Colossians 1:15

Here we have the beginning of a series of lines focused on praising Christ and highlighting His elevated position. He has no rival and check out book of Hebrews for an expanded exposition of the uniqueness of Christ: His person, His work, His position.

Being the image of the invisible God echoes back to the words about Adam, who was made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27). Now, Christ is the second Adam over the new creation (1 Corinthians 15:45).

When one of the disciples asked Jesus to show them the Father, Jesus said that the person who has seen Him has seen the Father (John 14:7). "The Father and I are one," He said (John 10:30).

That is a bold claim. It is a claim of being God. How should the immediate hearers interpret it? They can't. It would take the Holy Spirit's coming for it to be clear, and He would inspire the writers of the epistles to lay it out. Eventually, we would have the concept of the Trinity, the three-in-one God, which was necessary for redemption to occur.

Back to the issue of Christ being the image of the invisible God. John wrote that no one has ever seen God (John 1:18), and that is clearly in reference to God the Father. Truly, no one has ever seen God. Beware of those who say they have gone to heaven and seen God; they are deceived at best and charlatans at worst. The Bible declares that God is invisible, which is why Christ, the one who is the image of the invisible God, is special. If someone has seen God, then Christ is not so special. The Bible says that no one has seen God at any time, and the one, Himself God, who is in closest fellowship with the Father, has made God known (John 1:18).

Christ is the only complete representation of God, who is Himself God. There won't be an upgrade, someone else coming after him claiming to bring an upgraded revelation of God; you can't have it better than the one and only Christ.

The word "image" means authentic representation. As an illustration, think of an ambassador from a country; there can only be one. The ambassador is the image of the faraway (invisible) kingdom.

That is why Jesus said, "The kingdom of heaven is near" (Matthew 3:2) when He appeared. He is the full representation of heaven. You cannot have a higher or fuller representation of God than God Himself. This is a strong defense against any possible confusion or misrepresentation of God, like when the devil deceived Eve in the garden (Genesis 3).

One apostle called Jesus God (John 20:28), and it was not even up for discussion because He was God who became man for the purpose of salvation. This is the one who created all things, whether seen or unseen; they are made for Him and by Him, including thrones and dominions (Colossians 1:16).

He is the firstborn over all creation. With that, Jesus was not just the full representation of God to us but also a full representation of us to God as the firstborn. Firstborn in the sense of being part of us, but also fully embodying us.

With that, he can judge the living and the dead (1 Timothy 4:1) with his authority as the firstborn. Like a king who comes from among the people but is the first among the people, and with such elevation can judge the people, and God would recognize His judgment. Jesus clearly said that God has assigned all judgment to him (John 5:22).

He became man and became the firstborn from the dead, and he holds that preeminent position forever. As the firstborn, he is the first to overcome decay and enter into the very presence of God. He is the firstborn over all creation, and he will bring all of us into the new creation—a world where there is no death, no pain, and no tears—the new world.

Every mouth will proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:11). "Lord" is a title given to God or used by people who claim preeminence on earth, like kings. But Jesus is not just a lord; he is the true King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Revelation 19:16). If there are lords anywhere, Jesus is the Lord over them too.

He stands as the Lamb slain, representing creation before God (Revelation 5:7). When John was before the throne of God, the firstborn over all creation took the scroll from the hand of the Father and manifested his control over all.

For a while, there was no one who qualified to do it until the firstborn from the dead came forth. He was validated by his victory over the grave, so that he is changed in the ultimate way possible—from being able to die to being unable to die—and with that, he exists in a whole different category all by himself.

There can only be one firstborn—Christ, the all in all (Colossians 3:11). There is no one comparable to Him, but by the Spirit, He comes within us, and we become like Him. He is the first fruit from the dead, and when he appears, we shall be like him (1 John 3:2).

Because he has the resurrected body, the new creation will also have a resurrected body. Because he has eternal life, we have eternal life. Because he lives, we also live (John 14:19).

Because he is righteous, we are also righteous, and on the basis of his righteousness, we stand before God (2 Corinthians 5:21), as the redeemed from every tribe, language, people, and nation (Revelation 5:9). He shared in our flesh and blood (Hebrews 2:14) so we can also share in the glory that He has with the Father before the world was created (John 17:5, 22).

He is the firstborn over all creation, not just the visible, but also the invisible. We went to the unseen world after his death and became Lord in both the seen and unseen worlds. He controls both worlds and will one day return to visibly take over all things when he descends from heaven in the same way he ascended (Acts 1:11).

The Psalmist writes about Him, and the writer of the book of Hebrews references it: "You made him a little lower than the angels and crowned him with glory and honor and made him rule over the works of your hands" (Hebrews 2:7-9, Psalm 8:4-6).

This is a recognition of the firstborn over all creation. He was made a little lower than the angels so that He could take the place of the fallen first Adam, ensuring that the word of God, which gave dominion of the earth to man (Genesis 1:26-27), would stand as intended.

That man is Jesus, and He will soon come back to take full rulership. He is the rightful heir to the throne of David; He is the root of Jesse, and He is the branch on which the Spirit of the Lord rests (Isaiah 11:1-3).

He is the one who has the seven spirits of God, who opens and no one can shut, and who shuts and no one can open, signifying complete and total control in all realms, without question (Revelation 1:20, 3:7).

He is the one who came to restore mankind to its rightful place by becoming man. Isaiah puts it this way: God said, "I looked, and there was no one to help; so my own arm brought salvation" (Isaiah 63:5).

There was no one to open the seals (Revelation 5:4-10), so God became man, died, overcame the grave, and accomplished it Himself. There was darkness everywhere in His creation, and He became the light. When there was a flood of sin everywhere, He became the rock for us to stand on. Glory to His holy name.