成績單

I remember as a seminary student, going to the student center to look at the job postings from churches seeking a pastor. Every few days I would go and scan those cards. The problem was, every one of those churches wanted someone with three to five years of experience. Over and over again, I would read that little phrase—even from churches of fifty people. They wanted a pastor with three to five years of experience.

Well, I didn’t have that, and as a result, I never got one of those jobs. My wife and I ended up planting a church from the ground up. I can still remember five years later, our church had more than 500 people attending at that time, and it struck me that I now had enough experience to pastor one of those churches of fifty people—finally! I did not resent that process, of course, because the Lord used it to lead us to a different place.

I read of a church looking for a pastor with good communication skills, detail-oriented, and skilled in organization. This church was focused more on the man’s skills than his message. In fact, they did not even list that he needed to be committed to the Word of God.

Now do not misunderstand; organizational ability and communication skills are just fine, but I wonder how that church would respond if the apostle Paul sent them his resume. “I’m not very eloquent; I suffer physical limitations; in every city I travel to, a riot usually breaks out; I’m currently in prison for my faith; but I love Jesus and His gospel message.” I do not think Paul would get a phone call from most churches today.

Because of Paul’s commitment to the gospel, he is about to have a powerful impact on a church located in the little town of Colossae. And today we set sail here in Paul’s letter to this church.

Paul begins by commending the Colossian believers for what he has heard about them. He writes, “Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints…” (verse 4).

Paul goes on to tell them that he has been praying for them, and that must have been encouraging to them. And here is what he is asking God for:

That you may be filled with the knowledge of [God’s] will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. (verses 9-10)

How is that for a prayer you might offer for your spouse, your children, your pastor, your church?

Next, Paul turns from prayer for the Colossians to the person of Christ. This is a staggering description of Jesus here, beloved.

You want to know who Jesus Christ is? Well, look no further. Paul will give us seven descriptions of Jesus.

First, Paul writes of Jesus, “He is the image of the invisible God” (verse 15). The word for “image” has the idea of representation and manifestation. The Bible tells us that we have been made in the image of God; and, though quite imperfectly, we represent God to our world.

But note this: Paul does not write that Jesus was made in the image of God, but that Jesus is the image of God. He perfectly represents the Godhead.[1] Jesus once said, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). In other words, “I am the physical manifestation of the eternal Godhead.”

The second description is also given in verse 15, where Paul writes that Jesus is “the firstborn of all creation.” There are religions today that try to use this phrase to prove that Jesus was simply created first. But the word Paul uses here for “firstborn” (prōtotokos) refers to one who is supreme—first in priority. So, Paul is saying that Jesus has the priority; He is the prōtotokos, the supreme authority over all of creation.

The view that Jesus was just an exalted human instead of eternal God goes all the back to the early Gnostics—false teachers who denied the deity of Jesus.

Some time ago I received a ten-page letter from someone who was disturbed that I was teaching the eternal deity of Jesus. He listed this verse in Colossians as evidence that Jesus was just the first created being and was merely human.

Well, even though this man did not know what prōtotokos meant—and that is fine—all he had to do was look at the next verse. A man could not do what Paul reveals in his third description of Jesus in verse 16; namely, that He is the Creator of all things:

For by him [Jesus] 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.

Even though He was born miraculously into the human race and given the name Jesus, He existed as God the Son from eternity past. So, Jesus was not created; Jesus is the Creator.

Think of that stunning revelation when you read Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Paul says here in Colossians 1:16 that the God of creation is Jesus, who from eternity past is God the Son.

From the constellations to the animals to the human race—Jesus was the One speaking them into existence in Genesis 1. “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light’” (verse 3). Jesus was speaking at that moment, as the creator God.

And Jesus did not just create the universe. Paul tells us in this fourth description that Jesus is holding everything together: “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (verse 17).

The scientific world can appeal to a strong nuclear force that binds atoms together. But the Bible reveals that behind any natural force that holds matter together is the power of Jesus Christ.

And beloved, there is a day coming when the Lord will release His hold. The apostle Peter says that this will be the final judgment in 2 Peter 3:10-13. He writes that like some great atomic bomb “the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved.”

Following this final judgment after the millennial kingdom, the Lord will create a new universe—new heavens and a brand-new earth (Revelation 21).

A fifth description of Jesus is given in verse 18, where Paul writes that Jesus is “the head of … the church.” Jesus is not only the chief Designer of creation; He is the Chief Shepherd of the church.

Paul adds a sixth description in this same verse: Jesus is the “firstborn from the dead.” This means Jesus was the first to be raised from the dead with a glorified body that will never experience death. Jesus is the promise for you and me, beloved, that we will be raised from the dead with glorified, sinless bodies designed to last forever.

How can we hope for this kind of body, this eternal life with the Lord? Paul tells us with his final description: Jesus is the peace treaty that guarantees our forgiveness.

Paul writes in verse 20 that Jesus made “peace by the blood of his cross”; and in verse 22, that He will “present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him.” Jesus is our peace treaty; and that peace treaty has been written in red—blood-red—by His payment for your sins and mine.

This amazing list of descriptions leads us to praise the Lord, and worship Him, and follow Him, until one day we see Him face to face.