Who is Jesus

Kingship.Church
Oct 14
3 min read

Updated: Oct 20

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.

When we think of who Jesus is, it is easy to start at Bethlehem. However, this is not the origin of Jesus; far from it. Our mind rushes to the teacher, the Son of Man scorned upon the cross. However, He is more than a sacrifice and more than just our Savior. While the cross, along with the resurrection, is the pinnacle event of Jesus, it is the identity of Jesus, as the Son of God, that makes the event the epicenter of all of history.

Once Paul got started talking about the Beloved Son in the previous verse, he couldn’t get his foot off the gas pedal. However, this is not an impulsive rant as if Paul is on a tangent. He has carefully constructed a confessional for the church that proclaims the full essence of the Son of God in all His Glory.

Any reason for a declaration of Christ is founded in His biggest attribute of all: that Jesus is the visible of the invisible. Meaning, Christ’s presence reveals everything about God. The reality of the Son of God with us testifies to the reality of our Father in Heaven. Immanuel brings understanding. How can the clay understand the Potter without aid from the Potter Himself? What knowledge can clay obtain that exceeds the reality of clay? God becoming flesh is not just substitution for the cross, but so that we may have understanding of the God who willingly substitutes. God revealing His character and nature to us speaks to more than communication, but of relationship. What is so unique to the presence of Christ is how much more it tells us about the God who created us, well beyond just the evidence of creation revealing a Creator.

Christ is the King over all creation, referring to the role bestowed upon that of a firstborn in a family, and yet not a created being Himself. Instead of being created, He created. Instead of being subject to an authority, He is authority. Christ is the head of which all else proceeds. He holds all power, wisdom, and presence. Everything is sustained by Him. He contains the fullness of God. All things are subject to His whim. Such power in anyone else’s hands would be dangerous, yet for Christ it is all laid at the cross at the pleasure of reconciling that which does not desire to reconcile... us.

What is the nature of this authority, which is pleased to exercise sacrificial atonement instead of subject rule? It is not an example found in our sinful nature. How then could this aspect of God be understood, unless it was made visible?