[1:15-18] Paul wants the Colossian church to understand that Christ Jesus is supreme. Colossians 1:15 says, “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation.” He packs a punch here, as he answers the false teachers who were denying the deity of Christ. To deny the deity of Christ is to believe that Jesus Christ is not God.
Paul explains what makes Jesus Christ so different from anyone else who ever lived:
1. HE IS THE IMAGE OF THE INVISIBLE GOD
Paul explains what makes Jesus Christ so different from anyone else who ever lived:
1. HE IS THE IMAGE OF THE INVISIBLE GOD
- John 1:1-3 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him, nothing was made that has been made.”
- John 1:14 “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
2. HE IS THE FIRSTBORN OF ALL CREATION
- Isaiah 9:6 “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
- Psalm 89:27 “And I will appoint him to be my firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth.”
- Hebrews 1:3 “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”
3. THROUGH HIM GOD CREATED EVERYTHING
- John 1:3 “All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.”
4. ALL THINGS WERE CREATED BY HIM AND FOR HIM
- Romans 11:36, “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.”
- 1 Corinthians 8:6 “Yet for us, there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through who are all things and through whom we exist.”
5. HE IS BEFORE ALL THINGS
- 1 Chronicles 29:11 “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all.”
- John 17:5 “And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.”
6. HE HOLDS ALL CREATION TOGETHER
- Hebrews 1:3 “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high”
7. HE IS THE HEAD OF THE BODY, THE CHURCH
- Ephesians 1:22-23 “And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”
8. HE FIRSTBORN FROM THE DEAD
- Revelation 1:5 “and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood.”
9. IN ALL THINGS HE MIGHT HAVE PREEMINENCE
- Matthew 28:18 “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”
- Revelation 22:13 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
- 1 Corinthians 15:25 “For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.”
