Introduction
The Bible is about how God saves sinners.
Central to that story is the Lord Jesus Christ.
The entire Old Testament looks forward to the coming—or advent—of Christ.
The Gospels present Christ as God in human flesh, who came into the world to save sinners.
Acts presents the good news about Christ spreading throughout the world.
The Epistles give instructions about Christ’s person and work and how they impact his people—the church.
Finally, Revelation presents Christ on the throne at the right hand of his Father, reigning as King of kings and Lord of lords.
Every part of Scripture testifies to Jesus Christ.
When the two disciples were walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus on the day of Jesus’ resurrection, Jesus came alongside them, “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27).
In John 5:39b, Jesus said of the Scriptures, “It is they that bear witness about me.”
Pastor John MacArthur writes:
“But of all the Bible’s teaching about Jesus Christ, none is more significant than Colossians 1:15–19. This dramatic and powerful passage removes any needless doubt or confusion over Jesus’ true identity. It is vital to a proper understanding of the Christian faith” (John F. MacArthur Jr., Colossians, MacArthur New Testament Commentary [Chicago: Moody Press, 1992], 44).
So, let us give attention to this most important part of God’s word, as we examine Christ, the image of the invisible God.
Scripture
Let’s read Colossians 1:15-20:
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
Lesson
Colossians 1:15-20 teaches us that the peerless Christ is supreme over all things.
Let’s use the following outline:
1. Christ Is Supreme Over Creation (1:15-17)
2. Christ Is Supreme Over the Church (1:18)
3. Christ Is Supreme Over Salvation (1:19-20)
I. Christ Is Supreme Over Creation (1:15-17)
First, Christ is supreme over creation.
Paul begins by asserting Christ’s supremacy over creation.
In doing so, we learn three truths about Christ’s supremacy over creation.
A. He Is the Authority over Creation (1:15)
First, he is the authority over creation.
Verse 15 states, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.”
Paul has concluded his prayer and thanksgiving for the Colossians.
Now, he begins a magnificent passage in praise of Christ as the Lord in creation and reconciliation.
Some scholars say that verses 15-20 are a hymn of praise.
In verse 15, Paul identifies Christ with two parallel assertions: “the image of the invisible God” and “the firstborn of all creation.”
The term “image” (eikon) in the first assertion is a translation of the Greek word from which we get the English word icon.
But it is not to be used in the sense of a mere replica of God.
The term “image” refers to the living manifestation of God with a precise and exact correspondence.
Jesus is the revelation of God, exclusively and entirely.
He is the embodiment of God’s nature and makes what is otherwise “invisible” visible.
Paul was combating the false teaching that Christ was some lower god, with many deities between the Father and the Christ.
Paul was insisting that Christ was very God of very God.
In the second assertion, Paul said that Christ was “the firstborn of all creation.”
Clearly, this does not refer to temporal sequence.
Instead, it refers to preeminence and supremacy.
For example, David was the youngest of seven sons, but he was granted the title of being “firstborn” (see Psalm 89:27).
These two phrases distinguish Christ as the unique revelation and representative of God.
God sent Christ into the world, and he has authority over all creation.
Christ’s miracles demonstrate that.
The best example is when Jesus calmed the ferocious storm on the Sea of Galilee (see Luke 8:22-25).
Some of the disciples were experienced sailors, and so they were used to storms.
But this particular storm was so vicious that they feared for their lives.
They eventually woke the sleeping Jesus and said to him, “Master, Master, we are perishing!”
Jesus woke up and rebuked the wind and the waves so that there was suddenly a perfect calm on the Sea of Galilee.
The Bible says in Luke 8:25, “And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, ‘Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?’ ”
This was a demonstration of Christ’s authority over creation.
B. He Is the Agent of Creation (1:16a)
Second, he is the agent of creation.
Verse 16 states, “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.”
Christ’s authority over creation derives from the fact that he is the agent of creation.
That is, he created all things that exist.
Paul is making clear the Christian teaching in contrast to the false teaching that was plaguing the Christians in Colossae.
Paul stresses that even the spiritual powers and authorities, whether good or bad, are all subject to Christ because he created them.
Christ created all things.
There is nothing that Christ did not create.
Consider, for example, the production of honey.
That sixteen-ounce jar of honey in your pantry exists only because tens of thousands of bees flew some 112,000 miles in a relentless pursuit of nectar gathered from 4.5 million flowers.
Every one of those foraging bees was female.
By the time each died—living all of 6 weeks during honey-making season—she had flown about 500 miles in 20 days outside the hive.
As these bees flew themselves to death, production inside the hive continued with stupendous efficiency: a bee brings nectar to the hive, carried tidily in her “honey stomach.”
The bee is greeted by a younger, homebody receiver bee, who relieves her of her load.
A receiver bee deposits nectar into a cell, reducing its water content and raising its sugar level by fanning it with her wings and regurgitating it up to 200 times, killing microbes along the way.
More bees surround this cell and others, fanning them with their wings 25,000 times or so, turning nectar into honey.
When the honey is ripe, wax specialists arrive to cap off the cells.
That is how every single ounce of every single honey pot, bottle, or jar in the world—hundreds of thousands of them—is brought into being.
“Every gulp of raw honey is a distinct, unique, unadulterated medley of plant flavor; a sweet, condensed garden in your mouth,” writes Holley Bishop, an awed amateur beekeeper trying her level best with ordinary English to capture a miracle (Craig Brian Larson and Phyllis Ten Elshof, 1001 Illustrations That Connect [Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2008], 48–49).
Well, technically, it’s not a miracle in the sense of something taking place contrary to the laws of nature.
Nevertheless, it does tell us a lot about the incredible Christ and his work of creation.
C. He Is the Aim of Creation (1:16b-17)
And third, he is the aim of creation.
The final prepositional phrase in verse 16—“for him”—tells us that Christ is the aim of creation.
Listen to how Paul put it in verse 16b-17, “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”
Paul asserts that Jesus existed before creation.
The heretic Arius said of Jesus in the second century, “There was once when he was not.”
However, that is wrong.
Creation came into existence by the power of Jesus.
Moreover, all things hold together because of Jesus. Jesus not only created the universe, but he also sustains and upholds it.
On March 5, 1979, nine U.S. satellites simultaneously reported to Earth that a gamma-ray explosion had occurred in a nearby galaxy known as N-49.
This explosion lasted for only one-tenth of a second, but it released more radiation than our sun does in 3,000 years.
Doyle Evans, an astrophysicist at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratories in New Mexico, noted that had this explosion of energy occurred in our galaxy, it would have instantly vaporized the Earth!
Is this cause for fear?
Not if we know this: “And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”
Verse 17 is the key to why planet Earth and our solar system in its galaxy continue.
Science has no convincing explanation for why our planet stays together or why our whole solar system remains intact.
The apostle Paul, writing in verse 17, tells us that our magnificent Creator and Sustainer keeps it so.
The songwriter captured this fact: “He’s got the whole world in His hand” (Galaxie Software, 10,000 Sermon Illustrations [Biblical Studies Press, 2002], n.p.).
So, the first glorious truth is that Christ is supreme over creation.
Practically, this means that Christ must have the supreme place of worship in our lives.
All of creation is meant to glorify its creator.
We have been given new life and have had our eyes opened by the gospel.
So, our greatest delight is to worship Christ.
II. Christ Is Supreme Over the Church (1:18)
Second, Christ is supreme over the church.
Having established Christ’s supremacy over the physical creation, Paul now seeks to assert Christ’s supremacy
over his spiritual creation, the church.
Paul sets down two truths about Christ’s supremacy over the church.
A. He Is the Source of the Church (1:18a)
First, he is the source of the church.
Verse 18a states, “And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead….”
In this second part of the hymn, Paul asserts Christ’s supremacy over the church.
Paul noted three great truths about that relationship.
First, Christ is “the head of the body, the church.”
The body is powerless without the head.
Second, Christ is “the beginning” of the Church.
The Greek word for “beginning” (arche) means “the first in time” and “the first in source.”
Christ is the source of the Church’s life and is also the director of its ministry.
And third, Christ is “the firstborn from the dead.”
Paul is referring to the resurrection of Christ.
Philip Schaff (1819 - 1893) was a Swiss-born, German-educated Church historian.
He once said, “If Christians are ever to be united, they must be united in Christ, their living head and the source of their spiritual life” (Philip Schaff and David S. Schaff, The Life of Philip Schaff, In Part Autobiographical [New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1897], 473).
B. He Is Sovereign over the Church (1:18)
And second, he is sovereign over the church.
Verse 18b states, “…that in everything he might be preeminent.”
The Greek word for “preeminent” (proteuo) means “to be in the first position, with the implication of high rank and prominence—‘to be the first, to have superior status’ ” (Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains [New York: United Bible Societies, 1996], 737).
As the head, Jesus is the governing faculty.
He alone is the leader of the church.
This picture shows a key difference between Christ’s relationship with his creation and his relationship with his church.
The relationship between Christ and his body—the church—is organic.
It is far more personal and intimate, yet his leadership is just as sovereign.
The story is told of a group of American Christians who were visiting London during the late 1800s.
Their friends back home wanted them to hear the city’s two famous preachers and bring a report.
On Sunday morning, they went to hear Joseph Parker, a man famed for his eloquent oratory.
As they departed from the service, one of them exclaimed, “I do declare, it must be said, for there is no doubt, that Joseph Parker is the greatest preacher that ever there was!”
The group longed to come back to hear Parker in the evening, but they also remembered that friends would ask them about the well-known Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
So that night, they attended the Metropolitan Tabernacle, where Spurgeon was preaching.
And as they departed, they spoke in marveling terms, “I do declare, it must be said, for there is no doubt, that Jesus Christ is the greatest Savior that ever there was!” (Richard D. Phillips, Colossians & Philemon, ed. Richard D. Phillips, Philip Graham Ryken, and Daniel M. Doriani, Reformed Expository Commentary [Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2024], 74).
Christ is to be preeminent in everything—even in the preacher’s sermon.
What should be our response to the truth that Jesus is supreme over the church?
We must surrender our agendas and our priorities to those of Jesus.
He is the head of the church, and we must do what he wants us to do.
III. Christ Is Supreme Over Salvation (1:19-20)
And third, Christ is supreme over salvation.
Paul shifts from Christ’s person and position to his work of salvation.
Paul sets down two truths to show us that Christ is supreme in salvation.
A. He Reveals the Father to Us (1:19)
First, he reveals the Father to us.
Verse 19 states, “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.”
As part of his redemptive work, Christ reveals the Father to us.
The word “dwell” refers to the tabernacle in the wilderness, where God was said to “dwell” (Exodus 29:44-46; Psalm 68:16).
So, Christ is truly “Immanuel,” God with us (Matthew 1:23).
Christ’s purpose for coming to Earth was to reveal the Father to us.
And he did so for our salvation.
Moreover, Paul seems to be addressing the false teachers who suggested that Christ was not fully God, but rather some lesser god.
Paul asserts that “all the fullness of God” dwelt in Christ.
Jesus was not simply a partial god.
No, he was very God of very God.
The prince of preachers, Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834 - 1892), once said:
“When the world had revolted against its Maker, and the Creator had been defied by His own creatures, a great gulf was opened between God and man. The first coming of Christ was like a bridge that crossed the chasm and made a way of access from God to man, and then from man to God. Our Lord’s second advent will make that bridge far broader, until heaven shall come down to earth; and, ultimately, earth shall go up to Heaven” (C. H. Spurgeon, Christ’s Incarnation: The Foundation of Christianity[Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2009], 143).
B. He Reconciles Us to the Father (1:20)
And second, he reconciles us to the Father.
Verse 20 states, “...and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”
Paul sets down several truths about the work of Christ for us.
First, the object of his coming was reconciliation.
Christ came to bridge the chasm between God and people.
The glorious good news is that God has taken the initiative to do this.
Commentator William Barclay notes, “The New Testament never talks of God being reconciled to the world, but always of the world being reconciled to God” (William Barclay, The Letters to Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians, 3rd ed. fully rev. and updated, The New Daily Study Bible [Louisville, KY; London: Westminster John Knox Press, 2003], 142).
Second, the medium of reconciliation was “the blood of his cross.”
The death of Christ brought about the reconciliation between God and people.
Third, in Christ, God was reconciling to himself “all things.”
The reconciliation of God extends not only to people but to all creation, animate and inanimate.
Paul likely had the false teachers in mind, since they taught that the world was evil.
But Paul stressed that it is God’s world, and that he will reconcile all things to himself.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched a massive, surprise attack on Israel.
Over 1,200 people were killed, and approximately 251 people were taken as hostages.
Over the next two years, negotiators worked tirelessly to bring an end to the hostilities and to secure the release of the hostages.
By October 13, 2025, most of the remaining living hostages were released from captivity.
Jesus is the supreme hostage negotiator.
By his life and death, he has secured the release of all those who are kept as hostages by Satan.
Jesus has reconciled to himself all things by making peace by the blood of his cross.
Conclusion
Friends, Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God.
He is supreme over creation.
He is supreme over the church.
And he is supreme over salvation.
Let us give all thanks and praise and worship and adoration and submission and service to our great Savior. Amen.
