Jesus Christ: Central in Creation

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

–Colossians 1:15

Do you believe that Jesus Christ is sufficient to take care of your needs? If you ever doubt that, remember His role in creation. In Colossians 1, Paul said Christ is central in creation.

A lot of Christians think Jesus Christ came into existence in Bethlehem. No, Paul said, Christ was preexistent to creation. Look at verse 15: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” The Greek word for “image” here is eikon. Sometimes this word meant “an inferior representation of the original.” Think about the image of George Washington on the quarter—even with his wooden teeth, the real George Washington was superior to that flattened, lifeless image. Other times, the word eikon meant “manifestation.” That’s the way Paul used the word here. Jesus Christ is not an inferior representation of God; He is the manifestation of God. In John 14:9, Jesus said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.” If you want to know what God is like, just look at Jesus Christ. He is the manifestation of God the Father.

Colossians 1:15 also says Jesus is “the firstborn of all creation.” The word translated as “firstborn,” prototokos, doesn’t mean first chronologically but first in importance. In Psalm 89:27, God said of His coming Son, the Messiah, “I also shall make him My firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.” The term “firstborn” doesn’t refer to Jesus’s place chronologically but to His rank. Jesus is the highest of all creation.

Christ was not only preexistent to creation, but He was also the cause of creation. Colossians 1:16 says, “By Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities.” When we think about the creation account in Genesis, we tend to imagine God the Father doing all the heavy lifting. But Paul said Jesus the Son was the agent of creation. He is the one who created this vast universe with its hundreds of billions of galaxies. And notice Paul said Jesus also created all things that are “invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities.” That is a reference to the spirit realm–angels and demons. Some of the Colossians were trying to worship angels. Paul was saying, “Why would you worship angels when Jesus is the one who created all the angels?”

Jesus Christ was the cause of creation. No wonder disease fled from Him. No wonder the wind and the waves obeyed Him. He is the one who created it all.

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Today’s devotion is adapted from “Jesus Christ: Creator, Originator, and Reconciler” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2011.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org.