The Fullness of Time: Christmas According to the Epistles

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Isaiah 9:2-7
• Hymn — Angels from the Realms of Glory
• Prayer of Invocation
• Confession of Faith — Colossians 1:15-20
• Scripture Reading — Isaiah 7:10-17
• Hymn — Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
• Pastoral Prayer
• Offering
• Hymn — O Come, All Ye Faithful
• Sermon
• Hymn — Good Christian Men, Rejoice
• Benediction
• Doxology

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Sermon Title: The Fullness of Time: Christmas According to the Epistles

Scripture: Colossians 1:15-20

I. The Image of God in Original and New Creation

A. In original creation, Christ is "the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation" (Colossians 1:15)

1. "Firstborn" does not mean Christ was literally born, but signals his preeminence and authority
2. Psalm 89:27 uses "firstborn" to denote the highest kingly authority, not natural birth
3. The doctrine of the eternal generation of the Son: the Son has no beginning but is eternally begotten of the Father

B. In new creation, Christ is the firstborn from the dead, in whom all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell (Colossians 1:18-19)

1. The word "for" in verse 19 is explanatory: Christ is preeminent because the fullness of God dwells in him
2. Before Adam was created in the image of God, the perfect, eternal image of God already existed in the Son
3. Sin (Hebrew: "missing the mark") means failing to conform to that eternal image; the Son incarnate shows us how it is done
4. All things were created not only through him but for him — he is creation's goal and climax (Colossians 1:16)

II. The Beginning of Original and New Creation

A. In original creation, Christ is before all things and in him all things hold together (Colossians 1:17)

1. The language echoes Genesis 1:1 — "In the beginning" points to Christ as creator of the original order

B. In new creation, Christ is the head and beginning as the firstborn from the dead (Colossians 1:18)

1. 1 Corinthians 15 calls Christ the first fruits of the resurrection harvest — when he rises, new creation dawns
2. Illustration: Noah's dove returning with an olive leaf (Genesis 8:11) — when we see Christ raised as first fruits, the flood waters of God's wrath have subsided
3. Paul's language in verse 19 ("pleased to dwell") echoes Psalm 68:16 (LXX): God was well pleased to dwell in Zion; the Incarnate Son is now the true Mount Zion
4. Therefore Hebrews 12 can say believers "have come to Mount Zion" — they have come to the Incarnate Son
5. "Head" carries a double meaning: authority over the church, and source/headwaters of life — as in John 7, rivers of living water flow from Christ to the ends of the earth

III. The Sovereign over Original and New Creation

A. The word "all" saturates every verse of the passage, emphasizing Christ's total lordship

1. Firstborn of all creation; all things created through and for him; all things hold together in him; in everything preeminent; all the fullness dwells in him; reconcile all things (Colossians 1:15-20)
2. His sovereignty extends over the visible and invisible — thrones, dominions, rulers, authorities, both earthly and heavenly realms

B. The hymn's 21 lines are structured symmetrically: 10 lines on Christ as sovereign over original creation, 10 on new creation, with verse 17 as the pivotal segue

1. Verse 17 is in the Greek perfect tense: the Son held all things together at original creation and continues to hold them together — sovereignly sustaining fallen creation until the fullness of time
2. Illustration: Just as a coach holds the game together through three quarters to deliver the final victory blow, the Son holds all things in Fallen creation together to bring it to its appointed climax
3. The fall, the flood, David's sin, Solomon's idolatry, Israel's exile — none of these is the end of the story, because the Son sovereignly holds all things together toward the cross and empty tomb
4. At the cross, Christ disarms and puts to open shame all rulers and authorities, vindicating his sovereign lordship over all creation
5. Christ continues to hold all things together now, until he comes again — echoing Abraham Kuyper: "There is not a square inch in the whole of creation over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, 'Mine!'"

C. Pastoral application: We now see through a glass dimly (1 Corinthians 13), but this is a comfort, not a rebuke — we are not expected to see it all clearly now; we will fully know when he comes again