Colossians 1:15-17 ESV
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”
Jesus Christ is God, the second person of our triune God –
Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And he is our creator God. He was with God in the
beginning and all things that were made were made by him. So, he is the one who
gave us life, not just spiritual life, but physical life, too (cf. John 1; 1 John
1).
Jesus Christ (God) also formed or instituted (established,
founded) all thrones, dominions, rulers, or authorities. He raises up kings and
he deposes them. All authority comes from God. And all things created were
created through him and for him (Col 1:15-17; Rom 13:1-3; Daniel 2:21).
Jesus Christ is also fully sovereign over all that he has
made. And all he created only exists because he has made them to exist, and he
allows them to exist. For we only are here because God/Jesus is holding all
things together. For in him we live and move and have our being (Ac 17:28).
But let me go back to “all things were created through him
and for him.” I think many people are missing this. They think God created them
for themselves, and that he freed them from their sins for themselves. But we
were made FOR HIM. He redeemed us FOR HIM.
Jesus gave his blood for us on that cross to buy us back for
God to purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good
works, and so we would now honor God with our lives, living for him and not for
ourselves, and for his glory and praise (1 Co 6:19-20; 2 Co 5:15, 21; Tit
2:11-14).
Colossians 1:18-20 ESV
“And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”
Jesus is the head of his true church, which is not a
building, or a denomination, or an organization or institution of men, nor is
it a corporation under the government or a business, for that is the state
church.
The true church, the body of Christ is people, the people of
God, who have surrendered their lives to Jesus Christ, have died with Christ to
sin, and are living with Christ to his righteousness in the power of God’s
Spirit living within them (Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Jn 1:5-9).
Jesus is our head (cornerstone, ruler, Lord) who is preeminent
(in first place; chief) over all. His death and resurrection made the way for
us to be delivered from our slavery to sin and to have new lives in Christ
Jesus, so we could now be slaves to his righteousness. So now we can die with
him to sin.
All have sinned and we all come up short of attaining God’s divine
approval and his righteousness. So, Jesus died on that cross, taking our sins
upon him, and he put them to death so that, by faith in him, we might be reconciled
to God – that we might be restored to harmony with God. For, our differences with
God were resolved through Jesus’ death and resurrection.
And the peace he brought us through his blood is not world
peace. Jesus didn’t come to bring peace to the earth. This is peace with God. For,
by faith in Jesus Christ we are no more at enmity with God, which we were
previously because of our sin. Now we are his friends. For, now we are slaves
to his righteousness (Rom 6:1-23).
Colossians 1:21-23 ESV
“And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.”
For, you see, faith in Jesus Christ means we were once (this
is past) hostile in our minds, doing (practicing) evil deeds. So, this means we
are to no longer be those who habitually and deliberately keep on living in
sin. It doesn’t mean we will never sin, but sin no longer has mastery over us.
So, Jesus didn’t reconcile us to God just to forgive us our
sins so we could escape hell and go to heaven when we die. He reconciled us to God
in order to present us as holy and blameless and above reproach before him. And
if you study the New Testament Scriptures, you will see this is not just a
status, but this is a lifestyle of living holy lives, pleasing to God.
Being reconciled means we have been crucified with Christ in
death to sin so that sin would no longer reign in our bodies, so we would no
longer live for the lusts of the flesh, but so we would now live obedient lives
to God. It was so we would live separate (unlike, different) from the world and
unto God.
But then there is a stipulation or a condition. Watch for
the “IF” clauses in the New Testament, for there are many.
We have to remain in Christ and in his word, we have to walk
in obedience to his commands, and we must walk according to the Spirit and no
longer according to the flesh if we want salvation from sin and eternal life
with God (Lu 9:23-26; Jn 15:1-11; Jn 8:31-32; 1 Co 15:2; 2 Tim 2:10-13; Hebrews
3:6, 14-15; I Jn 2:24-25; 1 Jn 2:3-6; Rom 8:1-17; Rom 6:1-23).
For, if we don’t continue in the faith, but we deliberately go
back to living in sin, doing what we want to do, snubbing God and the Holy
Spirit, then the Scriptures teach we don’t have eternal life with God but we
will die in our sins (Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; 1 Co
6:9-10).
So, know the truth which can set you free from your bondage
to sin, submit to Christ as Lord, forsake your sins, and follow Jesus in
obedience.
Words
and music by Tommy Walker
Jesus,
be near to me
Let
me know You are here
How
I need You, how I need You
To
reveal Yourself to me
Through
Your unchanging truth
Through
the breath of Your Spirit
In
my questions and pain
Whisper
words of Your love
Always
the same
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