Continuing on with Colossians 1:13-23 and we will pick up in verse 18.

Colossians 1:18 -- "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 preeminence."  Jesus Christ is the head of the church.  In other words, we have no need of an earthly head of the church, such as a bishop, overseer or Pope.  In the early days of the Roman Catholic Church, they used the passage in Matthew 16:18 to say that Peter was the first Pope.  This is not correct.  We have no need for an earthly person who is the head of the church or the intercessor between us and God.  We have Jesus Christ who is our Mediator, who is the head of the church.  Now, to be sure, we have leadership in the local churches.  This brings order and stability.  But Jesus is the head, so that in "all things, He may have preeminence."  Preeminence means "surpassing all others."  That is who Jesus is.  He has surpassed everyone else; He is in a place of glory and honor.  He is the head of the church, in a place of honor and as such, should be obeyed and honored and praised and glorified by His church.

Colossians 1:19-20 -- "For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross."  "It please the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell..."  That is, the fullness or completeness of God was made known in Jesus Christ.  He is God, He came as God, He never ceased being God.  He is fully God, and He came to earth to show man who God really is.  "...And by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross."  Reconcile means to make right.  It is used as a financial term to make all the accounts even and matching.  It is used as a term of friendship when two people make their relationship right again after having a disagreement.  Jesus made all things right on earth and in heaven by the blood of His cross.  The verse actually says He made peace.  With whom did Jesus make peace?  With sinful man and a holy, righteous sinless God.  Jesus stepped into the fray and made a way for sinful man to be forgiven and get to God.  He also made a way for holy God to look on sinful man.  He did this through His shed blood.  We must never forget, overlook, fail to mention or hide the blood of Jesus.  (For more, see my blog post here.)  It is the blood of Jesus that washes our sins away.  It is the blood of Jesus that covers our sin so that Almighty God sees Jesus righteous blood and not our unrighteous sin.  It is the blood of Jesus that brings peace between man and God.  It is the blood of Jesus that brings life eternal.  It is the blood of Jesus that grants the sinner entrance into heaven.  It is only the blood of Jesus!  We should all stop and praise God for the blood of Jesus!  If you have never had your sins forgiven, if you are not sure of your eternal destiny, you can be sure that Jesus loves you.  You can be sure that He is God, He died on the cross for your sins, He was buried and He rose again.  You can be sure that He is offering forgiveness, acceptance and eternal life to you.  You can be sure that He is not willing for any to perish and enter hell, but He wants all to repent.  You can be sure that if you call on His name, you will be saved (Romans 10:13).  You can be sure that Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father but by me" (John 14:6).  You can be sure that there isn't anything that you can do to get to heaven.  Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."  You can be sure that He is waiting for you to stop trying to make it on your own, and He is always willing to forgive no matter what you have done.  Why don't you ask Him today to forgive you, to save you, to give you eternal life and a place in heaven.  He will do it.  (For more information, comments or questions, email me.)

Colossians 1:21-23 -- "And you, who were once alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight - if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard which was preached to every creatured under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister."  We were God's enemies, but through the death and blood of Jesus, we have been reconciled to be holy, blameless and above reproach.  I love the word "blameless".  That means that we are innocent of wrong doing.  How beautiful that our God would do that for us!  We no longer have the blame of sin on us, for Jesus took it on Him at the cross and it was nailed to His cross.  Colossians 2:13-14 says, "And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven all your trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us.  And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross."  Our sins and trespasses and iniquities have been nailed to the cross by Jesus Christ.  Because of that, we should no longer live in our sins; we are no longer slave to our sins; we no longer need to be addicted to our sins.  Because Jesus paid the price to free us from our sins!  Galatians 5:1, "Stand fast in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage."

The last verse can be confusing, but look at it in context.  It seems to some that it is saying we can be saved if we don't move away from the gospel; therefore that would imply we can lose our salvation.  That's not correct.  The last couple of words in verse 22 set the context for 23.  "...And above reproach in His sight..." and then it says, "if indeed you continue in the faith..."  What does it mean to be above reproach?  The answer is one who is like Job or Daniel.  One in whom nothing can be said about them that is negative or points toward sin.  About Job, God said, "Have you considered my servant Job?"  About Daniel, we are told that the other leaders of the land looked for something to accuse him of, and all they could find was that He loved Jehovah God and prayed three times a day.  That is a life of being above reproach.  We are told here that we will continually be above reproach in God's eyes if we stay faithful to the gospel, we are grounded and steadfast and we continue in the faith.  Paul often uses the phrase that we are to "walk worthy".  This is that same idea.

So, who is this Jesus?  He is Savior, Redeemer, Forgiver, Peacemaker.  He is the head of the church.  He is all we need.  He is everything.  He is the Beginning, the Firstborn from the dead.  He is the Preeminent One.  He is God.  Put your faith in Him today, not only for eternity, but for today and tomorrow and the next day and the next.