By David Ettinger
Answering the Question
If someone were to ask you, “Who, exactly, is Jesus Christ,” how would you reply?
If you want to answer this question accurately, flawlessly, and even exquisitely, pull out your cell phone (if a made-of-paper Bible is not available), go to your favorite Bible website, and find the Book of Colossians.
Once there, stay where you are, Chapter 1, and scroll down to verse 15. From there, read until the end of verse 20. There you will find the most profound response to the question “Who, exactly, is Jesus Christ” ever given.
Colossians 1:15-20 says:
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through 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.
Scraping the Surface
What you have just read is the essence of who Jesus Christ is, inasmuch as the human mind can comprehend it. Analyzing this glorious passage is well beyond the scope of this puny blog, but perhaps we can scrape the tip of its surface.
Verse 15: Jesus is referred to as the Son of God, the second “Person” of the Trinity along with God the Father and the Holy Spirit. As the Son, Jesus is of the same nature as God, therefore, Jesus Christ, the Son, IS God.
Jesus, during His earthly ministry, took on flesh and blood and made Himself visible. In so doing, those who saw Jesus, as it were, saw God the Father (John 14:9).
That Jesus is “firstborn over all creation” does not mean He was created, but that He is the most pre-eminent of all living beings. He rules and reigns over all creation.
Verse 16: Jesus is the creator of all things, including those in Heaven and on Earth, whether mortal beings such as us, or immortal such as angels.
Hey, wait a minute, one may object, I thought God created everything. Doesn’t Genesis 1:1 say, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”? Yes, it indeed does. And yet Colossians 1:16 says Jesus created all things. The answer is, “Yes, because Jesus is God.”
Verse 17: Jesus is “before all things,” meaning He is everlasting, i.e., He always was! Furthermore, as the Creator, Jesus is the glue which holds the universe together. Should He withdraw His hand for a second, existence as we know it would go Kaput!
Verse 18: As mentioned in verse 15, Jesus, because He is supreme, rules and reigns over all created beings. Furthermore, He is the head of the Church – the entirety of His followers from the first convert extending to the last just before His return.
Verse 19: That God’s “fulness” dwells in Jesus is yet another way of saying that, “Yes, Jesus is God!” (Note, Paul wrote the Book of Colossians to counter the arguments of Gnosticism, which holds that all flesh is corrupt and therefore Jesus as a human was corrupt and could not have been divine. “Balderdash!” cried Paul, and then backed in up in Colossians.)
Verse 20: Jesus “reconciled” all things to Himself by dying on the cross. What, or whom, did He reconcile to Himself? All which was separated – or severed – from the Triune God because of sin. By dying on the cross, Jesus took upon Himself the sins of the world, and made the way to reconciliation with the Triune God possible. That “way” is to “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31).
So, this is the essence of who Jesus Christ is. In a nutshell, He IS God. He died on the cross to bring “salvation” – reconciliation between humankind and the Triune God – so that all who believe in Jesus would not spend eternity in the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:14-15), but in Paradise (Luke 23:43) – or Heaven – with Him.
Do you know Jesus Christ – God the Son – as your Lord and Savior?
Blue Collar Theologian
October 21, 2020
I hear Philippians 2:6-11 quoted a lot but never Col 1. Well done, David!
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dettinger47
October 21, 2020
Thank you, Mandy. Yeah, Philippians 2:6-11 is a pretty good passage. 😄😁
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Bruce Cooper
October 21, 2020
Excellent. Unfortunately I just happen to have Hebrews 1:3-4 memorized.
“And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.“ Thinking I will have to start on Colossians 1:15-20 also! Blessings.
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dettinger47
October 21, 2020
Thanks for this great passage, Bruce. But I would note, is it “unfortunate” you have this verse memorized, or “fortunate”? Ha ha.
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Bruce Cooper
October 21, 2020
Good both ways for sure! 🙂
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mrsmariposa2014
October 21, 2020
Amen! Colossians is a favorite book of mine. Absolutely love this passage and its wonderful description of who Jesus is. Thanks for “scratching the surface”, David! You did well! 😊
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dettinger47
October 21, 2020
I love Colossians as well. Very much worth the scratch!
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bryan Johnston
October 22, 2020
Excellent – thank you David. Yes indeed we can PROVE that Christ pre-existed the Creation AND was God incarnate, from John 1 and Genesis 1. “In the Beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word WAS God. HE (NOT “It”) was with God in the very beginning. Through HIM all things were created and not one thing was created except through Him” – then > verse 14 of John 1 whichtells us who this mysterious “Word” person was i.e. “And the Word became flesh and lived amongst men (people.)” Of course, the “Word made flesh” = one of Christ’s many Names.
Compare with “In the Beginning God created the Heavens and the earth…” so Christ was there “in the very beginning as the “Word” THROUGH Whom God the Father spoke Creation into being (“God said ‘Let there be Light etc”) PLUS “And the Spirit brooded over the Deep,” so there’s God the Father, God the Son (as the Living “WORD”) and God the Holy Spirit ALL involved in the Mystery of Creation = proof positive of a Triune God aka “Trinity.” Q.E.D. as the scientists say!
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dettinger47
October 22, 2020
Well said. Thank you, Bryan.
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vicklea
October 22, 2020
This is one of my favorite passages, David, but I never thought about using it to tell who Jesus is. You are right! This is a summary of who Jesus is. I’m sharing your blog so that others can receive the same witness as your regular readers. God bless you for preaching the truth in love!
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dettinger47
October 22, 2020
Thank you very much, Vickie!
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Kathy Wire
October 22, 2020
Hi visiting via Vickie’s blog, and glad I did.
As pertaining to your clarification of v 16, my mind went to Genesis 1.26 “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…” where the word “our” is in the first person common plural. Jesus was there, was always, will always be.
And, Yes, I KNOW Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior!! Hallelujah!
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dettinger47
October 22, 2020
Totally correct regarding the word “our,” and Amen! to knowing Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior!
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