The Supremacy of Christ

Colossians 1: 15 – 20 (NIV): He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

When Paul says Jesus was the “firstborn over all creation”, he doesn't mean Jesus was the first of God's children, he means Jesus was here before everything else. He means that Jesus was and is God. Jesus is the image of the invisible God. He is God in the flesh. What does God look like? Jesus.

Did Jesus agree with Paul on this issue? Jesus said in John 8:58 “before Abraham was born, I AM.” If you have any doubt about his meaning, look at the people's reaction when he said this. They knew exactly what he meant: he was claiming to be I AM. Seventy-eight times in the Gospels, Jesus called himself “The Son of Man.” When we read Daniel 7: 13, 14, we see that the Son of Man was divine. Further, when Jesus called himself “God's Son” in John 10:36, his hearers understood that he was saying he was equal to God.

Not only did Jesus say he was God in the flesh, he proved it by what he did. He accepted worship in Matthew 14:33 and Luke 7:36 – 50. Only God can accept worship and Jesus would know that. He forgave sins in Luke 7:48 and Mark 2:5. Only God can forgive sins. And he lived a sinless life (Hebrews 4:15). Only God can do that and the Bible says so (Romans 3:10).

Did anyone else call Jesus God in the scripture? Yes, Thomas called him God in John 20:28, John called him God in John 1:1, Paul called him God in today's passage and in Colossians 2:9, and Stephen prayed to him in Acts 7:59. Stephen, a Jew, knew he could pray only to God.

This is the mysterious doctrine of the Trinity: one and only one God, in three persons. We must get this right even though we cannot fully understand it. We must understand that our sins could only be forgiven if God himself paid for them with his own blood. If we believe that Jesus was a just good man or teacher or prophet, but not God Himself, we not only have wrong belief about him, but we are calling him a liar. Instead, let us call him Lord and God.