In our journey through Colossians last week we looked at Paul’s prayer for the Colossian believers. This week we look at what Paul has to tell these believers right off the bat regarding their relationship with Christ. The false teachers were all pointing out other things that the believers needed to focus on to obtain salvation or reach a point of spiritual maturity; Paul comes out and states all you need is Christ. In fact Paul goes so far as to say that Christ is the center of it all. We see his words in Colossians 1:15-20 “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 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. He is before all things, and by Him all things hold together. He is also the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He might come to have first place in everything. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile everything to Himself by making peace through the blood of His cross— whether things on earth or things in heaven.”
Creator
The first thing Paul points out to the Colossian church is that Christ is Creator. “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 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. He is before all things, and by Him all things hold together.” The first thing Paul states in these three verses is that Christ was firstborn over all creation. What this means is that Christ preceded and takes importance over creation, not that he was created. In other words Paul explains to the Colossian church that Christ was God in the flesh, and His presence allowed us to see the essence of who God the Father is.
The second thing Paul points out regarding Christ and creation is that not only did Christ precede creation but He is the one who created. One way to look at this is that Christ is firstborn because He created all things. Not only did He create all things but He did so with a plan and purpose. Paul is stating that you have false teachers stating that the material world is evil, but Christ created it good and even if we see things that we regard as evil God ultimately uses it for His purposes.
The final thing Paul points out regarding creation is that Christ holds all things together. He is in control because He is firstborn over all creation, and all things were created in Him. What this means is when you look at the world today and all the chaos and uncertainty as believers we have no need to worry, because Christ is in control. The United Kingdom left the European Union, whether you were for it or against it remember Christ is in control. Don’t know who to vote for regarding the US presidential race, remember no matter who is elected God is in control. This is a ray of hope no matter what dark times we may face, God is always in control, we may never understand the reasons why something happens but God has a plan that will always happen. This is why we can place our trust and hope in Him.
