When looking at these verses - what pops out right away is the phrase "image of the invisible God." That is who Jesus is. Hebrews says He is the exact imprint of the nature of God. Which means - if we want to know what God is like, look at the life of Jesus.
We will do just that.
We see that God is merciful. Luke 13:34 shows Jesus lamenting over Jerusalem. He desires that the Israelites would accept Him as Messiah, but knows that this will not happen at this time.
We see that God is compassionate. John 11 tells the story of Jesus' friend Lazarus who became sick and eventually died. By the time Jesus arrives on the scene - Lazarus is buried and people are mourning. Jesus went to the place where Lazarus was laid to rest and wept. Jesus, being God, knows that He has the power over death and that He is going to bring Lazarus back from the dead, but that does not stop His emotions.
We see that God is powerful. Jesus gets on a boat with the disciples in Luke 8:22-25. A storm came upon them while they were on the lake. They were in danger, and the disciples are most likely freaking out. All the while, Jesus is taking a nap. The disciples went and woke Him up and Jesus rebukes the storm. He tells the storm to cease! He has power over nature.
In Luke 17 Jesus meets 10 lepers. He heals all 10. He has power over disease.
Jesus brings a little girl back to life just as He did with Lazarus, showing He has power over death.
This is just a brief glimpse of who God is based on the life of Jesus. There is so much more in the gospel accounts!
The idea of "firstborn" shows up 130 times and describes status and power. Israel is known as God's firstborn son in Exodus. Israel is God's chosen nation - they have a higher status than any other nation. Christ, being described as "firstborn" shows His exalted status and His prominent authority.
The phrase "through Him and for Him" is really Paul jabbing at Caesar who has set himself up as God. What Paul is saying is that Jesus+Nothing=Everything. There is no need for believers to add anything to the gospel of Christ. For us today we might be tempted to add missions, evangelism, social justice, church attendance, giving... etc. For Paul's readers they were tempted with Jewish and Pagan rituals.
Finally for today we see Christ as the SUSTAINER. Louie Giglio gives a great example as to how we are sustained in Christ.
None of this is possible if we were not reconciled to God. Our broken relationship with Him was fixed through the death of Christ in our place.
What a gift to us!
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