Colossians 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead… I. THIS TERM EXPRESSES CHRIST'S DIVINE NATURE. He must be Divine who is "almighty," and "who is, and was, and is to come"; and since "the beginning" is a title applied in the same passage (Revelation 1:8), Paul pronounces Him Divine. II. IT EXPRESSES CHRIST'S RELATION TO HIS CHURCH. 1. The beginning of a tree is the seed it springs from. The giant oak had its origin in the acorn. Now as a seed Christ was apparently of little promise, "a root out of a dry ground," yet out of Him has grown that Church which shall bear the blessings of salvation to the ends of the earth. 2. A house, again, begins at the foundation. The first stone laid is the foundation-stone. Christ is this, a tried stone, a firm and immovable basis for the believer. 4. The Author of our faith, the Founder of the Church, began it, ere sun or stars shone in heaven. He provided for the fall before it happened. He had the lifeboat on the beach before the bark was stranded, or launched, or even built. He was "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." III. HE IS THE BEGINNING OF SALVATION TO EVERY INDIVIDUAL BELIEVER. 1. Whatever was the instrument employed it was His grace that began what had a beginning. The preacher was a man but drawing a bow at a venture, It was Christ's eye that aimed the shaft, and His strength that bent the bow. When our sins were carrying us out to burial He stopped the bier and imparted life. 2. As Christ is the beginner, so is He the finisher of our faith. He does no half work, half saving, or half sanctifying a man. Trust Him that when He has begun a good work He will carry it on to the end. (T. Guthrie, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. |
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