In the first chapter of Colossians, Paul leaves no room for anyone to believe Jesus is merely a “New Testament wise man” who lived perfectly and rose from the dead. Paul knew that some would try to separate Jesus from the divine identity He has always held—revealed throughout the Old Testament as the Lord of righteousness and sovereign authority. This separation creates dangerous space for what is unholy and unrighteous to infiltrate the Church and distort the truth.

So Paul opens his letter with a bold declaration of Jesus’s identity—making it unmistakably clear who He is and what He has done:

Colossians 1:15–20

15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.
17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.
19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,
20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

This passage is a cornerstone of Christology. It affirms Jesus as the visible image of the invisible God, the Creator and Sustainer of all things, the Head of the Church, and the One through whom all reconciliation and peace are made. There is no ambiguity—Jesus is fully divine, fully supreme, and fully worthy of our worship.

Let this truth anchor your faith today. In a world that tries to redefine or diminish Jesus, Colossians 1 calls us back to the unshakable reality of who He truly is.