INTRODUCTION
The Church in Colossae in the apostle Paul's day had also been
infiltrated by various heretical ideas, one of which apparently
maintained that the Son of God was not fully divine or was perhaps
not the sole Source of redemption. Paul had to combat this inferior
view of Jesus Christ and to assert the Supremacy of God's Son.
He begins to do so in a superb doctrinal-like statement in his
letter to the Colossians.
THE GRANDEUR OF JESUS CHRIST
THE SUPREMACY OF CHRIST
Christ told Philip that to see Him was to see His Father (John
14:9). As He has always done, He speaks and acts for God in the
plan of salvation. The only prerogative the Father reserves for
Himself is the calling of individuals to salvation (John 6:44),
for this is based on His foreknowledge. In this manner we can
understand some of the so-called anomalies of scripture:
Rom 8:9 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.
Heb 5:7 who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered
up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to
Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because
of His godly fear, 8 though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience
by the things which He suffered. 9 And having been perfected,
He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him,
Acts 4:12 "Nor is there salvation in any other, for
there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we
must be saved."
Many scriptures tell us that the Father is the focus of our worship:
John 4:23 "But the hour is coming, and now is, when
the true worshippers will worship [Gk: reverence, adore]
the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such
to worship Him."
Rev 22:9 Then he said to me, "See that you do not
do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the
prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship
God."
CONCLUSION
The false Christianity of this world with its confused and at
times warped understanding of the origins and status of Jesus
Christ has, as we realise, helped to produce, among other things,
the false doctrine of the Trinity. Neither Catholics nor Protestants
seem able to assign to the Son of God His correct role in accordance
with the Scriptures nor the honour that is His due. In addition,
our experience in the Church of God culture has been responsible
for distorting the clear biblical teaching about the nature and
role of the Son of God, with the resultant binitarian concepts
of the Godhead we see extant today. The history of the ideas
in regard to the Godhead in the churches of God in the past one-and-a-half
centuries has encompassed the spectrum from an almost Calvinistic
emphasis on God to the current WCG teaching, where the focus on
the Son would appear to be at the expense of the Father.
I would like to briefly look at the sufficiency and excellency
of Jesus Christ and consider what this should mean to us in terms
of our reverence for the Son of God.
Let us begin by reading Paul's testimony to the grandeur of the
Son of God:
Col 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn
over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that
are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether
thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were
created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things,
and in Him all things consist. 18 And He is the head of the body,
the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things He may have the preeminence. 19 For it pleased
the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, 20
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.
Paul magnificently describes the preeminence of Jesus Christ.
He reveals Him to the Colossians as Lord over all creation, the
Head of the Church, and as the only Source of reconciliation.
He is called the very image of God the Father (see also
2 Cor 4:4).
The writer of the book of Hebrews agrees perfectly with this description:
Heb 1:3
who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of
His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power
The Father therefore has honoured His Son by granting Him this
exalted position:
Phil 2:9
Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name
which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and
of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Jesus Christ is supreme. He is the means
that God has chosen to ultimately be "all in all" (1
Cor 15:28).
After His resurrection, Christ announced to His disciples:
Mat 28:18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All
authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth."
The supremacy of Jesus Christ is richly attested to in scripture:
1 Cor 8:6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, of
whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom are all things, and through whom we live.
Paul is here telling us that all things - including Jesus Christ
- are of God, but all things are through Jesus Christ.
Since no man can hear and see the Father, the Son is the necessary
and only Intercessor between God and man; without this intercession
there is no salvation possible for us:
1 Tim 2:5 For there is one God and one Mediator between
God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.
Most of the Christian world today cannot correctly grasp the supremacy
of Jesus Christ in the plan of salvation. The notion that Jesus
Christ can act perfectly for His Father without doing so as part
of some amorphous Trinitarian entity is not fathomable to Christianity,
which is unable to separate Him from His Father according to scriptural
definitions. Some years ago, we too were witness to a similar
mode of thinking when one of the notables of our previous affiliation
announced publicly that both Father and Son would dwell on earth
during the Millennium, which is contrary to scripture, but which
is indicative of this Trinitarian mindset.
Mat 6:14 "For if you forgive men their trespasses,
your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 "But if you
do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father
forgive your trespasses."
However, Christ clearly stated that He had the authority
to forgive sins:
Mark 2:10 "But that you may know that the Son of
Man has power on earth to forgive sins..."
Paul reveals that we are forgiven in Jesus Christ:
Eph 4:32
And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another,
just as God in Christ forgave you.
So forgiveness is the prerogative of both Father and Son. Christ
forgives by the authority of His Father.
Gal 4:6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the
Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!"
It is the same Holy Spirit, administered by the Son, that is at
work in us today and by which we will be resurrected.
Acts 26:8 [Paul to Agrippa] "Why should it be thought
incredible by you that God raises the dead?"
Yet Christ also stated:
John 6:54 "Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood
has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."
Christ explains this for us:
John 17:2 "as You have given Him authority over all
flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have
given Him."
Perhaps it is in this light that we should be considering Christ's
comment to the Jews in John 2:19:
John 2:19 Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy
this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."
THE SUFFICIENCY OF CHRIST
As Paul has to point out to the Colossians, we are complete
in Christ because He is the image of God. Jesus
Christ perfectly reflects God His Father. If we have Christ,
we have God. In the Son is revealed the fullness of the wisdom,
knowledge and power of God, and in Him we are built up and established
in the faith. Nothing else is necessary:
Col 2:3 in whom [Jesus Christ] are hidden all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge.
In Christ we therefore have access to the fullness of God, and
through Christ we are able to achieve a completeness and perfection
that reflects His own.
6 As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk
in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith,
as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.
9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10
and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality
and power.
Having perfected His Son, God was able to entrust to Him His work
of salvation:
Heb 2:10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all
things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory,
to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
11 For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified
are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them
brethren
The earthly experience and sufferings of Jesus Christ, who overcame
perfectly, has equipped Him to be able to also perfectly save
those who respond to Him. We, too, are therefore perfected in
Jesus Christ:
Heb 7:25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost
those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make
intercession for them.
Our experience will parallel the experience of Jesus Christ in
the flesh:
Heb 4:15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize
with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we
are, yet without sin.
The sufficiency of Jesus Christ's saving power is not to be minimised.
We are saved by, and in the Name of, the Son of God:
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth,
and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."
Indeed, to abide perfectly in Christ is to not sin:
1 John 3:6 Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever
sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.
REVERENCE FOR THE SON OF GOD
The supreme Christ perfectly fulfills God's eternal saving
purpose. It is an honour to God that His saving work is done perfectly
through His beloved Son. The Father delights in the Son (Mat 12:18),
who is described also as "the Son of His love":
Col 1:13
He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us
into the kingdom of the Son of His love.
Like a human son sired by his father who
so perfectly reflects his will and his thinking that his father
honours him by entrusting him with his entire inheritance, or
the king's son whom the king loves and respects above all his
sons, so is Jesus Christ.
Luke 4:8 And Jesus answered and said to him, "Get
behind Me, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship [Gk:
reverence, adore] the LORD your God, and Him only you shall
serve.'"
However, the Son is also worthy of reverence and worship:
Heb 1:6 But when He again brings the firstborn into the
world, He says: "Let all the angels of God worship [Gk:
reverence, adore] Him."
If the pre-incarnate Christ was, as the image of God His Father,
worthy of reverence and worship by human beings, whether as the
Angel of the LORD (Judg 6:21-24), or as the Presence in the burning
bush (Ex 3:2-6), or as the Captain of the Armies of the LORD (Josh
5:13-15), is He any the less worthy of reverence today? Would
any less holiness emanate from His presence now? After all, He
has, by His resurrection, attained at the very least the same
status and glory He had with God from the beginning (John 17:5,
24).
Luke 24:52 And they [the disciples] worshipped Him, and
returned to Jerusalem with great joy.
If we accept Luke 24:52 in its fullness (some authorities omit
"worshipped Him"), we have an example of the
disciples worshipping the resurrected Christ, whom they understood
to be the literal Son of God (Mat 16:16-17). Did this detract
from their worship of the Father?
Did the ancients who worshipped God understand about His Son?
Notice what is written in the Psalms:
Ps 2:7 I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to
Me, 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.'
It is true that Christ is our Intercessor
with God, but He is also our Mediator, as we have seen.
We all understand the role of a human mediator. Is it therefore
unreasonable for us to address our own Mediator directly
at times? Consider the example of Stephen shortly before his
death:
10 Now therefore, be wise, O kings; Be instructed, you judges
of the earth. 11 Serve the LORD with fear, And rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son, lest He [God] be angry, And you
perish in the way, When His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed
are all those who put their trust in Him.
Acts 7:59 And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on
God and saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." 60
Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, "Lord,
do not charge them with this sin." And when he had said this,
he fell asleep.
Can we reverence the Son as the patriarchs of old did, and praise
and honour Him, as God His Father has done and continues to does,
without defaulting to idolatrous Protestant or Catholic concepts
of the Son of God or, indeed, to previously-assimilated binitarian
notions of Jesus Christ, all of which mimimise or limit the true
God (Ps 78:41)?
As the perfect image of His God and Father, Jesus Christ, as the
apostle Paul had to explain to the Colossians is totally sufficient
for the work of salvation assigned to Him. He is the supreme
Son who is loved, honoured and revered by God. The apostle John
tells us in 1 John 3:2 that we shall be exactly like Him. This
being the case, let us consider the following Scripture in the
light of our reverence for the Son of God:
Rev 3:9 "Indeed I will make those of the synagogue
of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie; indeed I
will make them come and worship [Gk: reverence, adore]
before your [the saints'] feet, and to know that I have
loved you."
The question we now need to pose is: what exactly is it that makes
the resurrected saints worthy of worship?