Grow With Pastor Joe

The Puritan John Owen wrote, “On Christ’s glory I would fix all my thoughts and desires, and the more I see of the glory of Christ, the more the painted beauties of this world will wither in my eyes and I will be more and more crucified to this world. It will become to me like something dead and putrid, impossible for me to enjoy.” Modern day believers are much more worldly than they realize, myself included. I believe the reason for such worldliness is because we have lost a sense of awe and wonder of the Lord Jesus Christ. Rarely do believers leave the gathering of the saints on the Lord’s Day with a deeper sense of awe and wonder. Most of the time they leave hungry having never been filled by the word. Weekly they leave in the same state that they arrived. The service ends and so does their duty. When it comes to the glory of Jesus, Owen, amongst countless other faithful preachers of the Bible use the word glory to summarize the person (attributes) and work (actions) of Christ. It is the glory of Jesus Christ that is the foundation and focus of the church. Many churches today have drunk the consumerist Kool-Aid which has watered down the gospel while sugaring up the believer. Christians today are more worldly in precisely this sense. They have a hunger for religious entertainment. The church is not in the entertainment business. The glories of Christ are not for spiritual entertainment but for spiritual enlightenment, engagement, and enablement. Our great need is to fix our eyes upon the glory of Christ. We must gaze at His glory. Every Christian must have one eye fixed on Christ’s eternal glory and the other eye that must look at the world around him with the glory of Christ never out of view. At the bare bones, we need to be Christocentric. Christ centered. Heads. Hearts. Hands. Homes. We need all of Christ for all of life and all of Christ must be all for Christ.

            As we have seen in our study of Colossians, Paul is writing to engage the minds and stir the affections of the heart of the Colossian believers who were being tempted to look at their own wisdom and works. Throughout the letter, the theme of the supremacy and sufficiency of Christ is expounded. Because Jesus is supreme, He is sufficient. When Christ is supreme and sufficient in our lives, then we will be satisfied by nothing but Jesus Christ. The things of earth will indeed grow to be strangely dim and we will begin to live as the heavenly citizens and earthly pilgrims that we are in Christ. Col. 1:15-20 says, “¹⁵ Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: ¹⁶ For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: ¹⁷ And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. ¹⁸ And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. ¹⁹ For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; ²⁰ And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.” The entirety of this passage is centered on the supremacy and sufficiency of the person and work of Christ. It is believed that these verses were a poem or hymn of the early church. Whether they were or weren’t, these verses should be pondered, and I would say even put to memory. When we approach such a passage, we quickly realize that the Bible is not about us. That the Christian life is not about us. That everything is pointing our hearts and minds to the glory of Christ so that our hearts and minds would be unrooted from this world. Last week we focused on the transitionary fourteenth verse as we saw Christ our Redeemer. Today, we will focus on Col. 1:15-17 as we see Christ the Revelator and Regulator. These two truths in the few verses that we will cover today deserve much more time and attention. Yet, at the same time, we will never have enough time to expound and respond to the glory of Christ. These verses and their doctrine and application are eternal. With each of the topics that we will cover today, we must remember that Christ is not a revelator or regulator. He is the supreme and sufficient Revelator and Regulator. All that He is and does is supreme and sufficient. Let us now turn our eyes and fix them upon His glory.

            First, we must see Christ the Revelator in Col. 1:15 which says, “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:” A revelator is one who reveals something that was generally hidden previously. Jesus is the supreme and sufficient revelator who shows us who God is, what He is like, what He has done, is doing and will do. Christ is the “Word” as seen in the prologue of John’s Gospel. Knowing God is dependent upon God’s divine revelation. God is unseeable (John 1:18; Col. 1:15). No man can see God in all of His glory and live. He is invisible to the eye of the flesh. We can see His creation, but we cannot see Him face to face in our sinfulness. God is unknowable (Job 36:26; Rom. 11:33-35). Who on earth has the capacity or ability to know the God of heaven and earth? Furthermore, God is unapproachable (Ex. 33:20; Ps. 97:2; 1 Tim. 6:14-16). Who can approach Him? Who would dare? In the Old Testament this is pictured by the Tabernacle and Temple where the Israelites couldn’t see God. They could only see a cloud by day and pillar of fire by night. The Israelites couldn’t know Him apart from His Law which included the offices of prophet and priest. Also, the Jews couldn’t approach God and were separated from His presence. They could only approach Him through a mediating priest and sacrifice. This brings us back to Christ. Col. 1:15 makes it clear to us that in Jesus Christ we have a supreme and sufficient revelator and revelation through our supreme and sufficient representative. Jesus makes the unseen seen. Jesus makes the unknowable knowable and known. Jesus makes the unapproachable approachable through His blood. We notice two things about Christ the revealer in Col. 1:15.

One, we see Christ is the “image of the invisible God.” The word “image” is the word “eikon” which was used to describe something as a mirror-like representation. The word was used for wax or coins that were stamped with an image or icon. This word was used to describe a visible manifestation of an invisible reality. Jesus is truly God and truly man. Jesus is the embodiment, manifestation of God in the flesh. John 1:1-18 and Heb. 1:1-4 both go into incredible detail about Christ being the preexistent God, the second person of the Godhead which Paul also describes in Col. 1:19; 2:3, 9-10. When Paul writes this verse, He wants the reader to know that Jesus is made of the same stuff as God because He is God. The Colossians were being hounded by early Gnosticism which said that Jesus was just one of many little gods, a created being, and as well they had to defend the incarnation of Christ from the legalistic Jews, who like the Gnostics, believed that God would never condescend to put on the flesh of a man and walk in this world. This is the wonder of the gospel, and it leads us to the truth that Jesus is supreme and sufficient compared to all others. Jesus is the incarnate Immanuel of the invisible God. This is why He came. Jesus came to reveal “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6) by proclaiming the word, work, and will of God in with His life and lips.

Two, we see Christ is the “firstborn of every creature.” This phrase has been one that has caused much discussion and even more division. Sadly, this phrase has been used and abused by cults and false “Christian” groups to say that Jesus is not the creator, but just another man. The rest of our passage in Colossians makes it abundantly clear that Jesus is indeed the maker and maintainer of all things. So, what does “firstborn” mean? The word is “prototokos” which means to be primary in order or rank. The idea within the context shows us that Jesus is not the first creature that was made, but that He is above all of creation for He Himself is the preexistent only begotten Son of God. He is preexistent and preeminent in His rank. In Psalm 89:27, God says, “²⁷ Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.” This particular Psalm is God’s defense of David His servant, but yet we see that Jesus is David’s creator and son through lineage which is seen in numerous Old and New Testament passages. Being the “firstborn” came with rights of inheritance, privilege, and authority. We see in the example of Esau and Jacob that Esau was born first but was not the “firstborn” in the sense of inheritance, privilege, or authority. Therefore, what we see is that Jesus the revelator is the preexistent and preeminent Son of God who reveals to us all that God is because He is the God-Man. He has revealed Himself to us so that we may respond in repentance and faith to enjoy the eternal benefits of being united to Him through His supreme and sufficient work.

            Second, we must see Christ the Regulator in Col. 1:16-17 which says, “¹⁶ For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: ¹⁷ And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.” These two verses stand as a proclamation and proof of Christ’s preeminence. Jesus is supreme and sufficient in His person and work because He is the regulator of all things. A regulator is something that maintains or sustains something in its proper order. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ is no ordinary regulator because He is both the maker and maintainer of all things. The Gnostics of Paul’s day and then later on the Theists of the Enlightenment Period believed that God was a watch maker who made it and let it go. That’s not our God. Yes, He made the watch, but He causes the hand to move. All the world is on His calendar and timetable. In Col. 1:16-17 we see Jesus is supreme, high above all things. Notice the phrase, “all things.” David Guzik gives us several scientific facts that show us the infinite scope of all things that Christ is the regulator of. “Comets have vapor trails up to 10,000 miles long. If you could capture all that vapor, and put it in a bottle, the amount of vapor actually present in the bottle would take up less than 1 cubic inch of space. Saturn’s rings are 500,000 miles in circumference, but only about a foot thick. The star Antares is 60,000 times larger than our sun. If the sun were the size of a softball, the star Antares would be the size of a house. There are more insects in one square mile of rural land than there are human beings on the entire earth. A single human chromosome contains twenty billion bits of information. How much information is that? If written in ordinary books, in ordinary language, it would take about four thousand volumes.” These facts astound our minds and they should. They serve to further lead us to the place of awe and wonder of the glory of Jesus Christ. Paul doesn’t give an exhaustive list in the sense that he names every single thing, but his list is exhaustive in the sense that everything is covered by the supreme hand of the Lord Jesus Christ, the regulator of eternity. There are four quick things to note in these verses about Jesus being the regulator. The first three are seen in Col. 1:16 with the prepositions “by” and “for.”

One, Jesus is the architect of all creation. It is His plan and purposes. It is His desire and design that is dependent upon His decrees. As the architect, He directs the eternal destination and direction of all things. Everything is drawn up with infinite wisdom, righteousness, love, and grace.

Two, Jesus is the agent of creation. All things are created by Him. John 1:1-3 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² The same was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” Every galaxy and every grubworm is made by Him. Every star and every snail. Even the angelic beings that our human eyes can’t see were made by Him. All things exist because of Him. He is the cause of all creation. He is the builder. If Jesus has such power to create all things, how much more does He have the power to make new creatures in Christ or make all things new?

Three, Jesus is the aim of creation. Everything is “for” Him. All things are by His plan and for His pleasure. All of creation and redemptive History is a revelation of His grace and glory so that He may receive the eternal glory that is due to Him. Rom. 11:36 says, “For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.”

Four, Jesus is the author as we see in Col. 1:17. An author who writes a novel creates the story in his mind, grows fond of it in his heart, and then sets out with pen and paper to write this story. The author writes the beginning, middle, and end. They develop all the characters, locations, events, and plot. Jesus is the author of our salvation and redemptions plan, but He Himself is also the main character. It is all about Jesus. It is HIS(story).            

As we bring this to a close, we must see in these incredible verses that Jesus is the supreme and sufficient Revelator and Regulator. The reason that we are saved is because of Him. The reason we can grow to know Him is because of Him. The reason for all eternity and every event in our lives is for His glory. Jesus is the preexistent preeminent providence preserver of all things. Jesus is big. No, Jesus is BIG. There is none like Him, but I’m afraid that the average Christian and church have viewed Him much smaller than our world, problems, sins, or desires. It is no wonder that we are so worldly when we don’t have an awe and wonder of the glory of Jesus Christ. Where is our vision? Where are our eyes pointed? Whatever has our attention will have our affection. We must be in awe and wonder of the supremacy and sufficiency of Christ in all of life. Jesus really is greater and really is enough! We teach children to sing, “He’s got the whole world in His hands.” What a simple and profound truth. However, dear believer, don’t forget that if the whole world is indeed in His hands, that so are you; but even better, we are in His heart and united by, to, and with Jesus Christ the great Redeemer, Revelator, and Regulator of all things. Jesus sees you. He knows you. He loves you. Everything that is out of your control is under His. Everything that enters your life has passed through His mind, heart, and hands. Trust Him. Rest in Him. Praise Him. Give glory to Christ who is supreme and sufficient!