Introduction.

This is not a very easy passage to expound! This is in part due to the fact that Paul wrote to the Colossians in the knowledge that Gnosticism was beginning to gain a foothold in the church. Gnosticism is a set of beliefs that I find difficult to understand! It owes its origin to Greek Schools of Philosophy. The main beliefs of Gnosticism are:

(a) All matter is evil and the non material spirit realm is good.

(b) There is an unknowable God who gave rise to many lesser spirits called aeons.

(c) One evil lower spirit being is the Creator who made the universe.

(d) Gnosticism does not deal with 'sin' only 'ignorance'.

(e) To achieve salvation one needs to get in touch with secret knowledge.

This is all so far removed from Christianity that I find it difficult to understand how it could gain adherents in the Colossian church. Paul does not take the Gnostic beliefs and show how incompatible they are to Christianity; instead he proclaims the supremacy of Jesus.

(1) Jesus is the supreme expression of God's love. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. v13. He is the image of the invisible God. v15.

The original Greek translated to read, 'the son he loves' in the NIV actually conveys more than that - it means that Jesus is the ultimate manifestation of God's love. The truth is not just that God loved Jesus, his son, but also that Jesus the son shows how much God loves us. For God so loved the world that he gave us his one and only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Jesus is the highest expression of God's love for us - the love by which we are taken out of the dominion of darkness into the kingdom of light. When Jesus was asked by Philip, "Show us the Father and that will be enough for us." He replied, "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. Don't you believe that I am in the Father and that the Father is in me?" Jn14v9to12.

We do not need secret knowledge provided by a series of strange spirits to know God. Jesus came to make God known. He particularly makes God's love known. The Parable of the Prodigal Son tells us more about God's love for sinners than any Gnostic insight.

Oh the love that drew salvation’s plan!
Oh, the grace that brought it down to man!
Oh, the mighty gulf that God did span
At Calvary!

Mercy there was great, and grace was free;
Pardon there was multiplied to me;
There my burdened soul found liberty,
at Calvary.

(2) Jesus is the supreme creator.

As indicated in the introduction, Gnostics believed that matter was bad and only spirit was good. So the earth was bad. This posed a problem: How could a good God create a bad earth. The Gnostics believed remote emanations from God created the universe. These emanations were ignorant of, and hostile to, God.

This seems like nonsense to me. What were these emanations? What form did they take? If they originated from God, however remotely, then it is God, however indirectly, who is the creator.

Today there are notions in vogue among some of the scientific community that are just as nonsensical as Gnosticism. Some believe that the universe started itself; others prefer to believe that it has always existed and never needed creating. Even more scientists teach that all living things are the product of a mindless evolutionary process. Evolution may have played a role in creation but it is hard to understand how it explains the good ideas that some species have - species like the spider which use webs to catch their food.

Paul affirmed that:

(a) Jesus is the first born over all creation. By this Paul doesn't mean that Jesus was the highest created being but rather he predates creation. In the Old Testament the firstborn had special status and authority. Jesus has authority over creation. He is its author.

(b) Jesus created all things. He wasn't simply a good man, a great man or a wise man. Jesus was both God and man. Everything that exists is the product of Jesus' creative genius.

(c) Jesus created things in heaven and on earth. The terms: thrones, powers, rulers, authorities probably applied to groupings of angels. They were among the emanations by which the Gnostics said God communicated his will.

There is nothing that exists on earth or in heaven that has not been created by Jesus. This in itself does pose problems. There are some things that we doubtless think would have been better left uncreated - like the mosquito. I also find it disturbing that nature is red in tooth and claw. Creatures were preying on each other long before the Fall!

(3) Jesus is the supreme sustainer. In him all things hold together. v17.

The writer to the Hebrews put it like this: The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. Heb1v3.

From its beginning to its end Jesus sustains the universe. Jesus is the origin of the laws that keep the sun and stars shining, the earth orbiting the sun and rotating on its axis, the tides ebbing and flowing, the wind blowing and the rain falling.

The chapel pews look solid enough but if examined under a very powerful microscope there are large gaps between the molecules of wood. The pews consist mostly of nothing - so why are they so solid? Jesus is the mind behind atomic physics.

Every time we enjoy a sunset or a blackbird singing on a balmy evening we should remember that all things were created by Jesus and for him. The universe is Jesus' masterpiece and it gives him intense pleasure. Little wonder that he keeps it in good working order.

(4) Jesus is the supreme head of the church. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from the dead so that in everything he might have the supremacy. v19.

Jesus as head:

(a) Feels for the body. He signals when any part of the body is suffering. He is concerned for individual Christians who may be in trouble.

(b) Instructs the body. It is the head that warns and advises us. The head informs us when the body is getting too cold or too hot. It tells us when to switch on and switch off the central heating.

Members of Christ's body, his church, should follow the instructions of Jesus and live according to his teaching. There is a detailed manual for living called the, 'Sermon on the Mount'. Take also, for example, the three principals to live by in Luke6v37to42.

(c) Began the church. The church originated with Jesus' birth, life, death and resurrection. The apostle states in this passage that Jesus is the first born from the dead. I prefer the way he put it in his first epistle to the Corinthians: But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 1Cor15v20.

Jesus is not the dead founder of a new religion like Mohammed or Buddha. Jesus is alive for evermore. This knowledge both challenges and reassures us. Jesus is not ignorant of our efforts to serve him. He is fulfilling his promise to intercede for us. A day is coming when Jesus will return to earth to reward those who believe in him. They will be raised to life eternal. They will enjoy him forever.

(d) Reigns supreme. Jesus is enthroned in heaven. He sits at God's right hand. Jesus also reigns in the lives of his innumerable disciples.

When Jesus returns to earth, every knee will bow to him. Paul asserts to the Romans: For we will all stand before God's judgment seat. It is written: 'As surely as I live,' says the Lord, 'Every knee will bow before me; ever tongue will confess God.' Rom10v13.

(5) The supreme reconciler. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

The Greek word in the original, translated fullness in the NIV, is 'pleroma' which means completeness. As William Barclay points out Jesus is not a simple sketch of God, a cartoon figure, a lifeless portrait or an impressionist's daub. Jesus is the full picture of God, the finished work. He is complete in every way and nothing more is needful.

Reconciliation is the essential theme of the passage we are studying. There are three references to it: v13and14, v20 and v22. Jesus divinity is crucial for our reconciliation with God the Father. Warren W. Wiersbe observes: The only arbiter who can bring God and man together is the One who is both God and man himself.

So, bearing in mind all the references to reconciliation in the passage: What can be said about it?

(a) We are reconciled at the initiative of God the Father. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. v13.

God takes the initiative on both our behalf and the behalf of Jesus his Son.

(b) We are reconciled to the Father by the sacrificial death of Jesus which God graciously accepted as atonement for our sin. Paul clearly states this. We have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. v14. Later he writes: Jesus made peace between God and man through his blood shed on the cross. v20. Then again he writes: Now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight. v22.

Paul is emphatic. God required one final, perfect sacrifice for sin and Jesus was the sacrificial lamb by whose shed blood we have redemption.

(c) Our reconciliation to God results in more than forgiveness. It also involves a change of status. Men and women, alienated from God by their evil behaviour, become holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation. What a wonderful transformation.

(d) Our reconciliation to God meets with the approval of the angels in heaven. This may be the implication of the statement that the redemptive work of Jesus allowed God to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven. v20. It is possible that the angels in heaven found man's alienation from Gof distressing.

(6) The supreme requirement.

Our redemption depends upon God's grace and the sacrificial death of Jesus. God accepted the price that Jesus paid because he wished to be reconciled to mankind. Jesus submitted to the will of his Father out of love for both his Father and his fellow men.

So is that it? Is salvation ALL of God? Many would say it was - especially the Christians who, like me, attend Grace Baptist churches! Well what does the Bible say? Paul makes it clear. God reconciles you to himself IF you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and which I Paul, have become a servant. v23.

So, reconciliation to God is dependent on:

(a) The proclamation of the gospel; the good news that Jesus died to save sinners.

(b) Faith. Men and women must believe in Jesus and his saving work if they are to benefit from it.

Faith is not a gift from God. Belief is man's responsibility. It is the criteria upon which God's election rests.

It is very simple: Believe to be saved; disbelieve and you're lost.

INDEX

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