Colossians 1:14-17

"Handfuls of Purpose"

For All Gleaners

"In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: for by him were all things created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by hint, and for him: and he is before all things, and by him all things consist." (Colossians 1:14-15 , Col 1:16-17 ).

The Apostle has never ascended to a higher intellectual and spiritual elevation. Recognising Christ as the "image" of the invisible God, we are not to understand the Apostle as using the word "image" as equal to shadow or outline, but rather as a distinct representation of God himself. There may be likeness without embodiment. There may be the suggestion of a likeness without anything beyond. In this case, however, the word "image" is to be understood as expressing the highest degree of vivid and actual personality. To Paul, Christ was the embodied God. When the Apostle regards Christ as "the firstborn of every creature," or of all creation, we are to understand that he was begotten before all creation; that he was indeed the very reason of the creation of the universe; that without Christ the universe would have been an impossibility or an abortion. The explanation of everything therefore is, according to the Apostle's idea, to be found in the personality, the ministry, and the whole purpose of Christ. Christ was begotten, not created. Here we enter upon mysteries at which human language can but dimly hint. We regard Jesus Christ as Emmanuel, God with us. We regard him as slain before the foundation of the world, and therefore as prepared for all the evolution of human sin, and all the need of human life. Christ is not to be understood as coming into history at a given point to meet a specific emergency: He is to be regarded as existing before all history, and is to be accepted as the key of the whole drama of human birth, development, and destiny. All things were created through Christ and for Christ. "For by him were all things created;" and again, "From him, and through him, and to him, are all things"; and again, "by whom are all things, and for whom are all things." Paul here gives us the key of the universe. We may approach the enigma of creation from various points, and we shall end all our investigations with a sense of chagrin and failure, if we neglect to associate the whole economy of things with the name and power of Christ. To be truly theological, therefore, is to be truly scientific. To have a clear conception of all that is meant by the term "Christ" is to have a correspondingly clear conception of all that is meant by the term "universe." Men persist, however, in working from the outside, instead of working from the centre. We can easily see the possibility of endless and ruinous mistakes by this inversion of the law of progress. Where we are not at first permitted to come upon the central mystery, we may reverently work from the circumference, in the hope that in due time we shall see the glory of the centre. In the case of Christianity, however, we are distinctly invited to begin with Christ; to begin with him at any point of his marvellous career; and we are assured that only in proportion as we look at all things through Christ can we understand their unity and their meaning. Paul sets Christ not only above all divinely created glories, magnitudes, and splendours of every kind, but he sets him above all thrones and dominions, and principalities and powers, whether they are human, or whether they represent heavenly bodies, or stellar spaces and splendour. What a different view of the universe we have when regarding it from the Person of Jesus Christ! Now we see all things ordered and ruled as by a beneficent purpose. The Saviour is the Creator. He who suffered most rules most. The object of all this constitution and all this government is to develop man according to the divine ideal, to perfect him in all strength, stature, beauty, force, and excellence. Man is made but a little lower than the angels. We see him in the midst of his development, and it is like seeing a half-painted picture or an unfinished building; much there is that is rude, shapeless, provocative of hostile criticism, or suggestive of ill-natured and querulous interrogation; but here we have the promise that all things shall be made glorious and beautiful, as is the person of Christ. In this hope we suffer individually; in this confidence we toil collectively; in this blessed belief we offer every prayer, assured that the grand Amen will be realised in the ages to come according to the purpose of God. The Apostle now turns to a smaller theocracy: