Passage: Colossians 1:15-18
The Big Idea
We all have blanks in our lives: “I need . I want . I wish I had ___.” We usually try to fill them with something other than Jesus, or add something to Jesus. But Colossians 1:15-18 shows that Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the Creator and Sustainer of everything, and the Head of the church. He needs no help. He is enough.
Fill in the Blanks
- I need __.
- I want __.
- I feel empty. I feel lost.
- I wish I had __.
What fills in our blanks?
We all have restless places in our minds and souls. We know, in theory, that God is the only One who can meet our deepest cravings. But knowing that in our heads doesn’t do much. We need Him in our hearts.
If you searched your heart, what would your blanks be? Name the void. Maybe it’s identity. Maybe something you’re convinced you need to live is missing. The result is anxiety, stress, fear of missing out.
It’s actually good to know we’re incomplete. It makes us hungry and thirsty. And it shows us exactly where we need the gospel applied.
But here’s the problem: we usually try to fill those blanks with other things instead of Jesus. Even though He has already secured what we most deeply need, we turn to other things first. Sometimes we just try to add them to the gospel:
- Drinking, drugs, pornography and other ways to numb pain.
- Relationships we hope will go better than the last one.
- Religions or philosophies that promise inner peace without God.
- Work, power and purpose.
- Being cool, self-improvement, politics, success, tradition.
These become idols: things we look to besides God to save us.
Here’s a test. What can’t you live without? If you lost it, would life feel not worth living? What are you living for? Most idols are good things. But good things aren’t ultimate things.
Jesus is the ultimate thing. He’s enough all by Himself. He is the I AM, the Most High God. And He has come to set the captives free, from the needs we know about and the idols we haven’t noticed yet. He wants His bride, the church, free from everything that can’t satisfy her.
Read: Colossians 1:15-18
Paul describes Jesus as the visible image of the invisible God and the firstborn over all creation. Everything in heaven and on earth, seen and unseen, including every throne, power and authority, was created by Him, through Him and for Him. He existed before all things, and He holds everything together. He’s the head of His body, the church, the beginning and the firstborn from the dead, so that He would have first place in everything (Colossians 1:15-18).
Why is Jesus enough for all our needs?
The Image of the Invisible God (Colossians 1:15)
The Greek word for image, eikon, means an exact likeness, like the image stamped on a coin or reflected in a mirror. It also means manifestation: God fully revealed.
If Paul meant Jesus was merely similar to God, he could have used a weaker word. Instead he chose a word showing Jesus is the very stamp of the Father. Jesus is God, just as the Father is God.
God is invisible, which means more than that we can’t see Him with our eyes. On our own, He’s unknowable. In Jesus, the unknowable God becomes known (John 1:18).
I’m physical, with a body and mind. But I’m also spiritual and invisible, and that invisible part of me is what needs to be filled with God. Jesus is the only way God can be known in my inner heart. He creates the connection where God fills us with what we desperately need. Whatever invisible thing you need, it’s Jesus who supplies it.
The Firstborn over All Creation (Colossians 1:15)
Some groups have taught that this means Jesus was created, the first created being. That’s not what it means.
“Firstborn” here means first in rank and importance. Jesus is preeminent over all creation, not part of it. (In Psalm 89:27, God calls David His “firstborn,” even though David was the youngest son, because of his position.)
That also means nothing in creation can satisfy us the way He can, because He is God. You were created to be satisfied only by God, and to suffer when you try to live without Him.
By Him All Things Were Created (Colossians 1:16)
Jesus created everything: every galaxy, star, animal, insect and mineral. All the beauty that has ever existed came from Him.
Jesus is God, the Creator. There’s one God, and He has chosen to reveal Himself to all people through Jesus.
He also created every spiritual being, angels and fallen angels alike. They all know who’s really in charge. Jesus isn’t one spirit among many, or a brother of Satan. He’s the almighty God who also loves people enough to become our Savior.
Everything was created through Him and for Him (Colossians 1:16). He isn’t a created being; He can’t be, if He created all things. And it’s all about Him. You exist for Him. And yet He loves you with a passion that can’t be extinguished.
Before All Things, Holding All Things Together (Colossians 1:17)
Everything points to Him, and nothing makes sense apart from Him. He holds everything together (Hebrews 1:3).
Centuries after Paul, a popular teacher named Arius claimed Jesus wasn’t truly God and that there was a time when He didn’t exist. The church rejected that teaching, because Paul had already said it plainly: Jesus is before all things. And if He existed before anything else existed, He is God.
The Head of the Body, the Church (Colossians 1:18)
Jesus has a grand plan for the universe, and it includes you. He wants to be united with you the way a head is united with its body, and to lead you the way a head leads the body.
He’s united to people through the church: everyone who has believed in Him and had their sins washed away by faith in His blood. He became a man and offered Himself as our sacrifice so we could become His church. He rose from the dead to prove the sacrifice was accepted, and now He offers free forgiveness and life to everyone, in every nation and culture.
Paul says the goal is for Jesus to have first place in everything (Colossians 1:18). Everyone who believes is made part of the church, the people who give Him His rightful place: the most important One in the world, the center of attention, the all in all.
That’s what the God of creation wants: for you to find your value and meaning in Him, to be complete in Him (Colossians 2:10), and to let Him provide everything you need, like a head for its body, a husband for his wife, a father for his son.
Fill in the Blanks Again
- I need __. Jesus.
- I want __. Jesus.
- He fills my emptiness. He finds me when I’m lost.
- I wish I had __. Jesus.
What do we need to be complete? Jesus. What do we need to know our value and meaning? Jesus.
And not only do you need Jesus. Today you can have Jesus. He offers all of Himself, with no reservations. No holding back until you deserve it. No partial salvation.
How? Believe in your heart and confess with your mouth. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:10-13).
God’s grand plan is to save people, heal people and meet all their needs, through Jesus alone.
One last thing: to call on Jesus with our whole heart, we turn away from our other idols. The only reason we feel restless is that we’re trying to plug something else into the place where God wants to be God.
Grace Takeaway
Jesus doesn’t need anything added to Him. He’s the image of God, the Creator of all, the One who holds it all together, and the Head of His people. His sufficiency is real. Confess it, believe it, and let Him fill every blank.
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