“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” – Colossians 1:15
It has been two thousand years that Christ died on the cross and lately we just celebrated the remembrance of His coming to this world. We all know that His coming was a grace of God because He came to seek and save the lost. He came to save us from our sins. He came to live in this filthy world just so He can save our filthy and sinful race. However, despite all the good things Christ has shown us, we still choose to disobey and to ignore Him.
For so many reasons, the supremacy of Christ has been debated so many times. Many believed that He is only a prophet, He is created, therefore He is not eternal. However, in our verse today, Paul clearly states the supremacy of Christ. He has declared that Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God. The God who is unseen became seen in the form of Christ. He is the God who we can physically see. In so many stories in the Bible, we can learn that God indeed talked to the prophets and that they can really hear His voice. Now, God became flesh and dwelt among us. He is Jesus Christ, the unseen God became seen.
When God made the human race, He mentioned that He will make man according to His image. He indeed made man holy and sinless but because sin entered the world through the disobedience of Adam, we are not holy and sinless anymore. We are sinful and wicked. However, as our verse continues, Jesus Christ is the firstborn of the creation. Many will come to twist this thought saying that this just proves that Christ is created thus, He has an ending.
However, this word firstborn is just the same as the words used in the first chapter of the Gospel of John. Paul calling Jesus as the firstborn of the creation does not mean He is created and not eternal. What Paul meant was that Jesus Christ was there since the creation of the world. He is referring to the supreme status, the supreme standing of Christ in the creation. He is indeed the Word and the Word was God and the Word became flesh (John 1). Jesus Christ is not lesser than the Father but He and the Father are one. Jesus Christ is not only man but He is God also. He is God and He became human for us all.
It is very important for us to understand that our salvation is through Jesus Christ who is one hundred percent man and one hundred percent God. We have to understand that only God has the power to break the chains of death and sin. Only God has the power to redeem us from our sins so that we will be free from the bondage of death and sin. Also, it needs a perfect man without sin to perfect the law and to put us under God’s grace. It needs a perfect man that is holy and who has not broken any laws from God to take away the power of the law in our lives. Therefore, Jesus Christ is both God and human because He has broken the cycle of sin and death in our lives and has put us under God’s grace— under His grace.
Indeed that we are not under law anymore but we are under grace. Death could not hold us down now because Jesus had victory over it and whoever believes in Him, will have victory over death too. Thus, Jesus Christ is indeed the image of the unseen God. He is the God in flesh and through Him only, we can all be saved. Jesus Christ is from the ancient of times because He was the firstborn of the creation, He was there even before the creation of the world. He is indeed God!
May we always remember this truth and knowledge that God has bestowed upon us through prophet Paul. We should always remember to praise God for His grace and for dying on the cross for us. Let us not forget that the only way to our salvation is through Christ and nothing else. Praises and glory belongs to God alone, the Maker of the world and the Savior of the world. Amen.
