You may remember from the Colossians training that in this short book of only four chapters, there are fourteen different items of what Christ is. These items, I must say, are more precious to me than those in 1 Corinthians. Of course, I do appreciate those also, but the ones in Colossians are higher, richer, and more profound.
The Father, Colossians 1:12 tells us, has qualified us “for a share of the portion of the saints in the light.” There is a portion for us. In this universe God has given us a portion or a lot. This lot is Christ, typified by the good land. When the children of Israel entered the good land, they received a lot or portion of the land. Every Israelite had his share. Our good land today is Christ. We all have a portion in this good land, promised to us by God! I trust we shall come to see what a rich portion is ours. In this portion are God, man, redemption, justification, righteousness, holiness, regeneration, and transformation. Such virtues as light, life, love, kindness, mercy, gentleness, and meekness are also in the portion. What is included in Christ as our portion is beyond enumeration. Hallelujah for such an all-inclusive portion!
Colossians goes on to tell us that this Christ is “the image of the invisible God” (1:15). No man has ever seen God, but Christ is His full expression. That is why He is called God’s image. Image here does not mean a physical form, but an expression of God’s being in all His attributes and virtues. Because Christ is God’s image, when we see Him, we see God.
In this same verse, Colossians 1:15, Christ is called not only the image of the invisible God, but also the “Firstborn of all creation.” How can Christ possibly be both the image of the invisible God and also the Firstborn of all creation? How can He be an item of the creation? Christ as the Firstborn of all creation is beyond the limits of our mentality. We must not restrict Him to the traditional doctrines of Christianity.
I have been accused of being a heretic for saying that Christ is a creature. My opposers insisted that Christ was the Creator and that I was in error to say He was a creature. I replied, “Was not Christ a man? Did He not become a man of flesh, blood, and bones? Is not man a creature? Do not flesh, blood, and bones pertain to the creature? Yes, Christ is the Creator, but He is also the creature. He is both God and man. As Creator, He is God; as man, He is the creature.”
Christ is too great for our simplistic mentality. The more we consider all these items of what He is, the more we shall realize how far He surpasses our understanding.
Christ is not only the Firstborn of the old creation, but also the “Firstborn from among the dead” (1:18). In the old creation the first item was Christ. In the new creation, in resurrection, the first item is also Christ. Christ is the first, both in the old creation and in the new. Thus, He must have the first place in all things. The preeminence is His.
Because He is the Firstborn from among the dead, “He is the Head of the Body, the church” (v. 18). We cannot fully grasp what it means for Christ to be the Head of the church. Even our physical head the medical doctors do not fully understand. Look at me standing here. Do you see how my body supports my head? Apparently, this is the case; in actuality, it is my head that holds up my body. If you doubt my word, think what would happen if my head were cut off! Without my head, my whole body would fall. It is the head, then, which holds up the body. Without a head, we would surely be dead!
The church too has a Head! This Head is Christ. Surely we are not here supporting Him. It is not that He needs our support; rather, He is upholding us.
Strange to say, we do not realize that we enjoy Him as the Head. Day by day I enjoy the food I eat, without ever thinking of how much I appreciate my head. Yet although I could live without eating for several days, without my head I could not exist for a moment. I am alive because of my head. Similarly, the church is alive because the Head is upholding the Body.
He is the beginning (v. 18). This is the name by which He is twice referred to in Revelation also (21:6; 22:13). The Lord Jesus is not only the first but also the beginning. The first means that there is none before Him; the beginning, that He is the origination of all things.
These terms in Colossians are not easy to define. When the Lord Jesus says, “I am the door” (John 10:9) and “I am the good shepherd” (v. 11), we can easily grasp His meaning. But when He is called the Firstborn from among the dead, the image of God, or the Firstborn of all creation, it is hard for us to comprehend what is meant. The meaning is profound. Yet He is all of these!
Here is another mysterious term. What does it mean for Christ in us to be “the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27)? This is far beyond our understanding. We are no longer a people without hope. We are full of hope, and this hope is Christ. We are not hoping for death or even merely for life. Our hope is of glory. This glory will be manifested to its fullest extent when Christ returns to glorify His saints (Rom. 8:30). Even now this Christ is not far from us: Christ in you, the hope of glory!
In Colossians 2 Paul prays that the hearts of the saints may be comforted “unto the full knowledge of the mystery of God, Christ” (v. 2). This wonderful Christ is the mystery of God. God is already a mystery. Now we have the mystery of the mystery! We cannot fathom God. And the mystery of this mysterious One is Christ. Christ is the meaning of everything in the whole universe. Behind the things for which we have no explanation is Christ. Christ is God’s mystery.
“In Whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden” (v. 3). In Christ are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. In this scientific age man is pursuing knowledge. We need to know that in this One who is the mystery of God are all the treasures of both wisdom and knowledge.
Verse 9 says, “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” God is embodied in Christ. He is the totality of God. Whatever God is, has, and can do is all embodied in Christ. God is hidden in Him.
“And you in Him are made full, Who is the Head of all rule and authority” (v. 10). In our last message we saw that Christ in 1 Corinthians is the Head of every man (1 Cor. 11:3). Here He is spoken of as the Head of all rule and authority. Christ is over all earthly rulers, over all the angels, and over all other powers and authorities.
“Let no one therefore judge you in eating and in drinking or in respect of a feast or of a new moon or of Sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ” (Col. 2:16-17). From this verse we can see that all the positive things in the universe are shadows. Food, water, sunlight, Sabbaths, feasts, clothing, houses, and even transportation are all shadows. Shadows of what? They are shadows of Christ, who is the reality. Christ is our feast, our new moon, our Sabbath, our housing, and our transportation. He is our nourishment, our new beginning, our rest, our dwelling place, and our means of soaring even to the heavens! We shall be taken to the heavens in the twinkling of an eye!
This marvelous Christ is our life (3:4).
In the new man Christ is all and in all (Col. 3:10-11). Because Christ lives in us and is our life, He is the constituent of the new man. In this corporate new man there cannot be the natural person; there is only room for Christ. Even today on a small scale we can see this new man among us in the Lord’s recovery. There is a new man on this earth, constituted of Christ alone!
All these descriptions of Christ are found only in Colossians. It is in this book also that Paul tells us that his ministry is to complete the word of God (1:27). How much we would lack without his writings!