Mar. 21, 2021. Colossians 1:13-18

Posted byJohn Sanzone

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CHRIST-CREATOR, SUSTAINER; REDEEMER.  Colossians 1:13-18.  3/21/2021.  #03.

Colossians 1:13-18 [New King James Version]

13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

  1. Christ, the redeemer
    1. This is the most comprehensive summary of who Jesus
    1. Christ is in the Bible
    1. The description begins by describing Jesus as the savior
      1. He has delivered us from darkness (evil, sin, spiritual ignorance)
      1. He delivered us from the power (authority) of darkness (control of Satan and sin, eternal death)
    1. Christ has removed us from the power of Satan and transferred (moved, transported) us in the Kingdom of Christ
      1. We were citizens of the fallen world and he has made us citizens of heaven
      1. John 3:13-21 the love of God manifested in and via God’s Son produces a new birth that proffers forgiveness of sin via his blood, redeeming us
  2. Christ, manifestation of God
    1. Jesus is qualified to be the sin-bearer because is in the
    1. exact image (essence, exact likeness, precise substance)
    1. of the invisible God (he is all that God the Father is)
    1. John 14:9 whoever has seen Jesus has seen the Father
    1. Firstborn of all creation
      1. This does not mean first in time or order (Adam)
      1. Chief born (highest of all creation)
      1. Doesn’t mean that Jesus was created (eternal)
      1. Hebrews 10 the God-man created within Mary has the the greatest and pinnacle of all creation (it is that which was created on which all things depend)
      1. I Corinthians 15 he has been given rule over all creation
  3. Christ, the creator
    1. Not only is he the chief-born of creation, but also the creator of all things
    1. John 1 nothing was created that he did not create
      1. All things in heaven: archangels, angels, cherubim, seraphim (even fallen angels – Isaiah 14)
      1. Hebrews 6:11-12 all principalities = created by him
      1. Not only were things created through him, but also for him (I Timothy 6:13-15)
        1. Matthew 28:18 all authority is given to Jesus
        1. 1 Corinthians 15:28 after all of Christ’s enemies are made his footstool, he gifts all back to the Father so he will be all in all
    1. Not only is Jesus the creator, he is also the sustainer
      1. The universe would dissolve into nothing if Jesus did not sustain it (II Peter 3:10-11)
      1. Jesus help the nails and cross together
      1. Jesus is the power behind creation in origins and continued existence (behind quantum reality)
  4. Christ, the head of the church
    1. Hebrews 12:2 all of creation, the Incarnation, the atonement,
    1. and resurrection were so he could bring many previously
    1. fallen people to glory (Hebrews 2:10)
    1. b. Revelation 22 the redemption of fallen man is such a key focal
    1. point that believers are the only part of creation left after
    1. the present heaven and earth are destroyed
    1. Along with the elect angels, believers enter into the New
    1. Heaven and earth, but only believers are joint heirs with
    1. Christ to the throne of God
    1. Jesus as Chief born of the dead (resurrection) has all
    1. preeminence over all things (all glory and worship)

Key verse:  John 3:13-21

13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”