HE IS PART 2 COLOSSIANS 1:17-18

Colossians 1:17 – “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”

John 8:58, when Jesus is standing before the Pharisees. He says, “before Abraham was, I WAS.” That’s not how it went, right? No, He said, “Before Abraham was, I AM.” Present tense verb. Indicating the timelessness of His deity. Similar concept here, with Paul saying, “He is before all things.” A present tense statement. But Christ was not only before Abraham though. Here it says He’s before “all things.” Including creation. Jesus Christ, being eternal, existed before there was any creation to speak of. 

1:17 He is before all things: He existed in the beginning and he holds it all together by his power.

The significance of that, of what’s being conveyed here. Is the timelessness of Christ’s deity

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.

He was in the beginning with God.” Now, while the universe has a beginning, even the atheistic big bang people would believe that. Christ has always existed. While the universe is temporal. With a definite start date and with a definite, one day end date. Christ is not. He is eternal. Micah 5:2, it’s a prophetic passage relating to Christ’s first coming. Speaking of Him being from Bethlehem. It says, “His going forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.” Or Christ Himself would say in Revelation 22:13 – “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

Not only though, did the Lord Jesus exist before there was any creation. We see here that it is in Him that all things consist.  Look at the second half of verse 17 – “and in Him all things hold together.” It means that the Lord Jesus is the sustainer of the universe, the Source of its perpetual motion. He maintains just the right amount of power and balance needed to ensure life’s existence and continuity. Hebrews 1:3 – He “ upholds all things by the word of His power.” The only reason that this planet hasn’t exploded or imploded or dissolved. The only reason our whole galaxy hasn’t just been dumped into a black hole somewhere is because of Christ. He’s upholding everything right now. He’s keeping the planets spinning. He’s keeping the stars burning. He’s keeping the ocean waters from flooding. He’s keeping the rain cycles going. He’s keeping our hearts beating. He’s providing brain activity to every single one of us here this morning. Not just to us, to those out in the world, who in foolishness, reject Him. He’s even giving life and breath and movement and existence to those who strongly oppose and hate Him.

He didn’t wind up the universe like a clock and then walk away from it. Not at all. No, He continues to sustain it all. His power upholds and guides what His hands have formed. You know the old song, maybe it is still a current song . . . “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.” That’s true! Harry Ironside wrote this, he said: “It is His hand that holds the stars in their courses, directs the planets in their orbits, and controls the laws of the universe.

In verse 18. We get to our third “He is” statement.

Col 1:18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

1:18 He is the Head of the Body:

Ephesians 1:22 And God hath put all things under His feet, and hath given Him to be the head over all things to the church,

 Ephesians 5:23 for the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and He is the savior of the body.

There is a sudden shift in focus from all the things we’ve been considering in verses 15, 16 and 17. Paul goes from this discussion of Christ being the eternal image of the invisible God. And the firstborn of all creation. And the Creator of all things. And all things being created by Him and through Him and for Him. Now, it says, oh yeah, He’s also the head of the body, the church. As this section of Colossians 1 is taking off. As he’s powerfully assembling these thoughts, one after the other on top of each other. We would expect that Paul here would say something like, Christ is the supreme ruler of the universe. Or the king of the cosmos. But that’s not what we see. Instead, what we see here, verse 18, “He is also the head of the body, the church.” Now, the references to “the body” here, “the church” here. Those are references to the universal church. That is, all around the world who have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. from the Day of Pentecost, all the way up to the Rapture. This organism . . . this “assembly” of believers . . . which is expressed in local assemblies, like what we’re doing today. That assembly, over which Christ is, look at the word there, He’s “the head.” Now, a few key details and for many of us, reminders about this thing called the “church” over which Christ is the “head” . . .

 

First, the church is described in this way, in I Corinthians 12, all believers are baptized into it. We’re baptized into this body, the church, by the Holy Spirit, the moment we believe in Christ. I Corinthians 12:13 says, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, [placed into on body] whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.”

 

Second, another reminder about the church, is that it is an especially diverse body. It always has been. There is “neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, [and] there is neither male nor female.” Galatians 3:28

 

Third, the church is a mystery not made known to previous generations.

In fact, drop down to Colossians 1:25, just a few verses down, it says, “Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” So, the church is a mystery, revealed in these times to the Gentiles.

 

Fourth, as we’re seeing from our passage, verse 18, the Head of the church is the Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1:22-23 says, “He put all things in subjection under His feet and gave Him as head over all things to the church.” Or Ephesians 5:23 says, “For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church.” So, the dominion then, the Lord Jesus Christ extends not only through the natural universe, but it extends to the spiritual realm. He is ruler, simultaneously of the cosmos, as He is the head of the church.

 

Now, how are we to take that, in terms of how this passage, verse 18, ties into what we’ve just looked at in verses 15-17? Where we see these sweeping claims about Christ’s rulership over all creation. Is what he’s saying now in verse 18, somehow lessen what has already been said? Is this making Christ smaller by localizing Him in the church? Not at all! If anything, what this passage does, verse 18, when we consider in conjunction with verses 15-17, is really expand the significance of the claims that are being made of Christ’s role vis-à-vis the church. He is sovereign over creation, just as He is over the church. They go hand in hand. He is doubly preeminent. Preeminent over all creation. But also preeminent in the church. What that really ought to do for us, who are the church, is highlight the privilege that it is to be a part of God’s family. To be a part of the church. To be a part of this family of redeemed people. To know that Christ is as intimately involved in ruling and governing the church. As He is in all of creation. The church is no “side project” for Jesus Christ. It’s no “Plan B” for Jesus Christ. He loves the church . . . so much that He gave Himself for the church. He’s building the church. He’s protecting the church. He will pull the church out of the coming tribulation to come. He’s going to return and reign with the church. See, the church is not a place. It’s not an address. It’s not a thing we do or a place we go. It’s the body of Christ, with Christ as it’s head. As His act of love for the church, He exercises control over it and direction over it. Conforming each one of its limbs and organs. That’s you and me, into His image.

 

That brings us to our fourth “He is” statement, which comes at the end of verse

And He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.”

He is the beginning of the church

That word that you see there, where it says, “He is the beginning”, it can actually be translated either “beginning” or originator, “rulership”, or “rule”. We see it here as “beginning.” We see it in Matthew 19:4 as “beginning” where it says, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female[?]”

But the same word here, for “beginning” can also be translated “rule” or “ruler” in other places. So, which is it? Is Christ here, being described as the “beginning? Or is He being described as “ruling?” The answer is – “yes.” I think there’s a trace of truth to both definitions. Christ. The preeminent Christ . . . not only created everything that we see around us in the cosmos . . . He also established His church . . . and in that sense, He’s the beginning of both. But at the same time, He is ruler, as we’ve seen, both of the cosmos and of the church. He’s the head of both realms.

 

             This work of the Spirit began on the day of Pentecost (Acts 1:5; 2:1–2; 11:15–16). It is a special body in which there is “neither Jew nor Gentile” (Gal. 3:28) but a whole new creation of God (Eph. 2:15). The church is a “mystery … which was not made known to men in other generations” (Eph. 3:4–5; cf. Rom. 16:25–26; Col. 1:26).

 

 

and the firstborn from among the dead: Christ is the first person to die and be resurrected who will never die again

Now, we see that Christ is “the firstborn from the dead.” It’s a clear resurrection reference when it mentions “from the dead.” But what about that word “firstborn”? We’ve encountered it already in verse 15. But how about here? Is this a matter of laying out a timeline? Is this saying that Christ is the first person to have every been raised from the dead? Definitely not that. We know that Jesus was not the first to be raised from the dead. We know that Elijah raised the widow’s son. We know that Jesus Himself raised Jairus’s daughter. We know that Jesus Himself raised Lazarus. So then what does “firstborn from the dead” mean here?

It means, “firstborn” here, is that, of all those who have been raised from the dead. . . the Lord Jesus Christ ranks first in importance among them. He was the first to rise in an immortal body. I Corinthians 15:20 says, “But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.” His resurrection marked triumph over death, the way other resurrections didn’t. Hebrews 2:15 says, “. . . through death he might render powerless him who had the power of death.” It’s by virtue of Christ’s resurrection, that He’s been elevated to a rank and a position higher than anyone else who rose from the dead. Romans 1:4 says, he was “declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead. Philippians 2:9 says, “. . . God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name.” He was the “Firstfruits” of those who die (1 Cor. 15:20) since, unlike others, He rose never to die again. ^[i] It’s only through Christ’s resurrection that the future resurrection of others is secured. John 5:28 says, “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs who will hear His voice and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.” All of this is so that He might be known . . . Christ might be known and seen as preeminent in all things. “So that”  “He Himself will come to have first place in everything.”

Christ is given first place over all Creation. He is preeminent. The same eternal Logos (John 1:1) who “became flesh” (John 1:14) and “humbled Himself” (Phil. 2:8) is now “exalted” by God the Father “to the highest place” and has been given “the name that is above every name” (Phil. 2:9).^[ii]

 

What an answer that would have been to those who, in Paul’s day, were trying go bring Christ down a few notches. To strip Him of His preeminence, as though they could. They promoted their heretical teachings there in Colossae. To those who have presented such a false Christ, a weakened Christ, a cheap Christ. Paul here says “no.” Christ is preeminent. He is the image of the invisible God. He is the firstborn of all Creation. He is the Creator of all things. All things were created by Him, through Him, and for Him. He’s the sustainer of all things. He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning. He is the firstborn of the dead. He is, as we see at the end of verse 18 here, to have “first place” in everything.

 

We’ve considered here in these verses, the extent and the range of Christ’s preeminence in the creation and in the church. Now we need to ask ourselves Does Christ have preeminence in My life? The question we have to ask ourselves, as we’ve taken these truths. Does Christ have preeminence in My life? Or are there other That are crowding Him out? As you leave here this morning. Ask yourself, sincerely.  Am I so stuck in my own little world, my own little fishbowl. My own little bubble, that I’ve failed to bow my knee, daily, to the One who created the world and sustains the world? Do I have such a slender view of the church, as being a place full of programs and rhythms and people I’ve been around my whole life . . . that I fail to acknowledge, daily, that it’s the Lord Jesus Christ who governs and reigns in His church? Am I allowing . . . in what I read, or what I watch, or who I associate with . . . influences in my life that would take away from Christ’s preeminence over my life? Or at least my recognition of His preeminence over my life?

It surely is through His death and resurrection that we have been saved. We praise Him for that. But the Christian life doesn’t end there. It really starts there, and it demands, once we acknowledge His death and resurrection, that we live in light of, His preeminence.

 

Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?

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^[i] Geisler, N. L. (1985). Colossians. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 673). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

^[ii] Geisler, N. L. (1985). Colossians. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 673). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.