Colossians 1 - Jesus, The Revelation of God

Today, Tuesday May 18 Jesus, The Revelation of God Colossians 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. Paul begins this epistle by telling the saints at Colossae that he is praying without ceasing for them and even details the things that he was praying for them. But he quickly goes into one of the reasons that he is writing this letter. Remember his friend Epaphas has told him about the false teachers that have infiltrated the assembly of the believers and are teaching false doctrine concerning the person of Jesus Christ. The false teachers were very confused about Creation. They taught that matter was evil, including the human body. They also taught that Jesus Christ did not have a real body since this would have put Him in contact with evil matter. The results of these false teachings were tragic, including extreme asceticism on the one hand and unbridled sin on the other. After all, if your body is sinful, you either try to enslave it or you enjoy it. To deal with these false teachers, Paul shares several things about the relationship that Jesus Christ has to Creation. First, Jesus existed before Creation (v. 15).  The term firstborn does not refer to time, but to place or status. Jesus Christ was not the first being created, since He Himself is the Creator of all things. Firstborn simply means "of first importance, of first rank." Solomon was certainly not born first of all of David's sons, yet he was named the firstborn (Ps. 89:27).  Firstborn of all Creation means "prior to all Creation." Jesus Christ is not a created being; He is eternal God. Paul used the word image to make this fact clear. It means "an exact representation and revelation." The writer to the Hebrews affirms that Jesus Christ is "the express image of His Person" (Heb. 1:3).  Jesus was able to say, "He that hath seen Me, hath seen the Father" (John 14:9). In His essence, God is invisible; but Jesus Christ has revealed Him to us (John 1:18). Nature reveals the existence, power, and wisdom of God; but nature cannot reveal the very essence of God to us. It is only in Jesus Christ that the invisible God is revealed perfectly. Since no mere creature can perfectly reveal God, Jesus Christ must be God. What we believe about Jesus is foundational to everything in our Christian life! Today, what do you know and believe about Jesus? God bless!