Christ is Enough

jesus

Without truly understanding who Jesus really is and what He alone could and did accomplish through the cross, people become sitting ducks for worldly systems or false religious beliefs that seek to come to God other than exclusively through the Lord Jesus Christ. Always, all false belief systems either reject what the Bible teaches about the person of Christ (deny His deity or true humanity), or they seek to add something to the work of Christ (add some system of religious or ascetic works), or they will do both—subtract from His person and add to His work. In other words, they put forth a position that what Christ accomplished on the cross is not sufficient, so some system of works is added as a means of true spirituality and access to God. This is precisely what the false teachers at Colossae were doing.

Colossians 1:15-20 is a powerful statement about the Person and work of Jesus Christ. Christ's supremacy is seen at every turn. To any Christian, in Colosse then or elsewhere today, who may have been or is confused about Christ's role in the world, or His preeminence over all things, these six verses testify to Christ's absolute authority, which is not to be shared with any person, angel, or demon.

In verses 15-20, Paul highlights several unique characteristics that qualify Jesus Christ to be the preeminent one who has supremacy over all things, but his main point that should rule our lives and our contemplation is this: Jesus Christ is SUPREME in His revelation of God and rule over all creation, and Christ is the only one through whom God has made a way to reconcile His creation back to Himself.

Here are the truths Paul puts forth to make his point:

  1. Jesus Christ is the IMAGE of the invisible God (v. 15)
  2. Jesus Christ is SOVERIEGN over all creation (v. 15)
  3. A. Jesus Christ is the CREATOR of all things (v. 16)
  4. A. Jesus Christ is BEFORE all things and He HOLDS all things together (v. 17)
  5. A. Jesus Christ is the HEAD of the body of Christ (v. 18)
  6. A. Jesus Christ is to have first place in EVERYTHING (v. 18)
  7. A. Jesus Christ is the FULLNESS of deity, saving grace and power (v. 19)
  8. Jesus Christ is the one whom God has made a way for RECONCILIATION and PEACE to occur between God and His creation (v. 20)

What all of this teaches us is that Christ alone is to be the object of our worship, the sole means of deliverance from the power of darkness, and the means of transference into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son, the only one in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. There is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12), or religious system that can bring us to God (John 14:6). Life only makes sense when Christ is at the center of it all along with God’s glory.

Christ is enough. He is supreme and unique and completely unrivaled. Please see that. Trust Him and His work alone. We don't need to look to anyone or anything else for our salvation and standing before God. Christ is unrivaled in this, and we are complete in Him. May this comfort and bless us today and every day.