Christ at the Center: The Fulcrum of Biblical Covenantalism (Pt.1b)

Continued from last time on Colossians 1:15b

There is a great deal which might be said about the term “firstborn.”  Primarily of course it concerns right of inheritance and prominence among brethren.  As the examples of Isaac and Jacob and Judah and Solomon show, the first to be born is not the main idea in “firstborn” (prototokos).  The primary idea involves status, not physical birth.  Notice how this is true in Psalm 89:27, ” I also shall make him My first-born, The highest of the kings of the earth.”  The verb translated “make” in the verse carries with it the idea of  placing or constituting, but not generating.  The Psalm also portrays the promise to the firstborn as earning the very highest status among the “kings of the earth,” further underlining this understanding of the word.

So it is here.  Certainly, some primordial creation of the Son as per the Arian heresy is not at all in the Apostle’s mind.  There is a Time in Paul’s thoughts: though not the time of the original creation, but rather that of the second creation heralded by the Resurrection which he is thinking about.  Just compare “the firstborn from [among] the dead” in v18, where this is made more clear.

Verse 15 also states that Christ is “over all creation.”  He is over the creation because:

The World depends on Christ for its being created and its continued existence.

• all creation was made through Him – (v. 16).  Jesus is the ever-living Word through Whom the Father spoke the world into being (Jn. 1:3; Heb. 1:2).

• all creation was made for Him – (v. 16).  Jesus is the One for Whom the Father made the world. This staggering fact calls us all to prayerful meditation.  “For Him.”  This world.  You and I.  Creation is a Gift from the Father to the Son.  And while we may despise God’s gifts, the Son does not.  The created realm is valuable to Jesus first of all because it is His from God the Father!  And it is for that reason He redeems it.  Yes, and for that reason He will beautify it (cf. Rom. 8:20).  This world will not be discarded like an old car when He comes, like some teach.   It will be regenerated by the One who saved it.  Jesus will be enthroned within it (Matt. 19:28).  That is the only fit place for Him to be in it (cf. Lk. 1:33; Zech. 14:6; Rev. 19:16).  As James Fergusson (The Epistles of Paul) put it so quaintly, “The setting forth of his glory is a rent due by all creatures.”  And there will come a day when it will be payed before Him in person in His creation.      
  

• all creation is held together by Him – (v. 17)  Christ’s Lordship over the elements of bread and water and life and death is a logical outcome of what Paul speaks of in this verse.  Everything that is – that possesses being – whether it be visible or invisible (v.16), exists providentially under His hand.  The writer of Hebrews expresses a similar thought:

And He is the radiance of His [God's] glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. – Heb 1:3a

Among the many similarities of thought between the two passages is that of the whole disposing of the history of the Cosmos devolves upon Christ.  John Owen, in his magisterial Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews, 3.105, writes,

      And from these last words we learn: -

I. Our Lord Jesus Christ, as the Son of God, hath the weight of the whole creation upon his hand, and disposeth of it by his power and wisdom.

II. Such is the nature and condition of the universe, that it could not subsist a moment, nor could any thing in it act regularly unto its appointed end, without the continual supportment, guidance, influence, and disposal of the Son of God.

It is this “by Him, for Him, subsisting because of Him” teaching which situates the Son unquestionably at the center of the unfolding revelation of God to men.  It may be explored in several promising ways. 

Christ at the Center: The Fulcrum of Biblical Covenantalism (Pt.1a)

Introduction To The Series

There are all sorts of places one can launch out from when writing about the grand scheme of things in the Bible.  Certain passages are just packed with theology!  This has been seen and utilized by many writers down through the ages.  From John Calvin to John Stott men have built solid arguments from expounding a few verses and establishing connections with the Biblical worldview.  For all his faults Karl Barth is often a master at this.  Theology as exegesis as meditation!

While I cannot hold a candle to such men I would like to follow suit.  I’m going to do a series of posts showing how the perspective I call “Biblical Covenantalism” is radically Christocentric.  This is in contrast with most Dispensationalism which, although certainly not obscuring Christ, nonetheless does not place Him at the center of their systems (I believe this is another handicap of defining oneself by “dispensations”).

Two Presuppositions

Biblical Covenantalism hinges on two main presuppositions.  The first is that God means what He says.  The Bible is a revelation to Everyman and therefore communicates its meaning in a straightforward manner.  This is in contrast to what tends to be put across by covenant theology where often the Bible is portrayed as a revelation to the elect only.

True, genres and figures of speech and structure must be appreciated, but they must never be made into the preserve of the scholars to argue over people’s heads about.

The second assumption is that the covenants we come across in the Bible are essential to a correct understanding of the Bible story; including its conclusion.  This is something I shall bring out more in a future series on Teleology and Eschatology.  I shall only say that neither presupposition is blind.

1. A Place To Begin: Colossians 1:13-20

He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 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. 19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, 20 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. – (Col 1:13-20)

Now that I’ve said this about the centrality of revelation and the biblical covenants someone might ask themselves why I don’t begin the set of posts with John’s Prologue, which addresses somewhat both issues (the covenants indirectly as will be shown).  I shall be going there in time, but I think this passage in Colossians gives me the grist I want to kick the thing off with.

Exposition:

Verse 13. In the thirteenth verse it is God the Father who has “delivered us.”  So we see that the Father is the Deliverer and can be properly called the Savior (as in 1 Tim. 1:1; 4:10).  Notice also that just as a human father requires a son or daughter in order to be a father, so God the Father requires a Son to be who He is.  Therefore, we should understand that the doctrine of the eternal Sonship of Christ supports the doctrine of the eternal Fatherhood of God.  God’s “paternity” is part of his eternal function in the Trinity, so Christ’s Sonship must be viewed as eternal in consequence.  I don’t say that is all one can point to in support of the eternal Sonship of Christ; just that this text assumes the doctrine.

Now notice where the Father has “conveyed” us.  It is into the Son’s kingdom.  This kingdom is viewed by Paul in context as being both with us but ahead of us (cf. the “inheritance” language of v.12 and the “reconciliation” language of v.19).  It is, as they say, both “already” but “not yet.”  (This is not the same thing as allowing the “already/not yet” to determine our hermeneutics!  The hermeneutics produce the idea).  The “already” part is what makes us “strangers and pilgrims,” (Heb. 11:13), while being “citizens of heaven” (Phil. 3:20).  The “not yet” is what makes us look up and gain perspective from our futures instead of the present (as in Col. 3:1-2).

Some Excellent Stuff on ‘Christ in the Old Testament’

Over at Team Pyro Dan Phillips has two superb talks on the theme Christ in the Old Testament.  They are well worth your time.  For one thing, Dan preserves the integrity of the Old Testament text by allowing it to speak in its own voice!  Imagine that.