The Pre-eminence of Jesus (Col. 1:15-17)

In the closing section of his prayer for the Colossians, Paul had mentioned that they were members of the kingdom of Jesus. This may have led him to focus on the greatness of Jesus, which is described through his relationship with his Father, with the created universe, and with his church. The desired outcome for the Colossians is that they would grow in their appreciation of the dignity and majesty of their King.

Relationship with the Father

The first aspect identified by Paul of the greatness of Jesus is that he is the image of the invisible God. This description of God is a reference to his essential nature. The apostle John reminds us that ‘No one has ever seen God’ (1 John 4:12). Paul also, in one of his doxologies, expresses this reality: God is ‘the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honour and eternal dominion. Amen’ (1 Tim. 6:15-17).

Our first response to such statements may be, ‘There are several occasions in the Old Testament where individuals met with God. Abraham, Job and Isaiah saw God, spoke with him and heard his words.’ The explanation of these encounters is that God took on a temporary form in order to meet with them, usually in a form that was human in appearance (each is called a theophany). But they did not see God in his essence.

A second response may be, ‘Why can we not see God?’ One answer is that we are creatures and it is not be possible for a finite creature to observe the infinite God (this would include angels as well as humans). A second answer is that we are sinful creatures and it is not possible for a sinful creature to see the holy God. A third answer is that God has limited the access we can have and therefore it is not possible for us to go into an area that God has forbidden. All these answers are speculative and focussing on them may cause us to miss the point that Paul is stressing about Jesus, which is that Jesus is the exact image of the invisible God.

The word ‘image’ indicates that in Jesus we can see everything about God. Of course, Jesus claimed this for himself when he said that anyone who had seen him had seen the Father (John 14:9). God has revealed himself partially in other ways: his invisible attributes have been shown in creation (Rom. 1:20) and in the theophanies of the Old Testament. But in Jesus, who is fully divine, God is revealed fully. This does not mean that Jesus is like God in a physical way; instead it means that he possesses all the attributes, abilities and aims of God.

I suppose the question can be asked, ‘When did God the Son begin to be the revealer of God?’ For example, how did the angels in heaven discover truths about God? One answer is that this was one of the roles of the eternal Son in heaven before his incarnation. After all, he is called the eternal Word by John, and the title ‘Word’ points to him telling or announcing or revealing details of information. Perhaps the vision of the Son of God in Isaiah 6 points in this direction.

It is the case that when he came to earth at his incarnation Jesus revealed God. Even his birth tells us that God is a faithful keeper of his promises to send a Saviour, that he is the only wise God who had the answer to the dilemma caused by our sins, and had the ability to unite deity and a human nature in the person of Jesus. We can go through the life of Jesus and check against his words and actions the attributes of God and discover that he possessed them all. He displayed what God is like.

Paul is also saying that Jesus is the only revealer of God. It is possible that the church in Colosse was affected by a false teaching that diminished the uniqueness of Jesus and suggested that others could also reveal God. There is only one Person who can truly reveal God and that is his eternal Son.

Further, Jesus is the permanent revealer of God. He does not only exclusively reveal God to us in this life, he will also be the One through whom his redeemed people will discover truths about God in the eternal ages ahead. And he will reveal God to them personally and corporately for ever.

So Jesus is great as the perfect image of the invisible God.

Relationship with the creation

Paul calls Jesus by the title ‘firstborn of all creation’. Jehovah Witnesses use this title to argue that Jesus is the first of the creatures, that ‘firstborn’ points to him having a beginning. Their idea is not new – it is an ancient heresy connected to the Arians whose ideas caused problems in the early church. Of course, we only have to read the next line which says that the Son created all things to see their error. Since he is the cause of all created things, he himself cannot be a creature.

The correct way of understanding ‘firstborn’ is to realise that it is a title that indicates pre-eminence. It is a name that reveals sovereignty and rule. Paul is saying that the Son of God rules over all the universe. In what ways does he do so?

First, the Son of God brought all things into being. When we stop and consider all the details that are found within the universe, and then realise that the One who conceived them all was the Son of God, we should automatically bow down and worship him. We are familiar with persons who design a house or a street or a town. Plans have to drawn up, obstacles have to be recognised, and everything has to be calculated to work together. It takes me all my time to get my study into a coherent arrangement, and I admire those who can design large houses, parks, palaces and even entire cities. But what are these achievements in comparison to what the Son of God put together when he made the universe! He is the architect of it all.

Paul also points out that the Son of God maintains authority over his entire creation. The apostle mentions four levels of authority in verse 16 (thrones, dominions, rulers and authorities). These powers refer to those with authority in heaven and in earth, a reminder that Jesus is superior to angelic and human power structures. The powers may be friendly (good angels), hostile (demons and some human rulers), or ambivalent (some human powers), but they are all under the control of the Son of God.

I suppose it is true that when we think of an absolute good authority we imagine a system which has no problems because those under its rule will accept all its requirements and so receive all its blessings. That is a picture of the heavenly world of the redeemed, the place where the will of God is performed without opposition. But it is not a picture of our environment. The Son of God has been opposed by spiritual powers and human authorities, yet despite their opposition he still rules.

A third aspect of creation that Paul mentions is that all of it exists for the Son of God. This means that every single thing in the universe – whether visible or invisible, whether in the heavens or on earth, whether angels or humans or lower creatures – was created for the pleasure of the Son of God. Understanding this should cause us to marvel at the centrality of the Son. He is the reason for the existence of all things. Everything eventually will be seen to have contributed to his glory, whether his grace, or his justice, or his wisdom, or his power.

Paul mentions a fourth feature of the Son’s involvement in the universe, and that is, he holds it all together. Why does the cosmos not fall apart? The Son of God has and is maintaining it all in existence. The reason why the solar system keeps on functioning is only because of the Son of God’s activity. Jesus pointed to this in John 5:17 when he reminded his audience that since creation his Father had been working, and that he had been working as well.

Of course, we are to remember that each of us is part of his creation, that he is keeping us in existence, that we were each made for his pleasure. It is a question we should ask ourselves, ‘Am I fulfilling the purpose of my creation? Am I using my mind, my abilities, my possessions for the pleasure of the Son of God?’

What attitudes should knowing these details about Jesus produce within us? An obvious one is humility. Who are we in contrast to him? What are our achievements in contrast to his? He is the eternal Son of God who created and maintains the universe. What we should do is bow before him and say to him, ‘You are very great and I am very small!’

A second response that should be produced within is hope. After all, he has kept us in existence and he has allowed us to hear the gospel. Millions of people have never had this privilege from him. Instead they are, at present, without God and without hope in the world. But we should see his goodness to us as a reason for having hope that he will be merciful to us.

Third, we should have a strong sense of horror at ourselves for failing to recognise the glory of the Son of God. He is not merely a slightly higher person than us. Instead he is the exact replica of God. He has all the attributes of deity and he reveals them to us. It is terrible that we have treated him with disrespect. If I showed disregard for a prominent human, I would be ashamed of myself. What can I say about myself if I show dishonour to the Son of God? I should be horrified by myself.

Fourth, we should be marked by honesty. Each of us should say, ‘After all, I am only a creature.’ Yet each of us can also say, ‘But I am his creature, I am the work of his hands. Sadly, my sins have marred his handiwork, nevertheless the evidence is still there of his abilities.’ We are to realise who we are and why we exist, and then be honest and live for the pleasure of the Son of God.

Fifth, we should be marked by haste in the sense that we speedily make our way to the Son of God by faith and ask him to forgive us our sins and then renew us, so that as new creations we will once again live for his pleasure. And we can say that it will give him more pleasure to renew our souls and resurrect our bodies than what he experienced when he made the universe at the beginning.