Colossians 1:15-20 –

¹⁵He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. ¹⁶For 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. ¹⁷And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸And 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. ¹⁹For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, ²⁰and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Introduction

Easter Sunday is the most important holiday on the Church calendar. For centuries, it has been a time set aside by the Church to celebrate and proclaim Jesus’ resurrection from the dead; not as a fairy tale or as a sentimental wish, but as a real, historical fact; one that shook heaven and earth; one that is the highpoint of all human history. It is not an exaggeration to say that the eternal destiny of every person on earth, including every person in this room, hinges on our response to this news.

Of this, the Apostle Paul has some strong words,

1 Corinthians 15:13-20 If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. ¹⁵ We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. ¹⁶ For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁷ And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. ¹⁸ Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. ¹⁹ If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

²⁰ But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

We are here today because we believe Jesus really is risen from the dead, and that He really is the savior of all who believe (1 Timothy 4:10), and that He really is, right now, seated at the right hand of God interceding on our behalf (Colossians 3:1), and that He really will return one day to judge the living and the dead (2 Timothy 4:1), and that we will join Him in His resurrection (2 Corinthians 4:14), and that all of that is worth celebrating in the highest!

To pour gas on that fire, we’re going to continue making our way through Paul’s letter to the Colossians. In God’s kindness, we’ve come to the second half of 1:18, “He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. ¹⁹For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, ²⁰and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” What a testimony to God’s presence and love it is that this is our passage for Easter Sunday.

As we work our way through these few verses, we’ll see the big idea is that just as Jesus is preeminent over all Creation (over the making and governing of all that has been made), so too is He preeminent over all redemption and recreation (over saving and restoring all that has been broken). Said another way, the combination of Jesus’ work in creating the heavens and the earth and His resurrection from the dead shows that all things are from Him and through Him and for Him; and that is really good news for all who believe. The main takeaway for us, then, is to praise God and trust in the resurrected Jesus for every aspect of our lives and eternal lives.

Christ is risen, Grace Church!

The Power of the Parallels

If you’re just joining us, I’ve been preaching on the various aspects of Colossians 1:15-20 for a number of weeks now. That whole section in Paul’s letter is about the preeminence—the stand-alone superiority, majesty, sovereignty, glory—of Jesus. In a clear and clean way, Paul divides the preeminence of Jesus between His work in the Creation (vs.15-18a) and redemption/recreation (18b-20) of the world.

If we are going to really rejoice in the glory and receive the help contained in these few verses—which, of course, we very much want, right, Grace?—then we need to begin by seeing the four parallels Paul makes between Jesus’ work in Creation and in Recreation.

First, in the beginning of v.15 (in the section on Jesus’ preeminence over Creation), Paul wrote that Jesus “is the image of the invisible God.” The recreation parallel is in v.19, where he wrote that in Jesus “all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.” Can you see that in both, Paul’s point is that Jesus is God incarnate?

Second, in the second half of v.15 (Creation), Paul said of Jesus that He “is the firstborn of all creation.” And then in v.18 (recreation) he wrote that Jesus is “the firstborn from the dead.” There is a parallel between Jesus being firstborn at the making and remaking of heaven and earth.

Third, in v.17a (Creation) Paul wrote that Jesus “is before all things.” We find the parallel in v.18b (recreation), “He is the beginning.”

And finally, fourth, in v.16 (Creation) he wrote that in Jesus “all things were created.” And in v. 20 (recreation) he wrote that in Jesus “all things” will be reconciled.

Why do we need to start there? What’s the point of the parallels? The point is that just as Jesus is preeminent over Creation, so too is He preeminent over redemption and recreation. Just as Jesus is the author of all created things, so too is He the author of the salvation of all things. Just as His life is the source of all life, so too is His resurrection the source of all new life. Just as He ordered all things in the beginning, so too will He reorder all things in the end.

For the Colossian Church (those to whom the letter was originally written), drawing their attention to those awesome parallels served two main purposes. (1) It helped them grow even more firm in their resolve that salvation is in Jesus alone. That fact definitively answered many of the questions put before them by false teachers. (2) At the same time, Paul also meant it to help them grow even more firm in their resolve that Jesus is entirely sufficient to protect them from those persecuting them. And that fact definitively answered their questions concerning how they would be able to endure the persecution they were facing.

In other words, in drawing the parallels between Jesus’ preeminence over Creation and redemption, Paul poetically pointed the Colossians to the unmatched glory of Jesus and directly addressed their two main problems. What a gift that was for them (and, as we’re about to see, is for us).

With that in the way of a backdrop, let’s back up a bit and look more closely at the specifics of this passage. Insodoing, we’ll get a fuller sense of Paul’s argument and, Lord willing, it will result in hearts full of resurrection worship and lives full of resurrection obedience!

For the remainder of this sermon, then, we’re going to look a bit closer at each of those parallels as they appear inside the four main recreation claims Paul makes of Jesus in our passage: (1) Jesus is the firstborn from the dead, (2) In the man Jesus, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, (3) In Jesus all things are reconciled to God, and (4) In all of this, the preeminence of Jesus is put on spectacular display.

As remarkable as those things are, let me be clear on something: Neither Paul’s aim nor mine is to simply fill your head with Easter facts. For both of us, it is to help you see how those facts are the only sure foundation for a life, even an eternal life, of satisfaction, peace, meaning, and worship. Or, more immediately, it is to help today be filled with the kind of celebration and joy that can only come from genuine hope in the real and resurrected and reigning Jesus’. Let’s make our Easter celebrations centered around these things, Grace. If these things are true, and the certainly are, what could possibly be more worthy of celebrating?!

Jesus Is the Beginning, The Firstborn from the Dead

Once again, the first claim Paul makes in our passage for this morning is that Jesus “is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead.”

As I mentioned earlier, in both Creation and recreation, Jesus is the cause. That Jesus is “before” Creation (Genesis 1-2) means Creation was by and through Him. It came after Him and out of Him. That’s awesome. And in the same way, that He is the “beginning” of recreation (accordi...