How is Christ the Firstborn?; and What Does that Mean for My Reconciliation?
Colossians 1:15-23
(Children's Sheet for Sermon Interaction is at bottom. Notes are throughout sermon)Pastor Kerry Kinchen, Bridgeway Bible Church
Turn to Colossians 1:15-23. Colossians 1:15-23 is our text this morning. This is part A of a two part sermon approach to this section. The reason why I am doing this in two parts is because this section is used by some people who hold to the false belief of universalism, particularly in respect to verse 20. I plan on handling that verse next week in a pretty comprehensive manner. In the meantime, as I introduce this, I want us to think about the songs we sing as expressions of worship. This morning we just sang about our amazing Lord Jesus, the ruler of all nature. We sang about how above all created things He is. We sang about how in Christ alone, our hope is found. We sang to Him as our guide. It is worship. It is truth. When we sing about our Lord, we sing wonderful truths concerning who He is, and what it means to be blessed with salvation. This is what our passage is about this morning. Most serious scholars recognize that the magnificent description of Christ in verses 15-20, is an early Christian hymn. Let's read the section together, going all the way to verse 23,
"15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. 18 He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. 19 For in him all the fullness [of God] was pleased to dwell, 20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven. 21 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, 22 yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach--23 if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister." Colossians 1:15-23
Please prepare your heart to learn, along with me, from God's word, in this sermon titled,
How is Christ the Firstborn?; and What Does that Mean for My Reconciliation?
[prayer]
We are studying a glorious anthem this morning. The doctrinal substance of this spiritual song points to Paul as the author, or at least in respect to possibly taking an older hymn and reworking it to glorify Christ. The hymn is a beautiful proclamation of Christ the firstborn, and what this fact means. Many early hymns were like poetic creeds. I think of this, and it seems to me that the popular Christian songs of each generation tend to reflect the overall spiritual barometer of the church in its culture. As we are exposed to the developing menu of songs that come out in our day, many of us recognize that there is a lot of confusion doctrinally. Some of it is ignorance. Some of it is because of not being careful when writing lyrics. Some of it is just simply churning out bad theology. This doesn't mean that all contemporary Christian songs are like this. Nevertheless, God wants us to sing doctrinally correct songs. This song we are studying is exactly this kind of song. This morning, I want us to glean six lyrical treasures of truth from this ancient hymn. My hope is that God will put a vibrant melody in our hearts that sings the amazing truths of who Christ is as the Firstborn, and what this means for each of us. I want us to notice the first words of this magnificent hymn,
"15 He [Christ] is the image of the invisible God, ..." Colossians 1:15
We realize that, in some way, this seems like a strange description of Jesus Christ. Paul says, "image of the invisible." Immediately we might wonder,
"Isn't the image of invisibility, invisibility?"
Think about it. If you put something that is invisible in front of a mirror, then you reflect invisibility, don't you? What Paul means in this poetic verse, is that the nature of Christ reflects the essence of God in fullness. It is a contrasting poetic allusion to Genesis 1:27 in respect to God making man in His own image. In the fall into sin, man reflected another image. It is the image of the serpent and the image of sin. This state has been passed down through all humanity, where David expresses the cursed image this way,
"Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me." Psalm 51:5
Whereas all of us inherit sin from our Father Adam, as sons of disobedience, and children of real wrath, of the spirit of disobedience, Ephesians 2:2-4, (cf. Genesis 5:3-4) Christ is different. Christ is God.
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This is the first big point for us to glean. The nature of Christ reflects the essence of God because Christ is God. Paul explains this in the following verses, where he says,
"19 For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness [of God] to dwell in Him," Colossians 1:19
"9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form," Colossians 2:9
So, think of it this way:
Christ is the visible image of the invisible God in the respect that in Christ Jesus all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form.
This is the hymn's way of starting out expressing one of the most amazing, and beautiful, facts of the universe and beyond--Christ is 100% God and 100% human. The non poetic and rather academic way of saying this same thing is to refer to it as the Hypostatic Union. This is a human way of putting a label on what is more amazing than I think we can thoroughly express. Nevertheless, Paul sufficiently expresses it here in the art of musical honor that gets the point across well enough for us to understand what we need to understand by the Spirit. So the first part of the first verse of the hymn expresses the unique deity of Christ. I want us to notice that the second part of the verse can be confusing too. Paul says that Christ is,
"15 ... the firstborn of all creation." Colossians 1:15
@1 Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible ____________. (Colossians 1:15)
What does Paul mean by, "the firstborn of all creation"? It almost sounds like Paul instantly throws in a halting contrast to what was just said. It almost sounds like Christ really isn't God at this point. You know, some cult groups think that this verse states that Jesus was the first one created by God--that this part is stating that Jesus wasn't really God after all. The fact of the matter is that the nature of Christ reflects the essence of God.
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So, this leads to the second thing I want us to glean from these important doctrinal lyrics. We need to know what it means to be God's firstborn Son of all creation. We not only want to sing the right doctrinal song, but, we also want to understand the doctrine that we are singing. It is important to recognize that the first line of the hymn shows Christ exceeding the creation of the first Adam who was but a mere mortal. In the allusion, Adam was the first created man. But, Christ is the firstborn of all creation, Who created Adam. The term "the firstborn," from the Greek is the word, prototokos used in the hymn. It's a common word. In fact the word, prototokos, is used to describe Jesus in respect to Mary giving him birth,
"7 And she [Mary] gave birth to her firstborn son [prototokos];" Luke 2:7
Mary gave birth to other children later on, but Jesus was Mary's miraculous firstborn son. This is a big point that Luke is pointing out in his choice of words, because the term, "the firstborn son" had a very distinct and important meaning. In that culture, (and in most cultures today) it means that the first born son is the honored heir of the inheritance. What this introductory song verse is proclaiming, is that Jesus is God, and Jesus is man, and with this, Jesus is also the important status of the firstborn who has the special heir blessing of all He created.
To see how important this first born son heir status is, I want us to look at God's covenant people in the Old Testament. Think about the ancient desert land of the area that is now Israel. Let's go back there thousands of years in our mind's eye--even over a thousand years before the sending of Jesus. Think about two people--Esau and Jacob. Esau and Jacob were born as twins, but Esau was the firstborn son. This would typically make Esau the "firstborn heir." The normal practice was for the father to lay his right hand on the firstborn heir and speak a blessing. As Jacob and Esau grew older, Jacob tricked his father (Isaac who was practically blind) by acting like the firstborn. Jacob disguised himself and presented himself to Isaac to receive the blessing of the inheritance that is supposed to be reserved for the firstborn. When Isaac blessed Jacob, the scriptures reveal to us that Jacob stole Esau's birthright. Even though he stole it, this kind of blessing status was so strong to God that God recognized Jacob as the first born heir positionally, and covenantally, though he was the second born son physically. After God changed Jacob's name to Israel, God likewise referred to all of Jacob's descendants as Israel the firstborn,
"22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says the LORD, 'Israel [Jacob] is My son, My firstborn.'" Exodus 4:22.
By the way, this Exodus passage is also a prophetic revelation of Christ in our Colossians song. But there is more; God refers to all of Israel as His son again in Hosea,
"1 When Israel was a youth I loved him, And out of Egypt I called My son." Hosea 11:1
This prophetic revelation was also fulfilled 800 years later in Christ,
"15 He remained there [in Egypt] until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet [Hosea]: 'Out of Egypt I called my Son.'" Matthew 2:15
What we are looking at is the significance of the firstborn son status, and what this means in Paul's revelation. When we continue to look at the story of Jacob, we see that Jacob went on to have his own son, named Joseph; Then Joseph had two sons. Manasseh was the first born. Ephraim was the second. Joseph brought Manasseh and Ephraim to their grandfather Jacob, so that the grandfather would have the honor of praying the blessing over Joseph's sons. Joseph, proceeded to put Manasseh the firstborn under grandfather Jacob's right hand, and then put Ephraim under grandfather Jacob's left hand. As Joseph was doing this, Jacob crossed his hands. Jacob put his left hand on Manasseh, and his right on Ephraim,
"... although Manasseh was the firstborn." Genesis 48:14.
Then we read,
"17 When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on Ephraim's head, it displeased him; and he grabbed his father's hand to remove it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head. 18 Joseph said to his father, "Not so, my father, for this one [Ephraim] is the firstborn. Place your right hand on his head." 19 But his father refused;" Genesis 48:17-19
What happened is that Ephraim became the honored firstborn heir, though he was not actually the son who was born first.
I hope we are getting the importance of the status of the firstborn son in seeing the relationship to Christ, and then by extension, to us. Remember how God identified all the people of Israel as the first born? God says the same thing with Ephraim,
"... I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn." Jeremiah 31:9
God did not recognize Manasseh as His firstborn, though Manasseh was physically the first born. King David is called God's firstborn,
"27 I also shall make him My firstborn, The highest of the kings of the earth." Psalm 89:27
David is being identified as the firstborn heir who inherits the position of the greatest king. But, we must ask:
"In what sense is David God's firstborn?"
Well, like all of these things in God's grand plan, there is a spiritually prophetic depth to this that should not surprise us. What I am talking about is what Paul is talking about here in Colossians. You see, David's Psalm 89 is a Messianic Psalm that prophetically points to fulfillment in Jesus Who, in turn, inherits the throne of his covenant father David. This is why the angel explained who Jesus was prophetically, saying,
"32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; 33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob [Israel] forever, and His kingdom will have no end." Luke 1:32
@2 Jesus reigns over His kingdom that has no _______________. (Luke 1:32)
To sing the beautiful hymn in our passage in harmony with the Spirit, we need to recognize that the firstborn reference for Christ expresses His status as the first born Heir as the Son of God, King of kings, and Lord of lords.
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This leads to the third thing I want us to glean from this beautiful doctrinal song,
"16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things have been created through Him and for Him."
@3 Jesus Christ ______________ all things for Himself. (Colossians 1:16)
This is a praise and worship expression of Christ's preeminent majesty as the Creator of the universe. So, this third point is more melodious description of the preeminence of the first born heir, Who, as God the eternal Son, created everything for His own self. When Paul says "all things" (ta panta in the Greek) here at this point in the song, Paul is essentially repeating the first verse in the Bible,
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Genesis 1:1
In Paul's song, the special honor is given to Jesus Christ; and I want us to notice that Paul focuses on the fact that Christ creates even the abstract things, and even the invisible things like mystical spiritual governments, whether angelic, demonic, Satanic, and so forth. The point is that Christ is sitting on the Highest throne, in the greatest dominion, as the greatest ruler who is the Supreme authority, who as God, is the only Creator of both the physical world, including Adam and all his descendants, and the spiritual, angelic, world, and all its power. In the flow of the song, thrones, dominions, rulers and authorities are more than likely focused references to mystical spiritual kinds of beings, and their powers, and jurisdictions. Paul starts this back a few verses in the flow of his thought in verse 13, concerning Satan's domain of darkness, which contrasts the Kingdom of Christ. When commissioning Paul with the message he is sharing here in Colossians, Christ called that same domain of darkness, the "dominion of Satan" in Acts 26:18. Paul wants the Colossians to know that Christ, in His superiority, created everything, including the inferior wicked spiritual domain of darkness, and that God transfers the elect into the jurisdiction of the Kingdom of Christ in His predestined rescue. These facts were a big deal for the fledgling church in Colossae. The authority of the spirit realm was a major concern in Colossae with all of its bizarre religions, superstitions, and philosophies. The authority of the spirit realm is a big concern in our day too, whether it be from angels, to demons, to anything else. There are a lot of folks who worship false gods, and they think that Jesus is on par with those things, or below them. There are people in our area who worship what they call the mother goddess. People worship other kinds of spirits, where some of them even apply spiritual powers to nature in a kind of animism. There is also direct Satan worship today. Paul says that worshipping false god's is really worship of demons,
"I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; ..." 1 Corinthians 10:20
The fact is that people worship all kinds of spirit beings, and attribute power to them. Demon possession would even come under this spirit-power category. The point is that whatever the spirit entity issue is, we must remember that Christ created it all. We must remember also, that He has a purpose for it all. And we must never forget that He is superior to it all. The authority of the spirit realm was also a concern for the Colossian's sister city of Ephesus. Paul talks about the thrones, dominions, rulers, and authorities this way to the Ephesians in respect to the dominion of Satan,
"1 you were [in the past] dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience." Ephesians 1:1-2
This identifies both a princely spiritual entity, and the jurisdiction of the spirit. These are all important statements about the existence of spiritual beings, their power, and how they relate to the supremacy of Christ. Peter describes the angelic realm's power in terms that help us get a glimpse into this mystical arena. Evil men,
"10 despise authority... do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties, 11 whereas angels who are greater in might and power do not bring a reviling judgment against them before the Lord." 2 Peter 2:10-11
We remember that Colossae and Ephesus had all kinds of pagan traditions ingrained in their cultures concerning these things. This would relentlessly influence their thoughts, and it would naturally lead to questions. We find Paul repeating this concern in the next chapter where Paul continues to allude to the mystical spiritual being realm again, concerning Christ's relationship to it. Starting his point again with Christ's deity as the supreme being who came in the flesh, Paul says,
"9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, 10 and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;"
"15 When He [God] had disarmed [in the past] the rulers and authorities, He made [in the past] a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him [Christ]."
"18 Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, ..." Colossians 2:9-18
The same subject of Christ's relationship to the spirit realm was in Paul's mind with the Ephesian church when Paul wrote,
"10 so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places." Ephesians 3:10
The big point is that all thrones, dominions, rulers and authorities that exist, were created by, and for, Christ. Even physical governments that are immersed in the domain of darkness, (like the apostate Jews, and the pagan Romans of that time, and even governments of our day) though operating with people who have the spirit of disobedience working in them, are still ultimately created by Christ for Himself in His sovereign determination. According to Romans 13, the Spirit tells us that all Governments are ordained by God. Even when wicked, lost, Pontius Pilate decreed that Jesus was to be crucified, Jesus explained to Pilate,
"11 You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above;" John 19:11
We really need to keep this in mind in our own wounded Republic. Whenever we campaign, and we pray, vote, and we hope for decent, prudent, wise, politicians to be our public servants, and then the outcome is that one reprobate, or fool, after another keeps getting elected, we must remember that each time, after the ballots are burned, Christ ultimately ordained the authority for Himself--even the authority of the voters, and is above it. This does not mean that we resign ourselves to fatalism. It does mean, though, that we continue to trust the Creator no matter what; and we continue to glorify Christ in our own lives and actions no matter how despotic, evil, and crazy our government seems to be. So, this is the third point; Christ, in His incarnation as the only begotten Son, is the eternal Son, who created all things (ta panta) for His own self--even spiritual powers.
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This leads to the fourth point, which further explains the Son's sovereign power,
"17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." Colossians 1:17
@4 Christ Jesus existed before all things, and in Him all things ______________ together. (Colossians 1:17)
In the ongoing spotlight upon Christ's wonder, Paul continues to explain the Son's sovereign power in respect to all things. Paul uses the same Greek word to explain that God elected us in Christ "before" the foundation of the world, Ephesians 1:4. "Before" is a description of time. So here, when Paul says that Christ is before all things, the song continues to exalt Christ concerning the fact that He is not a created being, but existed before anything He created, as the sovereign God. Christ, as immense eternal (aionios) God, also holds everything together that He created. We can think about the atomic level of everything. These are tiny things that make up atoms. Atoms are combined into bigger particles, which are combined to make the bigger things. Electrons are seemingly invisible little things that orbit around protons at super high speeds. They spin around the nucleus of the atom in a lighting fast blur. People think that the positively charged electrostatic force in the Protons of the nucleus of an atom is the centripetal force that allows the electrons to orbit the nucleus. Oddly enough, though, the positively charged protons in the nucleus of an atom, should push each other away. But amazingly, there is another force that keeps protons from repelling protons. This force acts between neutrons and neutrons and protons and neutrons. It is this strange force that attracts these various particles toward one another. The Holy Spirit tells us that all things are held together by Christ, whether at the atomic physical level, or at the spiritual level, including the entities and governments of the metaphysical realm. Jesus Christ even holds the protons that He made for Himself together. Jesus holds Satan, and angels together. He holds their governing forces together. Quantum mechanical theory has sought to explain why protons don't repel each other, and how Atoms hold together at every point, including why electrons don't attack the nucleus by attraction. The fundamental answer is that God keeps them there right where He wants them, and right where they need to be. On a larger scale, the created earth's created orbit is precisely where it needs to be held around the created sun to sustain the created life. The sun is 12 thousand degrees Fahrenheit--And you thought your oven was hot at 400 degrees. If the sun were any closer, we would cook like we were in an oven. If it was any further, we would freeze to death. The speed of the earth's orbit is also precisely where it needs to be to keep us from freezing, or burning. The moon's orbit around the earth, is precisely where it needs to be in concert with the life sustaining activity of the earth. If the moon wasn't exactly where it is, the oceans would flood the earth twice a day. The earth is tilted at an exact angel of 23 degrees. If it were not tilted like that, humidity from the ocean would accumulate in the north and south and the world would become one big ice box. This is but a speck of the necessary balance of all created things that boggles the minds of men who talk about a fine tune, yet they ignore the fine tuner who holds the tune. What modern scientific theory gropes around trying to understand more thoroughly today, God explained in concise terms 2000 years ago in the tune of our verse; "in Him all things hold together." In Hebrews, the writer describes the Master-tuner in similar words;
"1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son,
[This is another deity of Christ proclamation. Continuing,]
whom He appointed heir of all things.
[This is another firstborn-heir designation. Also notice that Christ is the heir of all things. All things have been created by Him, and for Him. The writer of Hebrews goes,]
through whom also He [Christ] made the world.
[This is a repeat of Colossians 1:16; "For by Him all things were created," Now verse 3;]
3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature,
[This is another deity of Christ proclamation. Now pay special attention to what the writer of Hebrews says next;]
"and upholds all things by the word of His power." Hebrews 1:1-3
Whenever we hear someone try to answer the questions of how, and why, all things that Christ made hold together, we know the fundamental answer. It is because the Word Who became flesh, upholds all things by the word of His power in both the physical and spiritual realm.
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This brings us to the fifth doctrinal point of this wonderful song of praise that describes Christ and His relationship to you. It is the New Covenant truth of the Body of Christ which is the church, of which Christ is the Head.
"18 He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything."
@5 Christ Jesus is the head of the ________________ which is the church. (Colossians 1:18)
Notice that we see firstborn language again. This is important because the song is making doctrinal statements through layer upon layer. In Paul's culture, this is what is called a "chiastic" kind of pattern style of repetition that applies both similarity and contrast in a poetic rhythm to get various points across. It is really quite a sophisticated approach to poetry that was employed by Israelites to convey truth. In the song at this point in the chiasm a nuanced aspect of being firstborn has another meaning. As in all songs, we expect to find intentional kinds of patterns, and plays on words, poetic nuance, and all that kind of thing. We find that here. We remember the fist stanza, where the song starts out announcing that Christ is the image of the invisible God as the firstborn of all that He created. Now in the stanza kind of pattern here, where the word "also" is introduced (kai in Greek, also "and"), Paul moves onto Christ in His physical actions in the cross and resurrection where He is both the creator, and head of the body, the church as "the first born from the dead." So now we are singing His description as the firstborn into resurrected life after His death in the crucifixion. He is the beginning in the New Covenant sense, being the incarnate New Covenant Himself, resurrected to have first place. It is pertinent that Paul says, "so that ..." He says,
"... so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything."
Right now, Christ's majesty and Lordship is recognized by His church, where Christ is the head of the body verse 18, and so He reigns over His kingdom, and we, His church, serve Him. Nevertheless, there still exists at the same time, a domain of darkness that does not honor Christ as King. So Christ is the head--He is the first among us, His body; but Christ has not yet completely eliminated all evil in comprehensive Rule. What this is called, in Theology, is the,
"Now, Not Yet," tension.
What this means is that even though Christ is the Lord of the church, and all who are saved are transferred into His kingdom, there remains a future prophetic fulfillment when the imperial sovereign Christ will reign over everything with no more fallen rebellious sinful piece of creation remaining. This is why the Spirit tells us that His creation groans and is awaiting this time of redemptive release in Romans 8 (Groaning creation is also seen in Jeremiah 4). The creation is groaning right now, while awaiting the time when Christ actually has every single enemy under His feet in His perfect rule. Notice the progression of the now and not yet in other passages,
"25 For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet." 1 Corinthians 15:25
"For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him." Hebrews 2:8
"11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2:11
@6 Every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is ___________________, to the glory of God the Father. (Colossians 1:18)
In the meantime, all who are elect get salvation through the death and resurrection of Christ's physical body. In 1 Corinthians, Paul shows our relationship, where Christ is the first born from the dead. There, Paul uses the word "first-fruit" to explain the process of how the actual resurrection, in our connection with Christ, works,
"20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who [have died]." 1 Corinthians 15:20
The big point is that the New Covenant body of Christ began with the resurrection of Christ. Christ's resurrected body is the body of Christ in the first sense. So, Christ is the firstborn in His actual resurrected body under His own New Covenant as the living New Covenant.
So, how does this apply to us?
The answer is that, spiritually, He is the head of the body, the church, where He is the Lord of the church. The church is made up of His new creations, "created in Christ," Ephesians 2:10, as "new creations," Galatians 6:15, being "in Christ we are new creatures," 2 Corinthians 5:17. All who receive the adoption of the Father by the indwelling Holy Spirit are members of the body of Christ. It was the dramatic arrival of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2:2-4 that harvested members into Christ's body--the church. Since then, this is what you and me and all Christians are. This why the body of Christ is called "The church." The church is the called out and gathered in Christ. It is the "one new man," of Ephesians 2:15. It is where Jew and Gentile, Male and Female, are all one in Christ positionally and spiritually as the body. So, whenever we play this hymn in our hearts, we are singing about what makes us joint heirs with the first born heir, where we are born again in Him, who is the first born from the dead. Later, after we die, we will resurrect in a kind of rebirth from death in perfect bodies that are more fitting for the glorious kingdom of our eternal spiritual citizenship.
Now, at this time, I was going to cover verses 19-20 in a sixth point in this sermon. I originally labeled the point to glean as, "Through the blessing of Christ alone, God made the reconciling peace that perfects corruption under the curse." But I am going to save that for next week for a more comprehensive teaching to refute how universalists, arminians, pelagians, and so-called 4 point calvinists, who wrongly believe in universal atonement, try to interpret the passage. In the meantime,
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the final point, which is our sixth point to glean, is that through Christ, reconciliation for His elect people occurs, where He makes us set apart, and without blame, as saved people,
"21 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, 22 yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach--23 if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister."" Colossians 1:21-23
Paul is restating what he said a few sentences earlier when he declared, that the Father,
"... qualified us to share in the inheritance of the set apart ones in Light. 13 For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." Colossians 1:12-14
Here, in our passage at 21-23, Paul shows that there is a contingency to being qualified to share in the inheritance. The contingency is that the qualifying reconciliation of the rescue is based upon people having saving faith in the hope of the good news. This must occur, because Christ, as the firstborn, inherits all the people He rescues out of the domain of darkness, bringing them into rest and peace in Him forever. It is the reconciliation of certain ones among the alienated, where God makes you pure, holy, blameless, and beyond indictment for any sin whatsoever. It was a hard, humble, painful, and excruciating work that Christ went through to save all whom He saves in Himself. Unlike the "children of wrath" who go on to inherit the wrath outside the rescue, the truly saved are made evident each day as continuing in the faith of the good news. Christ inherits you, me, and everyone else He reconciles through the cross in salvation. We have peace with God in Christ in our rescue. Once we, who are saved, were enemies, alienated and hostile in mind. We were un-reconciled along with the rest of sinful humanity who lives in sin. We were engaged in evil deeds as an affinity. In Him who is our peace, we await, by faith, our ultimate glorification, where someday Christ,
"will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself." Philippians 3:20
This is what Paul meant when he said that Christ
"would be the firstborn among many brothers;" Romans 8:29-30
He is the firstborn. All who are saved, are the "many" brothers in Him, where the word many is always defined by context, in respect to tota Scriptura, which is all scripture for doctrinal considerations. The point is that all men everywhere are not brothers of Christ. Only many are, and the many are those who do not perish as children of wrath who experience eternal destruction.
Isn't this beautiful? This beautiful song will be sung for eternity (aion) in honor of our glorious God. This song reminds us that we are Christ's reward of His inheritance given to Himself in His own grueling work on the cross, and in His own supernatural resurrection from the dead. This is the same proclamation of the Moravian missionaries who, when they set out on boats to die serving Christ, called out to their sobbing friends back on the shore,
"May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of His suffering!"
Christ is the great first-born heir, and we are His rewards of His inheritance that He created in Himself for Himself, where in Him, we are joint heirs as the body. The names of all who will be saved, were written in the Lambs book of life since before the foundation of the world. Others whose names are not found there, perish <completely> being in their sins, without everlasting life. Perishing is the opposite of eternal life in Christ. Those names of the non-elect who perish, are not there in Christ's book. But for the elect, this is the chorus song of another song. I am talking about the song of the true inheritance of the Lamb, where the creatures in the heavenly vision, and the twenty-four elders, sing out in triumphant verse:
"Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood people from every tribe and tongue and people and nation." Revelation 5:9
@7 Christ was crucified, and __________________ people for God from every tribe, tongue, people group, and nation with His blood. (Revelation 5:9)
I urge you to consider all the wonderful blessing of this song we have been studying in answering the question; How is Christ the Firstborn?; and what does that mean for Me? Make it a point to always have this song in your heart. Sing the amazing fact that the nature of Christ reflects the essence of God because Christ is God. It is easier to sing that Jesus is more than a mere mortal, than to try and break it down and explain the infinite depths of what it means. He is the great Immanuel--God with us. Be singing the rest of the song knowing that the firstborn reference for Christ expresses Christ's status as the first born Heir as the Son of God, King of kings, and Lord of lords. It is His majesty fulfilled in prophecy, and it is important for the inheritance of the Prince of Peace, who is King who makes peace with all whom He truly saves. Be humming the description in your heart, and from your lips, that Christ, in His incarnation as the only begotten Son, is the eternal Son, who created all that He created for His own self. Along with this, be thinking about the amazing fact: The Word Who become flesh, upholds all things by the word of His power. Recognize who you are. You are the body. Share it with others--the greatest creation of all is the New Covenant Body of Christ which is the church, of which Christ is the Head. In the body, Jew and Gentile, Male and Female, are all one in Christ positionally and spiritually. It is what makes all of us joint heirs with the first born heir, where we are born again in Him, who is the first born from the dead. It is our great privilege, where each member of the body is directly related to our Head, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. This is why we sing. Finally, be remembering the grueling work that Christ went through to make the body. He changed the violence of lostness into peace for people who are actually saved through the violence of His torture and execution. Through His blood, and through His resurrection, He will someday change His creation that is groaning in the curse. It is because of all of this that we are privileged to partake in His plan. All glory to Him. Amen
@1 Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible ____________. (Colossians 1:15
@2 Jesus reigns over His kingdom that has no _______________. (Luke 1:32)
@3 Jesus Christ ______________ all things for Himself. (Colossians 1:16)
@4 Christ Jesus existed before all things, and in Him all things ______________ together. (Colossians 1:17)
@5 Christ Jesus is the head of the ________________ which is the church. (Colossians 1:18)
@6 Every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is ___________________, to the glory of God the Father. (Colossians 1:18)
@7 Christ was crucified, and __________________ people for God from every tribe, tongue, people group, and nation with His blood. (Revelation 5:9)
