Pastor Scott Andrews | July 27, 2025
Watch
Listen
Read
Colossians 1:15-20
You may not be aware, but this year, indeed, this day is a special day in the history of the church of Jesus Christ. You likely know the church has faced relentless persecution and opposition since its inception. It began with the ignominious death of its founder and head, who was betrayed by one of His own, deserted by His closest friends, tried by the religious elite, who should have been looking for and welcomed Him, delivered to governing authorities, although He Himself was the King of kings, and whose death was called for by those He came to save. There was nothing about that last week that made any sense – apart from God’s intention.
You see, all of that was according to the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God the Father. It was by this death and subsequent resurrection that God would save those for whom Jesus came. But, that incessant opposition would signal the future of the church He came to establish. And that opposition came first in the form of cruel persecution for the first three centuries of the church. I don’t have time to tell the stories, but the persecution was both verbal and physical, both religious and governmental, both local and empire-wide. Finally, in 313 AD, the Roman Emperor Constantine, after his victory at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, issued the Edict of Milan whereby Christianity was granted legal status. For the first time in history, Christianity enjoyed a period of peace. Of course, that peace did not last long, and hasn’t since.
You see, opposition did not cease – indeed, persecution has continued to the present day. But immediately following the edict, opposition now included a relatively new approach – attacks against the person and work of Jesus Christ. Jesus as always been the focus of this faith first called the Way, then Christianity. Therefore, in order to attack the faith, you must attack its centerpiece. Again, I don’t have time to list all the false teachings about Jesus to the present day.
But, listen carefully. Any teaching that diminishes the full deity or humanity, supremacy, sufficiency and necessity of Jesus Christ is unbiblical heresy. For example, there was a guy shortly after the Edict of Milan named Arius who taught Jesus was not fully God – at least not in the same way the Father was God. He said things like, “There was a time when the Son was not.” Is that true? He taught further since Jesus was created by the Father, He was of a different essence than and inferior to the Father. Is that true?
As silly as some of that may sound to most of you, you should know that in the latest State of Theology survey among evangelicals, 73% agreed with this statement, “Jesus is the first and greatest being created by God.” Forty-four percent agreed with the statement that Jesus was a great teacher but that He was not God. The pernicious teaching of Arius is alive and well.
Arius was a presbyter in Alexandria, Egypt. He began teaching an extreme subordinationism, that is, since Jesus is the Son of God, the firstborn of God, begotten of God, that He was the first created being and subordinate to God. Again, there was a time that He was not – that Jesus is not eternal; and He is therefore not equal to the Father. His teaching, although opposed by Bishop Alexander of Alexandria, began to spread and caused much division and debate in the church. I’ll spare the details – John LaShell will be teaching a core class this Fall on the Council of Nicaea and the Nicene Creed – I can’t wait – and he will cover more of the historical detail.
Now, because of the division and debate, the Emperor Constantine called for the first church council, not counting the one in Acts 15. It was held in 325 AD in Nicaea, modern-day Turkey. Called the Council of Nicaea, it was held from May to end of July of that year, making this, the last Sunday of July, the 1700th anniversary of the hugely important gathering. They came to deal with, among other things, this false teaching of Arius.
You see, the biblical teaching of the deity, supremacy, sufficiency and necessity of Jesus was at stake. Arius’ teaching threatened to take over the church. So, the Council was held – 318 seasoned pastors got together to discuss this doctrinal issue – and Arius was rightly condemned as a heretic, and the full, eternal deity of Jesus Christ was rightly upheld. These church leaders wrote a creed, dealing directly with the false teaching of Arius, called the Nicene Creed. Its primary architect was Athanasius, who was only 27 years old and an archdeacon at the time.
Later, because the teaching of Arius continued to spread even though he died in 336, another council was held – the Council of Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) in 381. There, they affirmed the creed of Nicaea and added briefly to it – primarily adding to the words of the original creed concerning the Holy Spirit. It is, without doubt, outside of Scripture, one of the most important pieces ever composed:
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
There’s more – we will recite it together at the end. It’s all important, and we believe it and should be able to explain and defend the truth in it. Now, this creed is almost like a hymn. When we think of hymns, we think of something like four verses followed by a chorus – usually sung in four-part harmony to a certain tempo or meter, usually with certain instruments – and we normally skip the third verse.
But when I use the word hymn to speak of things written centuries ago, from the apostles on – I mean a piece of prose containing a certain style – a rhythmic lilt, a correspondence between words carefully chosen, traces of rudimentary meter, and the use of certain rhetorical devices.
Another criterium of an ancient hymn is linguistics – an unusual vocabulary and theological terms. All that to say, as you listen to the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed – you certainly hear theological terms and rhythm and an intentional arrangement. So, we would call it a hymn. Hymns or creeds were part of the church from its earliest days – there’s some evidence the Apostles Creed goes all the way back to the early second century. But not only that, there is evidence of early hymns even in the New Testament. For example, you could look at Philippians 2 as it clearly declares the deity of Jesus.
The Nicene Creed was about our Triune God, but with a special emphasis on Jesus. Because, from the earliest days of the church, the person and work of Jesus have been attacked. And so, it’s most appropriate we focus our attention on the high and exalted person of Jesus today. By the way – not only am I in good company with the Nicene Creed – but I am in good company with the Apostle Paul in the book of Colossians. False teachers – surprise, surprise – had begun spreading heresy in Colossae. We don’t know exactly what they were teaching, but we can surmise much by what Paul said in his letter.
You see, Paul lifts high the person and work of Jesus in an early hymn in chapter 1. Lots of discussion about whether Paul borrowed this hymn, wrote the hymn, or perhaps modified it to fit his purposes. In the end, it doesn’t matter – what we have is a creed of highest Christological importance. As believers, we run to it and be reminded of the full deity, exalted supremacy, full sufficiency and absolute necessity of Christ. Read it with me – Colossians 1:15-20.
Unbelievable. That is a treasure of inestimable value. It communicates enormous, exalting, eternal truth. Listen to what Pastor John MacArthur said about this passage, “…of all the Bible’s teaching about Jesus Christ, none is more significant that Colossians 1:15-19. This dramatic and powerful passage removes needless doubt or confusion over Jesus’ true identity. It is vital to a proper understanding of the Christian faith.” So let me organize the passage for you as we consider it briefly, on this very special day in church history. Here’s the outline:
I. The Supremacy of Christ over Creation (15-17)
II. The Supremacy of Christ over the Church (18-20)
Notice verse 15, “He is the image of the invisible God, The firstborn of all creation.” From there, Paul goes on to talk about how Christ is the firstborn, supreme over all creation:
a. All things were created in Him.
b. All things were created through Him.
c. All things were created for Him.
d. He is before all things.
e. All things hold together in Him.
That’s a fairly impressive résumé. Notice how Paul uses all or every eight times – to take us to the highest degree. We are supposed to be overwhelmed by the majesty and overarching supremacy of His greatness over all things.
Now notice, verse 18 is similar to verse 15, “He is also head of the body, the church, and He is the beginning, The firstborn from the dead.” We are supposed to be utterly impressed, because He is utterly amazing.
Back to the first stanza of the hymn. Paul starts by saying Jesus is the image of the invisible God. What does that mean? Image is the word εικών, from which we get our word, icon. The word speaks of an imprint – the reflection or image of something that represents something else. What Paul means is Jesus is the perfect image of God. The author of Hebrews says it this way, “And He [Jesus] is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature…” Jesus represents God perfectly because He is God perfectly. We remember the words of John, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” So, we actually see the glory of God in Jesus.
Understand, the Bible makes clear no one has seen God – that is, God in all His full glory. But, Jesus came to reveal God to us. In Jesus, the invisible became visible. That’s what John 1:18 says, “No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained God” or made God known. This is the idea of image – He reveals God to us. Jesus once said to Philip, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.” In II Corinthians 4:4, Paul uses this idea of Christ being the image of God to say, in the gospel we see the glory of Christ who is the image of God. Amazing.
Notice, the Apostle John uses often the word begotten. It’s an important word we’ve lost in some translations. He uses it in John 3, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. The word speaks of begetting – producing the same in another. God begets God.
There are many other verses which prove the full deity of Jesus: John 8:58 where Jesus refers to Himself as the great I Am of the burning bush. In Romans 9:5 Paul calls Jesus, God forever blessed. In Titus 2:13 Paul calls Jesus our great God and Savior. Jesus is the exact image of the invisible God, revealing God to us.
Next, Paul says Jesus is the firstborn of all creation. Now, if you’re paying attention, that should cause some concern. The firstborn? Does that mean He was the first one born? Obviously, that can’t be referring to His incarnation, because He wasn’t the first one born – Cain was. Further, firstborn of all creation seems to suggest He came into being at some point in the past. Which seems to say Jesus had a beginning. That’s what the false teacher Arius said. He suggested this verse means, “there is a time when Jesus was not.” In fact, you should know this is a passage the Jehovah’s Witnesses use to say that Jesus is not God – that He had a beginning. Is this true?
If that’s what firstborn means, if it means first in chronology, we have a problem. But, in verse 18, Paul says Jesus is the firstborn from the dead. Oh, so Jesus is the first one raised from the dead? That’s not true. A few days before Jesus was raised, He raised Lazarus from the dead. He had raised others from the dead during His ministry. So, maybe firstborn isn’t first in chronology. Does the Scripture use the word firstborn to refer to something else? Yes it does. Let me give you an example:
In Psalm 89:27, God is speaking of David says, “I shall make him My firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.” That’s confusing – was David the firstborn in Jesse’s family? No – he was the seventh. Ok, was he the first king in Israel? No, Saul was. But God says, I will make David My firstborn. But then He tells us what He means – the highest of the kings of the earth. Oh, so firstborn doesn’t necessarily speak of chronology, but of rank or supremacy. I will make David, and by the way, as a type of the Messiah, the highest of the kings of the earth. So, Jesus is the firstborn, the highest or supreme in rank of all creation. That’s what Paul means.
So, I’ve been saying, Arius was rightly condemned as a heretic, because he diminished the supremacy of Christ. The bishops at the Council of Nicaea wrote these words:
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one being with the Father.
They got it right! Quickly, Paul’s hymn then illustrates Jesus’ supremacy over creation, verses 16 and 17. First, Jesus is the creator, more accurately, the agent through whom God created. Notice the end of verse 16 says, “all things have been created through Him.” Most of us know Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The Old Testament clearly says God created the universe and everything in it. But as we get to the New Testament, we find Jesus was the primary creator. John 1:3, “All things came into being through Him [Jesus], and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.” Hebrews 1:10, “And You, LORD [Jesus], in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of Your hands.” So, the New Testament clearly says Jesus was the creator or agent through whom the Triune God created.
And Paul makes sure we know what Jesus created – all things – both in the heavens and on the earth. That speaks of totality. Everything that exists owes its origin to Christ. He goes on, both visible and invisible. This is talking about the material and the immaterial world.
The point Paul is making is, Jesus, as the creator is supreme over all created things. Why? Because, the false teachers seemed to be promoting worship of angels. Chapter 2:18 says, “Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of angels…” The false teaching seemed to be – worship angels – put them on par with Christ, or maybe even superior to Christ. So, Paul says, I want you to understand – Christ is supreme – He created the angels – they worship Him. Don’t worship any created thing – not the saints, not Mary, not angels – nothing except God.
And just to make sure we get the universality of Christ’s creative work, Paul says in verse 17, “He is before all things.” In order to create all things, Jesus existed before all things. This speaks of Jesus’ eternal preexistence. He has always been. There was never a time He was not. Moreover, not only did Christ create all things, but He sustains all things. Verse 17, in Him – in the sphere of His control – all things hold together. Meaning, not only does everything owe its origin to Christ, but all things owe their ongoing existence to Christ.
Now, I’m not a scientist, but I am simply going to take this verse for what it says. If for one moment Jesus stopped holding all things together, the universe would cease to exist. What does that mean? I don’t know – not a scientist. Would there be a quick end, or would it take a little longer? Would electrons cease to circle nuclei, would planets cease their orbits, would gravity cease to work? I don’t know – too many smart people here for me to guess. All I know is the verse says the creator created all things, and the creator sustains all things. Hebrews 1:3 says it this way, “And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.”
The word of His power. He doesn’t strain a muscle or break a sweat keeping things together. And by the way – if God is big enough to create the universe, if He is big enough to hold it together, He is certainly big enough to hold all things in your life together.
Verse16, “For by Him all things were created,” – a more literal translation, in Him. All things were created in Him – meaning, in reference to Christ. Everything has their orientation to Him. Further, the end of the verse says, all things were created for Him. He is the end/goal of all creation – He is the purpose for which all things were created. Now, look at all those prepositions: all things were created in Him. All things were created through Him. And all things were created for Him. In Him, through Him, and for Him – that’s exhaustive. And those three prepositions appear in the second verse of the hymn: it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him; and through Him to reconcile all things for Himself.
In other words, it’s all about Him. Paul’s doxology in Romans 11:36 says it this way, “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. [And so] To Him be the glory forever. Amen.” Which means, you were created for Him. You are to be about Him. And so, any teaching that diminishes the deity, supremacy, sufficiency and necessity of Jesus Christ is heretical.
We move quickly to the Supremacy of Christ over the Church. Look at each of these with me: verse 18, Christ is also head of the body, the church. There’s actually a definite article before the word head. Meaning, He is the head of the church – there is no other. Not any pope, not any priest, not any pastor. Christ is the head of His church. He is the head of this church. Jesus is supreme over the church, because He is the head of the body. The word has the idea of authority, power, control, leadership. Jesus is in charge – the supreme authority over, He is sovereign over His church. Remember, He told the disciples, “I will build My church.” So, this is not your church – this is not the Elders’ church – this is not my church. This is Christ’s church. He is its head and authority, from whom we get life and direction. We are being reminded of His ultimate deity, supremacy, sufficiency, and necessity.
Next, Jesus is also the beginning. By that, Paul means that He precedes all things – He had to, in order to create all things. Let me show you something else, Revelation 1:8, where the Lord God says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.’” God says He is the Alpha and the Omega – the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet – a way of saying, I am the first and the last, the beginning and the end. In Revelation 21:6, God is sitting on His throne, He says these same words. Then we get to Revelation 22:13, and Jesus says, “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
In other words, Jesus claims deity for Himself. And when Paul says, He is the beginning – by that He means, He is before all things – He is the beginning of all things, He created all things. And here, it also means, I am even the beginning of the church – I created it, I bought it with my blood, and I am her supreme head and ruler and sustainer.
Next, we see Christ is the firstborn from the dead. We saw this earlier – Jesus was not the first one raised from the dead. But, we remember the definition of firstborn, which means first in rank. He is supreme over creation because as the firstborn, He brought forth creation. Now, as the firstborn of resurrection, He brings forth the new creation, called the church. Think about it: Christ did something, as the firstborn of creation to bring about the universe. And Christ did something after the Fall to bring about the new creation called the church.
He is the firstborn – the most important one raised from the dead. Because, you see, His resurrection was unique. There were others who had been raised from the dead – Lazarus, for example – but Lazarus died again. Jesus was raised never to die again. And because He has been raised that way, He becomes the first fruit of resurrection – there will be many others to come. Those who believe in Jesus will be raised again. He is the supreme one raised from the dead, which guarantees our future resurrection.
Next, still in verse 18, why is it important that Jesus is the head of the church, the beginning and the firstborn from the dead? Because it’s all about Jesus – so that He Himself – that’s emphatic – He Himself will come to have first place in everything. This is the goal of all history – that the triune God through the work of the Son, applied by the Spirit, would come to have first place in everything. Ephesians 1 says it this way: the purpose of everything is that all things be summed up in Christ. Philippians 2, at the end of it all, “God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in the heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
The point, all this is so Christ will ultimately be exalted to the highest degree. That doesn’t mean He was not exalted before creation, nor that He was not exalted during His incarnation. Nor that He’s not exalted after the ascension – that He’s somehow waiting to become supremely exalted. He is supremely exalted right now. But there is coming a time when all creation will acknowledge His supremacy and that He is first in everything.
Look at verse 19, for, meaning – given what I just wrote, that Jesus would have first place in everything – for it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Jesus. That’s a difficult verse to translate. The word Father is not in the Greek, so you could translate it, “For all the fullness was pleased to dwell in Him.” But what is this fullness? We don’t have to guess. Chapter 2:9, “For in Him all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form.” The critical point is Jesus can take first place in everything, because in Him the fullness of deity was pleased to dwell.
Which brings us to my last thought – a challenging but encouraging truth. Verse 20, God was pleased to reconcile all things through His Son to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; whether things on earth or things in heaven. Through the work of the Son on the cross, the shedding of His blood, all things have been reconciled to God in Christ. In what way have all things been reconciled – in what way has peace been established? And what are all things that have been reconciled?
In this passage – all things means all things – material and immaterial. physical and spiritual. To make sure we get it, Paul says, whether things on earth or things in heaven. So, in what way have all things been reconciled? That sounds like universalism – and some use this verse to teach there will come a day when all people and all spiritual beings – angels and demons – will be reconciled to God – and we will all live happily ever after. The problem is that goes against the Scripture. Only those who believe in Jesus will be reconciled to God. And the Scripture teaches there will be no demons saved – they will be cast forever in the lake of fire. So, to what does this reconciliation and peace refer?
There is coming a day when everyone and everything – material and immaterial – will be reconciled to God – voluntarily or involuntarily. There is coming a day when every knee will bow, those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and confess Jesus is Lord to the glory of God. The point is – everything and everyone will ultimately bow to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. You can do it now voluntarily and later in heaven – or you cannot do it now, but you will later confess, involuntarily in hell – but bow and confess all will.
Christ is the head of the church. He is the beginning. HE is the firstborn from the dead. He is supreme in everything. Christ is fully God. And He is the reconciler. He brought peace. Now stop and think about that for a moment. God is the Creator – we are the created. He is the sovereign King, and we are the rebellious ones. He is the offended party, we are the offenders.
But notice, God did not wait for us – the rebellious, offending subjects – to seek Him out as the offended, righteous King. He took the steps necessary to bring reconciliation. He sent His Son to do the work of peace on His cross – so that we the offenders could be brought near, reconciled to the One we infinitely offended. This is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. To appease the wrath of God that was rightly directed against us. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
The point of the hymn: the purpose of creation was in Him, through Him, and for Him. The purpose of the new creation, the church is to be in Him, through Him and for Him. It is all about Him. So, how important is this day in history? Incalculable. Do you know Jesus as God – the sovereign Creator and ruler of the universe? Do you know Him as the head of the church – the first one, the supreme one raised from the dead? And do you know Him as your reconciler? Do you know Him as your Savior? Because you will bow your knee to Jesus, one way or the other.