DIGGING DEEP NO. 1065 January 7, 2025 A STUDY OF THE BOOK OF COLOSSIANS (PART 3) CROWN HIM LORD OF ALL! Colossians 1: 13- 20.

Probably no paragraph in the New Testament contains more concentrated doctrine about Jesus Christ than this one. Paul wrote to prove the preeminence of Christ, and he did so by using four unanswerable arguments.

1. Christ is the Savior – Col.1: 13- 14Man’s greatest problem is sin; A problem that can never be solved by a philosopher or a religious teacher. Sinners need a Savior. These two verses present a vivid picture of the four saving actions of Christ on our behalf.

He delivered us Vs. 13 This word means “rescued from danger.” We could not deliver ourselves from the guilt and penalty of sin, but Jesus could and did deliver us. We were in danger of spending eternity apart from God. The sword of God’s judgement was hanging over our heads! But this deliverance involved something else: we were delivered from the authority of Satan and the powers of darkness.

He translated us Vs. 13 Jesus Christ did not release us from bondage only to have us wander aimlessly. He moved us into His own kingdom of light and made us victors over Satan’s kingdom of darkness. “The Son of His love.” At the baptism and transfiguration of Jesus Christ, the Father declared that Jesus was His beloved Son Matt.3: 17; 17: 5. This fact reminds us of the price the Father paid when He gave His Son for us. It also reminds us that His kingdom is a kingdom of love as well as a kingdom of light.

He redeemed us Vs. 14 This word means “to release a prisoner by the payment of a ransom.” By His death and resurrection, Jesus met the holy demands of God’s law. Satan seeks to accuse us and imprison us because he knows we are guilty of breaking God’s law. But the ransom has been paid on Calvary, and through faith in Jesus Christ, we have been set free.

He has forgiven us Vs. 14 Redemption and forgiveness go together Ephe.1: 17. The word translated forgiveness means to cancel a debt. Christ has not only set us free and transferred us to a new kingdom, but He has cancelled every debt so that we cannot be enslaved again. Knowing that we are forgiven makes it possible for us to fellowship with God, enjoy His grace, and seek to do His will. Forgiveness is not an excuse for sin; rather, it is an encouragement for obedience. And because we have been forgiven, we can forgive others Col.3: 13. The parable of the unforgiving servant makes it clear that an unforgiving spirit always leads to bondage Matt.18: 21- 35. Jesus Christ is preeminent in salvation. No other person could redeem us, forgive us, transfer us out of Satan’s kingdom into God’s kingdom, and do it wholly by grace. The phrase “through His blood,” reminds us of the cost of our salvation. Moses and the Israelites only had to shed the blood of a lamb to be delivered from Egypt. But Jesus had to shed His blood to deliver us from sin.      

2. Christ is the Creator – Col.1: 15- 17He existed before creation. Jesus Christ was not the first being created,since He Himself is the creator of all things. “Firstborn” simply means of first importance; of first rank.” Solomon was certainly not born first of all of David’s sons, yet, he was named the firstborn Ps.89: 27. Firstborn of every creation means “prior to all creation.” Jesus Christ is not a created being; He is eternal God. The writer of the Hebrews affirms that Jesus Christ is “the express image of God” Heb.1: 3. Jesus was able to say “He that has seen me has seen the Father” Jh.14: 9. In His essence, God is invisible, but Jesus Christ has revealed Him to us Jh.1: 18. Nature reveals the existence, power, and wisdom of God, but nature cannot reveal the very essence of God to us. It is only in Jesus Christ that the very essence of God is revealed. It is only in Jesus Christ that the invisible God is revealed perfectly. It is no wonder that the winds and waves obeyed Him, and diseases and death fled from Him, for He is Master over all Jh.1: 3. This includes all things in heaven and earth, visible and invisible. All things are under His command.
3. All things exist for Him – Vs.16Everything exists in Him, for Him, and through Him.Vs.17 In Him all things hold together. There are many images of the church in the New Testament, and the body is one of the most important Rom.12: 4; 1Cor.12: 14, Ephe.4: 8- 16. When a person trusts Christ, he is immediately baptized by the Holy Spirit into this body 1Cor.12: 12- 13. Each Christian is a member of this spiritual body and Jesus Christ is the head. The church had its origin in Him. It was born at Pentecost. It was then that the Holy Spirit came and baptized the believers into one spiritual body.

As the head of the church, Jesus Christ supplies it with life through His Spirit. He gives gifts to men, and then places these gifted people in His church that they might serve Him wherever they are needed. Col.1: 18 “That in all things He might have the preeminence.”

4. He is the beloved of the Father – Col.1: 19- 20 Those who have trusted Jesus Christ as their Savior are “accepted in the beloved.”Ephe.1: 6. For this reason, God can call us His beloved Col.3: 12. Because Jesus Christ is God, He is able to do what no mere man could ever do; reconcile lost sinners to a holy God. When the first man and woman sinned, they declared war on God, but God did not declare war on them. Instead, God sought Adam and Eve, and He provided a covering for their sins. Christ solved the sin problem once and for all. This means that one day God can bring together in Christ all who belong to Him Ephe.1: 9- 10. He will be able to glorify believers and punish unbelievers, and do it justly, because of Christ ‘s death on the cross. No one; not even Satan can accuse God of doing wrong, because sin has been effectively dealt with on the cross. If Jesus Christ is only man, or only an emanation from God, He cannot reconcile God and man. The only arbitrator who can bring God and man together is One who is both God and man Himself. He was God in human flesh Jh.1: 14. When He died on the cross, He met the just demands of the law because He paid the penalty for man’s sins 1Pet.2: 24. Reconciliation was completed on the cross.Rom.5: 11.

In Summary:

First – Jesus Christ has taken care of all things. All things were created by Him and for Him. He existed before all things, and today He holds all things together. He has reconciled all things through the cross. No wonder Paul declared that “In all things He might have the preeminence”.

Second – All that we need is Jesus Christ. We have all of God’s fullness in Him; and we are complete in Him Col.2: 10. There is no need to add anything to the person or work of Jesus Christ. To add anything is to take away from His glory. To give him prominence instead of preeminence is to dethrone Him.

Third – God is pleased when His Son Jesus Christ is honored and given preeminence. There are people who tell us they are Christians, but they ignore or deny Jesus Christ. “We worship the Father,” they tell us, and that is all that is necessary. But Jesus made it clear that the Son is to be worshipped as well as the Father Jh.5: 23- 24.

In Conclusion – Jesus Christ is the Savior, the Creator, the Head of the church, and the Beloved of the Father. He is eternal; and in our lives He deserves to have the preeminence. Is Jesus Christ preeminent in your life?