Read: Colossians 1:15-16
All things were created through him and for him. (v. 16)
With today’s verses, Paul began one of the most breathtaking portions of the whole Bible. In fact, Colossians 1:15-20 constitutes one long sentence in the original Greek. Paul is nearly breathless here! It’s like he could not get the words out fast enough as he issued one giant gush of enthusiasm for who Jesus Christ really was! And who is he really? Just a carpenter’s son from a backwater town called Nazareth? Just someone who late in life turned into a rabbi with a gift for telling good stories?
Nope. He is the preeminent One over all creation. When Genesis tells us that God said, “Let there be light,” it turns out it was the Son of God—whom we now know as Jesus—who was doing the talking. He created all things! They were created by him and for him. Jesus really is the King of creation. What’s more, he created not just the stuff you can see around you—chickadees and sunflowers and the Pacific Ocean—he created all the invisible spiritual realities too. Everything, the whole shebang from A to Z, came from Jesus!
Paul wrote this not too many years after the Romans had quite literally crossed Jesus out one Friday afternoon. But the Romans could not stop Jesus. Not if he was the one who created all that exists. This is the Savior who had saved the Colossians. For Paul, that was a source of endless delight. And it still is! —Scott Hoezee
As you pray, praise God for the Son’s marvelous gift of all creation!
About the Author
Scott Hoezee is an ordained pastor in the Christian Reformed Church of North America. He served two Michigan congregations from 1990-2005 and since 2005 has been a faculty member at Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he serves chiefly as the Director of The Center for Excellence in Preaching. He is the author of several books, including most recently Why We Listen to Sermons (Calvin Press 2019) and is the co-host of the “Groundwork” radio program.
