WONDERFUL THING IN THIS PASSAGE – Jesus’ disciples began following Him as a rabbi they could learn from. Then they saw Him as a healer who could mend lives. Gradually they understood that He was the promised Messiah who could bring people back to God. Their discipleship was weak because their assessment of Jesus was small.
They didn’t realize the staggering immensity of the One who led them around the villages of Galilee – that it was God Himself. When one of them asked Jesus to show them the Father, His response shocked them: “Have I been among you all this time and you do not know me, Philip? The one who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).
Like the twelve and like the Colossians, it’s possible for us to follow Jesus for years and still have much too small an assessment of Him. Colossians 1:15-19 is one of the most effective remedies for that misevaluation. Paul unveils the true and incomparable Christ:
Jesus is fully God – By the Father’s own design, all that is God is wrapped up in Jesus: “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him” (v. 19). He is God we can know and our only hope of knowing God: “He is the image of the invisible God” (v. 15).
He is the creator of everything – “Everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things have been created through him” (v. 16). Nothing in our world came into existence except by His hand. Everything and everyone – including us – owes its existence to Him.
He is the reason for everything in creation – “all things have been created…for him” (v. 16). The world and all its components were created for His pleasure and purposes, not for ours.
He holds everything together – “and by him all things hold together” (v. 17). It is incorrect to imagine that the world, having been created from nothing, now has the power to hold itself in existence. It does not. It continues to exist by the conscious will of its creator: “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory…sustaining all things by his powerful word” (Heb. 1:3).
Because of all the above…
He takes priority over everything – “He is before all things … He is also the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything” (vv. 17-18).
WONDERFUL THING IN MY LIFE – If we see Jesus primarily as a Savior soliciting our acceptance, then we will decide whether to “accept Him as Savior” and, on a case-by-case basis, whether or not to obey Him. But, dear friends, that’s such a small Jesus.
The more we see Jesus as Paul did, the more we will abandon every silly thought of independence, of doing things according to our preferences and for our purposes, and we will gladly surrender our lives, our wills, our minds, and our moments to the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. What a privilege to be called into His family and service!
Lord, open our eyes to see You as You are.
