LEARNING DAILY

 

Colossians 1:15-18, He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 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. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 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 inheritance.

 

Just in case any of you forgot who Jesus is here is a little reminder. Paul gives us a very good presentation that Jesus is Lord. When he writes Jesus is the first born, he does not mean He is a created being. He means He is God’s heir. Paul affirms the creative activity of Christ; he is the Agent who created all things in heaven and on earth. Jesus Christ is the One in whom all things consist.

 

There were false teachers in Colosse that were trying to teach that He has an unimportant position; they did not try to say He did not exist. Catch the meaning of that! God’s Word states He was the firstborn of creation because He was first in position and privilege. Old Testament belief held the firstborn son in high position as heir to the family’s possessions. But Jesus Christ was not created; He was the Creator of all things. “He is the image of the invisible God” – the exact likeness of God the Father.

 

In the time Paul lived, people debated about what brought the world together and what held it together. There were a lot of crazy ideas just like there are today. Paul makes it quite clear that Jesus was Creator, Sustainer, Head, and Beginning. All was done for Him. Because He created all things, He has every right to be Lord over what He created. You and I have to make the choice over what we believe. As we ask Him into our life as Savior, we then need to make Him Lord over our life. That means there can be no limitations or conditions with making Him Lord.

 

Jesus Christ is the head of the body, all Believers, who make up the Church. As our bodies get signals from our head, the Church gets its direction from Jesus, its head. We have our hope in Him who was the “firstborn from the dead” through His resurrection. Our hope is that because we believe in Him there will come a day when all Believers will join Him in glorified and everlasting bodies. Let me define the word hope. It is not some unsure optimism we have about our resurrection. Biblical hope is a confident expectation that what God has promised in His word is true, has occurred and will happen in the future (Vines Expository Dictionary).

 

We are to live a Christlike life – walking the narrow way – because Jesus Christ is supreme, He is at the center of all things! Because of that He should be supreme over each of our lives. It is just amazing to me, that he desires to have a relationship with me; that the One who created all things chose me and has been so patient with me, never giving up on me. Have you chosen to give Him the honor and glory by living and walking on the narrow way to His kingdom and eternal life?