Jesus Christ is Before All Things

Colossians1v15-17

23^rd October 2026

Some people in the church at Colossae had developed some very strange ideas about Jesus and about the Christian life. Paul wrote them a letter to set them straight. Good teaching is important. As Jesus said, the truth will set you free. Falsehood won't.

We know Jesus to be both God and the perfect man. We worship Him, trust Him and seek to follow Him. Jesus Christ and His crucifixion are the centre of our faith. Colossians 1v15-23 tells us who He is and what His crucifixion has achieved.

Some people read a Bible study thinking, "What's the application? What's in it for me? How should I respond? How does this change my life?" But can we just stand in awe at the Person and majesty of Jesus Christ? Without trying to apply it, can we just be amazed at how wonderful, how pure, how holy, how majestic, how powerful, our Saviour is? That's enough for us, isn't it? Sometimes it's good just to gaze into the face of Jesus.

This week, we're consider the first three verses of this passage.

Colossians1v15-17
He [Jesus Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Our passage begins:

Colossians 1v15a
He is the image of the invisible God

This doesn't just mean Jesus is like a painting or a photograph of God. He's much more. It means He's the manifestation of God. John 1v18 tells us that "No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known." No-one has ever seen God the Father but Jesus Christ, God the Son, shows us who God the Father is. Jesus is the image of the Father, the manifestation of God.

In John 14v8 Philip asked Jesus, "Lord, show us the Father". Jesus replied, "Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father." God the Father doesn't have a physical body. God the Son came to earth in a human body to show us what God is like. As we read the books written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, we learn about Jesus's power, His wisdom and His character. They're prefect images of God the Father's power, wisdom and character. We see how Jesus spoke, how He treated people, His compassion, His sinlessness, His love. That's what God the Father is like.

Colossians 1v15b
[Jesus is] the firstborn of all creation.

We must be careful here. A misunderstanding of these words led to the ancient heresy of Arianism. A fourth-century church leader called Arius thought that God the Son being the "firstborn" meant that there must have been a time before God the Son existed, but that's not true. Jesus – God the Son – has always existed, and He will always exist. He is eternal both backwards and forwards.

John 1v1 calls Jesus the word, the message, because, as well as being the manifestation of God, Jesus is the ultimate communication from God to man. It says: "In the beginning was the Word [Jesus] and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Jesus existed in the beginning. There was nothing before Jesus. He said:

Revelation 22v13
"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."

Jesus is the firstborn of all creation in the sense that He is the heir to all things, the One to whom God the Father has given dominion over all the earth. He is the One who sits at His Father's right hand, the One who shares His eternal throne in glory.

This is poor analogy, but a farmer might leave his farm to his son in his will. The Son becomes the owner of the farm and the manager of all the farm hands. Jesus owns it all – the whole universe – because the Father has given it to Him, and He always will. Elsewhere, Paul wrote:

Ephesians 1v20-22
… [God the Father] seated him [Jesus] at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet…

Jesus has been given it all because He is worthy of it all.

Colossians 1v16-17
For by him [Jesus] all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Jesus Christ is the firstborn Son of God in the sense that God the Father has given Him dominion over the universe. And the Father was right to do so, because the universe was created through Jesus and for Jesus.

This passage confirms that Jesus is eternal backwards as well as forwards. He has always existed. He created all things, so He existed before all things.

Everything in heaven and everything on earth were created through and for Jesus. And in him all things hold together. Without Jesus the universe would blow apart, it would disintegrate. As Paul told the Athenians:

Acts 17v28
In him [Jesus] we live and move and have our being

Without Jesus, the creator and sustainer of the universe, there would be nothing. Everything was created through Jesus, including everything that's visible and everything that's invisible, including every throne, every dominion, every ruler, every authority, on earth and in heaven and in hell. Without Jesus there would be no universe, no angels, no demons, no people, no air, no water, no land, no animals. Nothing. Since Jesus created all things, it's only right that He owns all things. And it's only right that we acknowledge Him as Lord, and give Him thanks for our very existence. Isn't it?