September 14 2025, Sunday School Lesson

Before All Things

Lesson Text: Colossians 1:15-23

Related Scriptures: 1 Kings 8:12-19, 27-30; Psalm 89:19-29;

John 1:1-3, 14-18; Ephesians 2:11-22; Hebrews 2:5-10

TIME: between A.D. 60 and 62

PLACE: from Rome

Golden Text “(the Son) is before all things, and by him all things consist” (Colossians 1:17).

Introduction

Last week we began our study of God’s omnipresence with His existence before creation. This week we study a passage that includes an emphasis on Jesus’ preexistence as the Son of God.

In Colossians 1:14-23, Paul focused exclusively on the Son. In fact, apart from verse 15, Paul seemed to deliberately avoid direct reference to God the Father in those verses. Why would he do that?

The Colossian believers were under attack from false teacher who urged them to engage in practices not required of Christ’s disciples (cf. 2:16-23). Those teachers likely used fear of powerful spiritual entities as motivation.

In that context, the Colossians needed to know they could cling to their “Head,” Jesus Christ, without fear (cf. vs. 19). Paul emphasized that Jesus is equal with God the Father in every way to show that His worldwide rule and redemption are completely trustworthy.

LESSON OUTLINE

I. CHRIST’S PREEMINENCE OVER ALL CREATION –

Col. 1:15-17

II. CHIRST’S PREEMINENCE IN THE NEW CREATION –

 Col 1:18-20

III. APPLYIG CHRIST’S REEMINENCE TO BELIEVERS –

Col. 1:21-23

QUESTIONS

1. How does Christ’s identity as the “image of the invisible God” affect humanity (Col. 1:15)?

2. How does the Old Testament help us understanding what Paul meant by calling Christ the “firstborn of every creature” (vs. 15)?

3. What are the “thrones,” “dominions,” “principalities,” and “powers” Christ created (vs. 16)?

4. How does Christ’s resurrection relate to His identity as the Head of the church?

5. Why might Paul have emphasized creation’s reconciliation to Christ rather than to the Father?

6. How do verses 19-20 reflect Old Testament temple imagery?

7. How does the reference to heaven and earth in verse 20 connect Christ’s reconciling work to His creating work?

8. What does the wedding imagery in verse 22 tell us about the goal of Christ’s reconciliation?

9. What must believers do to ensure their faith is “grounded and settled” (vs. 23)?

10. Why was it not an exaggeration for Paul to say the gospel had been preached in all creation?

ANSWERS

1. As the Father’s image, the enfleshed Son visibly and perfectly revealed the Father to a world that otherwise groped after Him in darkness (cf. John 1:18; 14:7-9).

2. In the Old Testament, therefore, “firstborn” referred theologically to the status of God’s chosen and preeminent person or nation. By calling Christ the “firstborn of all creatures, “Paul acknowledged Him as the highest Being in all the universe.

3. Based on the use of those terms elsewhere in Paul and in contemporary Jewish writings, Paul was almost certainly referring to categories of powerful spiritual beings, not human entities or governments.

4. By calling Christ the “beginning” in relation to His reconciling work, Paul implied that Christ’s resurrection was the start of a new creation just as glorious as the original one. In this context, “firstborn from the dead” likely relates to both time and prominence. Not only was Christ the first chronologically to receive a resurrection body, but His resurrection also opened the way for every one of His followers to receive a similar resurrection body (cf. 1 Cor. 15:20-23).

5. By speaking of the Son’s role in reconciliation in such similar terms to the Father’s role, Paul accomplished His goal of presenting Christ as equal with the Father in every way. As Christ is both the source and the goal of creation (cf. vs. 16), so He is both the source and the goal of the new creation.

6. The language of 1:19-20 revolves around Old Testament temple imagery. Just as the temple was the temporary dwelling place of God, so Christ is the permanent dwelling place of God. And just as people came to the temple to sacrifice animals and obtain peace with God, so people can now come to Christ who shed His own blood to obtain peace with God.

7. As Christ is the Creator of heaven and earth, so He is the Reconciler of heaven and earth, restoring the whole creation to its original purpose of existing for His sake.

8. That pure relationship as His spiritual bride is the goal of Christ’s reconciliation of the church

9. As Paul explained to the Colossian, one of the main ways to remain “grounded and settled” in faith is to set our hope on the gospel we have heard (1:23)---including the very truths about Jesus that Paul expounded in the preceding verses.

10. It might seem like an exaggeration to Paul to say the gospel had been preached “to every creature,” but this was similar to the way Like (one of Paul’s fellow missionaries) portrayed the situation at the end of Acts. There Luke implied that Paul’s ministry in Rome, the epicenter of first-century culture and commerce, fulfilled the book’s thesis statement that the gospel needed to reach “the uttermost part of the earth” (1:8). Since Paul wrote Colossians from Rome, he was likely reflecting that same theology in Colossians 1:23. By referring to all creation, Paul may have been emphasizing the cosmic impact of the gospel that he had already expressed in verse 10).