Supremacy of Christ: Complete Series
St Paul wrote the Epistle of Colossians in AD62, about 30 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus.
It was written to the Christians at Colossae. Around AD 60, a miracle attributed to Michael the Archangel, encouraged an angel cult in the city. This may have influenced what Paul decided to write in the Epistle.
Also tradition says that Philemon, mentioned in one of Paul’s letters, became a bishop of Colossae. Even though the city was small, it clearly was an important site for the early Church.
Colossae Heresy
It has been suggested by scholars that St Paul’s letter to the Colossians was to address a heresy. Even though work has been carried out to uncover it through what St Paul writes, it has been difficult to establish.
Some suggest he was rebutting Jewish mystical teachings, while others think it was syncretism with the pagan gods.
I personally favour the latter, as St Paul is showing how Christ is above all things. He is not Zeus, Mars or Osiris. He is greater than them and greater than the Archangel Michael.
Supremacy of Christ
This series will look at the verses 15 - 20 in the first chapter. We will unpack how the Supremacy of Christ can be understood. Especially in our Modern culture.
Colossians 1 v 15-20
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 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 and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Image of the Invisible God
Colossians 1 v 15
The Son is the image of the invisible God
How can there be an image of an invisible god? This seems illogical. Surely an invisible god has no image, by definition.
The word translated invisible can figuratively mean the spiritual reality or the Unseen Realm. So Jesus is the Seen image of the Unseen God.
Pagan Gods are Seen
If you went and watched an Egyptian ritual, you may see an ark. Arks were common Egyptian religious furniture. They looked the same as the Ark of the Covenant, but had an idol or image of the god on the lid.
On the Ark of the Covenant, there was no image of Yahweh, because He is the Unseen God.
In pagan Rome, the images and idols of the gods were everywhere. Their presence could be felt physically, as you walked around the city.
With Yahweh, His Presence was not seen in the image of an idol. His Presence was experienced through the Angel of the Lord, a pillar of cloud, a burning bush which wasn’t consumed and many other forms. But never in an idol.
Made in the Image of God
In Genesis 2, we see God make Adam out of the dirt and breathed spirit into him. Adam bore the Image of God. Adam soon sinned and the Image was stained. It is the same with all humanity, we all bear the Image of God, but it is distorted by sin.
When Christ incarnated, God took on human flesh. This Image of God was not blemished by sin, as He was sinless. In fact, anywhere He went on this Earth, He was not tainted by sin. Even though He ate and drank with sinners.
John 14 v 8-9
Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.
Here we see Jesus is effectively saying He is the pure and undistorted Image of God.
When we look on Jesus, even through Scripture, we see God. We see God walking on the waters, feeding 5,000 hungry people and a woman anoint His feet, kissed them and brushed them with her hair.
Luke 7 v 37-38
And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment.
Next time you read the Gospels, try changing the word Jesus to God. You might be surprised by your reaction.
Firstborn Over All Creation
Colossians 1 v 15
The firstborn over all creation
St Paul says Jesus is the firstborn above the whole of creation.
A firstborn doesn’t necessarily mean the first in the family who was born. It is a title showing who is the first inheritor of the family. The one who takes responsibility for leading after the father has died, become absent or incapacitated.
So when the final plague comes upon Egypt and the firstborn was killed. It wasn’t babies who died, but the inheritors and future leaders.
Another good example is Jacob and Easu. Easu sold his birthright to Jacob. So Jacob became the firstborn of the family, even though Esau was born first. He was the inheritor of God’s promise and the leader of the family after Isaac’s death.
Several groups over the centuries have adopted the belief that firstborn equates with the idea that Jesus was created by God and therefore a created being. This is a misreading of the text and consequently a heresy.
What is Creation?
When we think of Creation, we tend to think of the seas, mountains, trees, animals and humans. But Creation also includes the Heavens; the astronomical bodies, the spiritual realm and the Throne of God. And also Hell as well.
Firstborn Over All
So Jesus is the Inheritor of Creation. Not just the physical or the Seen realm, but the Unseen too. He is not just the Firstborn over humanity, but over every created thing.
He is the Inheritor of Creation. Creation is His birthright. He is the Heir of All Things.
The Second Adam and Second Esau
When Adam was created, he became the firstborn over humanity. He received this title because he was literally the firstborn human. So as the first born son, it was his birthright.
Then he was tempted by eating fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Rather than taking on the responsibility of the firstborn role, he disobeyed God’s command, rejected the birthright, and sin came into the World.
Esau responded in a similar way. He was the firstborn, even though his twin was born a few moments later.
One day Esau came back from hunting and he was starving. Jacob, the younger twin brother, was making a stew. Jacob asked him to give up his birthright for the meal. Esau was tempted and gave it to Jacob.
Likewise, Jesus was tempted to give up His firstborn status in the Wilderness. He was asked to turn stones into bread.
Matthew 4 v 1-4
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry. The tempter came to Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
In this passage, we see Jesus was tempted to give up His birthright for food, just like Adam and Esau.
Jesus is not only the Second Adam, but also the Second Esau. He resisted the tempter, where they did not. He kept His birthright and confirmed His status as the Firstborn of all Creation.
All Things Hold Together Through Him
Colossians 1 v 16-17
For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
This is some of the highest Christology in the New Testament. These verses place Christ above all Creation. Even the pagan gods were never given such a position as this.
The head of the Greek gods, Zeus, was a created deity. He was the son of Cronos and Rhea. So according to these verses, Christ is even above Zeus, which in Ancient Greece would be a bold claim.
In Him All Were Created
We see in Genesis 1 and John 1, that Christ is the Word that God ‘said’ at the beginning.
When St Paul says, ‘In Him all things were created’, he doesn’t mean that Creation is within Christ. But He creates the limits. Jesus places the boundary on reality and establishes the categories. We see this in Genesis 1 where He establishes Heavens and Earth, Day and Night, Seas and Land. Nothing was created outside of this framework.
The way I conceive of it is, God holds the Creation in the grasp of His Hand. He is not part of the created order, but holds it together.
All Things Created
God is not created and therefore not a thing. He is the only uncreated being.
He, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, are the only uncreated persons. Every thing is created, as God is not a thing, he is uncreated.
The ‘thing’ category includes all which has been created. Trees, water, atoms, quantum fields, stars, time, light, humans, angels and demons.
He Holds Creation Together
The Seen and Unseen, are the main aspects of Creation. The spiritual realm is not better than the physical and vice versa. They are both integral parts of the Creation, and are completely integrated.
The spiritual and physical, are held together in Christ (fully God, fully human). Just like He holds His two natures together in the person of Jesus, Christ can hold Creation together as one.
Four Dominions
In verse 16, St Paul gives a list of four dominions: Thrones, Powers, Rulers and Authorities.
Thrones and Powers appear to relate to the spiritual realm. Thrones are the spiritual presence of a ruling entity. It is normally used in the New Testament to talk about God’s Throne.
Powers are influential spiritual entities who exercise control. They tend to be related to divine authorities like angels.
Rulers and Authorities relate to entities who have influence in both the physical and spiritual realms. In ancient times, these would include the kings and pagan gods. In Modern times, we could conceive of them them as governments and supranational organisations.
Christ created all these positions; thrones, powers, rulers and authorities. Not all agree to bow the knee to Him, but none are outside of His judgement.
What About Evil?
If Christ made everything, how can there be evil?
Within Creation, God allows for free will. He gives all humanity and spiritual entities the opportunity to choose Him or reject Him. Without free will, love cannot be given.
With this choice, comes the possibility of perversion. Evil is the perversion of good. This means until this fallen world is no more, there will always be evil.
Through God’s grace and mercy, He gives life to the whole of Creation, even if some choose to reject Him.
Colossians 1 v 18
And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.
Head of the Church
Jesus is the Head of the Body or otherwise known as the Church. He is ultimately in charge, not the Pope, a bishop or a local pastor. It is Christ who has that honour.
Christ is enthroned in Heaven. So, the Head and Body spans both the Highest Heavens and the Earth. He rules the Body and the Church carries out God’s work on the Earth and in the Heavens; both the Seen and Unseen realms are touched by the Body of Christ.
Beginning And Firstborn From The Dead
In my last post, I discussed what is a firstborn. It isn’t necessarily a first born child, but a position within a family. A firstborn of a family may be the second child or even an adopted child.
Some think ‘firstborn’ means Christ was a created being. But if this true, then the phrase, ‘Firstborn from the dead’ doesn’t make any sense. It would mean Jesus was the one created from among the dead.
I think St Paul was explaining how Jesus is the one who leads the dead out of Hell. He is the beginning or first one to do this.
He frees the captives held by death. And as the Firstborn, He is the one who inherits the dead.
He Has Supremacy
Christ is called by many names, and some of these cause paradoxes. For example, Jesus is the Lamb of God (John 1 v 29), but also the Lion of Judah (Rev 5v5). Lion and lambs are very different animals. One is a predator and the other is prey.
He is the King of Kings (Rev 19 v 16), but a servant who washes feet (John 13 v 1-17). Emperors don’t lower themselves to act like servant.
These feel like contradictions. How can Jesus be both?
Another way to conceptualise these paradoxes is, Christ is ‘inhabiting the edges’.
For example, in His ministry on Earth, He went up to the temple at Jerusalem, but also to the lowly disenfranchised. He was raised to die on the Cross, and then taken down and buried in the tomb. He descends to Hell, but also ascends to Heaven.
Christ is the highest as well as the lowest at the same time. This is completely expressed in the Incarnation. Where He is fully God and fully man. He is concurrently the Infinite and the finite.
And this is what St Paul means by Christ having supremacy. He is both the Firstborn of all Creation and the Firstborn from among the dead.
His reign and rule stretches from the Highest to the Lowest. From the Highest Heaven to the Abyss of Hell.
All His Fullness Dwell In Him
Colossians 1 v 19
For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him
Fully God
Through the early centuries of the Church, there were heated debates about the Incarnation. Was Jesus just a man who ascended to be God? Was He an apparition and not a man at all? Was He actually half man and half God?
It was finally settled that Jesus Christ was fully God and fully man.
This verse in Colossians tells us that Jesus is fully God. The Divine taking on flesh.
God Is Well Pleased
Luke 3 v 22
And a voice came from heaven: “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”
2 Peter 1 v 17
He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
In these verses, we see Father God showing approval to His Son, Jesus. God does the same in Genesis 1, where he says Creation was very good.
One of God the Father’s roles in the Trinity is to show approval. I write about this here:
We see in Colossians, God the Father approves of the Divine fullness dwelling in Christ. Logically then, if we are in Christ, that approval extends to us. When we faithfully live within Christ and submit to Him, we receive God’s approval.
Fully Human
Jesus shows us how to be fully human. It doesn’t mean we are to follow in His footsteps, go to Jerusalem and get crucified.
In order to be fully human, we are to allow God to dwell in us. Like Christ, who submitted to Father God, we too must submit to God.
With God’s presence residing in us, we are better able to choose God’s way rather than succumbing to temptation.
If, when we make a decision, we put what God desires first, we are acting ‘fully human’.
If we are loving God and loving our neighbour as ourselves, we are acting ‘fully human’.
So many voices in our culture call us to strive for self-actualisation or ‘fully human’ in worldly terms. But the truth is, the only way to become ‘fully human’ is to submit to the source of eternal life, God Himself.
Reconciled to Himself
Colossians 1 v 20
And through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through the blood of His cross.
Post-Enlightenment Christianity has tended to focus on the salvation of the individual from sin.
Individualism is a Modern idea. It assumes everyone is a unique person, with their own needs and wants, and who is separated from everyone and everything else. Individuals are divided from external reality and exist alone.
Simply put, every person is an island.
By exclusively focussing on individualistic Christianity, the Modern Western church has emphasised the individuals response to the Cross over other narratives.
When Christ died on the Cross, it wasn’t just that He died for individuals, but died for communities, nations and even to restore humanity back to their correct role in Creation.
Even if there were no humans, Christ would come and die for His Creation.
We know this because, from this verse in Colossians, St Paul tells us that Christ’s death reconciled Creation to Himself. Not just humanity.
The Reconciliation of Creation
On the Cross, Jesus died for the whole of Creation; all things in Heaven and all things on Earth. At the Fall of Adam, sin entered the Creation and stained it.
For Creation to be returned back into order, that staining needed to be covered or ‘atoned for’. It needed to be ‘washed away’.
By Christ dying, His blood covered sin. And through Him the Heavens and Earth could be brought back into proper alignment.
He not only reconciled Heaven and Earth together, but more importantly, He reconciled them together in Himself. This means all Creation ‘exists within’ and can only ‘function within’ the paradigm of Christ. The paradigm of sacrificial love.
Prince of Peace
Christ is the Peace-Bringer. In this verse, we see that through His blood, Heaven and Earth were joined together in peace.
He also brought peace between God and the fallen Creation. Peace came to all created things through Christ’s death. Lasting peace will finally become established at the end of days, when Creation will be transformed and renewed.
The Role of Christians
As part of the Royal Priesthood, our role is to spread the Blood of Christ throughout Creation. Applying it to all the stained and disfigured areas of reality. Through sharing Christ’s love, the stains will be ‘washed away’ and even the most heinous sins will be covered.