The Letter to the Colossian Church- 3
Pastor Marty Monday, July 28, 2025 at 9:22PM Subtitle: The Son of the Father's Love
Colossians 1:15-20. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, July 27, 2025.
After declaring that God the Father has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints, rescued us from the dominion of darkness, and transferred us into the Kingdom of the Son of His love, Paul then takes some time to describe all that the Son of His love is, has done, and is doing even now.
Of course, there is no confusion about who this Son of His love is. It is Jesus. He has been identified three times in the verses before this.
Let’s get into our passage.
Jesus in regard to the Father and the creation (v. 15-17)
This section is poetic and has a clear structure to it that is helpful to recognize. Here is a representation of how the stanzas relate to one another.
“He is:
The Image of the Invisible God
The Firstborn of all Creation
For by Him all things were created
Both in the heavens and on the earth
Visible and Invisible
Whether thrones or dominions
Or rulers or authorities
All things have been created through Him and for Him
He is:
Before all things, and
In Him all things hold together”
These verses contemplate who Jesus is in relation to God the Father and the creation. It involves several things that we could call Titles. However, these titles are descriptive of some very important understandings about Jesus.
The Image of the Invisible God. There are different reasons for Paul to emphasize this about Jesus, whether for Greeks or even Jews. This connection between the man Jesus and God the Father is incredibly important for the Colossians to understand. The Image of God language comes from Genesis chapter 1. Adam and Eve were made in the Image of God. Yet, they and we have not imaged God very well. Not only did Adam fail, but the world failed to image God up to the flood when God rebooted the earth with Noah. Noah failed to image God well as did Abraham, the patriarchs, Israel as a nation, David, the kings of Judah, and all the others.
However, Jesus is not just another imager of God. He is the perfect imager and is thus The Image of God. The emphasis on God’s invisibility contrasted with the word image highlights the incarnation of Jesus, but this does not limit his imaging to the incarnation. He didn’t have to take on the nature of a man in order to image God. He was already imaging God to the creation before the incarnation. No matter the state (pre-incarnate, incarnate, and glorified), He is the perfect image, imager, of God. He is the one who allows us to see the Father for who He really is. This is why Jesus told his disciples that to see him is to see the Father.
Yet, Hebrews 1:1-3 makes this even more explicit. Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory, i.e., that which proceeds out from Him into the creation. He is also the express image of the Father’s nature. He is no shadow or lesser picture of the Father.
Now, Greeks don’t have a problem with God’s coming down and manifesting upon the earth. However, it would be impossible for them to be killed by mortals, or to truly die at the hands of a mortal. Paul is making sure that these Colossians understand the extraordinary claims being made about Jesus. This very same man who died on a cross for our sins is the Image of God.
The Firstborn of all Creation. We now see the connection between Jesus and the creation. He is the firstborn of all creation. But, what does this mean? The firstborn is mentioned in several other places in the New Testament. In Romans 8:29, Christians are conformed to his image so that he will be the firstborn of many sons. In Hebrews 1:6, “When God brings the firstborn into the world, He says, ‘Let all the angels of God worship him. This is quoting from Psalm 97:7.
The idea of firstborn has led some to speculate that it refers to Jesus being a created being. They would not see him as eternal, but is this what Paul (and Scripture) is trying to get across? I don’t believe so.
Psalm 89:27, a prophecy is written in which God states: “I shall make him My firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.” The prophecy is a long one and deals with the failure of the sons of David to live up to the prophecies that God has given about David and Messiah. Notice above that God is going to make this one His firstborn. This is not about birth order or even actual birth. The firstborn was more a status than it ever was a statement of who came into being first. This status term declares his right to have the first place among all others. He is the heir to the Father’s business and the Father’s holdings are for him. So, when it comes to all created things, Jesus has the primary place over it all. It is his inheritance. How and why becomes clearer as we go forward.
All things created by him. He has this firstborn status because everything was created by him. The word can also have the sense of in him. The Son was pre-existent to all created things. We then get a series of pairs that are intended to make clear that we are talking about every created thing, whether in the heavens or on the earth. Things you can see and the things you can’t see. No matter how powerful something is, it owes its place to him (excepting the Father, of course). This is expressed in the thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.
It was common for emperors to use son terminology of the kings who had pledged allegiance to them, even a firstborn as a status of preeminence above the others, not a description of which of them was born first. This section makes it clear that all things which fit into the category of created things were created by him, i.e., he is not a created being. If a person feels that it stretches the words in this passage to state that, John 1:3 makes this even more explicit. “All things came into being through him, and apart from him nothing came into being that has come into being.” Jesus cannot have “come into being” by making himself. It is clear that John is shutting down the idea that Jesus was a created being. Yet, he is the firstborn of creation.
Paul then gives some prepositional phrases to help us contemplate this creator position of Jesus. All things are created “through him.” Jesus was the active agent or means of creation. This essentially says the same thing as by him, but it has a sense of the Father’s involvement in the creative process.
The next preposition is that all things were created for him, the firstborn. They are for him in the sense that they belong to him, but also in the sense of their purpose being for him and his purposes.
By him, through him, and for him seem to contemplate the Son as the beginning of all things, the progress of all things and the end, or purpose of all things.
Paul then tells us that the Son is before all things. This preposition involves time. To be before all creation would place him before time itself. Yet, he is also before all things in the sense of being in front of all things; he has first place, primacy, over all things. Even before creation is brought into being, John chapter one interprets Genesis one as saying that Jesus is He who comes forth from the Father to create. “Let there be light!” The Son was the first light that came forth from the Father to create all things.
All things hold together in him. The final statement in this section adds another concept to the first preposition, “in him.” Things not only have their existence in him (by him), but their place in relation to one another are held together in him. Without him nothing would hold together in every way that we can conceive. He holds the molecules together, but also ask yourself this. What keeps this world from falling completely apart and destroying everything? What keeps this world going forward? Do we have a guarantee that, even with what we see, it can survive? Jesus is what holds all creation together, even with heavenly and earthly forces bent on rebellion against the Creator.
Jesus in regard to the Church and the New Creation (v. 18-20)
Though it is not stated above, there is a problem in the creation, both in the heavens and on the earth. The rebellion of spirit beings have defiled the heavens and led humanity into that rebellion as well. Though God made everything “very good,” it has been messed up by humans and fallen spirit beings.
This section moves to contemplating Jesus in regard to the Church and the New Creation, i.e., the fixing of the old creation.
Just as the Word, the Firstborn of Creation, came forth and created all things in the first place, so he has come forth in the man Jesus to make all things new. The Son of God’s love began that work and is still in the process of making all things new.
The Head of the Body, the Church. This first identity statement matches the style of the first identity statement in the last section (the image of the invisible God). However, towards the Church, Jesus is the head, and we are the ones who are supposed to image him. Calling Jesus the Head is a way of referencing his supremacy, but also his directive power. The Church is designed to respond to the directives of the Head of the Church, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Of course, this brings up a problem between the commands of Christ and the execution by His Body. Jesus has told us to “love one another,” and even “Love your enemies.” Groups of Christians can find themselves doing things that are adverse to the commands of Christ. There is generally some rationalization in which we give lip service to such obvious commands, and then, go on to neutralize them with our ideas. In fact, this is the threat in Revelation 2:5. There, Jesus warns the Ephesians that he will remove their candlestick if they don’t repent. Christ is the judge of his Church. He may allow things to go on for a while. Churches may flaunt his commands while giving lip-service to them. However, Jesus will eventually deal with them.
Just as Ezekiel saw the Glory of God leave the temple in Israel due to their lack of covenant faithfulness, so too, the Glory of God’s Spirit leaves churches to themselves. They are no longer doing his will, and his Spirit is no longer working in them as a group. Eventually, it will come to a head and the group will go out of existence in its present configuration.
Some people like to add the concept (or even replace) of the head being a source (similar to the headwaters of a river). He definitely is that, whether this word is intended to give that sense or not. Like a vine, Jesus is the source of spiritual life to all who have a living faith in him.
He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead. Jesus is the beginning of the Church, or renewed (redeemed) humanity. The word translated “beginning” here can refer to the beginning of something in an abstract way, but it often refers to a leader who is the beginning of a new Kingdom, dynasty. Jesus is the powerful leader whose actions have given birth, place, to this new group of people called the Church.
This is connected to the phrase, “firstborn from the dead,” and it connects to the earlier firstborn of all creation. The dead is used as a group and even has the sense of the place in which the dead are kept, Hades, She’ol, the grave. It is his reappearance from out of the realm of the dead that gives him first place among the renewed humanity.
Of course, this is in relation to his humanity. The eternal Son was not in need of being recreated, but he took on human flesh in order to blaze a trail through death, the grave, and into a glorified existence. When a believer in Jesus dies, they follow the path of the firstborn. They die and are enabled to avoid being stuck in the grave. Instead, we are allowed to ascend to the right hand of the Father and wait with the Son at his side. We follow him through this spiritually. We are not physically resurrected at our deaths. It is later that all the righteous will follow the firstborn physically into the completion of our renewed humanity.
The old creation was messed up by our rebellion and sin. It led to humans being stuck in the grave, the dead, and no mechanism for ever getting out. Yet, Jesus has paid the price for our sins so that we can follow him out of the grave and into the immortal, indestructible bodies that the Father has planned for us.
Thus, the firstborn in this situation is parallel to his firstborn status among creation. In both cases, he has first place and inherits it all.
So that he himself would have first place over all things. His unique resurrection establishes the path forward for the rest of us. This gives him first place over humanity as a human, not just as God. As the eternal Son who created all things, he always had first place. Yet, now, he must act in such a way as to receive the first place among the new creation.
Think about it. In Jesus, a human is now the supreme authority over all things in the heavens and the earth.
Because it pleased [God] to have all the fullness dwell in him. This phrase is literally, “because he was pleased to have all the fullness dwell in him.” Since we are talking about the Son, it seems most likely that the first pronoun “he” is referring to God the Father, whereas the second one refers to the Son of His love. It is His plan. The Father desired the eternal Son to take on human flesh in such a way that the fullness of His Spirit dwelt in him.
Think of the Old Testament. We often see the Spirit of God coming upon individuals with a certain measure and for a certain event. It was always understood that a human being could only handle so much of the power of God, the Spirit of God, without dying. Yet, in Jesus, the fullness of God’s Spirit dwelled in him. He was somehow fully God, and yet also fully human.
It appears that humans were not just designed to be a dwelling place in which the Spirit of God could enter and empower. Even more, we were designed in such a way to make the incarnation of the eternal Son possible. It made it possible for Jesus to do a work that no fallen angel could have ever forseen.
Notice that it “pleased” Him to have it so. The incarnation of Jesus is God’s good pleasure. It is His artistic flair in fixing all things, and we would do well to pay attention to this.
And through him to reconcile to Himself all things. Paul speaks of God’s intention “to reconcile all things to Himself.” This seems to be part of the pleasure of God the Father. It was the fullness of God in Jesus that allows him to reconcile all things back to the Father.
Reconcile is a word that involves something that is out of harmony, not as it is supposed to be, an error, etc. To reconcile can take on various ideas, depending upon what is wrong. God’s main intention is to reconcile humanity by making it possible for us to be released from the dead and to follow Jesus into the New Humanity. This is a humanity that perfectly images God the Father and is in harmony with His purposes.
However, “all things” is about more than humanity. What does it mean to reconcile the heavens? This is where some project the idea called universalism. It posits that God must save all, even the devil himself. However, this is not what we see in the New Testament. Yes, in relationships, we generally think of reconciliation as the two parties coming together and being in harmony. Of course, this is the reconciliation that God desires. However, reconciliation is also about making all things right. Thus, sometimes reconciliation requires the removal of that which refuses to conform to the “very good” that God intends all things to be. Thus, Romans 8:22 has all of creation groaning. It awaits the manifestation of the Sons of God, i.e., redeemed and glorified humans. Yet, at the same time, there is a warning of a day of removal of the wicked into the Lake of Fire.
Making peace by the blood of his cross…whether things on earth or in the heavens. It was the shedding of his life-blood at the cross that makes peace with God the Father possible. This is another way of talking about the reconciliation. In Jesus, we who have been enemies can be transformed into not just those who have a peace treaty, but are still hostile. Rather, it is peace with God in every way. We are no longer enemies, and the hostility between us has been resolved. Romans 5:1 says it this way, “We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Do you have peace with God? You can only have peace with Him by putting your faith in Jesus and following him. Peace with God also brings peace within us. Our hearts and minds are susceptible to moments of turbulence because we live in this world. However, the grace of Jesus enables us to see those storms settle down; “Peace, be still!”
May God help us to see the glorious nature of who Jesus is and what he has done for us. And, may we firmly embrace the One who went to the cross for us, went into the grave for us, and has been resurrected to sit at the right hand of God the Father for us!