For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions of principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 

Colossians 1:16 

Christ is the Creator. This is a simple, but exceedingly broad statement. Our text is reiterating what the rest of Scripture affirms. The Bible begins, ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.’ Speaking of Christ as the Word of God, John says, ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.’  Hebrews declares that God has spoken to us in these last days, ‘by His Son…through whom also He made the worlds.’ These are a few references of many that confirm the truth that Christ is the Creator. Therefore if we are speaking of God as our Creator, we are, of necessity speaking of Christ. This matters immensely when it comes to the discussion of our interactions with Him as our Savior. The One Who created us is the One Who lived and died for us. He is more interested in our wellbeing than we are. He has humbled Himself, endured humiliation, sacrificed Himself, and continued under the power of death for a time all for our benefit. This is the epitome of love, demonstrated to us in the most practical way. Our Creator cares this much for the good of us whom He has created. We love Him because He first loved us.  

Our Great and Gracious God, 
we rejoice that You have created us. 
We praise You that You have given us  
a relationship with You through Christ.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 

Colossians 1:15 

How is Christ ‘the firstborn over all creation?’ In order to understand this, we must consider the rights and privileges of the firstborn in ancient society. The firstborn was the one who would obtain the largest portion of the inheritance. He would become the chief representative of the family. He would become the titular head of the clan with all the power and possessions that went with that. He would be responsible to lead the family, assure their survival, their prosperity and defend them. If Christ is ‘the firstborn over all creation,’ then this is His role. This is central to the discussion of redemption in the broadest sense. Whereas we think of redemption in personal terms, Christ came to redeem, not just people, but in a larger context, the whole of creation. Hence, at the end, we have a new heavens and a new earth. Christ accomplishes all this. Thus as ‘the firstborn over all creation,’ He is the Head with all authority to ensure the wellbeing of all creation. We will see the completion of this sweeping project at the end of the age.  

O God of grace and glory, 
we rejoice in Christ in every way. 
We praise You that He is the firstborn of creation.  

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 

Colossians 1:15 

Christ is all there is to see of God. If we want to see God we look to Christ. The Scripture confirms this in various ways. The writer of Hebrews says that Christ is, ‘the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person.’ When Christ spoke to the disciples in the upper room, His response to Philip’s request that He show them the Father was, ‘Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, Show us the Father?’  Our text affirms that Christ is the image of the invisible God. From those passages, and the rest of Scripture we conclude that if we want to see God we must look to Christ. This is encouraging because the Scripture gives us abundant revelation about the Person and work of Christ. As we see Him in various situations, we learn how God views things. True spirituality is seeing things from God’s point of view. Thus when we see Christ at the wedding feast of Cana, in conversation with Nicodemus, engaging the woman at the well, or healing the man at the pool of Bethesda, we are seeing what God does as He interacts with the people in all those situations. This shows us God’s perspective and so we learn of Him.  

Our Wise and Wonderful God, 
we rejoice that You have shown us Christ. 
We praise You that as we see Him, 
we see You.  

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.  

Colossians 1:13-14 

Forgiveness of sins lies at the heart of any full discussion of redemption. Adam and Eve broke the covenant of works which God had made with them. Sin entered into the world and death by sin. That has affected every one of us. As Isaiah puts it, ‘All we, like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way.’ We are all sinners, breakers of the law of God, by nature and by choice. Thus we need forgiveness of sins. Christ’s incarnation, life, and substitutionary atoning sacrifice was all to the purpose that we might have forgiveness of sins and be redeemed. Therefore when we discuss redemption, we discuss forgiveness of sins. Paul makes much of the fact that this forgiveness of sins is through the blood of Christ. Christ’s sacrifice, most specifically the shedding of His blood, is the foundation of our forgiveness. Thus in preaching the gospel, we make much of Christ and of the blood of Christ. We publish this as far and as wide as we are able. Our challenge today is, ‘believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.’ Rest by faith in Him today.  

Our Gracious God and our Savior, 
we rejoice that You have shed Your blood for us. 
We praise You that because You have, 
we have forgiveness of sins. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning