Let us join together as I will be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible today. If you have a Bible I would ask you to read along even if it is another translation. It would be great if you brought your own Bible with you each week so you can take notes and mark in it if you so desire. However, if you don’t have a Bible with you, you can use one of the pew Bibles. Join me in prayer as we prepare to hear the Word of God given to us by our Heavenly Father! Let us pray…
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
Verse 15 through 17 are unique and somewhat difficult to understand. We see words and phrases like “firstborn,” “invisible,” “everything was created by Him,” “all things have been created through Him and for Him,” “He is before all things,” and “by Him all things hold together.”
In verse 15 Paul is telling the church of Colossae that Jesus is the image of the invisible God. Just what does this mean? Well, no one has ever seen God except for Jesus, so it is saying that Jesus is the image of the invisible God. Now does this mean that Paul was saying that by seeing Jesus then God must look like you and me? Or was Paul speaking to Jesus’ nature and His holiness? I do find it interesting in Scripture other than the description of Jesus in heaven found in Revelation 1 we see very little spoken about His physical appearance. As one commentator put it, “In my study it is believed that the intent is not to focus on the appearance of Jesus, but on the Word of God!” I believe this gets right to the point of why we don’t see a physical earthly description of Jesus! We must remember Jesus spoke to the disciples and Philip at John 14:7 — 9 these words: 7 “If you know Me, you will also know My Father. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.” 8 “Lord,” said Philip, “show us the Father, and that’s enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been among you all this time without your knowing Me, Philip? The one who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” There is an intimacy in this conversation between Jesus, the disciples and Philip. Jesus uses the word “know” if you have known me you have known the father. He then goes on to say, “Those who have seen me have seen the Father.” He is saying if you have seen Me then you have seen the Father — we may get so stuck on the physical appearance in these words, but I believe Jesus is speaking to His spiritual nature — His compassion — His love for others — His obedience to the Father — His example of living a life for God! Jesus reveals God to the world and is the perfect manifestation or revelation of God. He was the exact likeness (the Greek meaning of image) of the very person of God. That is why we need to focus on our life witness and what others are seeing in us. Are they seeing a commitment to our spiritual life — our compassion for others — our love for others — our obedience to God the Father — are they seeing an example in us that points to Jesus? We need to strive to reach this life lived for Jesus — not out of strict rules and regulations, but out of our love for Jesus!
The second half of verse 15 can be somewhat problematic to some where we read, “…the firstborn of all creation.” Wait a minute I thought that Jesus was not created or born — yet we are reading in this verse the word “firstborn”. This doesn’t mean Jesus was born or created, but it speaks to Jesus’ supremacy over creation. Look what it says the firstborn over all creation. Jesus came to earth as our Lord and Savior and the Word says He is the over all creation. But we don’t need to stop there because verse 16 explains it better to us when we read, “For everything was created by Him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created through Him and for Him.” Let us look at verses 16 and 17 together.
16 For everything was created by Him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17 He is before all things, and by Him all things hold together.
Today we have so many views of how the world was created. There is the theory that the world just sort of appeared out of nothing and out of nowhere. There is the theory of a big bang took place and the world came into being. Others believe that there was an evolutionary process that took place until the world came into existence. And then there is another theory that some god did create the world, but he is far off and removed from the world (this is the Gnostic view of creation). This view had seeped into the church of Colossae and it is prevalent today — many of these theories I just mentioned are believed today in the secular or humanist world and sadly has seeped into the church as well.
The Scripture text here tells us that everything was created by Him whether in heaven or on earth, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — we see and it is shown to us a second time all things have been created through Him and Paul adds for Him. I love this because in a world that we feel we have no hope because of who is in charge we can rest assured that the thrones and dominions and the rulers and authorities were and are created by Jesus and for Jesus! He is in control and we need not forget that! If we are still unclear about this creation order and firstborn text in today’s text let us look closer at the Scriptures and see what they tell us concerning Jesus and His beginning. Turn with me to John 1:1 and read along with me, “1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created.” We can rest assured that Jesus is still in control of His creation and God is still on His throne!
As I was ready from the Life Application Study Bible Devotional this week I saw this statement made and it fits today’s text perfectly. The point the author made was, “If Jesus had been just a very good man, his life and death would have provided a great example of how a person should live. We could honor him and learn from his lifestyle. If Jesus had been only a great human teacher or orator, we could be motivated and inspired to work and achieve. But a great moral leader and powerful speaker can’t save us from our sins, can’t change us on the inside. Jesus can. As the divine Creator, He has the power to make us new.” What a great thought to know we have a Savior that can make us new!
In verse 17 we should notice what this verse says — He is before all things (He has always been — no beginning and no end — the Alpha and the Omega). He also holds all things together which means He is an active and living God within His creation which would discredit the Gnostic view of a God who was far off and not active in His creation. He is not someone who is sitting back waiting for things to come to an end, but actively watching over you and me and His world. God is in control.
Today as we leave I want us to look at the world around us. In the last year and a half our world has been turned upside down. Just when we seem to get a good handle on COVID the Delta Variant comes along. Now many leaders are wanting us to go back to masks and some churches are even shutting down again. The economy is going crazy with prices skyrocketing in so many areas. Read the newspapers (if you dare) and you will see our cities have become a cesspool of crime and violence. The morals of the world has become so decadent, corrupt and sinful that it isn’t even funny. People are being pitted against one another like never before and it seems many want to stir the pot to keep the world in chaos. Yet, even with all these things happening all we have to do is rest our faith on these 3 Scriptures from today’s text.
So let us go away with these points from today’s Scripture that we can have hope and assurance instead of worry and fear (these are found in your bulletins):
It is through Jesus Christ who reveals to us who God is to the world and we are to strive to become more and more Christ-like in the way we live for Him so we can reveal Jesus Christ to those around us!
Jesus created this world and it was created by Him and for Him! So no matter how bad things look He is not asleep at the wheel, but He is actively watching — I am sure He is sad about how things are going, but He is still in control.
God is not a god (with a little g) among other gods who is not actively engaged in His creation! God is actively and passionately involved in His creation.
Jesus holds all things together and is in control — God is still on His throne and Jesus is at His righteous right hand interceding on our behalf!
What hope we have to know that in this world, no matter how bad things get, we have a God who loves us and is walking with us in every step we take! He loves us and desires for us to have eternal life found in Jesus Christ!
If I could give one bit of advice to all those here today in our worship room and to those watching via the Internet is to start praying. Do what 2nd Chronicles 7:13 — 15 teaches where we read, “13 If I close the sky so there is no rain, or if I command the grasshopper to consume the land, or if I send pestilence (COVID or Delta Variant) on My people, 14 and My people who are called by My name humble themselves, pray and seek My face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land. 15 My eyes will now be open and My ears attentive to prayer from this place.” Let us make this our prayer each and every day from now on!
Let us pray… Pray 2nd Chronicles 7:14 repenting of our nations sin as Job prayed for his children and Daniel prayed for the Jewish people while in exile!
Scripture used is HCSB - The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Ge 9:8–10). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.
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