Colossians – Part 1: The Supremacy of Christ

Colossians 1: 15-19

“15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him.”

Thoughts: “Who do you say Jesus was?” is one of the most important questions we can ask ourselves and others. It cuts to the heart of what makes somebody a Christian or not. Many people in the gospels asked who Jesus is, from the disciples after he commanded the weather, the Pharisees after he teaches, right through to Pilate at his trial. Fortunately the bible also provides us the answer by teaching clearly that Jesus was, is and forever will be, God incarnate. This section of scripture makes this argument powerfully. Jesus created all things that exist. Not only were all things created BY him but all things were created FOR him. It was His pleasure to create all things for His glory. He existed before all things and all things continue to exist because he wills them to do so. All things “hold together” because of Jesus. The “fullness” of God dwells in him and he reigns supreme over us, the church, the world and everything that exists. This is a different notion of the softly softly, slightly effeminate Jesus that is often presented to us and our non-Christian friends recognise. The Jesus of the bible is so powerful that he is indescribable.

It is common today to say that Jesus didn’t believe he was God and that this was invented later as a mechanism to “control” people. Maybe you have heard some variation of this argument (Da’Vinci code etc). These arguments are incredibly flawed but are repeated by people searching for reasons not to believe. I would recommend you read books such as “ The case for Christ” by Lee Strobel that address these isssues in more depth than I can in a short blog.

Jesus made many bold claims about himself that reject the claim that he didn’t believe that he was God. He claimed that “the Father and I are one”, he said “Before Abraham was, I am” , and “ I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightening”, he demonstrated his authority over nature, illness, demons and even death itself. He did all these things in his own power. Most tellingly, he took on himself the authority to forgive other peoples sins. Who, other than God, has the right to do this?

The belief that Jesus was God incarnate is also held by Jesus and his disciples in the gospels. It is also found in the very earliest Christian writings. The Pauline epistles, all written before Pauls death in 64/5AD all clearly show the divinity of Christ. Paul also includes what appear to be early Christian creeds such as Phill 2:6-11 that declare Jesus to be God. If these were given to Paul soon after his conversion, that would show believers in the 30s AD using common accepted creeds about the divinity of Christ.

These are all important issues to look into. Let me encourage you to listen / read some of the suggest reading from this weeks study to get a really solid grounding in what Christians believe about the divinity of Christ.

Futher Reading / Listening:
Sermon: Matt Chandler, “The Fullness Was Pleased To Dwell“
Article: JohnPiper, “How can Jesus be both man and God?”
Book: C.S. Lewis, “Mere Christianity”
Book: Lee Strobel, “The Case for Christ, A Journalists Personal Investigation”
Video: Mark Driscoll, “Thug Jesus”