This week we have been focusing on the centrality of Christ as Paul presented to the Colossian church in Colossians 1:15-20. Last time we looked at Christ as the creator, today we will look at how Paul presents Christ as the Head of the church. In Colossians 1:18 we see, “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.” This concept of Christ being the head of the church is one Paul uses in a number of places. It is one that shows Christ’s leadership over the body of believers, but is also shows the believers’ submission and trust in Him.

When one looks at the concept of the head and the body the best way to look at it is how our own body works. When we think of doing something our heads tell the rest of our body what needs to be done and it follows. You want to walk over to your friend’s house, your head tells your body to get up off the couch and then to start taking steps to head out the door and over to your friend’s house. For the most part your head will not willingly tell your body to do something that is harmful, though there are times when you do something that may cause you pain but it is for good, like exercise. In acknowledging Christ as the head of the church, we listen to His will and follow it. We have trust that His will is not going to harm the church but help it to grow.

Another thing that Paul mentions here is that Christ was the firstborn from the dead. This also is a way of looking at Christ as the head of the church because the head also is not just leader but source or origin. The church came out of Christ, He is the one the founded the church. Firstborn again like we saw last time indicates a priority over, Christ was not the first person that was raised from the dead, but He was the most important. That is because when Christ rose from the dead it was demonstrating His power over sin and death; others may have been raised from the dead, but they later on faced death again. Jesus faced death once and overcame it, He is still alive sitting at God’s right hand interceding on the behalf of all believers.

This verse finishes off by stating the purpose of this section that is the everything is centered around Christ. He has first place in everything, other translations state Christ’s supremacy or preeminence over everything. The false teaching that the Colossian church faced, and we even hear some shout today is that Christ is one out of many ways; what Paul is stating and what Christ stated Himself is that He is the only way.

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.