The believers in Colossae had deviated. A long stone’s throw from the thriving community in Ephesus—the only community to not receive a corrective letter from the apostle Paul—the Colossians had begun to get muddy with their Christology.[1] Paul wrote to clear up the water in their well. Unlike the Galatians, who got lost along the way of the Gospel’s implications,[2] the Colossians got confused on the centerpiece of the Gospel itself. Rather, Himself. They got confused about Jesus.
His letter opens with brief greetings, a short prayer, and then a loaded exposition of who Jesus is, laying a powerful ultimatum before Colossian Christians: Jesus is either everything the prophets, apostles and He Himself say He is, or He is nothing at all. As Charles Spurgeon so simply put it, “If Christ be anything, He must be everything.”[3]
He must be.
This is why—and only how—the Gospel has such explosive implications. This is why Golgotha is of cosmic consequence. If He is anything, He is everything—or nothing at all. He is the image of the invisible God, and thus supreme and sovereign over everything.[4] He can thus demand preeminence and deserve the highest Name in all the heavens, earth and everything under the earth.[5] He will forever receive the unadulterated worship of every creature.[6] Every knee will bow to Him. Every tongue will confess His Lordship.[7] Worship is a unique gift in this age of “believing without seeing.”[8] It will be quite different when the Son of Man is exalted in His glory while all our thoughts, intents and secret things are laid bare for every eye to see.[9]
In this way, Paul could hinge the legitimacy of Christian discipleship on the resurrection of the saints upon the Lord’s appearance at the end of the age. If we are not resurrected, this whole thing is a farce and there’s no one on earth more pathetic than our lot.[10] Why? Because Jesus said He is the Resurrection.[12] If He isn’t, He isn’t anything else He claimed to be either and we should all go home. If Christ be anything, He must be everything.
The age-ending Day of the LORD will expose every wicked thing and reveal every holy mystery kept hidden from our eyes until then. The “Desire of the Nations”[13] will be seen in full splendor, and all our questions will evaporate with the sin which so dreadfully ensnares us. The “Branch of the LORD” so faithfully and graciously extended to a bloodthirsty humanity will be seen for all He is—beautiful, glorious, and worth everything we gave Him while we had it in our hands to offer.[14] We will not dread eternity with Him. We will not resent His reign. We will not resist His hand. The dim mirrors removed, shattered, our eyes will see Him fully, clearly and adoration will erupt from our hearts and rush from our lips: “You are everything You said and more.”
Put simply, “You’re everything.”
Nothing else will matter.
Stephanie Quick is a writer and producer serving with Frontier Alliance International in the Middle East. She is the author of To Trace a Rising Sun and can be found on on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Sign up for her ministry updates here and receive a free copy of her book Confronting Unbelief. She can be reached at stephanie@stephaniequick.org.
[1] USCCB, Letter to the Colossians. http://www.usccb.org/bible/colossians/0
[2] See the letter to the Galatians
[3] Spurgeon, C.H., (1871). Christ is All. http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/1006.php
[4] See Colossians 1:15-20
[5] See Philippians 2:9-10
[6] See Revelation 5
[7] See Philippians 2:10-11
[8] See John 20:29
[9] See Romans 2:16
[10] See I Corinthians 15:16-20
[11] See John 11:25
[12] Haggai 2:7
[13] Isaiah 4:2
