We Crown Him Lord of All Col 1:13-18 | RIOT Podcast | Christian Discipleship

About this Episode

We Crown Him Lord of All Col 1:13-18 is the topic that will be discussed today on RIOT Podcast, a Christian Discipleship Podcast. Join us as we journey through the book of Colossians.


The False teachers in Colossae, like the false teachers of our own day, would not deny the importance of Jesus Christ. They would simply dethrone Him, giving Him prominence but not preeminence. In their philosophy, Jesus Christ was but one of many ways to get to God. As we unpack today's reading it was this claim that Paul strongly refuted. What we will hear today contains a more concentrated doctrine about Jesus than any other paragraph in the Bible. Paul writes this by using three unanswerable arguments that only God can prove. Let’s read Colossians 1:13-18 and unpack these 3 arguments.

Read- Colossians 1:13-18

Unanswerable Argument 1 Christ IS The Savior vs 13-14

Man’s greatest problem is sin, a problem that can never be solved by a philosopher or a religious teacher. Sinners need a Savior period. These two verses give us 4 saving actions of Christ on our behalf

1. He delivered us, that word means he rescued us from danger.
(He delivered us from the authority of Satan and the powers of darkness)

2. He transferred us. This word means we were deported from one country to another
Jesus moved us into His kingdom of light and made us victors over Satan’s kingdom of darkness)

3. He Redeemed us- This word means to release a prisoner by the payment of ransom
It was by Jesus Death and Resurrection that met the requirement of God's holy law. Satan accuses us because he knows we are guilty of breaking God's law.

4. He has Forgiven us- This word means to send away or to cancel a debt.
Christ has not only set us free and transferred us to a new kingdom, but he has canceled every debt so that we cannot be enslaved again.

Unanswerable Argument 2 Christ is the Creator Vs 15-17

The false teachers were very confused about creation. They taught that matter was evil. Including the human body. They also taught that Jesus did not have a real body, since this would have put him in contact with evil matter. The results of these false teachings were tragic and Paul in these verses explains the fourfold relationship of Jesus to creation.

1. He existed before creation
The term Firstborn does not refer to time, but to place or status. Jesus was not the first being created, since He himself is the creator of all things. Firstborn simply means of first importance or first rank.

Heb 1:3 says that Jesus was the express image of his person. John 14:9 says He that has seen me has seen the father, John 1:18 In His essence, God is invisible, but Jesus has revealed him to us.

Since No mere creature can perfectly reveal God, Jesus must be God.

2. He created all things 16a For by

Since Christ created all things, He Himself is uncreated. The word “for by” could be translated Because. Because in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth.

John 1:3 All things were made by Him. This includes heaven and earth, visible and invisible. All things are under his command.

3. 16b All things exist for Him

Everything exists in Him, for Him, and through Him. Jesus is the sphere in which they exist, the agent through which they came into being, and the One for whom they were made.

Quote: Warren Wiersbe said- The Greek philosophers had taught that everything needed a primary cause, and instrumental cause and a final cause. The primary cause is the plan, the instrumental cause the power, and the final cause the purpose. When it comes to creation, Jesus is the primary Cause (He planned it) the instrumental cause (He produced it) and the final Cause (He did it for His own pleasure)

4. vs 17 He holds all things together-

In Him all things hold together. Jesus is before all things, so He can hold all things together. This is another affirmation that Jesus is God. Only God exists before all things and only God can make all of creation work together.

Unanswerable Argument 3 vs 18 Christ is the Head of the Church

Each Christian is a member of this spiritual body, and Jesus is the head, In the Greek the word head used here means source or origin as well as leader, ruler. Jesus is the source of the Church, it’s His body and He is the Leader. Paul in verse 18 Called him “the beginning”

As the head of the Church Jesus supplies the church with its life through the Spirit. He gives man gifts and then places the gifted people in His church that they might serve Him where they are needed.

No believer or Pope is the head of His church.