Scripture Reading: Col. 1:18-23
We have seen that the book of Colossians reveals that Christ is everything. In the universe there is God the Creator, and there is the creation. According to 1:15, Christ is the image of the invisible God. This means that He is nothing less than God Himself in full expression. Furthermore, Christ is the firstborn of creation, the first among all God’s creatures.
God has accomplished two creations, the old creation and the new creation. The old creation includes heaven, earth, mankind, and millions of different items. The new creation is the church, the Body of Christ. Verses 15 through 17 unveil Christ as the first in the original creation, as the One who has the preeminence among all creatures. Verse 18 shows that Christ is the first in resurrection as the Head of the Body. He is the One who has the first place in the church.
The first creation came into being through the speaking of God. In the words of Romans 4:17, God called the things not being as being. The new creation, on the contrary, came into being through resurrection, through the death and resurrection of the old creation. In this new creation, the church, Christ is the firstborn from among the dead.
As the Son of God, Christ has passed through two births. The first birth took place at His incarnation, and the second, in His resurrection. All Christians realize that Christ was born through incarnation, but not many regard His resurrection also as a birth. Acts 13:33 indicates that Christ was begotten, or born, in resurrection. Through resurrection He was begotten as the Son of God. However, before His incarnation, in eternity, He was already the Son of God. Why then did He need to be born the Son of God in resurrection? Before His incarnation, Christ was not a man. He was simply the infinite, eternal God. But in the fullness of time, Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary, and nine months later He was born in a manger in Bethlehem. According to John 1:14, the Word who is Christ became flesh. This means that He took the step of becoming a man. How marvelous that through incarnation the infinite, eternal God became a man! However, in becoming man, He did not cease to be God.
After living on earth for thirty-three and a half years, Christ was crucified. Then in resurrection He took a second step to be born the second time and become the firstborn Son of God. Before His resurrection, Christ was the only begotten Son of God (John 3:16). But through resurrection the only begotten Son became the firstborn among many brothers (Rom. 8:29). According to Hebrews 2:10, God is leading many sons into glory. These many sons are the many brothers of Christ as the firstborn Son.
Through the two births of Christ, divinity has been brought into humanity, and humanity has been brought into divinity. By the incarnation of Christ God was brought into man. Prior to Christ’s incarnation, God was outside of man. However, through Christ’s incarnation God was brought into humanity. We may say that with the birth of Christ God was born into man. Therefore, by Christ’s first birth in incarnation God was brought into man and became one with man. Then through Christ’s resurrection man was brought into God. When the Lord Jesus was on earth, God was living in a man, for God was in Him. Now, through Christ’s resurrection, man has been brought into God. Hallelujah, as a man Christ is in the heavens! God has been brought into man, and man has been brought into God. What a transaction! What marvelous two-way traffic! In this two-way traffic God came into man through incarnation, and man was brought into God through resurrection.
Have you ever heard that Christ, the Son of God, has passed through two births? You may have heard that you needed a second birth, the birth in the spirit through the Holy Spirit, but not that Christ was born twice, first in incarnation and then in resurrection. In eternity Christ was God. Through His incarnation He became a man, and through resurrection He became the firstborn Son of God.
Through Christ, God has been brought into us, and we have been brought into God. Praise Him for such a mingling! When we were born again, simultaneously Christ was born into us, and we were brought into God. Therefore, in our Christian life we have an inward and personal experience of both of the births of Christ. With Christ, His birth in resurrection came thirty-three and a half years after His birth through incarnation. However, in our experience of Christ, God was brought into us and we were brought into God at the same time. Praise the Lord for the marvelous traffic between God and us!
Colossians 1:19 says that all the fullness was pleased to dwell in Christ, and 2:9 declares that in Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. In 2:10 Paul goes on to say that in Christ we are made full. Because all the fullness dwells in Christ and because we have been put into Christ, we have been made full, filled with the divine riches. Hallelujah, in Christ we are made full! In a very real sense, we who believe in Christ are complex, for we are in the One who is very complex. If He were not complex, there would have been no disputes regarding His Person.
Christology is the theological study of the Person of Christ. Some teach the truth that Christ is both God and man. Others, however, teach that Christ is God, but not man or that He is man, but not God. There is no need for disputes concerning the Person of Christ. He is all-inclusive. He is God, man, and the reality of every positive thing in the universe. If we see that Christ is everything, we shall not argue about Him. A number of verses indicate clearly that Christ is God. For example, Romans 9:5 speaks of “Christ, Who is over all, God blessed forever.” At a certain time Christ became a man. Then through death and resurrection He became the firstborn Son of God.
In His life on earth, the Lord Jesus was among His disciples, but He was not in them. Hence, it was necessary for Him to pass through death and resurrection in order to come into His disciples as the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45), the Spirit of reality (John 14:17). In John 14 through 16 the disciples were troubled by the fact that the Lord was leaving them. It seems that He was telling them, “If I do not go, there will be no way for Me to come into you. I must pass through death and resurrection in order to become the life-giving Spirit. Then I shall be in you forever.” On the day of His resurrection, the Lord appeared to the disciples, breathed into them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22). This is the Spirit promised in 14:16-17, 26; 15:26 and 16:7, 13. The Lord’s breathing of the Holy Spirit into the disciples was the fulfillment of His promise of the Holy Spirit as the Comforter. By breathing the Spirit, the holy breath, the life-giving Spirit, into the disciples, the Lord imparted Himself into them as life and every positive thing.
As the Son of God, Christ took two extraordinary steps. Firstly, He took the step of incarnation to become a man for the accomplishment of redemption and for the termination of the old creation. Secondly, in resurrection He became the life-giving Spirit in order to regenerate us to produce the church, God’s new creation.
In both the old creation and the new creation Christ is the first and occupies the first place, the place of preeminence. Both in the universe and in the church, Christ is the preeminent One. If we see this as a vision, not as a mere doctrine, our living and our church life will be revolutionized. We shall realize that in all things Christ must be the first.
In 1:18 Paul says, “That He might have the first place in all things.” In the Bible to be the first is to be all. Since Christ is the first both in the universe and in the church, He must be all things in the universe and the church. As the first, He is all.
God’s way of reckoning in this matter is different from ours. According to our estimation, if Christ is the first, then something else should be the second, third, and others in sequence. However, from God’s point of view, for Christ to be the first means that He is all.
The first Adam included not only Adam as an individual, but all of mankind. In the same principle, in the eyes of God, the firstborn of the Egyptians included all the Egyptians. The firstborn includes all. Therefore, for Christ to be the firstborn in the universe means that He is everything in the universe. In like manner, for Christ to be the firstborn in resurrection means that He is everything in resurrection. For Christ to be the firstborn both of the old creation and of the new creation means that He is everything both in the old creation and in the new creation. This corresponds to Paul’s word in 3:11, where he says that in the new man, in the new creation, “There cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, freeman, but Christ is all and in all.” In the new man Christ is everyone and in everyone. In the new creation there is room only for Christ.
In this Epistle Paul seemed to be telling the Colossians, “Why are you so foolish? You have received Christ, the One who is everything. He is the first in the old creation and in the new creation. What need is there for you to take in something else? Why do you worship angels and turn to Gnostic philosophy? Why do you follow the elements of the world? Don’t you know that the very Christ you have received and now possess is everything? He is the Head of all the angels, and you are in Him. In Him you have been made full.”
Chapters two and three reveal that the Colossians had turned to various isms — Gnosticism, mysticism, legalism, and asceticism. These isms are the elements of the world. Because we have the all-inclusive Christ, we do not need isms. We do not need philosophies, theories, and practices, for we have the One who is all in all. Christ is profound. What philosophy can equal Him? All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Him (2:3).
This Christ is the image of God, the full expression of God. He is not the hidden God, the concealed, mysterious God; He is God expressed, the image of the invisible God. Furthermore, He is the first among God’s creation. As we have pointed out, this indicates that He is everything. He is the alpha, the omega, and all the letters in between (Rev. 22:13). He is everything in the universe, and He is the first in the new creation, the church.
Perhaps you are wondering how this understanding of Christ can help you in a practical way. If for a period of thirty days you are occupied with the revelation of Christ in Colossians, you will be revolutionized, reconstituted, and transformed. Pray over these messages on Colossians and have fellowship concerning them, and you will see what a difference it will make in you. I can testify that it makes a tremendous difference when the vision of the all-inclusiveness of Christ pervades our being. When you see this vision, you will hate everything that issues from the self. You will despise not only your hatred, but even your love, kindness, and patience. As this vision causes you to hate the self, it will constrain you to love the Lord. You will say, “Lord Jesus, I love You because You are everything. Lord, there is no need for me to struggle or strive to do anything. O Lord, You are so much to me. You are God, You are the firstborn of all creation, and You are the firstborn from among the dead.” I suggest that you pray-read Colossians for thirty days. Pray until all the aspects of Christ revealed in this book saturate your being. We do not need regulations or teachings — we need to be infused and saturated with Christ as the all-inclusive One.
If Christ is infused into you, you will drop everything that is not Christ, and you will be constituted with Christ in your very being. Religion gives people doctrines and teaches them how to behave. The book of Colossians, on the contrary, speaks of the all-inclusive Christ. This Christ is already in us, but we need to see Him, know Him, be filled with Him, be saturated with Him, and become absolutely one with Him.
In Him we are made full. We may be familiar with these words in 2:10, but, sorry to say, we may take them for granted. Have you seen that in Christ you are made full? I doubt that many see the reality of this verse. We may know this as a doctrine, but not as an experience. In our actual living, we may not yet be full. Thus far, our partaking of the unsearchable riches of Christ has been very limited. Christ is our good land, but we do not yet enjoy Him in full as this land. Paul’s purpose in Colossians is to bring us into the full enjoyment of Christ as the all-inclusive land.
In 1:20 Paul goes on to say, “And through Him to reconcile all things to Him, making peace through the blood of His cross — through Him, whether things on the earth or things in the heavens.” “Through Him” means through Christ as the active instrument through which the reconciliation was processed. To reconcile all things to God is to make peace with God for all things. This was accomplished through the blood of the cross of Christ.
Not only the things on the earth but also things in the heavens needed to be reconciled to God. This indicates that things in the heavens also are not right with God due to the rebellion of Satan, the archangel, and the angels who followed him. His rebellion has contaminated the heavens.
Verse 21 says, “And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by evil works.” Because we were sinners, we needed redemption. Because we were also enemies of God, we needed reconciliation to Him. Our enmity toward God was mainly in our corrupted mind.
In the body of His flesh Christ has reconciled us to God in order to present us holy, blameless, and without reproach before God (v. 22). However, we still need to “continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast and not moved away from the hope of the gospel” (v. 23). The faith here does not denote the act of believing, but the object of our belief.
Here Paul speaks of the hope of the gospel. Christ in us is the hope of glory (v. 27), from whom we should not be moved away.
