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Scripture Reading: 9-10, Eph. 1:22-23; Phil. 1:20; Col. 1:15-19; 2:9; 3:11
In the Bible God reveals that His person and His work are centered on Christ. Christ is God’s center, and He is also God’s thought and purpose. God’s thoughts and plans depend on Christ and are for Christ. God is pleased for Christ to be all and in all (Col. 3:11). God desires that all things be in Christ and be filled with Christ. All of God’s work is to express and glorify Christ so that Christ may have the first place in everything and in all things (1:18).
Christ is “the image of the invisible God” and “the effulgence of His glory and the impress of His substance” (v. 15; Heb. 1:3). God is embodied in Christ; hence, all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ bodily (Col. 2:9). Apart from Christ, man cannot see or know God, nor can man touch and obtain God. In order to communicate with God, to contact Him, man must go through Christ (John 14:6). Only in Christ can we partake of God and enjoy the fullness of God. Hence, it is by God’s person and by His fullness that Christ can have the first place in all things and be glorified in God’s relationship with man and man’s contact with God.
Christ is the Creator; all things are out from Him (Heb. 1:10). All things were created through Him, and “apart from Him not one thing came into being which has come into being” (John 1:3). He is the source of all things, and all things were created by Him. Christ is not only the Creator of all things; He is also the Firstborn of all creation, and He is before all things (Col. 1:15, 17). Although Christ is the Creator, He became flesh; that is, He became a creature. Hence, He is not only the Creator but also a creature. From God’s viewpoint, prior to the creation of all things, Christ was already a creature. For this reason the Bible says that Christ is “the Firstborn of all creation” (v. 15) and that He is “the beginning of the creation of God” (Rev. 3:14). Hence, Christ represents not only the Creator but also the creature; He is the Lord of all creation, and He is also the Firstborn of all creation. He can be seen in every aspect of creation, and He is everything in creation. Hence, both the Creator and the creature can be seen in Him.
Christ is also the Upholder of all things. After creating all things, He is now “upholding and bearing all things by the word of His power” (Heb. 1:3). All things not only were created by Him but also cohere in Him (Col. 1:17). He is the source of all things, and He is also the course of all things. The process of creation occurred in Him; He is the active instrument through which creation occurred.
Furthermore, God appointed Christ “Heir of all things” (Heb. 1:2). “All things have been created through Him and unto Him” (Col. 1:16), all things cohere in Him, and all things will be inherited by Him. Hence, Romans 11:36 says, “Out from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.” Christ is the source of all things and the course of all things, and He is also the destination of all things. He is the beginning, the course, and the consummation of all things. Christ is everything.
Christ is “the Firstborn from the dead” (Col. 1:18); that is, He is the first to resurrect from the dead. In relation to creation, He created all things, and He is the Firstborn of all creation. In relation to redemption, He produced the church, and He is the Firstborn from the dead. In regard to all things, He is the Firstborn of all creation, but in regard to the church, He is the Firstborn in resurrection. All things were made through His work of creation, but the church was born through His work of redemption. He created all things, and He is the Firstborn of all creation. He also produced the church, and He resurrected first. The things that were created do not have God’s resurrection life. The church, however, is not only created; the church is in resurrection and has the resurrection life of God. Christ is the first to have God’s resurrection life. In creation, that is, in regard to all things, Christ is the Firstborn of creation; however, in redemption, that is, in regard to the church, He is the Firstborn in resurrection. Hence, whether in creation or in redemption, God desires that Christ “might have the first place in all things” (v. 18).
Christ is not only the first to resurrect; He is also the Head of the church (v. 18). The church is God’s new creation in resurrection, has the life and image of God, and will enter into God’s glory. Christ has the first place in the new creation, and He is also the Head of the new creation. As the new creation, the church is “His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all” (Eph. 1:23); the church is the extension of His days and His expression (Isa. 53:10).
Christ is the Head of the church, and He is also “Head over all things to the church” (Eph. 1:22). Christ was incarnated, and He accomplished redemption. This redemption is not only for the church but also for all things; therefore, God appointed Him to be Head over all things to the church. In redemption Christ is the Head of the church, and He is the Head of all things. He is over all things, He is the Head of all things, and the church is His Body, His fullness.
In the future, at the fullness of the times, God will “head up all things in Christ” (v. 10) according to the arrangement of His mysterious plan. The purpose of God’s plan, of creation, and of redemption is to express Christ, to glorify Christ, and to give Him the first place in all things. Therefore, at the fullness of the times, when God has accomplished all things, that is, in eternity future, God will head up all things in Christ. Christ will be the Head and the center of all things, and He will be glorified in all things and expressed through all things.
God’s purpose is for Christ to be expressed in all things; therefore, He does not have another intention with regard to the believers. As believers, we are the firstfruits of God’s creatures (James 1:18); hence, we should take the lead among all the creatures to make Christ our center, to glorify Him, and to express Him. Regardless of the circumstances, we should always magnify Christ in our body (Phil. 1:20).
