Understanding the Messiah or Christ is the first and foremost requirement for spiritual enlightenment. Paul makes a most comprehensive statement of who and what Christ is.

The Messiah (Part 1)

1 Who is the Messiah?

Col 1:12-20

These few verses contain one of the most comprehensive yet concise descriptions of Christ in the Bible.

The main points that Paul makes are...

• He is the beloved Son of God the Father
• He is King of the kingdom of God
• We have redemption and forgiveness in him
• He is the image of God, the invisible God made manifest
• He is the firstborn from the dead of all creation
• All things were created by him and for him
• He exists before all things
• He holds all things together
• He is the head of the church
• He is the beginning (the forerunner)
• He has first place in everything
• He has done his Father’s good pleasure
• All the fullness (of deity) dwells in him
• Reconciliation to God is made possible through his blood

2 Son of God

Paul speaks of "the Father" in verse 12. In the following verses, he speaks of "His beloved Son" who is "the image of the invisible God". That is to say that the Son is exactly like his Father and shows us the Father. Jesus himself explained this in John 14:6-10.

The Son is God just as the Father is God. Paul confirms this by saying of Christ "He is before all things". This is a statement that can be made only of One who is God. Only God is "before all things". Jesus also confirmed this when he said, "Before Abraham was, I AM"  (Jhn 8:54-59 compare Exo 3:13-14).

Paul says that "It was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in him" (Col 1:19). What fullness? Paul clarifies that later: "For in him all the fullness of the Deity (Godhood) dwells in bodily form" (Col 2:9).

From these points we understand that the Messiah has always existed, and he is God.

3 Creator and Sustainer

One of the strongest confirmations that Jesus the Messiah is God, is the statement that "in him all things were created... all things have been created through him and for him" (Col 1:16). Only God can be the Creator of all things.

This, incidentally, was clear to the Jehovah’s Witnesses, so they inserted the word "other" in their translation to kill the force of it, making the Messiah the creator of "all other things" —thus including him among the created things and excluding him from being God since God is not a created being.

John also said that Jesus Christ created all things, and his statement, like Paul’s, carefully places Christ outside of all created things. "All things came into being through him, and without him not even one thing came into being that has come into being" (Jhn 1:3).

Paul not only says that Christ created all things and existed before them all, but he adds that "in him all things hold together" or literally "in him all things withstand" (Col 1:16-17). He not only brought all things into being, but in him all things endure and keep going. Were he to let go of the universe, it would immediately cease to exist.

From these points we understand that by the Messiah’s hand the entire created universe exists.

  King, Firstborn, Redeemer