Early in his epistle, Paul encouraged the Christians in Colosse to “walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him” (Colossians 1:10). A question to be asked, “Why are the Father and His Son Jesus Christ deserving of such faithfulness?” Paul answers the question in this text.
Jesus strengthens His disciples with His own glorious power, giving them might, patience, longersuffering and joy (11). Other passages confirm this same truth. Paul wrote, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). He affirmed in Ephesians 6 that by utilizing the protections afforded by the Lord (the armor of God), we can “quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one” (16). Having done all, the Christian can stand with Jesus’ help (cf. 13).
The Father has qualified His people to be partakers of an inheritance (12). Christians are part of the family of God. Because of Jesus’ redemptive work, we have received the “Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father’” (Romans 8:15). Because we now are adopted children in the family of God, we have an inheritance promised to us, “and if children, then heirs — heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together” (Romans 8:17).
God has conveyed the elect into the kingdom of the Son of His love (13). The way in which this is accomplished is by escape. God delivers His people from the power of darkness. All of those who are in bondage to sin can, with God’s help, escape condemnation. Jesus explained it, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:16-17). The kingdom is the realm of the Christ, who sits on the throne. Citizens of that kingdom are pilgrims on earth, but will enjoy their true home in eternity.
Jesus grants to His disciples redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins (13). The redemptive work of the Christ, who shed his blood on the cross, is the sufficient sacrifice to God for the sins of mankind. “By that will [the will of God] we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10).
Jesus is the firstborn of creation (15). This does not mean that he is the first one created. He is eternal. “In the beginning was the Word…” (John 1:1). It means that He is the source of creation. “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth… All things were created through Him and for Him” (16).
All of these things show why Jesus is worthy of our praise and faithfulness. It leads to a wonderful conclusion from Paul’s pen:
“And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence” (17-18).
Jesus is the preeminent one in all of God’s creation. “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation” (15). To any man who spends time considering his own existence, it is the inescapable conclusion. “And they sang a new song, saying: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God’ and we shall reign on the earth” (Revelation 5:9-10).
