Big Idea - Jesus is everything in the Christian faith - who He is, and how we think about Him. From the very beginning, the Church and those who call themselves Christians have faced three possible errors in how they think about Jesus. The first is to fail to grasp that He is God. This is to see Him only as a human. The second is to fail to grasp that was, in fact, human and not just God. The third error is to see Jesus as the God-man but to fail to grasp that He is One God but that the Son is not the Father. When we read the accounts of Jesus' life in the Gospels, it is hard not to imagine His humanity. Indeed, it is His very humanity that we can most easily and readily relate to. So, for most of us, the temptation is to make Jesus so human that we fail to grasp the full extent in which He is also God. Likewise, because He was a real person, it is easier for us to wrap our minds around the distinct personhood of the Son but struggle to grasp what it means for Jesus to be the One true God. An even greater temptation is to think these are just problems theologians and philosophers wrestle with, and it's not really important. It hurts our brain to try to comprehend such deep and mysterious things, so we just try not to think about it! But, if it is true that who Jesus is, and how we think about Him are the most important truths and the very core of the Christian faith, then we need to think about these things, and we must understand them correctly if not completely! So, how are we to think about Jesus Christ?

Paul begins by thinking about Jesus, not in terms of His life on earth and as the founder of our faith, but by thinking about who Jesus is in relation to God. He is the visible image of the invisible God and all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell in Him. The second thing Paul considers is who Jesus is in relation to all of creation. He is the firstborn of all creation, a term that indicates His highest position over everything that is made, but also His subservient position to the Father. He is the One God, but He is not the Father. It does not mean He was created, but He did become the God-man when He came to this earth and was born a virgin. As firstborn, he is the agent of creation. Everything was made in Him, through Him, and for Him. God's purpose in Christ is not only concerned about religious matters. The entire universe and all that was made in the heavenly realms were made by and for Christ. They exist according to His purpose and plan, and ultimately for His pleasure. Jesus is God over all creation as its creator and sustainer. Finally, Paul considers who Jesus is in relation the Church, the people who are part of His kingdom of light. He is the head of the body, the Church. Head indicates His rule and place of supreme honor, but also an intimate connection with the body. He is one with the body as the head, not detached from it. He is also the firstborn from the dead. In this case, the idea of firstborn is one who has already experienced what those following will one day experience - namely, the resurrection. This eternal life is already ours but also waits for the final bodily resurrection. It is through Jesus and the blood of His cross that God is reconciling everything to Himself, that is making peace, not only with the redeemed but with all of creation. The work of the cross and the truth of the resurrection make Jesus preeminent, supreme, and most high and exalted, first in every conceivable way. Thus, Jesus is not only concerned with the Church, but His concern is with the entire purpose of creation, to see all that He has made restored to peace with God according to the original purpose and design of creation.