The Pre-eminence of the Lord Yeshua as the Visible Image of Adonai.
Colossians 1: 13 – 15.
“He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through the blood, the forgiveness of sins.
He is the image of the invisible God, the first born over all creation.”
Verse 13 describes how Adonai has liberated believers from “darkness” i.e., Satan’s kingdom. This kingdom is not, of course, a territory but a group of people ruled by a king who is the source of control. Satan’s kingdom is epitomised by an absence of light, of warmth and of joy.
In complete contrast is “the kingdom of the Son of His love” (the kingdom of the Lord Yeshua). Those within the kingdom overseen by the Lord enjoy light, warmth and joy. Within His kingdom we enjoy “redemption through His blood”. This expression shows the completeness of the Lord’s atoning work. Thus, all believers can currently enjoy an eternal spiritual relationship with Adonai through the Lord Yeshua as the kingdom has been given by Adonai to the Son He loves; an eternal love. This means that every person whom Adonai calls is a love gift from Him to the Son.
The “redemption” by the Son involved “the forgiveness of sins”; the granting of the remission of the penalty of sin.
These blessings through the Lord Yeshua are only possible because He is “image of the invisible God”. The Greek work is “eikon” which means “a copy” or “a likeness”. The Lord Yeshua is the perfect image of Adonai; an exact likeness, in the very form of Adonai and has been throughout eternity.
John 14: 11.
“… I am in the Father and the Father in Me …”
Of course, Adam was created in the image of Adonai (Genesis 1: 26 and 27). This is in the sense that Adam was created as a moral, thinking and rational being. But, of course, Adam failed. We see the contrast with the Lord Yeshua in 1 Corinthians 15: 45.
“The first man Adam became a living being. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.”
In a sense, of course, all believers are children of Adonai, but the Lord Yeshua is Adonai’s Son in a way that is not true of any other. He existed before all creation and occupies a position of supremacy over it. He is “the first born over all creation”; He has the rank of pre-eminence and dominion. He is Adonai’s Son by eternal relationship.
The Lord Yeshua is fully God in every way. He is the “image of the invisible God”. He is the Person who enables us to understand what Adonai is like. Adonai is spirit and therefore invisible. But in the words, work and person of the Lord Yeshua, Adonai has revealed Himself to mortal eyes; whoever knows the Lord Yeshua knows Adonai.
The idea of “image” also conveys the notion of a representative. Adonai had originally placed Adam in charge of the earth, but Adam failed. Therefore, Adonai sent His unique Son, supreme above all creation as His representative to reveal His heart, nature and character to mankind.
John 1: 14.
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
The Pre-eminence of the Lord Yeshua as the Agent of Creation.
Colossians 1: 16.
“For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on the earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.”
This verse shows the pre-eminence of the Lord Yeshua over all creation. He was Adonai’s agent in the creation of everything. He could create all things because the power to create was in His Being. He is the Person of the Godhead through whom all creative acts were performed.
“All things” are included here whether material or immaterial, seen or unseen. He created the angels. All things were created for His glory, purposes and pleasure.
The “thrones”, “dominions”, “principalities” and “powers” referred to in this verse are ranks of angels. We are not told much about the ranks of angels. But whether, holy or fallen, they were created by the Lord Yeshua.
Ephesians 1: 20 – 23.
“… (Adonai) raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.”
The Pre-eminence of the Lord Yeshua as the Sustainer of the Universe.
Colossians 1: 17.
“And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.”
Note here the use of the present tense; He is “before all things”. This denoted the timelessness of deity, and thus the Lord Yeshua could say, “Before Abraham was, I AM.” When the universe had its beginning, the Lord Yeshua already was. Thus, by definition He must be eternal.
Micah 5: 2.
“But you Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me, the One to be Ruler of Israel, whose goings forth are from old, from everlasting.
The phrase “in Him all things consist” means that He is the One who holds the universe together. The moment-by-moment existence of the physical and moral universe depends directly on the Lord Yeshua’s continuing oversight and providence.
Even while He was on earth, He was the One who was controlling the laws which govern the universe. That which makes our universe function in an orderly way.
The Pre-eminence of the Lord Yeshua as Head of the Church.
Colossians 1: 18.
“And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the first born from the dead, that in all things He may have the pre-eminence.”
The creator and sustainer of the universe has supreme authority over His church. The metaphor as the Lord as the “head” relates to the church viewed as a human body.
The head, of course, houses the brain which controls everything. So, the Lord Yeshua controls every part of the true church giving it life, direction and guidance. The Lord Yeshua occupies the place of pre-eminence within His church.
Ephesians 4: 15 and 16.
“Christ – from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, caused growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”
Spiritual gifts from the Lord come to each congregation to edify the church and to glorify God (1 Corinthians 12).
The “head of the body” is to be held in the highest esteem; the loftiest honour belongs to the Lord Yeshua. He is “the beginning”, the source of the new creation and all spiritual life.
He is “the firstborn from the dead”. He is the first to be raised from the dead to die no more. He is the first to be raised with a glorified body and He rose as the head of a new creation, the church. His resurrection is unique and is the pledge that all who trust in Him will also rise. His resurrection proclaims Him as supreme in the spiritual creation and therefore in the church.
1 Corinthians 15: 20.
“But now Christ is risen from then dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”
The Pre-eminence of the Lord Yeshua in Reconciliation as the One who Pleased Adonai.
Colossians 1: 19 and 20.
“For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, 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.”
Some commentators suggest that the phrase “all the fullness”, would be better translated as “the fullness of the Godhead always dwelt with the Lord Yeshua”. He is the only intercessor for humanity. He fully embodies all of Adonai’s nature. No other intercessor can stand in our place before Adonai.
1 Timothy 2: 5.
“For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Jesus Christ, who gave Himself a ransom for all …”
As all divine powers and attributes are completely in the Lord Yeshua, His work so pleases Adonai that He can “reconcile all things to Himself”.
This “reconciliation” refers to a change in the sinner’s relationship to Adonai. (i.e., restored to a right relationship) through the work of the Lord Yeshua on the cross. He offers complete and total reconciliation of believers with Adonai; no longer His enemies we were before the Lord’s sacrifice for us. He overthrew the damage caused by the fall of mankind.
When sin entered the world, man became estranged from Adonai. Man adopted an attitude of hostility toward Adonai. Therefore, it is man’s need to be reconciled. The Lord Yeshua made possible the reconciliation of people with Adonai by removing the cause of enmity and alienation. This He did effectively by settling the question of sin to Adonai’s complete satisfaction.
All who believe on the Lord Yeshua are directly reconciled with Adonai. Although the Lord Yeshua’s reconciling work is sufficient for all mankind, it is only effective for those who avail themselves of it.
Romans 5: 1 and 2.
“Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.”
The Pre-eminence of the Lord Yeshua in Reconciliation through His Death.
Colossians 1: 21 – 23.
“And you, who were once 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 …”
Paul here describes our new relationship with Adonai; a close personal relationship. This has been possible because of the full efficacy of the reconciliation of the Lord Yeshua through His death. He has separated us from our sin and allowed us to be set apart to Adonai by imputed righteousness. This is justification. The Lord Yeshua became a man and experienced physical death as the way of salvation for us.
Romans 3: 23 – 26.
“… for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God has passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
We who were once enemies of Adonai and alienated from Him by wicked works, one day will be presented to Him by the Lord Yeshua as above reproach because of His sacrificial death for us.
As a result of the believer’s union with the Lord Yeshua in His death, Adonai can consider believers as holy as His unique Son.
2 Corinthians 5: 21.
“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
The Lord Yeshua will present the church as a chaste bride.
Ephesians 5: 25 – 27.
“… Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.”
But in Colossians 1: 23 Paul notes that perseverance is required of believers. Those who have been reconciled in faith and obedience, in addition to being declared righteous and made a new creation with a disposition to love Adonai, hate sin, desire to be obedient and energised by the Holy Spirit, perhaps should not be easily deflected from the gospel which has brought such blessings. Nevertheless, Paul advises in Philippians 2: 12.
“… work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”
The Pre-eminence of the Lord Yeshua as our only Hope of Glory.
Colossians 1: 27.
“To them (His saints) God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
A mystery in scripture is something hidden (usually in the Old Testament) and subsequently revealed (usually in the New Testament).
That Gentiles could be saved was not a hidden truth in the Old Testament.
Isaiah 49: 6.
“I will also give You (i.e., Messiah) as a light to the Gentiles that You may be My salvation to the ends of the earth.”
But the New Testament had revelations. It is revealed that the church would be the body of the Messiah and that all true believers would be members of the body and would share His glory. It is also revealed that the Lord Yeshua would be the head of the church providing its life, nourishment and direction. It was also revealed that the Gentiles would be equal members of the body.
But a very particular part of the “mystery” is the revelation that Messiah would live in each member of His redeemed church through the Holy Spirit. This must have been particularly difficult for Jewish believers to accept that all believers would possess the riches of the indwelling Messiah.
Ephesians 3: 6.
“… that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel …”
It is through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that we receive “the hope of glory”.
Romans 8: 9 – 11.
“But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies, through His spirit who dwells in you.”
Thus, the Lord Yeshua is our only hope of glory; our inheritance is in Him.
1 Peter 1: 3 and 4.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed at in the last time.”
The fact that the Spirit of the Lord Yeshua indwells us makes heaven as sure as though we were already there.
The Pre-eminence of the Lord Yeshua in Wisdom and Knowledge.
Colossians 2: 2 and 3.
“… that their (believers’) hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
Paul prays that the Colossian believers will gain understanding of the fullness of the Lord Yeshua’s gospel message and that they will recognise that, when combined with mutual encouragement and shared love, that they as mature believers can receive the assurance of salvation in the Lord Yeshua.
He alone can provide true knowledge, and this will demonstrate itself in bringing the people together in love in the church.
The Godhead possesses all wisdom and knowledge; all the riches necessary for salvation, justification and glorification. This is found in the Lord Yeshua Himself who is God revealed.
Colossians 2: 9 and 10.
“For in Him dwells all the fullness of the godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.”
Every believer has access to the complete wisdom found in the Lord Yeshua. The more we enter the understanding of our faith in the Lord Yeshua, the more fully we appreciate His truthfulness. We can rest completely in the words of the Lord, receiving the full reassurance of hope.
The Lord Yeshua is possessed of every attribute of deity and an infinite, unutterable, measureless resource. There is no need to look beyond Him and the divine pages of revelation for anything. The “treasures” in the Lord Yeshua are hidden from unbelievers, and even the believer needs to know Him intimately to enter in.
But be assured, all “knowledge” is found in the Lord Yeshua. Nothing that is true will ever conflict with His words or works: “I am the way, the truth and the life.”
John1: 14.
“And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
The Pre-eminence of the Lord Yeshua shown in that worldly philosophy does not compare to Him.
Colossians 2: 8.
“Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.”
Paul is warning the Colossians that getting involved with any way of thinking that does not conform to the gospel of the Lord Yeshua will be to their detriment.
The world’s ideas, speculations, reasoning, philosophy or false religion provide an ideological barricade which people set up for themselves against Adonai and the true gospel.
Far from being advanced, profound knowledge these philosophies are immature and reflect fallen man, satanic lies and corrupt human systems of thought. They reflect man’s arrogant attempts to find things out by his own intellect and reasoning, rather than to rely on what is revealed by divine will.
1 Corinthians 2: 14.
“But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
To escalate human reasoning above the word of Adonai is evil as it amounts to worshipping the creature rather than the Creator. For us, “the traditions of men”, involve the exclusion of any consideration of the Divine Being from thinking. Such ways of thinking reflect the basic principles of the world.”
The gospel of the Lord Yeshua should be uppermost in our thinking as it is superior to any other way of thinking as it comes from Adonai. It is better than high sounding nonsense, founded on men’s ideas about the nature of the world that disregard the Lord Yeshua.
Thus, Paul wrote to his protege, Timothy.
1 Timothy 6: 20.
“Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradiction of what is falsely called knowledge – by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith.”
The Pre-eminence of the Lord Yeshua in our Spiritual Lives.
Colossians 2: 11 – 13.
“In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses …”
Physical circumcision symbolises death to the flesh or to the putting aside the evil, unregenerated, corrupt nature of man. But in the Lord Yeshua alone, we have the circumcision made “without hands” i.e., it is spiritual, not physical. We can achieve through Him the removal of sin from the heart through taking part in the New Covenant.
The idea of circumcision of the heart is not absent from the Old Testament.
Deuteronomy 10: 16.
“… circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer.”
Effective circumcision (the cleansing of the heart) comes only from faith in the Lord Yeshua.
Philippians 3: 3.
“For we are the circumcision, who worship God in Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh…”
The “circumcision of Christ” refers to his death on the cross which inaugurated the New Covenant. The “old self” of the believer died with Him but as He rose, the believer rose also as a “new creation”; dead to sin.
Galatians 2: 20.
“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life that I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me …”
At the point of conversion, the believer is saved and becomes associated with the Lord Yeshua. Baptism is the public expression of our conversion and faith. Symbolically we die and rise with the Lord Yeshua. In baptism we acknowledge that nothing in ourselves could bring salvation. It does not bring the forgiveness of sin but, in baptism we recognise that we were spiritually dead and could do nothing without the Lord Yeshua to redeem ourselves from the sphere of slavery to sin, the world and the devil.
Romans 6: 3 – 5.
“Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
Only through union with the Lord Yeshua can those hopelessly dead in the sins receive eternal life. Only Adonai can take the initiative and exert the life-giving power to awaken sinners and unite them with the Saviour. Adonai’s free and complete forgiveness of those who put their trust in the Lord Yeshua is surely the most important reality revealed to us in scripture.
The Pre-eminence of the Lord Yeshua leaves no Place for Legalism and Ritualism.
Colossians 2: 16 – 23.
“So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God.
Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations – “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle”, which concern things which perish with the using – according to the commandments and doctrines of men? These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but have no value against the indulgence of the flesh.”
The Lord Yeshua has won the victory over death, sin and Satan. Therefore, we can die to all efforts to appease Adonai by our own efforts. Believers rise with Him to a new kind of life, and we can put aside practices which previously controlled people such as dietary laws, which were merely a shadow of the Lord. Being under the New Covenant, there is no obligation to follow dietary laws.
Mark 7: 15.
“There is nothing that enters a man from outside that can defile him; but the things that come out of him, those are the things that defile a man.”
Equally, believers are not required to keep the Sabbath.
Romans 14: 5 and 6.
“One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind.”
All human religions place the people under bondage to ordinances, rules, regulations and a religious calendar for holy days etc.
We have only two ordinances; baptism and communion. They are simply acts of obedience, indicating respect for and identification with the Lord. We know that these are not the means of salvation which solely lies with faith in the Lord Yeshua. We know that we need to keep moment-by-moment dependence on Him.
But what of those who do not comprehend salvation in the Lord Yeshua alone? Their conduct may appear to be based on humility. But there search for new spiritual experiences or advocacy of some kind of work as necessary for salvation, is human pride. They do not want to submit to the plan of Adonai for salvation as revealed in scripture.
Ascetism is the attempt to achieve holiness by rigorous self-denial or even self-affliction. Since it focuses on temporal things which perish with use, it is powerless to restrain sin or bring a person to Adonai. All ascetism offers is for public show and not genuine holiness. Irrational mysticism produces only a robbing of blessing and loss of eternal reward.
There is no spiritual growth apart from the Lord Yeshua.
Hebrews 9: 9 and 10.
“… gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience – concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed …”
The Pre-eminence of the Lord Yeshua in Godly Living as He is our Life.
Colossians 3: 3.
“For you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
Because of our identification with the Lord Yeshua, believers can reckon themselves to have died with Him, as He died on the cross. His sacrifice united us with Him as He paid the penalty for our sin, and, as He did, we rose to a new life in Him.
Because of our union with Him, we can focus on the eternal realities of heaven; our lives no longer dictated by the world. We can, gradually, if not completely, conform our lives to that of our Lord.
Romans 6: 4.
“… we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
All whom Adonai has justified will experience personal holiness. We are united by faith with the Lord Yeshua, and we can have a life fully consistent with His righteousness. We have been given through Him, the power to restrain sin.
The believer has full assurance in the Lord Yeshua who is the resurrection to eternal life and the sole guarantor of the believer’s inheritance in heaven.
Believers have a common spiritual life with the Godhead. The world cannot understand the full importance of the believer’s new life. Believers are eternally secure, protected from spiritual enemies and with full access to the blessings of Adonai.
2 Peter 1: 3 – 4.
“… divine power has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him … having escaped the corruption that is in the world…”
But (1 Corinthians 2: 14) “… the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God.”
Therefore, we can see that the Lord Yeshua alone can enable us to live godly lives.
1 Corinthians 6: 17.
“But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.
The Pre-eminence of the Lord Yeshua through whom alone we can avoid Immorality and Bless Others.
Colossians 3: 8 – 12.
“But now you yourselves are able to put off all these: anger, wrath, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth … since you have put off the old man … and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him … Therefore as the elect of God, holy and beloved put on tender mercies, kindness, meekness, longsuffering …”.
In the Lord Yeshua, we are a new creation. Union with the Lord Yeshua empowers us to lead godly lives. While obeying rules, as we have seen, cannot bring salvation, those who are saved can and should live lives worthy of their calling.
Prior to salvation, we were imprisoned by earthly desires. When people involve themselves in sin such as greed or sexual immorality, they follow their own desires rather than the will of Adonai. In essence, they worship themselves, which is idolatry. Unbelievers bear the nature and the character of their disobedience and rebellious sinfulness which they love.
But the new man has the image of the new creation in the Lord Yeshua and has the Spirit of Adonai living within, empowering the believer to avoid sin and be a blessing to others. The power of the Lord Yeshua is within us; the power to control self and to behave well towards others.
We enjoy the riches of knowing that we have been chosen by Adonai, converted solely by His choice. We are the objects of His incomprehensible, special love. With such knowledge, and the perfect model of forgiveness provided by our Lord, we even can be willing to forgive others. He has provided total forgiveness for us.