Conclusion: Colossians 1:18

Well, this post will wrap up our study in Colossians…but what a great way to end a study.  What we have seen, thus far, within this chapter is that Christ is presented and described as:

1.      The Image of the Invisible God

2.      The Firstborn of Creation

3.      The Creator

4.      Before All Things

5.      The Sustainer

Within this concluding verse of our study, we will see Christ described as the “head of the body, the church” as well as “the beginning, the firstborn from the dead” (1:18).   I know that this may seem like a lot to take in at once, but we will break this down into more consumable and applicable pieces.

To begin this verse, Paul describes Christ as being the “head of the body.”  There are a couple of interesting aspects to note about this particular section. First, Paul uses the metaphor of the “the body” to refer to that of the church.  This is something that is not uncommon in Paul’s writing, as it can be seen and referenced in various passages throughout Colossians and Ephesians (Colossians 1:24; 2:19; Ephesians 1:24; 4:4; 4:15-16; 5:23).  It has been said that the exact derivation of this metaphor is not entirely known for sure.  Regardless of its derivation and influence, Paul is pretty clear with his point.  What he is implying is that the “church” is not simply to be contained to the local body of believers, but that the “ekklesia” is to denote the world-wide body of believers that acknowledge Christ as Lord.

The second interesting aspect of this particular phrase is that Paul references Christ to be the “head.” This has significant meaning; in the ancient world, the “head” was seen to be the governing member of the body.  Further, the “head” was seen as that which controlled the body, provided life, and provided sustenance for the body.  By Paul stating that Christ was the “head of the body” he was implying that Christ was the center, source, direction, and sustenance of the church.  This specific phrasing could have been provoked by the false teaching that was prevalent within the Colossian church. Much of their teaching was focused around seeing a spiritual experience in things outside of Christ alone.  Paul was refuting this teaching and stating that Christ was the true and only source for the “body.”

Following this, Christ is described as being the “beginning.”  This verse parallels with what was mentioned in verse 15, as Christ is described as being the “image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” The basic idea that Paul is attempting to bring out through this word is that Christ is the beginning; He is the source or the beginning of new creation.  The same word that is used here in this passage can also be found in Revelation 3:14 as John states that Christ is the beginning of God’s creation.

Another aspect of this verse that is worth noting is that Christ is described as the “firstborn from the dead” (vs. 18).   This portion of the verse seems to parallel with that of verse 15, as well; specifically, Christ being the “firstborn of all creation.”  With this being said, this verse could denote that Christ is of highest rank to the entire created world; more precisely, of all that have ever been raised from the dead, Christ is superior and in higher rank.  Obviously, there have been others that have been raised from the dead, but of all the individuals that have ever been raised Christ was the only one that was raised to immortality.  All of the others that have experienced resurrection have also experienced death after their resurrection.  This is not true of Christ, as He was raised never to die again.

Concluding this verse is a phrase that, I believe, puts everything into perspective.  Paul states “so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything” (vs. 18).  Specifically, this is in reference to what has been mentioned previously, that Christ is the “firstborn from among the dead.” What this can imply is that a result of Christ’s resurrection is His supremacy in everything. Paul was essentially stating that Christ was to be held in a place of supremacy higher than anyone or anything.  This included all men, angels, and false gods; he was debunking all of the false teachings that had been presented by the Colossians.  Even more directly, Paul was implying that Christ was to be preeminent, personally, within the hearts, minds, thoughts, and desires of the Colossians.

The message that Paul was delivering is true and very applicable for us today; Christ is to be preeminent in everything…in every area of our lives.  If this is to happen, it means that we are to personally forfeit this position. Let’s be honest; this is an area that no one has perfected.  No one has perfected this because it is one of the hardest things that we must do. We all feel the pull for self-entitlement in many different areas…our titles, jobs, relationships, and even our ministries.  As we have seen through Colossians, Christ is so much more than we will ever be; He is so much God and we are so much fallen. Ephesians 2 teaches that we were dead in our sin, but even when we were dead in our sin, Christ made salvation available (2:1-5).  Even logically speaking, Christ deserves this place in our lives as we are only what we are because of Him.

It is my prayer that we would willing submit to Christ’s preeminence as we allow Him to have that place of superiority within our lives.  May we willingly humble ourselves before the Creator of the world and willingly lay our lives down for His service out of a heart of gratitude and thankfulness for who He is and what He has done for us.

Happy Reading,

CBMaxwell

Paul's Attitude

1 Corinthians 15:1-9

It seems like it has been years since the last post that went up in December, but I hope that since then, you have been rested and refreshed. Throughout the duration of last semester, our primary focus was on the much needed topic of Humility in Ministry. This was brought about by studying some of the many qualities of Christ; through gaining a better knowledge of the manifold characteristics of Christ, the byproduct of gaining a better understanding of ourselves then stems. The result of this is humility as we understand that we are nothing in comparison to Him.

Going into this next semester, our focus will be the same, yet shifted slightly. We will still be dealing with the overarching theme of Humility in Ministry, but we will be looking at the ministry and example of Christ as presented in Philippians 2, as his ministry epitomizes our theme.

Before actually jumping into Philippians next week, I wanted to discuss something that has been on my mind over the past week. It is a passage that I was reminded of very recently and its application walks hand-in-hand with what will be discussed throughout the rest of the semester.

1 Corinthians 15:1-9 presents very crucial pieces of information that are pertinent to the Christian faith. Within this passage, the Apostle Paul discusses some brass tacks that make up the basis of Christianity. At the beginning of the chapter, Paul begins this address by introducing what will be presented over the next few verses. He states “Now I make known to you brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received…” (1 Cor. 15:1). By beginning the chapter this way, Paul is stating that what he is about to deliver is not new information, but that it has already been presented to them previously. He carries on by stating “…in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain” (1 Cor. 15:1-2). Paul is describing that not only has this church heard the information before, but that there has already been a response to this information.

The information that Paul is describing in the first couple of verses is the Gospel, as will be presented in verses 3-5. He states this as being the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Christ. These are absolutely foundational ingredients in what we believe as Christians; without the reality of any of these, our faith would be in vain and everything presented in Scripture would be made void.

In the verses following, Paul goes on to record the list of individuals that were eyewitnesses of Christ’s resurrection. His main reason for placing this within the text is to place a greater emphasis on the reality of the resurrection. When you get to the end of his list of eyewitness, you find something rather interesting; Paul lists himself, which refers to his conversion back on the Damascus Road (Acts 9:1-8). What is intriguing about this is his description of himself. Paul states “and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also. For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God” (1 Cor. 15:8-9).

This description is one that, at first, can be quite confusing. Paul refers to himself as one that was “untimely born.” To be honest, this phrase is one that had me stumped for a few days; it was not something that was easy to grasp. The word that Paul uses in this phrase refers to that of an “aborted fetus” or an “unborn fetus.” What Paul is saying is that compared to the other apostles that were previously listed within the passage, he is to these apostles as an unborn or an aborted fetus would be to perfectly formed infants. Paul’s words describe his inadequacy to even be called an apostle due to his wretched past and former position (1 Cor. 15:9).

His view is that of humility; when writing this, he had a clear picture of where he was before the Damascus Road and where he was thereafter. He had a handle on the fact that he was only what he was by the grace of God. This attitude of humility in Paul is absolutely evident in his writing and ministry; it is evident that he was not the subject of his life-- Christ was.

This passage, specifically Paul’s attitude towards his ministry, should present a great challenge to believers. It is so easy to get caught up in ministry and service that we forget that we have been specifically and intentionally placed in our ministries for a purpose that is greater than our own selves. When we stop and consider that we have been blessed with the opportunity to minister, regardless of the venue and despite our own wretchedness, our attitude should be similar to that of Paul’s. We should consider ourselves inadequate for our positions, except for the grace of God. I believe that until this happens, we will not be able to exemplify humility in ministry.

Happy Reading,

CBMaxwell