Colossians 1:15-20b

¹⁵He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him. ¹⁷He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. ¹⁸And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy. ¹⁹For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, ²⁰and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross.

Jesus is before all things, and in Him all things hold together (v17). Hebrews 1:3 says, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word.” It is the similar language used here that leads some to think that maybe Paul was the mystery author of Hebrews. More likely, the author was someone who knew Paul, who learned from him, traveled with him perhaps. We don’t know. But Jesus is the sustainer of all things. Did you take a breath just now? It’s because Jesus is sustaining the universe by His powerful word. Did you take another breath? It’s because there is not a single rogue molecule floating around by chance or chaos. Jesus is holding all things together. He is the sovereign Lord.

Jesus is the head of the Church, which is His body (v18). Jesus is the only authority in all matters, broadly in all of creation, and specifically in His Church. We are set free from the commandments of men, because Christ is the Lord in His Church. He is also the head of His Church in the sense that He is the source of all spiritual life in the body. Paul says that Jesus is the beginning and the end, or the new beginning, as the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy (v18), the preeminence. This points to the resurrection of Christ, the ground of our hope. Because Jesus is raised from the dead, we have hope of resurrection. It is precisely because of the truth of Christ’s resurrection, that we expect and hope for our resurrection. And so Paul argues that because Jesus is supreme, preeminent, both in creation and redemption, He is sufficient for us in all matters. This is the message of the Bible as a whole. Jesus has always been supreme and preeminent, even before creation, but now, as Creator, Sustainer, and – by His death and resurrection – Redeemer, He is even more glorified and honored. That’s creation’s purpose.

God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him (v19). The word “fullness” was a word used by the false teachers to encourage spiritual fullness by following these mystical rituals. So Paul is saying, “No, fullness is in Christ alone; nothing else is needed.” True spiritual fullness lies in Christ. And this magnificent thought can’t escape Paul’s mind as he writes, because he comes back to it in Colossians 2:8-10: “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.” We’ll talk more about that passage when we get there. One commentator adds that Paul says, “God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him,” to point out that Christ has earned “the name above all names.” The fullness of God here is Jesus’ worthiness of glory, honor, and majesty that brings the Father pleasure. Without Christ, we have nothing, for all the fullness (of everything) is found in Him. Here we see the sufficiency of Christ’s person.

Finally, Paul says, “God was pleased to reconcile all things – on earth and in heaven – to Himself through Jesus by making peace through His blood” (v20). As sin destroyed the relationship between creatures and the Creator, between man and God (and as Calvin declares, even between angels and God), so Christ restores that fellowship and relationship between man and God (and according to Calvin, guarantees well-grounded peace with God for sinless angels as well), and He does it through the death of His cross. Christianity requires the cross. Here we see the sufficiency of Christ’s work – “even angels long to look into these things” (1 Peter 1:12). See also Romans 8:18-21.