Who is Jesus? (Colossians 1:15-17)

The problem that was disturbing the church in Colosse was connected to a lowering of Jesus in the minds and hearts of the church members. So Paul wrote this letter to remind them who Jesus is and why he should be regarded as unique. Paul did not want them merely to say that Jesus was unique, but also to say in what ways Jesus is unique. His treatment is similar to someone asking us, ‘what is so important about Jesus?’ What would we say to someone who asked us that question?

It is worth saying here that many commentators believe that what we have here is a kind of creedal statement summarising the person and work of Jesus. There are several such statements in the New Testament and they were written to help Christians recall who their Saviour is. Paul could be quoting one or he could be composing it for the first time. What matters is that we can read it in God’s Word and turn its phrases over in our minds in order to help us appreciate the greatness of Jesus. Maybe we could decide to memorise this set of verses and meditate on them.

Paul’s description of Jesus here can be divided into two. First, the apostle mentions why Jesus is unique as God, and second he then says why Jesus is unique as the Saviour. We shall consider the first of these today and the second one next time.

In his description of Jesus as God, Paul mentions the dignity of Jesus, the authority of Jesus and the relationship he has with the universe. The purpose of mentioning those details is for his readers, including us, to worship Jesus. If at the conclusion of this address, all of us don’t have a sense of the greatness of Jesus it means that either I did a very bad job of describing him or that you were not listening. But it should help all of us to concentrate when we remember that it is our responsibility to think the truth about Jesus and to revel in the truth about Jesus and to revere him for who he is and what he can do.

The dignity of Jesus

Paul mentions two matters in connection with the dignity of Jesus. First, he ‘is the image of the invisible God’ and, second, he is ‘the firstborn of all creation’. In making those statements, Paul describes Jesus as he currently is in heaven, and then in the remainder of his description he explains how Jesus became the possessor of such dignity.

Paul reminds his readers that God is invisible. He does not mean that only the Father is invisible. Instead he says that God (the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit) was and is invisible. But something happened that caused Jesus to become the revealer of the invisible God. We call that change by the name of incarnation. God the Son, who would be given the name Jesus, became a man in order to reveal God. At the same time, he did not cease to be God. Even the word ‘image’ reminds us that Jesus as far as his person is concerned, had the same attributes as God.

When he was here on earth, Jesus said that anyone who had seen him had seen the Father. Of course, the idea of seeing there means more than merely noticing him. Instead it means that people were enlightened to see who he really was, the true God. So although he had become a man he conveyed an exact revelation of the invisible God. This is what disciples like Peter and Thomas realised. Paul’s point, however, also. Includes the fact that Jesus in heaven reveals God to all its inhabitants. We have relatives who are there, and among their many blessings is the experience of receiving from Jesus continual insights and understandings of the greatness of the invisible God.

What about Paul’s other title for Jesus, that he is the firstborn of all creation. This title does not refer to time, but to position. It is a royal title indicating supremacy. We find an example of its use in Psalm 89 where God promises to make the Messiah his firstborn, and explains this by then saying that he would be higher than all rulers. When did this take place? It occurred at his ascension to heaven. Jesus did not merely enter into heaven in the same way as Enoch or Elijah did. They went to heaven as creatures, and they could never be described as the firstborn of all creation. But Jesus can. He possesses all authority in heaven and on earth.

We can pause here and reflect personally on the greatness of Jesus, his uniqueness. He is the only revealer of God and he is the ruler of the universe. Through him, we have discovered what we know about God and through him we know what is going to happen to the creation. It is all in his hands. Surely our response is to fall before him and confess that he is great.

The activity of Jesus

The great activity in which Jesus was engaged was the work of creation. He made all things at the beginning. So we are being told here that the Creator in Genesis 1 is Jesus. He brought everything into existence by the word of his power.

We should notice that he created everything in heaven as well as on earth. By heaven here, Paul does not mean the sky or the solar system, but the place where God has located his place of authority, where he dwells in a special sense, where the angels live, and to where believers go when they die. Before there were creatures, there was no need for a place for God to dwell in the way he now does in heaven. We are not told what Jesus did when he made heaven, only that he did. But we can say that initially he made it as the dwelling-place of the angelic host, and that now he is also making it suitable for his people to dwell there until he remakes the whole system when he returns.

Moreover, Jesus is the One who created everything on the earth. Of course, here Paul is dealing with what happened at the beginning. Recently, we have seen the opening of several important bridges and we applaud the designers and the builders. Yet we know that it took them several months, if not years, to produce them. If we had asked them to make bridges everywhere, then we would have seen their limitations. In contrast, Jesus made everything everywhere. Clearly, that is a reason for thinking that Jesus is great.

We should notice the creatures that Paul mentions – authorities of various kinds, both in heaven and on earth. The reason why he did so was because the Colossians were giving a place to such creatures, imagining that they had the authority to provide spiritual blessings. They were giving to angels a place that they should not have had in the provision of those blessings. Angels are only creatures whereas Jesus is their creator. Clearly, that is a reason for thinking that Jesus is great.

At the same time, Paul is highlighting that Jesus is sovereign over all rulers in every sphere, whether visible or invisible. Political rulers of every kind were created by him as infants – he gave them life. The point that Paul is making is that Jesus is greater than the greatest creatures, and what makes him so great is that he is their Creator. Clearly, that is a reason for thinking that Jesus is great.

 We should notice the prepositions here that Paul uses in referring to Jesus. Three are used – by, through and for. They tell us three details connected to him as Creator. ‘By’ tells us that Jesus created everything. ‘Through’ tells us that Someone else was involved, and that other divine person is the Father. Of course, we know from elsewhere that the Holy Spirit was also involved. ‘Through’ indicates a plan in which the Father and the Son participated and it also indicates that there was harmony regarding their roles.

‘For’ gives us the reason why everything was made by Jesus. Often, when we think about why things exist we will reply by saying that the exist for God’s glory, which is true. Yet Paul here gives another viewpoint from which we can see why everything was made, and that is that creation, whether in heaven or on earth, was going to be connected to Jesus particularly. The universe would be the place where the Son of God would reveal his abilities perpetually.

If we had been looking on, when sin damaged the creation at the beginning, we might have assumed that sin’s consequences would have prevented the possibility of the Son of God revealing his abilities. But that is not the case, because in an unexpected way the damaged situation became the place where Jesus would show the greatness of his grace.

The relationship Jesus has with the universe

Paul then mentions two details that can be deduced from his description of Jesus. First, he is self-existent. This must be the case if he is before all things. All things depend on him for their existence whereas he has never had a beginning. This means that it is impossible to say how old Jesus is. People makes guesses as to the age of the universe, but no matter how old it is, the number of ages do not say anything about the existence of Jesus except to say that he was there before the universe appeared. Clearly, that is a reason for thinking that Jesus is great.

Second, Paul mentions that not only is Jesus the Creator of the universe at the beginning, he is also the One who maintains everything in existence. As it has been put, Jesus is the Conserver as well as the Creator of all things. This means that he is active everywhere. There is not an inch that is outside his control. In addition, he is active in areas where there is opposition to him and his plans. Much of the visible world is against him as is much of the invisible world. This is the way that it has been and is the way that it will be until he returns. Yet he controls and governs and overrules to ensure that his universe will become the place where his glory will be revealed in various ways. Clearly, that is a reason for thinking that Jesus is great.

Application

What should be our response to Paul’s description of Jesus? Given that he is the divine Creator one aspect of our response must be adoration. Jesus is the Creator who is also the Conserver and the Controller. These are reasons why we should worship him. We should borrow the words of Thomas and say to Jesus, ‘My Lord and my God.’

A second response should be one of boasting in Jesus. It is part of being human to boast in something. People boast in politicians, in sports stars, in lots of things. All of them fail in more than one way. In contrast, we can boast in Jesus because of who he is, where he is, what he has done and what he is doing.

A third response must be one of confidence in Jesus. After all, he is in charge as the Firstborn. Nothing happens that he cannot deal with. He knows where we are and he can work in our temporal circumstances for our eternal good. We can rely on him entirely.

The fourth response should be that of dedication. This should mark our lives, that we take pleasure in serving him wherever we are. We recognise who he is, the exalted Creator, and we devote ourselves to him. We learn from the Colossians not to forget who Jesus is.