While I was teaching the study of Colossians at my church, my husband brought me the May 2009 issue of Christianity Today. “Isn’t this what you’ve been teaching on?” he asked. The article talked about syncretism! (Syncretism is the combination of different beliefs and religious practices.) I wanted to share a few pieces of this article with you. It spoke of a troubling shift in a particular church denomination, along with many mainline Protestant communities “towards religious pluralism, the belief that there are diverse paths to God.” It says, “clearly there are people, including religious leaders, who find spiritual wisdom in faiths other than their own.” Surveys of American baby boomers—Protestant, Catholic, or Jewish, liberal or conservative—all showed a trend toward a cafeteria-style religion where one believes in whatever works best for him or her. An Aug. 2008 survey conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public life showed 52 percent of American Christians overall and 47 percent of evangelical Christians believe that some non-Christian faiths can lead to eternal life. The authors of this article noted the challenge for (the denomination named) and all denominations to respond to the question, ‘What’s so special about Jesus?’”
Is Christianity simply one of many roads that lead to God? The resounding answer of the Bible is “No!” That is most certainly what our culture wants us to believe. It seems to be doing a good job of convincing many even in the church. Yet when we study Colossians, we will come to a very different conclusion. As we read Paul’s lofty praise for Christ, we see Jesus Christ is unique in His capacity to reconcile men to God. He alone is “the way, the truth, and the life,” and Christianity is the only religion that contains the truth about salvation. Colossians 1:15-23 shows this clearly as it presents both the person and the work of Jesus Christ.
I. Jesus Christ is unique in His person (15-18)
II. Jesus Christ is unique in His work (19-23)
First, Jesus Christ is unique in His person. Let’s take this phrase by phrase. Verse 15 states “He is the image of the invisible God.” Paul begins with a claim to Jesus’ unique deity. Though God in His essence is invisible, we have in Jesus an “exact representation and revelation.” That is what the word “image” means as used in this verse. The word used goes beyond giving us a picture of what God is like to showing us the very character of God Himself. The writer of Hebrews captures this meaning best when he says the Son is “the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.” Jesus Christ is the image of God because Christ is deity. (It’s also interesting to note that the dictionary also defines image as an icon or idol. However, worshipping Jesus is not idolatry because an idol is any “image, form, or representation of creation consecrated as an object of worship.” When we worship Jesus, we are not worshipping part of God’s creation but the Creator, as we will see in the phrases that follow.)
Jesus is also unique over creation. The rest of verse 15 reads he is “the firstborn over all creation.” Firstborn does not refer to Christ being created though many false teachers and cults (including Jehovah’s Witnesses) would argue this. Instead, firstborn refers to position. Think of the OT usage of the term firstborn. It gave a special position and portion to the eldest male in the family. The firstborn had a right to the blessing and to a double inheritance. Yet think of Jacob, Joseph, Solomon, and others who held this position though they were not actually the eldest male. The people of Israel were also referred to as God’s firstborn although they were certainly not the first nation. They had a special position as God’s people. Christ is firstborn in His position, and He is firstborn because He is God, and therefore He is eternal, and because (as the next phrase says,) He created all things.
So we see in verse 16, “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him.” Everything you see and can’t see, in the natural world and in the supernatural, was created by and through and for Christ. No wonder the winds and the waves obeyed Him! He created them! The use of three prepositions (by, through, for) were Paul’s defense against the false teachers. Greek philosophers taught that everything needed a primary cause, and instrumental cause, and a final cause. Paul is claiming that Jesus Christ is the primary cause (He planned creation), the instrumental cause (He brought creation into being), and the final cause (He did it for His own pleasure).
And (in verse 17) “in Him all things hold together.” Consider the power of this statement! We have evidence of what happens when an atom is split: atomic power. Scientists have admitted that they do not know what holds an atom together, yet we see the power unleashed when it comes apart. We know who is holding all things together: it is Christ! Can you imagine the power it took to both create this universe and hold it together? I have often thought, “I just can’t seem to hold things together.” Yet in this passage I am comforted that is not my job! I am also challenged to trust that in Christ alone, all things hold together.
In verse 18, Jesus is also unique over the church. “He is head of the body, the church”, which means He directs it. Just as my brain must send a signal to my finger to make it move, the church is directed by the leadership of Christ. Christ is head because He is the beginning, He existed before the church and thus as its creator and redeemer, He leads. His is also the firstborn from among the dead. Again, this does not mean He was the first to rise from the dead, but has a special position as the first to rise and remain alive, guaranteeing every promise made to believers about the resurrection.
Jesus’ unique role as deity, as over creation and the church all lead to God’s purpose in Christ: unique preeminence. I looked up the meaning of both preeminence and supremacy, and preeminence means superior in every way; supremacy the highest station of power. In the verses we looked at in this study, Jesus Christ is described as highly exalted, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. It is a position of complete authority. As we consider this authority, we need to look closely at our own lives. Does Jesus have authority over every area of your life? Does He have authority over your finances, your relationships, how you use your time, what goes on in your thought life, your prayer life, or in your service to Him? Where do you need to allow Jesus to be first in any of these areas?
Second, let’s consider how Jesus is unique in His work. Paul begins to hit on this in verse 19 as he describes Jesus’ relationship to the Father. “In him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of the cross.” The Gnostics used the word “fullness” to describe the totality of the thousands of emanations or “lesser gods”, of which Jesus was mused to be one on the bottom rung of a ladder that could be climbed to finally reach God. Paul uses the same word to say that Jesus was the fullness. All of God’s divine power and attributes rest in Christ and “live” there for eternity. In this fullness God took pleasure in reconciling to Himself all things. In Colossians it specifically notes “whether on earth or in heaven.” It says nothing of things “under the earth.” All of creation, all of heaven, all believers will be reconciled to God, but things under the earth will merely be in subjection to Christ. They will bow, but not be reconciled. Hell is a reality we must not forget. That is why Paul urges us elsewhere to be ministers of reconciliation, taking the message of reconciliation to others as Christ’s ambassadors.
Jesus’ unique work is also displayed in relation to the cross. Verse 20 “Making peace by the blood of his cross.” This was God’s method of reconciling men to Himself. God’s holy, just wrath against sin could only be turned from men by the sacrifice of His perfect Son on behalf of sinners. From our first section we see that Jesus alone is uniquely qualified to be a substitute for man’s sin. In Jesus’ death, peace has been made between God and man. There is no other way of reconciliation given to men but by the cross. Trusting in Jesus’ death to pay the penalty for sin is the only way of salvation.
Finally, Jesus’ unique work is displayed in relation to believers. (verses 21-23) In verse 21 we read we once were alienated from God. This word refers to a persistent and permanent condition. Alienation expressed itself in a mind that was hostile to Him and engaged in evil deeds. Yet now “he has reconciled us”. Did you notice it says he reconciled us? We could not do anything to reconcile ourselves to God. Any religion that promotes works as a means of salvation is a dead end and does not lead to God. Only in Christ has God offered the means of reconciliation. He does so in order that one day he will “present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him. “
Verse 23 shows evidence of reconciliation, not a condition to receive it. This word “if” could perhaps be better taken as “since.” Those whom God has reconciled will “continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel you have heard.” We don’t have to work to hold on to our salvation which is secure in Christ, but we can examine our lives for evidence of that salvation. If evidence is lacking, we need only go back to look at the person of Christ and believe He is who He says He is. When we receive salvation, we begin to build our lives on the foundation of who He is and the work He has done on our behalf.
Paul finishes with the proclamation of the gospel, “of which I, Paul, became a minister.” Paul relished the privilege he had to take Christ to others that they, too, might know His unique person and work. Has this passage renewed your desire to make Christ known to others, to see Him for who He truly is? What will you do to share Christ with a world that is alienated from Him, as you once were?
I began with the pluralism that is challenging the modern church. Let’s go back about a hundred years or so to 1893, when Chicago hosted the famous World’s Columbian Exposition. This took place about 20 years after the great Chicago fire of 1873, and many were curious to see how the city had emerged. Twenty-one million people came to visit the exhibits. One of the features of the Exposition was the “World Parliament of Religions,” in which representatives of the world’s religions met to share their best points and perhaps come up with a new world religion. D.L. Moody saw this event as a great opportunity for evangelism. Though some of his friends wanted him to attack this outright, he refused. Instead he said, “I am going to make Jesus Christ so attractive that men will turn to him.” His strategy resulted in one of the most successful evangelistic campaigns of his lifetime, and thousands came to Christ.
“What’s so special about Jesus?” If we can apply the lessons of Colossians 1:15-23 to our lives and share them with others, we will be able to meet the challenges of syncretism and pluralism. Moody saw this kind of a challenge as an opportunity. Do you?
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