Jesus Christ is Supreme, for He Reconciled Everything through the Cross
He is also the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile everything to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. (Colossians 1:18-20)
Continuing on the theme of the supremacy of Christ, Paul writes in verse 18 that “He is also the head of the body, the church.” Through His death and resurrection, He has created the church, the body of believers that follow Him. Christ is the head, the ultimate authority over the church, being the source of eternal life. He leads and we are to follow. He is the “beginning,” the establisher of the new eternal covenant. He is called the “firstborn from the dead.” Although there have been some that were resurrected, such as Lazarus, they died again. Christ, on the other hand, rose from the dead and lives eternally. He is the top rank who has overcome death. That is why He is the “first place in everything.”
With verses 19 to 20, Jesus is supreme over everything because God’s “fullness dwells in Him.” Jesus Christ is the complete embodiment of God’s character and fulfilled His plan on the cross, able to “reconcile everything to Himself.” This action was all encompassing, “whether things on earth or things in heaven,” all done by Jesus “making peace through His blood, shed on the cross.”
As Max Anders writes, “Reconciliation is the removal of hostility and the restoring of friendly relations to parties who have been at war.” Because of man’s sin, we had enmity with God. If you attend the Bible study on Wednesday and Thursday night, we have been going through the book of Jeremiah. In that, mankind’s sin is on full display, and God, being justified because He is holy, pours out His judgment and wrath upon the people. Yet, that wrath and judgment is removed through the saving blood of Christ. Paul writes in Romans 5:6-8, “For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For rarely will someone die for a just person—though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
God showed His love for us by sending His Son Jesus, who was perfect and blameless, to die for us, sinners who deserve His wrath because of our rebellion, in order to provide the gift of salvation available to all who repent and believe in Him. Because of this amazing gift, Christ is supreme over all creation.
Blessings,
Isaac De Guzman
