 |  |
"That He might head up again all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which
are in earth."
The reconciliation and the inheritance of the saints in light is but another presentation
of the truth of Eph. 1: 14, the redemption of the purchased possession by the great
Kinsman Who has met every claim and "made us sufficient". The place of redemption
here cannot be ignored; and in its scriptural meaning it must be the work of the
Kinsman-Redeemer and no other. The Egyptians who were dead upon the sea-shore had
no Passover lamb offered for them (Isa. 43: 16, 17); the principalities and powers who
were "spoiled" at the cross had no Kinsman-Redeemer. The seed of the wicked one, the
Rephaim, are not even to rise from the dead (Isa. 26: 14); they were never "in Adam"
and never will be "in Christ".
Creation must be viewed in the light of the purpose of the ages. Sin and death are at
present exercising their dreadful dominion over the true seed, but a day is coming when
that seed shall be fully delivered. Some will occupy a place of glory far above all
heavens, some will hold a position in the New Jerusalem, and some will be blessed in the
renewed earth; but just as it will be true of that future temple that "there shall be no more
the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of Hosts" (Zech. 14: 21), so will it be true
throughout the universe. The former things will have passed away. Nothing will come
through that great dissolution but that which is vitally linked with Him Who is the
Firstborn from the dead.
#9.
Creation, old and new (1: 13-23).
(contd.).
pp. 176 - 180
"Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature, for by Him
were all things created" (Col. 1: 15, 16).
The parallel passage in John 1: 1 enables us to perceive that we are here dealing with
events "in the beginning". It is not so much the six-days' creation that is in view as the
primal creation of heaven and earth at the beginning. In that beginning He was the Word,
and in that beginning He was the Image. Both titles indicate manifestation; in the person
of Him Who, in fullness of time, became the man Christ Jesus, the invisible God was
expressed.
God is so infinitely above His highest creation that some self-limitation and
manifestation was necessary. Quite apart from sin, creation needed a Mediator, and that
Mediator was Christ. When Adam was created he was made after the image and likeness
of God, and the new man must be "renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that
created him" (Col. 3: 10). The present creation also is the work of His hands, and one
day He that sitteth upon the throne shall make all things new. In this capacity Christ is
the Firstborn of every creature. A superficial reading of this title has led some to teach