How Big Is Your God?

Read Colossians 1:1-20

“Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all
creation. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over
all creation…all things were created by him and for him.
He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”
(Colossians 1:15)

Thoughts… How big is your God?

That’s a critical question, because the way you live will be in direct proportion to the size of your God. The problem that most of us have is that our God is too small. We’re not convinced that we are safely in the hands of a competent, all knowing, all powerful God. The truth is, many of us live with a shrunken God.

The New Testament writers never tire of telling us that the God we serve is no little God. And there may not be another passage that gives us a clearer, more majestic picture of the greatness of Christ than the one Paul paints for us here in Colossians 1:15-20. There is not a paragraph anywhere in Scripture that has more concentrated doctrine on the supremacy and preeminence of Christ than this one.

The reason Paul writes this is because of a heresy spreading through the New Testament church about who Christ was. Some so-called believers viewed Christ as just one god among many gods. In this belief system, called Gnosticism, it was believed that matter was evil and spirit was good, and since God was spirit, he would therefore not have had anything to do with the creation of matter. The idea that Jesus was made flesh was unthinkable, and if he was, then he wasn’t really a big God.

We’re still doing that to Jesus in our day, by the way. Maybe not doctrinally, but practically we have shrunk Jesus down to something less than who and what he really is. We don’t deny Christ outright, but we dethrone him by giving him prominence rather than preeminence in our lives.

So here in this letter, Paul writes the church in Colosse—and by extension, to the church today—to remind us of the greatness of Christ. Paul points out several truths that ought to bring Jesus into sharper focus for us:

First of all, Jesus Christ is the reflection of the invisible God. Verse 15 says, “He is the image of the invisible God.” In other words, when you see Christ, you’re seeing God himself.

The Greek word used for image is “eikon”, from which we get our word icon. An icon is a statue. Here it refers to a portrait. Paul says Jesus is the portrait of God, the perfect, absolutely accurate image of the heavenly Father.

Hebrews 1:3 describes Jesus as the radiance of God’s glory. Christ reflects God’s attributes as the sun’s light reflects the sun. Furthermore, that verse says he is the exact representation of his being. The Greek word for exact representation is “karaktar”, from which we derive our word character. It referred to an engraving tool, or stamp. Jesus is the exact likeness of God; the invisible God became visible in Christ.

One day a little girl was drawing a picture. So her mom saw what she was doing and said, “Honey, what are you drawing?” The little girl responded, “I’m drawing a picture of God!” The mom informed the little girl that no one knows what God looks like. And to that the little girl said, “they will when I get done.”

People in Jesus day had never seen God; no one knew what he looked like. They only knew of him from laws and traditions passed down from their fathers, who as sinful, fallen men, sometimes painted a picture of God that was far from accurate. No one had ever seen God, but Jesus came along and said, “they will when I get done.”

How much of God do we see in Jesus? Paul tells us in verse 19, “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.” What does this say about what God looks like? Just look at Jesus.

How does God feel about little kids? Look at Jesus gathering the little children and saying, “Suffer the little children to come to me…” How does God feel about the poor? Look at Jesus affirming the elderly widow putting in her to pennies in the temple offering, declaring that she gave out of her poverty while the well-off were shortchanging God. How does God feel about sinners? Look at Jesus dealing with the woman caught in adultery: “Woman, I don’t accuse you…go and leave your life of sin.” How does God feel about the loss of a loved one? Just look at Jesus weeping at the tomb of Lazarus.

What does God look like? Just look at Jesus!

Second, Jesus is the agent of creation. Look at verse 15 again: “He is the image of God, the firstborn over all creation.” And verse 16 adds, “For by him all things were created…”

The word Paul uses here for firstborn is “prototokos”, from which we get the word prototype. Paul isn’t saying that Jesus was the first to be created but that he was the agent of creation. This was a title of preeminence which meant that Jesus is the Lord of creation.

Verse 16 says, “For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, things invisible and visible, whether thrones or powers, or rulers or authorities, all things were created by him and for him.”

How big is your Jesus? He was the very one who created the universe and everything in it. So what does that mean for you? It means that Jesus is Lord over governments, networks, authorities, belief systems, addictions, illness—he is Lord over everything that affects your life. That means you don’t have to fear or worry about any of these—Jesus will take care of them for you.

How big is Jesus? He is Lord over all creation

Third, Jesus is the sustainer of all things. Referring to the entire created order, verse 17 says that Jesus, “is before all things and in him all things hold together.”

Your Christ is so big that he is holding everything you see and don’t see together. If it weren’t for his power, this whole universe, including your life, would just come apart at the seams and spin out of control clear into infinity.

A guide took a group of people through an atomic laboratory and explained to them how all matter was composed of rapidly moving electric particles. The tourists studied the models of molecules and were amazed to learn that matter is made up primarily of space. And during the question period, one visitor asked, “If this is the way matter works, what holds it all together.” And to that the guide had no answer.

But Paul gives us the answer. It is a Christ so big, so powerful, so ever-present that he continues to sustain all things by his nature. If you are like me, there been times when you don’t think you can hold it all together. Here’s the good news according to Paul: You don’t have to—Jesus will.

What is God like? How big is he? He is the Lord of creation who continues to sustain all things by his nature and his power, and he have revealed himself to us in the person of Jesus Christ. This Jesus you serve is so big that he created the universe by his power and for his use. And since you belong to him, you can take courage and begin to live your life with a big God mentality, because you live in a big God reality!

Prayer… Lord Jesus, you are bigger and greater than everything else in my life. You are supreme and sufficient for me. As I go about my day, I will take courage that I belong to the one who created all things and holds all things together by his power. I will therefore live my life as a big God person.

One More Thing… “Until we know Jesus, God is merely a concept, and we can’t have faith in Him. But once we hear Jesus say, ‘He who has seen Me has seen the Father’ we immediately have something that is real, and our faith is limitless.” —Oswald Chambers