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COMMUNITY GROUP STUDY 9
COLOSSIANS 1:15 SEEING JESUS IS SEEING THE BEAUTY OF GOD
Colossians 1:15He (The Son NIV) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
This week we will be studying and praying in order to get a fresh vision of the beauty and majesty of Jesus from this poem/song of worship that runs from 1:15 to 1:20. The song begins by telling us that Jesus is the creator of all things - the old creation; it climaxes by telling us that He is the Saviour of all things - the new creation is coming!
Jesus is the Image of God
Paul is refuting all false teachers who were seeking to undermine their worship of Christ as God – a member of the Trinity. What does Jesus say about Himself in John 14:9?
Jesus is firstborn
· How do you think that the term ‘firstborn’ could be misunderstood and misused?
· The term ‘firstborn’ reflected the Jewish culture where the firstborn son had supremacy. What does this verse teach us about how we are to view Christ in our lives and churches?
Jesus is over all creation
· Jesus’ supremacy and rule extends over what, and how should this be of great comfort to us?
RESPONSE
· Out of 10, how full is your heart and mind with admiration for Jesus? What are the reasons for this score at present?
· How can we grow in knowledge and heart-felt appreciation of Jesus?
How should Jesus being your Lord, and Lord of all creation, effect:
- Fear and worry?
- How we pray about problems we face?
- Our joy and confidence in life?
DAILY DEVOTIONAL
WEEK 9 - SEEING JESUS IS SEEING THE BEAUTY OF GOD
MONDAY – JESUS IS THE IMAGE OF GOD
Colossians 1:15He (The Son NIV) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
Jesus is the image of God
Paul is raising Christ to the highest possible place – equality with God. There were false teachers then, as there are today, who would demote Christ to a created being of some kind – something less than deity. Paul, however, declares that Jesus is God made visible.
The word ‘image’ (eikón), like our English equivalent, could mean a range of things; but, in this context, Paul is best understood as reinforcing his belief that Jesus is God in the flesh – the perfect revelation of God. We read something similar,
2 Corinthians 4:4The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Paul’s teaching against idolatry
Paul’s teaching on idolatry (worshipping things other than God) is interesting evidence that He considered Jesus to be God. He said of idolaters,
Romans 1:23They exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
The worship of human beings was anathema to Paul, and yet he unreservedly worships Christ; Paul’s attitude to Jesus would be idolatrous by his own standards unless he considered Him to be God.
RESPONSE
The apostle John said of Jesus,
John 1:18No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
Let’s worship Jesus unreservedly as the invisible God made visible. Let’s read the life of Christ in the gospels as a mirror being held up to show us what God is truly like. As John Stott wrote,
“Nobody can call himself a Christian who does not worship Jesus. To worship him, if he is not God, is idolatry; to withhold worship from him, if he is, is apostasy.”
TUESDAY – JESUS THE MAN IS THE IMAGE OF GOD
Colossians 1:15He (The Son NIV) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
Jesus, the man, says Paul, is also the image of the invisible God. The incarnation means that Jesus is both fully man and fully God. As J. I. Packer has written,
‘The supreme mystery with which the gospel confronts us…lies, not in the Good Friday message of atonement, not in the Easter message of resurrection, but in the Christmas message of incarnation.’
It’s mind-boggling to think that a man who had a birthday and the same flesh and blood as you and I, could, at the same time, be the infinite and eternal God.
The incarnation can be summarised,
‘Remaining what He was, He became what he was not." In other words, while Jesus continued "remaining" what He was (that is, fully divine) he also became what He previously had not been (that is, fully human as well). Jesus did not give up any of his deity when He became man, but he did take on humanity that was not His before.’ (Wayne Grudem)
RESPONSE
Hebrews 4:14-16 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
The incarnation is to motivate us to faithfulness. Jesus ‘empathises with our weaknesses’; He has experienced all our human sufferings and more. Jesus was tempted but never sinned and therefore He is our perfect sin offering. Let the incarnation of Jesus Christ inspire you to approach such a loving God and Saviour to ‘find grace in your time of need’.
WEDNESDAY – HOW DOES JESUS IMAGE GOD?
Colossians 1:15He (The Son NIV) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
What does it mean to say that Jesus is the image of God? It means that Jesus has all the attributes of God and lived and taught in perfect accord with God. What is recorded of Christ in the gospels and New Testament is God on show as never before.
Colossians 1:9For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.
Jesus had all the attributes of God, for example:
Jesus is independent (Aseity)
Jesus is independent, not needing anything in creation for His existence; and yet all of creation depends upon Him for existence: Colossians 1:17In him all things hold together; Hebrews 1:1 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.
Jesus is eternal
Jesus is infinite in relation to time: Colossians 1:17‘…He is before all things…’ John 8:58“Before Abraham was born, I am!”
Jesus is unchanging (Immutable)
Jesus has never and will never change: Hebrews 13:8Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Heb.1:12)
Jesus is everywhere (Omnipresent)
Jesus is everywhere, equally present. As Part of the Trinity, wherever the Father and the Spirit are – which is everywhere! – the Son is there also. Therefore, Jesus could promise to all believers, Matt. 18:20For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” (Matt. 28:20)
Jesus is all knowing (Omniscient)
Jesus knows all things past, present and future. He knows all of us intimately as we read, John 2:24-25 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.
Jesus is almighty (Omnipotent)
‘The power of God is that ability and strength whereby He can bring to pass whatsoever He pleases, whatsoever His infinite wisdom may direct…’ (S. Charnock). Jesus reveals His omnipotence through His miracles and healing ministry. For example, we read of Him feeding over 5000 people (John 6).
Jesus is king (Sovereign)
In control of all things. We see a glorious depiction of Christ in the book of revelation where we see, Revelation 19:16On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: king of kings and lord of lords.
Jesus is love
Tom Wright has written,‘With Jesus we find ourselves looking at the true God himself. The great thing about that is that the more we look at Jesus, the more we realize that the true God is the God of utter self-giving love. The evening before His death, Jesus washed His disciples feet saying, John 13:13-14“You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.”
RESPONSE
Is your vision of Christ the expansive, infinite and loving vision that is worthy of our God? Pray that God would continue to teach an expand your vision of Christ.
One night the disciples were in a boat, in a storm. They woke Jesus saying“Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”. It goes on,
‘He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”
A true vision of Jesus as ‘the image of the invisible God’ will calm the storms of our fears as we see that He has us and all creation in hand.
THURSDAY – JESUS IS THE FIRSTBORN
Colossians 1:15He (The Son NIV) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
What is meant by this phrase? Does it mean that Jesus was the first thing created? This designation must be interpreted by the context of what Paul has already said about Jesus being ‘the image of the invisible God’; our definition of ‘firstborn’ must not detract from Jesus’ deity, and, in fact, must continue to explain and reveal it.
‘Firstborn’ means to be one one in highest authority as reflected in Jewish culture where the firstborn Son had the place of supremacy. Paul, in essence, is saying the Jesus is in authority over creation as it’s king and creator - as he will go on to say in the next verses. Stephen Wellum defines ‘firstborn’,
‘Firstborn, then, has the connotation of supreme over.’
Do you accept His supremacy?
Jesus’ identity humbles, comforts, but also challenges us. We are His creation, He is our Saviour and protector, and He is also our King. This is beautifully illustrated by Isaiah; do we take such a submissive attitude?
Isaiah 64:8Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.
RESPONSE
Paul is challenging us. Jesus’ is in authority, but do we bow the knee to His Lordship? John, likewise, urges us to receive Him as Lord,
John 1:11-14He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
His creation, even His own chosen people, rejected Him. They did not treat Him as ‘firstborn’, they treated Him as illegitimate and detestable.
Have we ‘seen His glory’? Have we received the ‘one and only Son’?
Have we received the ‘grace and truth’ that comes from Jesus? Is Jesus ‘firstborn’ to you - the Lord of your life?
FRIDAY – JESUS RULES OVER ALL CREATION
Colossians 1:15He (The Son NIV) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
Jesus is ‘Over’ all created things
‘over’ (Pás) – Means to be over each and every thing; over the part(s) of a totality – this means everythingis under His rule! From atoms to the universe, Christ is over all. He is over the visible and invisible, the good and the bad.
Wayne Grudem writes of God’s sovereignty or providence,
‘We may define God’s providence as follows: God is continually involved with all created things in such a way that he,
• Keeps them existing and maintaining the properties with which he created them;
• Cooperates with created things in every action directing their distinctive properties to cause them to act as they do;
• He directs them to fulfil his purposes’
What Nebuchadnezzar learned
Daniel 4:34-35At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honoured and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: “What have you done?”
This event depicts the the Babylonian King coming ‘to his right mind’ as he comes to believe in the true God. True sanity is to ‘praise the Most High’ – to praise Jesus as the Most High God. Let’s join him in ascribing to Jesus “His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation.”
Let’s submit to God’s revelation that tells us that He is truly sovereign over all things, “He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: “What have you done?”
Jesus’ rule is your security
How do you view Jesus’ relationship to creation and history? Are there powers and circumstances that are above Him? Are there forces that are equal to Him (dualism)? Or, are all things, as mysterious and perplexing as it may seem, under Him and obeying His will? This has great bearing on the security of your salvation, as we read,
Ephesians 1:11In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.
Paul says, that Jesus works out our salvation (as he does all of history) according to the ‘purpose of His will’. How do you know that that God will be able to hold on to you and keep you from falling from salvation? Well, as Paul says here in Ephesians, God’s power to fulfil His will (to bring us to glory as he continues in Ephesians 1:12-14) is certain because of God’s incomparable power for us and over all things. Your salvation is as secure as the greatness of Jesus’ power!
RESPONSE
Let’s get a bigger vision of our king - the firstborn over creation as we read, meditate and pray out of Revelation 19,
Revelation 19:11-16 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron sceptre.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: king of kings and lord of lords.
• Riding a white horse– This speaks of victory - Jesus will be victorious over all that opposes Him.
• Faithful and true– He keeps His promises
• He judges and wages war– He is actively at work against the dark ‘thrones, powers, rulers and authorities’.
• Eyes of blazing fire– Jesus’ zeal and His supernatural divine vision to see all things.
• Many crowns on His head- Jesus has ‘many crowns’; He has incomparable authority! (Compared to the devil who is said in 12:3 to to only have seven crowns)
• He has a name that no one knows but Himself – This speaks of power and authority that is shared with no-one.
• He has a robe dipped in blood– His own blood that paid for our sin, and the blood of judgment on His enemies.
• His name is the Word of God– This is a vision of Jesus. As word He is God’s agent of creation. It also points to Jesus’ deity and revelation of God.
• The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean – This speaks of the people of God, following Christ in battle and victory.
• A sword coming from His mouth – He conquers by His word- the gospel conquers the nations; He is the judge, with perfect justice.
• He holds an iron sceptre– He rules the nations now, and in when He returns, He will remove all opposing powers.
• On his robe and thigh is written, ‘King of Kings and Lord of Lords’– And this about says it all!
This is Jesus; this is your God and King!
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