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Someone once said, “To know God is to worship Him.” It’s easy to apply that truth as we sing Christmas carols, many of which contain key theological truths. Consider, for example, this fifteenth-century hymn: “Unto us a boy is born / The King of all creation / Came he to a world forlorn / The Lord of every nation.”
This hymn captures two essential truths about Jesus: He is the Lord of creation and He is the Lord of re-creation, or redemption. These two themes come together in one of the greatest passages about Christ in the New Testament, Colossians 1:15–20. In fact, some people believe that this passage reflects a hymn that Paul may have written earlier. And even if this wasn’t first a hymn, it has the same effect, since each line gives one more reason to praise Jesus Christ.
The first part of this passage focuses on Jesus as Lord of creation (vv. 15–17) and the next part on Jesus as Lord of re-creation (vv. 18–20). Verse 15 confirms what we saw in John 1 (see Dec. 10), namely that the Son is the reflection of the Father. When we see Jesus, we “see” the unseen God.
The title firstborn is drawn from the Old Testament. This term doesn’t imply that Jesus was somehow created, but rather it affirms Jesus’ preeminent rank. You may recall that God called Israel His firstborn when He led them from Egypt (Ex. 4:22). Clearly, the nation wasn’t literally born to God. Rather, “firstborn” implies a special, privileged relationship. Thus, verse 15 tells us that Jesus has the highest rank over creation; in other words, He is Lord over creation. This is spelled out in verse 16, which recalls John 1:3.
TODAY ALONG THE WAY
If knowing God means worshiping Him, then we should be all the more eager to know Him. Also, the better we know Jesus and consider all that He’s accomplished on our behalf, the better we can worship Him. Colossians 1:15–20 is a great place to start, which is why we’ll look at this passage again tomorrow.
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