Colossians: Above All Things

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Talk intro:

We’re continuing our journey through the book of Colossians today and we’re going to be wrapping up our look at one of the prayers that the apostle Paul wrote to the Colossian church.

This prayer serves as an introduction to Jesus for the Colossians who were believers but very new and with only a shallow understanding about Him.

It makes sense that Paul would spend the first few lines of this letter to introduce Jesus to them. Since most of them had come out of Greek and Roman mythology it was important to Paul they would have a clear picture of who Jesus is and how He is different than the mythological figures they were familiar with.

If you look at verses 9-14 it gives a summary of what Jesus has done and verses 15-18 tell us who He is.

Today we’re going to look at verses 17-18.

Let’s read Colossians 1:17-18

In these verses Paul is establishing the preeminence of Jesus. He is following on from the previous verses and he is revealing the special connection between Christ and His Church.

In verse 17 Paul uses two Greek words that have double meanings. The first one is the word ‘before’ it can mean in front of something or superior to something. And the second word is translated ‘all things’ and it can mean all things individually and all things collectively…

So by using these words together Paul is saying that Jesus is above and before everything all inclusively. Nothing and no one is left out of His authority. So even if the Greek and Roman gods existed they would be subject to Christ and that definitely includes the dark powers of the spiritual world behind those gods.

Then Paul goes on to say that in Jesus all things consist. What that means is that Jesus brings everything together under His authority and He holds it all together. But it also means to put something together to teach by combing and comparing things.

He brings all things together for the purpose of revealing His perfect will to us by showing us what it good and right and to reveal Himself to the world more clearly. It goes back to what Jesus said in John 12:32 "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all [peoples] to Myself."

That brings us to vs. 18 where Paul begins using the body as an illustration for Christ’s authority. But in this case it’s based on a very special relationship. Christ is above all things yet Christ is united with us.

He is the beginning, the firstborn of from the dead meaning that He started something that will continue and since He is the head of the body, the Church, you and me, that means us! Our future in Jesus is assured and secured and it helps us see that we are what it says in…

1 Peter 2:9 But you [are] a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

Another way to see this is that Jesus has always been over all, He has always been the Lord over all creation, but through His death and resurrection he has revealed Himself to the world as the Head over all things.

The Church is the firstborn of the new creation and He is working in and through us to reconcile the world to Himself.

Hebrews 2:9-11 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. 10 ¶ For it was fitting for Him, for whom [are] all things and by whom [are] all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11 For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified [are] all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren.

That is who He is and because of who He is that is who we are!