the fullness of God dwells in ChristKnow that the fullness of Christ dwells in you
If you can grasp that, you will live a life more devoted, in reverence and fear, in obedience, holiness, bearing much fruit and in love, humility and repentance.
No comments:
Post a Comment