JESUS TRULY IS EVERYTHING TO US

In my recent studies of Colossians, especially the “Christ Hymn” in 1:15–20, I’ve been reminded just how many names, titles, and descriptions we use to talk about Jesus.

For starters, there’s his name: Jesus. It’s the name given to him at birth. We often say it means “God is salvation” or “the Lord saves,” and that’s true, but it really wasn’t until his death and resurrection that the full weight of that name came into focus. He is Jesus, the one who saves, because saving is what he actually does.

Then there’s the title Christ. We say “Jesus Christ” so naturally that it’s easy to forget how loaded that title really is. Even his own disciples struggled to understand it. Peter famously declares, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt 16:16), but even then they didn’t yet grasp that this Christ would be a suffering Messiah. A crucified Christ wasn’t what anyone expected, yet that’s exactly how Paul would later describe him: “Christ crucified” (1 Cor 1:23). A Jesus who saves, and a Christ who is crucified, that’s already a lot packed into one name and one title.

When Paul writes to the Colossians, he says he’s sharing a mystery with them, things about Jesus that hadn’t been fully known before but were now being revealed. This Jesus, who is the Christ, is also Lord of all (Col 1:3). That raises an important question for us: Do we know him as the one who saves us, the one who suffered for us, and the one who now reigns over us as Lord? That’s a lot already, and Paul isn’t finished yet.

In the opening lines of the Christ Hymn, Jesus is called “the Son” and “the image of the invisible God” (Col 1:15). Those phrases point directly to his divinity, God made visible, God in the flesh. As such, he’s also described as the Creator and Sustainer of all things (Col 1:16–17). That alone is enough to make you stop and catch your breath, but again, that’s still not the whole picture.

Later in the hymn, Paul calls him the “head of the body, that is, the church” (Col 1:18). At first glance, that might sound like a step down from being divine Creator, but it really isn’t. To be the head of the church is to be the author and perfecter of our salvation. The one through whom all things were created is also the one who reconciles all things back to God. In that sense, he’s not only the Creator, he’s also the Re-Creator, actively bringing his good creation to its intended fulfillment.

Paul sums up this mystery with a stunning phrase: “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col 1:27). The way I see it, this Jesus, who is the Christ, who has become our Lord, is also the divine, incarnate God who created all things and is now at work re-creating all things. And that includes me. It includes my own ongoing transformation into his likeness and glory. That’s why “Christ living in you” really is the hope of glory.

So, in a nutshell, Jesus truly is everything to us. When we slow down and unpack the names, titles, and descriptions Scripture gives us, we start to see just how true that claim really is. He really, truly is everything.

Praise be to God!!!