Christian Friend vol. 18, 1891, p. 85.
The foundation, yea, the instrumental means, of redemption, is the precious blood of Christ; and the value of it is only measured by the infinite worth of His Person according to the perfect estimate of God. Hence in this epistle (Colossians) it is, "In whom we have redemption," etc. All that He was entered into, and bestowed its value upon, the work He accomplished.
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It is after bringing us down to the eternal foundation on which we rest, that the apostle proceeds to unfold several categories of Christ's personal glories. He "is the image of the invisible God." Man was created in the image and likeness of God; but Christ, "who is over all, God blessed for ever," could not be said to be the likeness of God, seeing that He is God. But He can be the image of God, for "image" is that which represents another, and Christ did this for God perfectly. God is invisible, and it is therefore only as displayed in, and represented by Christ, that we can learn what God is; and we grow by the knowledge of God. (Col. 1:10.) Thus the more we study the image, the more we apprehend Him of whom Christ is the image; for He was God manifest in the flesh.
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He is, moreover, "the Firstborn of every creature," or rather, "of all creation," for the word employed is not that which expresses each individual created thing, but that which speaks of creation as a whole. The reason given for His pre-eminence in creation is, that He is the Creator of all things, all things in their totality, whether in heaven or in earth, visible or invisible, of whatever gradation or rank - all alike He by His omnipotent power called into existence. Every possible word is used to show that the glory is His "in" Him, "by" Him, and "for" Him, the "characteristic power, active instrument, and end." And then, still further to enhance His glory, it is added, "And He is before all things"; necessarily so, being the Creator; and by Him all things consist, or subsist together. Called into being by Him, all things are upheld in existence by His own power. Viewed thus in connection with creation, He, in virtue of His rights as Creator, is absolutely pre-eminent.
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"And He is the Head of the body, the Church." His incarnation, death, resurrection, and ascension come between verses 17 and 18; for it was not until after He was glorified at the right hand of God, and the Holy Ghost had come down, that He became the Head of His body, the Church. The apostle passes indeed at once from His pre-eminence in relation to creation to that in connection with the Church. Baptized by the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost, and formed thus into the one body, we are united to Christ; and He as the Head is absolutely supreme.
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The next character of glory is set forth in the words, "Who is the beginning, the Firstborn from the dead." This is not exactly "the beginning of the creation of God," as in Revelation 3:14, although that is true; but it is rather God's new commencement, after the failure of the first man, and his judicial end in the cross of Christ. When upon the earth Christ was the Second Man from heaven; but He was not in the condition of the Second Man, according to God's counsels, until after He was risen and glorified. It is as such therefore, as the Firstborn from among the dead, that He is the beginning of the new order of things, after which God is now working, and into which all His redeemed will be finally introduced in full conformity to Him who is glorified at God's right hand. God's counsels, therefore, pass over the entire period of the responsible man, and have their end and object in Christ as the glorified Man, and in the redeemed who are being changed into His image, and who, in result, will be like Him when they see Him as He is.
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The end of all these glories is, "that in all things He might have the pre-eminence," or the first place. Whether in creation, in heaven or in earth, in the Church, or viewed in relation to all who will participate in the resurrection from among the dead, He is first, and absolutely supreme. All these glories that circle around Him do but proclaim His surpassing place and dignity. And in the measure in which we enter into the mind of God concerning the Son of His love, it will be our delight to accord to Him the first place in every sphere of our responsibility; first of all in our hearts; then in our homes; also in the midst of the gathered saints; and in all the activities of our daily, lives.
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Then, as if combining in one sentence all that has been said, it is added, "For all the fulness was pleased to dwell in Him." What the fulness is we are not told. If any explanatory words are given it could only be those in the next chapter, "All the fulness of the Godhead"; thus gathering up and presenting all that made Him what He was and is, whether regarded in His own essential being, or in the relative positions He has been pleased to assume. But it says, "All the fulness was pleased to dwell in Him." Is not this a reference to what Christ was in incarnation? And are we not thus reminded, that while in His grace He became a lowly Man, yet that it was in Him as such all the fulness was pleased to dwell? How it enhances our conceptions of the value of the work which He accomplished "by the blood of His cross," to remember that it was He who was all this who was nailed to that bitter tree whereon atonement was made! Therein lies the whole mystery of redemption; and, as we contemplate it, our hearts, when under the power of the Holy Ghost, cannot but overflow in praise and adoration.
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As a concluding remark, it may be added, that while believers are reconciled "in the body of His flesh through death," "the blood of His cross" is the basis of the reconciliation of all things. The full result, therefore, of the efficacy of the blood of Christ will not be seen until the new heaven and the new earth are brought in, wherein all things made new will answer perfectly to all that God is; and God will be all in all. "For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen."