Who do you say He is?

Have you ever wondered if AVOCADO is a fruit or a vegetable? One time, my sister and I had a heated argument on that topic. Google did not exist in our world at that time otherwise it could have solved the problem. 

It was actually not much of a problem for me. I could not be bothered if it was either a fruit or a vegetable. I did not have any allergies, so I just ate avocado and went on with life. It really made no difference at all. 

Now I wonder if sometimes we show the same attitude towards Jesus. 

Not that we treat him as a fruit or a vegetable, but if we think of Him as the Creator or part of creation. If I had two boxes labeled ‘Creator’ or creation’ where would you put Jesus?

But why does that matter? – one may ask. 

Here is why:

Jesus on his way to Caesarea, asked his disciples: “who do people say I am?” 

They gave him a variety of answers: “he is one of the prophets (Elijah,John the Baptist)”

Today, people might answer: “he is a god for white peoples, he is a Jewish morals teacher, a guru or a consciousness”.  

After they gave him the answers, he then turned to them and asked them, “Who do you say I am?” If he turned and asked you, who would you say he is?

See the answer you give to that question will reflect in how you live out your life, either as a Christian or non-Christian. How you think of Jesus, will be seen in the way you plan your year and how you go about implementing those plans. 

That is what we see in this letter to the Colossians. 

When the Apostle Paul wrote this book to the church in Colossae, some folks were teaching a contrary message to that of salvation by faith alone in Christ Jesus (which the Apostle was preaching). Saying, for one to truly know God and obtain salvation one must:

• Worship some spiritual principles (based on human traditions) chapter 2:8

• Submit to certain rules about the Sabbath, food and other matters. chapter 2:16

• Worship certain spiritual rulers and authorities. chapter 2:18

In his response, Paul points out two main things about Jesus to expose the shallowness of the message of the false teachers. 

The supremacy of Christ above all creation and also his supremacy above the church. From there he moves to what that means for someone who is trusting in Jesus. And inevitable for someone who is not trusting in Jesus. 

We are going to zone in on the first one, the supremacy of Christ above all creation.

15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For 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. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Col 1:15-17)

I wonder if you noticed the nature of the relationship the Apostle Paul starts with: ‘he is the image of the invisible God’. Give that a bit of thought. Jesus is the image of the invisible God. You and I and everybody we know, are all created in the image of God. But not Jesus, he is the appearing of God to us, he is THE image of God - it adds, the firstborn over all creation.  Here, we are presented with the eternity of Christ. Which makes Him unique from all of creation. The firstborn over all creation.  

And someone may ask, ‘Does firstborn mean he was the first to be born or the first to be created by God? 

To understand what ‘firstborn’ means, we need to understand what it does not mean. It certainly does not mean; Jesus Christ was created before any other thing was created. As some claim that he is the first creature or an angel that God made. Because look at what the next verse says:

“For by him ALL things (in heaven and on earth, all things) were created” (verse 16). Surely, he cannot be the Creator of all things if he’s also creation, right? What then does firstborn mean?  Let us to venture to other parts of scriptures. These were the words of God speaking to David. 

“I have found David my servant... v27 I will appoint him my firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth.” (Psalm 89:20-27)

From this verse we see that the implication of the term is the supremacy or the kingship. David was the greatest king appointed by God. We know this from the Old Testament. But we also know that he did some detestable and shameful things before God. He committed adultery and murdered an innocent man. 

However, Jesus is the firstborn, the eternally exalted King who was and is perfect in all his conducts. Otherwise, he would not be called the image of the invisible God, the Creator of all things. 

v16 again:  

16For 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.

I don’t know about you, but I get fascinated with small things. Let’s take a camera for instance. It’s pretty amazing how it takes pictures. Just capturing a moment and framing it. To fully understand how that works, we would have to study hard at the very least for about 12 months. Just the mechanism of the camera. Now think about other things, like the how the human brain functions. How to do a heart transplant. Conception and the birth of a baby, relationships, history, the concept of time, music, the power of words, languages etc. that’s why we have people majoring in different things because no one can do the study of all things. 

But Jesus, not only does he possess knowledge of all these things. He himself created all of these things. Human inventions are all material based. By that I mean, we need something to create another thing. Jesus creates out of nothing. Not only that which we know but also that which we cannot see with our naked eye. Visible and invisible things, earthly and heavenly things. 

By the way, for whom did he create all things?

..... all things were created by him and for him.

“For himself”

The purpose of all things is found in Jesus. All that is belongs to him. After all who else can know better than the Creator himself? Our lives and all our possessions we owe it to Jesus, the real owner of all things. 

When you take Jesus out of the picture and run the business of life by your own standards, you’re basically eliminating v17 of this passage. 

 “He is before all things and in him all things hold together”.

This is how we rewrite that verse with the way we live our lives without Jesus: 

We say; “I am/ my partner is / my girlfriend is/ my money is/ my degree is/my pride/my beauty is before all things. And in (whatever you put in there) in it all things hold together. 

This not only fails to fit into how we are designed, but it also has detrimental effects in our lives and eternal consequences.

Only Jesus is before/supreme above all things. And only in Him do things hold together. 

I wonder if you see what the apostle Paul is doing here. 

To use an illustration: 

If all the lights and all the electric appliances went off, what would you do? Would you start cracking the piano and the guitar or your pc open and try to find what’s wrong with each and every one of them?

 OR 

You would you first start by checking the current flow of electricity, check if the main switch is still up? 

And that is what Paul is doing to the minds of his readers. Instead of addressing each and every issue the false teachers were spreading, he first switches on the main switch, which in this context is the understanding of who Jesus Christ is. By which everything else falls into perspective.

Because everything in Him holds together. Everything finds its purpose and meaning in Him. Because Jesus is the Creator and the sustainer of all things. 

Here are a few questions we can ask ourselves in light of this:

Do you have the main switch on?

Who do you say Jesus is?

How is that seen in the way you live your life? In your resolutions, if you have some?  

Are you looking at life through the lense of Christ Jesus? 

You may be a Christian, but when last have you done an introspection? 

Is Christ still supreme in your plans? In your conversations? 

That’s what Paul wanted his readers to get straight before even looking further into what the false teachers were saying. The supremacy of Christ Jesus above all creation, our lives included.