Good morning, friends. In just a couple hours I will be leaving for the airport to fly to Kenya where I will train a large group of pastors in preparation for launching a new Pathways network there. Following that, I fly to Tanzania where I will conduct the final training and graduation for our pastors there. We will be studying the book of Colossians, so I’ve been spending some time meditating in that book.
In what is perhaps the clearest Christological passage in the Bible on the supremacy of Christ, we read in Colossians 1:15-20:
“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. 17 And 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, 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.”
This clear passage declares that Christ is preeminent over all creation, that he is true God, and it clarifies that all creation is created by him and for him. In fact, all creation is held together by him, thus he is not only Creator but Sustainer. In addition, he is the head of the church, the One ever believer looks to as our Leader. All those who love Jesus are reconciled to God through the blood of Jesus on the cross. I can imagine early Christians memorizing this passage, repeating it to each other (since books were not widely distributed), and then gathering together to worship the Preeminent One, as Paul says in Phil.2:11, “That at the name of Christ every knee will bow in heaven and earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” May we likewise continually worship the Lord Jesus Christ for Who He is and what He has done.
By His grace, Eric