Christology 3 (Colossians Exposition)

BIBLE BASICSBIBLE BASICS

(A Study in Systematic Theology)

CHRISTOLOGY

(The Study of Jesus Christ)

CHRISTOLOGYCHRISTOLOGY(The Study of Jesus Christ)(The Study of Jesus Christ)

CHRISTOLOGYCHRISTOLOGY(The Study of Jesus Christ)(The Study of Jesus Christ)

His His PersonPerson(The (The ontological ontological dimension)dimension)

(Who He (Who He isis))

His His PersonPerson(The (The ontological ontological dimension)dimension)

(Who He (Who He isis))

His His WorkWork(The (The functionalfunctional dimension) dimension)

(What He (What He doesdoes))

His His WorkWork(The (The functionalfunctional dimension) dimension)

(What He (What He doesdoes))

The The PersonPerson of Christof Christ

Full DeityFull Deity Full HumanityFull Humanity

(Two Natures / One Personality)

The The WorkWork of Christ of Christ

SinlessSinless Life Life Vicarious Vicarious DeathDeath(substitutionary)(substitutionary)

Bodily ResurrectionBodily Resurrection

Four Great Christological Passages:

1. John 1:1-18; 8:58; 14:6

2. Philippians 2:5-11

3. Colossians 1:13-20; 2:9-10

4. Hebrews 1:1-3; 5-14; 2:5-18

“The Lordship of Jesus Christ”(Colossians 1:13-23)

(outline adapted from Dr. Danny Akin, SBTS)

I. Jesus is Lord of the CROSS (13-14)

1. God has delivered us from the power of Satan (13)

“He has delivered us from the power of darkness . . .

. . . and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.”

I. Jesus is Lord of the CROSS (13-14)1. God has delivered us from the power of Satan (13)

2. God has delivered us through the payment of His Son (14)

“in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”

“in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”

• “redeemed” means “to release a prisoner through the payment of a ransom.”

• It was understood in Paul’s day in the context of slavery. A slave could be “purchased” at the slave market and thus set free from the slave market. And while free from the bondage of slavery, he belonged to the one who redeemed him.

• We were on the slave market because of sin. The price to pay in order to purchase our freedom was taking the punishment of our sins.

• The holy demands of God’s law meant that our sin had to be punished.

• Jesus took our sins upon Himself and thus “paid the price” in order to redeem us, or “set us free.”

• Now, we belong to our Redeemer . . .

Redeemed how I love to proclaim it!

Redeemed by the blood of the lamb;

Redeemed through His infinite mercy,

His child and forever I am.

The necessity of both human and divine natures in the God-Man:

Humanity:• If Christ must act as the representative of man, He

himself had to be a man.• Since it is man that sinned, it must be a man who

pays the penalty of sin.• If He is the mediator (1 Tim. 2:5) who brings men

to God, He must have a foot in both camps; He must become man in order to bring man to God.

The necessity of both human and divine natures in the God-Man:

Deity:• To save us, Christ underwent the wrath of God for

us, survived, brought us to share in His resurrection and life, and is raising us to glory. If He had not been God, He would not have survived.

• A mediator between God and man must Himself be God if He is going to bring men to God. Something less than God could not do it. A 20-foot gulf cannot be bridged with an 18-foot ladder.


II. Jesus is Lord of COMMUNICATION (15)

“He is the image of God,”

• “image” is “icon.”

• Here, the word means that Christ is a “precise and absolute correspondence, the perfect visible manifestation of an invisible God.”



1. He is the representation of God

“reflection”

2. He is the manifestation of God

“revelation”• Christ is “essentially and absolutely the

perfect expression and representation of God.”• Christ IS the image of God. Adam may have been

created in God’s image, but Christ IS God’s image.

The Point . . .

• JESUS CHRIST IS GOD!

• As Jesus Himself said in John 14:9,

“He who has seen me has seen the Father.”



III. Jesus is Lord of CREATION (15-17)

• In verses 15-20, the word “all” occurs eight times.

• He is Lord over everything!

1. He is Lord because of His sovereignty (15)

“the firstborn over all creation.”

• “firstborn” conveys the idea of “primacy, priority, and supremacy.”

• NOT that Christ is the first of a long succession of creatures.

• The term originally had the idea that the first son of the family inherited the rights of the family name, property, etc.

• Paul has in mind that Christ is God the Father’s first—and only—Son. Not that Christ was ever somehow “born” to God, but rather that in His relationship to the Father in the Trinity, Christ enjoys all of the rights and privileges which the Father bestows upon Him.

• “firstborn” refers here to “status,” not “time.”

• It means, “of first rank, of first importance.”

• This includes the right to oversee the creation of all things, a creation that was created by Him, through Him, and for Him. This is seen in the very next verse where we see . . .

2. He is Lord because of His agency (16)

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

• Question: Who created the heavens and the earth?

• Answer: God—by Christ, through Christ, for Christ.

3. He is Lord because of His priority (17)

“And He is before all things,”

• John 8:58

4. He is Lord because of His consistency (17)

“and in Him all things consist”

• Jesus Christ keeps everything together. He provides the necessary glue to hold all creation together.




IV. Jesus is Lord of the CHURCH (18-20)

1. He is first (in position and resurrection) (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 may have the preeminence.”

IV. Jesus is Lord of the CHURCH (18-20)1. He is first (in position and resurrection) (18)2. He has fullness (19)“For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell.”

• “all the fullness” means that Christ lacks nothing of what it means to be God. He possesses all the attributes of God.

• “dwell” means “to be at home permanently.” Christ is always God.


1. He is first (in position and resurrection) (18)

2. He has fullness (19)

3. He provides forgiveness (20)

“and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.”

• God wants to reconcile sinful man to Himself.

• To reconcile means to bring back into harmony.

• Illustration: accounting department.

• God can only bring about reconciliation by punishing our sin completely.

• Jesus takes our punishment for us. He takes the complete penalty of our sins and we are reconciled.





V. Jesus is Lord of the CHRISTIAN (21-23)

Verses 21-23:

“And you, who were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight—

--If indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.”

• Reconciliation transforms us.

• Reconciliation appeases God’s wrath and comes only through Christ, the sinless substitute.

• If we are truly saved and have been reconciled, then our lives will give evidence of this and we will continue in the faith (v.23).

CONCLUSION

• Jesus Christ is Lord of all . . .

• Lord of the Cross

• Lord of Communication

• Lord of Creation

• Lord of the Church

• Lord of the Christian

• So, IS HE:

• Lord of your family?

• Lord of your finances?

• Lord of your time?

• Lord of your stuff?

• Lord of your life?

“If Christ is not Lord of all, He’s not Lord at all.”

Christology 3 (Colossians Exposition)

Economy & Finance

lord ofcommunication15

invisible god

lord of thecross13

god bychrist

wrath of god

sbts jesus

lord ofcreation15

christisthe image of