4.1 Key themes⤒🔗

• God made us to worship.
• Because we have lost our close relationship with God, we now worship false gods.
• To turn away from our false gods, we should turn to Jesus Christ.
• Christ is better than all our false gods.
  - He is the image of the invisible God.
  - He has power and authority over everything.
  - All things were created by him and for him.
  - In him all things hold together.
  - He gave himself as a sacrifice, to save us and to save his creation.
  - He is one with us, just as a head is one with its body.
• When you worship Christ, he changes you…
  - so that the image of God can be seen in your life too.

4.2 Colossians 1:15–20←⤒🔗

^15. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation,

^16. for all things in heaven and on earth were created in him—all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, whether principalities or powers—all things were created through him and for him.

^17. He himself is before all things and all things are held together in him.

^18. He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things.

^19. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in the Son,

^20. and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

© NET Bible

4.3 Made to worship←⤒🔗

Our hearts are always busy making false gods. That is what we have seen in all the previous lessons. Maybe you have asked yourself, “Why are our hearts like this?”

To answer this question, we must firstly understand that God made us for worship. He made us to:

• Love someone who is greater than ourselves.
• Need someone who is greater than ourselves.
• Trust in someone who is greater than ourselves.

Who is the “someone” that we must love, need, and trust? Of course, it is God himself! We were made to love, need, trust, and worship God our Creator.

Secondly, we must understand that we have lost our close relationship with God. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve walked and talked with God. God was close to them. But then they chose to listen to Satan. They trusted in Satan’s lies, instead of trusting in God. Because of this they were sent out of the Garden of Eden. They would not walk and talk with God again (Genesis 3).

What about you and me? Well, we are the children of Adam and Eve. When they were sent out of the Garden of Eden, we were also sent out. We also lost that close relationship with God. And we are all born with the sin of Adam and Eve, our first parents. In our hearts we carry their disobedience and idolatry.

We still need to worship, because that is how God made us. So, now we make our own gods. We take things from God’s creation and we give our love and our trust to these things (Romans 1:22–23). There is no one who can say, “I do not have a god.” Everyone worships something (or someone).

4.4 The way out←⤒🔗

The good news is that there is a way out of idolatry. As we have seen in Lesson 2, the way out is Jesus Christ. Do you want to turn away from your false gods? Then turn to Jesus Christ!

In the rest of this lesson, you will see why Christ is better than any god which we can make for ourselves.

4.5 Why Christ is better←⤒🔗

God said that we may not make any images of him (Exodus 20:4–5). This means that we may not make any kind of picture of God. God is holy. Nothing that we make, can come close to him.

But in Colossians 1:15 we read, “He [Christ] is the image of the invisible God.” God has given us a perfect picture of himself! This picture is Jesus Christ his Son. Christ is the only one who can show us the invisible God.

In the same verse, we read that Christ is “the firstborn over all creation.” Here the word “firstborn” does not mean that Christ was born first. In the time of the Bible, the firstborn son was the most important child in the family. He had power and authority in the family. In the same way, Christ has power and authority over everything in creation.

Why does Christ have this power and authority? Colossians 1:16–17 gives us the answer: “for all things in heaven and on earth were created in him—all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, whether principalities or powers—all things were created through him and for him. He himself is before all things and all things are held together in him.”

All things were created by Christ. Christ created the things we can see: mountains, stars, animals, trees, and millions of other things. But he also created the things we cannot see: heaven, the angels, and even Satan and his demons. He created small things and he created big things. He created nations and their rulers. He created science and politics and language.

Have you ever asked yourself, “What is the purpose of my life?” or “What is the purpose of this world?” Colossians 1:16 gives the answer. Everything was created for Christ. You and I, and everything in this world, were created to bring glory to Christ!

Christ rules over all things, big and small. If he would stop ruling for one moment, everything would break down. As Colossians 1:17 says, “all things are held together in him.”

Christ did not create evil. One of his most powerful angels rebelled against him. This angel became Satan. Many other angels (which we call “demons”) followed after Satan. Adam and Eve, and we as their children, have also rebelled against Christ our Creator. That is how evil came into this world.

But Christ is still fully in control. And he gave himself as a sacrifice, to save the world that he had made! In Colossians 1:18, we read, “He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things.” 

Christ saved a people for himself: the church. The church is his body, and he is her head. Just as a head is one with its body, so Christ is one with his church. Everything Christ does, he does for us!

Where a head goes, there the body goes. Just as Christ rose from the grave, we will also rise from our graves. That is why Christ is called “the firstborn from the dead."

Christ did not only save his people. He also saved his whole creation. One day he will come to make all things new. Plants, animals, mountains, music, work, sports, friendships — everything will bring glory to Christ and to his Father again. That is what we see from Colossians 1:19–20:

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in the Son and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross — through him, whether things on earth or things in heaven.

Do you see why Christ is better than any of our idols? He is great and glorious—the firstborn over creation, the Creator of all things, the one who holds all things in his hand, the reason and the purpose behind all things. But he is also gentle and humble. He has become one of us. He gave his life to save us. He loves us as a man loves his own body.

4.6 Changed by Christ←⤒🔗

From Psalm 115 we saw that we will end up like the thing we worship. When you worship something that is ugly and shameful, you become ugly and shameful. When you worship something that is powerless, you also become powerless. But here is the good news: when you worship Christ, you become like Christ!

That does not mean that you will have the same power as Christ. But your life will be filled with Christ’s love, wisdom, and holiness. You will share in the wonderful relationship that Christ has with God his Father (John 17:24–26).

Christ is the perfect image of God. He is everything you need. Turn to him every day and every moment. As you do this, the image of God will be seen in your life too (Colossians 3:10)