The first chapter of Colossians is one of my favorite chapters in the entire Bible. In it, God reveals through the Apostle Paul who Jesus Christ is, what He has done for His church, and who His followers are in Christ.
The Apostle Paul ends the chapter with these words, “Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me,” (Colossians 1:28-29, ESV).
The statement above is Paul’s mission statement. It defines his purpose. It’s not just his purpose, but ours as well. We, too, should want to warn everyone, teach everyone with all wisdom, so we also may present everyone mature in Christ.
It starts with proclamation. “Him we proclaim.”
Who are we to proclaim? The Lord Jesus Christ who, as we see in Colossians 1:15-20, is:
- The image of the invisible God
- The firstborn of all creation
- Creator of all things in heaven and earth both visible and invisible
- He is the reason for creation (all things were created “through him and for him”)
- He comes before his creation.
- He holds together creation.
- He is the head of the church.
- He is the beginning.
- He is the firstborn of the dead. (His resurrection guarantees ours.)
- He is preeminent in everything.
- He has the fullness of God dwelling within himself.
- He is the one who reconciles to himself all things making peace by his blood on the cross.
And what has God done for those who follow him? We see looking back in Colossians 1:
- He has qualified us to share in the inheritance.
- He has delivered from the domain of darkness.
- He has transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.
- In Christ, God redeems us and forgives our sins.
- In Christ, we are reconciled to God.
- He presents us, who were alienated from God and hostile in mind to God, doing evil things, holy and blameless, and above reproach.
- We now have Christ in us, which is the hope of glory.
It is this Savior, Deliverer, Creator, Redeemer, and Peacemaker we are to proclaim to a watching world but do we? How can we not?