The world is full of carnal pleasures seeking our allegiance. The “god of this age” (2 Cor. 4:4) blinds us with the “pleasure of sin for a season” (Heb. 11:25) that we may find ourselves enslaved to the Father of lies (John 8:44). This was one of the many problems in the Colossian congregation. In addition to Gnosticism convincing many that Christ was not truly the Son of God, carnality and sin of every kind gained entrance into the body of Christ (cf. Col. 3). Establishing the supremacy of Christ in one way in which the book combats these issues. Colossians 1:15-20 lifts 8 reasons why we should bow the knee in allegiance to Christ instead of the world.
1. He is the image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15a). John 1:18 says, “No man hath seen God at any time….” It is impossible to see the Father, Himself, and live (Ex. 33:20), yet Paul said that Christ is the “image”, or eikon, of the invisible God (Col. 1:15). The term indicates that Jesus was the exact likeness of the Father. Thus, when the Word became flesh (John 1:14) He declared the Father to us (John 1:18). Though we cannot see Jehovah Himself, we see Him through His Son.
2. He is the Firstborn of every creature (Col. 1:15b). The term “firstborn” does not mean that Christ is a created being. Rather, it refers to His preeminence. Psalm 89:27 says, “Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.” To describe Jesus as the “firstborn over every creature” is to say that He is supreme over every creature. He occupies a position of honor “far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come” (Eph. 1:21).
3. By Him were all things created (Col. 1:16). Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Jehovah “made the worlds” through His Son (Heb. 1:2), and “of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things” (Rom. 11:36). The Father is the architect and the Son is the agent of creation. Paul said of Christ, “all things were created by him, and for him” (Col. 1:16).
To be continued…