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September 24/25, 2016
Jason Meyer | Colossians 1:15-20
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. 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.—Colossians 1:15–20
Introduction
We are in a nine-week series called, “Fill These Cities: 25 by 25.” We are praying that by God’s grace the next decade of spreading would involve planting 25 new churches and engaging 25 unengaged people groups by 2025. We will define those things much more in the weeks to come. Remember that I asked you to think about this series not as nine separate sermons, but as one sermon in nine parts. The sermon two weeks ago was the introduction. In that sermon, I summarized the last five years and set the stage for the next ten years. Then last week, this week, and next week constitute the main point of the nine-week sermon: Keep your eyes riveted on the greatness of our triune God. Last week we gazed at the greatness of God the Father, this week we will gaze at the greatness of God the Son, and next week at the greatness of God the Holy Spirit. This three-fold main point culminates with five calls for response: (1) Prayer call, (2) global focus people call, (3) global focus people call part 2, (4) financial call, and (5) campus call.
Colossians 1:15–20 is a poetic unpacking of the glory and greatness of God the Son. The greatness of God the Son especially shines in relation to three massive realities: (1) God (v. 15a), (2) Creation (vv. 15b–17), and (3) the Church (vv. 18–20). The main point: Bethlehem, come to grips with the greatness of Jesus. Or, in the language of our text: Come to grips with the first place preeminence of Christ.
He is the image of the invisible God.—Colossians 1:15a
This statement is so packed with glory and majesty and immeasurable greatness that we could take the next nine weeks just on these 8 words. I am not exaggerating. We have time for just a taste of it. Last week we gloried in the fact that one cubic mile of water equals 1.1 trillion gallons. God holds not one cubic mile of water in his hand, but 332.5 million of them in just the hollow of his hands. I did a little experiment to see how much my cupped hand could hold. I started with a cup—way off. I tried a third of a cup—way too much. I tried a tablespoon and there was still some that ended up in the sink. I gave up at that point. I can’t hold a tablespoon of water in my hand and God can hold 332.5 million cubic miles of water. The comparison had a profound impact on me. My first thought was that my stubborn pride is so stupid. Moments when I contend with God for the supremacy he alone deserves are sheer foolishness—the height of sin.
Stand in awe again at the God who with his little finger easily lifts and measures all the mountains and hills of the world when just one of them weighs 357 trillion pounds. God creates, names, and keeps 10 billion trillion stars in their proper place.
Now we are told that that God, the God whom heaven and earth cannot contain, came to earth, and was born as a baby. The perfect, limitless nature and character of God are perfectly revealed and expressed in the person of Jesus. All the perfections of God are present in Jesus (not one is missing). All of them are perfectly, indivisibly joined with perfect symmetry in a fully God, fully man union of two natures (for those who like theology it is called the hypostatic union).
Paul unpacks this mind-blowing thought more for us in Colossians 1:19 (“For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell”) and 2:9—“For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.” This is a one-sentence summary of full orthodoxy on the natures of Christ: Fully God (“whole fullness”) and fully man (“dwells bodily”). Not part God—very God of very God. Not part man—he does not merely appear to be human; he is fully human, flesh and blood. He got tired and hungry and thirsty. He cried and he died. The Bible says he was tempted like us in every way and yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15).
Right now your mind should be spinning. Heaven and earth cannot contain God—and yet—the whole fullness of deity dwells in a human body. Imagine that the whole fullness of deity is represented by all the water in the world (332.5 million cubic miles). All the fullness of deity in a body is like all 332.5 million cubic miles of water fitting into a Styrofoam coffee cup with not a drop missing. We are not talking about regular Dawn dish soap with a reduced-size, ultra-concentrated Dawn dish soap with the twice the cleaning power. We are way beyond that! We are talking about the infinite fullness of deity dwelling in a finite human body.
There is a TV show called “How It Works.” They go into the inner dynamics of how things work. It is often fascinating. But mark my words, you will never see this on a show like that, because no one but God understands the inner dynamics of the incarnation. The incarnation takes us right up to the brink of what our language can say and our minds can understand, and then it gloriously goes further. Our minds are left defeated and we confess to God: You are in another category altogether. Adore the wisdom. Celebrate the mystery.
Therefore, come to grips with the glory of Jesus as “the image of the invisible God.” Jesus is the invisible God made visible. Isaiah 40 said that the glory of God would be revealed and all flesh would see it. Flesh and blood can see it because he came and took on flesh and blood to make God visible as the “radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature” (Hebrews 1:3). Jesus also claimed this glory for himself in a jaw-dropping way. One of his disciples (Philip) said to him, “Show us the Father.” Jesus said, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:8–9). Who else or what else do you know that could say that, and be right? Bring on the parade of pretenders; no one else is equal to God. But we are just getting started. That was just point one.
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.—Colossians 1:15–17
Jesus is called “the firstborn of all creation” (v. 15b). This does not assume that God the Son was someone created by God. The false teacher Arius said there was a time that the Son of God did not exist. This verse does not talk about when he was born compared to the rest of creation (born first), but where he ranks with respect to creation (highest). For example, Psalm 89 defines firstborn for us here.
I have found David, my servant;
with my holy oil I have anointed him,
so that my hand shall be established with him;
my arm also shall strengthen him.He shall cry to me, ‘You are my Father,
my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’
And I will make him the firstborn,
the highest of the kings of the earth.—Psalm 89:20–21, 26–27
This is a Psalm anticipating the Messiah. Firstborn king here is defined as “highest” of all the kings. He has the highest rank or the highest place of authority. He rules over it all. The phrase “firstborn of creation” also means that Christ enjoys all the inheritance rights of creation as firstborn over creation.
Why does Jesus have this first place rank, exalted high above everything else in creation? Verses 16–17 provide three reasons (note the “for” at the beginning of verse 16): (1) It was all made by him, (2) it was all made for him, and (3) it is all sustained by him. First, we hear that the Son of God is the Creator—“by him all things were created” (v. 16). Paul even clarifies the extent of the “all things”—heaven and earth, visible and invisible. Then he gives special attention to four classes of angelic, spiritual powers (thrones, rulers, dominions, and authorities). The Colossians appear to have been enamored with these powerful spiritual beings. Paul asks them as they are looking up at these angels, “Why not look all the way up to the One who created them and rules over them? Why set your sights so low? Consider the glory of Jesus—even those who are rebels to his rule were made by him. He is sovereign over even the rebellion. When he meets the demons in the Gospels, they ask him if he has come to destroy them before the appointed time. Even they don’t think they can win, do you?”
Second, all things were made “for him” (v. 16). You exist and everything else exists by his power, but you exist along with everything else for his glory. It is not up to you to somehow find a reason for existence, a reason for why you were put on the planet. This passage tells us: You were created “for him,” for his glory.
I have failed to fulfill this purpose so many times. In those times I feel like a walking contradiction. Have you seen T-shirts that have a tag on the collar that say where they were made? One of the funniest things I ever heard of was a T-shirt that on the front said “Made in America” and on the tag said “Made in China.” This verse says that all of us, both Christian and non-Christian, visible and invisible, have a tag that says, “Made by Jesus and Made for Jesus.” The message written on the front of my life should match what is already written on the back: Made by Jesus and for Jesus. Football is life—everything else is just details. Does the content of our life match the stated purpose of our life?
Third, Jesus has the highest rank over all creation because he sustains it all. Verse 17 says “he is before all things and in him all things hold together.” The Son of God existed before it all; he had no beginning as the self-existent Son of God. He is not dependent on any created thing or derivative from some created thing. He had no creator. He is the Creator who not only made it but also sustains it.
Last week we talked about the fact that there are 200 to 400 billion stars in a galaxy and there are 125 billion galaxies, which equals 10 billion trillion stars. What would it take just to hold all those together? The fact that everything is fine-tuned to sustain life is beyond question. All scientists assent to the fact of a fine-tuned universe. Everyone agrees that “the fundamental parameters of physics and the initial distribution of matter and energy—is balanced on a razor’s edge for life to occur” (Robin Collins). Robin Collins summarizes the facts as they have come to us (“The Fine-Tuning Design Argument,” accessed on 9/21/16 at http://www.discovery.org/a/91):
“1. Calculations indicate that if the strong nuclear force, the force that binds protons and neutrons together in an atom, had been stronger or weaker by as little as 5%, life would be impossible. (Leslie, 1989, pp. 4, 35; Barrow and Tipler, p. 322.)
2. Calculations by Brandon Carter show that if gravity had been stronger or weaker by 1 part in 10 to the 40th power, then life-sustaining stars like the sun could not exist. This would most likely make life impossible. (Davies, 1984, p. 242.)
3. If the neutron were not about 1.001 times the mass of the proton, all protons would have decayed into neutrons or all neutrons would have decayed into protons, and thus life would not be possible. (Leslie, 1989, pp. 39-40.)
4. If the electromagnetic force were slightly stronger or weaker, life would be impossible, for a variety of different reasons. (Leslie, 1988, p. 299.)”
Collins invites us to think of the distribution of matter and energy and the parameters of physics as radio dials or dart boards. You see a giant galactic panel of thousands of dials—all of them are turned to just the right frequency. Or the conditions of the universe could represent one vast dart board that fills the entire galaxy, but it has a small bullseye (one foot wide). The dart has to be a bull’s eye or life is not possible.
Everyone agrees that those dials are perfectly set and the dart perfectly hits the tiniest of targets. But what is the interpretation for this incredible fact? Robin Collins quotes the Princeton physicist Freeman Dyson: “There are many . . . lucky accidents in physics. Without such accidents, water could not exist as liquid, chains of carbon atoms could not form complex organic molecules, and hydrogen atoms could not form breakable bridges between molecules.” Lucky accidents! A dart hit the target and no one threw it!
The difference between secular society and Christianity is not that one has faith and the other doesn’t. The two have two different objects of faith. Some look at the universe and have faith in luck. Christians look at the universe and have faith in Christ as the Creator and Sustainer. We don’t praise blind luck. We have someone to thank and praise (no love songs to luck!).
Think about it. This is true of everything, not just the stars. The cells of your body, the molecules in the cell walls, everything. Without him, everything would break apart at the seams. The argument from greater to lesser helps here: He is holding creation together from breaking apart at the seams, do you really think that it is too difficult for him to hold your life together? You can let go of the lie that you have to keep holding things together—it is all on your shoulders.
Christ has first place. Anywhere else you fixate—anything else you choose to magnify—will be less than Christ, lower than Christ. Why set your sights so low to look anywhere else? The church is a new creation, created to be different than the rest of humanity. The church is alive to Christ’s glory because God did a new work of creation in our hearts. He said, “Let there be light”—he shone in our hearts to give us the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Our hearts were dead, our eyes were blind. But now we see with new eyes and now we believe with new hearts. With our new eyes we see the glory of Christ and we give him first place with those new hearts.
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.—Colossians 1:18–20
Jesus the Messiah also has the highest rank in the church as the “head of the body” and the “firstborn from the dead” (v. 18). The church is so united to Christ and dependent upon Christ that we are pictured as a body and Christ as the head or Lord. He rules us as head and we would be lifeless without him like a body without a head.
He is also pictured as the firstborn from the dead. Why should this picture of Christ flood your heart right now with hope and praise? Christ’s resurrection guarantees our future resurrection. There is a family of resurrected humanity and Christ is the first who guarantees the rest. Paul elsewhere calls Christ the “firstfruits” for the same reason. The firstfruits of the harvest was the first portion of the harvest. It could be used as a down payment for other things because it foretold what the rest of the harvest to come would be like. Listen to 1 Corinthians 15:20–23.
But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.—1 Corinthians 15:20–23
Christ is the firstborn from the dead, followed by the rest of his people. We are the people of perpetual hope. Paul says that we continue in the faith and don’t shift away from the hope of the gospel. Why does this picture of Christ create hope?
Think about a scene from Lord of the Rings. Galadriel takes Frodo (the hobbit) to a pool of water to see a vision of what the future could hold. Frodo sees what would happen if the Fellowship of the Ring fails and Frodo does not destroy the ring of power—what would happen if they lose. Frodo sees death and fire and destruction and darkness. That is what is at stake. Frodo does not know if they will succeed, but he knows what will happen if they fail.
Paul did something similar for us in 1 Corinthians 15. He showed us what would happen if Christ were not raised. Our faith would be useless and we would still be in our sins (1 Corinthians 15:17), loved ones who died would have perished and have been lost forever, never to be seen again (1 Corinthians 15:18), and we would be most to be pitied (1 Corinthians 15:19). But Christ is raised. So we are not in our sins. We are saved. We are not only marching to victory, we are marching from victory. Christ’s resurrection guarantees our victory and guarantees our resurrection.
Now these points have all built up to a climax of worship: No one is higher than Christ. He has first place in every place you look—God, creation, the church. Where else can you look and find someone who defeated death? Who else deserves first place? Nothing would be more out of place than for him to be first place everywhere, but your tiny heart stubbornly refuses to come to grips with the reality of his glory.
Paul ends this section by showing that the One who currently holds the creation together will one day bring it back together: “And through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross” (v. 20). He is the One who will take all that is fractured and broken and fragmented and divided—even heaven and earth—and bring them back together. He will bring peace by the blood of his cross.
The creation that was broken and fractured and twisted by sin, Christ came to bring it all back together again. Where else will you find someone to fix all that is broken with this world? This world is like a Humpty Dumpty that everyone is trying to put back together again. But only Christ could do it by the blood of his cross. Who else would you give the first place crown to?
Have you realized yet that people do not come into this world as children of God, but as children of wrath? Do you see what that means? Imagine if the God we heard about in Isaiah 40, the God who can hold the oceans in the hollow part of his hand, were your enemy. The Bible says it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God. That is the greatest problem in the world today—we are children of wrath, deserving wrath as rebels against an almighty God. We must be reconciled to God. But how does that happen? An almighty arrow is aimed at us. How can eternal death be averted?
Peace with God comes only through Christ’s blood. Colossians 1:21–22 spells it out more: We were enemies, but “he reconciled us in his body of flesh by his death.” But what does that mean? The problem was sin. We are guilty of evil deeds and thus we are enemies of God. What specifically happened in the death of Christ that could deal with my sin that could make peace? Look and believe! God forgave us all our trespasses—how? “By canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:14).
See the victory of the cross! The One who conquered death conquered the death you deserved. There is no hope for those whose hope is placed in an improved future version of yourself. Paul says you don’t try to pay back the record of debt. You can’t. Christ pays the debt so that you are forgiven. The sacrifice of Christ is the only sacrifice that is sufficient to pay your debt.
People who say we should do away with all this preaching about sin and the shed blood of Christ (theology of blood) are people who seem to have no category for the transcendent glory of God we looked at last week. His glory is so great that you could cut down all the trees in all the forests and take all of the animals in the whole world and have one big burnt offering for a sacrifice and it would not be enough. What can wash away my sin? Nothing…but the blood of Jesus. Where else would you look to find forgiveness?
Application—The Greatness of our Sin and the Difference the Gospel Makes
Last week God did a work of repentance in me—repenting for the times when I have spoken about God or thought about God in a way that was too limited. Repentance for God being too small in my mind—too cramped by the box I tried to construct. I repented for magnifying other things so that they seem big and God seems small.
This week the work of repentance continued and even deepened. Part of it was the definition of sin deepened for me. Sin is what happens in my heart and life when something else has first place. O how I want the phrase “first place” to be the defining and organizing adjective of my life. First place passion for Christ, first place worship. “Thou and thou only first in my heart, High King of Heaven, my treasure thou art.” First place belongs to him and I am constantly giving other things the first place crown. Creation is full of things we could misuse as objects of worship instead of objects that help us savor Christ’s glory (they exist by him and for him). We can make ourselves first place and mess up why we exist. We twist why we exist and misuse people and things when we put them above Christ—we ask them to be things and do things for us that only Christ is meant to do.
Paul says that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge “are hidden in Christ” (Colossians 2:3). If these treasures are hidden in Christ, then how do we find this hidden treasure? Here we have a treasure story that transcends all other treasure stories. Hear three points that prove the gospel transcends all treasure stories. First, Jesus is not a hidden treasure we find; he is the Hidden Treasure who found us. No one could reach the glorious heights of heavenly life. We all deserve the depths of hell as children of wrath (Ephesians 2:3), for we have all fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Therefore, the Lord of all left the high courts of glory and came down to earth. The King of glory could have come to be served, but instead he humbly came to seek and save the lost as the Lord’s servant (Luke 19:11; Philippians 2:6–7). The treasure took on flesh (John 1:14). The Son of God was born in the line of David (Romans 1:3) to become the promised shepherd-king who made it his mission to find his lost sheep (Ezekiel 34:11, 23; Luke 15:4).
Second, Jesus is not a treasure we buy; he is the Treasure who bought us. The King of glory humbled himself in an obedient descent that took him from the highest height to the lowest possible place: The point of death—even the shameful suffering and disgraceful death upon a cursed cross (Philippians 2:8). The good shepherd laid down his life for the sheep (John 10:11) so that the flock might become the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood (Acts 20:28).
Third, earthly treasures provide partial joy and passing pleasures (Hebrews 11:25); Jesus is the treasure that provides fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16:11). All we once thought gain, we now count as loss and rubbish compared to the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus as Lord (Philippians 3:7–8).
Many notable treasure hunters found fame and fortune (Cortez). Not us. We exist for the fame of the treasure who found us—the only treasure who (1) seeks, (2) saves, and (3) fully satisfies forever.
First, think about Christ the Creator. He rules over whatever you fear, because he made it. Second, compare whatever you fear with Christ the Sustainer. Christ will sustain you no matter where you are or what you are going through. We don’t need to keep it altogether, because he does. Third, think of Christ the Savior. There is no spot or stain on your life—past or present right now—that he can’t cleanse. Fourth, think of Christ the coming conqueror. Face the eastern skies, Christian. A day is coming when the Christ who sustained you through all of your problems will take them all way and they will not be in your face anymore. You will be face to face with him. No more tears, no more fears.
Conclusion: Our Worship Has Changed Forever
We sang last week, “Who can teach the One who knows all things?” The Bible says that Jesus learned obedience by the things he suffered. You may wonder why the perfect Son of God would have to learn anything. If he was entirely free from sin, then wouldn’t obedience be almost effortless or automatic or completely natural. I love John Owen on Hebrews. Owen says that when the Bible speaks of Christ “learning” obedience it is really talking about “experiencing” obedience—experiential knowledge. Owen says, “One special kind of obedience is intended here, namely a submission to great, hard, and terrible things, accompanied by patience and quiet endurance, and faith for deliverance from them. This Christ could not have experience of, except by suffering the things he had to pass through, exercising God’s grace in them all.”
Now that we are witnesses of the historical reality of the incarnation, the cross, and the resurrection, our worship has forever been altered. Here is what I mean by that. We can never again believe in a God who could not or would not take on human nature to come to us, pursue us, and seek and save the lost, suffer in our place, die for our sins, rise in victory and prepare a place for us. What we have experienced in Christ makes our God far greater—O greater by far than any other alternative religion or alternative, competing claim. Could you trust or worship a God who has never suffered now—a God who stood far off and never came for you?
He held nothing back. Nothing. No greater love. And that is why I am forever ruined for any other false gods and idols. I will seek him for the rest of my days, not because I first loved him or sought him, but because he first loved me and first sought me and bought me. And it will get better. We are waiting upon the Lord—the second coming of the Lord. He will take away all the problems, take away even sin and death and throw them into the lake of fire, wipe away every tear, and we will see him face to face. The God who wept and suffered is the One who suffered in order to wipe away my tears forever.
Sermon Discussion Questions
Main Point: Bethlehem, come to grips with the greatness of Christ. Or in the language of our text – fix your eyes (feast your eyes) on the first place preeminence of Christ.
Outline and Explanation of Text
Colossians 1:15–20 is a poetic unpacking of the glory and greatness of God the Son in terms of how he relates to three realities: (1) God (v. 15a), (2) Creation (vv. 15b–17), and (3) the Church (vv. 18–20). First, Paul describes Christ in terms of his relationship to God. Christ is supreme because he is the “image of the invisible God” (v. 15). Second, He is portrayed in terms of his relation to the creation. Christ is exalted in his headship and rule over creation as the one who enjoys all the rights of the inheritance of the creation as the “firstborn of creation” (v. 15). His status as Lord of creation is established because he is the one through whom and for whom it was created (vv. 15–16), as well as its sustainer (v. 17). Third, Christ is described in his relation to the church as its “head” and “firstborn from the dead” (v. 18).
Outline of Sermon
Discussion Questions
Application Questions
Prayer Focus
Pray for a grace to give Christ first place and say “thou and thou only, first in my heart.”