He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 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. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 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. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
Comment: This is an exciting passage! It puts in a very short writing what Heb 1: 2-4 also does – “in these last days he (God) has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.” In a sense both passages summarize what the whole Bible says about Jesus!
We will look at the passage again tomorrow but a couple of things for today! 1. Dual citizenship is a reality for Christians! Our primary citizenship as seen by the world is a country here on earth, but from God’s point of view we are citizens of ‘the kingdom of his beloved Son‘. Even if we don’t have a paper passport, we have our names written in the Book of Life, which is a list of the citizens of this kingdom of Light! 2.Firstborn – is Biblically a word with two meanings. Jesus was born as a man in Bethlehem, as first son of Mary. But He was somehow ‘born’ as a person before Creation. The second meaning of the word has to do with pre-eminence! We will look at Jesus’ pre-eminence further tomorrow. 3. the Greek word ‘eikon’ here translated image, is a very powerful word in this context. Jesus is described here as ‘the image of the Invisible God’ It is not a fleeting look in a mirror! It includes the concepts of ‘perfect representation’, ‘deity and eternity’, ‘complete revelation’. The Hebrew passage says ‘He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature‘! Tomorrow we will consider some of the extensions of Jesus’ pre-eminence!
Isaiah 9: 6&7a – For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end.
Prayer: Jesus, I confess that I have too small a concept of what You being the ‘eikon’ of God, really means. Please help me to understand more.
As I read it! 