Colossians 1:15-20
15 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.
He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,
16 for through him God created everything
in the heavenly realms and on earth.
He made the things we can see
and the things we can’t see--
such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.
Everything was created through him and for him.
17 He existed before anything else,
and he holds all creation together.
18 Christ is also the head of the church,
which is his body.
He is the beginning,
supreme over all who rise from the dead.
So he is first in everything.
19 For God in all his fullness
was pleased to live in Christ,
20 and through him God reconciled
everything to himself.
He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth
by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.
vs 15- Christ coming to earth in human form as a way to affirm the existence of God, giving a physical form to a spiritual being.
We see here that He was created before anything else, and that He is supreme over all of creation.
The Message says "In Christ we see God's original purpose for His creation". We are to mirror Christ just as Christ mirrors His Father.
vs 16- All things were created through Him and for Him. We only exist through His intercession on our behalf.
vs 17- "In Him all things find their their purpose", 'He holds all of creation together".
First, I love that we can find our purpose in Him; so many people search for meaning, yet Christ's very existence is our purpose, when we have Hm, we possess our meaning.
He holds creation together- I love this image of Christ holding creation together. It reminds me of a Waterdeep song called "And": "So You're the force of gravity that I feel pulling at my feet, You're the fuel at the center of the sun, And it's Your ghost that fills the atmosphere with what we need to breathe, everything I've ever wondered, You're the One."
vs 18- Christ is the head of the church, and we are the body. the head contains the "control center" of a body, the originator of thought, emotion, movement- we are the body, reacting to the impulsed that the brain sends, like nerves. He warns us of danger, comforts us, urges us to move, all through the prompting of the "head".
vs 19- This verse is just a reminder of the Holiness of Christ. God Himself was PLEASED to dwell in Christ, yet cannot come near sin without destroying it. Therefore He was so spotless that God could daily dwell in Him! Amazing to think that although now we have an intercessor through Christ, and are only made clean enough by His blood, one day we will stand face to face before God, blameless in heaven! We will be able to see Him and touch Him without being destroyed.
vs 20- I find it interesting that it says in this verse that God made peace with not only the people on earth, but all of heaven as well... This is interesting, and leaves questions in my mind as to whom or what needed to be reconciled with in Heaven. But anyway, it shows that Christ made the entire universe RIGHT by His blood.
Application-
I need to begin living as though Christ is my Lord. Too many times I try to lead by myself, I try to take over as "head". Also, at times that I feel as though I have no purpose, I can remind myself that Christ is my purpose, and He will reveal His desires for me in His own time. The last two verses give a vivid image of the perfect spotless Lamb that was Christ, which gives such depth to the knowledge of His sacrifice for us, who cannot even be in the true presence of God except through Him. Amazing.