Jesus, Center of the Universe. Colossians 1:15-20

Last time, we discussed the principle of “realized eschatology” and how it is foundational to the Christian worldview. In other words, we as Christians are called to constantly live with a mindset of the “now-future.” Some people proverbially “live in the past,” but Christians are called to “live in the future.” We have an inheritance of unfathomable riches within us and waiting for us in Christ, and we should live now as though that reward is a reality.

At the end of the passage last week, the apostle Paul wrote that when his audience believed in Jesus, they transferred their citizenship from the “kingdom of darkness” to the “kingdom of the Son” (v13). First off, there is no inbetween kingdom, you either belong to Christ or the world. So if we belong to Christ, we should act though we are citizens of heaven (Philippians 3:20). The emphasis of the word “son” that Paul uses when he says “the kingdom of the Son” is consistent with his main message: Jesus is the center of everything.

We are CHRIST-ians

-Yes, we Christians affirm the Trinity, but the one name that every knee will bow and tongue confess is Jesus. There is a superior role that He fulfills within the godhead (which the current passage teaches).

-The Father and Spirit are pleased to give all authority to Jesus (v19 in text). Jesus receiving all this glory and authority wasn’t a change of plans, this is how it was all meant to be, since the beginning of time.

After setting the tone for the letter, Paul then writes a poetic, glorious hymn that describes in detail the weight of who Jesus is. In the passage we’ll study now, a handful of things standout about the magnitude of who our Lord is. I have identified five points in the passage that Jesus is or does. Let the magnitude of the person of Jesus Christ shape you more into his glorious image.

Colossians 1:15-20

15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 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 and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Jesus is the face of God

V15. The word for “image” in the original Greek text is a form of the word eikon. You’ll notice that word looks and sounds similar to our english word icon, and it essentially means the same thing. If a photo is iconic, it is a symbol of the time. Here in the text, Paul is saying that Jesus is literally the picture of God.

-God was invisible, and somewhat incomprehensible until the revelation of God-in-the-flesh. Jesus is the invisible mystery finally revealed. We know who God is in the fullest sense because we have Jesus Christ.

-This word “eikon” is a neutral word by itself. In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, it is also used to describe idols and the worship of them. “You shall not make for yourself an image (eikon) in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.” - Exodus 20:4. Do we worship the icons of the world, or the icon of God?

-Jesus is “image” of God. In the beginning, humans were made in the “image” of God, and we as Christians now are redeemed as we conform to his “image.”

Jesus has the highest rank and role

-firstborn (prototokos) doesn't mean that he was created, or birthed in the heavens somehow, because the next verse contradicts that. Rather, the word is used to describe the a person who receives, and has the right to the inheritance. “All things” belong to him, because of his rank and role within the godhead.

Jesus is literally the center of the universe. 

V16-17 He created time and is above time, he is existed “before creation”. He set this all in motion, which means that we were made to revolve around him, not the other way around!

-All things, seen and unseen, were originally made through, for, and in Jesus. This description is profound. Everything was made through the power of Jesus, made for His glory and pleasure, and only functions within his authority. This is the cyclical nature of the universe, and Jesus is at the center. Everything circling back to Jesus is much better than the alternative: a counterfeit system of praise of man.

-He was the source of the beginning, the recipient of all things, and it all happens within his authority. If you haven’t gotten the hint yet, it’s literally all about Jesus.

Jesus keeps things going

V17 - “all things are held together”, very literally, this world exists at this moment because Jesus says that it can. Even at this moment, you’re taking breathing right now because Jesus allows it.

-As the Church, the Body of Christ, the people of God, the main way that Jesus keeps doing his work in the world today is through YOU.

V18 - He is the head of the church, he tells the Body (the Church) where to go and what to do. 

-Jesus uses us to preserve this world from decaying, and to shine light in the darkness. This is a way that he “keeps things going.”

Jesus has all power, and uses it to serve and redeem

-The nature of Jesus being the “first”, or the winner, or the highest, is all throughout this hymn.

-Jesus taught his disciples that if you want to be first, you’ve got to become last. 

-Jesus has supremacy over all things, yet he served in the most severe and sacrificial way.

-Through his shed blood, we are now “reconciled” to him. 

He laid down his life, only to receive it again. If we are going to find the fullness of life that we all so desperately want, it must be found IN JESUS.

-This is Jesus’ universe, and nothing is fruitful with our lives unless we submit to that fact, and to Him.

-Let’s live like we were meant to, by giving Jesus the glory for every single thing that we do.