This week, we are continuing with our exposition of Colossians 1:12-22, picking up where we left off last week at Vs 17.

I. Praise for Our Sustainer (Vs 17-19)

Christ is before all things. He preceded all created things.

  1. To be “before all things” actually contains two ideas in the one thought.
  • He is before all things in order of time. In other words, his existence precedes all of creation. The Lord Jesus Christ was in existence before the work of creation had begun.
    John 8:58b “…Before Abraham was, I am.”
  • Secondly, He is above all things in his exalted position as both the creator and sustainer of all things.
  1. The Lord Jesus Christ is supremely high above all creation.
  • As you consider the implications of what Paul is saying you have to remember that he is talking to the church at Colosse which is being infiltrated by Gnostic heretics.
    The heretics would come in and say, “Well, its great that you’ve found Christ, now what you need is to obtain that next level, that higher knowledge that will progress you to the next level of spiritual growth.
  • Paul’s response to that is, “No! Christ is before all things. There is nothing greater than Christ, and there is no knowledge greater than to know Christ. Let the heretics be silent.”
  1. Christ is the sustainer of all creation
  • The Lord Jesus Christ continues to hold the universe together by his own creative power.
  • Illustration of the nucleus: “Eight positively charged protons closely associated together within the confines of its tiny nucleus with 8 neutrons with no charge. According to the laws of physics, these should attract each other and the whole history of electrical phenomena and electrical equipment have been built on these principles known as Coulomb’s law of electrostatic force and the law of magnetism. What holds the nucleus together? Why doesn’t it fly apart? (D. Lee Chesnut)
    In seeking to explain the powerful force that holds protons together within the nucleus, scientists coined the phrase “strong nuclear force,” but have no explanation for why it exists.
    Karl K. Darrow, a physicist, comments: “You grasp what this implies. It implies that all the massive nuclei have no right to be alive at all. Indeed, they should never have been created, and, if created, they should have blown up instantly. Yet here they all are…Some inflexible inhibition is holding them relentlessly together. The nature of the inhibition is also a secret…one thus far reserved by Nature for herself.”
  • We don’t need to imagine what it is that hold all creation together because the Bible has already revealed it is Christ who sustains all creation. (Heb 1:3) “…Upholding all things by the word of His power.”
  1. Christ is the head of the church.
  • Christ is the one who established his church during his earthly ministry.
  • The exact time when the church was officially instituted by Christ is a matter of some debate, but the fact that Christ established his church is indisputable.
  • Mathew 16:18 “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
  • The name Peter is petros which means a small pebble. The Rock on which Christ would build his church was petra, which refers to a large mass of rock. Christ was clearly referring to himself and saying that he would build his church upon “The Rock”, the “Chief Cornerstone.”
  1. He is the firstborn from the dead.
  • Again, this term firstborn does not refer to the first in order of time, but the first in order of status.
  • In this case, the resurrection of Christ precedes all resurrections unto life through Him. That is, until the resurrection of Christ, there was no resurrection unto eternal life, since that only came after Christ had opened the way, and we follow after him, therefore, He is the firstborn from the dead.
  • The end goal is that Christ would have the pre-eminence in all things.
  1. To have ‘pre-eminence’ is to take first place, to be first in rank and influence.
  • Since he is before all things, the head of the church, and the firstborn of the dead it follows that he should have the pre-eminence in all things.
  1. In Christ dwells all the fulness of the Godhead
  • (Colossians 2:9 “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.”
  • The Father thought it good and pleasing unto himself that the completion and fulness of all things should be in and through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
  • And we are complete in him.

 

 

II. Paul’s Praise for Our Reconciliation (Vs 20-22)

  1. Praise for Our Peace (Vs 20)
  • The blood of the cross was sufficient to obtain peace with God.
  • Let’s consider two prominent passages from Isaiah and then add further comment.
  • Isaiah 9:6 “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”
  • He is indeed the Prince of Peace because, through his blood, He reconciled man, the creature, with God, the Creator, thus making peace between God and man.
  • Isaiah 53:5 “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”
    The broken body and shed blood were all effectual in the working out of our salvation. As Christ suffered brutally through his crucifixion has was actually procuring our peace.
  1. The only way to obtain peace with God is to approach God in the basis of the blood.
  • When someone is on their death bed we often hear of their need to make peace with their Maker. The only way to have peace with God is through the blood of Christ.
  • The modern Bible versions and contemporary songs have done away with or minimized the blood of Christ, but we must have the blood if we are going to have peace.
  • Modern Christendom can shout all they want about peace and love but without the blood we have no peace, and we remain at war with God. Don’t discard the blood!
  1. The blood of the cross not only brought reconciliation between God and man, but also between God and the entirety of His creation.
  • Rom 8:22 “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. Vs23) And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.”
  1. Praise for Our Restoration (Vs 21-22)
  • We are born sinners who are estranged from God.
  • We are born with a sin nature, and we live under sins dominion. By nature, we are alienated from God and at enmity with him. There are two spheres of alienation mentioned here.
  • We were alienated from God in our own minds. Our deepest thoughts and the imaginations of our hearts were at enmity with the holy nature of God.
  • We were alienated from God in our actions. Notice the order, from thoughts and imaginations to actions. Our hearts put us at enmity with the nature of God, and our actions brought us into transgression of His holy Law.
  1. But in Christ we are reconciled to God, and our fellowship restored.
  • To be reconciled is to have friendly relations restored. When we were bound in sin, we had no fellowship with God but were at war with Him, but since we have been reconciled, through the blood of Christ, we have our fellowship with God restored and are at peace with our Creator.
  • It is our privilege to be able to fellowship once again with our Creator. We did not deserve it, but God sought to reconcile us unto Himself.
  • Through his bodily sacrifice on the cross, Christ brought us back into fellowship with God.
  1. The body of Christ had to pass through deaths door and then be raised unto new life, otherwise there would be no redemption for us.
  • Romans 4:25 “Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.”
  • If Christ had not been raised from the dead this would mean that His sacrifice had not been sufficient to totally satisfy the holy demands of God’s justice, and that there was still a sin debt to be paid. For us, this would mean no redemption, no justification, no reconciliation, and no resurrection unto eternal life with God.
  • The bodily death and resurrection of Christ was absolutely necessary in obtaining our peace with God.
  1. The Bible makes it clear that the shed blood, physical death, and bodily resurrection are all absolutely necessary for the full application of Salvation.
  • The blood is absolutely necessary for the remission of sins and to bring peace with God. (Col 1:14 & 20 & Heb 9:22)
  • The physical death of Christ was needed in order for the promises of the New Covenant to take effect. (Hebrews 9:14-17)
  • The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ was indispensable in order for the believer to have hope of a resurrection unto eternal life with God. (Rom 6:8-11 & John 11:25-26 & I Cor 15)

(His blood paid the price of sin; his body broke the curse of sin, his resurrection broke the power of sin)

  1. The goal in His shed blood, death, burial, and resurrection was that He would be able to present his own blood bought children as treasures of his grace, holy and unblameable and unreprovable in His sight, in the presence of the Father.

Conclusion:

  1. We began by looking at the praise offered to God for the blessings that are ours in salvation.
  2. Next, we moved into Paul’s grand theme in these verses which was praise for Christ, our Redeemer.
  3. Lastly, we considered the blessing of having peace with God through the sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross.
  • I trust that this study has refreshed your perspective on the preciousness of Christ, and the importance of the shed blood, the physical death, and the bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.