THE BOOK OF COLOSSIANS CHAPTER 1:15-20

Mike Balloun teaches today. 02/11/23

THE BOOK OF COLOSSIANS CHAPTER 1:15-20

VERSES:

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Unedited Notes:

Paul the Apostle of God to the Gentiles is setting forth the Lord Jesus Christ as the incarnate eternal Son of God the Father, through Whom He has worked His will, for their great benefit.
Declaring here revelatory Truths of Christ’s superiority in merit that are meant to more surely establish the redeemed to continue in their faith and grow in qualifying maturing Christlikeness in the hope of a future glory by the spiritual nourishment supplied to the Body found in the commandments of Christ, the Head, alone.
Not to lose sight of the Head, being not moved away from their living hope in the gospel of glory, the Truth which they had heard from Epaphras and were now reading, that alone that has the power to sanctify unto a certain worthiness (john17:14-19 “I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world (redeemed out of satan’s kingdom), even as I am not of the world.
I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.”).
And in opposition to the Word of Truth, there were beguiling tares planted among them, in the first measure of leavening doctrines, designed by the enemy to dissuade the Body away from the enabling fruit-bearing power of the sanctifying Head (col1:6;2:18-23 with matt13:24-30;33).
In those days the first measure of corrupting leaven was the questioning of Christ’s true identity…. which answers to these great Truths of Who Christ is, that are set forth in this Passage to the Colossian Believers.
Religious leaven is designed to offset, sidetrack and obscure sanctifying Truth in spiritual growth and fruitfulness, doctrines from vain men who were/are puffed up in their ambitious religious minds used by satan to disqualify the redeemed from ruling glory.

With those things in mind Paul in wisdom and understanding in the knowledge of God further describes the Redeemer to the redeemed Colossians, who’s opinion of Christ and His glory, along with all the redeemed, needs be elevated.

VERSES 15-18 “Who (the incarnate Lord Jesus Christ) is the image (express/exact hebs1:3 visible image, as he that hath seen Him has seen the Father) of the invisible God, the firstborn (A Jewish saying relative to preeminence not time of creation; for the eternal Son of God manifest as the Son of Man was not created. Note that Adam was the last creature formed but he was first in rank and dominion) of every creature:
For by him (the eternal Son gen1:1 “God” there is to say the Son) were all things created (in the two spheres), that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers (Paul briefly alludes to 4 classes of angel beings in his superior knowledge of the angelic hierarchy…as if to say, if there was any truth in what those vainly puffed up among you were teaching in regards to Angels and the Gospel, and if Angels were in any capacity worthy of worship I would have told you. Their very existence is owned of Jesus Christ our Lord): all things were created (in the beginning of creation and its re-creation) by him (the eternal Son of God who later after re-creation was incarnate), and for him: And he is (a stronger statement than he was, in harmony with Genesis statement of I am) before all things, and by him all things consist.
And he (the Son of Man) is the head (by incarnation, death, burial and resurrection) of the body, the church: who is the beginning (of course the beginnings of all things 3 times mentioned before here, but He, now as the Son of Man, is also the beginning of a new thing), the firstborn from the dead; that in all things (done in the past as Eternal Son and now in the present and future as the Son of Man) he might have the preeminence (from Gk prṓtos first. To be first, chief, to hold the first rank, highest dignity).”

Paul lays before the Colossians these establishing Words in the further knowledge of God.. (in their hope of attaining unto glory; in the inheritance of the heavenly Kingdom, to be realized in Christ at His Return)… marvelous reasons they should walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing (VERSE 10) by drawing their attention on to Jesus Christ’s 2 great all-encompassing qualifications for preeminence covering both spheres of existence.
As the Son of God, He is eternal, He is God. He is due glory and honor as Creator. There is nothing that is Created that was not created by....